Starring: Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken, Dakota Fanning, Marc Anthony
Directed by: Tony Scott
Studio: Fox Home Entertainment
Video: 2.40:1 anmorphic/enhanced for 16:9; 1080p HD
Audio: English DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio; French, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Subtitles: English SDH, English, Spanish, Cantonese, Korean
Supplements: Trailers for Man on Fire, The Sentinel, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Entrapment
Running Time: 146 minutes
Movie Rating: ****
AV Quality Rating: ****1/2
D-Box Motion Quality Rating: ***
“Man on Fire” is the story of John Creasy (Denzel Washington), an ex-CIA agent who is hired as a bodyguard by affluent Latin businessman Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony) to protect his daughter Pita (Dakota Fanning) and wife Lisa (Radha Mitchell). Creasy develops a bond with Pita, becoming somewhat of a surrogate father to her in place of the oft-traveling Samuel. Despite his heroic efforts, Pita is kidnapped and Creasy suffers injuries in the process that require his hospitalization. When the ransom drop goes horribly wrong, Creasy leaves his hospital bed on a mission of revenge to destroy everyone involved in the ransom plot. “Man on Fire” is an emotionally-charged but sometimes violent film. Denzel Washington gives yet another top-notch acting performance which is well-complemented by the work put forth from the gifted child actress Dakota Fanning. Recommended.
The high definition video quality of “Man on Fire” is excellent. Images are clean with fine detail. Blacks are consistent and dark. Colors are warm, but accurate, with fully-saturated hues. Picture defect mastering is well done with no major flaws or compression artifacts. The overall audio quality is very good with the English DTS 5.1 track. The soundtrack makes nice use of all discrete channels. Dialogue is crisp and natural sounding. The surround channels are moderately active, utilized for ambient sound effects and the music score, plus include some split rear effects. The low frequency effects channel is deep and powerful.
“Man on Fire” is compatible with the “D-BOX” Motion Code™ System, meaning that if you have the necessary D-BOX equipment, your movie viewing experience will be enhanced by adding both motion and vibration to your chosen seating. Approximately ten percent of this movie has motion effects and/or vibration present. Gunshots, car crashes and explosions make up the vast majority of the motion effects that take place. My favorite D-BOX scene is where Creasy fires a missile launcher into a moving vehicle. I felt like I was standing somewhere nearby the car as the impact of the resulting explosion rocked my body. Overall, I would rate the D-BOX motion/vibration quality for “Man on Fire” as good.
— Calvin Harding Jr.
