Chad's Spoiler Review: So Collateral is one of the tightest screenplays i've ever seen. Tom Cruise is surprisingly skilled at playing a heel even though he never plays heels generally and i really like the simple set up of a guy who wants to take advantage of another guy ends up teaching the guy on accident how to thwart him. Although kinda trite today, in 2004 having the twist of Hulk getting mirked in order for the hero to need to be heroic is a master stroke. my main and probably only gripe is that it's a product of its own time period. some of the Act 2 pacing is stretched cause the plot really is so simple but worst of all by far is the freaking score. just god awful score choices that make the movie feel like it isn't taking the subject matter seriously. to end on a high note i think between the club scene and the way Vincent reloads slowly in the middle of combat are tropes John Wick most certainly borrowed from in a good way. See the full reaction here: www.patreon.com/posts/collateral-85987746

@omop-zfg6044

10 ай бұрын

Tom trained extensively with an ex SAS shooter named Mick Gould so he could get those shooting techniques nailed down, with live ammunition to boot. Larry Vickers, a top-notch professional shooter from Special Forces, said that the quick draw scene in the alley was the best depiction of that technique he's ever seen in film. Tom pulled five shots in 1.39 seconds against the set demand of 1.5 seconds, so he was no joke. Tom also disguised himself as a Fed-Ex delivery man to see if he could move around without being recognized.

@woeshaling6421

10 ай бұрын

I agree with the licensed song choices, they didn't fit then and don't age well. He had similar choices in Heat. original score is average and in places a tad stereotypical. But both heat and collateral luckily don't depend on the music to make or break them.

@brownsey1

10 ай бұрын

I was reading the first bit of this, Chad, and thinking, I thought he didn't like this film 😅Fair assessment, though. A mate of mine has a similar take. I have to say, I loved Shadow on the Sun during the coyote scene. I can't remember some of the other tracks offhand now. Was Prodigy used?

@Jon.A.Scholt

10 ай бұрын

@woeshaling6421 Seriously about Heat? Heat has an excellent original score. Just listen to "Ultramarine" from the Heat soundtrack; still sounds modern, fits the film perfectly too.

@henryviper9091

10 ай бұрын

I can see how like, in retrospective the score might feel inappropriate, and Michael Mann has talked a lot about how he's struggled picking a score before. I personally enjoy it but I can see how it might feel like it clashes with the film itself. And yeah John Wick definitely must have borrowed from the club shootout/reloading stuff. Granted they took it to the nth degree in a good way, it's a good thing to rip off for an action movie haha.

The scene where Vincent guns down the junkies stealing his suitcase is considered one of the best quickdraw sequences ever filmed. Dubbed the "mozambique drill"

@MitchClement-il6iq

10 ай бұрын

Nope, fist full dollars with clint Eastwood is the absolute best! They made a game after that iconic scene

@isaacgonzalez4606

10 ай бұрын

@@MitchClement-il6iq he means realistic

@MitchClement-il6iq

10 ай бұрын

@@isaacgonzalez4606 wtf you mean? Both are movies.. you trying to say collateral is based on a true story?

@uhwaykin

10 ай бұрын

@@MitchClement-il6iqit means a lot of experts with real life experience say that scene is closest to what it looks and feels like to kill someone suddenly in order to stop them immediately.

@isaacgonzalez4606

10 ай бұрын

@@MitchClement-il6iq kzread.info/dash/bejne/mHmOx8RunK62m84.html dude are you 12? presenter is Larry vickers, ex special forces with a lot of experience

Tom Cruise plays heartless so well. I love the scene where he says "People buy flowers; Buy flowers" It shows how disconnected Vincent is. He talks about people like he isn't one; like he's imitating one. And Tom Cruise really sells Vincent's cold robotic nature.

It's funny how Vincent's shooting technique is what got him killed. "Two bullets to the chest and one to the head". Ironic how Max's improvisation was the one thing that saved him. There is some good philosophical depth in this movie. Take a closer look to the door on the train on that final scene and you'll notice it. It´s the whole point of the movie in one scene.

@surfingtothestars

10 ай бұрын

I like the part where he tried to reload just out of muscle memory

@CollideFan1

10 ай бұрын

Yeah Vincent's MO is what did him in, while Max, who probably never fired a gun, shot blindly and scored a hit when eh shot through the windows.

