Spartan [DVD] [2004]

We'd seen this film some time back and had enjoyed it then and decided that we would purchase a copy. In our opinion this is Val Khylmer's best movie.

Not a big fan of Val Kilmer but like Arnold S in the movie terminator, he is perfect in this part.A dark but highly believeable script, well acted and well directed.Thoughtful dialogue very true to the character of the type of 'soldier' portrayed….

Val Kilmer is back to top form here as the secret service agent at the top of his game who finds himself involved in a kidnap of a VIP politician - of course, this is David Mamet, so the plot has a way of going into blind alleys and left turns that you never quite see coming. In fact, do yourself a favour, and find out as little as you can about the plot, you'll enjoy the movie all the more! Having said that, the loose ends dont quite all tie up, and the ending does not live up to the build up, but this is only a minor quiblle when the acting and script are of this quality.The music is minimal, and the directing is not flashy, but all serves to further the story - a quality so lacking in Hollywood these days.The pace never lets up, and the script of course is sharp and real. William H Macy plays a small but pivotal role in a rare serious role, and the rest of the cast exude realism in all the roles, not least Ed Reilly who casts off his Married with Children tag with this one.This is not one to see just because you want action, but for an intelligent thriller that engages the brain, thumbs up.

Spartan is a high class spinning Ur brain and racing one's heart movie. Beautifully .made - superb script, Val Kilmer at his most fascinating

I ordered this on DVD a while ago and by the time I received the DVD I had forgotten why I had ordered the film. Due to the strange fashion for DVD versions of films to dispense with a title sequence, I went into the film blind as it were as to who was the director. This is quite useful in a way because it allows you some objectivity about the merits or otherwise of a particular film, unaffected by your fondness or dislike of a particular director.I was about twenty minutes into the film when I realised that this was a Mamet film. This epiphany occurred when I heard one or maybe more of the characters speaking in the subjunctive tense. A fixation on the niceties of correct grammar in speech sets Mamet apart from other contemporary directors. Then I noticed the mannered script and some of Mamet's regular actors.Mamet seems to be intent on a series of excursions into different film genres of late. We had "Heist" which was a heist movie funnily enough, then "State and Main" Small town America comedy with film within film conceit. There was a diversion into starchy British class drama with the "Winslow Boy". The problem with all of these as another reviewer already points out is that in each case someone else has done them a lot better.Compared to these films "Spartan" represents a partial return to form. The lack of exposition is a good idea. Too many films these days pre-suppose a mental age on the part of the viewer of 10 and and waste time in lengthy tiresome explanations.The script is good. The main performances are taut and there are moments of tension and intrigue.The Kilmer character is quite believable and his jack of all trade persona is a characteristic of American secret service people who are often recruited from elite military units and might use their old service ranks as ironic forms of address with each other.My main criticism would be the plot. Did Mamet steal this plot from an early talkie. The plot as I understand it is a white slave story. These went out of fashion when Gary Cooper was still waiting for his big break into movies.If one was politically correct, you could find fault in the essentially racist assumptions of the white slave plot. Fiendish swarthy Arabs steal our lilly-skinned women and have their evil way with them. However this is a secondary consideration.The main problem with the plot is that it is so improbable. If evil Serbs were going to kidnap blond females from the USA then would they do it around Harvard. Passing acquaintance with the habits of serial sex offenders and murderers shows that the successful ones prey on itinerants and prostitutes and drug addicts and missing persons. This is because even if these people have nearest and dearest that care about them, they have probably lost touch with them so no one notices when they are gone.Female students at Harvard are a different category. If you have spent thousands of dollars educating your daughter you are going to be little put out when all this expensive education ends up in a "bordello" (the film's anachronistic term not mine)in the Middle East.Of course it may be that I have misunderstood the plot and the principal was kidnapped to order with the apparent collusion of her father whom one is led to surmise is a very senior American political figure most likely the President. If this is the case it still makes no sense. If the father does not care about the daughter and she is a potential embarrassment and he has no scruples then why not just have her killed.This film is still better than anything else he has done recently. However if you hold it up against even one of his weaker earlier films such as "The Spanish Prisoner", "Spartan does not bare much comparison with his early film work.I recently read a film reviewer say of Mamet that his best work was behind him. I think this is a harsh judgement and I hope that it is not true and I still hope that he will make another film like "House of Games" some day.

A well paced intelligent thriller that doesn't waste time getting started and doesn't let up on the tense drama. Well worth a view.

A big NO.

Hyped up - very mundane