When individual privacy is threatened by a maniac looking to make more than a few bucks, the only real solution to correct the problem is to call in the ‘angels’. Led by an all-star leading cast of ladies, Charlie’s Angels puts Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu into action against some ruthless bad guys wanting to create chaos.
You must divide this movie up into two layers to keep your sanity. The first layer is understanding that the movie is based upon a television series from the 70s/early 80s. Even back in the day the show was a bit hokey to an extent. Most people tuned in for the women and the action (no seriously, the ‘other’ action — kick, punch….. pervs). There hadn’t been an action oriented show on television that featured leading ladies, so the premise was certainly new to the world; and the world ate it up. While certainly not the ‘best’ action ladies they could get, McG put together a helluva cast of beautiful women in Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu. Each was coming off of theatrical success with various films and each was considered extremely gorgeous. The casting, for the time, was perfect.
The casting made the movie better, if not only for their names.
The second layer here is understanding that you’re getting a large amount of action with this film. Sure it looks a bit goofy now, as they took some techniques from The Matrix (a lot of wire work), but the action does drive the movie. Seeing beautiful ladies tough it out in intense fights with crazy-ass Crispin Glover (that man is crazy — no seriously) is quite a thing of beauty. Again, you will want to understand when this movie was made (2000) and appreciate what they were doing to make this work. McG did a fantastic job scouting out nice locations and getting the right fighting instructors in to work with the trio. It’s a great action film, but not much more.
The only thing missing from this movie is a strong storyline. Having put so much effort on the action and the cast there really isn’t much left to talk about when it comes to a storyline. Harking back to a rather goofy show, the storyline in Charlie’s Angels the movie is par at best.
But much like the show, that’s not why you’re watching it.
Moving on to the Blu-ray….
The Blu-ray conversion of this film isn’t bad at all. The scenes are very colorful and the way McG shoots things (lots of lights, exotic locations) lends a lot of eye-candy to the viewer. It looks gorgeous in 1080p, but there are some moments where the darker scenes create some graininess. It appeared on a 1080p set and a 720p set. Still, for the most part the visuals shined through on Blu-ray and definitely made the experience a bit more tolerable.
As for music, you’re getting some pretty intense music that goes perfectly with the action scenes. Remastered in DTS-HD, there’s a lot to like here. The soundtrack is pretty extensive, at least for 2000. You get music from Fat Boy Slim, Aerosmith, and Deee-Lite (yep, you read that right). It may not be a younger audience’s cup of tea, but it does sound really nice on Blu-ray.
Kudos to the folks at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for putting together one of the more creative Blu-ray menus I’ve seen in a while. It’s stylish and it works well for this movie. Mostly vertically laid out, there’s plenty to be happy about here in terms of Blu-ray design.
Finally, the features are pretty good, here’s a list for you:
· Blu-ray exclusive movieIQ®+sync
· Commentary with Director McG and Cinematographer Russell Carpenter
· Featurettes
o “Getting G’d Up” – An in-depth profile of Director McG
o “The Master and the Angels” – A look behind the martial arts and stunts in the movie
o “Welcome to Angel World” – A behind-the-scenes look at the film’s set design
o “Angelic Attire: Dressing Cameron, Drew and Lucy” – Costume Designer Joseph G. Aulisi discusses the costumes for the film and how he styled each angel
o “Angelic Effects” – A discussion of the exciting special effects used throughout the film’s production
· Scene Deconstruction – “Wired Angels”
o A scene deconstruction of the Chinese Alley scene and the wiring work used during filming
· Deleted Scenes
· Blooper Reel
· Two Music Videos
o “Independent Women Part 1” by Destiny’s Child
o “Charlie’s Angels 2000” by Apollo Four Forty
For a film that did well in the theater, you get some good features with this Blu-ray. Excellent commentary from McG and some very solid featurettes that give you a bit more info on how things were done. For action fans you’ll especially appreciate the featurette on the stunts and fighting sequences.