STUDIO: Liongate
RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2008
STARRING: Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Edgar Ramirez, Said Taghmaoui, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, and William Hurt
WRITTEN BY: Barry Levy
DIRECTED BY: Pete Travis
FEATURES: Deleted Scene
An Inside Perspective: Interviews with the Cast and Crew
Plotting an Assassination: Interview with First-time Screenwriter Barry Levy
Commentary with Director Pete Travis
Exclusive to Blu-ray Disc, Vantage Viewer: GPS Tracker: This feature lets viewers track the on-screen movements of each character throughout the film’s overlapping timeline

You don't need to look any further than Vantage Point to see the massive influence that Fox's 24 has had on the world of entertainment. Perhaps that's why far too many critics dismissed this well-made and enjoyable action/adventure when it played in theaters. Maybe they've been spoiled by Jack Bauer. No, Vantage Point doesn't hold up to the best of 24, but what does? And the critics who bemoaned the use of a "trick structure" to tell a story really need to learn to judge a film based on what it tries to do. Would Vantage Point fall apart without the gimmick? Probably. There's not much to it and there are a few elements of the real-time structure that don't quite make sense, but that's part of the point. Director Pete Travis and writer Barry Levy are using audience expectations and the momentum of a story that takes place entirely during what would be another film's climax to mess with them. In fact, the excellent special features on the new Sony disc make that intention even clearer. How many movies will you see where the same line of dialogue from the same character seen at two different points of the movie has actually "cheated" and used a different take? Some thought it was ridiculous. I think it's a clever thrill ride with one of the best ensembles of the year. It all depends on your viewpoint.

The entirety of Vantage Point takes place in about the same 15-20 minute window during a summit meeting between world leaders in Salamanca, Spain. The action first unfolds through the eyes of a cable network news director played by Sigourney Weaver. Through her camera, we see glimpses of the other major characters, including Secret Service Agent Thomas Barnes (a great Dennis Quaid), who took a bullet for the President a year earlier and is on his first assignment back, fellow Agent Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox), an American tourist (Forest Whitaker), a local cop (Edgar Ramirez), and, of course, the President himself (a perfectly cast William Hurt). Within minutes, the President has been assassinated, something has exploded in the distance, and then the rally stage goes boom. Suddenly, the film jogs back and we see many of the same events again, but from a different perspective and continuing on a little further than the first "vantage point". The entire film takes place in a smaller window of actual time than the running time of the movie itself, but it rarely feels repetitive and should keep viewers on the edge of their seats enough to suspend their disbelief at the amazing twists and turns. If you're prone to asking questions about why Jack would do some of the insane things he's done on 24, then go rent something else this week. But if you can set your disbelief aside long enough to watch it, you're unlikely to be disappointed by Vantage Point.

Of course, watching it on Blu-Ray doesn't hurt. Sony is the current master of the format and their picture and audio on Vantage Point is absolutely flawless. But that's what the format is all about, right? No, the notable thing about the Blu-Ray release of Vantage Point is a VERY cool special feature called GPS Tracker. If you've seen the movie or been paying attention to the recap in the previous paragraph, you'll note that while one character is on-screen, another is doing something important off of it. GPS Tracker allows you to literally chart the activity of each character at the same time. It's interesting to see just how smoothly the film does fit together. It's tighter than I thought. Besides the excellent GPS Tracker, fans will find some more-interesting-than-average featurettes. "An Inside Perspective" features a look at and interviews with all the major characters and the big players behind-the-scenes. It's a great little doc. Fans will also find a commentary track, a funny "deleted scene", and a small featurette on the technicalities of the big scene called "Plotting an Assassination." Action movies always thrive on DVD. Vantage Point will find a huge audience at home and Sony has treated them right. It's one of the better new theatrical DVDs of the season.