I don't want to hype this movie too much but rather try to put everything in perspective that people are complaining (or not) about.
First the movie: Collateral is a great film with plenty of action & suspense. What makes this movie is the fact that it takes place completely at night - not that this is so unusual but it's in an urban environment (LA) and Michael Mann (Director) managed to film this in a way that has not been done before. The way LA looks at night - there's just something about it and it's right here. Some reviews complain about things like "the cab drives around with a heavily dented roof and never gets caught" - but honestly, how many people would notice that on a cab at night? The viewer gets wrapped up in the story easily, and both Cruise & Foxx deliver great performances (and I'm not a fan of either one of them).
Bonus disc has some very nice features also.

Tom Cruise got a lot of favorable press at the time of this film's release for playing an unredeemed and unredeemable killer. He is good, to be sure. You won't quickly forget his steely, relentless hitman. He's like demon from an icy hell. Still, while not exactly a one-note performance, he takes a back seat to Jamie Foxx (literally AND figuratively) in this taut thriller. Foxx, of course, has the advantage of portraying a Mensch, not a psychopath. You feel for him every moment he is in the clutches of Cruise's madman. And just when you think he might get out, he always gets sucked back in. It is as nightmarish a scenario as any horror film.

Even the predictable elements (like the fact that Jada Pinckett Smith's character will somehow wind up getting embroiled in the mayhem) are fraught with twists and turns. Her involvement ups the ante for Foxx's taxi driver hero Max. He has already proven himself more resourceful and resilient than viewers might have guessed at first. By the end of the film, Max proves himself more than the killer's equal, matching him manoeuvre for manoeuvre.

At the film's beginning, Max is revealed as a cab driver who knows Los Angeles like the proverbial back of his hand. He can tell you exactly how long it will take to get from one point to another in that sprawling city. Affable and modest about his talents, he nonetheless conveys quite early on that, in the contest of wills with this murderous outsider, he will prove to have home turf advantage.

And what a home turf it is. As many have stated, LA by night is as much a character in the film as the two principles. It's seamy glamour has seldom been better portrayed. Contemporary Los Angeles takes on an almost surreal, foreboding aura. It's like BLADE RUNNER, without the sci-fi elements. That creepy. And that good.

The first 3/4 of the movie as stated by others is very very good, the final chapter is nothing we haven't seen before but look past that and from start to finish watch Cruise and his portrayal of his character.

Cruise's performance and depth is fantastic. The amount of study he has given his role is obvious, and by far the most intriguing character in the film is Cruise.
The movie itself is shot very well, recent action movies are so jerky and badly shot that either you get a headache, want to throw up, or it's so dark you can't tell who is who or what is happening.

Tom Cruise (Vincent) has complete control of his handguns in this movie. He blows away all his "targets" with style and panache. Well, he should. He's an extremely well-trained assassin, on a "night on the town" picking his victims from his notebook computer; going from place to place with Jamie Foxx as his unsolicited cab driver(?), Max. Ahhh...Vincent shoots people and then, shoots more people. I really loved the way he put down the scumbag punks in the alley. HK USP, Glock, HK MP4, Beretta, Sig-Sauer, Uzi? Just some of the guns used in this mayhem-for-hire movie. Jada Pinkett-Smith is one of his "targets."

This movie is about a man of action who meets a man of thinking and what happens when the two meet and interact with each other and thus learn from and change each other. It is my belief that the movie shows the psychological make-up of each person and how this produces collateral effects - in the structure and make-up of their own lives, as well as in each character's interactions with others.

The character played by Jamie Foxx is all thought and no action. This is impacting his life, the life of the people he comes into contact with on the streets of LA, and his relationship with his family (grandmother). He analyzes everything and never acts. He is paralyzed by his analysis (like the saying analysis paralysis). He doesn't take action.

The character played by Tom Cruise is all action and no thinking. He hasn't thought about the impact his job is having on other people. He doesn't care. He just executes his assigned missions. He doesn't even assign his own missions, or stated differently, he doesn't even direct his own life - he just takes orders. He is like a robot. He is like a machine and not a thinking human. He just acts. He hasn't really even thought about what he is doing with his life. He doesn't care. He doesn't think.

When the two meet, they collide. They change each other. This change in each other changes other people as well. The meeting and interaction of Tom Cruise's character with Jamie Foxx's character produces "collateral effects" and hence the title of the movie.

