Collateral was the First Digital Masterpiece

A retrospective / review on Collateral, highlighting Michael Mann's innovative embrace of digital camera technology and the unique look it gave the film.
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[@TheGlucoside]

For some reason, this is one of very few movies that manage to accurately portrait what nighttime in a metropolis truly feels like. Those weird hours after 2 AM, when the old day hasn't died yet, but the new one hasn't been born either. Those digital cameras captured how tired one feels, how dark it gets, and how cold the earliest morning hours are. Absolutely spectacular.

[@nicolashromyk5397]

This is a really great take on it, something I never really noticed before!

[@A_YouTube_Commenter]

That is poetry.

[@o0CyRaX0o.]

I’ve seen almost 3000 movies in my lifetime & this movie has one of my favorite scenes when Tom Cruise says “Someday? Someday my dream will come? One night you will wake up and discover it never happened. It's all turned around on you. It never will. Suddenly you are old. Didn't happen, and it never will, because you were never going to do it anyway. You'll push it into memory and then zone out in your barco lounger, being hypnotized by daytime TV for the rest of your life. Don't you talk to me about murder. All it ever took was a down payment on a Lincoln town car. That girl, you can't even call that girl. What the fuck are you still doing driving a cab?”

[@voodooaudio9488]

The movie should have been just TC doing a monologue

[@k-force8325]

He also says the same thing in Knight and Day "Someday is a codeword for never"

[@adamb6086]

This film changed my life and quotes like that are one of the reasons why. I know Vincent is the antagonist, but to me, it was never about good and bad...the whole film is an exploration of the grey area in between...I believe this may also be why Vincent is not wearing black as a typical villain. He is wearing grey and his hair is grey. He's not good or bad, because that is just subjective anyway. This is also a reference to Neil in 'Heat' (also by Michael Mann) - who is very much cut from the same cloth as Vincent. In Heat, we are made to sympathise with Niel; in Collateral, we are made to view Vincent as a bad guy....both characters are essentially one and the same.

[@davidlean1060]

For me, the best bit is when Max outs Vincent for talking BS. I love the way he calls Vincent's psuedo philosophizing 'twilight zone shit' about being alone in the 'big ass nowhere'. That is one stone cold put down!

[@ilon7799]

@@davidlean1060 I don’t think Vincent is alone. I think that he actually has a family. With his philosophical thoughts and statements about life I think that a man like him would want eventually have a family and these ideas are just additions for what is useful for him in his work. Work in which he’s good at and can provide quality life for his family. I don’t think he’s doing it just for himself. This is just my thoughts.

[@lorenzschreiber3459]

I kid you not, when the video was finished I wanted to read the comments and expected at least 500 of them. and when I realized that there weren't any, I thought it was a mistake and looked at the subscriber and view count expecting so see at least 100,000 views. but only 176 views? how is that possible? the video has got a great compact script and the editing is impeccable. please keep going. i promise you you will pop off one day!

[@Flint_Ironstag]

Seriously. I finished it and expected 100,000+ views because it is at that caliber. The short length was actually refreshing and that’s why I chose to watch it

[@fin4314]

​@@Flint_Ironstag Videos used to be short before everyone focused on squishing as much money from them as possible Short videos feel refreshing

[@underwraps]

Wow, thank you so much! I was expecting this to just fall into the KZbin black hole, so seeing this response made my day haha

[@pikebishop8516]

​@@underwrapskeep going

[@schuylerkrizay6192]

@@underwraps it is simple for me, I like the video, I thumbs up, I like more than 1 video I subscribe. absolutely great content it is a travesty you only have 100 subscribers but a man has to start somewhere. I would love to see this done with a Scorsese flick, goodfellas is my personal favourite movie of all time but he has so many classics perhaps Gangs of New York? but if not that, maybe something by the Coen brothers, Guy Ritchie, Steven Soderbergh, Wes Anderson. Also out of those I listed are there any which you have a preference for? Cheers

[@EpicBeard815]

The thing about the visuals is that Mann had a clear aesthetic idea of what he wanted the film to look like, and digital cameras was one of the methods to getting there. The aesthetic dictate the format, not the other way around. That's why its so hard to determine which scenes are digital and which are 35mm, because the aesthetics remain consistent either way.

