Spartan | 
| Director: David Mamet
Actors: Val Kilmer, Derek Luke, William H. Macy, Tia Texada, Jeremie Campbell
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy Used: $0.20
You Save: $9.78 (98%)
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Rating:  121 reviews
Sales Rank: 22662
Format: Ac-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Genre: 0
Rating: R (Restricted)
ESRB: Teen
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WARD38801D
ISBN: 0790794691
UPC: 085393880125
EAN: 9780790794693
ASIN: B00022XE6S
Theatrical Release Date: March 12, 2004
Release Date: June 15, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
When robert is recruited to find laura the daughter of a government offical he is paired with novice curtis scott & derek stumble upon a white slvaery ring which have some connection to lauras disappearance. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 04/03/2007 Starring: Val Kilmer William H. Macy Run time: 107 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
Writer-director David Mamet (House of Games, The Spanish Prisoner) applies his gift for con games to the world of politics with Spartan. A super-duper Secret Service agent (Val Kilmer, Wonderland) is assigned to find the kidnapped daughter of the President of the United States; was she kidnapped because of who she is, or as part of white slavery ring? Is she dead or alive? To find out the answers, Kilmer puts on disguises, engages in elaborate ruses, and kills ruthlessly--only to discover that he himself may be the one being fooled. Mamet pushes his macho/cryptic dialogue into laughably bad territory and some plot twists seriously test one's suspension of disbelief, but that's part of the game; like any con artist, Mamet knows how to hook you and reel you in, no matter how absurd things get. Also featuring Derek Luke, William H. Macy, and Ed O'Neill. --Bret Fetzer
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| Customer Reviews: Read 116 more reviews...
 One Of Kilmer's Best Performan April 27, 2009
Craig Connell (Lockport, NY USA)
Secret Serviceman extra-ordinnaire Val Kilmer tries to retrieve a kidnapped politician's daughter in this surprisingly-good thriller.
There isn't a lot of violence in this modern day tough rescue story, but when it occurs, look out! Kilmer is very good in here, one of his best performances ever and the film is nicely photographed. The only warning I would give viewers is the language, which contains about 25 f-words.
The best plug I can give this film is that it was very entertaining, start to finish, and that's what most of us are looking for - entertainment. It keeps your attention the full 100-plus minutes. Make no mistake: Kilmer is the show. Everything in the story really revolves around him.
There was anything that struck a sour note with me, it would be the story with the kidnapped girl's father. I don't think he was realistic, but I won't say more in fear of spoiling anything for those who haven't seen this.
Nonetheless, an under-publicized excellent film of 2004.
 great spy film February 23, 2009
Macy Lapham (Oxnard, CA USA)
I like the way the workings of "the unit" and spy stuff is just presented without explanation. A lot of nods and understood things without abnormal explanatory dialog explaining everything that would never occur in real life unless they were in the presence of politicians, managers or other complete idiots. It's a very good spy film, believable and shocking. Makes old Jack Baur look like a Boy Scout, which is a good thing. They didn't have whoop-de-doo electronics that are fake (like 24 does some), and wild fire ball explosions that are fake (like 99% of Hollywood movies). It was good, I enjoyed it. Val is always excellent.
 A Sad Waste January 6, 2009
David P. (New York, N.Y. USA)
Without the name David Mamet leading the credits, "Spartan" can easily be confused with a made-for-cable or straight-to-dvd movie from a first time director. Indifferently staged scenes, half-baked political ideas masquerading as a plot, and poor production values (a scene supposedly on the streets of Dubai is particularly embarrassing), leave "Spartan" light years from the Mamet of "House of Cards," "The Spanish Prisoner" or "Heist." Reviewers have been remarkably kind, but this died at the box office, and rightfully so.
 "where's the girl" December 16, 2008
Bob (Divided States)
It's a David Mamet movie. Enough said.
Well I'll ramble on for a moment here because I do like this movie.
If this flick was supposed to be based on real events -or "real events", or had a message, or was popular with rightwingers, or--God spare us--moronically depicted torture as a vital and reliable way to gather informationa and save countless lives from immanent doom--then it would suck in my book. I have very mixed feelings, you might say, on movies depicting the military and spies and lots of the stuff that goes with that like murdering people. But just like any red blooded male and American the dark and unsurprising truth is I love watching violence with guns and explosions and bad a** alpha-males doing the impossible. (I don't remember explosions in this one though.)
Basically SPARTAN can be viewed as a kind of cinematic version of the TV series "24".
Val Kilmer is excellent in this role as a sort of Delta Force type commando or super-elite agent. It has the guy who was in TV's "Married with Children" playing head of the FBI or something and he is fantastic. You wouldn't believe how real he is as a take charge alpha-male head of a huge and powerful governmental agency. Everybody is good.
As far as the plot goes, basically the president's daughter is missing and it ain't clear where she is because she is missing and of course you don't know who has her or why. And you also don't know what some people that you'd think don't know anything actually do or who is up to what or why. A web of decite and misinformation and so on. Who's playin' and who's getting played? Bottom line, what's special about this stylish David Mamet tale is, of course, the dialog. It can be over-the-top at times as is sometimes the case with his stuff, but it's still great and I like how it's laid on thick. And Val Kilmer is the man.
I highly recommend SPARTAN and all David Mamet movies.
I thought it was first rate December 4, 2008
Bradley F. Smith (Miami Beach, FL)
This is tightly written and edited down to the final shot. It is flab-free, and if your belief must be suspended here and there, the entertainment quotient makes it worth it. Val Kilmer kills as the super SS agent, searching for the daughter of, the president? We are never told outright. That's one of the charms here. A great way to spend two hours. Watch this.
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