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Ultimate freedom would be anarchy where rules do not apply and chaos governs everything. In such society, people could do whatever they desire. Xander “X” Cage (Vin Diesel) is a freedom seeker that exercises his anarchistic politics in a personal manner, which he displays on underground websites through short films. These film clips often contain some form of extreme action sport, or high-risk activity that appeals to most, as it is dangerous and cool. However, his risk taking displays some level of selfishness, which reflects through his life of having it all, as the established part of society despises his neglectful attitude. ***

Xander’s attitude is what makes him perfect for one of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) missions, as the NSA has previously lost a number of agents due to their personalities. Agent Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) decides to recruit him and group like-minded characters. It is the edgy, aggressiveness, and distant behavior of Xander that Agent Gibbons wants for the mission, but also someone calculated, perceptive, and quick while being able to be cool. After a number of live tests, Xander passes at the top of his class and he arrives in Czechoslovakia where he is supposed to gather information on an organization called Anarchy 99. ***

Jet-lagged and irritated Xander arrives to Prague where he meets with a city official with an inferiority complex who lays down the rules for him. Instead of playing it by the rules Xander does what he does best, his own thing. He simple walks up to Yorgi (Marton Csokas) and introduces himself as a potential buyer of luxury sports cars while blowing the cover for the insignificant police officer. Xander’s attitude fits in perfect with the people in Anarchy 99, as he quickly climbs the popularity ladder in Prague. ***

The friendships Xander makes with the people in Anarchy 99 is real, as he likes to hang out with them and do crazy stuff. However, as he gets closer to understanding them he realizes the flaw within his own logical reasoning in regards to freedom and anarchy, as total freedom could harm innocent people. This idea motivates Xander to pursue Anarchy 99, which brings the audience through a rollercoaster-like adventure where the gunshots and explosions are not far in between. ***

XXX delivers a highly explosive action adventure where James Bond fuses with the X-Games and the Dirty Dozen (1967). The story could explore themes such as second chances, or the self-discovery in regards to anarchy. However, it does not develop an interesting theme or plot, which leaves the audience with a hollow and superficial story that relies on explosions, gunshots, and extreme sports. After awhile it becomes tedious to watch Vin Diesel out-jump and out-shoot the crooks, which really hurts the potential of the story. Nonetheless, Diesel’s performance displays some quality moments where he brings out the cool edginess and quick-witted aggressiveness in Xander. In the big picture, XXX offers an acceptable cinematic experience, which has youthful coolness and refreshing moments. *** ---

XXX – The Uncensored Unrated Director's Cut displays an anamorphic widescreen in the film’s original aspect ratio 2.35:1. After two previous releases of this film on DVD the image has not been refined to immaculate quality. There is still some edge enhancement while the colors display no noticeable bleeding. The black levels feel authentic in the dark scenes and the details are clear. Ultimately, this DVD offers a good image, but not top-notch quality as mentioned before.

The sound is far better than the image, as it provides some exercise for the home theater equipment. Several aspects of the sound provide this excellent sound such as the surround, the base, and the music. The surround sound provides moments when it feels as if the audience is present on location during the action scenes. A pounding experience flows from the subwoofer, and it essential to have it located in an appropriate place for best effect. Lastly, the sound track is awesome on this disc, which also comes across with minute audio detail, as it does not draw away from the action sequences that are rather loud when one cranks up the volume. I happened to have my neighbor stop by wondering what I was doing while I was watching the film. The sound is offered in Dolby Digital 5.1 in English, French, and Spanish. ---

Compared to the previous releases of this DVD the audience gets to see very little new material. There is some new material that will provide some entertainment, yet it feels as if this DVD was released to milk out some extra bucks while the new xXx: State of the Union is being released on April 29th, 2005. The extras are spread out on two different discs, while the audience can see some features, music videos, and more. ***

Disc 1: The first disc has the featured film, director’s commentary, a making of documentary, a feature on the stunts and some previews. ***

Starz! On the set – The Making of xXx – Several of the cast members and the filmmaker offer their opinion on each other and the characters that are in the film. Scenes from xXx break up these cast members talking while the scenes fit in with what they are talking about. They also talk about the criminal element in the film, which does not really provide anything new. ***

Mutli-angel Stunts – Two different stunts, the exploding barn jump and the bridge jump, can be viewed from nine different angles, as they were using nine different cameras shooting the scene. This provides some insight into how the editor later edits together a scene in order to elevate the suspense in the scene. ***

XXx: State of the Union – This is the upcoming film with Ice-Cube instead of Vin Diesel. The first disc has a short scene and a preview from the film, which seems on the disc to attract more viewers to the theaters on April 29, 2005. ***

Previews – There are three films in the preview section: xXx: State of the Union, D.E.B.S., and Full Throttle. ***

Disc 2: On disc number two the audience can find the majority of the extras, which cover a wide range including the filmmaker’s diary, storyboard comparison, featurettes, Xander’s death, and some music video’s. This material is of variable quality. ***

xXx A Filmmaker’s Diary – This section is divided into two parts, pre-production and post-production. The first part takes place in the United States while the second part is in Prague. This documentary touches on how it was to be on the set during the making of the film. It starts in Los Angeles with a moment of gratitude for the opportunity to make film. Throughout the documentary the audience gets to learn how they tackled obstacles such as making some of the motorcycle jumping realistic. In the second half Rob Cohen talks about how grateful he was that he got to film in Prague and there is a remembrance moment to one of the stuntmen who died during the shooting of the film. Hearing Cohen’s input how it was to be on the set is interesting and it enhances the appreciation for filmmaking, as it depicts how hard it is to get a film made. ***

The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander – offers a sexy, yet awkward short about how Xander gets killed. The awkwardness rests in the absence of Vin Diesel as his stand-in does not talk, and does not move with the same agile manner that Diesel did in the film. ***

Featurettes – This section has four different features, Building Speed: Vehicles of xXx, Designing the World of xXx, Diesel Powered, and Agent Shavers’ Gadget Presentation. Building Speed: Vehicles of xXx brings the viewer to how they created the vehicles used in the film. The second feature, Designing the World of xXx, illustrates how the script influenced the making of the secret world in which Xander ventures. Vin Diesel’s persona is discussed and celebrated in the third feature, Diesel Power, as it tells how he is the perfect fit for the role as Xander Cage. In the final feature the viewers get to see fantastic equipment that Xander used in the film, which is a rather ludicrous presentation. Visual Effects How-To’s - Visual effects is a huge part of the film, and this feature provides an opportunity to see how they created three different special effects. This could be accompanied with the commentary by the visual effects supervisor. It is actually one of the better features on the two discs. ***

The End Credit Sequence – Raw & Uncut – This offers something extra for those who are interested, as this sequence displays some cool CGI. ***

Storyboard Comparison – Two scenes are compared to the storyboard, the Avalanche scene and the Drug Farm. It displays the storyboard images on the top while the film rolls in a separate screen below. This makes it easy to distinguish the differences and the similarities in both the storyboard and the actual film. ***

Music Video’s – There are two music videos on the second disc. The first one is Hatebreed’s “I Will Be Heard” and the second is Gavin Rossdale’s “Adrenaline”. These music videos are straightforward music videos that could be experienced on MTV, as scenes from the film are cut and faded into both videos. *** ---