Review of Enemy of the State

Introduction

We`re all in danger of having our private lives encroached upon by the increasing use of CCTV, cell phones that give away our location and a myriad of electronic gadgets. This for the most part is all in the name of deterring crime. But what if this stuff is used to monitor the lives of ordinary citizens? Where do we stand? Are we always going to have to justify going some place, minding our own business, making private phone calls, saying things in emails...the list is endless. Enemy of the State and `1984` have a lot to say. I found the concept here to be interesting and a little unnerving. Good to see it as entertainment, but will it fuel my paranoia?

Video

On the whole the video transfer of the 2.35:1 anamorphic image is good, though at times it did seem a little too crisp at times with sharper than normal lines of contrast in the white areas. Otherwise yes, it`s a nice clean image with good blacks and has good colour balance all the way through.

Audio

The audio is really good. You`re placed right in the heart of the action and can hear all the bullets whizzing around together with all the electronics bleeps of cameras around you. You can feel that there`s no escape, it`s everywhere. Nice orchestral score heightens the mood appropriately and keeps the pace. Very impressive sound as usual for a Bruckheimer movie.

Features

Buena Vista have done it again, no features whatsoever apart from static menus, chapter selection and subtitles. They have the nerve to call these `Special Features` on the box art and it`s simply very, very poor. Not even a trailer!!

Conclusion

Surveillance has increased an incredible amount, and here in the UK there are more CCTV cameras than ever before. Speed cameras, CCTV, location aware cellphones/PDAs, email/communications snooping, the list is ever growing. With the threat of a national identity card too, are we in danger of losing our liberty or our own sense of identity? I`m not going to get into a debate on this here, but Enemy of the State has certainly fuelled my over the top imagination. This kind of envisaged society is not as far fetched as one might think.

Will Smith for me will always be the gung-ho wise cracking cop from Bad Boys. I thought the role of the lawyer should be played by someone a little older for credibility, which is a shame because Will Smith is generally cast well. Other than this slightly unbelievable role, he was okay when he didn`t have to speak legalise. The other cast members played well; I can well believe Jon Voight in his role as the crazed NSA official and Gene Hackman is okay too.

The CCTV/spying video footage was pretty well done, it conveyed the message that we`re being tracked in ways we may never have thought of. Though most of it is slightly far fetched, it`s not beyond the means of an agency to do some of this stuff already in the interests of `National Security`. Just watch where you`re going and mind your own business...

I thought that as a film this was above average, but this as a DVD is a poor package. Poor? Only because of the lack of features which most of us have become accustomed to, we expect much more effort to be placed in giving us value for money on a DVD.

Enemy of the State is a paranoid fuelled suspense action thriller with all the usual trademarks of Bruckheimer and Scott. Good quality picture and audio with over the top action and a very dramatic orchestral theme. As much as I like it, I think this DVD is only worth buying if it`s going cheap, and I mean a tenner or so. There isn`t enough on here to warrant a higher price tag.