In the end, they each become both men of action and men of thought. For one character, he moves on with his life with his new psychological make-up (a mix of both thought and action), but for the other character, his new mix of thought and action and his new realization of his life is too late.

This movie is an excellent psychological thriller. The cinematography is unique and powerful. The direction and the writing - excellent as well.
I also love the soundtrack.

This is another brilliant and excellent work by Michael Mann.

Thriller about a taxi driver picking up a hit man and being forced to drive him around Los Angeles as he carries out several hits during one long night. Tom Cruise is excellent as the hit man and Jamie Foxx also puts in a fine performance as the hapless taxi driver whom Tom Cruise `hires' for the night. Watch out for the scene in the night club where Tom Cruise's hit man shows just how lethal he is, as well as the tense finale on a subway train. A well put together film which although not quite reaching the heights I was expecting is nonetheless an excellent way to pass a couple of hours.

Pretty good movie, just another addition to my collection. Plus I really like Jamie Foxx

Collateral starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx is a film that actually works even though the premise is outrageous. This is probably Cruise's best performance ever! Who knew he could play such a seedy character. Foxx was nominated for best supporting actor, he is pretty good in this even though he is not my cup of tea. The only thing wrong with this film is the casting of Jada Pinkett Smith, jeez that woman cannot act worth a dime! This film isn't perfect but it's pretty close thanks to director Michael Mann.

I love this movie. It's gritty, dark, and intense as only Michael Mann knows how to make his movies. I love Mann's style of making crime dramas. If you enjoyed Heat, and Miami Vice, then you'll appreciate Mann's work here. He uses that similar dark style of filming that pretty much takes place throughout the course of an evening, so that way he can capture different light angles and images that come out from everyday street life. He really enjoys making a film that takes place at night and in the big city so he can fully encompass that city life type of atmosphere. It's a crime drama, it's in a big city, it's a professional scenario. Aside from Mann's brilliance in directing, I will boldy go out on a limb and say that this is Tom Cruise's best acting role to date. He's usually an over-the-top actor that is rarely believable, but I thoroughly enjoyed his role as a stoic hitman who doesn't show emotion, but is just as witty as the next guy. Jamie Foxx plays your typical dopey cab driver who is always aspiring to leave the cab, but knows he lacks that one spark to make him do it. Well that fire is ignited once he lets Tom Cruise's character into his cab for what he thinks will be just a regular cab ride. If you're a fan of the movies Heat and Miami Vice then you'll like Collateral for its simple storyline but amazing cinematography and dialogue pretty much between two characters in Vincent and Max.

Keep Michael Mann on your radar if you haven't already. I hope he comes out with dozens of more films like this.

Lately, Tom Cruise has been getting on everyone's nerves, and it is easy to see why. He's been a little kooky for the past few years and it has been very annoying...however, I have to say that none of that has tarnished the fact that he is a fantastic actor, and this film is proof of that statement...well, this and "Magnolia" of course.

I recently revisited "Collateral" over the weekend, and I have to say that Tom Cruise delivers what I think is an Oscar-worthy performance as a contract killer named Vincent, who gives a New York taxi driver - a superb Jamie Foxx - the ride of his life. You all know the plot by now, so there is no point getting into it here. All that you need to know is that the film boasts some excellent scenery, dialogue, and a pretty cool film score. Michael Mann is at the top of his game here. He manages to inject that "Miami Vice" feel into all of his work, and it just comes off as incredilbly awesome.

The thing that I love about this film is that it doesn't succomb to the conventional "lets blow crap up" attitude of it's genre. It's an intelligent thriller with a considerable amount of character development, and of course, there are times where suspension of disbelief is required, but not to the point where you are rolling your eyes. I usually avoid action films like the plague, but this is the exception as it does more than offer you boom booms and bang bangs.

SEE IT, if you have not already.

It's so far-fetched and illogical that it's ridiculous. I can never believe what the movie showed me. It depicted that the Cruise, the professional assasin could not kill Jamie the taxi driver!

At the end, the dialogue was so childish that it's unbearable! Cruise said to Jamie "I was just trying to make a living!" before trying to kill Jamie. But it turned out Cruise was killed by Jamie! On top of that, there's no suspense at all.

No wonder it's a big flop at the box office. This is one of the worst movies starring Tom Cruise. Save your money on this one.

