Collateral Damage

Rating:
Summary: Watchable
Review: This is a watchable movie, but nothing special. The cover is deceiving -- it makes it look like yet-another Vietnam movie. Instead, it is more of a mix between a terrorist and a drug-war movie. Too simplistic to say much more.

Rating:
Summary: A non-mechanical hero
Review: I sat down to watch the movie only after ensuring that the character played by Arnie, was more human than his usual roles i.e. no robotics involved, no sci-fic. They even showed him avoiding confrontation by running scared along with his fellow bus passengers. But as expected the hero comes to the rescue of the weak. The plot was quite interesting though kind of expected. It would give experienced movie buffs expectations of the Glenn Close kind of resurrection from Fatal Attraction. Those unfamiliar would enjoy the movie.Hope this didn't give the plot away.
Enjoy.It's not bad for a fireman.

Rating:
Summary: An Election Tune-up
Review: I have to admit, I was about to rip this DVD out of the player and use it as a coaster for Mr. Frosty the Beer Mug when it dawned on me (after seven Mr. Frosties): COLLATERAL DAMAGE is a symbolic prelude to Arnold's campaign for governor!

Just look at all the parallels. Arnold's character is a fireman with no experience in espionage--Arnold the person is an actor with no governing experience.

See what I mean? And you thought I was just joking!

But wait, it gets better. Arnold butts heads with the CIA and FBI, just like he bucked the status quo of California's sitting governor. His character's confrontation with "El Lobo" (Cliff Curtis) prepared him for taking on Cruz Bustamante. Then Arnold plunges down formidable waterfalls, no doubt in preparation for how hopeless he feels tackling California's budget crisis. And what can you say about his on-again/off-again relationship with femme fatale Francesca Neri, other than it reminds us of how he chased Ariana Huffington out of the race?

It all makes sense to me now. COLLATERAL DAMAGE was made to prep Arnold for his run to the governor's mansion. And here we had thought he just made a lousy movie. What a crafty politician!
--D. Mikels

Rating:
Summary: Propaganda nonsense!
Review: When I first heard about this new action film, I was actually quite interested. (It's good ol Arnie after all!) However, after that crazy 9/11 propaganda, they cancelled the movie's release date & edited out so much that could have made this a good blockbuster at the box-office. I know that the 9/11 incident was a big thing for many (especially those in New York) & I DO have sympathy for them and their families who were lost. But come on people, 9/11 could have EASILY been prevented to begin with and delaying all these movies & games just because they coincidently have to do with terrorism sometimes DOES NOT mean that they support it! Mr. Schwarzenegger is an excellent actor & his movies are always meant to be good clean & fun action. This just killed it! If they would have left it all the way it is I would have given it a second thought but I guess they THOUGHT that it was good to butcher it just because of something happened that people already knew about before it did happen and they hadn't done anything to prevent it! Another thing I have to say is that we should stop dwelling on this terrible event. Every day I ALWAYS hear in the news 9/11 this 9/11 that! Yes, this was a shocking time for millions but nothing is going to bring back those lost! All we can do is make sure that such a tragedy doesn't happen again. It's hard, but we should stop trying to tell others how they should think and feel. Let's move on.

Rating:
Summary: Good action, relevant plot and surprising ending
Review: I have mostly enjoyed Arnold's movies, with some exceptions (such as Commando, Twins and the most terrible one where he - oh horror! - gives birth to a child).

To me at least it seems that Collateral Damage is both related with and an opposite of Commando; related because both movies have a revenge plot. Opposite because whilst the latter was characterised by amazingly bad acting and a predictable ending, the former both displays a convincing performance by Arnold and delivers a most surprising - if not shocking - finish.

The plot: I will not reveal too much here in case the reader is yet to watch this move, but the story begins with Arnold losing his family in a bomb blast set off by a terrorist. We witness Arnold's agony, the search for revenge, the captivity in a South American jungle, the friendship with the terrorist's family - and - the incredibly shocking ending.

I know that another review here says that the terrorist is portrayed in a way too sympathetic light, which makes it impossible to despise him as much as we despised the bad guy in Commando. I disagree. And very much so: One quality of Collateral Damage is that we get the impression that there is a human side to the terrorist; we start to understand/think that even his family opposes his evil plans and what he has become; we start assuming that a relationship is developing between Arnold and the terrorist's wife.

