Eagle Eye Blu-ray: Review By Brian Gallagher

Way back in July, right before Comic-Con, I was among a group of press members who got to see the first half hour or so of Eagle Eye, and, once I saw that, I was pissed because I knew I needed to wait about two more months to see the rest of this explosive flick. That day finally did come and I thoroughly enjoyed the flick in the theater and now I can enjoy it over and over again on DVD, because this DVD surely has a slot in my collection.

What made me so pumped to see this after that initial half-hour showing was the unrelenting pace of the flick. We open in the Middle East, with American intelligence tracking a caravan of vehicles, one of which might be transporting an elusive terrorist that they might not get another crack at for years. The problem is that, despite the influx of technology, there is only a 51% probability that it is this terrorist and the President orders Defense Secretary Callister (Michael Chiklis) to proceed and take out the target. We then come back to America and take a look at the lives of two random Americans: Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) and Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan). Jerry is basically a slacker, lacking the ambition to finish his education at Stanford and working at a copy mart, barely able to pay his rent. Rachel's main focus in her life is her child, Sam (Cameron Boyce), who is going off on a big musical excursion to D.C. with some other young music prodigies. Both Jerry and Rachel then receive a phone call that will turn their world upside down, and this film takes off on a frantic pace throughout the rest of the film.

The film blasts through its 117-minute runtime at a rather unrelenting pace, matching the high-speed pace that the technology around us sets for us in the 21st Century. What's even more interesting is that the story was originally conceived by executive producer Steven Spielberg about 10 years ago and, what would've seemed like science-fiction then, is incredibly appropriate now. The screenplay by John Glenn, Travis Adam Wright, Hillary Seitz and Dan McDermott is eerily apropos and everything you see on screen can pretty much be possible in this day and age, whether we like it or not.

This is the second film in as many years that features the wonderful duo of Shia LaBeouf and director D.J. Caruso, who first teamed up with the 2007 sleeper hit Disturbia. While Shia has certainly been seen almost everywhere on the silver screen before and after that, it seems that he and Caruso both mesh so well and it's especially evident since those two films are so vastly different from one another, with Disturbia more of a methodical thriller and Eagle Eye an intense, in-your-face action-thriller. It shows that both Caruso and LaBeouf can shine together in any sort of film together, and branches out both of their individual genre ranges as well. This film proves that both Caruso and LaBeouf - whether it be together or apart - will be around for quite some time and I can't wait to see what either of them have in store for us next - whether it be together or apart.

Michelle Monaghan continues her wonderful streak of great performances as the co-lead here and we get some great supporting turns here from big names such as Billy Bob Thornton, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Mackie and Michael Chiklis. The only real beef I have with the film is the ending is a tad bit unoriginal and we kind of tread in semi-familiar waters as the film draws to a close. While the ending is pretty slick, it also seems like we've visited this before. I guess it was a tad bit of a letdown, since the rest of the film builds us up to this ending so nicely, when we get to the ending that in many ways, we've seen before.

Overall, Eagle Eye is one hell of a thriller that packs an intense wallop and gives you as much bang for your buck than any other flick out there. If you live on the edge of your seat when watching a DVD, this is the perfect choice for your viewing needs because Eagle Eye will have you glued to the edge of your seat all the way until the end.

We get this two-disc set started with three Deleted Scenes, and they're all worth of deletion. We really don't get any added insight into anything here and I'd just skip over these, even though they are only for a minute or two combined.

Road Trip: On Location With Cast and Crew is next and we do get a lot of nice insight here. This deals with the fact that the film is basically a "road" movie, with the cast and crew talking about the 90 different locations that they shot the film in. It's a short little three-minute featurette, but it's worth checking out.

An Alternate Ending is next and it's a nifty little ending that sets up some intriguing possibilities. It's only about a minute or so and, it's well worth a look-see. This could've easily worked as the regular ending and it wouldn't have really changed a whole lot of the original film. On the other hand, I can se why they took it out, but it's worth a look-see.

Asymetrical Warfare: The Making of Eagle Eye is next and it's a full making-of featurette that goes all the way back to the film's inception - from an original idea by Steven Spielberg 10 years prior - to the wonderful casting and the usage of almost all practical effects as opposed to CGI, which is always great to see these days. They also talk a lot about the development of the Aria supercomputer character, which is also just as coolThere isWe delve into practically every aspect of this picture, from inception on, and this 25-minute featurette is a wonderful, in-depth glimpse into this film.

Eagle Eye on Location: Washington D.C. talks about the unique challenges that shooting in our nation's capitol brought. We're starting to see some of the footage being recycled here, and I hope this doesn't continue throughout the DVD. They talk about shooting in the Library of Congress and those nifty tunnels between the Capitol Building and the Library of Congress that actually do exist and visitors will be able to see for the first time at the end of 2008. This is a cool little six-minute feature that is also worth a look-see.

Is My Cell Phone Spying On Me? is next and it's another great featurette that talks about the reality of the technology that is used in the film and how this stuff is really possible. We get some interview snippets of some of the actors and also from some experts in the field concerning these kinds of technologies, and how they affect our society as a whole. It is a very cool look about this technology and it's just as informative as it is entertaining. If you're intrigued by the real-world Big Brother stuff, this nine-minute featurette will be right up your alley.

Shall We Play a Game? is next, and it's basically just a chat between Eagle Eye director D.J.Caruso and his mentor, director John Badham, who directed the seminal 80s computer film, WarGames, which obviously influenced Eagle Eye and scores of films in the 25 years since its release. It's an interesting little chat and I didn't know that Badham helped paved the way for Caruso and these two chat about a number of interesting movie topics in this nine-minute piece that's rather fun to watch.

Gag Reel is the last thing we get here, besides a Photo Gallery and the Theatrical Trailer, and it's a hilarious seven-minute look at the lighter side of Eagle Eye. There's some pretty funny stuff here, including some wonderful improve material between Billy Bob Thornton and Rosario Dawson, but basically everyone gets in on the action in this gag reel. It's a great way to end out this great collection of features.

The film is presented in the widescreen format, enhanced for 16x9 televisions.

The sound is handled through the Dolby Digital 5.1 format.

Some nice work here. The front cover has a nice big shot of LaBeouf and Monaghan in action that takes up most of the whole front, with a few smaller surveillance images below the title card. The back features another shot of LaBeouf and Monaghan along with a nice synopsis, a spiffy special features box, a critic quote and the billing block and tech specs.

While the ending could've used a tad bit of work, Eagle Eye is one hell of a thriller that gives you more than your normal fix of action and suspense, all set at a breackneck pace with some of the hottest actors on the silver screen today.