Michael Mann proves again, with this film, that he comprehends the minds and machinations of criminals better than just about anyone else. He gives these characters depth, complexity, and crackling dialogue as he takes us deep into their world and their way of thinking and behaving.
Tom Cruise is so good in the role of the criminal Vincent that after a few minutes, you will forget who it is you're watching. Jamie Foxx is also expertly cast as the unlucky cab driver, Max, who is forced to go along on a dangerous, all-night ride through the streets of L.A. as Vincent forces him to drive him from one "hit" to another.
Jada Pinkett Smith also performs well as an earlier fare who ends up embroiled in the mess and nearly loses her life.
Mann lovingly photographs the city and adds the usual perfectly chosen songs to fill out the story.
Highly recommended and probably underrated.

The amazing aspect of this story is that the dialogue centers upon two characters Vincent and Max inside a taxi cab. What begins as a simple car fare for the taxi driver turns into a high-tension dialogue as the cabbie witnesses a murder committed by his passenger. Max played by Jamie Foxx is then coerced into participating in the murders. Collateral as a story works because of the ensuing dialogue, which takes place after this point.

The cab in this story is a far cry from the couch in a psychologist's office, but some of the dynamics are present. At this point the character of Vincent knows that he can disclose his thoughts and takes on life in complete confidentiality and safety as a client in receiving psychological therapy; as he is assured that the conversation will go no further than the cab as he can kill Max when he has outlived his usefulness, Vincent discloses his nihilistic philosophy without reservation, which belittles the value of human life, and also shows his rationalization for his own existence and his profession. Questions are posed to Vincent by Max, who is subjugated to not only to listen to this bizarre worldview, but witnesses it being carried out as Vincent fulfills his contractual obligations. Max's questions are answered in a cold, logical fashion, which are hard for Max to refute upon first hearing them. Vincent's answers are so well-thought out that one has to wonder if Vincent's has already presented such reasons in conversations with others in the past or that he had to convince himself first that this is how his world works.

A shift in this story takes place in Max's personality as he is coerced into certain potentially dangerous situations. Max is forced to adopt Vincent's mindset if he is to survive these situations and it is eye-opening to see that character change in the cab driver. Throughout the façade of their relationship Vincent is complete control of Max, until Max applies such nihilism directly upon Vincent.

Michael Mann does an excellent job with this character-driven movie. His commentary provides further insight into the character's background, but also focuses on Tom Cruise's training and development of Vincent's character. Jamie Foxx performs amazingly as Max. Smaller but no less potent was Mark Ruffalo's impressive character of Detective Fanning. Very cool, dedicated and sharp, my wish is that Fanning's character would have played more of a dominant role in the story. However, Michael Mann uses Fanning as the catalyst for Max's own catharsis. Altogether the movie is filled with interesting characters, insights, and entertainment.

The amazing aspect of this story is that the dialogue centers upon two characters Vincent and Max inside a taxi cab. What begins as a simple car fare for the taxi driver turns into a high-tension dialogue as the cabbie witnesses a murder committed by his passenger. Max played by Jamie Foxx is then coerced into participating in the murders. Collateral as a story works because of the ensuing dialogue, which takes place after this point.

The cab in this story is a far cry from the couch in psychologist's office, but some of the dynamics are present. At this point the character of Vincent knows that he can disclose his thoughts and takes on life in complete confidentiality and safety as a client in receiving psychological therapy; as he is assured that the conversation will go no further than the cab as he can kill Max when he has outlived his usefulness, Vincent discloses his nihilistic philosophy without reservation, which belittles the value of human life, and also shows his rationalization for his own existence and his profession. Questions are posed to Vincent by Max, who is subjugated to not only to listen to this bizarre worldview, but witnesses it being carried out as Vincent fulfills his contractual obligations. Max's questions are answered in a cold, logical fashion, which are hard for Max to refute upon first hearing them. Vincent's answers are so well-thought out that one has to wonder if Vincent's has already presented such reasons in conversations with others in the past or that he had to convince himself first that this is how his world works.

A shift in this story takes place in Max's personality as he is coerced into certain potentially dangerous situations. Max is forced to adopt Vincent's mindset if he is to survive these situations and it is eye-opening to see that character change in the cab driver. Throughout the façade of their relationship Vincent is complete control of Max, until Max applies such nihilism directly upon Vincent.

