More than just a game
This is the first film I saw with my father-in-law, who promptly fell asleep about 30 minutes into it. With that said, the nervousness of having him as my father-in-law combined with my distaste for Brad Pitt brought about many negative emotions about Spy Game the first time around. Thankfully, the second time was certainly the charm (though the third time will be even better).
If you’re not familiar with the film, it’s simple. Nathan Muir is a retiring CIA operative who is abruptly awoken from his slumber on his last day to hear news that his trainee, Tom Bishop, has been captured by the Chinese government during an illegal mission. The CIA wants Tom Bishop to go away and they are willing to let the Chinese execute him. Muir doesn’t want to see his friend die, so he does everything in his power to get Tom out of China. The roadblock? The CIA is trying to stop Nathan from doing that, so they don’t look bad in the process.
Tony Scott, the director of such movies as Top Gun and True Romance, bring a more mature storyline to forefront of his films. That’s the first thing that surprised me after the credits had already ran is that he actually directed Spy Game. Sure it was a little flashy, like Scott is billed for, but it still brought two very defined characters. This is Scott’s greatest strength when it comes to filmmaking. He develops very strong characters, but his weakness is generally storyline. I’m not sure why, but it never really balances out in his films, until this one. He balances out the characters and story so well that you don’t really need much explanation about the seriousness of the situation. You don’t need to be told during the film what is happening and how people are handling things. There isn’t a need for over-explaining (regretfully, I’m doing that now). Scott puts a heady Redford as the old-time operative who has to play the ‘no-nonsense’ role to save his friend. He establishes a strong relationship between Tom (Pitt) and Nathan (Redford) by putting them in missions together and showing the ups and downs between the men. He establishes their characters and connections through storytelling. This is where the movie finds its balance.
Now is there a downside to all of this? The only downer that I can see is that the last mission between the two characters was a bit drawn out. If my memory serves me correctly, this is where my father-in-law counted sheep. The scene outweighs the other acts to the story, which creates a slight imbalance in the story, but it still manages to right itself. Fifteen minutes could have been sliced out of this scene, but I slightly understand why it’s longer.
In the end, I think this is the first Tony Scott film that I would love to see again immediately. I know that Top Gun is a fan favorite, but really I prefer this type of drama. Strong characters, intense action, and a solid story show off the best of what Hollywood could accomplish if it really wanted to.
It’s no secret that Blu-ray is awesome
It gets incredibly difficult to keep writing over and over how great Blu-ray is. Of course, it’s great to be able to say that Blu-ray rocks when I get to witness it day in and day out. The video looked great in Spy Game, one of the better Blu-rays in Universal’s arsenal. Certainly treated with dignity and respect during transfer, Spy Game is every bit of visual sweetness as you can find on Blu-ray these days. The audio is also very superb, as it comes to you in HD as well. Sounds great coming in through 7.1.
As for features, you get some good stuff. Here’s what you’re looking at:
– Deleted and Alternate Scenes
– Clandestine Ops (behind the scenes stuff)
– Requirements for CIA acceptance
– Script-to-Storyboard Comparison
– Commentary from director Tony Scott, producers Marc Abraham and Douglas Wick
– BD-Live
Not quite the numbers of other Blu-ray features, but still solid.