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Spy Game (Widescreen Edition)

Spy Game (Widescreen Edition)

List Price: $12.98
Your Price: $9.09
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Unable to stop captioning
Review: I think I could have enjoyed this movie if the captioning would stay turned off. After turning captioning off through the menu, it only stays off for a couple of minutes. Thought the first DVD was defective and returned it. The second one is doing the same thing. I decided to research this and found that it is a known problem--mostly with Toshiba players (which I have). I own other DVDs with captioning that do not turn on automatically.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: I thought I was going crazy
Review: I had the same problem with my Toshiba DVD player. It is simply not possible to turn off the hearing impaired captions. UGH. I have been waiting to see this movie and now I need to put up with these captions all over the screen. Thumbs down Universal!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Boring!
Review: "Spy Game" (2001)

I really hate to break it to you, but Spy Game is frankly a big disappointment. I was expecting a lot of this movie because it has the two of my favourite actors, Brad Pitt and Robert Redford. The trailer for this movie also looked excellent, and I was intrigued by the pairing of these 2 actors, who look so much alike and perform in the same style. This movie could've and should've worked given the talent working on the film. Unfortunately, in my humble opinion, Spy Game is an exercise in boredom.

Fortunately, there are some good points, but I'll start with why I didn't like this movie. The main reason is because in some aspects the filmmakers have taken their audiences for dummies. I mean, come on, you could at least put a little makeup on Robert Redford. He looks exactly the same in the current part of the film as he did, what, like 30 years back? Brad Pitt also looks identical. The movie also moves along at a very slow pace, and the last half-hour was very boring and I didn't really care about the outcome of the film. The flashback sequences are the only really entertaining parts of the movie, the meetings and continuous talk in Washington started to really get to me, because a) I wasn't sure if Redford's colleagues were on his side, and b) there was just way too much blabber and not enough action.

I was also disappointed with the "spy" aspect of the film. This movie mostly just makes out a spy as a person who goes to different countries, sees different things and takes a heck of a lot of photos. I mean, the movie demonstrated the aspects of spying and going behind people's back better than Harriet the Spy, but I would've liked a deeper insight.

All that said, I loved the style of the movie. The zoom-all-around-the-place shots were very well done and I enjoyed how the movie did put in a mysterious atmosphere, whether it just used steam or smoke, or just a whole bunch of cool, different sort of shots. That's basically what this movie is - cool. Not in sense of story at all, but just in the way it looks. And that's what kept me in my seat.

Apart from of course the superb chemistry between Robert Redford and Brad Pitt, which manages to be a saving grace. I especially enjoyed the scenes were Redford was training Pitt's character to be a spy. Unfortunately that all ends too son. Anyway, Redford is not bad at all, and I don't usually like his acting. He proves to us he is not getting old fast, and he can still play a good action man. He isn't topped by the excellent Pitt, who comes across as charming, strong and interesting. I also enjoyed a little cameo by Charlotte Rampling.

There are good aspects of this movie, but they are overrun by the pace and timing of the movie. I wasn't really interested in the movie as a whole and it was a disappointment. Even worse, they had to throw in a horrid love story cliché. I can confirm overall that this isn't a game I'll want to be playing again anytime soon.

MY GRADE: C

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: As bad as they get.
Review: Obtuse story telling by a director who is in love with short scenes, and tight close-ups of mostly meaningless detail. It's hard work for the viewer to decode the dense plot. I couldn't have cared less about any of the shallow characters in this "oh-so-with-it movie."

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: KINDA LIKE REDFORD AND SON
Review: Life is short and the time wasted watching bad movies leaves an especially dark hole in our time cards. Here's a title on a contemporary moral theme and heroism under fire that, with extras, might be worth a second consideration.

Brad Pitt and Robert Redford, the generationally separated Hollywood pretty boy look-a-likes, star in the great looking, mostly entertaining espionage action adventure "SPY GAME" directed by Tony Scott, Ridley's talented brother. The commentary by Scott is especially entertaining as he talks about the two leads' diverse acting styles. It seems Redford locks in his character early on and Pitt is looser and much more open to improvisation. This contrast in methods lent itself well and perhaps gave an additional edge to the story of captured agent Bishop's (Pitt) attempted rescue by his boss Muir (Redford) after an unauthorized, very personal and daring, mission goes south.

There's an eerie father and son frisson to the two leads that is almost an intentional subtext. Weird but fascinating. Beautifully filmed with a humongous cache of extras (over ten hours), this is an old fashioned, slickly made, thrill ride with a ticking clock.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: WARNING: DVD captioning problem
Review: If you buy or rent the Spy Game DVD, you may experience a problem with the captioning for the hearing impaired. Whether or not it happens on all players, or only on certain makes and models, you may not be able to turn off the captioning for this movie. Since the captioning is in a very large font, it is completely distracting and makes the movie nearly unwatchable. I tested this on two copies of the Pan & Scan version, and one copy of the widescreen version on a Toshiba SD-1600. Like some other people, I have contacted Universal Marketing regarding this, and hopefully a re-release will be announced (or some other fix). If you want to own this DVD, I'd suggest renting it first to see if you experience the problem, or wait for a potential solution from the creators.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Spy Game
Review: Want good Leatherface? Watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Want bad, overused cliche? Watch Spy Game.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Entertaining but predictable
Review: This is a good movie for a night when you want to be entertained, but don't want to have to think a lot. This movie is predictable, but gives interesting insight into the strategies of being a spy. The format of the movie is a present story-line with Robert Redford's character going back to memories of his meeting and training "Boyscout" (Brad Pitt's character). Something that adds interest to this film is the fact that it takes place on the last day of work at the CIA for Redford's character. I could take it or leave it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Can't turn off the Closed Captioning
Review: I am returning this movie because I can't turn off the closed captioning. What's going on here? It's too annoying to watch the movie with closed captioning when you are not hearing impaired, so I have no idea how to review it!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Suspense
Review: Redford & Pitt make a great team. Reford had the suspense and Pitt made the situation believable. Looking forward to more movies w/the two of them teamed up.


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