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Vantage Point (Single-Disc Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Pete Travis
Actors: Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Bruce Mcgill, Edgar Ramirez
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $28.96
Buy Used: $6.14
You Save: $22.82 (79%)
New (66) Used (42) from $6.14
Rating:  92 reviews
Sales Rank: 198
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), Cantonese (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Korean (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 99
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.4
MPN: 21616
UPC: 043396216167
EAN: 0043396216167
ASIN: B0012QCZ5O
Theatrical Release Date: February 22, 2008
Release Date: July 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
During an historic counter-terrorism summit in Spain the President of the United States is struck down by an assassin's bullet. Eight strangers have a perfect view of the kill but what did they really see? As the minutes leading up to the fatal shot are replayed through the eyes of each eyewitness the reality of the assassination takes shape. But just when you think you know the answer the shattering final truth is revealed. VANTAGE POINT is a mindbending political action-thriller starring Dennis Quaid Matthew Fox Academy Award Winner Forest Whitaker (Best Actor 2006 The Last King of Scotland) with Sigourney Weaver and Academy Award winner William Hurt (Best Actor 1985 Kiss of the Spider Woman).System Requirements:Running Time: 90 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: PG-13 UPC: 043396216167 Manufacturer No: 21616
Amazon.com
Vantage Point, which aspires to be a cunningly twisted thriller, comes equipped with plenty of hurtling action, handheld camerawork, what-was-that? editing, and a plot that has multiple, contradictory agendas writhing like a nest of snakes. It's all set a-boil within a few blocks of a town square in Spain where a U.S. President is targeted for assassination. Although the movie lasts 90 minutes, the events it depicts are mostly over with in a quarter-hour or so--but seen, rewound, and reseen from half a dozen different (you guessed it) vantage points. The first line in the credits reads "Original Film," apparently the name of the production company. "Gimmick Movie" would be more accurate; the opening reel, effectively jolting, affords an initial overview of the events through the eyes, lenses, monitors, and dueling sensibilities of a TV news producer (Sigourney Weaver), her activist-minded reporter (Zoe Saldana) and crew. Everybody's in Salamanca (actually, Mexico City) for the start of an international conference to reaffirm Arab-Western commitment to the fight against terrorism. Terrorism, of course, sees this as an ideal moment to break out. As gunshots and explosions reduce everything to chaos, the clock is reset to zero and we proceed to revisit the scene as experienced by several Secret Service agents (namely Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox), an American tourist with camcorder (Forest Whitaker), sundry locals--including three who may be caught up in a love triangle or a conspiracy or both--and even the President himself (William Hurt).
For a while, this is mildly diverting: that guy, or that gesture, so sinister when glimpsed across the plaza in one run-through, now appears harmless in close-up--or vice versa. But there's no real ambiguity (so stop with the careless comparisons to Kurosawa's Rashomon)--this is a shell game in which the peas aren't worth tracking. Despite decent actors, the characters might as well be holograms (although poor Forest Whitaker is saddled with "motivation" of surpassing sappiness), and the casting telegraphs several twists: one redoubtable good guy practically gives a wink-wink, nudge-nudge that he's really bad, etc. The movie declines to specify which nutjob philosophy the terrorists espouse, and their numbers are multi-ethnic. There's also a laborious suggestion that they have bloodthirsty, reactionary counterparts among the President's inner circle, which perhaps qualifies as redeeming socio-political comment and prompts a meaningless declaration of deep meaning from the Prez. The whole megilleh finally comes down to an extended car chase through impassably claustrophobic streets that would mark a lurch into unintentional self-parody--if only that point hadn't been passed a couple of rewinds earlier. --Richard T. Jameson
Stills from Vantage Point (click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 87 more reviews...
 Confusion and Terror from Multiple Vantages July 2, 2008
Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States)
135 out of 145 found this review helpful
The story line of VANTAGE POINT is a brief one: a summit meeting on terrorism aimed at addressing the differences between the Arab world and the Western world is taking place in Salamanca, Spain and the arrival of the President of the United States is greeted with assassination attempts, terrorist explosions, and car chases. The difference in this thriller from the many others of the same genre is the use of telling the story from at least five different vantage points - the news reporters (Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and Staff), the CIA (Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, et al with William Hurt as the President), a group of terrorists, an American bystander with camera (Forest Whitaker), and the viewing public. Things are not as they initially seem and the more times the story is rerun through repetition of the incident, the more information is added.
Based on a story by Barry Levy and directed by Pete Travis the film could become tiresome in its use of repeated reruns, but given the quality of the cast and the twists and turns as the 'plot' is further elucidated makes the story more of an investigation of Intelligence forces from all involved countries and drives home the reason 'terrorism' is so terrifying. Some of the peripheral cast members are particularly fine - Bruce McGill, Edgar Ramirez, Said Taghmaoui, Ayelet Zurer, and Eduardo Noriega among others. It is a film that takes patience on the part of the viewer, but staying with it until the end results in some very fine entertainment. Grady Harp, July 08
 Vantage Point - Gets Better Towards the End, Worth Watching! March 8, 2008
Mark (NY, NJ, CT USA)
27 out of 29 found this review helpful
"Vantage Point" is a good action drama that you can predict pretty well from the trailer. It is based on a concept that has been done many times before, that of telling the same story from multiple points of view. Fans of "24" will get a strong sense of deja vu 24 - Season 1 (Slim - Pack). Yet the core story is interesting. The action sequences and great camera work make this a movie worth watching. Good acting and a strong finish help to overcome some loose ends and production errors.
