No matter what anyone says, Brett Ratner knows how to direct action movies with big stars and comic relief to keep up the momentum. He's proved this time and time again with the "Rush Hour" movies and "Money Talks." His only real misstep was "X-Men: The Last Stand," which had non-stop action but sacrificed the script in favor of keeping everything safe of change, negating every major plot point established earlier in the film. Thankfully, "Tower Heist" can be added to Ratner's list of entertaining movies that keeps an audience laughing until the end.
The Movie:
Josh Kovacs works hard as the manager of a high-rise apartment building that caters to the wealthy. He and his employees fall victim to an investor's Ponzi scheme and lose all their money. Upon discovering this, Kovacs and a group of the employees hatch an elaborate plan to break into the billionaire's condo and steal back their money from a hidden wall safe. Things go from bad to worse more quickly than you can imagine.
Video Quality:
The picture for "Tower Heist" looks great. Skin tones are perfect. The rest of the color palette shines through as well. The transfer is clear and crisp without looking too clean. The video doesn't lose any flavor, as it can when being transferred to digital. It still feels like it was shot on film. There's nothing to complain about when it comes to the video quality of this release.
Audio Quality:
As usual with all of Ratner's movies, there are plenty of explosions, gunshots, tires squealing, music, and dialogue in "Tower Heist." You'll find yourself ducking from objects coming at you from behind and to the sides as you take in the 5.1 surround sound. Dialogue comes through clearly and is beautifully mixed with the musical score. Audio fanatics will be very impressed with this movie.
Special Features:
Universal didn't let consumers down when it comes to bonus material for this heist flick. We get two alternate endings that don't change the movie's outcome but add to the theatrical finale. There are several alternate and deleted scenes, most of which don't add anything. A gag reel is included, showing the actors blowing their lines and having a good time.
"Brett Ratner's Tower Heist Video Diary" features several different personal clips of the director filming scenes. There's also a "making of" featurette titled "Plotting Tower Heist," which is in a standard documentary format. Feature commentary is provided by Ratner, editor Mark Helfrich, and co-writers Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson.
Final Analysis:
The Blu-ray of "Tower Heist" has everything a consumer would want. It has a great high definition transfer accompanied by a good amount of special features. The movie itself is entertaining and will keep you chuckling on the edge of your seat. There's even a hint of mystery weaved into the plot.
Every actor in the film brings his or her known flavor to the film, successfully combining with his or her peers. Fans of Eddie Murphy who waited patiently to see him return to his "Beverly Hills Cop" and "48 HRS." roots have reason to celebrate.
For more articles by Eric Shirey, check out:
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Eric Shirey is the founder and former editor of Rondo Award nominated movie news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other entertainment websites. Eric has interviewed and worked with actors like Harrison Ford, Brooke Shields, Gerard Butler, Brendan Fraser, Selena Gomez, and many more.
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