Tom Cruise should've played villains more often. He's so damn fun to watch as a bad guy.

This is a criminally underated movie. Love it.

Loved Tom Cruise's turn as a cold-blooded antagonist hitman ..its was so convincing great acting from Tom

That "dead guy on the subway" line was a brilliant bit of foreshadowing for Vincent's eventual fate.

The Jazz Club scene was seriously intense, without the jarring score and the raised voices. Instead it was smooth, almost pleasant, with an air of hope dangling in front of us all. It was the eerie, deliberate--almost friendly--way Vincent carried himself that gave us a deeper look into a very dangerous killer. Underneath the cold gaze, and just beneath the cool, calm and collected voice of Vincent, there was very deep and dreadful danger waiting in the wings. ( :E

I used to be skeptical about movie reactions. Turns out it's a fantastic way to rewatch a movie when you have less free time on your hands. Great video, guys.

Tom cruise was a great villain in this film...it makes you wish he'd do more varied roles more often...he was brilliant in tropic thunder and interview with a vampire...he's got the talent to be more than just an action or movie star...he can actually act and he's got a surprising amount of range...

I love this movie and feel like not enough people are talking about it

I love how early on Max says he gets lucky with the lights. Then at the end the train lights fail. That saves Max. Vincent's training fails him. You see holes in the door. Two to sternum and one to the head. He didn't see max move and missed. Wonderful movie. One of my favorites!

“You, you killed him!” “No I shot him, the bullets and the fall killed him.” 👍👍👍 This and Last Samaurai are Tom Cruise’s best performances in my opinion.

Michael Mann wrote and recently released a second story of Heat.. "Heat 2" a before and after surrounding the characters and events that took place of the first film.. this guy has a filmography that most directors can only dream of..

Tom Cruises performance as Vincent is amazing. He is the bad guy but he makes you like him and you want things to work out for him.

Collateral is my favorite movie of the last 20 years. In my opinion, this is Michael Mann's best film. It feels different from most major Hollywood films in that it's not genre-specific. It's got elements of action, crime drama, thriller, but it's much more than that. At it's core, it's the story of 2 men who change each other's lives in unexpected ways. You touched on it both during and after the reaction that Max was probably going to change into a more confident and successful person because of Vincent and also Vincent changed because of Max. He started to actually like Max, which caused him to get sloppy and have to improvise, but in the end, his robotic ways did him in as he couldn't adjust to the subway lights while Max just shot randomly. Also on your confusion about Vincent choosing the correct train, it's not technically shown, but what happened is that Max and Annie actually left the lower subway level by making their way back up the stairs that were opposite of the stairs where Vincent was standing and trying to decide which train to choose. Then once they got up to the upper level, they crawled onto the upper level train to where Vincent couldn't see them get on. So Vincent just lucked out and chose the right train on the upper level. They wouldn't have needed to crawl onto the lower level train since Vincent was on the upper level and wouldn't have seen them. Cruise and Foxx had phenomenal chemistry in this film. Personally, I think this is the best performance of Tom Cruise's career and he deserved to win a Best Actor Oscar. I never once felt like I was watching Tom Cruise play a character. I felt like I was watching Vincent the whole time. This film put Jamie Foxx on the map and made Hollywood take notice of him as a serious actor as he was actually nominated Best Supporting Actor for Collateral and later this same year starred in Ray where he would go onto win Best Actor for that film. Ray is probably Foxx's best film performance, but his work in Collateral as Max is my favorite role of his as well. in addition to Cruise and Foxx, the entire supporting cast is perfect and nails their small parts. Most of these famous actors were low-key unrecognizable, but in a good way: Cruise with the gray hair, Foxx with glasses, Ruffalo with slicked back hair and goatee, Bardem with shorter hair. None of them looked exactly like their actual selves but at the same time didn't look like actors in wigs and makeup, but realistic characters. The term "existential" comes up a lot in regards to this movie. It's as much about the meaning of life, self-analysis and evaluation as it is an action crime drama thriller movie. The film is based heavily on coincidence. At times it's blatant, like Vincent's story about the subway and at other times it's subtle within dialogue exchanges like when Max says "I got lucky with the lights" to Annie and later the lights on the subway go out at just the right time to save his life in the final showdown with Vincent. Also, there's a "full circle" dynamic to this movie as 1) The film starts with Vincent arriving in LA and ending with his body on the subway heading to parts unknown and 2) Max picking up Annie as a fare and striking a bond with her and ending with him having to save her life. The editing and music choices are flawless. The film also has a lot of genuine humor within the script that feels natural, like the alley scene of Vincent and Max talking to the cab dispatcher, but a lot of their dialogue just feels completely natural within the context of this movie. Michael Mann straight up deserved a Best Director nod and a Best Picture nomination is a given. This movie should have won all the awards in 2004, but it's not the typical award type film. I think it creeped up on people and is one of those films that has been slowly admired over time as the masterpiece that it truly is.

