The Guardian

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

watch for the rescue and training scenes, 2008-11-28
The Guardian wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible either. It was pretty much a standard military movie, on the order of, say, Top Gun, or a dozen others. Every bit of plot was predictable, from the best friend dying at the beginning, to the cocky kid the instructor is extra tough on because he reminds him of himself, to the romance, right down to the ending. br / br /Kevin Costner plays a Coast Guard rescue swimmer whose wife left him, and his best friend died in a rescue gone bad, and when he gets out of the hospital, he's sent to the school to train rescue swimmers. Ashton Kutcher is the cocky kid. br / br /The beginning, with the wife leaving, sparked one of my rants--it was never explained, beyond a general "he was married to his job", and since they'd obviously been together a long time, there really needed to be a precipitating factor. I could believe there had been one, but not being privy to it, I couldn't feel sympathy for either of them. It reminded me of the Tom Clancy books with the inexplicable wives. Because women, you know, don't really have reasons for the stuff they do. (told you I ranted--be grateful I already got it mostly out of my system) br / br /The other part that really bugged me was the romance Ashton Kutcher's character had with a local school teacher. There was zero chemistry between the characters. In short, I didn't believe either relationship thread, and they seemed tacked on to fill in a checklist. It was a long movie--136 minutes--so I wouldn't have missed it if they'd just cut those parts out entirely. br / br /The rescue scenes and the training scenes, and the Coast Guard itself, were the real stars of the movie. The Coast Guard is really underrepresented in movies, and it was nice to get a picture of them. br / br /Quibble: why, why, why, does every single movie with a disaster at sea have the scene with characters in a room slowly filling with water, and the water always gets almost to the ceiling before they're rescued? It always happens. And in The Guardian, it went on far too long. There's a point in an action scene where tension turns to boredom. This scene passed that point. br / br /As for the acting, I like Kevin Costner, generally, and he was fine in this movie. I've no complaints. Ashton Kutcher was fine in the action/adventure scenes, but in the romance scenes, he had the same emotional depth as in the classroom scenes. It was like Tom Cruise in Top Gun, but without the charm. br / br /Secondary characters: I did enjoy the bartender (played by Bonnie Bramlett)--she wasn't a stock character, and had a lot of the funny /or insightful lines in the film. I also liked the other instructor (played by Neal McDonough), mostly because he surprised me. I expected the usual rival, but instead, he behaved the way I'd expect the character to in real life. br / br /Bottom line: if you like this kind of movie, you'll enjoy The Guardian. Just don't expect anything new.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

The Guardian - Blu-ray Info, 2008-10-21
Version: U.S.A / Region A br /Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 br /MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / High Profile 4.1 br /Running time: 2:19:05 br /Movie size: 30,35 GB br /Disc size: 33,29 GB br /Average video bit rate: 16.76 Mbps br /Subtitles: English SDH / Danish / Dutch / Finnish / French / German / Icelandic / Norwegian / Spanish br /Number of chapters: 12 br / br /LPCM Audio English 4608 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 16-bit / 4608kbps br /DTS Audio German 1536 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps br /DTS Audio Spanish 1536 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps br /Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps br /Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps br /Dolby Digital Audio German 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps br /Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps br / br /#Commentary by Director and Writer br /#The Guardian: Making Waves (11 minutes) br /#Unsung Heroes (4 minutes) br /#Deleted scenes (7 minutes) br /#Alternate ending

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Too long but good flick., 2008-06-30
The Guardian starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher focuses on the important work of U.S. Coast Guards and all the hard training these young men/women have to endure. The two stars give powerful performances, I was very impressed by Kutcher's acting chops and he has a nice body too. Sela Ward feels a little bit out of place who plays Costner's long suffering wife. My only gripe is that this film is 45 minutes too long, The Guardian is a good and well-directed film, watch it sometime.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

You Won't Be Bored!, 2008-06-26
This film is jam-packed with action about true life adventures. It will leave you with overwhelming respect for the men in the U.S. Coast Guard. br / br /Along with all the heart-stopping action, you see the softer side and an underlying determination that is rare in today's society. These men are a rare breed and it shows the tenacity and true heart with which they perform their life-saving feats. br / br /I am honored to be a citizen of this great country and proud of all of our military for the sacrifices they make daily. THANK YOU on behalf of our entire family!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Guardian is a re-make of a Japanese Movie/Comic Book/TV series, named Umizaru, 2008-05-13
I watched the movie recently on a plane and found the movie is a re-make or a Hollywood version of the 2004 Japanese movie Umizaru, which is based on a Japanese Comic Book and a TV series of the same title, which is about the Japanese Coastal Guard. The storylines touch on the training, the ordeal, the iron fist trainer, etc, I would say over 85% resemblance. I do not have the chance to scan through the credit at the end of the movie to see if there is an acknowledgement of the original screen writer. br / br /The Japanese version is recommended and you can order it via Amazon. Here is the link. br / br /http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_d?url=search-alias%3Ddvdfield-keywords=umizaru br / br /