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Specifications:

- DVD-Video

- Single-sided

- Dual layer

- Region 1

- Run time: approx. 99 min.

- Subtitle: English, French

- Menus: Animated
- Scene selection: Static

- Package: Keep case

- 28 chapters

Video Features:

- Anamorphic Widescreen

- Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 widescreen

Audio Features:

- English: Dolby Digital 5.1

- English: Dolby Surround

- French: Dolby Surround
 

Bonus Materials:

- Director McG and cinematographer
     audio commentary

- Set design, fashion, martial arts and
     stunts, special effects and
     director McG featurettes

- Deleted and extended scenes
     director's commentary

- Wired angels scene deconstruction 

- Outtakes and bloopers

- Music videos (2), by Destiny's Child 
     and Apollo Four Forty

- Theatrical trailers (5)

- Talent files

- Production notes (2-page spread)

- Theatrical web link (web access 
     required)

 
Release Dates:

Theatrical Release:      11/03/00

DVD Release:              03/27/01

Review Date:               03/23/01

List price:                     $ 24.95

On-line price:               $ 18.99

Pre-order price was:    $ 16.94

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu,
     Bill Murray, Sam Rockwell, Tim Curry, Kelly Lynch,
     Matt Le Blanc, Luke Wilson, Crispin Glover, and
     (of course) the voice talents of John Forsythe

 
Director: McG (a.k.a. Joseph McGenty Nichol)

MPAA Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action - Martial Arts

Studio: Columbia Pictures 
             (Columbia TriStar Home Video)

Movie: A        Video: A        Audio: A        Extras: A

Summary: "Charlie's Angels" is the modern-day feature film spin-off of the popular 
   TV series from the mid-1970s.  This stylish and high-flying action flick sports 
   awesome Kung Fu action from our three beautiful modern-day Angels.  This trio 
   of female operatives is as deadly as they are stunning.  Don't miss out on this 
   stylish and hip action movie that is a sure crowd pleaser.  It's so kick-ass that I 
   gave this DVD A's across the board.

The Story

Based on the popular TV series which aired from 1976 through 1981, the feature film "Charlie's Angels" picks up nearly 20 years later.  This time, Drew Barrymore (as Dylan), Cameron Diaz (as Natalie), and Lucy Liu (as Alex), star as the Angels in contemporary year 2000.  Naturally, they each have unique talents and Charlie took them away from all that to employ them as a female trio operatives for his Townsend Detective Agency.  Is it all coming back to you now?  It might help if you imagine John Forsythe's voice as the never-seen Charlie Townsend.

Their mission is to find a software executive/whiz-kid, Eric Knox, who has been kidnapped in order for the Red Star corporation to use his proprietary software as part of a satellite communications system that could identify a person's voice over a cellular network and locate that person using triangulation and GPS technology.  Sounds cool, huh?  Well, things are not as simple as they first seem, since that would be too easy for our Angels.  And like their TV counterparts, our Angels get the bad guys in the end, but no matter how hard they try to meet Charlie in person, he continues to elude their grasp again.

The action sequences are awesome and non-stop, as it immediately begins right after the Columbia Pictures logo, opening into a surprise action-stunt sequence.  Amazingly enough, our modern day Angels do not use any guns.  Instead, they rely on their wit, martial arts skills (the style is similar to that used in "The Matrix"), and stunning beauty.  Unlike their TV counterparts, these modern-day Angels work as undercover operatives and (like I just said) do not use guns.  I am pleasantly surprised at how good the three Angels do their Kung Fu.  Their martial arts skills are amazing, with straight-leg kicks high above their heads.

The action sequences, though filmed with special effects and lots of "invisible" wires, are incredible as they are entertaining.  The action and acting performances are jaw-droppingly good from our beautiful Angels, as they trained continuously for three months with Hong Kong action film choreographer, Cheung-Yan Yuen.  Unfortunately, "quite lame" describes Bill Murray's performance as Tom Bosley.  But I didn't hold this against the movie.  If they make a sequel to "Charlie's Angels", they have to cast another Bosley.

 
The Extras

 
As much as "Charlie's Angels" is jam-packed with martial arts action, this Special Edition DVD is jam-packed with bonus material.  It includes "Getting G'd Up" (a 6-minute featurette where various members of the cast and crew raved about the energy and talents of director McG), "The Master and the Angels" (a 7-minute featurette telling us about the contributions of martial arts director Cheung-Yan Yuen, and the training the Angels have gone through... wow!), "Welcome to Angel World" (a 4-minute featurette about production design), "Angelic Attire: Dressing Cameron, Drew and Lucy" (a 3-minute featurette about costume design for each Angel), "Angelic Effects" (a 6-minute featurette showing how various visual special effects were done), "Wired Angels" (a 2-minute featurette showing how our Angels did their high-flying Kung Fu action stunts with wires and harnesses), "Deleted and Extended Scenes" (three scenes entitled "Marco Polo!", "The Men's Room", and "Extra Shake and Bake"), "Outtakes and Bloopers" (clips set to music), "Music Videos" (includes "Independent Women Part 1" by Destiny's Child, and "Charlie's Angels 2000" by Apollo Four Forty), talent files (for director and principal actors), and a series of theatrical trailers.  All in all, the bonus feature set are short, sweet, to the point, and very entertaining.

Video & Audio

The image quality of this anamorphic widescreen DVD is excellent.  The colors are accurate and saturated, with good shadow details.  The Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound is aggressively mixed, with plenty of surround channel effects, putting the viewer right in the middle of all the action.  There's also plenty of low frequency effects (LFE) information coming from the ".1" channel.  Altogether, it's one of the best soundtracks I've yet experienced.

Recommendation

"Charlie's Angel" is a good transfer from the TV series into this feature film movie.  It has everything that you would expect.  As a Special Edition DVD, there's a great deal of bonus material, making this a very collectible title.  I gave this DVD straight A's across the board.

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Visit the "Charlie's Angels" theatrical web site and the Columbia TriStar Home Video web site.

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