oh - and the scene where cruise confronts the "homies" taking his brief case - it's still held up by people who knows guns and shooting as one of the best examples of fast, unaimed shooting from the hip in movies. similar to how val kilmer's mag change in the middle of the firefight in heat is considered a prime example of how you should do that and is even used in training. seems like michael mann knows how to bring out strong "firearm performances" from his actors haha....

Great movie. Approaching 20 years old but still feels very modern...Cruise awesome as a bad guy.

"Collateral" is in many ways a perfect movie. You'd struggle hard trying to find any meaningful flaws with it. I always answer this film whenever someone asks me what is Tom Cruise' best role too. He's an excellent villain, and the storytelling artistery in how they mirror the protagonist in the antagonist for this movie is filmmaking masterclass.

"Last of the Mohicans" is another great Michael Mann film. You two should definitely check it out; taking place in the 1800's, it's much different from his other work.

Such a great film. This is a perfect example of a "midpoint collision" storyline, where the good guy and bad guy swap traits throughout the movie. Vincent starts hesitant and adapts well compare to Max, then when Max meets Felix, Max becomes those traits and Vincent becomes more hesitant to the end.

I think Tom Cruise is a really good actor, but until this movie I was pretty much “over” him, mostly due to his off-screen shenanigans. This movie reminded me that it is sometimes worth it to separate the art from the artist.

Next, you should check out The Insider (1999), which is also directed by Michael Mann. It's a true story about a whistleblower in the Tobacco Industry. Also it has Al Pacino and Russell Crowe.

That club scene was a John Wick sequence ten years early. Overall I always loved how, I dunno...quaint this movie is. It's pretty low stakes but that leaves you hyper focused on the collision between our two main characters. For as much as Vincent espoused his own brand of "shit happens" nihilism, he ended up being the one too tied to his established patterns by the end.

I love this movie. BTW, Jamie Foxx was nominated for Best Supporting for Collateral, and Best Actor for Ray (and won) in the very same year. Awesome year for him.

Fun little note about the final shootout on the subway, Max fired wildely and hit Vincent, Vincent fired like a pro (2 to the chest, 1 to the head) instinctively but his shots hit the door of the subway as Max was perfectly behind it.

Woah!! Never caught a video upload this early!! I feel so cool 😎 you two are fantastic and love all your commentaries, for movies I’ve seen, and movies I haven’t! Always a fresh perspective!

this is one of my all time favorite movies and I'm soo happy you guys are watching this!!!

Tom Cruise doesn't get the credit for his acting skills, that little crazy sob can do drama and we haven't seen him as the villain a lot but he's an awesome bad guy. I highly recommend one of his earliest roles in Taps and he steals every scene in Interview with the Vampire.

Tropic Thunder, Collateral, Magnolia, Taps. When Tom plays the heavy, he's not only brilliantly charismatic, but in all four cases he is ink blot darkly hilarious.

