This is one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to be shot on high-def. Yes, “Star Wars” did it. So I’ll re-phrase. This was one of the first movies to use people, story, characters and the new high-def cameras (no
This is one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to be shot on high-def. Yes, “Star Wars” did it. So I’ll re-phrase.
This was one of the first movies to use people, story, characters and the new high-def cameras (no computers) to bring to the screen a bone-chilling thriller featuring Tom Cruise as a hired killer.
“Collateral” was quite a change for Cruise.
Until this movie he was known as a movie star with box-office appeal. His only roles where he really took risks were 1989’s “Born on the 4th of July” (Cruise’s first Oscar nomination) and 2000’s “Magnolia” (his second Oscar nod).
At the time of “Collateral” Cruise had also begun producing his own movies (the “Mission Impossible” series).
The story of “Collateral” starts with Jamie Foxx playing a cab driver named Max. On a normal night in Los Angeles, Foxx is minding his own business, when Vincent (Cruise) enters his cab.
Vincent’s request is simple: “Drive me around all night for $600.” Little does Max know, Vincent has one mission: to kill all the witnesses that are going to testify against his Mob boss.
The film is directed by one of film’s master directors, Michael Mann (“Miami Vice”).
Mann takes the audience on a wild ride of suspense, violence and drama. And, most importantly, Mann manages to use the city of Los Angeles as a character. You watch the film and feel as if you’re stuck in the gritty alleys, traffic-filled freeways and wild streets. From the opening five minutes we’re are thrust into the beautiful smog-filled city of Los Angeles.
In the making of the movie, Mann draws special attention to location.
During the production Cruise asked Mann, “Where did you find this gas station?” Mann’s reply was he conceived “Collateral” to utilize piles and piles of location scouts, photos and notes he had collected about the city over the course of his 20-year career as a writer/producer/director.
“Collateral” set an important record in film history. There have only been two actors to be nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in the same year. The first was Al Pacino for “Scent of a Woman” (Pacino won) and “Glengarry Glen Ross” (1992) and the second was Jamie Foxx in 2004. For “Collateral” Foxx nabbed a Supporting Actor nod and won for Best Actor for “Ray,” his outstanding portrayal of musical legend Ray Charles.
This week’s top 10 includes work from Mann and some of the best work from Cruise and Foxx.
