Training Day hasn’t changed – but the 4k looks and sounds better than ever

Warner Bros. Pictures

Denzel Washington delivers an Academy Award-winning performance opposite Ethan Hawke in this gritty drama set in the morally ambiguous world of undercover police work. Every day a war rages between drug dealers and cops on the streets of America’s inner cities. With every war come casualties, none greater than 13-year veteran Los Angeles narcotics officer Alonzo Harris (Washington), whose questionable methods blur the line between legal and corrupt. Today Alonzo gets a new partner, idealistic rookie Jake Hoyt (Hawke), and Jake has one day — and one day only — to prove his mettle to his fiercely charismatic superior. Over 24 hours, Jake will be dragged into the ethical mire of Alonzo’s logic as both men risk their careers and their lives to serve conflicting notions of justice.

REVIEW

There’s a lie that you often read in film criticism that goes something like, ‘The movie is more important today than when it came out.’ Or maybe, ‘It works now more than ever.’ It’s a lie because the movie hasn’t changed at all. The problem is that we haven’t changed either. That history is doomed to repeat itself and that we learn nothing.

2001’s Training Day told us all of the things that many people would ‘learn’ about policing, cops, and the criminal system in 2020. In fact, it was a not-so-secret secret long before that. It was just easy to ignore, easier to believe in fiction than fact. Easier to believe that the movie, recently restored on 4K, was just that – a work of fiction.

Training Day is a gritty crime thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua, starring Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris, a corrupt and brutal LAPD narcotics detective who takes a rookie cop named Jake Hoyt, played by Ethan Hawke, under his wing for a day-long training session.

From the beginning, it’s clear that Harris is not your typical mentor. He uses his authority to coerce and manipulate those around him, and his methods are often violent and unethical. As the day progresses, Jake begins to question Alonzo’s motives and actions, and realizes that he may be in over his head.

The film is a tense time bomb exploration of the dark side of law enforcement, as Harris exposes Hoyt to the underbelly of the city and its criminal underworld. Denzel’s character is a corrupt police officer who abuses his power for personal gain. It starts off innocent enough, making Hoyt smoke pot since he’ll have to do it in drug busts so as to not be sniffed out as a pig. But that’s just the start — as he’s engaging in drug trafficking, theft, and even murder, we see in real-time how the thin blue line of loyalty among police officers can often enable and perpetuate corrupt behavior, as well as the ethical dilemmas faced by officers who witness such behavior. Are all cops bastards because the good cops won’t do anything to stop the bad cops? Alonzo Harris is a character who seeks to exert power and control over those around him, including his fellow police officers, drug dealers, and the people he is supposed to protect. The film suggests that the desire for power can corrupt even the most well-intentioned individuals, like that of Hawke’s character.

The film’s strengths lie in those performances, particularly that back-and-forth between the two leads. Washington imbues the character with a sense of danger and unpredictability. He’s intense and commanding, simultaneously charismatic and terrifying. Hawke also delivers a strong performance as the idealistic cop who is forced to confront the realities of police corruption. Hawke acts as audience, capturing the character’s gradual disillusionment with the corruption and violence he witnesses.

A revisit of the film might raise questions about the nature of morality and ethics in a world where corruption and violence are commonplace — questions you might be afraid to answer. The idea that morality and ethics are not absolute, and that they can be shaped by personal circumstances and the environment in which one operates is a scary thought — especially when it applies to those we like to think protect and serve.

This ‘one crazy day’ movie is fast-paced and engaging, if an unnecessary two full hours. The gritty urban setting of Los Angeles is also used effectively, adding to the film’s sense of danger and tension. One of the film’s weaknesses, however, is its reliance on certain clichés and stereotypes about inner-city life and police corruption. While the film attempts to subvert these tropes in some ways, it also reinforces them in others. Writer David Ayer does it again and again in End of Watch and Bright and The Tax Collector and although those tropes might not have felt so tired at the beginning of the millennium, an entire career of doing the same thing shows the stereotypes of it all.

Black cops act like this while white cops act like this, Mexican guys act like this and homeless drug addicts act like this. It all works in the prism of this world, but twenty years on you can’t help but think that the truth of the story works without such ridiculous broad strokes.

There’s enough to make it a great time, however, as the film’s strong performances, gripping plot, and visceral style make it a must-watch for fans of crime thrillers. And a worthy psychological rewatch for those who haven’t seen it in 20 years.

VIDEO

Warner Bros. Pictures

Fans weren’t happy with the film’s Blu-ray release and there’s nothing to be happy about in retrospect when it comes to DVD, so the 4K is quite the upgrade and one that home video collectors will be happy with. You’ll get the Blu along with the 4K for those planning on upgrading later, but the 2160p, HDR10 transfer excellently uses the oranges, silvers, and blacks of a photographed Los Angeles.

AUDIO

The audio gets an upgrade as well, with attention paid to the home video audience (which seems like more and more of a rarity) when it comes to the dialogue and soundtrack balance. The Dolby Atmos track bumps and there’s a backup Dolby TrueHD 7.1 for those with different capabilities.