I never thought this film received the recognition it deserved. It's great to see you guys enjoyed it. Good commentary. Good reaction. I saw a documentary about this film many years ago. One section covered all the many cabs they used throughout the film to maintain a consistent color scheme since - based on lighting from lamps and other street lights - the cab's colors and hues would change. Fascinating stuff. Gave me a fresh appreciation for the minutiae of movie making.

Vincent is a full-on psycho/sociopath. From the time he jumps in the cab he knows he's going to kill Max at the end of the night so there are no loose ends. Everything nice he does for Max is manipulation and is straight out of the psychopath/sociopath playbook. They disarm you with their charm. Tom Cruise and the writers did a phenomenal job with this character. Making you relax when you are in Vincent's circle, just like a butcher before the slaughter. Never let the animals see the knife.

Mann literally took a video camera and confidently blended the scenes with a film camera for lighter shoots. That's a sign of a gifted filmmaker. Under most hands, this would've looked amateur hour but somehow the dude made it work. Jarring at first, but to use it in the dirty, grimy look of nightly LA was an ace creative choice.

The Insider next? Michael Mann and Russel Crowes best movie.

Glad you guys watched this one. It deserves more credit/attention tbh.

Great movie. Jamie Foxx was actually nominated for an Academy for best supporting actor for this role, same year he won best actor for Ray. Jason Statham is actually playing Frank Martin, the same character he plays from the Transporter.

One of the few times if not the only time Tom Cruise played a villain and he absolutely nailed it. One of the most underrated films of the last two decades

My favorite scene is the pause when, totally unplanned, a coyote appears on the city streets in front of them. So glad Mann left it in the movie.

Tom Cruise as a antagonistic hit man was such a refreshing role for him at this time. Love this film and thanks for keeping me company with your reaction on this cold night where I'm located. Hope you guys have a good night and evening

This movie rules, cruise absolutely crushes it in the villain Role. Good stuff as always guys

Great insights after the film as usual guys. Thief was mentioned and that one is very interesting because it was Mann's first feature film, very much the beginning of his "style". For more action and more Foxx, Miami Vice is one to watch. I also don't understand why it gets put down, I thoroughly enjoyed it ... and it has a shootout that rivals, if not surpasses, the Heat shootout. And also as mentioned, The Insider is a suspenseful telling of a true story with great performances from Crowe, Pacino, and Christopher Plummer as Mike Wallace from 60 Minutes.

Yes! This is one of my favourite films, and easily my favourite Tom Cruise performance - his trademark intensity serves him so well in a villainous role. I'm reminded of Henry Fonda playing against type as the despicable Frank in Once Upon A Time in the West (which is another masterpiece that I hope you'll eventually get around to if you ever feel like a Western). Love your content as always!

Heat, Collateral, Se7en. You’re working through my favorite genre. Neo Noir. 😅 Also, I read the screenplay to this back in the day. 2 interesting things about it. 1. When Vincent gets threatened by the guys in the alley, the screenplay read “The thug holds his gun sideways like they see on Mtv.” Then they take a double tap. And second, the following scene at the gas station, Vincent calls the people Max gets killed Collateral. And Max asks “Am I collateral?” Vincent replies “I haven’t decided yet.” The entire conversation that is the reason for the title of the film for some reason is cut.

I saw this in theaters in Phoenix on vacation in 2004 when I was 19. Been a favorite of mine ever since.

I read something a while back that Robert De Niro's character in Heat and Tom Cuise's character in Collateral are related, brothers even. They kinda also look and dress alike in those 2 movies. In Heat, the movie starts on the train and ends at the airport. In Collateral, the movie starts at the airport and ends on the train.

