In the Line of Fire (1993) - Clint and co-stars on fire in one of the decade's finest thrillers

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Star Clint Eastwood runs alongside a motorcade on a security detail on this poster for Wolfgang Petersen's In the Line of Fire

Frank was serving in the Secret Service during JFK's assassination. He is not about to see a repeat, and so he is 100 % dedicated to the hunt for a new, very competent maniac, who wants to murder the current US President!

 

In the Line of Fire is written by Jeff Maguire (Gridiron Gang (2006)) and directed by German-born American master filmmaker Wolfgang Petersen (One or the Other/Einer von uns Beiden (1982)), whose 7th feature it was. 

It is a perfect piece of thriller entertainment with Clint Eastwood (Hereafter (2010)) in top shape as the old-timer protagonist, who doesn't take no bullshit. The dialog creates sparks, and Eastwood's romance with Rene Russo (Nightcrawler (2014)) here is both elegant and sexy.

John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich (1999)) is eerie. Ennio Morricone's (The Hateful Eight (2015)) music is subdued and effective. In the Line of Fire leaves you breathless with its sophisticated, realistic thrills.

 

Related posts:

 

Wolfgang Petersen: 2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Poseidon (2006) - Petersen's disastrous disaster flick

Top 10: Best epic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

The Boat/Das Boot (1981) - Petersen's awe-inspiring WWII epic 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 40 mil. $

Box office: 187.3 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.68 times the cost)

[In the Line of Fire premiered 8 July (California) and runs 128 minutes. Eastwood was paid 7 mil. $ for his performance; Malkovich received 1 mil. $. Shooting took place from October 1992 - January 1993 in Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Colorado, Michigan and in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #3, behind holdover hits The Firm and Jurassic Park, to a 15.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 5 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#2-#2-#3-#5), grossing 102.3 mil. $ (54.6 % of the total gross). The film was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning none. It lost Best Supporting Actor (Malkovich) to Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive, Editing to Schindler's List and Original Screenplay to Jane Campion for The Piano. It was also nominated for 3 BAFTAs and a Golden Globe, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, in line with this one. Petersen returned with Outbreak (1995). Eastwood returned in A Perfect World (1993). In the Line of Fire is certified fresh at 96 % with a 7.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of In the Line of Fire?

Mission: Impossible III (2006) - Cruise steers Abrams' flawed MacGuffin debut

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Tom Cruise's name, the title in short form and a matchstick getting lid are the few elements on this franchise-reliant poster for J.J. Abrams' Mission: Impossible III

IMF agent Ethan Hunt's wife gets shot in the head, as he winds up in a new debacle, but how did it get to that? Hunt was withdrawn from early retiring and put back into the field to stop an arm's dealer who had kidnapped a colleague ...

Mission: Impossible III is written by Alex Kurtzman (Hawai Five-O (2010-20)), Roberto Orci (Xena: Warrior Princess (2000, TV-series)) and great New-Yorker filmmaker, co-writer/director J.J. Abrams (Alias (2001-05)).
The opening scene is not really suspense-building in the way it should be, and over-all the whoa-moments that the M:I franchise is famous for aren't as strong as they should be in M:I 3. The plot revolves around a MacGuffin, - a hunted-for object that's never really explained, - in this case an object referred to as the 'rabbit foot', and it comes off a bit as a tongue-in-cheek tease; something which Simon Pegg's (Cuban Fury (2014)) not yet fully situated Benji IMF helper character attempts to concretize a bit.
But the action thunders away in handsome, international locations, and Tom Cruise (Minority Report (2002)) leads the film without hesitation, making Mission: Impossible III still a good jolt of entertainment.
SPOILER The worst flaw of the film, though, is its ending, which takes the franchise into a dead-end of blatant sentimentality, as Hunt's wife spills all the secret beans and clowns around with colleagues. Michelle Monaghan (Saint Judy (2018)) is good in the part, but this is the wrong part of the store for a Mission: Impossible film to wind up in.