The President of the United States (William Hurt), or POTUS as referred to by the secret service, is the target of a group of terrorists whose objectives are never revealed to us. While overseas to attend an anti-terrorism summit in Spain, he is shot. Or is he?
Dennis Quaid and Mathew Fox (of "Lost" fame Lost - The Complete First Season) play secret service agents there to protect the President. After multiple attacks occur after the president is shot, they scramble to try to respond and find the shooter. It is very difficult to tell which attacks are meant to kill and which are meant to divert attention away from the villains.
Quaid takes advantage of Forest Whitaker's camcorder film and the media's tapes to piece together the story. As each of the characters is swung into action, we get to see their individual struggles to cope with chaos and how their stories are interconnected.
Perhaps in an homage to "24," after each character's scene finishes it 'rewinds' to the beginning to give us the next character's 'vantage point.' This gets old fast. After a while, these vantage points seem to disintegrate into one another and overlap more and more. In fact, this is one story where the effect seems to have taken away from the story.
The action sequences are very strong, and even though there's a lot of hand held camera work they get enough steady shots to make the chase scenes watchable. Most notable is a car chase scene that is bound to draw comparisons to Ronin Ronin, The Bourne Identity The Bourne Identity (Widescreen Extended Edition), The Italian Job The Italian Job (Special Collector's Edition) and other recent car chase movies. Putting together a sequence like that is very difficult, and I can't wait for the DVD to see how they did it. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a good car chase.
The pacing of the movie is good and especially improves once we get to the last few vantage points. The score is excellent and blends well with the action sequences. We are purposely left without reasons why this group is after the president.
There are some technical things that are off in the movie. Anybody who has ever been to Spain will get that uneasy feeling. Once you see the Mexican extras and hear them speak a very Central American Spanish it becomes clear they are in Mexico, not Spain. They try to use a few Spanish actors, but it's not enough to feel like Spain.
Some parts of the dialogue seem overly preachy. Still, this movie does effectively portray how difficult security planning is in a world where government security tactics are public knowledge. The story probably would have been more profound and meaningful with a traditional plot-line, which it turns into at the end anyway.
This movie is worth watching and improves a lot towards the end. You just have to get past several very annoying rewind sequences and plenty of early repetition.
Enjoy!
A loop in time April 21, 2008
Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana)
16 out of 22 found this review helpful
Basic premise:
1. The President of the United States is speaking at an anti-terrorism summit in Spain
2. He gets shot
3. There is an explosion
4. A bigger explosion follows
The film loops these events over and over, each from the perspective of a different character, with each loop adding a little more information than the last.
Beginning with news producer Rex Brooks (Sigourney Weaver) laying the foundation as above, more background is added when seen from the vantage points (hence the title) of Agents Barnes (Dennis Quaid) and Taylor (Matthew Fox).
Things get a lot more interesting when we see the events from the viewpoints of Spanish police officer Enrique, and tourist Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker), and it all starts coming together with each additional loop. (There are eight of them)
At first I was "iffy" on the idea of watching the same 23 minutes repeatedly, but ultimately I was pleasantly surprised at how they developed the plot. Unfortunately said plot is more "made for TV" than "major motion picture", but the movie is well worth watching to the end.
Recommended for fans of electronic gadgets, impossible car chases and quirky thrillers.
Rated: 3.5 stars
Amanda Richards, April 21, 2008
"Do you see what I see?" March 1, 2008
R. Kyle (USA)
15 out of 27 found this review helpful
US President Ashton (Hurt) is set to attend an anti-terrorist conference in Salmanca, Spain. Agent Thomas Barnes (Quaid) is back on duty after being shot defending the President from an attempted assassination.
Howard Lewis (Whitaker) is on vacation in Spain and filming the conference for his family back home. He sees movement in a window behind the President and catches the assassin on tape.
The rest of the film is from 8 separate vantage points and tells the tale of the attempted assassination and kidnapping of the US President by terrorists. The action's fast and the scene 'rewinds' each time for a new 'vantage point.'
Yes, the concept's been done before, but I have to get a nod to a stellar cast. Hurt, Quaid, Whitaker all had me lost in their personal stories and rooting for the 'good guys.'
WARNING: Rewinds may be a problem for folks with vertigo, migraines or seizures. I have vertigo and offer this warning to others. Note--for some reason, this film panned out well enough that I wasn't dizzy or nauseated afterwards. IMHO, that's a job well done for the cinematographer.
A movie that plays with all your expectations and perceptions July 13, 2008
Craig Matteson (Ann Arbor, MI)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is a movie that plays with your perceptions and expectations. William Hurt plays the President of the United States in a time of Global Terror. He attends a conference in Spain and is shot. Dennis Quaid plays Thomas Barnes, a Secret Service Agent who is brought back for this event after being shot and nearly losing his life a year earlier.
The first half of the movie shows us the event, rewinds and shows us events from another person's point of view, and does that four times (as I recall). After that we think we have the pieces together and the movie tells its narratives as some of the previous views converge for different reasons. I really don't want to say any more about the plot.
I thought it was a pretty good and entertaining movie. Quaid gives a solid performance as a serious, brave, but understandably tentative agent. William Hurt is good in his smallish role. Forest Whitaker gives the movie an emotional center. Sigourney Weaver, Bruce McGill, Matthew Fox, Edgar Ramirez, Said Taghmaoui, Ayelet Zurer, and several others fill out a really good cast.
While not a great film, it is worth seeing.
Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
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