[@Flint_Ironstag]

I remember watching this movie on a complete whim when I was in high school. It’s the exact type of movie I never watched because I felt they were always the same, and I couldn’t figure out why I enjoyed it so much. I just didn’t understand enough about movies to understand why I liked it.

[@underwraps]

Have you seen any of Michael Mann's other movies? Collateral is definitely my favorite, but Thief and Manhunter are two of his others that strike a similar chord.

[@gorehog04]

Because everything about this film is masterful. The soundtrack, cast, cinematography, script, and acting alike. You like this film because you can watch it as a one dimensional action thriller, but you can also go much deeper, appreciating the addicting, likable and charming, yet ruthless antagonist of Tom Cruise in his best role to date; appreciating the subtle details in the film that are easy to overlook, such as the camera movements and how they change depending on the character being filmed, how Vincent’s precise, skillful, Mozambique technique of firing upon his victims ironically leads to his demise, or simply the brilliant chemistry between two of the most unique characters that Hollywood has seen since the start of the 21st century. This is my favorite film of all time.

[@gothxm]

@@gorehog04 i like how you tell this person you do not know why they like the film lol.

[@studioshitaketakashita7093]

@@underwraps Heat

[@ano_nym]

I watched it because someone thought the alley gunshot sounds were so realistic linking a clip.

[@elthe3rd]

They play off of each other well, Cruise is unapologetically a ruthless killer yet you admire his style and the way he handles himself. Jamie Foxx represents the audience because we keep feeling like a hostage and wonder what we would do in the same situation.

[@TechnicalGamingChannel]

Collateral was also one of the first films to ever use flat LED panel lights. They actually built them specifically for the movie to light the interior of the cab in the night scenes. It's one of the reasons those cab shots look so surreal. LEDs back then were AWFUL and had really bad color accuracy. So what should have been white LEDs skewed heavily green. Contrasting that with the orange sodium vapor bulbs used in streetlight and you got a really high contrast look. The funny thing is now that cities like LA are switching to LED streetlights, the look of Collateral is quickly becoming impossible to replicate unless you have a crew replacing the practical street lighting with lighting that mimics traditional streetlights. The movie really is a time capsule of the birth of digital filmmaking.

[@retrosuperheroart2202]

wow, that explains a lot. Thank you!

[@TechnicalGamingChannel]

@@retrosuperheroart2202 I bought it on DVD when it came out and the behind the scenes coverage they did was phenomenal. Really some great insight into their processes for getting the film shot. If you can find it online or get a physical copy of the BTS I'd recommend it.

[@retrosuperheroart2202]

@@TechnicalGamingChannel sounds awesome thanks!

[@paperstacksfilms]

Yup. It's beautiful. It's kinda sad tho how 2 years later mann made Miami vice which sucked and doesn't hold up nearly as well on rewatch as the digital scenes from collateral.

[@retrosuperheroart2202]

I like the new Miami Vice, especially those orange lit street scenes in the beginning, and the speed boat trip to Columbia. Classic stuff!@@paperstacksfilms

[@rottensquid]

A lot of what makes Cruise pop in these shots is also lighting. He's lit in cool blues and greens against the sodium orange streetlights bathing the night streets. That light trick feeds into the narrative. Cruise is usually lit by neon, which strips out the warm flesh tones, leaving him looking lifeless, machine-like. It's actually a little rare to see him in the film lit by warm, natural light. He almost always looks sallow and bloodless, conveying the character's inhumanness. This light trick was also used recently in the opening sequence of the film Across the Spider-Verse, putting the character Gwen in a cold light that makes her look out of place in the warmth of her own home. Again, it's done to tell story, but a very different story.

[@dukensonguerrier5369]

I’ve recently gotten into film & haven’t seen collateral ( will definitely give it a go based on all the love here) but I’m a WHY type of person. So when the video mentions the game-like, hyper-realistic glow to the night time scenes involving cruise achieved with digital. My only question, was how does that elevate the story? Your comment was like 32 ML of liquid relief to my OCD, perfectly answered.

