Man on Fire
by Tony Scott
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Christopher Walken, Dakota Fanning, Denzel Washington, Marc Anthony, Radha MitchellDirector: Tony Scott
Brand: Fox
Producer: Arnon Milchan
Producer: Lucas Foster
Producer: Lance Hool
Producer: James W. Skotchdopole
Producer: Conrad Hool
Producer: Don Ferrarone
Writer: A.J. Quinnell
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.40:1
Running Time: 146 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-14
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Color; Dolby; DTS Surround Sound; Widescreen; NTSC
Movie Reviews of Man on Fire
Movie Review: LESSONS FROM THE MOVIES: THE POWER OF PURPOSE & SELF SACRIFICE
Summary: 5 Stars
MAN ON FIRE
Starring Denzel Washington, Dakota Fleming
For me, this was quite a violent & yet sensitive action-filled movie.
First, the backdrop: A wave of kidnappings had swept through Mexico city, feeding a growing sense of fear & panic among its wealthier citizens. In one six-day period, there were twenty-four abductions, leading many to hire bodyguards for their children.
Next, a former CIA Black Ops operative, John Creasy (played by Denzel Washington), with extensive work experience in counter-terrorism, now burnt out, disillusioned & almost drunk, was introduced to a rich industrialist in Mexico city. His job: act as bodyguard to a lovable 9-year-old girl, Pita Ramos (played by Dakota Fleming).
Creasy, who had recently quit the business, was seeking some sort of redemption for the sins he had committed. So far, he had been looking for answers in a bottle & the Bible, & not doing all that well with either. Creasy was not interested in being a bodyguard, especially to a youngster, but for lack of something better to do, he accepted very reluctantly the assignment, following the recommendation from a good friend (played by Christopher Walken).
In the first part of the movie, Creasy began his growing friendship with Pita, who slowly but surely, worked her way into his initially hardened heart. She changed the behaviour of the cold Creasy, making him alive & smile again, & he felt a great affection for her. He also felt a newly found sense of purpose in his life & even encouraged her to do better at swimming, while he at the same time attempted to deal with the demons of his own past.
I love the part where she taught her how to deal with the starting gun shot during a swimming contest:
Creasy: "The gun shot holds no fear, say it."
Pita: "The gun shot holds no fear."
Creasy: "You welcome the sound. In fact it's the sound that sets you free. You are a prisoner on this block until that sound sets you free."
The second part of the movie covered the blatant kidnap attempt on the girl, in broad daylight, by a gang of gun-blazing thugs. Creasy was badly wounded. As he sworn in front of the girl's mother: "I'm gonna kill 'em all. Anyone that was involved. Anybody who profited from it. Anybody who opens their eyes at me."
All hell started to break loose from then as Creasy embarked on his personal vendetta. This was covered in the third part of the movie, which was the most violent & gruesome part.
With the help from a very intrepid Mexican newspaper reporter, Mariana (played by Rachel Ticotin), who was all out to expose "La Hermanidad" (The Brotherhood), the kidnap gang responsible for the girl's abduction, Creasy systematically tracked down all parties, directly as well as remotely connected to the incident, including some corrupt elements in the local police/security unit.
He was merciless & ruthless as he tortured one by one all those bad guys he encountered in the criminal chain of command.
As he confronted one bad guy, whose hands were wired to the steering wheel of a car, Creasy said: "I am going to ask questions. If you don't answer fully & truthfully, you will suffer much more than you have to. I'm going to cut your fingers off. One by one, if I have to."
As he inserted a small plastic explosive into the anus of the one of the bad guys, who was spread-eagled on to the boot of a car:
The bad guy pleaded: "A last wish, please, please. Please." Creasy said to him: "Last wish? I wish you had more time."
To another bad guy, Creasy said: "Okay, my friend. It's off to the next life for you. I guarantee you, you won't be lonely."
Creasy added: "I got all the time in the world. You don't, but I do."
Finally, he managed to come close to the ringleader, known as "The Voice", after having intercepted the latter's rogue brother & sister-in-law in the ensuing pursuit:
Creasy said, after pumping a bullet into the brother's hand, via his handphone: "I'm gonna take your family apart, piece by piece, you understand me? Piece by piece."
With singled-minded rage, Creasy had transformed himself into the terrifying killing machine he was originally trained to be.
For me, the fourth & final part of the movie was really poignant.
Creasy decided that the only way for him to secure the final release of the girl, he had to be prepared to sacrifice himself. In other words, he would exchange his own life for the life of the girl, whom he had promised to protect at the beginning. Even though he had vowed to avenge the girl's abduction by killing all those who stood in his way, I reckon this final unselfish deed more or less exonerated him. This really makes this movie stands out from the rest of the "revenge movies" which seem to be the craze of the day.
On the whole, this has been a very good movie to watch, even though some parts have been quite violent & gruesome. Nevertheless, it has also something worthwhile for all of us to learn.
Both Denzel Washington & Dakota Fleming acted very well in the movie. Unfortunately, two other good actors, Christopher Walken (`The Deer Hunter', `Dogs of War', `Catch Me if You Can'), who played Creasy's good friend, & Mickey Rourke (`The Year of the Dragon', `Johnny Handsome', `Domino'), who played the conniving lawyer to the industrialist, had rather understated roles in the movie.
Summary of Man on Fire
Hard-drinking, burnt-out ex-CIA operative John Creasy (Washington) has given up on life--until his friend Rayburn (Oscar winner Christopher Walken) gets him a job as a bodyguard to nine-year-old Pita Ramos (Dakota Fanning). Bit by bit, Creasy begins to reclaim his soul, but when Pita is kidnapped, Creasy unleashes a firestorm of apocalyptic vengeance against everyone responsible.Style trumps substance in Man on Fire, a slick, brooding reunion of Crimson Tide star Denzel Washington and director Tony Scott. The ominous, crime-ridden setting is Mexico City, where a dour, alcoholic warrior with a mysterious Black Ops past (Washington) seeks redemption as the devoted bodyguard of a lovable 9-year-old girl (the precociously gifted Dakota Fanning), then responds with predictable fury when she is kidnapped. Prolific screenwriter Brian Helgeland (Mystic River, L.A. Confidential) sets a solid emotional foundation for Washington's tormented character, and Scott's stylistic excess compensates for a distended plot that's both repellently violent and viscerally absorbing. Among Scott's more distracting techniques is the use of free-roaming, comic-bookish subtitles... even when they're unnecessary! Adapted from a novel by A.J. Quinnell and previously filmed as a 1987 vehicle for Scott Glenn, Man on Fire is roughly on par with Scott's similar 1990 film Revenge, efficiently satisfying Washington's incendiary bloodlust under a heavy blanket of humid, doom-laden atmosphere. --Jeff Shannon
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