@helifanodobezanozi7689

10 ай бұрын

Having some knowledge of firearms, I would argue that it was the glass that actually did Vincent in, not the Mogadishu drill. Although regular glass isn't bullet proof, it has a strong tendency to defect bullets. On the train neither man had a clear sight picture (i.e. unobstructed view) and both men were firing blindly. Max just got lucky, as happens many times IRL.

@andrewwears7281

10 ай бұрын

​@@helifanodobezanozi7689 what is the mogadishu drill? I have heard of the Mozambique drill....is it kind of the same thing? Except Somalian version?

@helifanodobezanozi7689

10 ай бұрын

@@andrewwears7281 You are correct. Or failure to stop drill.

Lowkey favorite Tom Cruise performance of the past 20 years. Between this and Taps, he makes a great villain.

One of the best LA movies ever made, and such a cool turn for Tom Cruise. One of my favorite movies.

"the grey doesn`t look natural on him"? this is the best look TC ever had.

I love the ending to this movie, the way that Vincent dies on the train goes off into the sunrise is really fitting and kind of poetic, and that he doesn’t live to see it. But what’s great about this Movie is the character development between the two. It’s not just a hitman chasing someone. They ultimately find out more about each other through the whole ordeal. They called each other on their crap.

@JPerry-jw9ik

10 ай бұрын

Sunrise.

I love anti climatic and sudden deaths... like The Departed... because real life can be anti climatic and abrupt... it just grounds a good Thriller for me

One of my favorite Cruise movies. I wished he played more villain roles, he does it so well. I think he liked that jazz guy which is why he gave that look of I really hate my job at times. He liked Max as well. He was trying to build up confidence in him, to do something with his life instead of taking day by day.

I love that Michael Mann always makes the location of the story one of the main character's. You need to watch HEAT...it's Mann's grand masterpiece!

@LokiDWolf

10 ай бұрын

That's a GREAT point!!!

@jamesrippy1161

10 ай бұрын

And The Last Of The Mohicans which is Michael Mann’s “magnum opus”

@nsasupporter7557

10 ай бұрын

@@jamesrippy1161he also directed Ali with Will Smith

@seanez129

3 ай бұрын

thats what made miami vice "the series" miami vice

I love the ending of this movie. The train moving off into a peaceful sunrise and vincent on it, but no longer alive to see the new day, which emphasises how he wasted his life. Everyone else starting that new day, and vincent is gone, alone on a train, with nobody to care.

@thedarkemissary

10 ай бұрын

It's not that deep. It's just a callback to the beginning of the movie and the subway story Vincent tells. It's not really a reflection on him as a character.

@JA-tu8ig

10 ай бұрын

@@thedarkemissaryshut up

@tileux

10 ай бұрын

@@thedarkemissary its how ypu can read that scene. Nothing to do with the story.

@ojon12389

10 ай бұрын

@@thedarkemissary It can be deep in an ironic sense. Yes it is a callback to the subway story, but Vincent was an assassin and was used to be in control in most of his life. As opposed to Max whose life was stagnant and didn't take risk. Vincent winds up dead with no one noticing, while Max goes on to presumably start his limo business.

@unshapenedpython8974

9 ай бұрын

When Vincent died, it was more sad, than an achievement. I feel like they really Max finally had a friend for the first time in his life. Despite the malice, Vincent really changed Max's life, and Max will probably finally get out of his shell, and move forward living the life he wants.

I have no idea what else needs to be resolved. Im usually a fan of Ariannas takes, but I simply don't understand this one. This is such a simple story and tight script. Dragging it out at the end would be cheesy.

@stevesheroan4131

10 ай бұрын

Agreed. I think she was so hyper-focused on the damned grey hair and running styles, etc. that she couldn’t really get immersed. I still love the channel, and I can’t expect to always love every take. Still looking forward to more content from this gal regardless. Keep ‘em coming Arianna.

@burnikshrapnel

10 ай бұрын

I'm expecting she'll fall asleep with HEAT. Michael Mann isn't for the average superhero movie fan. I get the point where movies should be entertaining and not be some kind of a MENSA exam but there are well crafted movies like this that do not get the appreciation they deserve.

@mechanomics2649

9 ай бұрын

@@burnikshrapnel This movie gets tons of appreciation. You're blowing one person's take out of proportion. Also superhero movies have fucking nothing to do with this. I get that you want to look "cultured" but you're trying too hard.

@onastick2411

Ай бұрын

Maybe she's got a thing for autopsy scenes?

I've been on a Michael Mann kick this past week. This is the only movie of his that I don't need to rewatch because after seeing it in the theater I went on to watch it probably another 50 times haha. Such a fantastic movie, maybe my favorite Tom Cruise movie? Probably. And the small-ish story of these two completely different people is so great. Awesome reaction!