[@rottensquid]

@@dukensonguerrier5369 Glad you enjoyed that. It's one of those things about art, I think. Chris Nolan and Quintin Tarantino can complain about digital film all day long, and sing the praises of film till their lungs give out, but at the end of the day, what's beautiful and what isn't is always subjective. Michael Mann wanted to make the ugliness of digital video beautiful. So instead of trying to fix it the way, say, Steve Yedlin did in Knives Out, he leaned into everything it does to make images look ugly, and made that the atmosphere of the film. He used neon and lots of glaring lights to enhance the medium's worst qualities. Those gross, washed out night scenes perfectly capture the particular flavor of impersonal LA, making it dingy, hopeless, a dystopia without the glamor of scifi. Douglas Adams once described LA as like miles and miles of American Express junk mail. I think that's the city we see in Collateral. And by centering everything wrong with digital as the point of using it, he made it strangely beautiful. That's what art is all about. It's not about what's supposed to work, it's about what actually works, whether we expect it to or not. That was my take.

[@TheBCHawke]

Great movie and a good video highlighting its strengths, but in a 4 minute video titled "Collateral was the First Digital Masterpiece" you spent just barely over a minute talking about the digital cinematography. We're left wondering "why" and "how" it was a digital masterpiece aside from the few details you mentioned. There's so much more to dive into in regards to this subject. Maybe this video should have been about the director and actors and tension (since you talk about that for 3 minutes) and a separate video could have been made diving deeper into the cinematography?

[@the_fragrant_vagrant]

Exactly. I’m all for a good diatribe about the movie and how the casting and characterization makes the film great and all, and I really liked how the video highlights Vincent’s “glowing” effect and such…but I kept waiting for an explanation as to *how* that effect was achieved, or what choices were made to make the most of digital cinema. It’s one thing to say Michael Mann is a master of his craft, it’s another thing entirely to show the receipts.

[@gmcubed]

Yea, I don't think a case was made for digital having any strengths beyond trying to save a buck at all. This same movie would have looked way better if shot on film.

[@thebrownfilmshow]

Not to mention, Cruise is wearing the exact same style of clothes Deniro wore in Heat.

[@Segadrome]

Mann legit said "Suck it, Quentin." and made true cinema out of digital cinematography.

[@anthonyt219]

It was shot beautifully. To me it's what neo noir films should look like. The way michael mann does city shots or wides is great. It looks more authentic than any city landscape shot I've seen so far in film as of 2023

[@tylerdordon99]

dude please. ffs. ppl like you are the reason cinema sucks these days. these movies look like they are made for TV. god I miss the 90s.

[@jobsmine]

The scene with coyotes in the middle of night is an absolute gem. It was unplanned btw that perfectly compliments Vincent’s (Cruise’s) character. It shows that the coyotes are nocturnal just as Vincent is.

[@davidlean1060]

How can it be unplanned when they foreshadow it with Max's bit about the 'South Central' deer when he is pulled over by the cops?

[@jobsmine]

@@davidlean1060 unplanned as in Mann had an idea when he saw the coyotes cross the road and decided to incorporate it in the scene. Brilliant work tbh.

[@davidlean1060]

@@jobsmine You're not grasping my point. How could it have been unplanned when the event is foreshadowed earlier? The script has a scene where Max speaks about seeing an animal that doesn't belong in an urban setting being seen in an urban setting. It's not chance that Max and vincent encounter a wild animal on an LA street later in the story. My point is that's a myth. It was planned and the foreshadowing proves it. I never bought that myth. It makes no sense.

[@1776SolidSnake]

In my top 5 favorite movies of all time. I love Collateral

[@scottbrown2252]

I think the moment that hits everyone if you haven't really picked up on the unique look of some scenes is the silent car ride when they stop for a moment and see a coyote crossing the road. The close-ups and profiles of Foxx and Cruise really do look like high-quality video game characters. Such a cool effect.

[@davidlean1060]

I remember even at the time, one reviewer (it may have been Barry Norman on his BBC film show) described the film as looking like Shaolin Monks had hand crafted every frame. It's still one of the most visually beautiful films I can think of.

[@jin6000]

Great video. Collateral is one of my favourite movies of all time. The “making of” which was on the DVD was also excellent and super insightful. :) There was also fun little trivia in it such as: - To train to be inconspicuous, Tom Cruise delivered packages to people as a UPS driver for an entire day. - The part where the taxi crashes as it drives off from the club shootout was a complete accident that they left in. Fun stuff. :)

[@bitterbold]

Three cruicial elements that make this movie fantastic: 1. Michael Mann 2. Tom Cruise 3. The Story And everything else in this movie is simply brillant.