Michael Mann does an excellent job with this character-driven movie. His commentary provides further insight into the character's background, but also focuses on Tom Cruise's training and development of Vincent's character. Jamie Foxx performs amazingly as Max. Smaller but no less potent was Mark Ruffalo's impressive character of Detective Fanning. Very cool, dedicated and sharp, my wish is that Fanning's character would have played more of a dominant role in the story. However, Michael Mann uses the Fanning as the catalyst for Max's own catharsis. Altogether the movie is filled with interesting characters, insights, and entertainment.

Tom Cruise as the bad guy! I liked it. He did a great job and that was scary. Jamie Foxx's acting was also great as the "what the heck have I gotten myself into" cabbie! The acting is what made this movie great. The content is for adults only.

A hitman decides to take a taxi, obviously the wrong taxi!

Michael Mann's feature Collateral is a big, star driven production that shines with a great storyline as well. His very own Heat (Two-Disc Special Edition) was another star driven story with a wonderful plot.

This time, Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx star as the hapless individuals on one fateful night in LA. Foxx stars as Max, a dream inspiring cab driver, and Cruise stars as Vincent, a smooth and calculated hitman.

The two disc set features a commentary from director Michael Mann, around four or so featurettes detailing the visual FXs, acting, and others behind the film, and a deleted scene with commentary.

Highly recommended.

Michael Mann is one of the top action/thriller directors working today, and COLLATERAL only serves to confirm his stature. After HEAT (which frames a classic confrontation between DeNiro and Pacino in a movie that was a symphony of violence and introspection), Mann takes two more exceptional actors in Cruise and Foxx, and sets them against each other in the confines of a taxicab. The driver Max (Foxx), a loser who dreams of paradise, is the hostage of existentialist contract killer Vincent (Cruise), who first tricks and then forces Max into chauffering him around LA as he executes his bloody tasks. Full of Mann's prototypical and wry observations, and beautifully photographed, edited and scored, the movie grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. Probably Tom Cruise's finest performance ever, as he reaches inside to extract a psychotic darkness and animal intelligence that redefines him as an actor.

Within an actor's career there is generally one film, sometimes more, that is viewed as a defining moment for that actor. The point at which no matter what is going on in the person's public life, according to the media, or however many successful movies or flops they've had throughout their career, a moviegoer sees this defining moment and says "This person is actually a really solid actor, and completely sold me on their character, to the point I actually forgot who the actor was I was watching." Or at least say or think something to that effect after watching the defining movie. Anyways, it doesn't really matter how long a person's career is, this moment can happen early or late in a career, it's all a matter of the right material at the right time. For Tom Cruise, his defining moment, actually moments in his case, would be "The Last Samurai" and "Collateral"; the latter is the one I believe was his biggest moment. Both movies came later in his career, long after he had become a household name.

"Collateral" takes place in Los Angeles over the course of one long night for a cab driver named Max (Jamie Foxx), whose newest fare, an outgoing man named Vincent (Tom Cruise), is about to turn his life upside down. Unbeknownst to Max when he took this newest fare, Vincent is a contract killer who is in town to make five stops, which amounts to five kills, and then leaves L.A. as if he was never there. Now, Max must struggle with the fact that he is essentially becoming an accomplice to the murder of 5 people, while at the same time he is trying to find a way to not only survive the night, but also save a few of the people's lives in the process.

For me, "Collateral" is the biggest defining moment in Tom Cruise's career, I know I said he's had two moments, but this movie is much more significant than "The Last Samurai", in terms of how convincing his performance truly was. In this movie Tom Cruise still plays a likeable character, to an extent, but one with a much darker side than most of his characters, and over the course of the movie Vincent loses all of his charm, becoming even colder, to the point that there is no possible redemption for him in the audiences eyes. To my knowledge, this is the first time that Cruise has ever played an all-out villain, sure he's played a few characters with questionable morals and what-not, but never one that is purely cold, calculating and in the end, evil. Another surprise for me, was the fact that Tom Cruise actually allowed his hair to be dyed gray, further evidence that he really wanted to sell this character to the audience and make them forget who it was they were watching, and know only the character on the screen. Everything about Cruise's performance was brilliant, from his charm that masked his underlying evil, to his extreme intensity and sharp focus, he never once missed a beat, and that is what allowed "Collateral" to become such a defining moment in his long career.

The supporting cast, primarily Jamie Foxx, was very solid, engaging and thoroughly believable. Jamie Foxx delivered an excellent performance as a cabbie who is deluding himself and those around him into believing that he will one day own a limo service for the rich and powerful. The change Max endures over the course of this one difficult night with Vincent is so deep that you see everything about him change before your eyes. From his attention to detail and cleanliness to his delusions of grandeur, nothing about Max would ever be the same after this night was over, and Jamie Foxx handled the evolution of his character with such ease and believability, that it's easy to see why he's become such a big star in Hollywood.

