Man on Fire (DVD)

I am a big fan of several Tony Scott films from Top Gun to Spy Game. His directorial style is so distinct and recognizable that his films just jump off the screen as the man really knows how to bring a film to life visually, unfortunately that ability back-fired on Man of Fire.

Tony Scott was able to grasp the colors to define his action thriller but ultimately the quick cuts, fancy subtitles and flashy editing distract audiences from what this movie is really about. The direction Scott went with this film gave it the look of a spy thriller as opposed to the hard nosed revenge tale it was trying to be.

I must say that the overall effect of the film is not all Scott's fault, he is just doing what he does best, the fact that the movie was poorly constructed on the script side didn't help too much as several unnecessary and questionable scenes remained in the film, adding almost nothing to the film or distracting audiences from what they had come to see.

Man on Fire, while a critical dud, actually did make some cash at the box office, over $77 million in fact. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Denzel was the reason for that, but the performance of rising star Dakota Fanning should also not go unnoticed.

Fanning and Denzel do turn in good performances in a below mediocre film and the fact that Fox only put a couple of commentaries on this DVD and not much else realized that it wasn't going to be bonus features that sell this DVD as much as it was going to be Denzel on the box cover.

My suggestion is pick up Man on Fire at your local Blockbuster or through NetFlix, odds say this is going to be one you were glad you didn't pay dollars for.