Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!
Stars:
Jim Caviezel, Rhona Mitra, Franke Faison, and Colm Feore
Writers:
Craig Mitchell and Hans Bauer
Director:
Robert Harmon
Feature
length: 81 minutes
Extras:
Trailers
Languages:
English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Sound, and Dolby Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 20
Sound:
DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and
Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2004/DVD Release: 2004
Theatrical
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Home
Video Distributor: New Line Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
You
know in a way movie reviewers are sort of like armchair quarterbacks. We cheer
for the successes and in our own way yell back at the screen about the failures
and like armchair quarterbacks we rarely play the game if ever. We have all the
“would have,” “could have,” and “should have” advice to expound upon
whoever will pay attention, but I’m sure much like a disgruntled athlete there
are filmmaker’s who would say to us, “Put your money where your mouth is and
lets see how well you do?” Frankly I cannot blame them, but some people are
better gifted at commenting then they are at creating though I consider writing
media reviews in it’s own way a creative endeavor and I have done some paid
creative writing over the years so I have a bit of an understanding of both
sides of the fence, which is why I think I can do what I do well at least in
part.
I
state this rather lengthy introductory paragraph to my DVD review of New Line
Home Entertainment’s “Highwaymen” because it is one of those films that in
my opinion is quite good, but could have been so much better and a lot scarier
too. Robert Harmon, whose credits include the cult classic “The Hitcher,”
directed “Highwaymen”. The film received a limited release in select
theaters and is now ready to debut on DVD. The story is quite straightforward.
Jim Caviezel plays a widower obsessed with avenging the death of his wife upon
the twisted wreck of a man who targets women at random in serial hit and run
sprees. The killer who goes by the name of “Fargo” might as well be a part
of the car he uses to carry out his malevolent deeds because the car is truly an
extension of his body modified by technology. When he targets a new young woman
(Rhona Mitra), Caviezel’s character is the only one that can save her because
he is the only one who knows Fargo’s methodology. The two have been playing
cat and mouse on America’s freeways for five years and counting. The catch is
in order to save her; he must use her as bait to lure Fargo into a trap. Frankie
Faison (The Silence Of The Lambs) plays a traffic officer investigating the case
that also gets caught in the middle of this deadly game.
“Highwaymen”
is intriguing and engrossing with good performances by Jim Caviezel, Frankie
Faison, and as “Fargo,” Colm Feore. The story is interesting and does not
try and create some supernatural explanation for the whole situation like some
other horror and thrillers do where the killers are either so bright that odds
are no one could ever catch them in real life or the killers somehow seem to be
able to come back no matter what happens to them. The origin of the Fargo
character is original too. What I think hinders the film is that in some ways it
simply is too straight forward and there just are not enough surprises to keep
one guessing what will happen next. At least the film’s ending is definitive
so I doubt we will see “Highwaymen” sequels, but then again “never say
never…”
I
also think the identity of the killer should have been kept under wraps the way
Kevin Spacey’s character of “John Doe” in “Seven” was never revealed
until the film’s last act and then his name did not even appear until the
closing credits began to role. I know a lot of people who even after seeing
films like “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “The Usual Suspects” had no idea
that Kevin Spacey was the killer in “Seven.” They just did not recognize him
because his performance was so creepy. With the amount of appliances and makeup
on Feore in this film, I think people familiar with his appearances in films
like “The Chronicles Of Riddick” and the TV miniseries “Stephen King’s
Storm Of The Century” might have difficulty placing who he is in that film if
his identity was kept a secret until the very end. I also did not buy into the
whole semi-romantic link between “Jim Caviezel” and “Rhona Mitra” in the
film. I think to some extent his character should have been kept a mystery as
well.
Well
those are my “would have,” “should have,” and “could have” comments
for “Highwaymen,” which is still a better than decent thriller worth
checking out on DVD-Video. New Line Home Entertainment’s DVD edition features
both an anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio presentation as well as a
pan and scan (1.33:1) presentation on the same dual layered disc. The back of
the packaging states the film is presented in (1.85:1) widescreen enhanced for
16 by 9 televisions, but I think that is a mistake. The widescreen transfer is
up to New Line high standard of providing the best possible picture quality for
any film on DVD regardless if it is an Oscar winning motion picture or a little
known B-movie. There are some scenes that have a bit of a muted tone, but that
serves the film’s atmosphere quite well. An aggressive and well-rounded
English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Soundtrack is also included on the DVD along
with an ambient English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack and an English
Dolby Surround Soundtrack encoded as listening choices. English Captions and
Closed Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded as options too.
The
theatrical trailer (2:06) and a reel of bonus trailers for “The Butterfly
Effect,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “and “Frequency” (7:42) are
included and the interactive menus are well rendered with full motion scene
selection menus too. “Highwaymen”
will debut on DVD-Video on Tuesday, August 24, 2004 at retailers on and offline
from New Line Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2004 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!