Directed by acclaimed director Michael Mann ("Heat"), whose great attention to detail and character development is appropriately suited to just this type of material, the fate of "Collateral" could not have been in any better hands. Mann has managed to direct such big name stars as Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, and Colin Farrell throughout his career, and he's become so powerful within the Hollywood system, that he actually had the clout to be able to reject Tom Cruise, at first, in regards to the role of Vincent. It wasn't until Tom participated in a test, where he acted as if he was a deliveryman, a test that Mann used as a gauge for whether or not Tom Cruise could be believable in the role, that he won the role and the opportunity to prove just how talented he really was.

"Collateral" is the kind of movie that demands your attention from start to finish, as it continuously builds up an intriguing story and increases the tension as the minutes tick by, leaving audiences on the edge of their seats until the credits roll.

"Collateral" is rated R for violence and language.

This movie does it all for me. The look, the feel, the action. It is gritty and raw...even the shot looks this way. You feel for Max and even Vincent. This movie hooks you in the beginning and even lets up.

It also is a thinking action movie when they talk about life "stuff".

Definitely 5 Stars. Great Look and Feel. Will not disappoint you at all!

I'm not a Tom Cruise fan by any means, but I did like him in Collateral. The teaming of Cruise and Jaime Foxx in this movie was true inspiration. Cruise is totally convincing and effective in his role as murderous Vincent and Foxx does an equally good turn in his role as Max the taxi driver. The two men exchange barbs and attempt to analyze one another as Max drives Vincent thru LA on his killing assignments.

The mood of the movie is intense, the soundtrack is complimentary -- in fact I bought the cd. Anyone familiar with the work of director Michael Mann will immediately detect his artful style in this film.

This movie is suspenseful, violent, dramatic. It also has elements of dark comedy interspersed throughout. I highly recommend it.

Only about once a year a movie is made that stands apart from the rest. In 2004 it was Collateral. Michael Mann is one of two directors that can combine Action and drama with such a stylish feel. Luc Besson is the other . The soundtrack for this movie is also great the part at Club Fever when you hear the beat of the music you know you are about to see a great action sequence . I also really liked the lecture that Vincent gave to Max in the cab after Club Fever. Someday.. someday my dream will come you just push it into memory and sit back on your bunko lounger getting hipnotized by day time TV. Suddenly you are old . It`s all turned around on you. It didn`t happen. It didn`t happen because you were never going to do it anyway. ..... powerful words. I also had a dream like Max and I know it sounds crazy but hearing that made me get it in gear and make it happen. Life is short one day it`s gone were all just lost in space after all.

Tom Cruise does a fantastic job as a hired assassin who travels to Los Angeles to do some people in. The key to this tactic is that he holds a cab driver hostage so that he can be carried from target to target with relative ease. Within the film the cab driver named Max (Jamie Fox) keeps his wits about him while at the same time getting into some psychological and philosophical discussions with Vince (Cruise), as Vince almost seems like a friend at times to Max. Mark Ruffalo is also good cast as Detective Fanning, a perceptive investigator who can view the pieces of the puzzle but not quite put them all together, although he is farther ahead than the Feds, who realize too late that witnesses related to a case they are working on are being killed off one by one in a single night. Jade Pinkett Smith is also in the film and has a key role, so just fasten your seatbelt and crank the volume as Max and Vince roll out into the night! What can I say; director Michael Mann sure does know how to produce an action packed crime film!

This movie proves Tom Cruise is an actor par excellence.

Forget about Hollywood [...] like Top Gun - Cruise is a serious and remarkably talented actor. I was absolutely glued to the screen watching this movie; Cruise created an "air" and "presence" that was simply electrifying. *Note* The way Cruise "moves" through the crowded nightclub to acquire his target you would think He was the only person in the room.

Collateral is a stunning movie, a psychological/action thriller without compare.

Unfortunately, Collateral has never received the credit it truly deserves - it will, I have no doubt, become a classic.

I gave this movie five stars; I wish I could give it six.