[@miguelrosado6348]

4. American Violence

[@k-force8325]

5.Jamie foxx

[@ayushawasthi1690]

Jason Statham from his Transporter character was also in this film for some reason. The style makes Cruise down to our mundane life and he could be walking among, although he will be glowing coz he tom Cruise.

[@WarriorPleb]

Collateral is seriously in my top 5 fav movies along with heat and T2

[@jamiedetwiler7261]

Haven’t seen this movie in years but it has always stuck with me. Never realized it digital. Loved how you broke down the director’s intention when using digital to get the look he wanted

[@meaganconley2298]

One of my favorite movies. Good on you for covering it.

[@underwraps]

Completely agree! There are a good amount of people who don’t seem to like it though. I didn’t expect that haha

[@faaaduma6876]

This film was ahead of this time visually. And alot of times looks like as if it was shot in the early 2010's.

[@user-uo1qr6vn1q]

I remember after first seeing Heat (Mann’s masterpiece in my eyes, tho I’m guessing this comment section would no doubt push back on that) in the theaters, I finally got the DVD the same week the casting & plot news broke about Collateral. And, given I’m such a huge Michael Mann fan, I remember being really upset with the news of the casting. First with Foxx, who - despite being cast in Ray shorty afterwards, had never been counted on to be the lead in a big drama before. Back then, he was known (at least by the general public) as a comedian first & foremost, despite his smaller roles in Ali & Any Given Sunday. Which certainly was a big reason I questioned his casting. With the plot line being another chance for Mann to use the city of LA as a backdrop as he did with Heat, I just wasn’t convinced out of all the possibilities, Foxx was the best choice to carry the film, let alone a Michael Mann directed picture. Of course I couldn’t have been more wrong. But then there was the casting of Cruise… in, what was being reported at the time, a gray wig (I was glad it just ended up being a dye job instead). But the last time Cruise wore a wig in a film (& also one that was different from his actual color), was the other movie that I, & everyone else on the planet, already knew he was horribly miscast in - “Interview with the Vampire.” Coincidentally, that film was also the last one where he had played a villain as well. And while “Interview…” wasn’t a total disaster, I remember that the biggest issue most had with the film was Cruise’s casting as Lestat. Especially since the portrayal of Lestat in the books, which is actually incredibly central to the story, is as a tall, dominant & physically imposing blonde man who uses his sexuality as a weapon. A character that the actor who was cast opposite Cruise in the film - Brad Pitt - was practically born to play. Yet they went with Cruise as Lestat instead, and as was noted by virtually everyone, the film suffered because of it. Which was why I was so sure that mistake was going to be repeated with his role in Collateral. And once again, I couldn’t have been more wrong. As the film’s reviews & Foxx’s Supporting Actor Oscar nomination would show, the casting ended up being spot on. And now, 19 years later, the film is rightfully seen as both a classic & arguably both Foxx’s & Cruise’s best performances of their respective careers.

[@CornishCreamtea07]

I saw this a few years blind on Amazon Video, all I had noticed was Tom Cruise and the year 04. I didn't go in thinking "Oh this will be Film", but it was somewhere in the back of my mind. I kept wondering why everything looked so bright despite it being night, there was also something weird about the colours. It got even stranger in the nightclub because that looked different from the rest of the Movie.

[@RagedContinuum]

I think the nightclub and the jazz club sequences were film

[@NullVoid-rm7jm]

Collateral is such an underrated movie

[@joey5059]

Well this was a nice recommendation video. So glad I clicked on it! I still have the dvd of this when I first moved to la to pursue filmmaking! Watched it all the damn time. Love this film!

[@ruthyonaef]

For your kind of information "The Killer" (2006) is a Bollywood movie which follows the same plot starring Emran Hashmi as Foxx's character & Irrfan Khan as Cruise's character. 🇮🇳☮️

[@youlost88s]

gandu movie hai killer

[@ruthyonaef]

@@youlost88s ik man :) but can't denie Irrfan's performance at all 💯

[@underwraps]

Sounds like my kind of movie! I’ll have to check it out

[@ruthyonaef]

@@underwraps go for it, I will assure you only behalf of Irrfan Khan's performance & as you know it's a bollywood movie so lots of songs are included too. 💯

[@LeoStaley]

When I saw this in the theater, there was a scene where you could clearly see the cameraman running with the actors in a windows reflection. It's not there anymore.

