Mindhunters DVD Review:

As the last part of their FBI profiler training, Jake Harris's (Kilmer) takes his class to an offshore training facility to work on their final and most important training case. Left to their own devices the team has to solve the case of the puppeteer but when the clues start claiming the lives of the team, they face a race against time to discover who is the killer amongst them.

Taking over a year to reach the box office in the US and going straight to the home entertainment market everywhere else; can 'Mindhunters' be that
bad?

Renny Harlin has had a very mixed directorial career. For every 'Cliffhanger' or 'Deep Blue Sea' you have a 'Cutthroat Island' or 'Driven'. Primarily known as an action director, 'Mindhunters' gives him
the chance to try something slightly different. While the film does contain action elements, this is more of a who-done-it than his usual no-brainer fair.

Crime scene investigation and suspect profiling have become major plot devices for both the big and small screen. The viewing public have become
fascinated with solving crimes with science and 'Mindhunters' tries to keep up with this trend. The FBI profiling training school ran by Jake Harris,
played by Val Kilmer, comes with the usual mix of trainees. You have the leader J.D. Reston (Christian Slater), the overly confident Lucas Harper
(Jonny Lee Miller), the paranoid Vince Sherman (Clifton Collins Jr.) and the timid and panicky Sara Moore (Kathryn Morris). Add to this an outsider
in Gabe Jensen (LL Cool J) and you have a mix of characters and suspects that add to twists and turns.

While the ensemble cast might look impressive on paper, without an interesting script they can't really do much. The twist and turns come thick and fast as the mysterious killer works his or her way through the group but the film starts to fall down when it comes to driving the story on. The profiling team are meant to be the best trainees in the FBI
programme but they don't really make much headway into investigating or profiling the killer that is stalking them. This is a major flaw with the
plot as the team abandon their training and scientific methods to just end up finger pointing.

'Mindhunters' tries to be an intelligent thriller but just
doesn't have the script to live up to its potential. Instead we have a run of the mill plot that twists and turns to reveal a less than satisfactory conclusion. The film will entertain but don't expect it to stay in the mind for very long.

Star Rating = * *

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1 and dts surround sound tracks, the movie is presented extremely well.

BONUS FEATURES

Commentary with director Renny Harlin
The action director talks passionately and extensively about his film. Covering the casting, story and the visual techniques used to bring the
film to the silver screen, Harlin chats constantly throughout revealing that he is proud of the film and what he has accomplished.

Profiling Mindhunters (7.59 mins)
Director Renny Harlin, production designer Charles Wood, cinematographer Robert Gantz and stars Christian Slater, Kathryn Morris, Jonny Lee Miller
and LL Cool J take you behind the scenes of the making of 'Mindhunters'. The group talk about the profiling process and the cast reveal the training
they went through to prepare for the role. We also go behind the scenes of the Holland shoot.

Stunt Sequence (4.40 mins)
Director Renny Harlin, stunt coordinator Willem De Beukelaer and stars LL Cool J, Kathryn Morris, Patricia Velasquez and Jonny Lee Miller take you
behind the scene of the fight sequence. The actors reveal how they did all their own stunts and the training they had to go through to make the scene
look realistic.

A Director's walk through Crime Town (3.53 mins)
Renny Harlin takes you on a tour of the Crime Town set in Holland that is the FBI/Military training facility were the film is set.

Trailers
Watch previews of 'The Longest Yard', 'Layer Cake',
'The Marksman' and 'xXx: The Next Level'

OVERALL

A very average film gets an average DVD treatment. The commentary track is fine but the featurette are very show and have little to say. Fans of the
film might be disappointed but for a movie that received little or no picture screen exposure, you can't expect much more.

Jamie Kelwick