This movie has an awesome plot. How often do we see a movie from almost a hitman's perspective? The gun fighting and hand-to hand combat is pretty realistic. Tom Cruise does look like he knows what he is doing with his USP .45 ACP. Jamie Fox should probably be dead the way they both were shooting, but otherwise great movie. I like the views of LA and the whole town not just the part everyone sees. You can tell the director knew LA. Yes, I have been to LA use to live in CA. Plus the music made this just as much as anything, Air in G in the cab, and the Korean Club music were awesome adding to the mood. This a great movie with a different plot. Warning: may make you almost like Tom Cruise again!!!!

I'm not a big fan of action movies, or Tom Cruise, and the only other Michael Mann movie I've seen is Last of the Mohicans. I still should have known better than to wait three years to check out Collateral after the glowing reviews and Jamie Foxx's Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.

Tom Cruise shows that he really does have the acting chops to pull off a variety of roles as his portrayal of Vincent is quite a departure from the typical Cruise hero. He's got a different voice, walk, and attitude. And with the white hair and beard he's captivating to watch as he unstoppably takes on the sociopathic hired [...] role.

Jamie Foxx is equally engaging as Max, a big-dreaming cab driver that has never has the follow through to make any of his dreams happen. Collateral follows a night in Max's cab and the character arc that Max follows because of the events that transpire.

Jada Pinkett Smith has a smaller role, but still puts in some solid acting as a prosecuting attorney who rides in Max's cab.

The action and dialogue throughout Collateral are brilliantly played out and hard to turn away from. You won't want to miss a minute of the movie for fear of missing a cool special effect, a great acing moment, or just a quick plot point. The helicopter panning shots over the city of LA are pretty awesome too.

The second disc is full of special features, including a short about Tom Cruise dressing up as a FedEx worker in order to work on not being recognizable for the role of Vincent. There's also a making of featurette and a clip of rehearsals between Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx with director Michael Mann. It's all worth checking out.

Collateral is a truly excellent and intelligent thriller. One of the most captivating movies I have seen since the start of the new Millennium. I am not a Tom Cruise fan, on the contrary I would say, but in his role of contract hitman Vincent he is very convincing. Jamie Foxx is impressive. I agree with a remark that I read somewhere that the city of Los Angeles plays the third leading role in this movie. Director Michael Mann creates a fascinating athmosphere. The photography is breathtaking. I was unable to focus on the action and found myself wandering away and simply gawking at the images of nighttime L.A. a couple of times. The brutal and for some characters fatal events seem small and unimportant and isolated when played out against the backdrop of this huge antheap of a city. This is surely a movie that you'll want to see more often than once. The violence is very brutal and explicit, but mercifully short and well spread out over the story. It is also very realistic and functional violence, not the bizarre and completely over-the-top superhero stuff that you see in too many movies nowadays, where the opponents constantly smash, stab and shoot each other into a bloody pulp and still manage to keep on fighting. Collateral therefore is not your typical run-of-the-mill action movie, but instead a well-crafted psychological thriller and police-movie. I absolutely recommend it.

First of all, I don't know who Michael Mann is. I've gotta look him up.

Second of all, I'm writing because I'm surprised by the positive reviews for this movies. I finished this movie in half the time. It was just corny, predictable, and all in all pretty lame. 2.5 stars, mostly for the action scenes. The characters, while not wholly one-dimensional, are too easily read. There is no complexity, which makes it a subpar drama. It's also a lame action movie because of the ill-disguised attempts to put artificial depth into the characters. I find most of the dialog agonizing to sit through.

But at least I finished the movie.

This movie is awesome, Tom Cruise's best! The special features disk is equally as interesting. Amazon shipped my order lickety split!

This film was very cool. The plot was a little far fetched, but I really loved it. The acting wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. Tom Cruise wasn't as annoying as he can be and Jamie Fox was decent.

As far as the filming of the moive. They choose to film the movie in HD rather then Film. A reasoning (rumor) was Mr. Mann thought that HD could pick up better images in the dark then film could. It's either the compression on the disc or it's the HD camera they used but I thought the film looked very grainy and dull. This might have also been a stylistic choice.

There were also many errors in the making of the film such as seeing the camera man in the reflections and stuff like that, but that doesn't really take away from the fact that it is a entertaining movie.

Overall I enjoyed the plot and action,but I did not enjoy the look. It's fun and not to be taken very seriously.

