This Means War

Theatrical Release Date: 2012 02 17 (USA)

UPC: 024543755203

Studio: 20th Century Fox

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Sexual Situations]

Summary: Two top CIA spies (Star Trek's Chris Pine and Inception's Tom Hardy) find their enduring friendship put to the ultimate test when they engage in an all-out war to win the affections of a beautiful woman (Reese Witherspoon). Chelsea Handler and Til Schweiger co-star in a comedy co-written by Simon Kinberg (Sherlock Holmes) and Timothy Dowling (Role Models) and directed by McG (Charlie's Angels, Terminator Salvation). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Category: Comedy

Features: cc
Deleted scenes
Alternate endings
Audio commentary with director

This Means War

Format: DVD

Release Date: 05/22/2012

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 2.40:1

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 97 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,Spanish,French

Subtitles: Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- This Means War
1. Chapter 1 [5:01]
2. Chapter 2 [5:08]
3. Chapter 3 [4:07]
4. Chapter 4 [3:14]
5. Chapter 5 [4:13]
6. Chapter 6 [2:00]
7. Chapter 7 [3:27]
8. Chapter 8 [3:45]
9. Chapter 9 [5:34]
10. Chapter 10 [4:32]
11. Chapter 11 [3:43]
12. Chapter 12 [2:53]
13. Chapter 13 [3:25]
14. Chapter 14 [4:46]
15. Chapter 15 [5:21]
16. Chapter 16 [5:18]
17. Chapter 17 [2:34]
18. Chapter 18 [2:46]
19. Chapter 19 [:29]
20. Chapter 20 [3:25]
21. Chapter 21 [4:02]
22. Chapter 22 [1:08]
23. Chapter 23 [4:48]
24. Chapter 24 [3:55]

