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Hunt for Eagle One, The
Sony Pictures // R // January 17, 2006
List Price: $24.96 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie-
Lieutenant Matt Daniels (Mark Dacascos) heads a joint assult force in a raid to capture al-Qaeda terrorists who are holing up with Philippine rebels. In a related mission to capture a terrorist leader, Captain Amy Jennings (Theresa Randle) and her unit are shot down deep in enemy territory where she falls into the hands of the man she has set out to capture, the notorious Abubakar al-Salaam. Daniel's commander, General Frank Lewis (Rutger Hauer) reassigns Daniels and his elite group to fight through heavy resistance on a seemingly impossible mission, not only to save Jennings and her crew but also to destroy bio-chemical weapons they have stumbled upon.
The DVD-
Well folks, that's your premise here anyway. This movie IS busy - not in an involving way, but in a confusing way. There seems to always be a covert tactic being deployed or a battle sequence on the screen; it's virtually a 91 minute firefight. Lots of lead in the air at all times accentuated with the occasional boom of heavy artillery. As what seems like the entirety of this movie is shot in a dense jungle setting, you'd better like green- because that's going to be the predominant color you'll be seeing here.
Let's face it, any movie that makes even a token mention of the World Trade Center tragedy and al-Qaeda resistance is looking to make an impression whether it's necessary or, in the case of this movie, not. While Dacascos is a competent enough actor, he doesn't seem to have the presence necessary to pull off the lead role here. Hauer's brief performance seemed mailed in - in fact, the whole script had that feeling. What is baffling to me is, this film has direct to video written all over it - yet it's a new breed of direct to video that I'm not altogether used to seeing, with some splendid photography and a really good audio track. Eye (and ear) candy for action/war movie fans I suppose?
Video-
Mastered in High Definition and presented here in 1:85:1 anamorphic widescreen, this movie actually looks very good. The print is sharp and clean, with the slightest touch of grain in a few scenes, and the colors are vibrant. There is some slight edge enhancement and some strange usage of colors at the beginning of the film, but I attribute that to the movie and not the disc itself.
Audio-
Audio track here is Dolby Digital 5.1. Again, a disc that sounds pretty good with decent use of surrounds and subwoofer action in battle scenes. English subtitles are available where necessary and there is a closed-captioned option as well.
Extras-
Nothing in the way of extras here.
Final Thoughts-
I like watching Hauer in just about any film he's a part of, and also enjoyed seeing Randle here as well. Unfortunately I couldn't warm up to this one. It's a loud, good looking movie that tries to make an impact in any way it can, but for me it just didn't get the job done. It has the ambience of one of those movies you're bound to see on several of the action-oriented cable stations at about three in the morning- "Hey, Rutger Hauer is in this one, I might as well check it out!" If you DO decide to check it out before then, rent it.
Lieutenant Matt Daniels (Mark Dacascos) heads a joint assult force in a raid to capture al-Qaeda terrorists who are holing up with Philippine rebels. In a related mission to capture a terrorist leader, Captain Amy Jennings (Theresa Randle) and her unit are shot down deep in enemy territory where she falls into the hands of the man she has set out to capture, the notorious Abubakar al-Salaam. Daniel's commander, General Frank Lewis (Rutger Hauer) reassigns Daniels and his elite group to fight through heavy resistance on a seemingly impossible mission, not only to save Jennings and her crew but also to destroy bio-chemical weapons they have stumbled upon.
The DVD-
Well folks, that's your premise here anyway. This movie IS busy - not in an involving way, but in a confusing way. There seems to always be a covert tactic being deployed or a battle sequence on the screen; it's virtually a 91 minute firefight. Lots of lead in the air at all times accentuated with the occasional boom of heavy artillery. As what seems like the entirety of this movie is shot in a dense jungle setting, you'd better like green- because that's going to be the predominant color you'll be seeing here.
Let's face it, any movie that makes even a token mention of the World Trade Center tragedy and al-Qaeda resistance is looking to make an impression whether it's necessary or, in the case of this movie, not. While Dacascos is a competent enough actor, he doesn't seem to have the presence necessary to pull off the lead role here. Hauer's brief performance seemed mailed in - in fact, the whole script had that feeling. What is baffling to me is, this film has direct to video written all over it - yet it's a new breed of direct to video that I'm not altogether used to seeing, with some splendid photography and a really good audio track. Eye (and ear) candy for action/war movie fans I suppose?
Video-
Mastered in High Definition and presented here in 1:85:1 anamorphic widescreen, this movie actually looks very good. The print is sharp and clean, with the slightest touch of grain in a few scenes, and the colors are vibrant. There is some slight edge enhancement and some strange usage of colors at the beginning of the film, but I attribute that to the movie and not the disc itself.
Audio-
Audio track here is Dolby Digital 5.1. Again, a disc that sounds pretty good with decent use of surrounds and subwoofer action in battle scenes. English subtitles are available where necessary and there is a closed-captioned option as well.
Extras-
Nothing in the way of extras here.
Final Thoughts-
I like watching Hauer in just about any film he's a part of, and also enjoyed seeing Randle here as well. Unfortunately I couldn't warm up to this one. It's a loud, good looking movie that tries to make an impact in any way it can, but for me it just didn't get the job done. It has the ambience of one of those movies you're bound to see on several of the action-oriented cable stations at about three in the morning- "Hey, Rutger Hauer is in this one, I might as well check it out!" If you DO decide to check it out before then, rent it.
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