Paul Walker Movie:

				Salesrank: 266021
		Our Price: $75.22
		Used Price: $32.58
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
An effective exercise in "confined cinema," Panic Room is a finely crafted thriller that ultimately transcends the thinness of its premise. David Koepp's screenplay is basically Wait Until Dark on steroids, so director David Fincher (Seven, The Game) compensates with elaborate CGI-assisted camera moves, jazzing up his visuals while a relocated New York divorcée (Jodie Foster) and her daughter (Kristen Stewart) fight for their lives against a trio of tenacious burglars (Jared Leto, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam) in their new Manhattan townhouse. They're safe in a customized, impenetrable "panic room," but the burglars want what's in the room's safe, so mother and daughter (and Koepp and Fincher) must find clever ways to turn the tables and persevere. Suspense and intelligence are admirably maintained, with Foster (who replaced the then-injured Nicole Kidman) riffing on her Silence of the Lambs resourcefulness. It's not as viscerally satisfying as Fincher's previous thrillers, but Panic Room definitely holds your attention. --Jeff Shannon

Panic Room [Region 2] Reviews:
Inside Job...
2009-12-02 - PANIC ROOM takes director David Fincher (Alien³, Se7en, Zodiac) and teams him up w/ Jodie Foster (The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane, Taxi Driver, Silence Of The Lambs, The Brave One) and Kristen Stewart as an innocent mother and daughter caught in a robbery gone disatrously wrong. The pair must survive a hellish night of violence when a trio of criminals enter their fortress-like home. The badguy characters range from Jared Leto's (American Psycho, Requiem For A Dream) barely sane "leader" role, to Dwight Yoakam's (Slingblade) psychotic, unpredictable "wild card". Forest Whitaker is the man in the middle, as the only crook w/ a working brain or heart. Fincher takes what could have been a rather dull location, and shoots it in a manic, funhouse-ride style that keeps everything jumping. We go from room to room, upstairs and down, in some pretty inventive ways! The aforementioned cast is more than able to create the right amount of building tension and madness. I must make special mention of Yoakam's Raoul character. Mr. Yoakam is just so good at playing utterly detestible, frightening scumbags! Raoul could easily be Doyle Hargraves' homicidal brother! Buy PANIC ROOM now...

Not the best thriller but an outstanding special edition!
2009-12-01 - I'm a huge fan of David Fincher's work. To me his best movies happen to be "SE7EN", "Fight Club' and "Zodiac". And while "Panic Room" is a good flick it doesn't hold up well to post-viewing analysis.

There is much that can be considered to be quite contrived. For example her daughter who goes into diabetic shock if she doesn't get her emergency injection. Or the typical scene where her ex shows up to try to rescue them. I could go on but those are two examples that remain in my mind. Even the ending is rather anticlimactic in light of what was viewed.

So why watch this if the plot relies on clichés? As Fincher proved in his numerous works he is a master of setting up some very good camera shots and "impossible" camera moves. And while it's all the more obvious that he's relying upon CGI (the shot of the flashlight within the wiring conduit is a prime example of overuse) some are just simply very interesting to view. Such as the opening traveling shot which is essentially a tour of the house. The camera appears to float around from upstairs to downstairs and even pass through the handle of a coffee mug in one unbroken take and is fairly seamless until it "passes through" the floors. The opening credits deserve a quick mention as the titles are laid out among the buildings of New York and perfectly rendered in a silvery font and casting shadows across the cityscape as through they're part of the landscape. It's an attempt at style attempting to cover up the lack of substance, though. It's still neat to view.

The acting is top notch from all involved. The standout is Dwight Yoakam's character who elevates the stakes as a psychotic killer who doesn't mind killing off one of his crew in cold blood. Forrest Whittaker holds his own as he tries to keep the situation from spiraling further out of control as the leader of the burglary gang. And I have no complaints about Jodie Foster's performance. It doesn't come close to her role in "Silence Of The Lambs" but it's still serviceable.

But why the high rating? The three-disc special edition is something worth savoring for anyone who wants to know more about David Fincher and his crew's creative process. Much is revealed as to the use of CGI, the location shooting, sound design and much more. From top to bottom this is one of the most detailed documents of how the movie was put together. Compared to the two-disc edition of "SE7EN" this is even more detailed. The multiple feature commentaries are good but the special features spread across two additional discs are by far more in-depth. Compared to the 2-disc special editions of "Fight Club", "Zodiac" and even "Benjamin Button" I have a feeling that the need to overcompensate was mandatory for a rather average thriller.

So it's an average movie just chock full of neo-noir eye candy. There are much worse "thrillers" out there so it could've been much worse. But the extensive features concerning the filmmaking process are worth viewing. Compared to the original single-disc SuperBit release it's an improvement. If you're a film geek then this is worth a purchase. Everyone else should stick with the single-disc release.


Familiar but Diverting
2009-11-16 - Good version of an ancient formula; worth seeing despite weaknesses. I liked the eponymous panic room, a contemporary variant on the impregnable safe place whose effectiveness depends on the human element. I never mind flaws from the standpoint of the logic of reality, those of dramatic logic are more bothersome and there are some damaging ones here. In fact, one such dramatic flaw pretty well eroded my involvement with a segment of the film. One can't reference the film in the interests of fairness to potential new viewers of the DVD. However, what bothers me will probably not affect others so I discount it in judging the film for their benefit. Adding the pluses and minuses, I believe most people will find it suspenseful entertainment with some good, edge of the seat moments. Not of the first rank, it benefits from the flawed, but, overall, effective performances by Jody Foster, the star, and Kristen Stewart, who plays her diabetic daughter. Hopefully, the excellent actor, Forest Whitaker, was well paid for doing what could be done, with the politically correct role of the African-American criminal.

Lock Yourself Up With This Movie And Enjoy
2009-11-12 - This one's for you,
discriminating movie fan.

Exciting, suspenseful,
and well-acted.
The plot is rather simple,
but it is all that is needed
to set up the situation of
a stand-off in a single setting.

Three men, for various reasons
of their own, break into a
luxurious New York City
brownstone that they expected to
be unoccupied, but a recently
divorced woman and her daughter
had just moved in.
The woman and her daughter attempt
to escape harm by shutting themselves
into a safe ("panic") room built for
just such a situation.
There's big problem.
What the intruders came for is
in that room.
The other problem is that Mom
is claustrophobic and daughter
is diabetic.
Jodie Foster is the mom and does
a very nice job of acting the part.

There are many tense moments
and exciting sequences,
more-so, and perhaps mainly due
to the camera operator.
I thought I had accidentally acquired
a heretofore unknown Dario Argento
film.
The roving camera and the ultra
closeups are fantastic.
View this film for that alone
if the plot doesn't interest you.

I wanted to watch this film again
as soon as I had finished watching
it for the first time.
A sure sign of a winner.
Definitely worth watching once.

note bene:
There is a some explicit violence
and gore such as gun shot wounds
and beatings.


Love this movie
2009-08-31 - There are 5 reasons to watch this movie:
1.Jodie Foster
2.Forest Whitaker
3.Kristen Stewart
4.Dwight Yokham
5.Jared Leto

enough said! 2 of them are Oscar winners, the others were just starting with their long careers.