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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 2.35:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  • Dual Layer ( )
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  Subtitles
    English, Italian, Hebrew, Polish, Dutch, Arabic, Icelandic, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Bulgarian, Commentary - Italian, Commentary - Dutch
  Extras
  • 3 Teaser trailer - Anger Management, S.W.A.T., Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
  • 2 Audio commentary - Telestrator Commentary with director McG; Commentary with writers John August, and Cormac and Marianne Wibberley
  • Cast/crew biographies - Cameo-graphy
  • 8 Featurette - Pussycat Dolls; Rolling with the Punches; XXX-Treme Angels; Full Throttle; Designing Angels; There's no such thing as a short shot. Only an overworked Producer; Angels Makeover: Hansen Dam; Dream Duds
  • Animated menus
  • Music video - Feel Good Time by Pink
  • 2 Web access - Animated Angels weblink; Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle weblink
  • 10 Filmographies - McG, John August, Cormac Wibberley, Marianne Wibberley, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Demi Moore, Bernie Mac, Crispin Glover
  • Trivia track - Angel Vision featuring User-Activated branching
  • Jukebox function - Full Throttle Jukebox

Charlie's Angels - Full Throttle: CE

Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment . R4 . COLOR . 102 mins . M . PAL

  Feature
Contract

What happens when you put Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu together in the one film with one of the most energetic and full-on directors in the business? Well geek boys, get your tissue box ready as we’re about to go at it Full Throttle. Well not really, but still the geek boys will need their tissue box. And that’s just for the straight guys. For the girls (and ‘other’ guys) there’s plenty to look at including Luke Wilson, Matt LeBlanc and Justin Theroux. With such a broad cast, there must surely be something that takes your fancy.

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Strutting their stuff, and they know that "You can't touch this!"

Everything has been upped for Full Throttle - bigger budget, bigger cast, more CG work and, yes, the cheers can be heard already, more skin. Now this reviewer is able to look past that skin and focus on other actors *ahem* elements of the frame and can enjoy the film for the less overtly sexual reasons. Yet this film really is a straight male’s wet dream – we’ve got the butt shots, the cleavage shots and all from three of Hollywood’s hottest women. That’ll keep 'em quiet for 100 minutes.

So what do you need to be able to enjoy this film? Well let’s see:

  1. Charlie’s Angels on DVD to get the mood going,
  2. Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle on DVD, of course,
  3. the rational-thinking side of your brain left at the door,
  4. a little beverage of choice won’t hurt,
  5. an easy-going sense of humour and...
  6. a love of great music, funky dancing, a great cast and some fast paced action.
Optional, for the geeky boys:
  1. Tissue box and a padlocked door

You’ve got a brilliant double header here with two high-energy films on DVD (each sold separately), each with stunning transfers, so just grab a group of friends (or the geeky boys may like to watch these on their own), and make a night of it. Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle doesn’t aim to be deep and meaningful or a filmmaking masterpiece, but what director McG and the rest of his like-minded crew do put together is an action-packed comedy that kicks off with a bang and then just flies through, barely taking a breath along the way.

So all the explosions, jokes, sexual references, action sequences and wirework from maestro Cheung-Yan Yuen, including his own cameo, aside, there is actually a plot. Wow, you’re not the only one who was surprised! With a story written by John August (the man behind the Doug Liman hit Go!), Full Throttle was then fleshed out by August as well as Cormac and Marianne Webberley. Full Throttle contains the same ‘tude and tone of the first film, yet places the Angels in new and surprising situations. Luke Wilson, Matt LeBlanc and Crispin Glover are on deck to revive their roles from the first film, and Bernie Mac does a surprisingly good job as an African-American Bosley. A swarm of cameos stud the duration of the film, as well as credible performances from the supporting cast including John Cleese, Robert Patrick, Justin Theroux and Demi Moore. Theroux is the man you love to hate – his character just oozes filth, and an instant dislike is built up for him – the perfect villain.

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Taking full "advantage" of the widescreen frame...

Now do you really need to be told what Full Throttle is about? If you’ve seen the first one, you’re sure to know what you’re in for. But for those of you who haven’t, Charlie is a mystery man whose voice is the only connection to the three Angels – Natalie (Diaz), Dylan (Barrymore) and Alex (Liu). The man who answers this call is Bosley. They work at the Townsend House, named after Charlie, and go around solving crimes. Kind of like Mystery Inc. from Scooby Doo, but minus the spooky stuff. In this case, two rings get stolen – and Gollum is nowhere in sight. These rings, known as HALO, store the identities and locations of people enrolled in the Witness Protection Program. With these rings stolen, the past is dug up to reveal some violent truths that lie awfully close to home, in order to solve this case.

