“Knight & Day” Blu-ray Review
Although it wasn’t the first (and won’t be the last) film to use Muse’s “Uprising” song, Knight and Day seemed to utilize it better than anyone else I’ve seen. Granted that was just for the trailer for the film, but it got you pumped up and ready to see it; mixed with the one-liners and action packed sequences, the trailer really got you excited for the film even if it did just look like a mindless action flick that happened to have Cruise and Diaz in the drivers seats. Although it fared poorly in the states, overseas the film was a fairly big success and when all is said and done it more than doubled its budget back in profits. Although considering the amount of publicity that the film created worldwide it’s not surprising it pulled in as much as it did.
Synopsis
Big screen superstars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz come together in this fun, action packed thrill ride that breaks all the rules. When a small-town girl named June (Diaz) meets a mysterious stranger, she thinks she’s found the man of her dreams. But she soon discovers he’s a fugitive super-spy, who thrusts her into a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase that spans the globe. As the bullets and sparks fly, June must decide if her “Knight” in shining armor is a dangerous traitor or the love of her life.
I knew from the trailers that they likely blew their entire wad of witty Cruise banter and “cool guy” scenes, but part of me didn’t care and wanted to see the film anyway. Although I didn’t take a trip to the theaters to see it I still was fairly enticed by it when the Blu-ray arrived; I knew full well from what others had said that it’s a mediocre ride, but I happened to be looking for mindless entertainment the day I watched it so I probably enjoyed it about twenty more times more than I should have. But keep that in mind—this isn’t a thinking man’s movie. In fact the plot kind of disintegrates into the usual annoying world domination/destruction shenanigans that so often accompanies these kind of films, but thankfully the flipside of that is the chemistry we get on screen between our two leads.
Cruise and Diaz have been on screen together before, although it was under much stranger circumstances prior (Vanilla Sky) but they do make a nice couple, I have to admit. There really wasn’t a whole lot of tension between them other than that they’re both pretty people but at the same time there seemed to be a kind of playfulness between them that worked for the film. On the flipside it was backed up with rather juvenile antics that get passed back and forth between them during the film (the whole changing of their clothes while they were drugged thing seemed like something that would be more appropriate for high school students…well, not the drugged part but I guess that’s probably more common now too unfortunately), but that’s only a minor qualm to be had, really.
Most of your time will be spent watching them race cars, shoot at people and run around beautiful cities and locations. It’s certainly a film that’s reliant on pretty visuals and exciting stunts, as evidenced by the copious amounts of bullets and thrills and chases that bounce around on the screen. Seeing as I was in the mood for entertainment just like this I really ate it up; at any other point in time I probably would’ve just thought it was stupid but if you’re in the right mindset (or just prefer to watch movies like this) then this film will probably blow you away with its simplicity and ability to easily entertain. It’s kind of akin to Mr. and Mrs. Smith–exciting visuals backed up with pretty actors paired with a rather stupid plot when you get down to it.
In the end though all that matters is if you enjoyed it—and while this film is the exact definition of formulaic when it comes to romantic comedies paired up with action films, it still manages to entertain simply because it does play on those same principles that keeps these kind of films entertaining and continually produced. A pure popcorn flick that you’ll likely watch a few times again as it airs on basic cable, but past that you’re probably going to limit it to a single viewing on home video so a Rental would be best.
The Blu-ray
Fox pushes Knight and Day out on Blu-ray in a three-disc release. Inside the slipcover-draped Elite Blu-ray case is a pair of inserts and the three discs – one Blu-ray, one DVD, and one digital copy (why they didn’t combine the DVD with the digital copy, I don’t know…but whatever). Menus for the Blu-ray are simple and easy to navigate and the overall presentation that is nice enough though it would’ve looked better if they’d used the original theatrical silhouette poster.
Moving onto the AVC encoded 1080p 2.39:1 transfer we get the usual flawless presentation out of Fox. The majority of the film oozes detail out of all of the frames, boasting plenty of detail in the myriad of sequences that range from city to becahers. On top of that we have plenty of detail on character faces and the like. The audio matches the visual presentation with incredible dexterity. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix thuds and booms at every turn, spreading the love around to all of the surrounds and making full use of the LFE output. There is quite a bit of dialogue in this film and all of it spits out of the center channel with superb clarity while all of the films many, many (many) varied sound effects echo throughout the room. Gun shots are deafening and stabbings are as brutal as they should be. There really isn’t a single moment in the action scenes that aren’t as pleasing to watch as they are to hear.
Extras include:
Wilder Knights and Crazier Days
Boston Days and Spanish Knights
Knight and “Someday”: Featuring the Black Eyed Peas and Tom Cruise
Viral Video: Soccer
Viral Video: Kick
Knight and Day: Story
Knight and Day: Scope
Theatrical Trailer
Sadly the extras only amount to under forty minutes of extras and most of them are just brief EPK style pieces that are as fluffy to watch as the movie is. Thankfully the A/V presentation is pretty stellar though so that at least makes this Blu-ray worth a Rental.
Knight and Day is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.