Eagle Eye DVD: Review By B. Alan Orange

I absolutely loved D.J. Caruso's The Salton Sea. It was dumped into theaters for a single weekend way back in April of 2002. And it never quite found an audience. Even on the cult circuit. Since that time, the director has scooped up young buck Shia LaBeouf and turned him into a prodigy of sorts. Their first outing together was 2007s hugely successful Disturbia. In 2008, they returned to Cineplexes worldwide with Eagle Eye, and it proved to be a much-improved follow-up. The film is a sort-of spy thriller that harkens back to the golden age of War Games. And it even has a similar villian. It's a fairly mediocre idea executed with a lot of manic energy and heaping amount of style. I hate to say it, but Eagle Eye also has a lot of charm. Its two leads, LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan, are a perfect platonic match. There is a unique brother-sister quality to their onscreen relationship, and we don't often see that sort of camaraderie played out in today's modern cinema. There's no time for love, which means even more time for gratuitous action sequences that will stun and amaze your numb face. The film offers the kind of thrills you'll want to rewind and watch again and again in the comforts or your own home. Just don't question all of the pedestrian deaths happening off screen due to the unstoppable mayhem, and you should be fine. If you like unrelenting films like Run and The Fugitive, this will be right up your alley. The plot centers on Jerry Shaw, who is mistaken for his recently deceased twin brother. He is soon being chased by the FBI, who find a stash of weapons in his apartment and suspect that he is a terrorist. Single mom Rachel is also drawn into this plot, and together, the two must fight to stay out of the hands of the federal government. For quite a longtime, we are just as clueless to their actual plight as they are. Who is behind the set up is all explained in due time, but a lot of the secondary characters get lost in the process. Billy Bob Thornton seems to be killing time between his music gigs as an agent in pursuit. And the always-sexy Rosario Dawson gives some good one-liners, but not much else. The ending might stump you if you're not in the mood for ridiculousness. And D.J. Caruso, already accused of plagiarizing Rear Window for his Disturbia, totally rips off Hitchc*ck once again for this film's climactic ending. Over all, it's a pretty enjoyable movie. If you like your films fast and dumb, that is. It's a keeper. Though, it never does quite reach the dizzying heights of D.J.'s first film The Salton Sea. Maybe you should watch that one first.

This single edition disc only includes a handful of deleted scenes. There are three in all, and they are pretty short and inconsequential. Not really worth your time, if you ask me. There is also a rather short featurette entitled Road Trip: On Location with the Cast and Crew that looks at shooting the film in a dozen different locations over a very short period of time.

The film is presented in widescreen 2.35:1 anamorphic scope. It is in color. And the feature runs at 117 minutes.

The film is presented in Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround as well as Spanish 5.1 Surround. Subtitles are in English, French, and Spanish.

The front cover stays pretty true to the original theatrical 1-sheet. This looks like a slightly classier straight-to-DVD action thriller. There are explosions and bruises, and I can tell I am going to have a good time. I especially like the subtle blue motif as opposed to the usual red and orange backgrounds used on a film like this. The back cover makes damn sure you know this is an action movie by showing its two leads in all kinds of energetic poses. I would gravitate towards this in the store, for sure.

If you are looking for non-stop action and thrills, look no further. This film is relentlessly paced and full of exciting moments that will have you staring in awe for quite sometime. The story hinges towards the dumb side of the genre. But its an espionage flick in the same vein as War Games. What did you expect? You should probably just buy it.