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D-Tox AKA Eye See You
R4 - Australia - Universal Pictures Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (27th April 2004). |
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The Film
 Whatever happened to Sylvester Stallone? It seems the last good film he did was 1997's Cop Land, back then it turned out that Sly wasn't your typical muscle bound action star anymore, but can actually deliver a damn good performance. And then just when you think Sly may actually return to his Rocky roots and start making decent films he churns out forgettable crap like Get Carter, Driven, Avenging Angelo and of course D-Tox to name a few. It seems that Sly just wanted a payday unbelievable as it may seem he earned a cool 20 million each on those films! And I don't think that any of those films actually made any money. It seems that Sly will forever make big budget straight to video fluff from now on until someone in Hollywood decides to pull the plug. D-Tox or as it's known in the US Eye See You might have just been a straight to video release, it was shown theatrically in the US but here in New Zealand it was never given a chance and hit the shiny disc faster than you can say in your best Rocky impersonation "Adriaaaaan!" What we get here is a thriller from Jim Gillespie who also directed I Know What You Did Last Summer. The basic plot follows F.B.I. special agent Jake Malloy (Stallone) as he investigates a series of serial murders whom all the victims have been cops. What makes his investigation so difficult is that the killer has no identifiable "profile" nothing to suggest a pattern, Malloy unwittingly becomes the killer's next target, but instead of killing him physically he decides to kill him emotionally by murdering his fiance (Polly Walker) and vows to continue to haunt Malloy for as long as he lives. Three months later Malloy, now an alcoholic attempts suicide because his grief is just too much, of course he cuts his wrists across the tracks and not along tracks so it's just a call for help. His good friend Hendricks (Charles S. Dutton) answers that call and decides to enrol Malloy in a special D-Tox centre for strung-out law enforcement officers. And predictably the killer (gasp) turns out to be one of the patients! as one-by-one each patient and staff at the centre begin to drop like flies and agent Malloy must find the killer before he's next, oh no! D-Tox is basically an average and predictable thriller that doesn't add anything new to the genre, the only saving graces that I could find in this film are it's technical aspects. Let's face it the photography is gorgeous, the editing is packed tight and keeps the film moving at a serviceable pace and the sets and locations are very nice, although the D-Tox centre is a bit weird it's a old Military establishment that looks more like the villain's missile command base from a Bond film. Kind of a odd and creepy choice for a place that's supposed to make people feel better. There's nothing special here people, if you're a Stallone fan you may want to pick this up, otherwise it's only worth a rent if there is nothing else good to see.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1, this transfer is anamorphic and is very good. I could not notice any major flaws the colours are represented accurately, with stark whites in the exteriors and deep and defined blacks for most if the interior scenes.
Audio
This DVD offers the film in English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dialogue is clear apart from a few scenes where a slight hissing can be heard, this is a bit disappointing for such a recent film, but it doesn't really distract you from the film. The surround channels are given a bit of a workout here with both the musical score and the sound effects, the separation is very well placed as it makes you feel right in the action, the subwoofer also makes an appearance here quite a few times, and is extensively used during most of the score as well as a few instances where the effects sequences are aided with some nice sound editing. Overall a very good track. The film also includes subtitles in English for the hearing impaired.
Extras
This DVD doesn't have a lot of extras, and mainly consists of a bunch of deleted scenes, a wrap reel and the trailer. The deleted scenes section includes: Cold Shoulder, The Tour, Eye Opener, Fireside Chat, Moby Dick, Faith, Left Behind & Slater Concern. Some of these are more extended scenes rather than deleted, these scenes are presented in quite poor quality non-anamorphic 2.35:1 and seem like they are straight ports from the avid screen. These scenes run back to back when selected. A commentary would have been nice explaining why these where cut out. The wrap reel also in non-anamorphic 2.35:1, it just a glorified music video. This cuts some portions of the film into a montage set to a soundtrack. This is a completely pointless extra. And finally we get the film's trailer in non-anamorphic 2.35:1
Overall
A below average thriller and doesn't actually thrill, certainly not worth a purchase. Rent it if you must but keep in mind you won't get much in return.
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