Extras: HBO First Look: The Making of Training Day, audio commentary
with director Antoine Fuqua, additional scenes, alternate ending, 2
music videos, cast and crew highlights.
Director:
Antoine Fuqua
Screenplay:
David Ayer
Cast:
Alonzo Harris: Denzel Washington
Jake Hoyt: Ethan Hawke
Roger: Scott Glenn
Smiley: Cliff Curtis
Paul: Dr. Dre
Sammy: Snoop Dogg
Stan Gursky: Tom Berenger
Few words can describe a movie like Training Day.
To me, it came out of left field. I didn't go see it at theaters last September and the DVD
release date in April crept up on me without me even taking notice. But
on street date, I decided to pick it up, if only a rental. When I
watched it I was totally blown away by it. I planned to buy it but got
sidetracked by other DVDs. Now, four months later I found it
pre-viewed at Blockbuster for ten bucks! Denzel Washington is great in
this movie. I would have to say one of the best acting jobs I've seen
with James Cagney's portrayal in White Heat being the only film
exception (if it was TV I would mention Kramer from Seinfeld as a great
actor). Denzel is backed by other outstanding acting from Ethan Hawke
and Scott Glenn. When Denzel won the Oscar for his portrayal of the cop
gone bad, I was not suprised. If you don't like this type of street movie
at least rent it for Denzel's and everyone else's acting (well the few
rappers in the movie aren't that great though).
Training Day tells the story of cop in training, Jake Hoyt (Ethan
Hawke) who gets paired with rogue cop, Alonzo Harris (Denzel
Washington). To say he is a rogue is an understatement. Wait till you
see the stuff he does in the movie, Alonzo takes Jake on a crash course
of what being a cop for the LAPD is really about and shows him the
underbelly of the world he thought he knew. Great twist towards the end
and cool moments make this movie stand out. I don't want to spoil
anything for you. Watch it and you won't be disapointed.
My only gripe is that sometimes I couldn't grasp the underlining plot.
The main story is just Hoyt going through a typical day with Alonzo but
their is another plot about money laundering. I would give
the film's content a perfect five if it weren't for the sometimes
confusing storyline.
Into the disc. The video on the disc is a very good transfer from
Warner. Solid colors are very deep and the actors are sharp. Flesh tones
are right and the transfer just has a nice feel to it. Stuff like
compression artifacts are very hard to notice.
The sound is top notch as well. Very audible throughout and when
action pops up it is very booming. Music and sounds of the street fill
the soundtrack. Not too shabby.
The extras are the only thing that brings it down a bit. It's not bare
bones but it just doesn't feel like they took the DVD too seriously. The
audio commentary only features the director - would have been nice for
Denzel or Ethan to be in there as well. The deleted scenes are very
dark. I know they're not going to be up to quality with the film's color
as they are probably from work print and the whole fact of compression
but still.
The documentary is somewhat interesting but the most horrible
thing is the second music video. I think it was called Got You and it
features the singer dressed like Denzel and another guy dressed like
Ethan. Thank God they didn't show this that much because it would have
made the movie look really bad. The alternate ending is not presented
in good quality and is not different until the last few minutes. I know
Warner is capable of more than this.
Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend Training Day. It is a great movie
that I think could be watched several times over. I'm thinking about
watching it again real soon. This is acting in it's best and Hollywood
doing a good job.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