[@LurkerDood]

Tom Cruise is so effing good in Collateral!!!! S P O I L E R . . . . . . . . . .I was SAD when Vincent died 😭

[@BOO4EVA]

He looks great with the salt n pepper....he should adapt this look

[@fearingalma1550]

Still one of my all-time favorite movies. It speaks to the power of a strong script and a tight focus on characters playing off one another. It's a tragedy that these strengths get lost in the special effects extravaganzas of today. Plus the cinematography has an immediacy to it but doesn't shake around, framing the action beats perfectly. An SAS instructor drilled Tom Cruise on his movements and it shows.

[@charlesmiller6281]

I can still recall sitting in the theater after watching Mann's first movie Thief and thinking how lucky I was, because I could tell he was a great director and knew then and there I'd be enjoying Michael Mann movies for the rest of my life. Sure enough, and he has made several of my all-time favorites. I see comments like every frame is a work of art, exactly how I felt watching The Last of the Mohicans. There's definitely a Michael Mann style, as best exemplified in a now disappeared video The Cinema of Michael Mann. Yet at the same time each movie has its own unique style, as you've so well described here. The music, the fabulous supporting actors, Collateral is indeed a masterpiece of movie making.

[@ElectricGeek]

Great video man! Really enjoyed that little review of the movie. It’s one of my faves and an under appreciated gem for sure. I wish Cruise still pushed himself dramatically as an actor. Subbed mate 👍

[@underwraps]

Thank you dude! If he kept taking risks like this he’d honestly be one of the best actors we have. I mean he’s still a huge movie star, but he seems to focus on stunt work more than acting nowadays

[@ElectricGeek]

@@underwraps i agree, his 20 year long midlife crisis has robbed us of potentially his best character work but he’s also gave us some fantastic action films like the M:I franchise so i guess that balances it out 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@FelixRoseAs]

I guess this look comes from the shutter speed of the camera being intentionally set below 180° (48/s) and close to 360° (24/s).

[@TheRealDarrylStrawberry]

Michael Mann is know for the Wet Street style.

[@hirolla74]

Michael Mann is one of my favorite directors. Those night scenes are amazing; clearity at it's best. His follow up Miami Vice is as gorgeous with the detail. And the soundtrack is freakin' amazing!

[@whitebeardskydaddy6756]

Must agree. Mesmerizing.

[@agxec2932]

One of my all time favorite films

[@stref320]

This is such a great movie. Gotta dig up my DVD and watch it with the wife this weekend.

[@tylerdordon99]

This is a great movie with a great narrative so I didn't mind the TV-ish look of it. I'd go as far as saying that the only director who somehow makes this aesthetic work is Michael Mann and maybe in some Sion Sono movies. but usually whenever I see digital cinematography my eyes start to bleed. there's nothing that compares to film. however I do understand why the shift to digital happened. it's less of a pain in the ass. btw you've got great content, it's only a matter of time before your channel grows.

[@KyleCorwith]

You're incorrect that Vincent has no sympathy. The scene where he coaches Max to stand up for himself against his boss over the dispatch shows Vincent DOES have humanity. He had nothing to gain by doing that, other than helping Max out.

[@raphaelmurat382]

Um plus, a iluminação de primeiro plano fria sobre o fundo quente, traz um destaque que fortalece esse mood de video game.

[@andrzejsieg5292]

Hey there! Great content, and the video was really interesting! Keep it up, my friend. Just a suggestion: adding more emotions in your voice would make it even better. Looking forward to seeing more from you!

[@underwraps]

Thank you! I’m hoping as I make more videos I’ll get more comfortable recording them.

[@radkin9747]

Love the edit, the topic, the audio. Nice work :)

[@underwraps]

Thanks so much man!

[@nicholashqar1654]

The one i remember that was shot in digital was once upon a time in mexico of 2003 maybe was the firstb👍👍

[@nweditor875]

Really amor this movie I wish Tom Cruise did more roles like this in movies.