  Video
Contract

Our fantastic anamorphically enhanced widescreen transfer really sets some high standards with its stunning 2.40:1 aspect, very close to the theatrical aspect of 2.35:1. However (ah yes, the dreaded ‘however’), most positive things have a downside, and this transfer is not without these. Now those who are familiar with the Region 4 Charlie’s Angels disc will know that headings and descriptive subtitles came on the screen in the form of a subtitle track, meaning greater cross-language support. Well Columbia Tristar have done this again, except this is not the sort of movie to mess with. In the first film there were only about four cases where the subtitles popped up. However, in Full Throttle the subtitles play a larger part of the plot and are not only distracting, ugly and annoying but there is really no justification for it. We have place names, mafia names and the like constantly popping up on screen with a bright reality. What makes it worse is when you look at the extra features and see a clip featuring the burnt-in subtitles presented in a nice 'Courier' typeface. Definitely a big no-no. Bet the Angels didn’t see that one comin’...

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Sharp, sexy and smashed.

To up the annoyance factor even more, that is the only thing wrong with the transfer. It’s a stone’s throw from reference quality, but the constant flashing of the subtitle track is just too much to handle. Colours are bright, vibrant, stunning and any other “buzz” word you can think of, with not a single sign of posterisation, bleeding or over-saturation. Here’s a hint for the geek boys - keep your tissues handy. Compression-related artefacts are non-existent, as are film artefacts. Just the definition of this is nothing short of amazing, and the clarity is just superb. A fine wash of grain lightly covers the image, but it’s so light you can barely notice it. Even aliasing took the night off with this transfer, with only one minute case cutting up the smoothness of the image. See – everything else is perfect, but it’s just those darn subtitles.

One interesting point is what happens prior to the film. Normally with Columbia DVDs we see a lovely full-frame Dolby City trailer. Well, have we got a surprise for you! Columbia now have access to Dolby Aurora – the starry one, but it’s still in a 1.85:1 aspect, not 2.35:1, the correct aspect to the feature. Oh well, a new Dolby tag is at least a start.

  Audio
Contract

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C'mon Joey, if you don't help the lady out, Chandler will.
The English Dolby Digital 5.1 effort on board from Columbia Tristar is sadly disappointing in one rather major area for any film – the dialogue. OK, OK, that’s so close to blasphemous for this genre of film as dialogue is far from the driving force, but still our beloved editor Amy and yours truly found this to be a rather large downfall, and in this reviewer’s opinion, totally unsatisfactory. So, film buffs, what year was this film released? Ah yes, 2003. BING! One point to the geeky teenage male in the corner. Now, what year is this DVD released? Correct again, 2003. Now, how come so many other discs can get released with stunning dialogue and this lil’ baby somehow misses out? Well enough whinging, as you’re now probably dying to know what the actual problem is. Well the downside to compressed audio formats, such as Dolby Digital, is over-compression. And this disc is a prime example. The dialogue sounds light, fluffy and terribly hollow, lacking much of the depth, definition and fidelity that the remainder of the soundtrack has to offer. Coming straight from the centre channel, and the centre channel alone, the flimsy dialogue is a fairly large downside to what would otherwise be a reference-quality transfer.

Wow… that many words on the downside. On the plus side, every other speaker excluding the centre gets a decent, healthy workout that is sure to please any bass junkie or anal effectual fanatic. From the opening swoosh into the Columbia logo until the final credit fades off screen, each speaker gives a jaw-droppingly powerful and unique presence to the film. Think of a sound effect in your head – got it? Good, because that is most probably going to occur at least once during Full Throttle. Now the surrounds tear through the soundstage with an anger and force which is enthralling and exciting to listen to without drowning out the front end of the soundstage. The subwoofer kicks off with a mighty punch and gets its fair share of the action. Oh, crap, sorry, that was another geeky-boy-tissue moment.

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An African-American Bosley? Somehow it works...

The score is credited to Edward Shearmur, he of the Cruel Intentions variety, with a solid backing made up of heavy and funky songs from artists including Pink (Feel Good Time), Prodigy (Breathe and Firestarter), Journey (Any Way You Want It) and Electric Six (Danger High Voltage) just to name a few. The entire musical soundtrack pumps through the broadly built soundstage, thumping out heavy bass and energised activity to really place you in the action and get you in the mood.

