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April 2007

DVD REVIEW: DÉJÀ VU

By Kam Williams

DVD REVIEW: DÉJÀ VU

Cast: Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, Paula Patton, Bruce Greenwood, Adam Goldberg, Jim Caviezel
Director: Tony Scott
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number of discs: 1
Rating PG -13 for sensuality, disturbing images, female frontal nudity, and  intense terror violence
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
DVD Release Date: April 24, 2007
Run Time: 126 minutes

DVD Features:
Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0)
The Surveillance Window: Takes you back in time to experience behind-the-scenes moments with the filmmakers
Deleted and extended scenes
 

   

 

 

Sci-Fi Features Denzel as Time-Traveling Crime Fighter 

ATF Agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) is one of the first feds on the scene following an explosion aboard a New Orleans ferry. Over five hundred passengers perish in the fiery inferno, and Doug suspects it to be the work of a terrorist as soon as he discovers traces of a weapon of mass destruction amidst the charred bodies bobbing in the water and washing up along the banks of the Mississippi River. 

   Soon, Carlin is joined in the investigation by FBI Agent Andrew Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer) who is privy to a top secret project at headquarters which enables the government to observe anyone anywhere via a complex series of interconnected satellites. For some reason, the tape-delayed system always shows events on the screen which transpired precisely four days and six hours ago. This means that all the authorities have to do to crack the case is point their time machine at the pier from which the ferry embarked and watch until the evil mastermind (Jim Caviezel) appears. 

   The plot thickens when Doug becomes obsessed with one of the victims, a pretty young woman named Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton). And instead of waiting four days to figure it all out, Agent Carlin comes up with the bright idea of teleporting himself back in time to try to prevent the attack from ever happening. So goes the preposterous premise of Déjà Vu, a sci-fi full of pseudo-scientific jargon about “worm holes” and “space folding in upon itself.” This dialogue-driven time travel adventure will engage you if you are willing to forgive a script which repeatedly relies on cartoon physics to explain away every improbable plot development. 

 Aptly titled, since this edge of your seat thriller feels like a roller coaster ride.