Review of Art Of War, The

Introduction

The Art of War didn`t exactly grab the attention of the film-going public on its cinema release, and it`s probably fair to say that many of you will have never heard of it. I certainly hadn`t until I sat down to watch it. You can read the basic plot in the disc details above, but it all boils down to a Bond/Mission Impossible style tale of espionage and intrigue.

Wesley Snipes steps into the boots of the all-action hero once more, with an array of gadgets, guns and grenades, with some good old fashioned kicks and punches thrown in just for good measure.

Video

We are presented with a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer, which is excellent. There`s hardly any print damage, there`s no grain and there are no artefacts. Colours are excellent, the detail level is very high and it`s not far away from being perfect.

There are some good locations on show here, and also some good special effects, although some of them might be rather familiar to anyone who has watched The Matrix. Visually the film is very good indeed.

Audio

For an all-action blockbuster, you`d expect an all-action DD5.1 soundtrack - and that`s exactly what you get. Right from the start the soundtrack is rich and involving making good use of available speakers. There are plenty of explosions, lots of gunfire pinging around and also a helicopter circling around your sound stage.

A very functional soundtrack which matches up well with the on-screen action.

Features

Oh dear. One screen telling you names of cast and crew, and a trailer which gives away too much of the film.

The film deserves more, like a stunts documentary, or a special effects featurette at the very least.

Conclusion

The Art of War doesn`t really contain any new ideas. I was reminded of True Lies, Mission Impossible and several Bond films along the way. That`s not to say that it`s a bad film, because it certainly isn`t. It`s a very enjoyable action/espionage film, it`s just not a very original one. As a "saturday night popcorn film" it certainly works, just don`t look below the surface.

There are massive plot holes along the way, some of the characters must have a titanium skeletal structure (the amount of jumping around would have shattered human bones many times over), and it often ventures into totally unbelievable territory. But if you put these things to the back of your mind, I`m sure you`ll be entertained.

As for the disc itself, the picture and sound are excellent, but the extras are distinctly lacking. The lack of extras is a real shame, but it shouldn`t stop you from renting this film for an evening of action film fun.

Shameless plug: don`t forget that you can win a copy of this film in one of our current competitions - just look under the competitions menu to the left.