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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 44595
Released: August 29, 2006 |
| Our Price: $0.98 |
| Used Price: $0.01 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
There's never been a traitor in the United States Secret Service...until now. And the evidence points to Pete Garrison (Douglas), one of the most trusted agents on the force. Now on the run, with two relentless federal investigators (Sutherland and Longoria) hot on his heels, Garrison must fight to clear his name and thwart an attempt on the President's life before it's too late!
Description of Sentinel (Full Screen Edition):
Clint Eastwood may be a little too old (plus he kind of already did his own version of this movie in 1993's In the Line of Fire), but Harrison Ford could have been The Sentinel's lead and lent the same kind of top-flight Hollywood superstar craft that Michael Douglas brings as a superstar secret service agent fighting a frame-up in a panicky countdown to peril. That the marquee name could have belonged to anyone with the same chops as Douglas is no slam to him, Ford, Eastwood, or anyone else of their ilk. The Sentinel is a crackling good thriller because everyone involved is working at the top of their game. Pete Garrison (Douglas) is on the presidential protection detail when another agent is murdered. A creepy informer tells Garrison about an elaborate assassination conspiracy that's related and well underway. Garrison also happens to be having an affair with the First Lady (Kim Basinger), the stress of which causes him to flunk a lie detector test when word of the plot to kill the president becomes more than just paranoia. Garrison is soon on the run, being hunted by his protege David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland, whose 24 experience gives his performance an extra edge). But Garrison is the best, using all his secret service wiles (and there are plenty, the details of which give added tension and authenticity to the taut script) to evade his former comrades as the clock ticks. You can often see the plot thickening a mile away, and as much as the movie wants to keep us guessing, the real bad guy is an easy mark for the audience. But the energy and kinetic skill which propel the action are always spot on and enough to keep us from caring about the giveaways. Co-star Eva Longoria is miles away from her Desperate Housewives role and miles away from any real import of character in the movie. But the rest of the cast and the whooshing forward momentum of style and anxiety are plenty to keep The Sentinel in full-tilt suspense mode from beginning to end.--Ted Fry
Sentinel (Full Screen Edition) Reviews:
Where's Jackie Chan? 
2009-11-04 - I'm not sure who casts these films, but I'm pretty sure this movie could have been far more entertaining if it had starred "The Rock," or much more manly with Steve Austin, or stylishly cooler with Dolph Lundgren. All else failing, I swear this is a Jean-Claude Van Damme flick. I kept waiting for something, anything, to happen. So utterly unimpressive, I was most surprised by the ending, and being left with the question: wait, that's it?
Good Action Film 
2009-10-01 - Having just looked up when he was born and when the film was made, I can go ahead with what I was going to lead off with; that Michael Douglas looked his age and that fit the part he played, a very senior secret service agent. Perhaps he looked too old for all that running around but, then, those guys do keep in good shape.
Oh, yes, as to the picture. I liked it. It was a good action picture by a competent group of actors and a director who knew that one of the secrets of using a hackneyed plot, as most film plots are, is to keep up a fast pace so that people don't have slow stretches in which they might start thinking of all the holes you are trying to paper over. Douglas handles himself as the old pro he is as do the other younger pros. I suppose, before we learned what some Presidents have been doing in the White House (and, presumably, at other locations) it might have seemed a bit of a stretch to have the First Lady involved; now, of course, I shouldn't think it raised even a flicker of "oh, that could never happen".
So, not much to say that is not reported in the description of the film and the previous reviewers remarks. There is more than enough to grab and hold your attention until the end without any depressing thoughts about reality to jar your involvement.
Another Film to Forget
2009-09-06 - Michael Douglas plays a secret service agent whose job is to protect the president. When Douglas refuses to disclose to his fellow agents why it took him four hours to go for coffee, they accuse him of planning to assassinate the president.
Oh, brother. Does it get any worse than this?
Nobody believes Douglas when he claims he is being framed from within the department. When agents try to arrest Douglas, he breaks free and runs for his life. The agents set out to kill him before he kills the president. Even when the bullets start flying, Douglas refuses to disclose the reason for his four-hour coffee break. In truth, he wasn't having coffee, he was banging the president's wife, but won't dishonor her by confessing her infidelity.
Are you still awake?
Anyway,,, when the president's wife finally tells Keifer Sullivan, head of the secret service, that she was sleeping with Douglas on "coffee day", Sullivan changes his mind about Douglas' guilt and tries to save his life. But by then it's too late because the entire force is gunning for him.
The rest of the movie is your typical chase and run nonsense, with Douglas dodging bullets while trying to find the real assassin before he murders his lover's husband, the president.
Apparently when actors start aging these are the movies they are reduced to taking. It's either that or starve, I guess.
Anyway, the movie is mildly entertaining and laughable. Rent the DVD, but don't buy it. You'll never watch it again.
I've seen the preview now where's the movie 
2009-08-02 - Not really much to say about this film. Not horrible, not great, and highly forgettable. There's a lot of story material slapped together here to create a fast-paced and at times confusing thriller. The action is not exceptional, but the movie doesn't really drag either. I almost felt like somebody was telling me about the story but I could see the images as well. It was difficult for me to really become involved with the characters and credibility was certainly stretched a great deal of the time. Actually the whole thing was somewhat like a very long trailer for a movie that looked like it might be pretty exciting and then, boom, some lame rap song and credits. It was like I saw the previews, but never really saw the movie. I'm not going to rave about this one, but it is probably adequate for a movie night diversion if you like secret service movies, scenes of Washington DC, or the actors involved. Otherwise, if you skip it you haven't missed much.
Sentinel (Full Screen Edition) 
2009-07-24 - This is a great movie. I prefer full screen movies and am very pleased with this one. Michael Douglas is as always a great actor.
