So, So Cybercrime Thriller -
Added 1/17/2010
Untraceable is a disappointing action film and reminded me Silence of the Lambs in many ways - except the Internet users were set up as the murderers by a diabolical predator. The film has potential, but the director Gregory Hoblit (Fracture) does not give the film's plot a smooth feel.
The location is dark, dreary, rainy Portland, Oregon. Diane Lane is the star playing Jennifer Marsh, the FBI special agent, who fights cybercrime. The first few scenes are the actors in the FBI offices spewing out technical and computer terms that glaze the eyes over. We see a raid of a local home when it is determined a cybercrime was committed - a swat team arrests a boy for downloading copyright material - the over reaction seemed off kilter and unbelievable for me.
Untraceable combines a serial killer who sets up a website called [...] with displays of graphic murders and the Internet users who "hit" on the site. Each time they watch the death of the victim comes closer whether dripping of sulfuric acid or heat lamps turning on to burn the victim to death.
Jennifer Marsh, the heroine cybercop, steels herself to find the killer, even though her mother and daughter may be at risk.
The last part of the movie is the best as the thrill of the chase comes to a close.
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Diane Lane shines in this dark, gripping, thriller . . .
Added 1/4/2010
In Untraceable (2008), the darkest side of the cyber world, becomes horrifyingly real, as a computer whiz uses an online audience in the execution of his scheme for revenge. Diane Lane is Jennifer Marsh, an agent working at the FBI's Portland office, whose job is to pursue various types of cyber crimes. March and her co-worker Griffin Dowd (Colin Hanks), run across a website called killwithme.com, which features the torture kill of a cat. Looking into the website, the agents discover that the location is actually somewhere in the Portland area, but through a process which exploits servers in foreign locations, the website is untraceable, and cannot be shut down or located. Matters takes a radical turn, when a pilot is abducted, and in a live feed to the internet, bleeds to death, with a contribution from the online audience.
The FBI combines forces with the local police, as Detective Eric Box (Billy Burke), begins working with Marsh. Both agencies pursue leads, but are unable to get anything solid before the killer strikes again. A television reporter, trapped in a block of concrete, is roasted alive by heat lamps, again with a contribution from a growing online audience. The killer takes a personal interest in Jennifer Marsh, and the FBI team, infiltrating Marsh's home computer and sending a live video feed of her daughter to her computer, and leaving a car with a scorched corpse, cross the street from her home. When Dowd gets too close to a breakthrough, he finds himself tied down to a chair in a glass tank, filled to chest level with water. As the online audience grows, more and more acid is mixed in, creating an acid bath that dissolves the skin from the bone. It's a very painful and gruesome way to go.
Marsh sends her family away for safety. Griffin Dowd left a dying clue, and March puts the puts the pieces together, enabling the FBI to identify the killer (Joseph Cross). However he has one more play to make, and when Jennifer fails to check the back seat of her SUV, she unexpectedly finds herself hanging upside down over a set of spinning blades. The killer's mistake is not fully immobilizing his victim, making him the unexpected star of his final production.
Multi Emmy award winning director Gregory Hoblit, has crafted a dark, grim, and compelling thriller. The dank, wet, climate of Portland, contributes to the bleak, dreary atmosphere with washed out colors. The kills are diabolically creative and horrific, dramatically executed by a coldly unemotional killer. It is kind of hard to believe that someone so young, is so skilled, in so many areas. There are some other problems with the plot, the main one being why the killer takes such a personal interest in Marsh, and the FBI team from such an early point. This kind of turn is frequently used to add tension, so while hardly a surprise, it is still a questionable route for the writers to follow. Diane Lane is a fabulous A-list actress, and her very believable, gut level performance, does help to smooth over some of the rough spots in the credibility department. The story is fleshed out with details concerning Marsh's personal life, but the focus is never far from the case. Colin Hanks is very good as the quirky Griffin Dowd. Billy Burke and Joseph Cross, also turn in very solid performances. Displaying a wide acting range, Lane makes you feel her character's emotions, even when it is just sympathy for a cat. However, the final teeth gritting badge flashing scene, is rather reminiscent of a showboating wide receiver.
The DVD has a nice set of extra features, including a commentary track by Gregory Hoblit, producer Hawk Koch, and production designer Paul Eads. The conversation is not particularly animated, but there is some good background information. There is actually an FBI office located in Portland, and the producers tried to come up with some creative torture kills, and be accurate regarding law enforcement procedures and the pursuit of cyber crimes. Untraceable is a fast paced, high tension thriller, that mostly avoids cliché, with creative use of graphic violence, and quality special effects. In a genre that often has disappointments, Untraceable delivers the goods.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Untraceable
Added 12/31/2009
This is a horrifying thriller, smart and tightly told, and merciless. If you've enjoyed any recent thriller/horror/suspense movies there's a good chance you'll really enjoy this movie.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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UNTRACEABLE BRUTAL AND ENTERTAINING MOVIE-DIANE IS GOOD IN IT!!