  Extras
Contract

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Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle - they're gonna blow you away!
It’s Columbia Tristar. It’s a 'Collector’s Edition' - and it’s definitely worthy of that title. The animated 16:9 menus are gorgeous to look at, stylistically holding onto the look created in the film. The stereo audio over the top adds interest to the menus, and does a pretty good job of setting the tone of the film – it’s modern, rough and raw. The animation between screens, though, isn’t as nice as you would expect, with a few too many sudden jumps between styles. But hey, they’re still beautiful menus.

Telestrator Commentary with director McG
The best way to describe this would be to relate it to a few episodes of The Panel in 2002. Remember when they got all excited about their pen that enabled them to draw on the screen? Well McG has that technology, and uses it effectively to point out specific aspects of shots. This is a fantastic commentary featuring detailed information about how each shot was achieved, including hidden cuts in what appears to be a really long take. This guy starts from the instant the Columbia logo hits the screen and is just bulging with information about his Full Throttle project. As far as commentaries go, this one rates incredibly high with this reviewer.

Audio Commentary with writers John August, Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley
This is a detailed commentary on the scripting process for the film, and while it isn’t as full on as McG’s it still offers a vault of knowledge regarding the plot and script-writing process of the film. After the near-canning of the first Charlie’s Angels due to severe scripting problems, it’s nice to see they’re all on the ball second time ‘round.

Angel Vision - Interactive Trivia Track
This is actually an interesting track to have switched on as it offers two insightful features. One is the constant pop-ups of trivia (hence the name “Trivia Track”) which tells you about historical facts, shooting issues as well as cast and crew histories. But wait, there’s more! Keep an eye out for Charlie’s speaker box, and whenever that pops up push 'enter' on the remote to be taken to a brief clip showing you some extra behind the scenes footage. However, for the brevity and sparsity of these clips, it is slightly annoying having bubbles over the screen if you’re trying to watch the movie.

At this point it would be good to mention an issue that the Telestrator commentary and trivia track cause. When watching the film the user is unable to switch subtitles on or off, with audio tracks also being locked down. And it gets even worse. If you want to change audio tracks or turn the trivia on or off, you have to start the film all over again. So a word of warning, remember your place so you can skip back there again.

Featurettes

  • Pussycat Dolls - 4:56

  • This brief featurette introduces us to the Pussycat Dolls, a cabaret type Bob Fosse hybrid of the 21st century which is apparently classy yet sexy. Maybe this reviewer was watching the wrong clip, but the girls just appear saucy, and not so classy. Oh well, we see some interviews with the girls as well as the founder of the Pussycat Dolls.
  • Rolling with the Punches - 6:08

  • It’s all about the stunts. Wirework has really made it big in Western cinema since it was brought to the wider public’s eye in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Cheung-Yan Yuen, the man behind the wirework of films such as Crouching Tiger..., is on deck to provide the knowledge for the gravity-defying stunts performed in Full Throttle. This is a nice featurette, but as always, too brief.
  • XXX-Treme Angels - 9:06

  • While the geek boys use their tissues after reading the title, we’ll leave them alone and get on with it. But for the motocross fans out there, your tissues will go to good use too as this featurette is about the Coal Bowl sequence. It features interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of the making of this sequence, and is thoroughly enjoyable and educational. Even the parts where you see the three guys who have the right body and dress up as the three girls. And this is without any sign of Rocky Horror in sight.
  • Full Throttle - 17:52

  • Put the pedal to the metal boys, as here we are on an 18-minute rev-fest about the wide array of cars used in the film. It’s funny, while watching the film you don’t really notice the number of cars, but then stick them all together and they all just add up. And that also includes the dollars.
  • Designing Angels - 7:27

  • The look and feel of the film are explained in this featurette, as well as the cinematography with Academy Award winner Russell Carpenter. The benefits of the Panavision aspect are expressed and it's one of those featurettes for the more techie film buffs out there, as lighting issues are also discussed. Overall this is a nice featurette, and a welcome inclusion.
  • There’s no such thing as a short shot. Only an overworked Producer. - 8:51

  • Now isn’t this an odd featurette? This is an entertaining piece on the life of the producer and what their role is. Well we all know that: money, money money...
  • Angels Makeover: Hansen Dam - 4:07

  • This featurette shows how the Hansen Dam near Los Angeles was transformed to a monstrosity in Mongolia with the help of CG work. This is an interesting featurette, but more of these featurettes would have made this disc super special.
  • Dream Duds - 4:12

  • Sadly these ain’t more bloopers – it’s actually about costume design and wardrobe. Yeah, look at the title and go figure. It’s quite interesting, though, as concept sketches are shown side-by-side with the dressed actors, as well as some behind-the-scenes costume tryouts too.