Related posts:

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker/Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019) - An insanely awesome saga ending 
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]  
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) - Abrams scores big time, makes beautiful space opera blockbuster
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) or, Star Trek It Before You Wreck It
Star Trek (2009) - Abrams' imperfect but awesome reboot
Super 8 (2011) - Abrams' nostalgic family crowdpleaser
Cloverfield (2008) or, It Tore Her Head Off! (co-producer)   

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 150 mil. $
Box office: 398.4 mil. $
= Box office success (returned 2.65 times its cost)
[Mission: Impossible III premiered 24 April (Rome) and runs 126 minutes. Development of the film was troubled, with directors David Fincher and Joe Carnahan having creative differences that made them leave the film, as well as stars Kenneth Branagh, Scarlett Johansson and Carrie-Anne Moss departing due to delays. Cruise hired Abrams after binge-watching the first two seasons of Alias and took a pay cut to get production going: His gross participation deal of 30 % for Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) was decreased to 22.5 %. This would come to 89.64 mil. $, but his pay is listed on IMDb as 75 mil. $, - in any case still a fortune. Shooting took place in Berlin, Germany, China, including Shanghai, Virginia, Italy, including Rome, the Vatican, California including Los Angeles, and in Washington D.C. from July - November 2005. The film opened #1 to a 47.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, slightly over the 2000 M:I 2 but less than the first film's 57.8 mil. $ opening. It remained #1 the next weekend and in the top 5 for another 4 weeks, grossing 134 mil. $ (33.6 % of the total gross), significantly less than the two preceding films. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 44.3 mil. $ (11.1 %) and the UK with 29 mil. $ (7.3 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, in line with this one. Cruise returned as Hunt in Brad Bird's great Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) and another two sequels, with two more currently in production. Abrams returned with The Office (2007, TV-series) and theatrically with Star Trek (2009). Cruise returned first in Lions for Lambs (2007). Mission: Impossible III is fresh at 71 % with a 6.6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Mission: Impossible III?

Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) - Cruise and Woo deliver red-hot action spectacle

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Star Tom Cruise entrenched in a sea of fire on the eye-stopping poster for John Woo's Mission: Impossible 2

IMF agent Ethan Hunt gets a new mission: Using a beautiful woman as bait, he is to retrieve a deadly virus from his now rogue ex-colleague. Hunt falls in love with his bait, however, complicating matters.

Mission: Impossible 2 is written by Robert Towne (Cisco Pike (1971)), with Brannon Braga (Salem (2014-16)) and Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica (2004-09)) contributing story elements, and directed by great Chinese filmmaker John Woo (The Young Dragons/Tie han rou qing (1974)).
It is a spectacular and highly stylized action vehicle built around its towering star Tom Cruise (Eyes Wide Shut (1999)), whose screen power has been matched by few in all the history of cinema. But the whole cast and crew give it their all on what is certainly Woo's best film made in the West.
Ving Rhames' (Piranha 3D (2010)) Luther character is a gift to the franchise; Anthony Hopkins (Slipstream (2007)) is another joy here, and Thandiwe Newton (RocknRolla (2008)) is a beauty as the woman Hunt falls for. Dougray Scott's (Last Passenger (2013)) villain is a bit of a disappointment though, and one misses a name actor in the part to be honest.
Hans Zimmer's (Widows (2008)) score feels like a rehearsal to his later (great) work in The Dark Knight (2008): Somewhat comic kitsch meets solemn, Greek myth-like grandeur - and hard rock.
But M:I 2 is all about visuals, and those provided here an action fan will not want to miss.

