One day you’re the biggest actor in the world, and the next you can’t buy a hit to save your life. Throughout the years, this malady has affected most major stars, and Harrison Ford did not proven immune.

Through the 1980s and 1990s, Ford remained on or near the top for many years, but he struggled as the new millennium dawned. 2000’s What Lies Beneath remains his last genuine success that doesn’t exist as part of a franchise.

As his first flick since 2003’s Hollywood Homicide, 2006’s Firewall served as an attempt at a comeback for the then-63-year-old Ford. It hearkened back to the meat and potatoes, butt-kicking Ford we knew and loved. Unfortunately, it didn’t make much of an impression on moviegoers, as it stalled with a mediocre gross.

An attempt to be semi-timely circa 2006, Firewall introduces us to Jack Stanfield (Ford) and his family. The clan includes wife Beth (Virginia Madsen), early teen daughter Sarah (Carly Schroeder) and eight-year-old son Andy (Jimmy Bennett). Jack works as a computer security expert at a small Seattle-based banking chain.

Despite his pedigree in his field, Jack finds out that someone stole his identity and racked up $95,000 of online gambling debts. Matters turn worse when assailants bust into the house and tie up Beth and the kids.

This occurs while Jack has drinks with Bill Cox (Paul Bettany), a guy who wants to hire Stanfield for his security talents. It turns out that was all a ruse to keep Jack from his home while the forces Cox leads secure the house.

Cox comes home with Jack and dictates his terms: either Jack lifts $100 million from the system he designed or Cox will kill Beth and the kids. The movie follows all of the complications along the way as Jack tries to foil the crooks and keep his family alive.

At no point does Firewall require Ford to stretch any acting muscles. This feels like the kind of role he could do in his sleep.

Indeed, at times, I think he did perform in a state of slumber, as Ford doesn’t show a lot of zeal here. He growls a lot but can’t muster any emotional range beyond that.

However, a lot of the actor’s loginess may result simply from the predictable nature of the story. Granted, it offers a then-modern, high-tech twist on matters.

As I noted earlier, the whole identity theft notion makes the situation timely for its era. However, it doesn’t take much advantage of that theme.

Instead, Firewall acts as a pretty standard action thriller and Ford does his standard Solid American Everyman character. He loves his wife and kids and has no actual personality or depth beyond that.

The villain feels more complicated, though not any less predictable. Bill comes from the Hans Gruber school of baddies.

Bill doesn’t present obvious menace, as he prefers the more suave side of things. This probably beats the usual dark approach but it doesn’t feel particularly creative.

The same goes for everything about Firewall, and it’s a shame. The movie could have explored identity theft but it chooses to stick with a vaguely high-tech twist on a kidnapping heist story.

The opening credits hint at an Orwellian take on matters. However, the flick itself never bothers to expand past standard thriller constraints.

This means that while Firewall never really falters, it also fails to truly engage. It find it hard to select aspects of the film that flop, as it maintains a reasonable pace and a decent amount of tension.

Unfortunately, I simply feel like I’ve already seen this movie about 100 times. There’s nothing new to be found here.

Firewall appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. A product of the format’s early days, the Blu-ray seems decidedly lackluster.

Sharpness became erratic. While much of the movie offered pretty good delineation, too many exceptions occurred.

Some of this appeared to stem from a bit of noise reduction, as the movie wound up with a “smoothed out” vibe too much of the time. While definition never seemed bad, the image could lean a bit soft.

I saw no issues with jagged edges or moiré effects, and edge haloes remained modest. No print flaws cropped up along the way.

Most of Firewall emphasized a heavy amber/brown palette, though some greens crept in at times. The colors never excelled but they seemed fine within the movie’s choices.

Blacks veered between seeming decent and mushy, but shadows offered fairly positive clarity. Though nothing here made the movie a bad visual experience, the presentation showed its age.

I felt a bit more positive toward the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack of Firewall, as the movie provided just enough pop when necessary to make the audio largely successful. However, I did deduct points due to the absence of lossless material

Otherwise, the soundfield seemed more than acceptable. Since so much of the film remained stuck in offices or a house, it didn’t provide a ton of opportunities for lively information.

Much of it went with music and ambience, but the mix of action sequences allowed it to spring to life at times. Those pieces presented good activity and involvement.

They also used the surrounds to satisfying effect. I couldn’t come up with any real standout sequences, but I thought the mix seemed reasonably involving.

Across the board, audio quality was solid. Music showed good range and dimensionality, with clean highs and taut lows.

Effects sounded lively and dynamic. They lacked distortion and also presented fine bass response.

Speech was consistently accurate and crisp. Like the film itself, this was an unremarkable mix, but it did what it needed to do.

How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD version? Both came with identical Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, which meant a downgrade in my rating since Blu-rays should deliver lossless audio.

As for visuals, the Blu-ray looked better defined and came with superior colors. Though the Blu-ray could use an upgrade, it nonetheless topped the DVD.

Don’t expect many extras from Firewall, as we discover two featurettes. Firewall Decoded lasts 15 minutes, 26 seconds and involves director Richard Loncraine and actor Harrison Ford.

They go over stops and starts in the production, changes to the script and plot issues, their relationship on the flick, and the parts of the movie they most like. They also chat about acting and character challenges, stunts and fights, attempts at realism, and specifics of some scenes.

Ford takes the lead here, so if you didn’t know better, you’d think he directed the film. The show becomes surprisingly deep and informative.

I can’t say I expected a lot from it, so the level of detail and insight pleases me. It doesn’t substitute for a good commentary, but it’s above average for a short featurette.

Firewall: Writing a Thriller goes for three minutes, 16 seconds. We hear from screenwriter Joe Forte as he discusses his writing process.

Forte also goes over the nuts and bolts of Firewall and how he created it. He even tells us how he had himself kidnapped! Despite its brevity, “Thriller” packs a good informative punch.

We end with the trailer for Firewall.

A relentlessly average thriller, Firewall presents moderate entertainment across its 105 minutes, but it never threatens to become anything more than that. This becomes a very ‘paint by numbers’ flick without anything special on display. The Blu-ray provides fairly good audio along with dated visuals and minor bonus materials. If you already like Firewall, I won’t steer you away from this disc, but I can’t recommend it to others

Note that Firewall originally hit Blu-ray in 2006. This 2025 reissue offers a literal duplicate of that release, so don't expect any differences between the two in any way.