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Training Day

Training Day

List Price: $14.96
Your Price: $11.22
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Well acted but false images of "the jungle"
Review: I saw this film twice and thought that was a good film. Denzel delivers a powerful performance and he takes charge of the gloomy film as it violently wages thru the 122 minutes...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: TRAINING DAY: the dark side of denzel
Review: In his most powerful role yet Denzel washington stars as alonzo harris a narcotics vice officer who swims in the mud of the los angelas underworld. In just one day he attempts to train a rookie officer to get just as dirty and corrupt as himself. It begans at breakfast in a downtown restaurant where the two men get aquainted and escelates into a wild ride on the dark side of law enforcement and brutality. Washingtons performance is haunting because his charectar is so unpredictable and convincing,he's a wild card and a loose cannon, L.A. is his playground and rookie hoyte(hawk) is his pawn,puppet and proteg'e
I recommand this movie highly,not only for its great performances but also for great direction and pacing,its a roller coaster that wont stop and let you off!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best Movie of 2001
Review: I Have'nt seen a police drama this good since Seven and this one is just about as good as it. I love the way the movie is played out so you route for Washington and then they slowly make you hate him. When I saw this movie and was leaving the theaters I was like whoa i wanna see that again. Buy it!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This isn't checkers... it's chess.
Review: Two strong performances propel this police action film above the crowd. Denzel Washington (REMEMBER THE TITANS) takes a new turn in his career playing a cop that is more dark side than light side and took home an Oscar for his efforts... Ethan Hawke (HAMLET) plays his idealist partner who spends much of his time falling into the chess match. Eventually, something will have to give and that nicely carries the film to a passable ending. The story and screenplay here are not the focus. It is the performances that make this film bearable. Otherwise, this yarn seems over done. If two lesser-knowns had been in the leading roles, this story would not stand out at all. That says a lot for the performances.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "Training Day" is very powerful and very intense!
Review: "Training Day" is among one of those films that you would have to watch very carefully to find out exactly what is going on throughout. And yet, it is so entertaining and so powerful that you would not believe Denzel Washington's performance in this movie until you have seen it! And speaking of his performance, you get to see a side of Denzel that you have never seen before...as the bad guy! That's right! Washington stars as veteran Detective Sargeant Alonzo Harris, a "lone wolf" cop that, to him, has spent too many years obeying the law, etc., that he goes over the edge (a.k.a. "crossing the line"). This film is also about a fresh-faced LAPD rookie named Jake Hoyt (an excellent Ethan Hawke), who is anxious to join the elite narcotics squad headed up by none other than Harris himself. So Harris has agreed to give Hoyt a shot at joining his team with a one-day ride-along during which Hoyt must prove his mettle if he wants to make it into narcotics. As the day wears on, however, it becomes increasingly clear to the greenhorn that Hoyt's experienced mentor has blurred the line between right and wrong to an alarming degree, enforcing his own morally compromised code of ethics and street justice. In conclusion, I would like to say that "Training Day" is nothing short of being intense. This is one of Denzel Washington's most frightening performances that I have seen on the big screen in a long time. And I would like to say this: "Denzel, please stick to the good guy roles. I know that this is a major change for you, but pleeeease stick to what you're really good at...and that's bringing out the good in you in any film that you make." "Training Day" is a great DVD addition to any Denzel Washington collection!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Blisteringly Brilliant Performances by Washington & Hawke
Review: In all honesty, I had grown a bit tired of Denzel Washington's "goodie-two-shoes" roles in recent years, as great as they were. His performance in TRAINING DAY, however, has given me newfound respect for him as an actor. Not only does he play "the bad guy," but he milks it for all its worth - his Alonzo Harris would make Clint Eastwood's DIRTY HARRY look like Barney Fife from "The Andy Griffith Show." The last time I walked out of a movie theater so rattled was after seeing DANTE'S PEAK in the early '90s - mainly for its special effects. In TRAINING DAY, it was Denzel Washington's performance alone that blew me away! The fact that he has recently received his fifth Oscar nomination - and third for Best Actor - should come as no surprise.

