7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.8 |
Robert Clayton Dean is a lawyer whose life is turned upside down after a chance meeting with a friend. Robert has just been burdened with a videotape of a congressman's assassination. Hot on the tail of this tape is a ruthless group of National Security Agents commanded by a belligerently ambitious fed named Reynolds. Using surveillance from satellites, bugs and other sophisticated snooping devices, the NSA infiltrates every facet of Dean's existence, tracing each physical and digital footprint he leaves.
Starring: Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Lisa Bonet, Regina KingAction | 100% |
Thriller | 93% |
Crime | 68% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-2
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.36:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: LPCM 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Enemy of the State arrived in theaters in late 1998 to excellent box office numbers and a fair amount of critical praise. As one of the more well crafted techno-thrillers of recent memory, the story focuses on one man’s battle with the NSA’s (National Security Agency) as he is relentlessly pursued and harassed.
Robert Dean (Will Smith) is a wise cracking attorney with a seemingly perfect life. He is successful, his family adores him and life appears to be as close to idyllic as possible. One unfortunate day, Dean accidentally acquires a digital recording of a NSA official murdering a senator (Jason Robards). Knowing full well that Dean holds evidence against them, the agency ruthlessly executes a smear and harassment campaign. Operative Thomas Reynolds (Jon Voight) will stop at nothing to make sure that the evidence Dean holds gets back into this hands. Dean’s life is in danger and only ex-spy “Brill” (Gene Hackman) has the techniques and knowledge to fend off the NSA.
Will Smith runs for his life in this excellent Blu-ray release of Enemy of the State
Enemy of the State has seen its fair share of releases on standard definition DVD and none have been particularly impressive. Disney has really risen to the challenge of presenting this film in a way that has never been seen before in the home video realm, as the film looks spectacular on Blu-ray. Colors are appropriately vivid, grain structure has been nicely preserved and black levels are excellent in this transfer. I was very impressed with the amount of fine detail present in Enemy of the State as well. Skin details and textural backgrounds are very clearly defined and are a clear upgrade from the previous DVD versions of the film. The one nitpick I do have with this Blu-ray edition, is in the quality of the master. There are numerous examples of defects present in this transfer including source print scratches and what appeared to be a bad splice in the film. Perhaps this was sourced from an older master that was created when these sorts of details were masked by the lower resolution of DVD. Regardless, it is a distraction for the first 15 or so minutes of the film. Thankfully, the problems seem to clear up from there on out.
Disney, much like Sony, have been big supporters of utilizing uncompressed PCM audio on all of their Blu-ray releases and Enemy of the State features a fine PCM track that is a huge improvement over previous Dolby Digital versions of the film. I was very impressed with the large amount of intense directional sound in this film. There are many scenes where we are treated to visuals of orbiting satellites zooming in on action on the ground. During these sequences, the surround channels light up dramatically with fantastic whooshing sounds that spiral around the room. The film's multiple chase sequences are also terrifically directional with ample surround usage and an abundance of deep bass action. Dialog is always crisp and perfectly intelligible and I never had any trouble understanding any of the characters, even in the most dramatic and noisy scenes. All in all, Enemy of the State in PCM offers a tremendous upgrade over the previous DVD versions of the film and is a very involving surround experience.
Here's what's included:
-Deleted Scenes
-"The Making of Enemy of the State"
-Theatrical Trailer
While I found the making of documentary to be interesting and fairly entertaining, there really isn't much to it other than the standard behind the scenes fluff. Most of the deleted scenes offer little more than fleshed out versions of what is already in the film. It is apparent that these scenes were excised for a reason. A theatrical trailer for the film is also included.
Enemy of the State is a relentlessly entertaining film. It has been a favorite of mine since its release and it is a natural selection for the Blu-ray format. While the video suffers ever so slightly from a few flaws in the source material, it is still an excellent video presentation with all the hallmarks of an excellent transfer. Enemy of the State's PCM audio track is definitely worth the price of admission, as it offers a clear upgrade over any previous release of the film.
2012
2015
2016
2-Disc Extended Cut
2008
2010
2005-2006
Extended Cut
2013
1998
Bastille Day
2016
Unrated
2015
Extreme Cut
2009
1995
2009
2006
2015
Collector's Edition
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30th Anniversary Edition
1992
2015
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2008