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Man on Fire - Mann unter Feuer (Special Edition, 2 DVDs)

Amazon Link : Man on Fire - Mann unter Feuer (Special Edition, 2 DVDs)
Movie: Mexico is rocked by a wave of kidnappings. Violent kidnapping occurs every day in the country, rarely leaving the victims alive. Especially children of rich and influential parents are at risk, which is why more and more bodyguards are hired. This includes former CIA agent Creasy (Denzel Washington), who is procured by his friend Rayburn (Christopher Walken) to be the protector of nine-year-old Pita Ramos (Dakota Fanning). The daughter of powerful industrialist Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony) and American Lisa (Radha Mitchell), Pita is without question a potential victim of kidnappers. Creasy isn't doing a very good job of adjusting to his new job. Eaten up by the ghosts of his past and driven to alcoholism, the ex-agent is actually too busy with himself to care about a little girl as well. But little by little little Pita manages to get close to Creasy and after some time the two even develop a kind of friendship, which is very good for Creasy, but also scares him. His friendship with Pita could cloud his professional vision and endanger the girl's life. But before Creasy can give it any more thought, Pita is kidnapped before his eyes and he himself is shot to death. When the planned ransom drop goes awry and Pita's life is on the line, Creasy doesn't let his health stop him from searching for the kidnappers on his own and killing anyone involved in Pita's disappearance. Tony Scott's ("Spy Game", "The Public Enemy #1", "Top Gun") new film actually has two completely different sides. There's the first third, which is almost a character study of the fallen Creasy, and goes into great length and detail about the budding friendship between the ex-agent and the nine-year-old girl. But then not only the content but also the style changes drastically. While at the beginning calm, sharp and colorful images dominated, with the kidnapping of Pita a different style takes over, in which fast cuts, hectic camera movements and dirty colors gain the upper hand. But as successful as this break in style seems at first - because it's quite appropriate to the situation the protagonist finds himself in - the film's hectic cuts quickly get on the viewer's nerves. Especially since you can't get rid of the impression that Tony Scott doesn't bring in any new ideas, but just steals from himself mercilessly. Even the quite original idea to transport the subtitles depending on the intensity of the uttered sometimes small, sometimes much larger and blurred on the screen, Scott has already used in his contribution to the popular BMW movies with Clive Owen. The actors, but especially Denzel Washington and the as always wonderfully crazy Christopher Walken, do their thing quite well and the film also has a high potential for suspense, but still I had two big problems with the film. First, there's the length. With well over two hours, the film is far too long. Even though the extremely long prologue is necessary to illustrate why Creasy snaps like that and becomes "Man Under Fire" (a wonderful translation of "Man on Fire"!), it would have done the movie a lot of good to have shortened it by a few minutes. The other problem I have with the film is its message. Murder - even extremely bestial executions - are justified when it comes to revenge. The theme of vigilante justice is one that movies have taken up time and time again, but rarely has it been staged in such a bold and brutal way as it is here. When Samuel L. Jackson shoots his daughter's rapists in "The Jury", as a viewer you can definitely relate (even if you don't necessarily approve). But when Denzel Washington as the "Man Under Fire" takes revenge by giving one of the people involved in the kidnapping a very special rectal treatment, the message of the film is conveyed a bit too brutely. From this point on, the whole thing strongly reminds us of several 80s action flicks of this kind, which also used the motive of revenge as an excuse to show as much brutal murders as possible. And somehow you can't get rid of the feeling in "Man Under Fire" that Tony Scott was just looking for a "moral" excuse to let Creasy rampage as brutal as possible. Well, he certainly succeeded in this. "Man Under Fire" definitely has good and poignant and also very suspenseful moments. But the questionable moral and the overlength make it not necessarily recommendable. Even the good soundtrack and the very good actors can't change that much. Therefore, overall: only conditionally worth seeing! Picture: Director Tony Scott uses in "Man on Fire" not only extremely fast cuts, but also many other visual gimmicks that should give the film a very special look. These include heavily grainy shots in places, washed out images and exaggerated contrasts. In the more quiet moments, however, the picture quality then convinces with good sharpness and vibrant colors. For this there is a deserved "Gut"! Sound: Here hardly any wishes remain open! Abundant surround effects, a pleasantly dynamic sound and a very good mix of the excellent film music make for a very satisfied "Very good"! Extras: "Man on Fire" has already been released some time ago as a bonus-free single disc. Now a very worthwhile Special Edition has also been released with plenty of bonus material on two DVDs. Things kick off on the first disc with two audio commentaries, one by director Tony Scott and one by screenwriter Brian Helgeland, producer Lucas Foster and actress Dakota Fanning. Technically, Scott's commentary is definitely more interesting, while the second commentary goes into more detail about the filming and story. Both commentaries have optional German subtitles. Also included on the first disc are 15 cut scenes and an alternate ending, which can be watched in one piece (approx. 31:16), or individually. Optionally, a commentary by Tony Scott is also switchable, which should be switched on especially at the alternative end absolutely! On the second DVD, it then continues with the very worth seeing, five-part making of "The revenge is mine! The Rediscovery of Man on Fire" (72:40), which looks at the entire production in great detail and is pleasantly commercial-free. "Pita's Abduction" can then be viewed as a script excerpt, a storyboard, or a multi-angled featurette from four camera angles, with a subtitled commentary by Tony Scott. A photo gallery, the music video "Oye camo va" by Kinkey (03:16) and three theatrical trailers as well as four TV spots round out the well-done bonus package. Conclusion: Although the film has some noticeable flaws, the Special Edition is definitely worth purchasing. The informative commentary by Tony Scott, the cut scenes and the excellent making of alone make this double DVD a must buy. Technically, the disc is only good average, but there is no real reason to complain here either. If you like the movie, you should definitely buy the double DVD and not the cheaper single DVD. It's really worth it!!! Original title: Man on Fire Director: Tony Scott Number of discs: 2 Languages: English, German (Dolby Digital 5.1) Subtitles: German, English Image Format: 16:9 (2.35:1) Extras: audio commentaries, cut scenes, documentary, multi-angle featurette, photo gallery, music video, trailer FSK: age 16+ length: approx. 140 min. Regional Code: 2

Ein Artikel von Frankfurt-Tipp