Kudos also to Ethan Hawke for a great performance and a well-deserved Supporting Actor Oscar nod this year. Any young actor who can hang with the likes of Denzel Washington in a film like this DESERVES recognition. Hawke proves that he has a stellar film career ahead of him.

The Academy Awards telecast is March 24, and my money is on both these tremendous performers to come away with well-deserved Oscar gold. TRAINING DAY is a film with no special effects, no colorful cinematography, and no Picasso-esque art direction - just a movie that slaps you upside the hide from start to finish, with two powerhouse performances that stay with you long after the closing credits.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Intense..bad cop good cop
Review: it was pretty good movie, though...showed not all policeman are honest and the consequences of being bad cop...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: DENZEL; ONE SCREWDRIVER SHORT OF A TOOL BOX
Review: There is an armchair casting director in all of us and we all imagine certain actors as naturals for certain roles. Alonzo Harris, the central character in "Training Day" is a corrupt, brutal cop who shakes down drug dealers, roughs up citizens, samples confiscated crack and has few slams of Jack Daniels in the morning to take the edge off. It's a role that seems beg the casting of Robert DeNiro or Sean Penn. The fact that good guy, African American actor Denzel Washington is cast as Alonzo Harris runs counter to casting stereotypes. Washington is amoral, predatory and "one screwdriver short of a toolbox", as he gleefully shows drug unit trainee Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) how to plunder and pillage the community he's sworn to protect. Washington clearly relishes the chance to play a throughly disreputable character and Ethan Hawke's decent cop becomes the reluctant straight man as Washington spins further and further out of control. The movie is laced with so much adrenaline that I felt exhaused at the end as if I had spent the day in training with Denzel's looney bird "supervisor".

The direction by Antoine Fuqua is suitably cartoonish and he shows off his MTV video chops with; fast cut and double-take editing, loopy stoner camera angles and tight shots, jarring blasts of sound and hyperactive pacing. The script is contrived and the plot has enough holes in it to drive a paddy wagon through, but, hey man, this ain't "Shakespeare In Love" we're talking about here. "Training Day" is Denzel's showcase and I am hoping that Denzel will get a well deserved Best Actor Oscar at last.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Brutal, but convincing
Review: I avoided seeing this film for the longest time because I thought it would be just another predictable anti-police drama, something along the lines of "Bad Lieutenant" with an L.A. setting. I was wrong. The film has plenty of unexpected plot twists and the acting is, for the most part, excellent. I've never been a big Denzel Washington fan -- too bland and boring (like Tom Hanks) and overly cautious (no sexuality, no explosive violence). He gives more this time, although it takes a while; the early scenes in which he tries to appear menacing are not terribly convincing. But when he finally gets into the role -- look out! And his intense performance is matched by that of Ethan Hawke; I was blown away. The gimmicky cameos are less effective; Macy Gray overacts, while Dr. Dre recites his lines as if he's not quite sure he understands what he's saying. Snoop Dogg fares a little better, but he's no Meryl Streep, either. Such cameos, which the director may have hoped would boost box office and enhance "street cred," are merely distracting. And unnecessary. Denzel and Ethan are reason enough to see this film, one of the more memorable efforts of 2001.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Training Day-The most real movie of 2001
Review: Training Day was my favorite movie of last year. It won't get the respect it should when the oscars come around but it still stand's out to me. All of the performances are top notch even the breif one's from Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. When walking out of the theater I was scared from Denzels acting job. The movie was that convincing to me. For a breif summary of the story,Hawke is a rookie cop trying to make detective when first having to be on the narcotics team, he meats up with denzel and soon relizes that the man is twisted on power and the corruption builds. Not only was the performance of Denzels the best of his career but Ethan Hawke shows that he should get an oscar for the great performance of the scared rookie cop.
This movie proves that even if special effects are cool that the acting is the soul of the movie. My personal awards thoughts should be nominated for best picture,best actor(Denzel), and best supporting actor (Hawke). The Best of 2001


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