[@shirazali5904]

All of Manns films through this era had a different colour grade/tint. the overriding colour in the heat, was blue, the overriding colour and this was yellow and amber

[@nomecognome8737]

There's always a lot of blue in his movies

[@scottishjenni]

Tom Cruise surprisingly looked soooo good with grey hair and Jamie foxx was v realistic as a cab driver.. love this movie

[@slade8748]

Underrated movie and underrated video

[@kuakilyissombroguwi]

Michael Mann is a mastermind.

[@drlee2]

After almost 20 years, it's still hard to believe that this is actually Tom Cruise in this movie! lol Vincent is like no other character Cruise ever played in his career and he knocked it out of the park. I really hate the Oscars at this point, but at a bare minimum, I wish he'd gotten a Best Actor nomination to honor both the work ethic he put into playing this character and the final result, which is, in my opinion, the greatest assassin character put to screen in film history.

[@bigearedmouse17]

This Movie made Grey Suits cool again !

[@dizzythegreat]

When he keeps saying "Mann did x" I keep hearing it in my head like "Bro said x 💀". "Bro did NOT settle when it came to his characters."

[@Andy-li2px]

Toms character was based from Deniros character from heat

[@taysay101]

I really like Collateral, that and Tropic Thunder are my favorite Tom Cruise roles.I'm not a big fan of his but I love both those movies....... but All About Lily Chou-Chou was the first digital (HD) masterpiece. It's a Japanese movie from 2001 by Shunji Iwai and was the first HD camera feature film released that I know of, though not the first to be shot (that would be Star Wars Ep 2). It looks very digital and different from other movies of the time. It's also a great art film that's ahead of its time both in subject matter and it's filmmaking approach, not for everyone but it's one of my favorite movies of all time.

[@LokiDWolf-im7jg]

I agree 100% with all you said in this video. Even about the 3rd act. Great summary of a great movie!

[@wades_world22]

just found this video today, the first one i have watched of your channel! I am loving this content, instantly subscribed and am looking forward to more! And thank you for introducing me to this movie, I'll be sure to watch it now. And I love your channel logo ! 👍

[@aleksisuuronen5969]

I remember when the shift started and digitally shot movies In General looked horrible for few years. There was like this feeling of not having like clear framing, I mean feeling like the image spans out from what you see (which messed with any composition). Weardly put it made movies look kinda plasticy and without soul. I don't know but also the colors and brightness just looked a bit off, like too much of blurring say background and too much of saturation. It just was baad. Later on they actually started to add film-grain look to the cameras like RED and such because I think that grain look precisely makes it look more like an painting with edges. It just all n all looks better. There still were some who managed to play with those and make something decent or working. Fincher was also an early adaptor but it did need geniuses with the tech side like him to make it work. It was a brief period tho but there is few movies that isn't really bad but just hard to watch for the camera and just using it like you would film essentially. Also a lot of comedies since they always tried to make them as cheap as possible. Tried, since like 35-40 comedies a year have turned into around maybe 5-6 a year (and you know Kevin Hart will be at Very Least in one).

[@underwraps]

Really well said! The technology has come a loooong way haha. Some filmmakers are able to make digital look indistinguishable from film nowadays. Fincher will always be the king of digital filmmaking to me.

[@aleksisuuronen5969]