This is largely a conversational movie between two people and to Stuart Beatie's credit the dialog here is as impeccable as they come. It's sharp, witty and gives you hints as to who the characters really are deep down inside. Vincent has this "s**t happens" attitude towards everything he does and that can be reflected through the way he talks. If he kills someone that he didn't mean to kill he just brushes it off as just another person dying in the world. That demeanor fits him perfectly since he can't afford to have too much emotion for his line of work. Max however on the other hand is completely opposite and just can't brush off a dead guy as just another casualty which leads to the two having some really interesting conversations in their ride through L.A. We find out about Vince' past and what a crappy childhood he had which I guess is one of the reasons why he is in the business that he is in. He is very calculated and never leaves anything to chance so when he shoots someone he has to make sure that they're dead by shooting them more than once. We also find out some details about Max and what his plans for the future are which really make you root for the guy.

-What keeps the movie from being a classic like "Heat" for me is the open ending and whiles I love open endings as much as the next guy it was really huge letdown. There were lots of questions that needed to be answered that we have to somehow now guess as to what is suppose to happen. It does in it's own odd way fit the opening of the movie because the movie starts off almost like the 2nd act of a movie instead of the first and ends with what feels like the 3rd act instead of feeling like the end but all in all a better ending would have been nice.

-Fully utilizing the capabilities of the HD camera for all its worth is what the two DP's on the movie did and they by far have made one of the best looking movies I've seen in a while. You get to see colors that you didn't even know that a motion picture were capable of producing with the odd lighting in the train station scene being a great example of that. Since HD can shoot in very low lights it gives the movie chance to play with shadows and lights like we've never seen before. The scene in the office when Vincent is going after Annie is a great use of shadows and lights because we see Vincent moving around in the darkness slowly searching for her and the whole time we can still make him out in the darkness. I don't owe an HD set so naturally I can't see this movie like the way it was meant to seen but the image that my CRT set produces is really something to behold. I hope the great ones like Spielberg and Cameron jump on the bandwagon because they could do wonders with it.

-One thing that put a big smile on my pretty face was when listening to the commentary track I heard Mann talk about how the fierce percussion that was heard in the chase sequence at the end was done using African drums and the players of those drums were Ghanaian drummers which just makes me proud beyond belief. Ghanaian musicians aside the score by James Newton Howard is very well done and has that dream like eighth note feel to the whole movie. Technically speaking we don't get to hear any actual score till a lot of time has passed but once it starts it's very pleasing to the ears. For the conversations in the car he does this off key dream like stuff that makes you feel like you're in a trance and for the action stuff at the end he throws in some drums so intense you'd think your woofers were about to blow out. It's a nice well rounded score all around that should keep my fellow film music geeks extremely happy.

-2004 was a very good year for Foxx with this movie and "Ray" helping him reach the status of fame that he has today. Whiles he was great in "Ray" I strongly believe that he was a lot better in this movie. In "Ray" he was merely doing an imitation where as in this movie he gave birth to an original character. With great direction from legendary filmmaker Michael Mann he is just amazing as Max and plays him as normal as a normal being can be. When he drives his cab he does so with an ease that makes you feel like he's being doing it forever and when he's peril you just marvel at the way he manages to get himself out of a jam. Equally great is Tom Cruise in one of his best roles yet. I really love the way he played Vincent because even though he's the villain of the movie he never plays the character that way but instead plays him as a guy that's just doing his job. To my knowledge Tom Cruise has never killed a man before but in this movie he does it with such amazing precision that you get the sense that he's one of the best in the business. I wonder if he got trained by the same guy that trained Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill"

-A tightly wound story, excellent acting and a great way to end the summer movie season.

While this movie certainly wasn't the best movie I have seen, it is a very good movie nevertheless.
The acting is superb. Tom Cruise, regardless of religious affiliation, does an excellent job as a hitman who has taken a ride with Jamie Foxx, a cab driver, who is actually being taken on a ride of his own. Jamie Foxx does a great job as a bewildered and frightened cab driver who knows he will be held accountable (at some point) for the actions of his client. The interplay between the two actors is great, and the performances are more than convincing.
The plot is pretty original, though it is moderately predictable. The writing is above average, and the movie is funny at times--if you like morbid humor anyway. It should be remembered that the movie isn't supposed to be a funny movie.
While the messages of the movie are a little presumptuous at times, the movie can pull it off by being a good enough movie for me to take it seriously.
If you want to see this movie, I would recommend buying it, since you will surely want to see it again.