Jason Buchanan

Don't be fooled by the classy, minimalist grey This Means War posters adorning your local multiplex, because this colorful, footloose bromantic action comedy from popcorn-flick auteur McG isn't just a fun return to form after the abysmal Terminator Salvation, but also proof positive that the oft-derided director has a genuine flair for comedy. And while gonzo-action lovers may be somewhat disappointed by the lack of cartoonish excess on display here, there's still more than enough comic chemistry and secret-agent shenanigans to keep us involved while the guns are holstered. FDR (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy) aren't just two of the top agents in the CIA; they also happen to be the very best of friends. More brotherly than most siblings, FDR and Tuck share virtually everything in their lives, including family. But after years of chasing bad guys across the globe and sweeping international beauties into their beds, both are starting to feel like they might be missing out on the benefits of true romance. And they're not the only ones: Career-driven Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) has a good job testing consumer products, but a recent breakup has left her depressed and lonely. Though things start to look up after Lauren meets Tuck on a popular dating website, the romance gets tangled when FDR by chance falls for her as well. Later, when the two pals realize they've been wooing the same woman, they strike a gentleman's agreement that they will both keep dating Lauren and allow her to pick the best man. Meanwhile, as the two secret agents use every tool at their disposal to gain an upper hand in the competition, their former target Heinrich (Til Schweiger) plots revenge for a botched raid that killed his brother months prior. If snark were of finite supply, its stock may be in dangerous threat of depletion due solely to the scorn so frequently directed at fluff Renaissance man McG by "serious" critics and film fans. To be fair, it's hard to blame them; a poster boy for glossy, mindless entertainment thanks to his involvement with the CW television network (Nikita, Supernatural) and his penchant for selecting style-over-substance movies, McG could be considered the modern, undisputed master of switch-your-brain-off-at-the-door entertainment (though some might argue he'd have stiff competition from Michael Bay). And though the 2006 sports drama We Are Marshall hinted at a newfound maturity some may not have seen coming, 2009's Terminator Salvation took sci-fi melodrama to excruciating new lows, perhaps doing irreparable damage to the series that once seemed as unstoppable as its time-traveling android. If you're one of those moviegoers who seem genetically predisposed to hating McG, This Means War may not be enough to make you do a complete about-face, though it might give you pause when citing him as an archetypal example of everything that's wrong with Hollywood. Opening with a fast-paced action setup in Hong Kong, the film at first gives the impression that it might simply be a Charlie's Angels retread with a pair of James Bond wannabes. But as soon as the action moves back stateside, where FDR and Tuck are grounded by their superiors for making a spectacle of a top-secret mission, something unexpected happens -- the over-the-top action suddenly takes a major backseat to character development and mischievous comedy. Not only that, but the brotherly chemistry between the two protagonists is nearly equal to the romantic chemistry they each share with their leading lady, ensuring that restless viewers will stick with the comedy once the bullets stop flying. Yet it isn't until FDR and Tuck begin abusing their power in a frantic bid to impress the lovely Lauren that This Means War really hits its comic stride. Gradually upping the ante as they bug her apartment, employ satellite-surveillance technology, dispatch drones, and have their underlings compile full reports on each date, the director and screenwriters Timothy Dowling and Simon Kinberg keep the laughs coming at a genuinely satisfying pace as the smitten spies grow increasingly adversarial. Likewise, with a great comic set piece at a paintball contest (shot like a "real" action sequence), an impressive (apparently) single-take sequence in which FDR and Tuck both sneak around Lauren's apartment undetected by her or each other, and a memorable trip to a private art collection, McG and company fill This Means War with a variety of lighthearted comic sequences that playfully poke fun at the conventions of both action films and romantic comedies. By the time the action element of the plot comes full circle near the end, we've been having so much fun that we've forgotten about it entirely -- not because it's been neglected in the script, but rather because the main plot works so well we're consistently engaged. Though it's good to know intellectually ambitious filmmakers will always be there to challenge and provoke us, it's also reassuring that McG still takes the high art of Hollywood gloss seriously. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Will Smith  Producer 
Robert Simonds  Producer 
Lisa Stewart  Executive Producer 
Christophe Beck  Composer (Music Score) 
James Lassiter  Producer 
Brent O'Connor  Executive Producer 
Jeffrey Kwatinetz  Executive Producer 
McG  Director 
Timothy Dowling  Screenwriter 
Simon Kinberg  Producer 
Simon Kinberg  Screenwriter 
Michael Green  Executive Producer 
Reese Witherspoon  Actor 
Chris Pine  Actor 
Tom Hardy  Actor 
Til Schweiger  Actor 
Chelsea Handler  Actor 
John Paul Ruttan  Actor 
Abigail Spencer  Actor 
Angela Bassett  Actor 
Rosemary Harris  Actor 
George Touliatos  Actor 
Clint Carleton  Actor 
Warren Christie  Actor 
Leela Savasta  Actor 
Natassia Malthe  Actor 
Laura Vandervoort  Actor 
Dominique Bourassa Brownes  Actor 
Paul Wu  Actor 
Daren Herbert  Actor 
Kevin O'Grady  Actor 
Jesse Reid  Actor 
Viv Leacock  Actor 
Jenny Slate  Actor 
Kasey Ryne Mazak  Actor 
Kevan Ohtsji  Actor 
Blaine Patry  Actor 
Aleks Paunovic  Actor 
Joey Forfellow  Actor 
Jakob Davies  Actor 
Patrick Monroe  Actor 
Elizabeth Weinstein  Actor 
Ash Lee  Actor 
Conrad Coates  Actor 
Lauren Dowe  Actor 
Lee Razavi  Actor 
Affion Crockett  Actor 
Jennifer Kitchen  Actor 
Lossen Chambers  Actor 
John Stewart  Actor 
Jill Teed  Actor 
Patrick Sabongui  Actor 
Graeme Goodhall  Actor 
Alex Pesusich  Actor 
Che Pritchard  Actor 
Louise Hradsky  Actor 
Kirstyn Konig  Actor 
Tyrell Witherspoon  Actor 
Richard O'Sullivan  Actor 
Jen Oleksiuk  Actor 
Paul Becker  Actor 
Allan H. Gray  Actor 
Daruisz Slowick  Actor 
Mike Dopud  Actor 
Klodyne Rodney  Actor 
Mason Brown  Actor 
Thomas J. Potter  Actor 
Desiree Zurowski  Actor 
Fred Henderson  Actor 
Mamie Laverock  Actor 
Gretal Montgomery  Actor 
Michael Papajohn  Actor 
Arien Boey  Actor 
Derek Waters  Actor 
Mike Johnson  Actor 
Panou  Actor 

Country: USA