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The Guardian on DVD (2006)

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Average rating: 68%
1215519142038
3.5
from 18,193 members
 
Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Costner, Sela Ward, Melissa Sagemiller
Director: Andrew Davis
Studio: BUENA VISTA HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time: 133 mins
Certificate: 12
User collections: 12 Recommended Must Sees!!, My definitive choices., Films I love!
Genres: Action/Adventure, Audio Descriptive, Drama
Languages: English, English Audio Description
Dubbed: Spanish
Hearing-impaired: English
Subtitles: English, Spanish, Polish, Hebrew, Greek, Russian
Released: 19/02/2007
Also Available on:  Also Available on: BLU-RAY

Brief synopsis of The Guardian

Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher team up in this torch-passing tale of the brave men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard. When a routine rescue mission goes horribly wrong and a team of rescue swimmers are killed, their leader Ben Randall (Costner, JFK) is reassigned to teach an elite squadron of Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers down at the naval training base. Still reeling from the tragic loss of his crew, Randall immerses himself in his new job, but his humourless pedagogy rubs a lot of trainees up the wrong way. None more so than cocky young swim champ, Jake Fischer (Kutcher, THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT), whom he takes under his wing. While Jake already shows potential, he lacks the experience that comes with age and still has a lot to learn from his seasoned instructor. Upon graduation, Jake follows Randall to Alaska where he gets his first real taste of what it means to be a USCG Rescue Swimmer, and the values of heroism and sacrifice that entails. Under the no-nonsense direction of Andrew Davis (THE FUGITIVE, UNDER SIEGE), the visceral energy flows non-stop through this familiar but nonetheless riveting affair. Shot in a flat, matter-of-fact manner, the harshness of naval academy life is celebrated without being glamorized, while the rescues at sea are nothing short of hair-raising, making excellent use of CGI effects to plunge the viewer right into the towering waves and storms along with the divers. Several familiar, stalwart faces are on hand to help the boys become men and the men to accept aging gracefully, including John Heard, Clancy Brown, and Neal McDonough. Costner is perfect in a curmudgeonly role that fits him like a tailor-made wet suit. The real surprise is Kutcher, whose acting seems to evolve along with his character, revealing lots of murky depth.

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Rated - 2 starsFlawed but ok.

No so silent Bob from Edinburgh [Highly rated reviewer] , 27/09/2007

This film should have ended thirty minutes before it did. However first two thirds make great watching, then methinks the scriptwriter went on a little bender!

  69 out of 89 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 5 starsI was hooked within 5 minutes

andy beard from stalybridge , 20/02/2007

I went to an advance screening of this movie thinking I was about to embark on 120 minutes of cheezy lines, mindless plot, and the kind of nauseous acting that made 'The Postman' one of the most malignant displays of cinematic blundering of our time. But I was shocked. Shocked to find a film starring Costner that appealed to the soul of the audience. Shocked that Ashton Kutcher could act in such a serious role. Shocked that a film starring both actually engaged and captured my own emotions. Not since 'Robin Hood' have I seen this Costner: full of depth and complex emotion. Kutcher seems to have tweaked the serious acting he played with in 'Butterfly Effect'. These two actors came into this film with a serious, focused attitude that shone through in what I thought was one of the best films I've seen this year. No, its not an Oscar worthy movie. It's not an epic, or a profound social commentary film. Rather, its a story about a simple topic, illuminated in a way that brings that audience to a higher level of empathy than thought possible. That's what I think good film-making is and I for one am throughly impressed by this work. Bravo!

  37 out of 43 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 1 starsBah, it's 60hrs long.

Tony Bruce from Luton, England , 06/03/2007

I liked this movie much more when it was called 'Top Gun', they should have called it 'Top Fish'. Kevin Costner is a man who lives his work. Ashton Kutwhatever it is is the new kid who wants to break all the records, ohh ahh, big shock they both have pasts, they eventually get along and work as a team.

It's about 60hrs long, boring, obvious, characters appear and disappear for no apparent reason. If you are mildly curious then just wait for it to come on TV or watch Top Gun, much better and half as long.

  28 out of 41 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 3 starsEnjoyable and Entertaining

Welshslider from Cwmbran [Highly rated reviewer] , 07/08/2007

The Guardian won't win any oscars but is very enjoyable and easy to watch. It is like Top Gun but the cadets are less irritating and the characters more believable. The film is well shot and the Ocean/helicopter scenes are spectacular. Kevin Costner performs well and pulls it off as a trainer and life saver. The sound is also worth a mention, make sure you watch this in surround sound to get that extra dimension. Overall a recommended film that is certainly worth adding to your rental list.

  20 out of 22 people found this review helpful
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Most Recent Reviews

Rated - 0 starsAbsolute waste of time - this film is laughable!

A customer from London , 01/11/2007

I watched this on account of it being rated reasonably highly by other viewers, well what a waste of time that was!

I will make this brief as I really don't want to waste any more of my time on this film - Take all the best bits from films like Top Gun, Heart Break Ridge, Navy Seals and other classic and quasi-classic action/adventure films and watch 'The Guardian' screw them up.

And don't be fooled by what you gladly think is the ending as you'll encounter 3 of these and after 2 hours I was ready to put my foot through the TV.

Kids and adults who have no knowledge of good films might want to watch this, anyone who has a mild interest in film and self preservation, don't watch it!

  1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
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Rated - 5 starsAwesome

A customer from Northern Ireland , 14/06/2007

Rented this movie, without any expectations and abs loved it. Cant believe id never seen it before or heard much hype over it. Not a dull moment in the entire movie. Kevin coster and aston were amazingly good, great acting, actually made me cry at the end!!! One to def rent!!!! i no its only a movie, has brought a whole new found respect for coast guards and what they risk to safe others!!! A film for all ages

  7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
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