To explain the lucky timing-- I think the cops concerned about the broken windshield were called away BECAUSE of the crime scene that Vincent caused.

This movie has become a gem to me. It shows how my home city looked and was before gentrification and the start of the crappy 2010's.

All Michael Mann movies should be watched starting with Thief and Band of the Hand. And of course, the second lecktor movie, Manhunter and then Heat!

My favorite scene is where Max starts speeding the cab cuz he grew gutsy after Vincent's monologue and eventually stands up to Vincent especially with Audioslave playing in the background of that scene. The choice of music for that scene was pure perfection. I wish movies could write more scenes like that.

The fact Tom Cruise bumps into Jason Statham to exchange a briefcase is such a big shoutout to the first Transporter movie!

Great movie. One of my favorite. A lot of realism in it.

9:00 that double tap pull from retention is so clean. TC did his homework well

The ending does make sense. Max explains away his ability to time his journeys by getting lucky with the lights... And same with the ending. 🙂 Additionally, Vincent's training seals his fate in the final shootout. He demonstrates military training by shooting twice in the chest and once to the head. When the lights go out on the train, he repeats that drill straight ahead, and hits the doors. You see his three bullet hits. Max isn't trained and so he fires wildly, moves around randomly and also fires more rounds. Sure he got lucky to hit Vincent, but at least he had a chance to shoot through the glass. This is one of my favourite movies I've ever seen. I related to Max so much when I saw this, as someone with a lot of specialized knowledge, but not much action or self-confidence. Plus the coyote scene has always stuck with me as an iconic Michael Mann scene. It looked like no other movie that came before it because it was the first to use digital cameras to capture the low-light night look. And the reason the movie ends where it does is because that's where everything that matters in the story is resolved. Max and Annie survive, Vincent failed. Everything else can go in a bunch of different ways, without impacting the film's theme. Max ultimately became a man capable of spontaneous action, and he was finally able to 'call that girl that gave him her business card.' And on that, Vincent knew Annie was the girl that gave her number to Max. When he talks back to the dispatcher, Vincent looks at Max's visor - where he put Annie's card - and then Vincent looks at Max for a second, before snapping back on the radio. That little pause suggests he realized Max was referring to Annie.

The late 90's and early 00's Cruise did really interesting work. Then he kinda got too much of the limelight from his personal life, and he pulled back into his own productions. I mean, I love action-scifi oriented Cruise, but I still miss him in simple dramatic roles.

@davidkymdell452

10 ай бұрын

Yeah, like Magnolia, first time I watched it I really didn't get it, then years later I watched it again, seeing Cruise so VULNERABLE, as you say, miss seeing him do those roles

Michael Mann chose TC’s suit for a reason, the lighting and High Definition film and the grainy this of the film gives this a like a bleached out look and feel.

@onastick2411

Ай бұрын

That and it fitted with the scene of the coyotes. Both sets of killers, moving through the city.

My fav film of Tom Cruise. The bond between Max and Vincent was circumstantial.

A Top 5 Michael Mann movie and a Top 5 Tom Cruise performance. Great movie

In the final shootout, the lights flicker off and on as Max improvises his shot and hits Vincent. And as Max said to Vincent earlier in the film when he dropped him off at his first victim ahead of schedule: “he got lucky with the lights”.

I really enjoy Michael Mann's shots of LA in Collateral. They remind me very much of Wong Kar-Wai's Hong Kong in Fallen Angels. I love when a city can be a character.

FYI... Javier Bardem was Felix. He was Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men.

In a sense, Vincent actually provided Max with the motivation he needed to break out of the rut he was in. I think they intentionally left the ending open-ended so the viewer can come up with their own theory on what happened to Max afterwards. Enjoyed your reaction! 😎

best combination of slick and gritty action in a movie. one if my favourite movies of all time

I still love how bag drop guy at the beginning was Jason Statham

I gasped when I saw this was up. One of my favorite movies. So glad you did this one. This is the reaction I didn’t know I needed 😃 😄

On the grey, i'm pretty sure it's supposed to be Vincent dying it to throw of potential witnesses

The gray hair is meant to change his appearance and it’s meant to look unnatural since Vincent probably did it himself. He’s a hit man and he is essentially disguising himself.

"Yo, homie. Is that my briefcase?" Literally pops into my head at least 3 times a month for no reason lol.