In other words, one gets an impression that the plot is taking a particular direction and that the ending will become logical and predictable. But not so! The movie takes us to the conclusion that you can trust no-one, and that nothing should be taken for what it is. And indeed, that fanaticism can override even natural human relations. In my opinion, that is no bad plot at all.

Let me put it like this: If you are looking for something with lots of killing and a banale plot (such as Commando) or explosive sci-fi (such as Total Recall and Terminator II), then Collateral Damage may be an unsuitable choice. But if you want to watch a solid performance by Arnold, an unusual plot and at the same time great action, then Collateral Damage may be what you are looking for.

I may be accused by some of entering deep waters now, but to some extent I would compare parts of the plot in Collateral Damage with the one present in the fantastic Arlington Road. Watch Collateral Damage and you will understand why.

Best regards

Rating:
Summary: Terrocide!
Review: Arnold kills colombian couple and adopts their son. Delicious! Makes me want to fight terrorism, or kill couples and adopt their children, or maybe both.

Rating:
Summary: Not a very satisfying Arnold vehicle.
Review: Collateral Damage is Arnold Schwarzenegger's attempt to make an "important" movie. This is a picture that introduces quite a few controversial topics, mostly involving terrorism, how such behavior originates, and how it relates to the United States' government; ambitious stuff for an actor mostly known for delivering trademark quips and mowing down vast armies of extras. But in the end, Collateral Damage is little more than a high-gloss B-picture about a guy out for revenge. It's better than, say, any of the Death Wish films, but that's not exactly a shining compliment.

Gordy Brewer (Schwarzenegger) is a Los Angeles firefighter (you can except a gratuitous opening scene where he performs bravely in the line of duty) with a beautiful wife and young son. But his ideal life is shattered the day a terrorist bomb kills his family. The culprit, a terrorist known only as "The Wolf" (Cliff Curtis), is reportedly in Colombia, so Brewer goes on a South American journey to exact his revenge. Not everything goes hunky-dory as Brewer has to face gun-toting guerillas/terrorists, and discovers that "The Wolf" has a wife and son of his own.

As far as pure escapism goes, Collateral Damage is probably the least "enjoyable" of Schwarzenegger's films in years. Sure, it's better than Batman and Robin and Last Action Hero, but it's a grim thriller, almost intent on making sure the audience feels depressed from beginning to end (with only a glimmer of optimism in the final scene, which I actually found kind of touching).

None of the topics Collateral Damage addresses is given much thought or development, but it's interesting enough to see them present in a Scwarzenegger thriller. While Cliff Curtis' villainous "Wolf" is hardly given enough characterization, his brief background is compelling and mildly thought-provoking. It doesn't necessarily make him sympathetic, as might have been the filmmakers' intent, but I at least didn't view him as a complete one-dimensional monster.

Schwarzenegger attempts to genuinely act, and surprisingly, he's not bad. I could never really picture the guy emoting grief (even though he did so in End of Days) but he pulls it off to a reasonably believable extent. Don't expect any of his typical smirks or deadpan one-liners. They're almost completely absent here. As "The Wolf's" wife, Francesca Neri is solid and convincing, but sometimes feels like little more than a plot device.

The story is mostly straightforward, with maybe one twist near the end that actually surprised me. Taken simply as a tale of revenge, the script isn't really that bad; hell, you even feel sorry for the protagonist. However, viewed as an attempt to examine terrorism, the film is mostly a failure (but not an entirely uninteresting one).

Most bothersome about the film (and ultimately the reason why I just can't recommend Collateral Damage) are the action sequences, which lack the "oomph" and energy I've come to expect from a Schwarzenegger film. His previous movie, The Sixth Day, suffered because it lacked genuine gunfights. This time around, he doesn't even pick up a gun! I'd heard the NRA was breathing down his back, but this is just ridiculous (glad to say this disturbing trend was only temporary, as Terminator 3 featured more gunplay than Schwarzenegger's last four films combined).

