Enemy of the State (1998) Review

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(More customer reviews)MOVIE: Enemy of The State is another one of Jerry Bruckheimer's mid 90's action extravaganzas. He reunites with Tony Scott to bring us this action flick about government coverups and how technology is used to basically track every aspect of your life. The movie is about a lawyer who is unwillingly thrown into a wild cat and mouse chase. A congressman is murdered near a reservoir where research is done on migratory geese. So, unknowingly, the whole thing is caught on tape and ends up in the hands of a nerdy and young Jason Lee. He realizes what he has in his possession and during a foot chase he bumps into his old friend played by Will Smith and secretly drops the tape in his bag. Now Will Smith's character is thrown into a world of espionage without knowing why he is being hunted. He meets up with Brill, played by Gene Hackman, an ex NSA agent who ends up helping him. Hackman basically plays a reincarnation of his character in Coppola's The Conversation. The movie is directed at a fast pace by Tony Scott, and it's an overall entertaining action flick. I felt the movie tried to be smarter than it actually was and that the characters were very plain and boring.
ACTING: I didn't like Hackman in this role, but Will Smith brought some life into the movie. For people who haven't seen the movie in awhile you should check it out to recognize some young faces including Jack Black, Jake Busey, Jaimie Kennedy, Seth Green, and the of course the previously mentioned Jason Lee.
VIDEO: The great thing about the recent releases of Con Air, Crimson Tide, and Enemy Of The State are the new anamorphic transfers of the films. They are greatly appreciated and are so much better than the old ones. The quality of the transfer has not improved greatly in terms of picture quality, but there is a noticeable difference.
AUDIO: As for sound we get a very dull Dolby 5.1 mix. All the dialogue is usually center heavy, and rarely does action actually envelope you from the surround speakers. The track is the same from the old release, so it's not the best. There are some scenes with helicopters and some big explosions that utilize the surround speakers well, but overall it's a very dull mix.
SPECIAL FEATURES: The "making of" featurette was actually more extensive than I was expecting. They talk more about the gadgets used in the film versus the actual movie, but overall I found it to be interesting. All the interviews were done back during the making of the movie and it was a pretty extensive behind the scenes for what the movie is. One thing I found extremely interesting was that they talked about a scene where Will Smith is chased by cars in an underground tunnel in his bathrobe. In reality, the cars didn't fit into the tunnel so they had do take the cars apart and weld them back together in the tunnel. The entire scene was maybe a minute long! I just found it interesting that all that work was done for maybe a blip of action. Anyway, the next featurette is basically some on set footage. Overall the two featurettes do justice for what this movie is.
BOTTOM LINE: I got confused whether this was indeed an "extended" cut of the film or not. The cover you see on places like Amazon is not the cover that you actually get. The cover of the film is actually labeled "Special Edition", but the menu does indeed say "Unrated Extended Edition". So, I am thoroughly confused. I didn't notice anything noticeably new, and the running times listed are identical between the old disc and the new one. Still, the upgrade is worth it.

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Hot Hollywood favorite Will Smith (MEN IN BLACK, INDEPENDENCE DAY) stars with Academy Award(R)-winner Gene Hackman (Best Actor, 1971, THE FRENCH CONNECTION) in a high-powered suspense thriller where nonstop action meets cutting-edge technology! Robert Clayton Dean (Smith) is a successful Washington, D.C., attorney who -- without his knowledge -- is given a video that ties a top official of the National Security Agency (Oscar(R)-winner Jon Voight, Best Actor, 1978, COMING HOME) to a political murder! Instantly, every aspect of Dean's once-normal life is targeted by a lethal team of skilled NSA surveillance operatives who wage a relentless, ultra-high-tech campaign to discredit him and retrieve the incriminating evidence! Also featuring Regina King (JERRY MAGUIRE, BOYZ N THE HOOD) in an impressive, star-studded cast -- get ready for the action to explode as Dean desperately races to reclaim his life and prove his innocence before it's too late!

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