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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 1.85:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • French: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  Subtitles
    English, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Arabic, Portuguese, English - Hearing Impaired, Italian - Hearing Impaired
  Extras

    The Glimmer Man

    Warner Bros./Warner Bros. . R4 . COLOR . 88 mins . MA15+ . PAL

      Feature
    Contract

    On this occasion Steven Seagal plays New York cop Jack Cole, the out of town detective with a mysterious past. Cole used to be involved with the military before he became part of New York’s finest. He has since been sent from New York to help solve a series of brutal crimes in Los Angeles (the man obviously likes to travel). The victims of these horrifying crimes have been hung up and crucified, and it's up to Cole and his new L.A. partner Jim Campbell (Keenan Ivory Wayans) to solve the case. Yet, before they can attempt to solve the case they must learn to work together as a team. Campbell quickly resents Cole’s infringing on what he thinks is ‘his’ case and is puzzled by Cole’s mysterious ways. However, it doesn’t take long for the unlikely duo to obtain mutual respect and admiration for each other.

    When the killer called ‘The Family Man’ murders Cole’s ex-wife and her new husband the case becomes even more personal to Jack. Another puzzling outcome is that Cole’s prints are found on his ex-wife’s body. It becomes apparent to Cole and Campbell that they are being set up, yet they don’t know by whom. When Cole attempts to use his old military contacts to find out some answers matters take an even more sinister turn as the two fight to not only find a serial killer and his copycat, but also to stay alive.

    This is most certainly one of the better films of Seagal’s dwindling career. The clichéd character has been dropped, and the storyline involves more than the usual few thin leads that necessitate Seagal hitting people. The ponytailed one has dropped the brooding, dark figure to bond with Wayans’ very well placed humour, allowing the duo to really blend. The humour and dry wit keeps the film rolling well even its darker moments. The plot contains a few more twists than Seagal’s usual ‘find the big bad guy and then destroy him’ storylines. Its by no means a classic big dumb action film, but its still a reasonably fun one.

      Video
    Contract

    Glimmer Man features one of the better transfers found in the super Seagal collection. Presented with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 the film is, of course, widescreen enhanced. What we have here is a single layered disc, no extras, and thus no compression problems.

    The picture is sharp, crisp, and clean. The colours are all vibrant and well saturated. Grain levels are only minor, and film artefacts are common, but not to such a level as to cause any major grumbles. Overall it is hard to complain too much about this transfer as it is one of the better of the Seagal lot, with very few faults to pick on.

      Audio
    Contract

    The audio transfer is also quite a treat. There are three audio tracks on this DVD, in English, French, and Italian. My French and Italian are a little rusty at the moment so I stuck with the English soundtrack which comes up sounding trumps. All the soundtracks are in Dolby Digital 5.1 and have pretty good use of the surround channels for all the big action and explosion scenes (of which there are many). The subwoofer also packs a pretty decent punch and supports the film's intensity very well.

    The ponytailed one has always had a penchant for low-talking, making dialogue always a challenge to comprehend. However, overall the dialogue in Glimmer Man is reasonably clear. There are, of course, a few moments when, if your not listening closely, you might not hear a word of what he just said, but that’s Seagal for you and a faultless DVD transfer still won’t be able to make the big man talk with varying tone.

      Extras
    Contract

    Again, no extras to be seen on this one - a big shame!

      Overall  
    Contract

    Glimmer Man is one of the better Seagal films from the post-Under Siege era and actually tries to push the sombre one into doing something that he doesn’t done before. Wayans and Seagal work well together and allow for more humour than his usual ‘one man against two-hundred bad guys’ style scripts. If you like a good, hard, cop thriller, regardless if you’re a Seagal fan or not, than this flick should pack enough blows to the frontal lobe to make it enjoyable for all.


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      And I quote...
    "If you like a good, hard, cop thriller, regardless if you’re a Seagal fan or not, than this flick should pack enough blows to the frontal lobe to make it enjoyable for all."
    - Nathan Clark
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Pioneer DV-636
    • TV:
          LG 80cm
    • Speakers:
          Pioneer
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          standard s-video
      Recent Reviews:
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    Mutant X 1.1
    "...there is nothing here we couldn’t see during the animated 7:30am Saturday cartoons."

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    "...this collection might not be the best bang for your buck, allthough there really are plenty of bangs available for those who can stomach all the rough acting. "

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