I've always been a fan of Schwarzenegger, who radiates a screen presence that most (inarguably superior) actors can't match on their best days. Collateral Damage is strictly for his fans, but don't be surprised if even they find themselves disappointed by this serious, humorless affair.
** 1/2 out of *****

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't live up to its hype
Review: In all seriousness, 9/11 was the best thing that could have ever happened for this movie, lifting it out of the discount VHS bin and into the national spotlight because of the timing of its release. The movie is bad and despite marketeers' efforts to relate the contents of this dreck with the serious and life-changing terrorism of September 11, this movie lacks in every category imaginable.

I am an Arnold fan, who isn't? I don't expect to see an especially deep and thought-provoking flick. As an Arnold fan, I expect to see a lot of action, a lot of laughs, and lots of baddies getting blowed up. As a movie fan, I expect the story to have a plot, have character development of at least the main characters, have peripheral threads somehow tie into the main plot with some sort of conclusion, and to have some semblance of a story to tell.

Collateral Damage lacks in just about every area. The action is lukewarm. The explosions are many, but they never seem big enough to kill the baddies nor are they timed well to help the story along. It's almost like the director decided that there needs to be X number of explosions, so he threw them in whenever it seemed convenient.

Arnold's humor is lacking severely. Maybe it's because he just saw his family blown up in an explosion, but c'mon, this is an Arnold movie; we need those dumb puns and kindergarten jokes. The closest we ever come to anything funny is when Arnold bites the ear off of a terrorist in an obvious reference to the Mike Tyson ear-biting incident. It wasn't funny for Holyfield, and it isn't funny for the audience.

To its credit, Collateral Damage does feature a lot of blown up bad guys. Arnold the fireman is somehow able to fashion grenades from engine parts, but such unbelievable things can be overlooked as they are pretty standard for an Arnold movie.

Plot? What plot? Oh you mean, Arnold's family is blown up so he has to go to Columbia and kill the terrorists? I'm sure there are other movies made with less plot than this, but this is an Arnold vehicle so we can put up with this lack of plot if only the action were good enough. Unfortunately the action lacks substance and the plot is just silly without it.

John Turturro is given barely a minute of screen time and his character is introduced and then forgotten. If you want to bring in a character, please figure out a way to weave that character into the main plot somehow!

Same with John Leguizamo's drug making capitalist character. His story arc goes something like "Hey Arnold, how are you? I'm a rapper. I need you to fix these machines while I make cocaine to sell to America. I'm not such a bad guy. Oh, my Columbian overlords killed me." Why couldn't he have been used better by the writer? It doesn't take much imagination to think of much better ways to use him.

This movie was disappointing in so many ways. I saw it on cable where it was proudly proclaimed that it was a must see movie because it was one of the few movies whose release was delayed because of 9/11. I was hoping for at least a typical Arnold movie, but this one falls way short of the mark. It bears very little resemblance to the actual terrorism of 9/11 and even with that act as a backdrop to this movie there was little that could be done to save it from the bargain video bin.

There are so many better Arnold movies to choose from, don't settle for Collateral Damage.

Rating:
Summary: No blazin guns
Review: Arnold doesnt blaze a single gun...

He just chops people up with axes.

If u want a good arnold movie, see Commando, True Lies, T2, Conan, Total Recall, Last Action Hero, Kindergarten Cop, Predator, Running Man, etc...

Rating:
Summary: Commando 2001: Arnie Goes to Columbia
Review: First of all, let me get something straight, Collateral Damage is a bad film and is not even on the same plane as Commando as action movies go in general. That being said, there are some flashes of the old Schwarzenegger in Collateral Damage. This time Arnold plays a city firefighter whose family is killed in a botched assasination attempt. Arnold watches it all unfold before his very eyes and becomes obsessed with finding "El Lobo" or The Wolf, the man responsible for killing his wife and son. Which leads him to the jungles of Columbia where he tries to hunt and kill El Lobo. There are some plot twists along the way and eventually Arnie finds his way back to the States. The film as a whole works much better when it is set in the United States. The flow is better, the story is clearer and the goal is obtainable. The sequences in Columbia are muddled and confusing. To make matters worse, needless characters are interspersed with little or no value to the story (ala John Leguizamo and John Tuturro). The ending was surprisingly satisfying which made me think back to the glory days of Commando, Terminator and Raw Deal. There is a whole lot less violence in this Schwarzenegger installment than most but it is used in effective spurts. Anyway, the ultimate payoff is there but the journey isn't worth the reward. Cable fare at best.