Review of Negotiator, The

Introduction

When police negotiator Danny Roman (Jackson) is framed for murdering his partner and covering up a police pension fund fraud he decides to take matters into his own hands, and holds his accuser and assorted others hostage. Negotiator becomes hostage taker and negotiator Chris Sabian (Spacey) is called in to negotiate a negotiator down (er?).

This highly interesting premise lives up to its promise and director Gray executes it brilliantly! All characters are well fleshed out and they have an excellently written script to bounce their dialogue off – each actor is given enough screen time to give you a good grounding in the Chicago PD way of life.

Gray punctuates the fairly long running time (134 mins) with some excellent action scenes all cradled in a reality sadly missing from many a mainstream blockbuster. His love of Westerns also comes to the fore, not only in the references to old films (witness ‘Shane’), but also with certain set pieces – the close up shots of the eyes and itchy trigger fingers by the gun.

Finally, and in a very novel twist for this type of film, the film slows the pace down for the ending, concentrating on the main protagonists of this interesting tale which is far more original and serves to have a much greater impact than the run of the mill large explosion.

Video

As a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster released in 1999 you wouldn’t expect the print to be anything less than superb, and you won’t be disappointed. This is a razor sharp print with exceptional black level detail, and there are too few DVDs that can live up to that promise. Shadow details are also excellent during some of the scenes where there is dim lighting - you will still never miss a beat. Skin tones are very accurate and there is an excellent depth of vision to the 2.35:1 anamorphic print.

Audio

From the word go, this produces excellent Dolby 5.1 in all its glory. From the opening tune (used to devastating effect by Claudia Schiffer in the Citroen Xsara advert), you know you’re in for a treat. There is excellent stereo separation in the front and rear speakers as this piece makes its presence known round your room. I don’t think I have ever heard an opening tune that has used the subwoofer to such an active effect, it is ever present throughout underpinning the score with exceptional weight and gravitas.

Right, now that’s the first five minutes discussed, we move on to the movie itself. Dialogue is exceptionally clear – necessary in a film which explains certain events quickly and could leave you wondering what is going on if you couldn’t follow what they were saying. As the police, FBI, or helicopters move into the scene the tension is increased - this is helped marvellously by Revell’s score and is produced very clearly through the main front channels. Rear effects are very active too; the press hounding Roman is noted using very oppressive sounding flash bulbs bringing the reporters painfully close. Others include the use of miniature grenades, the old home cinema favourite the helicopter and ambient effects to give the feel of spaciousness. Once more, an excellent mix which will give your system a good workout.

Features

The extras are where the DVD as a package is let down a little. The first entitled “On Location” gives a 15 minute documentary on the production of the film itself. Really not much here to shout about. You’ll watch it once and then leave it alone. Next up is “The 11th Hour: Stories from Real Negotiations” where Todd Rheingold – a real negotiator is interviewed. This had real promise for me, but unfortunately the bloke is as exciting as toilet paper. I don’t know how he negotiates people down, probably talks to them until they fall asleep!

The normal cast and crew biogs are also present, as is the trailer which was obviously made before the final cut of the film. Witness a scene where Jackson and Spacey are sitting together commenting “now you gotta deal with both of us”.

Conclusion

As an old DVD in my collection this is one I keep coming back to, and its not surprising. A great film with the wonderful “negotiate a negotiator” premise to get your teeth into. Each character has a strong personality and presence, but no-one over dominates anyone else. The action on screen appears credible and realistic given the slightly over the top story of taking members of Internal Affairs hostage, and the ending playing down instead of up is an unexpected treat. The presentation of the DVD is exemplary, picture and sound are both top notch and will show off your system well. The extras weren’t what I had come to expect from the rest of the film, and I would have loved an audio commentary from Gray himself. But I’m not going to let that minor quibble spoil what is an excellent piece of home cinema. If you haven’t got it, your DVD should be yearning for it!