Cast

Synopsis

After the cold war, a group of mercenaries and assassins hire themselves out to the highest bidder. They will do almost anything, but they trust no-one.

Film

After a mysterious client assembles them in France, they are given a job to steal a top secret briefcase. No-one knows what the briefcase contains, but they decide to take the job. Unfortunately, there are others with the same target...The briefcase. This means that they must come together to trust each other, or risk failure and possible death.

If you like car chases, you will love this film...Simple. It contains some brilliant, if sometimes a tad unbelievable scenes (at one point De Niro fires a bazooka whilst stood up through a sunroof! The film was shot almost entirely with a steadi-cam, and it works well...You feel at times like you are there with them, rather than being a distant spectator. Both De Niro and Reno both turn in fine performances, with the former managing a little humour at times. Bean however steals the show, but I'm not going to give the game away here as to why.

One thing, the ending is a little flat and disappointing, and although the alternate ending has a much harder edge, it still leaves a basic question unanswered.

Extras are a bit pathetic, as previously mentioned, the alternative ending is the main point, but the commentary is a little flat in places. The menu however is quite pretty with a nice car chase going on in the background. All in all, a good film with some fantastic car chases and clever camerawork, but let down slightly by poor extras and underused surround channels.

Extras

• Never-Before-Seen Alternate Ending
• Feature Length Audio Commentary by Director John
Frankenheimer
• Eight-Page Booklet Featuring Insights into the Making of the Film

Reviewed by: Paul