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The Movie:
(Movie Review Originally Written September, 2000)
While watching "Blade" a couple of years ago, I thought Wesley Snipes had found the perfect role; a great character, a very good screenplay, good director and in turn, Snipes' performance was excellent. Maybe he'd be moving on from routine action pictures. Or, well, maybe not. He's back with "The Art Of War", a political thriller that has a few minimally exciting moments, but the plot in general is a mess, something about a trade deal gone wrong with the UN, or at least that's what I thought. Warner Brothers did not screen the film for the press, which is usually a bad sign. While I didn't think the film was that much of a loss, it still is a very routine, sometimes overly talky action picture.
Snipes plays government agent Neil Shaw, who is sent on various missions from his boss, Hooks (Anne Archer). He's involved in the latest UN mission when, while at a dinner, the ambassador to China is assassinated. He's falsely accused of the crime and is forced to go on the run to prove his innocence. The biggest problem (one of many) is traffic; people are going this way and that, their motivations are murky and the plot presents them all in a fashion that's confusing at best. The action sequences are decent to good, although the final scene takes more than a bit too much from a scene in "The Matrix", such as the special effect seen in the trailers.
Aside from being confusing, the script's dialogue swims in thriller-cliches that are basically entertaining for about thirty minutes before they become tiring, as it becomes evident that they're all the film has to offer. The interesting thing though is that, well, as bad as it is, it at least looks and sounds great. Cinematography by Pierre Gill is sleek and watchable, and the film's audio is a solid "action-movie" soundtrack.
Snipes isn't bad in the role, but the movie gets fairly boring after a while. Snipes is doing a sequel to "Blade" and hopefully, that will be a return to the kind of film and performance he's capable of.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Wow" is the first phrase that comes to mind to talk about the picture quality for "The Art Of War". Warner Brothers has done a lot of fine work recently, but "The Art Of War" looks practically without any flaws whatsoever - I don't remember it looking this good when I saw it in the theater. Sharpness is absolutely fantastic throughout the entire movie; at no time did I see the least bit of softness or lack of clarity. Detail is also excellent in any situation during the movie.
If there are any of the usual flaws, they were too minor to be noticable. I saw no instances of any pixelation or shimmering even in minor amounts, and the print used is free of even the most tiny flaws; I saw not even a speckle - nothing, just totally crystal clear.
Colors are also beautiful during the film. Colors look rich and well-saturated here, with no problems whatsoever. Warner Brothers has provided easily one of their best efforts with the picture quality here; the entire movie looks simply phenomenal.
SOUND: Like the picture quality, the audio quality is also absolutely top-notch. The movie is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and if there's no action, there's the score coming from all sides. The movie is one of those action films that provides some good action, then becomes rather chatty for a while before becoming more intense again.
Luckily, "The Art Of War" is, in terms of sound, unlike similar talky action films. Even when the film isn't moving at a brisk pace, the sound often still remains involving as there are often some subtle uses of the surrounds during these sections. During the more action-oriented sequences, the movie's audio provides a more thrilling experience, with agressive and effective surround use, as well as some strong, deep bass.
Normand Corbeil's rumbling score sounds wonderful as it does manage to add some excitement to the movie's more intense moments of action. Dialogue sounds very good as well - clear, never harsh. The movie provides a very exciting listening experience with terrific audio quality.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with very basic images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS: Not a whole lot; trailers for "Art Of War", "Battlefield Earth", "Chill Factor", "The In Crowd", "Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves", "Whole Nine Yards" and "Young Guns 2", along with cast/crew bios.
Final Thoughts: Although "The Art Of War" wasn't a film that I found terribly interesting when I saw it in the theater, I found it worked a little better on DVD, although it still remains an average movie that actually could have been worked on and improved. Warner's DVD provides stunning audio and video, although there's not much going on in the way of extra features. Action fans may enjoy "The Art Of War" as a rental.
Film Grade
The Film C
DVD Grades
Video 99/A+ = (396/400 possible points)
Audio: 95/A = (380/400 possible points)
Extras: 72/C = (216/300 possible points)
Menus: 70/C- = (140/200 possible points)
Value: 82/B = (246/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1378/1600
DVD GRADE:B/86%
FILM GRADE: C
DVD GRADE: B
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