Director: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke
Story rating: 2 1/2 discs (out of 4)
Story review: Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) has one day, and one day only, to prove himself to his new partner, Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington), a 13-year vet of the LAPD narcotics division. Harris’ years of hardcore experience on Los Angeles’ meanest streets, though, have turned him into the same sort of criminal he’s supposed to be putting away. At first, it seems Harris intends to teach Hoyt his own brand of justice: that in order to catch the big fish, sometimes officers must throw the smaller ones back. But as the hours slip away, Hoyt learns just how bad his bad-ass partner really is–Harris starts out as a taunting joker who just wants to give Hoyt a hard time, but by nightfall, he’s turned into a full-blown monster bent on saving his own skin no matter what. Starts off with a BANG! but ends with a whimper. —Stacie Hougland, Hollywood.com
Features rating: 2 discs (out of 4)
Features review: Unlike Ethan Hawke‘s first day on the job, the features here are rather routine, much as if Warner Bros. rushed the DVD out to take advantage of Denzel‘s Oscar nomination.
Not that the extras bad; they’re just routine. The Making of… documentary just isn’t that insightful, nor is director Antoine Fuqua’s commentary. (It would have been much better to hear Denzel and/or Ethan on the track.)
The additional scenes are nothing special, but slightly informative as to what background they dropped from Denzel‘s character. And the alternate ending adds just a minute or two to the movie’s finale–nice, but it’s easy to see why it was dropped.
The highlights of the DVD then (if you can call it that) are the music videos, especially the bouncy tune by Nelly.
Bottom line: There’s not much in the way of extras to make this a special DVD, but–and this is a big BUT–Denzel‘s performance deserved an Oscar nomination and perhaps will even garner Denzel‘s first Best Actor award. For that alone, this DVD is worth owning.
Special features list:
• Languages: English, French
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Behind-the-scenes documentary: The Making of Training Day
• Commentary by director Antoine Fuqua
• Additional scenes
• Alternate ending
• Music Videos: “#1” by Nelly and “Got You” by Pharoahe Monch
• Cast and crew highlights
• Original theatrical trailer