Added 9/17/2009
untraceable is a very good movie to check out. the story plot is interesting that serial killers is killing people by using the internet as their tool of method. how do they do it---the killer place the victim in a device that will kill them but the catch is the number of hits or times they visit the site they more they are quicker to die. as one character said in the movie we are the weapon by visiting the site you will kill the victim. so you are thinking why dont they shut the site down, their ip address and place them under arrest well its not that simple because the title of the movie says it all...they are untraceable. they make it hard for you to catch the killer. i thought the most chilling scene was the ending where the message is very clear about the worlds obsession with live action internet or the internet in general. how many times have you visit youtube to check out a clip of something happening in the world and made a comment on it or visit a live site to see something so crazy that you spread the news to your friends. the point is that untraceable does show you how crazy our obsession for the internet can be. so this killer use the people to kill their victims for being curious to see how the person dies. so i thought the idea for the movie was very good. diane lane was very good in this performance. she wasn't oscar worthy or anything like that but she was very good in this role trying to take down the serial killer while trying to maintain her family and her sanity. so check out the movie its at a great price. i am sure you can find it for a penny because there are a lot of sellers on here who can sell it for you for a penny. so if you like movies like bone collector, switchback, copycat...its more like copycat but just add the internet age to it. and i almost forget colin hanks was very good in this performance too. i like the way how he died in the movie. it was kinda funny lol
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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america's critic
Added 9/11/2009
untraceable was execelent great acting story was neat, i really enjoyed this 1, i like the killing scenes they were prettty cool, all in all i reccomand this one rent it or purchase it on sale.
0 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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So, So Cybercrime Thriller -
Added 1/17/2010
Untraceable is a disappointing action film and reminded me Silence of the Lambs in many ways - except the Internet users were set up as the murderers by a diabolical predator. The film has potential, but the director Gregory Hoblit (Fracture) does not give the film's plot a smooth feel.
The location is dark, dreary, rainy Portland, Oregon. Diane Lane is the star playing Jennifer Marsh, the FBI special agent, who fights cybercrime. The first few scenes are the actors in the FBI offices spewing out technical and computer terms that glaze the eyes over. We see a raid of a local home when it is determined a cybercrime was committed - a swat team arrests a boy for downloading copyright material - the over reaction seemed off kilter and unbelievable for me.
Untraceable combines a serial killer who sets up a website called [...] with displays of graphic murders and the Internet users who "hit" on the site. Each time they watch the death of the victim comes closer whether dripping of sulfuric acid or heat lamps turning on to burn the victim to death.
Jennifer Marsh, the heroine cybercop, steels herself to find the killer, even though her mother and daughter may be at risk.
The last part of the movie is the best as the thrill of the chase comes to a close.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Diane Lane shines in this dark, gripping, thriller . . .
Added 1/4/2010
In Untraceable (2008), the darkest side of the cyber world, becomes horrifyingly real, as a computer whiz uses an online audience in the execution of his scheme for revenge. Diane Lane is Jennifer Marsh, an agent working at the FBI's Portland office, whose job is to pursue various types of cyber crimes. March and her co-worker Griffin Dowd (Colin Hanks), run across a website called killwithme.com, which features the torture kill of a cat. Looking into the website, the agents discover that the location is actually somewhere in the Portland area, but through a process which exploits servers in foreign locations, the website is untraceable, and cannot be shut down or located. Matters takes a radical turn, when a pilot is abducted, and in a live feed to the internet, bleeds to death, with a contribution from the online audience.
The FBI combines forces with the local police, as Detective Eric Box (Billy Burke), begins working with Marsh. Both agencies pursue leads, but are unable to get anything solid before the killer strikes again. A television reporter, trapped in a block of concrete, is roasted alive by heat lamps, again with a contribution from a growing online audience. The killer takes a personal interest in Jennifer Marsh, and the FBI team, infiltrating Marsh's home computer and sending a live video feed of her daughter to her computer, and leaving a car with a scorched corpse, cross the street from her home. When Dowd gets too close to a breakthrough, he finds himself tied down to a chair in a glass tank, filled to chest level with water. As the online audience grows, more and more acid is mixed in, creating an acid bath that dissolves the skin from the bone. It's a very painful and gruesome way to go.
Marsh sends her family away for safety. Griffin Dowd left a dying clue, and March puts the puts the pieces together, enabling the FBI to identify the killer (Joseph Cross). However he has one more play to make, and when Jennifer fails to check the back seat of her SUV, she unexpectedly finds herself hanging upside down over a set of spinning blades. The killer's mistake is not fully immobilizing his victim, making him the unexpected star of his final production.
Multi Emmy award winning director Gregory Hoblit, has crafted a dark, grim, and compelling thriller. The dank, wet, climate of Portland, contributes to the bleak, dreary atmosphere with washed out colors. The kills are diabolically creative and horrific, dramatically executed by a coldly unemotional killer. It is kind of hard to believe that someone so young, is so skilled, in so many areas. There are some other problems with the plot, the main one being why the killer takes such a personal interest in Marsh, and the FBI team from such an early point. This kind of turn is frequently used to add tension, so while hardly a surprise, it is still a questionable route for the writers to follow. Diane Lane is a fabulous A-list actress, and her very believable, gut level performance, does help to smooth over some of the rough spots in the credibility department. The story is fleshed out with details concerning Marsh's personal life, but the focus is never far from the case. Colin Hanks is very good as the quirky Griffin Dowd. Billy Burke and Joseph Cross, also turn in very solid performances. Displaying a wide acting range, Lane makes you feel her character's emotions, even when it is just sympathy for a cat. However, the final teeth gritting badge flashing scene, is rather reminiscent of a showboating wide receiver.
The DVD has a nice set of extra features, including a commentary track by Gregory Hoblit, producer Hawk Koch, and production designer Paul Eads. The conversation is not particularly animated, but there is some good background information. There is actually an FBI office located in Portland, and the producers tried to come up with some creative torture kills, and be accurate regarding law enforcement procedures and the pursuit of cyber crimes. Untraceable is a fast paced, high tension thriller, that mostly avoids cliché, with creative use of graphic violence, and quality special effects. In a genre that often has disappointments, Untraceable delivers the goods.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Untraceable
Added 12/31/2009
This is a horrifying thriller, smart and tightly told, and merciless. If you've enjoyed any recent thriller/horror/suspense movies there's a good chance you'll really enjoy this movie.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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