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Unlawful Entry
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
One of the most often used thriller elements is a character who seems like an otherwise nice person who pushes themselves into the life of other characters to the point where they have no way out. This was actually most effectively used in a dark comedy, as Jim Carrey made for the cable guy from hell in "The Cable Guy". But, for this 1992 thriller, Ray Liotta plays a police officer who comes to the aid of Michael and Karen Carr(Kurt Russell and Madeline Stowe), who just had a break-in.
Pete Davis (Liotta) seems to be a nice person, although little hints are apparent right away that not everything is what it seems. He helps the Carrs make their house more secure, comes over for dinner, and generally seems like he could be a new friend. Uh, no. Soon enough, an undercurrent of violence in the character makes itself known, and the once peaceful officer now begins to get himself into the lives of the Carrs (especially Karen) - whether they like it or not.
There's two ways that characters can play nuts - the slow boil, as Liotta does here, or the genuinely nuts character, as Jim Carrey did in "The Cable Guy". Liotta's version is far more menacing, although the unpredictability of Carrey's performance made it creepier. As decent a performance as Liotta's is, it's just really not enough to engage. The film follows the formula of several similar films that have come before and after the picture, and it's simply different characters, but familiar story details.
On the other hand, Russell and Stowe do decent work for otherwise rather bland characters. There's some tension to the proceedings as the film begins to get going, but the first half of the picture moves rather slowly. There's a few too many false scares throughout the film, as well. Kaplan is a talented director who hasn't found particularly great material lately; neither in this film or his most recent feature, the prison film "Brokedown Palace". More recently, he's been directing episodes of "E.R."
The DVD
VIDEO: "Unlawful Entry" is presented in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and like all Fox film titles, it is anamorphic. It's a pretty solid presentation, although it's not one of the studio's better editions of a catalog title. Sharpness and detail are generally good, although there are some scenes that seemed slightly soft and flat. Darker scenes in the film appeared a little undefined, but this wasn't a major complaint.
There are a couple of flaws that were noticable throughout the film, although certainly nothing major. Some minor print flaws in the form of light marks and speckles appeared throughout the film, but certainly no major wear. Some trace amounts of pixelation and edge enhancement appear, but nothing that's too noticable.
Colors appeared strong and natural, looking well-rendered with no problems. Flesh tones appeared accurate, and overall, although this wasn't without some flaws, it is an above-average effort.
SOUND: "Unlawful Entry" is presented in Dolby Digital 4.0 and DTS 4.0. The film generally remains a dialogue and music-driven thriller, with rather little in the way of much other activity. The decent James Horner score, although it signals events a little too often, sounds clear and crisp. Dialogue remains easily heard, and some minor ambient sounds also seemed generally realistic. Not a great audio presentation, but it's fine for the material.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with basic film-themed images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a decent commentary from director Jonathan Kaplan. A good deal of the commentary is spent with the director basically explaining what is happening during that particular scene. Occasionally, he elaborates and discusses some behind-the-scenes information, but the track defintely does have some noticable slow points. Fans of the film only will probably the only ones too interested in the film.
Also: 4 1/2 minute featurette as well as trailers for "Big Trouble In Little China", "Point Break", "Chain Reaction" and "Unlawful Entry". 2 TV Spots for "Unlawful" are also included.
Final Thoughts: I didn't think "Unlawful Entry" was a great film, and although Fox's DVD provides decent audio/video quality, the extras weren't too interesting. Russell's "Big Trouble In Little China" is also coming from Fox in this same week, and is more worthwhile of a look than this film.
One of the most often used thriller elements is a character who seems like an otherwise nice person who pushes themselves into the life of other characters to the point where they have no way out. This was actually most effectively used in a dark comedy, as Jim Carrey made for the cable guy from hell in "The Cable Guy". But, for this 1992 thriller, Ray Liotta plays a police officer who comes to the aid of Michael and Karen Carr(Kurt Russell and Madeline Stowe), who just had a break-in.
Pete Davis (Liotta) seems to be a nice person, although little hints are apparent right away that not everything is what it seems. He helps the Carrs make their house more secure, comes over for dinner, and generally seems like he could be a new friend. Uh, no. Soon enough, an undercurrent of violence in the character makes itself known, and the once peaceful officer now begins to get himself into the lives of the Carrs (especially Karen) - whether they like it or not.
There's two ways that characters can play nuts - the slow boil, as Liotta does here, or the genuinely nuts character, as Jim Carrey did in "The Cable Guy". Liotta's version is far more menacing, although the unpredictability of Carrey's performance made it creepier. As decent a performance as Liotta's is, it's just really not enough to engage. The film follows the formula of several similar films that have come before and after the picture, and it's simply different characters, but familiar story details.
On the other hand, Russell and Stowe do decent work for otherwise rather bland characters. There's some tension to the proceedings as the film begins to get going, but the first half of the picture moves rather slowly. There's a few too many false scares throughout the film, as well. Kaplan is a talented director who hasn't found particularly great material lately; neither in this film or his most recent feature, the prison film "Brokedown Palace". More recently, he's been directing episodes of "E.R."
The DVD
VIDEO: "Unlawful Entry" is presented in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and like all Fox film titles, it is anamorphic. It's a pretty solid presentation, although it's not one of the studio's better editions of a catalog title. Sharpness and detail are generally good, although there are some scenes that seemed slightly soft and flat. Darker scenes in the film appeared a little undefined, but this wasn't a major complaint.
There are a couple of flaws that were noticable throughout the film, although certainly nothing major. Some minor print flaws in the form of light marks and speckles appeared throughout the film, but certainly no major wear. Some trace amounts of pixelation and edge enhancement appear, but nothing that's too noticable.
Colors appeared strong and natural, looking well-rendered with no problems. Flesh tones appeared accurate, and overall, although this wasn't without some flaws, it is an above-average effort.
SOUND: "Unlawful Entry" is presented in Dolby Digital 4.0 and DTS 4.0. The film generally remains a dialogue and music-driven thriller, with rather little in the way of much other activity. The decent James Horner score, although it signals events a little too often, sounds clear and crisp. Dialogue remains easily heard, and some minor ambient sounds also seemed generally realistic. Not a great audio presentation, but it's fine for the material.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with basic film-themed images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a decent commentary from director Jonathan Kaplan. A good deal of the commentary is spent with the director basically explaining what is happening during that particular scene. Occasionally, he elaborates and discusses some behind-the-scenes information, but the track defintely does have some noticable slow points. Fans of the film only will probably the only ones too interested in the film.
Also: 4 1/2 minute featurette as well as trailers for "Big Trouble In Little China", "Point Break", "Chain Reaction" and "Unlawful Entry". 2 TV Spots for "Unlawful" are also included.
Final Thoughts: I didn't think "Unlawful Entry" was a great film, and although Fox's DVD provides decent audio/video quality, the extras weren't too interesting. Russell's "Big Trouble In Little China" is also coming from Fox in this same week, and is more worthwhile of a look than this film.
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