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Training Day

Training Day

List Price: $14.96
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GREAT
Review: I dont know if i would give this movie 5 out of 5. I infact would give it 4.5 stars. However either way you better go to the nearest video store and rent this. It is extraordinaly good. Denzel Washington deserves the oscar and Ethan Hawke also did a wonderful job. This is a movie that relies on its acting due to the fact that most of it involves them talking to each other. However there is definatley plenty of action and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. The script was also great. Fuqua went along way from Replacment Killers(but if you want a movie with non stop gunplay I urge you to check it out) and this movie was one of the best of the year. Check it out now.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brilliant Performance
Review: I saw A Beautiful Mind and thought that Russell Crow should have received the best actor award until I saw Denzel Washingtington in Training Day! That performance was not expected from a Denzel Movie. This is why I feel that he SHOULD HAVE WON the Oscar for best actor. I was feeling at first that this was a token Oscar until I saw the move on DVD last night over a friends. I am now purchasing this DVD for my collection! BRILLIANT PERFORMANCE AND DESERVING OF THE BEST ACTOR AWARD (IMO)!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: And the Oscar goes to...DENZEL WASHINGTON!! It's about time
Review: This movie was captivating. Not because just of the story line, but because of the acting. I am a huge Denzel fan, but this role casted a different light of his range of acting ability. We have grown so accustomed to his heroic roles that this was like watching a new actor emerge from the depths of Hollywood. It is a gripping drama of what goes on in the life of a dirty narcotic cop. His analogy of the wolf and the sheep made sense. The only thing I didn't like about the movie was the Vegas gambling situation with the Russian mob. They could have visually tied that in somehow, maybe as a flashback or something. Ethan Hawke was a bushy-eyed rookie who had good instincts to be a cop, but sometimes thought too much. The streets are extremely different that what is shown on TV. The only way to really know is by "hands on" training. That's what Denzel was trying to give him. His knowledge was tested throughout the day and he failed a few times. Something about the ending didn't sit too well with me, but I couldn't think of any other possibilities. Overall, it was a good movie. I would recommend this flick to anyone that is a fan of Denzel and/or Ethan or if you like the dirty cop type of movies. Guaranteed to be entertaining.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Training Daze
Review: Rookie cop Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) wants to be a great cop and catch the bad guys. On his first day, he teams up with seasoned undercover cop, Alonzo Harris (recent Oscar winner Denzel Washington), who promises to show him the ropes. What Jake learns on his first day is nothing he ever expected. Washington plays against his usual "good guy" image to play a totally corrupt cop in a powerful performance. The intensity of Harris is evenly matched by Hoyt's innocence and fear over what might happen next. Director Antone Fuqua does an excellent job and improves over the uneven REPLACEMENT KILLERS. Fuqua allows the camera roll naturally and because of that it seems "real" The film has some truly intense moments that are unforgettable. An example is the scene where Harris puts Jake in harms way in order to see whether or not he can trust him or not, using what Fuqua calls in his commentary, "street justice". At that point Jake must choose between dark or light. ... The dark side of Alonzo is an amazing transformation for Washington. Credit must be given to screenwriter David Ayer for an amazing script. It is very well written.

The extras on the DVD are decent. There is an insightful commentary track from the director. The additional scenes allow viewers to enjoy more of Washington and Hawke's chemistry. I will let you decide whether or not the alternate ending is better than the one that was used in the final film. Rounding out the main extras is the HBO First Look special. Thanks to powerful perfomances by Washington and Hawke, solid direction, and fine extras, this is a real winner.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Flipping the Black-White Male Bonding Formula
Review: Training Day takes a couple of interesting risks, the most significant is its undermining the now-stale formula of the interracial buddy bonding movie, used to great commercial success in films like the Lethal Weapon series. (One can immediately envision hordes of studio execs perusing the Training Day script and firing off hasty notes to the producer asking how they can sell the film if Washington and Hawke aren't riding off into the sunset together at the end.) Training Day, of course, is going for something grittier, but only partly succeeds. The plotting, unfortunately, still falls prey to hackneyed contrivances and coincidences required to push through to a pat resolution, just the sort of artifice that would be typical of a buddy movie, but here seriously undermines the authenticity that Training Day strives for. We overlook that due to Washington's performance, a body slam of arrogant bravado that's mesmerizing to watch. Washington plays a crooked cop who reasons with all the guile of a pimp, putting more spin on the dialogue than a pool hustler on a cue ball. Washington keeps the film afloat and full of surprise.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Oscar Nominations Warranted
Review: I have to say, I really missed out on this one in the theaters. But after watching it on DVD, I can see why both Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke were nominated for Oscars. Both gave riveting performances. The story itself was good...it kept you at the edge of your seat. Definite must have for your collection

