Rainbow Six

Author(s): Ryne
Location: Portland

"Rainbow Six"

Produced by Tom Clancy and Frank Marshall
Directed by Doug Liman
Written by Andrew Kevin Walker
Cinematography by Janusz Kaminski
Sound Mixing by Peter J. Devlin

Main Cast
Carlos Bernard as Domingo “Ding” Chavez
Sean Bean as Eddie Price
Ethan Hawke as Dieter Weber
Michael Vartan as Louis Loiselle
Sam Neill as John Clark
Danny Trejo as Ramon Mendez
Jordi Molla as Javier Ramirez

Tagline: "No Place is Safe, No Building Immune, No Site Secure In These Hours of Fear"

Synopsis: As the United States is caught in an embargo-induced oil crisis, terrorist attacks against American interest and citizens escalate. State leaders across the world have ceased any trade negotiations with the United States hoping to send a message about its oil consumption. The embargo has forced the American government to find a new supplier of crude oil: Venezuela. The streets of Caracas have now become a plague of car bombings and violent protests. The terrorist organization, S.A.R.C (South American Republic Coalition) headed by Ramon Mendez (Trejo), is now responsible for several bombings of oil vessels en route to American ports. In total, these bombings have cost America over $500 million in lost resources not to mention the lives taken. John Clark (Neill) has been assigned to assemble a black-ops team comprised of special-ops agents from around the world to stop these acts of terror. Clark appoints Domingo “Ding” Chavez (Bernard), a former CIA narcotics operative, to lead these select few known as “Rainbow”. Together Clark and Chavez recruit Eddie Price (Bean), a quiet and reserved veteran of the Royal Special Air Service, the competitive and disciplined Dieter Weber (Hawke), a former member of Germany’s special counterterrorism team, and Louis Loiselle (Vartan), a humorous and fun-loving agent of the D.G.S.E (France’s military intelligence agency). While the shadow of terror looms, S.A.R.C plots even greater acts of murder of destruction. A new weapon has been developed that will bring more devastation to America than has ever been seen before. Ramon Mendez divulges through a video sent to the NSA that testing has proven this weapon to be “frightening” even for him. During a covert operation in Columbia, CIA operatives discovered plans for this weapon. Intelligence sharing has done nothing to figure out what this weapon is/capable of. Finding S.A.R.C and the weapon becomes the top priority for the newly assembled team Rainbow. After intelligence discovers a S.A.R.C sleeper cell in San Francisco, Rainbow is sent to raid the cell. The raid takes a couple of minutes and produces several captive. However, only one captive, Javier Ramirez (Molla), seems to know more than he gives off. Ding volunteers to interrogate Ramirez about the weapons. Throughout the interrogation, Ramirez relentlessly harasses Ding about being an “atrocious Latino” for not staying loyal to his heritage. Ramirez reveals nothing about the whereabouts of Ramon Mendez or the weapon. With no leads, Rainbow is running out of time…With no other alternatives, Ding gives one more shot at cracking Ramirez. The President has given Ding power to offer full immunity in return for Mendez’s location. Ding sternly negotiates with Mendez who continues to harass him. With the internal conflict between moral corruption and the protection of America haunting him, Ding begrudgingly offers the full immunity package to Ramirez. The signed presidential document of immunity by his side, Ramirez coldly tells Ding that the weapon, and Mendez, already resides on U.S soil. The location, according to Ramirez, is Galveston, Texas nearly fifty miles outside Houston. With the Houston population of over two million in danger, Rainbow must move quickly to stop S.A.R.C and its plans for mass destruction.

What the Press would say:
Every once-in-a-while a movie comes along that isn’t just a thriller; it engrosses its audience with every frame that rolls past the screen. Based off Tom Clancy’s best-selling video games, Doug Liman’s Rainbow Six is one of those movies. From the very first shot, Rainbow Six thrusts its audience into the story and doesn’t let go. Doug Liman directs with simple strokes of genius. He doesn’t overemphasize the action scenes nor over direct the emotional ones. Liman sits quietly behind the camera and allows his technical team and actors to do their jobs. Janusz Kaminski provides shots and angles that have never been seen before in film. His cinematography goes beyond just filming, it becomes its own character. It is truly that impressive. Expanding upon Kaminski’s cinematography, Peter J. Devlin’s sound mixing is some of the best of the year. It makes the audience feel that the gunfire and explosions are taking place in the theater. I swear I actually felt a bullet go passed me during the premiere. The sound could possibly be the best work from Devlin, maybe second next to his work with “Transformers.” However great the technical work is, Rainbow Six would be nothing without its terrific cast. The majestic performances give Rainbow Six an emotional touch transitioning it to one of the best movies of the year. The terrific Carlos Bernard subtly works his way through to give an outstanding performance. His ability to be stern in words, yet vulnerable in action makes this old film critic feel like he’s witnessing paradise on film. Bernard’s two scenes with Jordi Molla show us the real emotion and pain behind the tough face of Ding Chavez. This is some of the best acting in years. Behind every move of Ding, comes Eddie Price, brilliantly portrayed by Sean Bean. It’s Bean’s best performance since The Lord of the Ring, which went highly underrated. Ethan Hawke and Michael Vartan give solid performances as Ding’s #2 and 3 guys. Their performance are part of the reason Rainbow Six stays afloat. They don’t attempt to control the screen, but they don’t go unnoticed. Nevertheless, the best of the supporting performances has to go to Danny Trejo as the sinister Ramon Mendez. Trejo gives a haunting depiction of the callous terrorist leader that is sure to stay in the minds of the audience for months to come. Mendez is one of the scariest figures to hit film since Dr. Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs. If Trejo does not garner any Oscar attention for his chilling portrayal, I will disown the AMPAS. Okay, maybe I won’t, but I sure will be upset. Overall, the technical aspects and the magnificent performances make Rainbow Six one of the best movies of the year and the best action flick since Ghost Recon.

FYC:
Best Picture
Best Director (Doug Liman)
Best Actor (Carlos Bernard)
Best Supporting Actor (Danny Trejo)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Andrew Kevin Walker)
Best Cinematography (Janusz Kaminski)
Best Sound Mixing (Peter J. Devlin)