Cameo-graphy
Here is a list of actors who have a cameo in the film. When you select one of their names you’re taken to a (very) brief biography of the actor and then taken to a clip from the movie where they appear. Now it’s not really fair to give you all of the cameos here as that takes away the fun of seeing them in the film, but for those wanting to know, highlight the text with the mouse to read. We have...Bruce Willis, Bela Karolyi, Robert Forster, Eric Bogosian, Andrew Wilson, Pink, Eve, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Carrie Fisher, Pussycat Dolls, Chris Pontius, Ed Robertson, Big Boy and Jaclyn Smith.

Full Throttle Juke Box
Now this is a sweet feature which loads up a juke box (duh) that allows you to pick one of 11 songs selected from the movie. You’re then taken to a clip with McG and music supervisor John Houlihan discussing the song’s use in the film, and finally being washed over to a clip from the film containing the song. This is a really neat feature, and one that is worth exploring. The songs you can choose from are: Sleep Now in the Fire by Rage Against the Machine, U Can't Touch This by MC Hammer, Surfer Girl by the Beach Boys, Danger High Voltage by Electric Six, Feel Good Time by Pink featuring William Orbit, Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang by Dr. Dre, Pink Panther Theme by Hollywood Studio Orchestra, Firestarter by Prodigy, A Girl Like You by Edwyn Collins, Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting by Nickelback featuring Kid Rock and Anyway You Want It by Journey.

Feel Good Time by Pink - 4:18
You go girl! Pink does her stuff in an awesome video clip, with a simply pounding song that will get you up and make you have a good time! This clip is just another reason to prove that Pink is not your average Top 40 pop star – she’s got style, attitude and a kickass musical talent.

Filmographies
A collection of selected filmographies has been provided, covering a surprisingly large number. We have McG (one page), John August (one page, mentioning the yet-to-be-released Tim Burton film Big Fish), Cormac Wibberley (one page), Marianne Wibberley (one page), Cameron Diaz (two pages), Drew Barrymore (two pages), Lucy Liu (two pages, even featuring Tarantino’s magnificent film Kill Bill), Demi Moore (two pages), Bernie Mac (two pages) and Crispin Glover (two pages).

Trailers
Three trailers have been provided, yet sadly nothing from the Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle promotional material. The Full Throttle trailers rocked and it’s a real shame that they haven’t been included. But what we do have are three well-constructed trailers, all featuring Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The films are Anger Management (2:05), S.W.A.T. (1:40) and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (1:31).

DVD-ROM features
Stick this baby in your DVD-ROM drive and you’ll get a lovely Macromedia Flash window popping up with two weblinks to the Animated Angels site, as well as the Full Throttle website.

Now the really surprising thing is that in Region 4, not only do we get the superiority of the PAL transfer but also more extra features than the Region 1 release. So go figure that one out, but for once the Region 4 disc has it all.

  Overall  
Contract

What, are you still here? You should be out hiring or buying this disc by now. You’ve sat there long enough, and there may be a geeky boy or two who needs to clean up, so get up and grab this disc. Two rather clumsy faults in both the video and audio are rather disturbing in what would otherwise be a perfect package. It’s oh so close, but not quite there. If you loved Charlie’s Angels, you’re sure to enjoy Full Throttle. It’s got more action, more laughter, more fun and for the straight guys out there, more skin. What more could you want?


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      And I quote...
    "This is what happens when you put Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu together in the one film with one of the most energetic and full-on directors in the business."
    - Martin Friedel
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Philips DVD 736K
    • TV:
          TEAC EU68-ST
    • Receiver:
          Sony HT-SL5
    • Speakers:
          Sony SS-MSP2
    • Centre Speaker:
          Sony SS-CNP2
    • Surrounds:
          Sony SS-MSP2
    • Subwoofer:
          Sony SA-WMSP3
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard Optical
    • Video Cables:
          standard s-video
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