Grey haired Tom Cruise as an assassin is definitely modeled after an anime character 😂 He looked so cool.

Dude, this came out in 2004. It came out following Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Magnolia (1999), MI2 (2000) Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002) and the Last Samurai (2003). This was before he went full blown action. He was 41 when filming this. At that time it did not look unnatural at all. And 600 bucks was much more then it is today. You gotta put things in context. This is 20 years ago this year.

@Diegesis

4 ай бұрын

wow i never thought about how late in his career this came out! He had done a whole grip of classics by then.

I love this movie. It won pretty prestigious awards. I think this movie and Heat are enriched by listening to the director commentaries, interviews and repeat viewings.

This was the first movie I ever bought on Blu Ray. Gorgeous movie and a great movie too.

I was stunned at how good this movie was as I had never heard of it. I saw it the first time about a year ago. Super entertaining.

I'm pretty sure Tom doesn't have a dark side. Rather he has a light side for public.

@Karynthian

10 ай бұрын

What are you basing that on?

@vrombo

10 ай бұрын

@@Karynthian he's shy and positive for 40+ years, while performing Collateral or Tropic Thunder which just feel closer to his true self. Also I don't think scientologie would affect simple and open people. Thus rather we see a person who plays Tom for his entire life.

I just watched this movie for the first time early this year. Glad you enjoyed it.

One of the most under rated Tom Cruise movies. I saw this in the theater and was pleasantly surprised. :) I just realized the boss in the club was Javier Bardem. Wow! This was before I even knew who he was. I guess No Country For Old Men hadn't come out yet.

I'm happy you saw this! It's a great movie. Very underrated to me. Anyhoo, he's wearing the grey and looks the way he does so he doesn't stand out. He blends in very easily in any scenario. He's physically a "john doe". Describe him and you'll see what I mean. Also, he knew who to ask for in the club because Vincent told him to ask for Felix. Max is adapting to things. He's not a part of anything. He's just going with it. Some trivia for ya, when Jamie crashes into the car after the cop gets shot at the club, it was a mistake. But they kept it. Jamie said that whoever set up the car had the wheel still turned. He also said that when the scene was over, all the PA's and people ran to see if Tom was alright. Heh. He said it jokingly but truthfully. Watch HEAT next if you haven't already!!!

Love how Arianna is obsessing over Toms white hair 😂

I’m so glad you watched this movie! You said you liked how it was all interwoven, remember Vincent said he hated LA, that he feels like it’s “disconnected”

Cruise should have won an Oscar

michael mann has the best gunshot sounds of all time

Heat - begins at the train station, ends at the airport Collateral - begins at the airport, ends at the train station 2 of the most epic movies ever 😎

That was a great reaction!

Dont forget he's a hitman, hair can be dyed to change identifying features ;)

Tom Cruise plays bad guys so so well. And Jaime Foxx is just awesome. The whole film is brilliant

This is my favorite movie

Such a great underrated movie. Tom f’n Cruise!

Yeah this movie gets wild, did not expect it.

“Why would he want to go into a building like that?” SPLAT!!! 🤣

Lot of people dont pick up that Vincents anger when dealing with Lenny from dispatch and sadness at taking out Daniel in the jazz club are genuine. He isnt joking when he tells Max he hates the zoned out, self absorbed and greedy nature of society. He also genuinely loves Jazz music and respects Daniels talent. It really did hurt him to have to take him out. Thats probably why he lulled him into a sense of hope then quickly snuffed him out.

@onastick2411

Ай бұрын

It should also give the audience pause for thought when he tells Max he's been in the private sector for five years. Implying he's been killing in the public sector (previously), and nobody gave a damn then.

This is one of my favorites Tom Cruise movies. It's very under appreciated.

Cruise is a great bad guy and I wish he had more characters that are less heroic and more flawed. Regarding the hair I couldn't disagree more I think the grey hair looks real and suits him, plenty of people go grey young.

I love this movie so much!!!!

When this came out people were surprised to see Tom Cruise play a bad guy all his roles have been him being the leading man the hero protagonist. Now he's the antagonistic

Interesting! I never seen the Terminator connection but it totally checks out.

You will love "Heat" from Michael Mann also. Classic movie.

So fun extra detail about this film is that Jason Statham giving Tom Cruise the briefcase has been confirmed by the director that Jason is playing Frank Martin... His role from 'The Transporter' Franchise...

This film was my introduction to Audioslave. Still listen to Shadow On The Sun daily.