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Denzel Shines, Average Film at Best
Review: Denzel Washington Finally switched His Game up here.He was becoming the Babyface of Movies where you could tell His Next Line 5 Minutes in Advance but this Film He takes a whole different turn.Ethan Hawke does pretty Good in a Judd Nelson(New Jack City Meets Donnie Brasco)Meets Johnny Deep kind of way.but the film on a whole is very Cliche in spots where it only shows certain elements but misses taken the Picture fully.everything about the film after a while becomes predictable&after almost a Hour it loses steam.while it exposes some interestign Elements it suffers from not being able to hold on&it spreads to thin overall.Denzel does a Solid Job in this otherwise Patchy Film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: best movie i've seen in a long time
Review: If you are second guessing purchasing this film, dont just buy it is worth the money.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Denzel & Ethan...What a pair!
Review: It's the day before the Oscars, and I very much needed to rent this film, being a Denzel fan from way back, and I saw A BEAUTIFUL MIND and thought Crowe was swell. It's good to see Denzel playing a baddasss, because, with the exception of "Courage Under Fire", he'd always been maybe just a bit too perfect. This shows range & depth; truly a committed performance. The real star, though, is Ethan Hawke, who never really impressed me before. Putting him up against Denzel's brilliant performance is a true test of acting greatness. I'm sure this type of thing goes on in Police Dept's somewhere, and it's unnerving to think it does; I'm sure production would've been prevented if it hit too many true notes. The film is exciting, suspenseful, and the acting throughout is excellent. The DVD has a crisp 2.35:1 Widescreen, and characters portrayed by Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg are quite fine, proving other areas of talent. I'm impressed with this film, and I think Denzel should win the Oscar, as well as Hawke (though he won't, cuz he's the dark-horse...I hope I'm wrong...) Definitely see this film; it's unsettling and definitely a morality tale (where do you stop bending rules?) I was greatly entertained, and if you're a Denzel or Hawke fan, definitely SEE THIS FILM!! They are riveting!! DVD extras are plentiful.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One of the Top Ten Movies of 2001
Review: I avoided seeing this movie in the theaters because I was afraid of the stigma attached to other urban, crime, renegade cop movies. In fact when it first came out the plot summary gave me little reason to believe it would be any different than the thousands of dirty cop movies that movie channels on tv pump out each year. Here's the one of the main reasons I was wrong: Denzel Washington. You simply cannot take your eyes off of him. Simply put he is at the top of his game and is possibly the greatest actor of the current generation. If there was ever an actor that could propel a mediocre movie to greatness by sheer force of will, Denzel could do it. But you know he's great, you've obviously heard about his performance in this movie, so that's not what I'm going to talk about. What I found surprising is that this movie is so well made in virtually every aspect that it transcends genres and becomes one of the more powerful films of the year. I was astonished by the quality of David Ayer's script, and I certainly think it worthy of a nomination or two. This man not only has an ear for good dialouge, and a great understanding of plot, but he shows an amazing understanding of the present day urban life for African Americans, something I would not have expecting from looking at the man. Couple that with superb direction from Fuqua, who makes the talking head sequences come alive with the help of his two great actors, Washington and Hawke. Hawke is another gift to the film, and though I never put much faith in him before and missed his version of Hamlet, he really won me over with this film. A lot of people were wondering if he really deserved a Best Supporting nomination, but after seeing the subtle unravelling of a naive and idealistic hero presented here all doubters will be silenced. The DVD has the standard special features, and a couple of rather uninteresting music videos, but the movie stands so powerfully on its own that I whole-heartedly endorse purchasing this film.


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