@@underwraps Yeah they ended up in the end really making the digital cameras make a look like what film-cameras looks (because the grain just works, gives texture to the shot) and enhance the good qualities digital can bring + more options ofc to play with the look. Especially with todays cameras after around 2 decades. The first cameras just wasn't it 😅 Like the one movie from Jude Law, I'm pretty sure it was Breaking and Entering is those examples where it's not really a bad movie but the digital look is really distracting and not working at all. I'm pretty sure it's that, but this Jude Law film always comes first in my mind when thinking of it not working at first. Yeah well Fincher is like the anomaly of being able to be genius with the tech aspects and being able to attach it to the storytelling without any problem. He is very perfectionist looking for the shot where even extras walk in the right sync at the background. Like I love the story when he was shooting Gone Girl and Ben Affleck (who ofc himself also directs) changed the focus of the camera with something Super minimal amount and bet someone from the crew that Fincher won't notice it since it was soo small change. Well what do you know, they take couple takes Fincher looking a bit puzzled and says: "Isn't the camera just a little bit out of focus" 😂 I'm not like 100% sure how tech genius Scorsese is but apparently he is like the master of problem solving, figuring out shots in minutes that would take other directors hours. I have always wondered how much he goes to the tech side of things since he truly is also an anomaly just with the run of career and keeping up with the caliber of quality of movies he's done. He also have had very bad luck with quite many sets with big problems and managed to overcome it. Usually someone is like Lucas or J.J Abrahams and more like genius with the tech but not really with any deep storytelling or vice versa or somewhere in the spectrum of both but not genius. Fincher for sure is that whole package. Nolan too but he can go a bit too much into complicated concepts rather than focusing on the story, Tenet being the perfect example of that when The Prestige would be more him focusing on the story. He anyways still shoots with film like Tarantino but does it masterfully so he isn't a fan of digital (I don't think he is opposed either like Tarantino is). Kubrick was crazy to the point that he would have like say miniature hotel from Shining and moving these little lights around it and taking a lot of photos to see from the photo what kinda lighting he needs for the perfect shot he wants 😅 and apparently the actual shot would end up matching perfectly the picture he choose about the miniature (takes like a onekinda genius since you have to account sun and cannot put huge light fixtures around the real set but somehow he worked it out in his head how to do it). It's kinda fun to think differend directors gifts, shortcomings and what makes them unique like some clearly are above others. You can even take say Linklater and even if not being super fancy with his shots, he manages to put so much heart and emotion to his works that it's his strong suit to the max. Another is his imagination, like even doing something like Boyhood (and thinking/hoping it will pay off and finish) or A Scanner Darkly.

[@cattysplat]

Watching Harry Potter 1&2 so bright and colourful on analogue film, become a dark blurry digital nightmare from 3 onward was so depressing. Yes it does somewhat suit the darker material of the later books but those first 2 films really bring the magical world alive.

[@hdpostpro]

1:41 well played

[@JKRJ14]

Loved the analysis.

[@azv343]

Because the DP probably didn't do their research and realized too late that digital sensors were NOT THAT SENSITIVE, so instead of lighting the scenes to preserve the 180 degree shutter film look, he opened up the shutter to 360 degrees to collect more light and made it look streaky and motion blurry like a home video.

[@cardsandreelsclips]

Mark ruffalo’s goatee 😂😂😂

[@jamesdesanders5618]

Michael Mann is king.

[@rahulmodi8706]

If Vincent wombat the end and Foxx was the guy died in the train. This would have been a masterpiece

[@kuramobay2445]

Collateral relies on a couple of daft coincidences that prevent it from being a masterpiece, which generally refers to somethng close to flawless. First, that Jamie Foxx's character, the cab driver, picks up and befriends an assistant district attorney who just hapens to be the final target of a hitman, who Foxx picks up the very same evening. Said hit man then decides to use Foxx as his unwilling collaborator on an all-night killing spree. It's these coincidences that ruin the final act and make it a cliche ending about rescuing a damsel in distress. When we compare the Collateral script to the script of MM's Thief, then it makes Thief come across like a documentary. Thief is not only masterful, it's also authentic and heartbreaking because James Caan's character is a master thief who desperately wants to be a regular joe. Personally, I think Thief is a far better film. And yes, I do like Collateral for it's kinetic energy and its visual representation of the city at night.

[@bennozoid1]

there's a LOT more to say about this film, but this is a good primer for a deeper dive....

[@CalebPearsonOfficial]

You should look into the Japanese film Kamikaze Taxi (1995) , it is about a criminal who sets out to kill his crime bosses by taking a taxi driver from boss to boss. It is the film that clearly inspired the film and many of the scenes are direct rips. Doesn’t get much love for this.

[@QuasiMonkey]

3:42 Which Soderbergh movie is the clip of the rocket launcher attack on the house from, Is it Che (part 2)?

[@mast3rchief536]

Would’ve loved this films universe to crossover to John Wicks. He genuinely feels like a John Wick character and it’ll be good with Keanue Reeves and Tom Cruise in the same movie being the best actions stars.

[@FlashUltra_]

Well done

[@sneedle252]

It weirdly works as a sort of horror of the internet. He's like a psychopath on early 4chan, a dark web assassin for hire, a grindr hookup who blanks you when you see him with friends.

