An elite group of FBI serial killer profilers embark upon their last training exercise, but find themselves being slaughtered for real. They must find out which one of them is the serial killer before its too late. It’s THE THING meets SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.

As a director, Renny Harlin has had his ups and downs. There is no denying that as a filmmaker, Harlin does have an impeccable visual style. But for every CLIFFHANGER and DEEP BLUE SEA, there is also a CUTTHROAT ISLAND and LONG KISS GOODNIGHT. Harlin works best in the full action genre (man vs. man, man vs. nature), but tends to fail when he goes for something deeper or different. MINDHUNTERS has a very interesting premise, but its execution is severely flawed in the fact that Harlin is not the thinking man’s director. The thriller genre requires a steady hand to be good (see Hitchcock and DePalma, among others) and Harlin seems to be working with oven mitts on. The direction is very uneven, boasting great visuals and even better action sequences, but then goes flat whenever it tries to be suspenseful. The script, which doesn’t help him, has too many characters and takes a great idea and squeezes the lifeblood out of it.

As far as the performances, Harlin did have some great talent to play with. Val Kilmer and Christian Slater, the most charismatic of the bunch, have few scenes, leaving us with an empty hole that the others just couldn’t fill. LL Cool J seems to have now become the new Geena Davis for Harlin, and his performances have the same effect that hers did on CUTTHROAT and LONG KISS. (aka not good!) With this cast, Harlin had a real shot to create something unique, but like a dwarf in a 100 meter dash, just falls short. Harlin is like a top notch surgeon, he belongs in the operating room, not sweeping up the mess left afterwards. Is MINDHUNTERS a film worth renting if everything else is out? Sure. Is it worth buying? Surely not.

Video: Presented in Widescreen (2.35:1), showing off the stunning visuals that one comes to expect in a Renny Harlin film.

Audio: Both English and French Dolby Digital 5.1. The sound is clean, taking full use of the format.

The special features on this disc are a great example of what can be done when you have only a few features, but the subjects are articulate and informative. All DVD’s that claim to have “17 hours” of extras, should take a lesson from this one, shorter can be better.

Commentary (with Director Renny Harlin): The best thing about a Renny Harlin film, be it good or bad, is always the commentary. Harlin has the gift of gab and not just stuff you don’t want to hear. He does something that few filmmakers can do - he makes the commentary interesting for both the fan and aspiring filmmaker. Not many directors can keep your attention for the duration of a film, especially a bad one, but Harlin has a gift for vocalizing what others cannot. Well worth a listen.

Profiling Mindhunters (7:53): This one shows why Harlin is a great director, attention to detail. He takes us through the making of the film, casting, story, ect. Be warned this one is more interesting than the film itself!

Stunt Sequence (4:34): Here we get a blow by blow look at some of the film’s fight and stunt sequences, cutting back and forth between film footage and stuff shot on the set. This is the way it should always be presented. Short and sweet.

A Walk Through Crimetown (3:48): Renny takes us on a tour of the Crimetown set, showing us all the detail. And yet again, real on set footage, not just movie footage! (all DVD programmers take note!) Quirky, cool, and fun to watch.

This one is a mixed bag of tricks. As a movie, it’s worth a rental if all else fails, but the extras here are top notch. It’s just too bad that they, and director Renny Harlin, aren’t attached to something better than MINDHUNTERS.