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DVD XXX (Uncensored Unrated Director's Cut)
Vin Diesel is no James Bond, and he doesn't want to be. That's why XXX announced Diesel as the adrenalin-junkie Bond of the PlayStation generation, copying the Bond formula so shamelessly that this action-packed silliness would be a Bond movie if it starred Pierce Brosnan. Reuniting Diesel with his Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen, XXX has an attitude (if not a brain) all its own, plucking Diesel's Xander Cage from his celebrity as an extreme sports renegade, recruited by a National Security Agency big shot (Samuel L. Jackson) to foil a nasty Czech villain (Marton Csokas) who's eager to depopulate Prague with remote-controlled biological weaponry. Toss in a sulky, sultry Russian agent (Asia Argento) and you've got extreme Bond-age for anyone who thinks tuxedos are passé. With a handful of eye-popping action sequences, XXX launched a movie franchise with a cool guy, another cool muscle car, and plenty of box-office sizzle. --Jeff Shannon
Review(s): DVD XXX (Uncensored Unrated Director's Cut)
An entertaining thrill ride of a film
I'm not a huge fan of action movies, but I've quite enjoyed both of the XXX films. The original, starring Vin Diesel, is chock full of things that go boom, and I don't think the story is all that bad. I was especially happy to finally get to see Asia Argento for the first time - she is, among other things, the daughter of one of the true greats of European horror. I must admit I'm still not quite sure what all the Vin Diesel hysteria is about, though. He's certainly a different breed of actor, but I thought he had a few moments of inconsistency here. One thing I really don't understand is the inevitable comparisons between XXX and James Bond. I would never have even thought of comparing them because I see them as two completely different characters occupying opposite ends of the secret agent spectrum.
So, anyway, Vin Diesel plays Xander Cane, a rebel with an X Games mentality and a penchant for sticking it to the man. It's enough to get him noticed by NSA Agent Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson), and - needless to say - Xander passes Gibbons' test and soon finds himself ensconced amidst a group of dangerous anarchists in Prague. The bad guys are your typical malcontented youths who oppose everything society stands for and revel in the idea of unfettered freedom. What makes them special, though, are the scope of their operation and the plans they are cooking up to make the whole world all but implode. The newly christened XXX knows how to walk the walk and talk the talk, and that puts him in a position to learn just what Anarchy 99 is up to. Naturally, there's a woman thrown in the mix - the mysterious Yelena (Asia Argento), a pivotal member of the organization who might very well be more than she seems. It is the special effects rather than the actual storyline that tend to dominate the movie, though - and that's fine because it makes XXX a pulse-pounding cinematic experience. Of course, if any of the bad guys could hit the broad side of a barn with their weapons, XXX would have been down for the count before he even got started.
I thought the stunts and special effects were well above average. As the Filmmaker's Diary documentary and making-of featurettes show, director Rob Cohen relied on actual stunts rather that CGI whenever possible (one stuntman died during his work on the movie), making XXX more realistic than a lot of other action films. Xander himself is the proverbial anti-hero, and that always seems to appeal to audiences. The pumped-up soundtrack only adds more energy to the almost nonstop action on the screen. In essence, XXX has all the makings of a solid summer blockbuster - and that's exactly what it was.
XXX
Let me use an analogy for this. When you want to see naked people and/or sex but don't want to waste time on something like a plot you watch porn. "XXX" is that but for those who want to see an action movie. Nothing real believable or captivating here, just a lot of stuff blowing up and people getting shot. That is pretty much "XXX" in a nutshell.
XXX - A Physical Science Teacher's Dream
Where as some of the more "steamier" scenes in the film may be more related to biology, the great "jump and ski" scene towards the end, where XXX jumps from a plane, sky dives with a skate board, pulls the parachute, hits the slope and keeps going as he creates an avalanche, is the stuff of speed = distance/time etc. I bought this film just to use this particular scene in which my students will have to critically analyze what the character is doing and how probable is it if we plug in some numbers?
Related DVD's XXX (Uncensored Unrated Director's Cut)
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Buffed-up action star Vin Diesel plays a reckless DEA agent in A Man Apart, which aspires to merge big-budget action fare with a grittier, The French Connection-style procedural drama. When his wife is murdered by a mysterious drug lord called Diablo, Sean Vetter (Diesel) loses his moral bearings and risks the lives of his fellow agents in a quest for revenge. A Man Apart tries to give Diesel the opportunity to demonstrate a greater emotional range, but it's a mess; the supposedly tender scenes are generic and flat, while the action scenes are utterly incomprehensible. Much of the time it's unclear who's a cop and who's a thug, so when people get shot--and a lot of people get shot--it just becomes a bland wash of blood and bullets. --Bret FetzerMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Vin Diesel - Larenz Tate Director(s): F. Gary Gray DVD Release Date: Released the 02 September 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Owing a major debt to Alien and its cinematic spawn, Pitch Black is a guilty pleasure that surpasses expectations. As he did with The Arrival, director David Twohy revitalizes a derivative story, allowing you to forgive its flaws and submit to its visceral thrills. Under casual scrutiny, the plot's logic crumbles like a stale cookie, but it's definitely fun while it lasts.
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