The Kill Point DVD Credits:

Region: 1

The Kill Point DVD Release Date: 4th March 2008

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The Kill Point DVD Review:

The Kill Point is a television series that originally aired on the Spike Network. Its eight episode run spanned between late July and late August of 2007.

The Kill Point is the story of a group of Marines who, having recently returned from Iraq, wind up robbing the Three Rivers Bank in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. The bank heist appears to have been successful, but as the robbers make their exit, an FBI agent opens fire. The robbers return fire, causing the men in an armored truck to engage in the gunfight. Soon the Pittsburgh police arrive causing the Marine bank robbers to make their retreat into the bank, where they take the occupants hostage.

The Marines, who use animals as their codenames like Mr. Pig and Mr. Rabbit, make short order of barricading the entrances and exits of the bank, at the behest of their robbery and platoon leader, Mr. Wolf, (John Leguizamo, Romeo+Juliet, Empire).

Meanwhile, outside a SWAT team and Police Captain, Horst Cali, arrives on the scene. Captain Cali (Donnie Wahlberg, Dreamcather, The Sixth Sense) is a compassionate man with a near perfect record and a crippling hatred for grammatical errors. His ultimate goal is to end the stand-off without the loss of additional life, be it hostage or bank robber.

Cali’s boss, hot-shot chief Nolan Abrami, goes against Cali’s opposition and almost immediately orders an infiltration by the SWAT, which results in yet another shoot-out, injuring a SWAT officer. Mr. Wolf states that he wants to meet with Cali outside. The two men meet in front of the bank, new cameras and hundreds of witnesses, where in a Dog Day Afternoon/“Attica” moment, Mr. Wolf begins to describe his motives. As a part of his cataloging all that he has done for his country, Mr. Wolf begins to strip himself of his suit to reveal his body covered from head to toe in horrific battle scars from his time in Fallujah, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Mr. Wolf’s speech works and he turns the crowd in his favor, leaving Horst Cali and Mr. Wolfe at an impasse.

The Kill Point is an interesting character study starring two of Hollywood’s most underrated actors of this time. Donnie Wahlberg has repeatedly stunned audiences in his performances, often outshining the film success. Dreamcatcher is one example where Wahlberg gives an absolute amazing performance as Duddits, the mentally delayed friend who ends up being the one way to defeat an army of aliens. John Leguizamo is another fantastic actor who, despite having landed a few leading roles in films like Summer of Sam and Empire, has mainly found success in smaller but memorable roles. These two actors playing across each other gives The Kill Point the kind of electricity a show needs to stay engaging, and they are clearly successful.

The Kill Point’s one shortcoming is its obvious end. A show like this could not last for more than the few episodes it did. The plot really does not lend itself to a lot of variation, you have police, hostages and hostage takers. The police want to infiltrate the bank and rescue the hostages, while the bank robbers want to be let got. There are only so many ways you can depict the same standoff without becoming painfully redundant, a feat that The Kill Point writers did manage to do, but whom were obviously saved by the limited run time.

In a similar vein, much of the writing does feel familiar, even overused at times, with hints of Dog Day Afternoon, John Q, and Mad City. This begs the question about the decision to make The Kill Point into an eight and a half hour television series and not a more concise action packed feature length run time.

The Kill Point, March 4 DVD release includes at 8 episodes of the show, presented in Widescreen and in 5.1 surround sound. The special features include character interviews produced for SpikeTV.com.

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The Kill Point DVD review written by: Andrew Mattson