COLLATERAL DAMAGE

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elias Koteas, Cliff Curtis and Francesca Neri
Director: Andrew Davis
Running Time: 109 mins
Certificate: 15

Available to buy on DVD October 7th

As he crosses the street to pick up his wife and son from the doctor's, fireman Gordy Brewer (Schwarzenegger) witnesses them horrifically killed by a terrorist bomb. The bomb was planted by the leader of the Columbian guerrillas, a man know to the CIA as The Wolf (Curtis) and was meant to kill the Columbian ambassador to the United States. Hearing there will be no action taken to find The Wolf, after he has fled back to Columbia, Gordy takes it on himself to find justice for the death of his family.

If this movie was made in the 1980s, it would probably have been a much bigger hit but these are different times and films like this don't need to be made. The lone avenger against the evil foe is just a fantasy that is never going to happen and I think the public realise that now.

Yes, this is a less violent Arnie. He is not a soldier, he doesn't use a gun and he doesn't crack any one-liners and this is what really makes the movie fail. It's not the Arnie we all know and he looks very uncomfortable in this new role.

Drafting in some good support actors does save the film either. The very underused John Leguizamo and John Turturro should never have been in the picture in the first place and Elias Koteas is a much better actor than this script deserves.

All in all, this is a movie that should have never been made never mind released but for those who want to hark back to the 1980s action style when Arnie was king, this might be right up your alley.

Audio commentary from director Andrew Davis, Commentary from star Arnold Schwarzenegger (DVD-Rom only), 'A Hero In A New Era' documentary, Additional scenes, Trailer, Interactive menu, Scene access & Dolby Digital (5.1)