[@Frostweather]

This was interesting to watch, a good video. Though as a non-native English speaker I would have loved it even more had you been a bit more articulate, haha. My casual speech recognition is one of a bad AI

[@tommorales2371]

I fell in love w T Cruise after this movie.

[@joseph.r1122]

Great video essay for a great film.

[@AiamEsquisoEsquis]

Good work, the algorithm is blessing you, keep it and you will be big!

[@underwraps]

Feel like I got super lucky haha. I’m hoping I can capitalize on it!

[@parabalani]

What's the difference between film and digital in terms of quality though?

[@vitaminfian]

I’ve watched this 700 times+

[@FEARYOYOYO]

Jesus almost 3 minutes in until he brings up the point mentioned in the video title

[@robrigler2903]

I love the way this movie looks, but I don't particularly like his use of digital cameras for miami vice or public enemies. Be fascinating to see him and Christopher Nolan talk about digital vs film(Nolan obv a massive heat fan and mann an influence on his career)

[@fin4314]

It's insane that this is a video from a channel with 30 subscribers I hope that me getting recommended this, will mean other people coming in aswell

[@underwraps]

Thanks for saying that! I'm not sure why it's getting recommended to people but I'm glad I got lucky

[@dicksonfranssen]

@underwraps You get my vote for keeping it short and to only the relevant points. My OCD is fidgeting and 10 minutes is my limit. You remind me of my best teachers, I came here to learn and not be condescended to. I hope your advertisers appreciate you, we all do. Thanks.

[@paranoidz6]

Very beautifully put video! Keep it up!

[@danapeck5382]

Great film in all aspects

[@NostalgicGamerRickOShay]

At 3:43, what movie is that with the bazooka?

[@underwraps]

It’s Che: Part One by Steven Soderbergh

[@dicksonfranssen]

@@underwraps @rickoshay5525 not a bazooka and a different effect but Falling Down makes great use of a nasty weapon.

[@Jfkrkdkf]

great video, keep it going with this style, it really works

[@jimclawley9117]

Love Collateral.

[@ScottEdwards2000]

How do I follow you in letterboxed? I installed the app and signed in but don’t see a follow button on your profile

[@underwraps]

It kinda hides from you. It should be in the top left next to my profile picture.

[@anacronix4193]

What a movie!

[@Thergood]

I believe this was Fox's best performance. He was great in Ray, but I felt like he overshot the mark in that movie a few times. He nailed the mark in every scene in this film. When he turns on the "'I'm Vincent,' Darwin, I Ching" shit in the Felix scene, just an incredible contrast to how low-key he played the character up until then. The digital night shots of LA are still some of the my favorite shots of all time. You can see proto-shots like these in Mann's earlier films. Heat, in particular, because they have the same subject, Los Angeles. When I re-watch Heat I often think about how the scenes from McCauley's balcony, or the climactic airport scenes, might've looked had Mann had access to this technology then. Even the sweeping vistas of Appalachia in Last of the Mohicans.

[@Blballerboy]

How old are you under wraps? Just curious what age you were when this released. Great video

[@Captain-pi9tg]

Amazing video and you definitely deserve more subs!

[@tashrif46]

Tom Cruise chillingly good in this movie. I did not know he had a performance like that in him.

[@johnnywhite274]

Great video of a good movie but yeah.. ending was too easy. Not a fan of this type of digital imagery coz to me it looks like a home movie shot on a handycam instead of an epic movie for the cinema. Heat didn't look like this but Miami Vice and Public Enemies did which for me was disappointing

[@cattysplat]

Hand held camera shooting was definitely a fashion at the time though.

[@CableClassics-bn2fo]

Really awesome video.

[@davidowens2738]

Great video. Thank you

[@BadScroller]

amazing, early to another great successful channel

[@underwraps]

Thanks for saying that!

[@CollegeDroputPowerpoints]

I only saw collateral because of a single image of Tom Cruise, did no research at all and was blown away by him and Jamie Fox

[@velocgee2874]

What a sum up!

[@d0rifto1]

its hard to hear his narration (sounds sleepy) but at 3:32 did he say 35mm?

[@siddharthbhatia8815]

You actually never explained how or why shooting this in digital made such a big difference. You're just repeating that it made such a big difference, but you didn't explain how this movie would look if it was shot in film vs. in digital.