Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Training Day

This is topic Training Day in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Aaron Haney (Member # 747) on 10-21-2001, 05:21 AM:

I'm surprised no one has started a thread on this one yet.

I enjoyed the movie, but what I really want to comment on is the very video-ish look of it. It looks like one of those movies where the entire film has been scanned in, run through a color "corrector", then output back to film, all at 2K resolution (just like "O Brother, Where Art Thou"). Did anyone else notice this?

(EDIT: Fixed a typo.)

Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 10-21-2001, 06:59 PM:

Ending was a let down. Always have to make someone the bad guy, don't they. Whatever happened to good characters like in "heat" or "usualy suspects" where both sides are likeable?

------------------
"Asleep at the switch? I wasn't asleep, I was drunk!" - Homer Simpson

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 12-18-2003, 08:29 AM:

Just saw it and really got into it.

I don't understand the comment about the ending...they didn't make him out to be the bad guy...he was bad from the start.

After seeing the movie on video I have but one regret. Namely, that I didn't see it during its initial theatrical run. OTOH, I'm very glad I finally got around to watching it at all.

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 12-19-2003, 10:20 PM:

I did take the chance to view this in the theater, mainly because I ran it in my theater. It had a great DTS mix that really brought you into the picture sound wise. It was really a treat. I loved the film.

I thought this had been talked about before. Maybe I am insane. Could be the tumor thinking for me.

Ciao.

Dave

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 12-19-2003, 11:32 PM:

***SPOILER ALERT***

quote:
I don't understand the comment about the ending...they didn't make him out to be the bad guy...he was bad from the start.

Precisely. "Training Day" would have sucked if Denzel's character was a good guy. The thing that made his character particularly despicable was the way how he rationalized being bad. He made valid arguments for his motives and actions. That made it more difficult for Ethan Hawke's character to argue against it. Few can be more evil than a person with authority and influence like a cop. Overall it made the film much more powerful.

The point to "Training Day" is that police officers are entrusted to uphold the law. Some cops abuse that trust. There is a very fine line between being a "boy scout" on the right side of the law or a rogue cop who only protects and serves himself. A good cop can succumb to temptation or pressure from a superior and wind up going bad. The whole movie is a test for Ethan Hawke's character to see if he and his morals can survive.

As to the look of "Training Day," I'm not sure I would call the movie "video-ish" looking. The film was shot with anamorphic lenses and Moviecam cameras (don't know what film stock or any of that stuff). Overall, the movie had a very "hot" look to its lighting. A lot of scenes were very orange looking. Some of that really depicts a good feel of the inner city. I remember all the dim, amber colored street lighting of the more run down sections of New York and "Training Day" duplicated that look at times. There are faults to the film's look too. Some of the high powered overhead background lighting is so bright that it isn't realistic anymore (and this is a valid criticism for lots of movies with night photography). There were also periods in the film where the quality of photography could have been better. I don't know if it was the choice of film stock, quality of lenses or what. The film looked great in parts, but overall I have seen 'scope done significantly better.