Related post:

John Woo: Face/Off (1997) - Travolta and Cage butt heads in Woo's wild, silly action machine

Watch the incredible intro of the film here

Cost: 125 mil. $
Box office: 546.3 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.37 times its cost)
[Mission: Impossible 2 premiered 18 May (Los Angeles) and runs 123 minutes. Towne has reported that several action sequences were planned for the film, before its story was set. Shooting took place from April - December 1999 in Australia, including Sydney, Utah, Arizona and in California, including Los Angeles. Cruise refused to change his introduction scene of him free-climbing in Utah's Moab, which was done only with a harness and no safety net. In a jump in the scene, he tore his shoulder. Newton has many years later recalled Cruise's perfectionism on-set as a "nightmare". Hopkins was paid 5 mil. $ for his part; Cruise made incredible 75 mil. $ on the film through gross participation salary. The film opened #1 to a 57.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it retained the #1 spot for another 2 weekends and spent a subsequent 2 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#4), grossing 215.4 mil. $ (39.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 94.1 mil. $ (17.2 %) and the UK with 26.3 mil. $ (4.8 %). It was the highest-grossing film worldwide of 2000 and the highest-grossing in the M:I franchise until Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), the 4th entry. The M:I franchise with Cruise at the helm has spawned 4 films since M:I 2, with 2 more production. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this one. Woo returned with Windtalkers (2002). Cruise returned in Vanilla Sky (2001). Mission: Impossible 2 is rotten at 57 % with a 5.96/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Mission: Impossible 2?

Knight and Day (2010) - Diaz and Cruise invigorate Mangold's action romance

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Stars Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise in what looks like a very uncomfortable shooting position on a poster for James Mangold's Knight and Day

A sexy mechanic babe falls for a resourceful charmer on board an airplane, but he turns out to be a rogue CIA agent, who wants to protect a newly created super battery, - and its inventor, - from some shady villains!

Tom Cruise (Jack Reacher (2012)) plays a classic Cruise hero here, who can simply do just about anything, and Cameron Diaz (The Invisible Circus (2001)) is charming and sympathetic in the other lead. Knight and Day lives on their charisma and good chemistry, coupled here for their second time, (the first one being in Vanilla Sky (2001)). Great New Yorker director James Mangold (Cop Land (1997)) creates a slick and neatly photographed (by Phedon Papamichael (The Descendants (2011))) film that holds no surprises and doesn't transcend being a pretty pedestrian time-passer. It feels like a vanity project and it is truly a trifle, looked at from any angle, but it is still a well-driving vehicle with two lovely stars. - And one spectacular car and motorbike chase through the bull run in Sevilla, Spain!
Knight and Day jumps from country to country seemingly only motivated by the fact that it adds spice to the production. The much better version of the film it tries to be would be something like True Lies (1994). The script reportedly went through a staggering 12 writers' machines, but it is Patrick O'Neill (Sun Gods (2002), TV movie) who is credited for it.

Related review:

James Mangold: Cop Land (1997) - Stallone faces corruption and turns in some good acting in fine crime drama

Watch an official trailer for the film here

Cost: 125 mil. $
Box office: 261.9 mil. $
= Flop
[Knight and Day premiered June 16 (Sevilla) and runs 110 minutes. Many stars were in talks to star in the film before Cruise and Diaz were cast. Cruise took a pay cut, only receiving 11 mil. $ for his performance and no "first dollar gross", meaning he might not have made more on it than the 11 mil. Diaz's paycheck is undisclosed. Filming took place in Massachusetts, Jamaica, Illinois, New York, California, Spain (Sevilla and Cadiz) and Austria (Salzburg) from September - December 2009. The release attracted little interest: It opened #3 to a 20.1 mil. $, behind hold-over hit Toy Story 3 and the new comedy release Grown Ups, in North America, where it grossed 76.4 mil. $ (29.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 28.2 mil. $ (10.8 %) and France with 14.3 mil. $ (5.5 %). The film is said to be Cruise's lowest attended action movie opening since Legend (1986). It received many bad reviews, but Roger Ebert gave it 3/4 stars, a notch better than the review here. Knight and Day is rotten at 52 % with a 5.6 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Knight and Day?

24 - season 3 (2003) - The virus-centered peak for the great action show

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+ Best Action Title of the Year + Most Suspenseful Title of the Year

Jack Bauer is not in the greatest shape of his life, when his third hellish day kicks off in Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow's 24 season 3


3 years after season 2, a virus-infested corpse is dropped off with a bomb in LA, and a season with an overall threat of chemical, viral terrorism is kicked off.

