6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.8 |
When a group of hard working guys find out they've fallen victim to a wealthy business man's Ponzi scheme, they conspire to rob his high-rise residence.
Starring: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Matthew BroderickComedy | 100% |
Action | 68% |
Heist | 23% |
Crime | 21% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Bonus View (PiP)
BD-Live
D-Box
Mobile features
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Recorded in the offices of Brian Grazer in early 2010. Source unknown: "Get me George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, pronto. What? Not available? [Expletive deleted.] Well then get me Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy and... and... Matthew Broderick. Love me some Broderick. That'll work. Need a few more, though... see if David Duchovny's ex is free. Is Precious still in town? She was up for an Oscar. Maybe one of the Affleck boys, preferably the one from that Soderbergh heist flick. Tack on the weepy dad from Crash. Alex from Taxi. [Hums first seven bars of Taxi theme.] Mmm! And Hawkeye from M*A*S*H. Cant' get enough of that guy. Now we need a visionary. A real artist. Someone you can count on when everything goes to hell. Ratner. [Expletive deleted.] Brett Ratner! Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?! [Laughs for an uncomfortably long time.] Somebody get me Ratner on the line. Tell him it's Graze!" End of recording.
Alright, alright. Settle down. Producer Brian Grazer didn't slap together Tower Heist over lunch. (It was actually director Brett Ratner who brought the project to him.) But you might think he did if you don't make it past the first thirty minutes of Ratner's Stiller-v-Murphy heist caper. Unlike Ocean's Eleven, Tower's cast feels pieced together at random, Ratner feels tacked on, and Murphy seems to have walked off the set of a late '80s Eddie Murphy vehicle. The film's script doesn't really gel at first either, no doubt the result of having six script doctors (among them Noah Baumbach, Jeff Nathanson and Ocean's own Ted Griffin) tinker with Adam Cooper and Bill Collage's original 2006 screenplay. For the better part of a half an hour, it's a bit of a meandering mess, and a fairly forgettable one at that. But once Tower Heist hits its stride -- 45-minutes in, admittedly -- it turns into something else entirely: a decent comedy and a fun little genre pic.
"They're saying that anyone who invested with Mr. Shaw has been frauded."
Say what you will about Ratner's latest; Tower Heist's 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer looks good. Really good. In fact, aside from the slightest hint of ringing, I didn't notice anything worth griping about. Colors are beautifully saturated, skintones are warm and natural, primaries pack heat, and black levels walk the straight and narrow. Moreover, the presentation delivers fine detail after fine detail. Stubble, freckles, pin stripes, pores, cake crumbs, flecks of paint... you name it, you can bet it gets the high-class high definition treatment. Fine textures are exceedingly well-resolved, edge definition is oh-so-exacting, and delineation is dead on. Not every closeup is created equal, of course, but every scene boasts a refined filmic appearance that doesn't slip or stumble. Better still, the encode doesn't commit any serious crimes, and all of the usual suspects -- artifacting, banding, aliasing, smearing, crush and other unsavory characters -- are nowhere to be seen. Make no mistake, Tower Heist looks fantastic. Even if you hate the film, you have to admit its transfer is easy on the eyes.
Universal's pulpy DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is pulsing with punchy upbeats and beatdowns, so much so that it leaves a lively, lasting impression. Dialogue is ever at the ready; clear, intelligible and perfectly prioritized. LFE output lays down the law; hefty, weighty and bound to every thick-as-thieves bass line Christophe Beck's jazzy score has on tap. And rear speaker activity doesn't let up; assertive, enveloping and brimming with all-too-convincing directional effects. Yes, when hushed conversations dominate the proceedings, the soundscape drifts into front-heavy territory. But it's never long before the mix reasserts its power, demanding every listener's full attention. The third act alone is as immersive as breezy heist flicks come, and the gang's nail-biting penthouse robbery is all the more intense and involving for it. Creaking cables, groaning metal, strong winds, shouts of frustration, gunfire and Beck's funky beats combine forces to give Ocean's Eleven a run for its sonic money. I don't know about you, but if it weren't for the film's toe-tapping sound design, Tower Heist's best scenes wouldn't be nearly as much fun as they are.
Tower Heist may be a poor man's Ocean's Eleven (sprinkled with just enough pointed economic angst to make it timely), but it can also be a lot of fun... if taken on its own terms. Murphy tries too hard and Broderick doesn't try hard enough, but the rest of the cast stands firm, making the film's low-rent heist a high-roller blast best served with a bucket of popcorn and low expectations. Universal's Blu-ray release is even better, with an excellent video transfer, a terrific DTS-HD Master Audio track, and a healthy selection of special features. Renting before buying is probably the wisest course of action, but those who rally behind Ratner's Tower Heist won't be disappointed.
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