With the many television shows being made into full length feature films (Lost In Space, Star Trek, X-Files) expectations have been high for the results, as these productions come with much bigger budgets, bigger stunts, and hopefully big box office receipts for the studios. Charlie's Angels is no exception to that rule. Starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu as the Angels, the supporting cast includes Bill Murray as a campy Bosley, Crispin Glover, Tim Curry and Kelly Lynch as villains, and Tom Green, Matt LeBlanc, and Luke Wilson as boyfriends. The stunts are spectacular, the women are gorgeous, glamorous and work very hard drop kicking an army of male opponents. What the producers of this film achieved was a television scenario with a big budget and big cast. This isn't Academy Award material. It is entertaining but total fantasy. But then, wasn't the original?

The Angels now consist of streetwise Dylan (Drew Barrymore), bubbly and perky Natalie (Cameron Diaz) and smart and sophisticated Alex (Lucy Liu). They still work with Bosley (Bill Murray), all directed by the voice of Charlie (John Forsythe). There is even the classic "Once upon a time" beginning, showing the Angels in their former lives before going to work for Charlie. Their assignment is to rescue a software mogul kidnapped by baddies to get his programs that pinpoint targets according to cell phone signals, making just about everybody on the planet vulnerable to attack. Using modern scientific techniques, and their unique "charms", they steal fingerprints and retina scans to break into a top secret computer facility to free their client. That's when the fun starts! The film moves at a very fast pace and never tries to be more than an action thriller. Stunts abound from the very beginning of the film. Most impressive are the kick boxing wire stunts done by the actresses and Glover. The Angels come off as female James Bonds, complete with lines that fit right into the Bond mold. The Angels manage to survive falling from an airplane and parachuting into a speed boat, dodging heat seeking missiles, escaping an exploding building (more than once), racing through the streets and playing chicken with baddie Crispin Glover, hanging on a moving helicopter, climbing walls to avoid bullets being sprayed into a trailer, and many personal attacks by henchmen who don't stand a chance. The girls manage to do all of this without scratches or bruises, or even tearing a nail. It is all done with fun in mind. A good example of this is when Natalie is rescuing Bosley from the baddies and in the middle of the escape gets a cell phone call from her boy friend. She takes the call. Another involves Dylan falling, rolling down a steep hill in her birthday suit, and hiding behind a pool toy as she asks two adolescent boys for help. Bill Murray, as Bosley, hams it up substantially, making a gun out of soap and talking to birds while being a captive. I thought the rating for this film (PG-13) was a bit stiff-hardly any swear words and no nudity. It was tame in the violence too, as there was hardly any blood in all the fight scenes. While there is some killing, it is very subtle and mostly implied. Television movies show more these days.

http://www.cthv.com/ The DVD is full of extras, which is no surprise for the Columbia-Tristar release. There are short featurettes on set and fashion design, the stunts of the film, and on the director McG, who is a veteran of music videos and television commercials. There is an outtakes and bloopers reel, deleted and extended scenes, talent files, music videos by Destiny's Child and Apollo Four Forty, trailers, production notes in the DVD case, and cool animated menus for the disc selections. A loaded package of extras at a reasonable price.

Charlie's Angels is a no brainer; an action packed, totally unrealistic romp celebrating the scenario from the television show. Those expecting more will be disappointed. There is no serious stuff here at all, just action, tongue in cheek humor, and beautiful women who are tough, sexy, and funny. The only thing missing from the production are the original Angels, Farrah, Kate, and Jaclyn. Cameos would have been appropriate for this film, as recognition for their work in the original series. The technical quality of the DVD is superb, and it's chock full of extra goodies. Those who enjoyed the television show, will be happy with this updated version.