The International [HD]

Great Movie
"The International" is a good and honest movie. Hollywood generally doesn't release movies that are fairly original and intellectually respectful to the audience. The story deals with world bank corruption and how it's not the money that motivates them, but rather the power of enslaving nations and people with debt. If you know anything about the fractional reserve system of current banking, then this movie makes a lot of sense. I am surprised that Hollywood would release a movie like this.

The movie doesn't try to be more then it is. It does, however, take the audience on a journey to explain how the current economic situation could possibly be manipulated. The movie does follow some cliches, but I felt they were handled in original and artistic ways. The Guggenheim scene was very interesting and an original place to stage a Hollywood shootout. The story from start to finish is solid and easy to follow. There were no huge plot twists, however the character resolutions...

An outstanding Blu
Reviews have been quite mixed on the content and quality of this film, but without a doubt this Blu is an excellent piece for the those seeking competent clarity, BD production and special features. The film offers a mixed bag and is understandably panned for the later acts "bogging down" or a confusion as to what kind of film it is trying to be, but in the end - I was impressed by a thoughtful and well preserved product.

The picture is reference quality throughout. The landscapes, architecture, streets, wide overhead pans, rooftop panoramas, and nighttime depth all shined in clarity, aspect and colors. Customers were very impressed with certain scenes that captured the international buildings.

The sound is 5.1 TrueHD, which gets used extensively on the score and singular long shooting sequence, but little else to speak of there (I am a big DTS fan).

The special features are what make this package a five star, even if you rate this film as low as a...

Solid work from Clive Owen, one great gunfight...and everything else is ho-hum.
THE INTERNATIONAL is a film that wants to be two kinds of movies at once, and somewhat drops the ball on being either very effectively.

This tells the story of an effort by law enforcement officials to bring down The International Bank of Business & Commerce, the IBBC. This bank, we're told right from the start, is involved in weapons trading and many shady deals involving violent overthrows of governments and so forth. They don't really make money off the arms dealing, they make money handling the debt of the newly emerging governments. They are a ruthless bunch, operating like a shadowy intelligence agency...assassinating those who stand in the way, bribing others. There is no way to bring them to justice, it would seem, because they have their fingers in every pie, and will kill anyone who might get in their way.

So first, THE INTERNATIONAL wants to be an "intelligent" thriller, with lots of suspense generated by the political and economic machinations of...

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