Such an underrated movie! One of my favorites, for sure. Couple fun facts from IMDb: - "If you look closely, you can see how Vincent, a trained killer, was unable to shoot Max, a normal cab driver. Max was firing wildly, but Vincent was using his signature precision shooting of two hits to the chest and one in the head. These shots hit the metal barrier in the middle of the door, and hence missed Max. You can see the bullet indentations in a few of the scenes. Max just got lucky with his random firing." - "Jason Statham's cameo is often regarded as being his character Frank Martin from The Transporter (2002) and its sequels. He delivers a bag to Vincent at the airport and then disappears, no questions asked."

This movie makes me sad that so far, we've never got any more movies were Tom Cruise plays the bad guy. He's *so* good at projecting menace and threat as an actor. It's such a shame.

The scene at the discoteque is fantastic, with Paul Oakenfields' massive score over it. Ready, Steady, Go!

Fun fact: that Coyote scene wasn’t planned. The director thought it would be cool to illustrate Vincent so they kept rolling

One of my favourite movies, glad you guys watched it. The story Javier Bardem “Felix” tells Max gives me chills every time “how upset do you think jolly old St. Nick would be if one day Pedro came into his office and said he lost the list, how F***ING furious do you think he would get.. tell me Vincent!

Its the performances that have always made Collateral stand out to me. First and pretty much only time Tom Cruise has played a outright villain and protagonist. He kills it(like Vincent lol). Jamie Fox is acting his ass of as well. Can't take your eyes of either one. 👍🏻

Fun "fact": While never actually confirmed or denied by Mann, most believe that Statham's character here is literally his Transporter character Frank Martin on a job. Sorry if this has been mentioned already, scrolled through a few of the 300+ comments and didn't see it.

Thinking about it lately, looking at all the performances and range of actors... I think Tom Cruise is literally my favorite actor. This movie, Interview with the Vampire, Tropic Thunder, Edge of Tomorrow, The Last Samurai, Jerry Maguire, Rain Man... Tom Cruise just makes you believe his performances. I don't think I've seen a movie with him where he did a bad job. Then again... Gary Oldman has so many varied roles... 🤔 but a lot of them were cheesy... 😒 yeah, Tom Cruise is better... ...but now Robin Williams...makes you laugh, cry... 🤔 Ok, idk who my favorite is. Changes day to day like your favorite song right?

Love this film and the soundtrack is also incredible. Great reaction too, so glad people are appreciating it still... seemed like many forgot it for a while.

This Movie is definitely overlooked by most..I loved it

this was one of the first big movies that were shot on video. you can tell the limitations of it by how noisy the image looks sometimes. but what the tech bought them was the ability to shoot in ambient light at night without massive lighting setups. some of those shots where they're moving around on the streets or when you're looking into a 16 story building from 3 stories up, or just looking out the cab window at the city at night - that kind of stuff would have been EXTREMELY difficult to pull of on film. film needs a looooooot of light and some kinds of setups end up being plain impossible between how much light you need and how much you want/need in focus. even amateur video cameras were always pretty good at shooting in low light and for the first time, you get some of those advantages on the big screen. but considering this was the early days, the image doesn't look great all the time. these kinds of shots are pretty common place now and look great because of how far we've advanced with professional digital cinematography. but at the time, this was some ground breaking stuff. mann continues his ground breaking push with digital cinematography in miami vice which continues to take advantage of digital's low light capability. =========== in terms of story, vincent spoke a lot of truth to max. i think it's the case where vincent is definitely the antagonist and a bad person but he saw some things correctly and saw max's flaws accurately and gave him some hard facts. the thing about max's inability to get started on his dreams is something i still think about.

That beautiful relaxing music at the start is Bach's "Air on the G String," by the way.

You should try the Miami Vice movie with Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx. It doesn’t get much love compared to the 80’s tv show but I thought it was a fun, stylized, and faithful adaptation. Great score, too.

Fun Fact: Jason Statham cameo in the beginning is a nod to the transporter movies.

