Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Warner Home Entertainment – 139 mins  – 1998 – Rated R – 1080p Widescreen 2.39: 1 – Dolby TrueHD Audio 5.1

Watching The Negotiator is sort of like finding a needle in a haystack, because on average ten out of ten Hollywood action thrillers are either lame or just downright suck; but this one slipped through the cracks and shines bright. Though it’s over a decade old, The Negotiator surprisingly holds up well because instead of displaying visual effects or over the top action sequences, the film focuses more on characters in a hardcore situation. For those of you who never saw the film, or haven’t seen it since its original release, The Negotiator is available on Blu-ray from Warner Home Entertainment, and it’s definitely worth your attention.

THE MOVIE

The Negotiator stars Samuel L. Jackson as Danny Roman, a police negotiator who has been targeted for killing his partner; a crime he did not commit. The only way to clear his name is by ironically taking a handful of hostages who work for internal affairs to find out who the real culprit is. The police send in another negotiator Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey), to bring Roman out, pitting the negotiators against one another. Being that both Roman and Sabian know every negotiator trick in the book, a cat and mouse game between the two men breaks outs as the truth about the crime slowly begins to unfold.

The clear reason why The Negotiator works is because of the powerhouse performances of Jackson and Spacey. Jackson is strong and flashy, while Spacey is smooth and cool, making you believe every new situation that untwines in this well paced thriller. Director F. Gary Gray, who also helmed the female action thriller Set it Off, understands that he may never get two heavyweight actors such as Jackson and Spacey in his grasp again gives them the room to do what they do best, while he focuses on the dark music video styled visuals and keeps things moving as tightly as possible.

The film is not perfect, and maybe should have been under two hours rather than twenty minutes over, but when it works it works damn well. The supporting cast does all it can to keep the wheels rolling; including Paul Giamatti, who was a no name actor back then, but you can really see his potential. Jackson and Spacey are not the typical ‘action heroes,’ so they go for the brain over muscle to get the job done, because if this was a Sylvester Stallone or Bruce Willis vehicle, the results would have been very different. Anyone looking for a solid action thriller that focuses on characters rather than things exploding every five minutes should definitely place The Negotiator on their list of films to see.

VIDEO

For a film that is over a decade old The Negotiator looks better than most of the recent hi-def releases, offering a solid 1080p image in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The majority of this film takes place at night, and fortunately blacks stand strong with hints of grain, but nothing that feels overwhelming. Colors are sharp and the skin tones are so smooth in the close-up shots that you can see all the sweat coming from the hairpiece Jackson wears. This is a major leap over the previously muddy DVD, so if you’re a fan of this film and thinking about upgrading, this is your shot.

AUDIO

Like the picture quality, the sound for The Negotiator is also top notch, with a Dolby Digital TrueHD 5.1 sound mix that will have your neighbors convinced that there is a hostage situation going on in your house. Dialogue sounds crisps, and the background effects and ambience reels you in giving both rear and forward speakers the full treatment. The Negotiator is a pleasant surprise for sound enthusiast, and adds much more to the experience of watching the movie as a whole.

EXTRAS

The film, picture and sound are all great, but the extras leave plenty to be desired, because they are still the lame standard defintion featurettes ported over from the DVD. 

‘The Eleventh Hour: Stories from Real Life Negotiators’ runs less than ten minutes and focuses on actual cops who deal with hostage negotiation scenarios.

‘On Location: Why Chicago’ is your basic on the set featurette that details filming in the windy city, and includes mini interviews with the cast and filmmakers.

BOTTOM LINE

The Negotiator holds up a decade later thanks mainly to the performances of Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey. This Blu-ray offers excellent picture and sound, but the bonus features are anorexic. Fans of the movie should definitely consider the upgrade over DVD, and anyone seeing the film for the first time should be satisfied.

SCORES: (out of 5):

Movie: 3.5

Video: 4.0

Sound: 4.0

Extras: 2.0

Bottom Line: 3.0