Enemy of the State

Details

Washington lawyer Robert Clayton Dean is enjoying a successful career and a comfortable family life when a chance encounter changes everything. After witnessing the assassination of a US Congressman, wildlife expert Daniel Zavitz unknowingly slips a videotape containing the murder into one of Dean's shopping bags before being killed by the men pursuing him.

Completely unaware that he is carrying the only evidence linking senior National Security Agency official Thomas Reynolds to the crime, Dean suddenly finds his life falling apart. Using the vast resources at their disposal, the NSA systematically destroys his reputation, freezes his finances, ruins his marriage and turns him into a wanted man, all in an attempt to recover the missing tape.

With nowhere else to turn, Dean seeks the help of the mysterious surveillance expert known only as Brill. Living off the grid and constantly one step ahead of the intelligence agencies, Brill reluctantly agrees to help Dean expose the conspiracy before the NSA succeeds in silencing them both.

What follows is a tense game of cat and mouse as Dean attempts to stay one step ahead of an organisation capable of tracking his every move.

Picture & Sound

The anamorphic transfer is excellent, producing a sharp and detailed image with rich colours and impressive shadow detail throughout. Dark interior scenes retain plenty of definition, while compression artefacts are kept to an absolute minimum. I did notice the occasional hint of edge enhancement in some scenes, but it never becomes overly distracting.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is equally impressive. Tony Scott keeps the action moving at a frantic pace and the sound mix complements it perfectly, making excellent use of the surround channels for atmospheric effects, music and the inevitable helicopter flyovers that seem obligatory in home cinema demonstration discs!

The techno-inspired score is particularly effective, whilst dialogue remains consistently clear throughout. I did notice the occasional lip-sync issue, although I'm inclined to blame my Pioneer DV-717 player rather than the disc itself.

Menu & Extras

The menus are functional but rather uninspiring, relying on static images where a little animation would have been welcome.

Extras are limited to a pair of featurettes and the theatrical trailer. They provide a reasonable amount of background information, but the package still falls some way short of the special editions beginning to appear from other studios.

Overall

Enemy of the State proved to be a very pleasant surprise. Although this is a far more serious role for Will Smith than audiences had become accustomed to, he still manages to inject just enough humour into the proceedings to stop the film becoming overly bleak. His scenes shopping for underwear for his wife provide some classic Smith moments without undermining the tension.

Gene Hackman provides excellent support as the enigmatic Brill, whilst Jon Voight makes for a convincingly ruthless villain. Tony Scott's trademark fast-paced direction keeps the suspense building throughout and, although some of the surveillance technology occasionally stretches credibility, it makes for an entertaining and thoroughly gripping thriller.

This is probably Will Smith's finest film to date, comfortably outperforming Wild Wild West and even edging ahead of Independence Day. It combines excellent performances, relentless pacing and a first-class soundtrack to produce one of the better action thrillers currently available on DVD.

One final point worth mentioning concerns the DVD itself. For once, the UK Region 2 release comfortably outclasses its American counterpart thanks to its superior anamorphic transfer. The Region 1 disc reviewed here is certainly good, but if you have the choice, the Region 2 edition is the version to own.

Special features

• Production Featurette
• Filmmakers' Featurette
• Theatrical Trailer