I drove for Lyft and Uber for 2 1/2 years, did over 7,000 rides. I heard many crazy stories, personal stories, drama in the backseat, etc. I let it all just wash past me. I didn't want to remember it so I didn't. By the end of the day I couldn't tell you half of anything I heard and within a week it was just fuzz like a thousand other stories. Only a few things really stood out and I tried to only remember the really positive things.

Omg while watching this reaction right at the part of the broken windshield I got a satélite windshield repair ad. Lol KZfaq be scary watching the reactions with me. Love you guys, keep up the reactions.

One of my all time favorite movies. The part that doesn't make sense though is why Vincent put Ramon's body in the trunk. He didn't bother to hide the lawyer's body, or the jazz guy or the two in the alley. It seems like Ramon was put in the trunk only because later on, they needed the cop to see a body in the trunk.

Statham is supposed to be a cameo as Frank Martin, his character from The Transporter.

"I am a cool guy" One of the best delivered lines and my favorite

The nightclub scene was awesome, the music, Cruise going crazy taking out people

I find the ending sad too. Its very poignant because it seems such a waste not just because of Vincent's death but also you realise what a waste Vincent's entire life has been. And his body moving off alone into a morning in the train kind of highlighted what an empty life Vincent led.

This is probably one of my favourite tom cruise performances..

Yes!! My favourite reaction channel is going to react to one of my favourite movies of one of my favourite directors! 🥳. Regards from Argentina! 👏🏻

"you open that trunk...they go inside" class dialogue and a brilliant film.

You didn't seem to notice, but one of the cops in the movie is played by Bruce McGill, who is also playing the mayor/self-appointed police chief in "Reacher." I would love to see you cover The Insider, which is a great Michael Mann true story drama starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe. Doesn't get enough love among his movies, especially among reaction channels.

Fun fact: when the cab pulls away from the night club (after the shootout) and grinds the cab against the other cars, that wasn't planned. Jaime Foxx just messed up when pulling away and clipped the other cars. He's joked since, "This is why you never see actors do their own driving."

You guys are killing it. Keep up the great work.

I love your movie choices guys. Collateral is another one I recommended to you after watching Heat. You keep doing my film suggestions and I love it. It's most likely because many others are suggesting the same films. But I'd like to take full credit anyway. Thanks and keep up the great work!

My dad will tell you without fail that anytime Collateral is on TV he'll watch it. I love this movie, just some quintessential Micahel Mann with amazing imagery of the big city at night backed by good music and a good tense story. For some reason hrough the years that quick scene with the coyotes has become one of my favorite movie moments

Tightest script ever, given life by one of the most technically disciplined directors ever. If you're going full Michael Mann, may's well check out "Last of the Mohicans" and "Public Enemies".

Collateral is one of my all time favorite films! Highly underrated.

One of my all time favorite films alongside Heat.

Glad you guys got to watch Collateral one of my favorite Tom Cruise movies next to Top Gun, Days Of Thunder, A Few Good Men and Top Gun:Maverick among others. Collateral definitely a change from Cruises typical characters he plays and good to see him play darker role as the villain with being a sociopathic hitman.

This was an excellent efficiently edited and paced re-watchable reaction, guys! I wonder if you'd and I do recommend Michael Mann's stylish Miami Vice remake. It's got good worthy hooks to it. Vincent was a deadly life coach! Oh, the discount thing! Max's improvisation was life or death full-dive awesomeness but when he did the not so hard-hitting discount and then even lower, held my breath that he overplayed his hand with his cover.

Fun mirrors between Heat and Collateral: Both take place in LA Heat begins in a Train and ends in an Airport. Collateral begins in an Airport and ends in a Train.

Thief (1981) The Last of the Mohicans (1992) The Insider (1999) & ALI (2001) Are all excellent Michael Mann films. In preparation for this film Michael Mann had Tom Cruise take the same SAS weapons training as he did the cast of Heat. Also, in order to make him convincing as an assassin whose MO was to blend in and be an inconsequential presence, he had him pose as a UPS delivery driver. With no disguise other than the uniform, and relying on body language alone, Tom Cruise, arguably the most famous actor on the planet, spent a day delivering packages to unsuspecting customers and was not recognised once!

