The Film

Marketed as James Bond for a new generation, xXx is — as director Rob Cohen says during the commentary — the result of a script that meshes extreme sports with a classic secret agent story.

The Extras

The ‘Xander Zone’ contains a diary-style documentary that moves sequentially from one set to another with various cast and crew explaining what’s going on, and gives a good look at how a production moves through time and space.

Two featurettes on production design are great for appreciating how much planning, design, preparation and thought goes into stuff like sets and weapons you don’t think about while watching but which ultimately trick you into thinking the whole thing’s real.

The best part is the visual effects How-To’s, which take three shots in the avalanche sequence and break them down into their filmed and CG elements — it’s just like learning how a magician does his tricks.

Rob Cohen’s commentary is interesting from a technical and anecdotal point of view, and makes you appreciate just how much work goes into a project of this scope. Ironically, he talks about very fine details of character development and artistic storytelling that seem immaterial to such a brainless action movie.

The Worth

While the film is a poor cousin to the spy genre and another attempted American cash in on the Bond market, the disc is full of information on the movie making process

4 out of 5

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2003 at 12:00 am and is filed under DVD Reviews, Film, Filmink. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.