At seven dollars this movie is a steal. Michael Mann is a meticulous filmmaker and he has done great work creating a sleek, economical thriller. Tom Cruise is crisp and kinetic as the incisive and very efficient hitman Vincent. Jamie Foxx in particular impressed me with his turn as the sympathetic but flawed cabbie caught in Cruise's orbit. The character of Jada Pinkett Smith is something of a device, though she makes the most of her time on screen. There is a scene between her and Foxx at the beginning of the film that has a really great vibe. The dialog throughout is smart, tight and at times darkly funny. As many reviews have pointed out, the cinematography is striking. Mann has a keen ear and an uncanny knack for marrying music and imagery on film, and I so liked the soundtrack to this movie that I bought it (a first for me). There are a couple of implausibilities, but nothing unforgivable. The bonus features are very good and a director's cut would have been icing on the cake. Worth it at twice the price.

This movie is classic. Highly artistic. One of the most memorable moment is at the beginning of the movie, where a beautiful night scene of Los Angeles is taken using crystal clear HD cameras from atop of taxi while Bach's air on the G string playing in background. It is beautiful that luck can play such a big role in one's life. If Max hadn't noticed the knock on the window and hadn't called vincent back, his life would not have changed so dramatically. "Fate", therefore is the first theme of this movie.

What is often misunderstood is that Tom Cruise's role in this movie is not entirely villan. He is also a victim of our urban society plagued by apathy, where people are so lonely even though surrounded by so many people. "17 millon people, but nobody knows each other ... gets on the MTA, dies, nobody notices" as Vincent told Max in the beginning. His emotion is epitomized by the scene where the lone Koyote crosses the street. Needless to say, Vincent finds how little different he is from this Koyote. At this moment, a beautiful music starts playing which makes this scene another memorable moment in this movie. "Loneliness", therefore is the second theme of this movie.

If you are like me and many other people who are more or less played by fate and are aware how much of your life is out of your control, and live or have lived in a big city like LA and experienced loneliness, then you will be able to appreciate the most beautiful part of this masterpiece.

If you are not, you can still enjoy this movie by thinking along with Max (instead of Vincent) how he can escape this curious situation he has fallen into. Vincent's plan to carry out hit using a Taxi is clever because he doesn't have to rent a car (to do so he must give his ID; also he may not be as familiar with LA's complicated streets as a cab driver does; even if the rental car comes with a GPS navigation system, without an expert like Max who even knows the schedule of traffic lights, he may still be caught in a traffic jam and not being able to carry out 5 hits in one night.) He can also let the dead cab driver take the blame of his murder, as he did previously. The flipside is of course that he must control the cab driver, which he obviously enjoys because he likes the challenge and is also interesting for the audience to watch.

To be short & sweet I'd like to say that I really enjoyed this movie up until the extremely brief ending. You get to the highlight of the movie & then BAM!...it's over. I would've liked a little more explained or to see what happened to Jamie Foxx's character but it wasn't a huge deal just a little disappointment. I loved seeing Top Cruise in a "bad guy" role. It was a nice change & I thought he played it very well. These 2 actors together gave my husband & I many laughs. I'd recommend this movie.

We should start stopping to create films with such a deep meaning
and such an outrageous end.
This kind of moral where you can see a genius killer, the
character of Tom Cruise in this film, being killed by a mediocre taxi
driver only because the producers think that the good wins the bad is
always the bad choice. The killer in this case, tried to explain to
the stupid Jamie Foxx's character, his reasons to kill that kind of useless people
but with that dunce taxi driver it was just lost of time.
During all the film you can watch Tom developing his role with talent
a sensitive killer just killing peolple that deserves to, and a taxi
driver that appears as a stupid enemy, and even with absolute none ability
with guns, he got to shot the professional killer, that was really
a kind of impossible thing to happen in a real life indeed.
So all the meanings that The character tried to pass through the
film was destroyed by the medioCre choice of the director and
the producers. When I was in the movie theater, watching this movie for the first time, I thought to myself
"Maybe this happened because of the afirmative actions, the black actor
coudn't be killed by the white actor , they were afraid of being considered as racists", well, who knows?
The problem here is: Who was the good MAN? In my opinion the killer, and
why? Just because he was killing useless men, not good characters or
workers innocent men. You can say that is not right kill people, even
bad people, but I have to say, you wrong!
One philosopher said that the evil develops when the good men
permits. In this case the good man is the killer and the bad one the
mediocre taxi driver, a traitor that killed without reason and that
is the worst thing to do.
But, because of Tom Cruise character and the story behind, Yes, I LIKE THE FILM!