Great reaction! Super fun movie. Hope you continue to feature Michael Mann films- you’d prob really enjoy “Miami Vice,” which I think is underrated. Also: It’s not as well known, but Mann’s “The Insider” is my favorite film of all time. Based on a true story. Al Pacino is a 60 Minutes producer. Russell Crowe is a potential whistleblower. Was nominated for Best Picture.

Jamie Foxx is great in this, as is Tom Cruise. Love your reactions..

One of the very few movies where Tom Cruise plays a bad guy. This movie is very underrated. Now if you haven't seen the movie Tropic Thunder. Also a great movie, also Tom Cruise's performance in Tropic Thunder is great.

Tom Cruise has way better chops than people assume. What a great psychopath he plays in this film - I don't know about Vincent "liking" Max. I don't think Vincent does "liking" - doesn't have it in him. He had a use for Max, the minute that use was over, Vincent would have ended him.

Excellent commentary and analysis, as per usual. Keep up the stellar work you two.

My all time favourite Mann film is The Insider. Nobody has reacted to it, so why not be the first. It’s an extremely underrated film with two fantastic central performances from Russel Crowe and Al Pacino and great support from Christopher Plummer.

33:38 Yes, it was Tom Cruise, and yes, it was not supposed to happen, it was one of the takes in which he accidentally tripped and Michael Mann decided to use this one specifically to show how collected and stone cold Vincent starts to lose it. Also the coyote crossing your path is supposedly an omen of bad luck and impending doom.

Watching movies w you two is so much fun

The music in this movie is amazing. These two guys are absolutely brilliant and play off each other so well. Such an intense movie.

I like how this movie started in the airport and ended in a subway. While heat starts in a subway and ends at an airport.

One of my favs of all time, Michael Mann is my hero! I'm old, Miami Vice on TV when I was a kid... the best thing i've ever seen on TV.

If you're interested in seeing one of Michael Mann's great earlier films then you need to watch "The Jericho Mile" (1979). It's a TV movie made so well it won three Emmy Awards and people still watch it today, much like Steven Spielberg's "Duel" (1971). Also another great film that Michael Mann produced worth watching is "Ford v Ferrari" (2019).

How did I miss you watching this masterpiece? Michael Mann is the man. Try Miami Vice. Beautifully shot.

Went to the theater to see some movie that was sold out and went to watch this. Instant favorite

I knew it! I was just about to go to bed and I thought 'ah 1 more refresh'. damn you/thank you? lol. I kid, time to check to cupboards and enjoy, thanks guys.

My personal list of fave Tom Cruise films... 1) Born on the 4th of July (War film) 2) Cocktail (with Elisabeth Shue) 3) Interview with A Vampire 4) Jerry Maguire 5) Magnolia 6) Vanilla Sky 7) The Last Samurai (his best in my opinion)

Cruise needs to "villain it up" more often 👍👍

Tom Cruise+ Jamie Foxx+ Michael Mann = Perfect film!

Great thriller. The lighting and color grading in the cinematography really add a lot to the atmosphere. And Tom Cruise is just a fantastic vilain here. The way LA is depicted, if you haven't you should see another great LA based thriller, the 2011 Drive with Ryan Gosling.

Love that you guys did this movie. Went to a writing seminar at a conference and the speaker used this movie as a perfect example of story structure.

Here are some recommendations for 3 more outstanding Michael Mann films: THIEF with James Caan, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS with Daniel Day-Lewis, and THE INSIDER with Russell Crowe and Al Pacino!!

I somehow watched 3 movie reactions today: Minority Report, Top Gun, and now Collateral. All very different performances by Tom Cruise. Collateral is my favorite. TBR Schmitt reactions are my favorites too.