The following summary of the season contains SPOILERS:

The troubles ironically evolve due to a risky, covert undercover operation gone haywire, which was co-headed by Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland (Mirrors (2008)) and Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard (Dallas (2012-13)). After a dramatic and action-packed prison break, led by Bauer, the audience is pulled around by the nose in a chase after the virus carrier, a juvenile delinquent named Kyle Singer. Meanwhile, Jack struggles with the dangerous, drug-running Salazar Brothers, the return of the grand villain, Nina Myers, and the ultimate henchman, Steven Saunders, a disgruntled ex-MI6 agent, who succeeds in getting his demands straight to the president.
Ryan Chapelle (Paul Schulze (Zodiac (2007))) tragically falls at his ruthless hand. Only by being equally ruthless, Jack finally manages to locate the 12 virus canisters.
At the political level, president Palmer's (Dennis Haysbert (Love & Basketball (2000))) brother Wayne Palmer turns out to be a real black sheep in the family, as he is revealed to have slept with their main campaign contributor's wife. Sherry Palmer (Penny Johnson Jerald (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995-99))) is brought in to handle the situation, but it all spirals out of control.
Jack has gotten a new partner, Chase (James Badge Dale (Flight (2012))), whom he trains as they move along, reluctantly learning that he is heavily involved with his now CTU agent daughter, Kim (Elisha Cuthbert (He Was a Quiet Man (2007))).

She unfortunately remains a very unpleasant part of the show: Scheming, blank, and ever annoying. However, even Kim Bauer can't overshadow the fact that 24's third season is highly intense action, powerfully scored by Sean Callery (Small Time (2014)), inventively written and a regular triumph for Sutherland and the show's creators, Robert Cochran (Sons and Daughters (1991), TV-series, writer) and Joel Surnow (La Femme Nikita (2000-01), creator).
After this season, the show began its steady decline. Each episode began having more and more unbelievable, action-heavy scenes, until the storylines grew downright grotesque. Sad, but nothing lasts forever, and if you want to see 24 at its most brilliant, the third season is it, - the most coherent, suspense-full and exciting in the series. The chemical threat at the heart of the season is scarier than a regular bomb, and the device is utilized with tremendous skill, especially in the episodes that play out inside a hotel. The political affair storyline unfolds equally effective. 

Best episodes:

Episode 9: 9 PM - 10 PM - written by Evan Katz (The Commish (1993-94)) and Stephen Kronish (MacGyver (1986-87)), story by Cochran and Howard Gordon (Homeland (2011-14)); directed by Brad Turner (Hawaii Five-O (2010-11))
SPOILER Nina Myers finally dies

Episode 15: 3 AM - 4 PM - written by Cochran and Gordon, story by Michael Loceff (La Femme Nikita (1997-01)); directed by Kevin Hooks (Bones (2009-13))
SPOILER The virus spreads

Related posts:

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

24 season 2 (2002) - The Bomb 

Top 10: The best action movies and TV-series reviewed by Film Excess to date
24 season 1 (2001) - TV action milestone

Listen to a snippet of the season's fine score here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: None - TV-series
= Unknown
[24 season 3 aired first on Fox from 28 October 2003 - 25 May 2004. The first episode runs 51 minutes, while all the rest run 43 minutes, totaling approximately 1,040 minutes. The season's average ratings in North America were down almost 1.5 mil. viewers from the preceding season, averaging 10.3 mil. The season was nominated for 8 Emmys, winning 3, for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series as well as Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing and Single Camera Sound Mixing for a Series. It also won the two Golden Globes it was nominated for, for Best Drama Series and Best Actor in a Drama Series (Sutherland). In 2003, Sutherland also did Behind the Red Door, Paradise Gone, L.A. Confidential (TV movie) and a voice performance in The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration (video), before returning in 24 S4 in 2004. 117 Rotten Tomatoes users have rated 24 season 3 4.3/5.]

Do you agree that the show's quality slowly declined after this season?
What do you think of 24 season 3?