A film that I admired from the beginning and have only venerated more upon repeated viewings, probably my favourite Michael Mann overall. It's so layered and interestingly shot.

1:32 awwww 🥰

There's a great comment out there about the final confrontation between Max and Vince on the train. I'm going to see if I can find it and I'll copy it here. The commenter really broke it down, even named the method Vince uses for firing weapons.

That ending was such a paint by numbers bore that it nearly undid all the great that came before.

This places not too far behind Magnolia, Cruise's absolutely BEST performance. The more serious he gets, the more interesting. Stunts and charisma only go so far, for me.

Tom Cruise was the director's first choice to play Vincent, but because the character was described as someone you wouldn't notice passing in the street, the studio didn't think it would work because Tom Cruise is so famous and recognizable. To prove them wrong, the director had Tom Cruise dress like a UPS delivery man and go around LA making deliveries as they followed him with a hidden camera. He went the entire day without getting recognized once. He even sat down in a cafe and had lunch and had a conversation with another customer at the cafe. After showing the hidden camera footage to the studio they okayed having Tom Cruise be Vincent.

@onastick2411

Ай бұрын

Do you remember that UPS driver, who killed a load of people and then committed suicide, the detective always thought there was somebody else helping him deliver parcels that day.

If you want a good Tom Cruise movie thats out of the ordinary... Vanilla Sky. Its an awesome movie!!

"Wrap up" of what? The movie tells the entire story that matters....

i got this movie bootleg back in the day lol back when bootlegs were before they were even out in theaters and i just recently watched it again

One of those movies that only gets better on a rewatch.

This is probably my all time favorite roll Tom Cruise has played.

This, Heat, and Last of the Mohicans are my favorite Michael Mann films. Thanks for reacting to this.

Jamie Foxx was nominated for best supporting actor for this role . Same year he won best actor for Ray. It was his year

Top 10 film of all time

This was Fantastic. One of my favorite movies.

Such a awesome flick!

I've thought for the last few years that they should do a sequel. We don't actually see that Vincent is permanently dead, they get off the train, he was just passed out. What if after 25 years Vincent decides to come back after being survivalized, Max has his limo company, etc... Only issue is that Foxx is now kinda messed up after his mystery hospitalization over the last few months. Probably the clot shot got him. He's probably partially paralyzed now. Such a rad dude it's a crazy shame.

Trivia: To prepare for the role of an assassin who can blend in, he delivered packages for UPS (the undercover video is on yt search "Tom Cruise UPS") Also my favorite use of Chris Cornell's (fronting Audioslave at the time) vocals for a movie soundtrack (next to Sweet Sunshower from The Great Expectations soundtrack - for obvious reasons lol) I would love TC to step into the villain role again, once he's done base jumping from an asteroid in the last M:I film (you know I'm not that far off!!!) edit: YA'LL NEED TO WATCH HEAT I WILL HIT UP THAT PATREON AS SOON AS I GET MY DEPOSIT IN

soooo good movie, and music too. Mann.

I love this ending

If it helps you feel more closure about the ending: notice what Max is doing in his final moments of the movie: he's looking around for a cab to flag down. He's no longer driving other people around to their destinations - he's focusing on HIS own destination now. So it symbolizes how Max has been transformed by this night's events, and how he'll be a more proactive, decisive, self-actualized person moving forward in life.

@maxducoudray

10 ай бұрын

That’s a very optimistic take.

9:35 That's funny because when I watched this as a kid with my mother she said this is probably close to Tom Cruise's natural hair color haha

MICHAEL MANN is incredible

The grey hair on Tom with the matching tone suit according to Michael Mann is supposed to visually signify Vincent giving off a cold steel, cromemagnum feel as being a living weapon extention of his gun

Arianna always looking beautiful and dropping great videos please keep up the good work you do

Absolutely love this movie. Michael Mann is the... *man.* Been a fan of Michael's since the 80's when he directed Manhunter, Heat, Ali, just to name a few.

Tom with that Mozambique drill 🔥🔥🔥

I love that fact that if the train door wasn’t there Vincent would of shot max twice in the chest and one in the head , but max improv of moving left to right while shooting made him the victor.

So you dislike a movie because you disagree with his hairstyle.

“Stop digging 👃.”🤣😂

"Take comfort in knowing you never had a choice." I-Ching. Go with the flow.

So, was Statho 'the Transporter' in the beginning of the flick? Brilliant movie and acting by all.

Yeah, one of the best I've seen. Everyone did an amazing job on this film..

a masterpiece