Man On Fire

[MacGuffin]

Trailer:







Release Date: April 23rd, 2004 (wide)

Cast: Denzel Washington (Creasy), Dakota Fanning (Pinta Balletto), Christopher Walken (Reyburn), Marc Anthony, Radha Mitchell (Rika Balletto), Giancarlo Giannini, Mickey Rourke, Rachel Ticotin.

Director: Tony Scott (Top Gun, Spy Game, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State)

Screenwriter: Brian Helgeland (A Knight's Tale, Blood Work, Conspiracy Theory, cowriter of Payback, L.A. Confidential, Mystic River)

Premise: A bitter and remorseful former U.S. Marine (Washington) moves to Mexico City to take a position as the bodyguard for a wealthy family who have been receiving kidnapping threats. When their 10-year-old daughter, Pinta (Fanning), whom he had so recently befriended, is indeed kidnapped and murdered, the soldier-turned-guard devotes himself fully to reaping vengeance on those responsible... (Walken plays an old friend of Washington's who tells him about the "job" in Italy; Mitchell plays Pinta's mother)

[RegularKarate]

how long is that fucking trailer?  

Is it worth putting up with another over-acted Denzel performance to see if Tony Scott can squeeze a decent one out again?

[picolas]

how long is that fucking trailer?

approximately fuckteen minutes

[Stefen]

This doesn't excite me too much. It looks kind of corny.

[Ghostboy]

I'm interested in this, even though the trailer doesn't really go anywhere and is remarkably unclear as to what the movie's actually about -- must be that NIN song that makes it seem cool.

[modage]

yeah i really like Tony Scott and will have to see this because of that.  Brian Helgeland script seems like a good idea too, but Dakota Fanning/little kid angle does not.  i thought his BMW short "Beat The Devil" was brilliant.  tony scott would be better off if he didnt have to worry about making a story that makes sense and can last 2 hours and could just go buckwild and be as crazy as he wants to be, because as evident in his short...its pretty damn CRAZY.

[NEON MERCURY]

...i'm noy going to waste my hhard earned USA currency on this at the theatres..but tony scotts a slick motherphucker.....his films are glossed beautifully i like his vibe..spy game's great....slick.....so i wait till the dvd realease date to purchase/ see this....if my  calcualtions are  correct.....maybe around..november.

[modage]

i saw this today because of tony scott as mentioned earlier, although i didnt expect TOO much.  while watching it i could definitely see the BMW short was a warm-up for the INSANE editing/camerawork/music he would use in this film.  even down to the subtitling lines spoken in english.  it was pretty cool at times and other times made you a little sick.  but i like that he's pushing it as far as this just to see when hes gone too far.  the movie was 2 1/2 hours and should've been trimmed by about 25 minutes.  ill actually eat my words and say that the relationship between denzel and dakota was really nice without being too forced cheesy cute like i thought from the poster.  there were a great lines though like the one in the trailer about "creasys art is death, and he's about to paint his masterpiece."  hahah, thats great.  and there was another one too a few minutes later that i cant remember right now.  there was some good stuff here, but overall i would not want to buy this movie, its more like a rental.  anyone who doesnt like baz luhrman should stay away from this as well.

[NEON MERCURY]

...i'm noy going to waste my hhard earned USA currency on this at the theatres..but tony scotts a slick motherphucker.....his films are glossed beautifully i like his vibe..spy game's great....slick.....so i wait till the dvd realease date to purchase/ see this....if my  calcualtions are  correct.....maybe around..november.

.well, theres times in your life that you gotta grab your sac and admit to yourself that you can be a phucking judgemental prick....and this is one of those times for me.......


spoilerrrrrrrrrrrrrs are in dis bitch.


-denzel is solid troughout.....his acting is across between hurricane/training day

-the cinematography is phucking sweet.....i have said earlier that scott does have a slick/cool vibe running throughout his films...and this one takes it to the next level for him..and its more edgy..like (se7en's title sequence)....its really great..and envolves you in the film ...during its LEMGhty runtime....

-dakota is a surprise......

-some people will hate the hip subtitles and sh*t ..i thougth it was unique and added to the film.........

-the realtionship bewtteen denzel and fanning. during the builup wasn't cheesy...

-the "i'm gonna phuck you up" montages were classic...

-the ending is actually good....

-marc anthony...can act..!!!....so bringing out the dead wasn't a fluke....

-overall its well done, acted w/ skill and worth checking out....

[Finn]

This movie really didn't work for me. Tony Scott did some creative things with it, but he went way over the top with his camera moves. So much so that it took me out of the story. Could or should have been better.

[Sal]

Best part was the little girl.  Very charming little actress who has a big career in front of her.  Denzel wasn't bad either.  The style for this film was downright awful though.  Jesus.  Tony picked the wrong material to use it on.  The subtitle effects were downright embarassing.  Id never see this again.

[SiliasRuby]

Solid performances by both Denzel and Dakota Fanning. She really has talent. But I was annoyed a tiny bit by the subtitles and the so-called disorienting strange visiuals, I also thought those certain visuals were overly repetatitive....That's my two cents.

[sciphex]

Didn't really grab my attention... personally I don't like Denzel that much

However, this could be a "Training Day" like role for him, which I found him to be his best in...

I'll probably just rent the DVD though

[Ghostboy]

I agree with all the mixed reviews, but I'd say its worth seeing just for Scott's direction. I can't decide whether I like it or hate it.

I can't imagine he had any sort of advance plan as to how to shoot the movie. He seems to have shot endless amounts of footage, and then edited it one 24 hour amphtemine-jagged spree, following impulses brought on in the heat of the moment and then leaving everything as it is. It goes beyond hyper, beyond manipulative -- any subtleties in Hegeland's script (and there are a few nice ones) are stretched out, freeze framed and repeated ad infinitum, just to make sure we catch them. It goes beyond the point of bad to being sort of creative again. If this weren't a Denzel Washington thriller directed by Tony Scott, I imagine a lot of people would be calling it brilliant, while others would call it a crapshoot that more often than not buries its story in a style that is actually style free.

The one thing I did love is the subtitles: I think that was pretty innovative/effective, and as I was watching it, I realized that this is what we'd probably get if we Guy Madden directed a big budget thriller. The decaying film stock look, the endless superimpositions, the combination of text and photography -- its very similar to his style. Maybe without the grace, but in place of that, I guess, you get explosions and Denzel, who is good, as expected.

Also, I watched the first hour of The Punisher while I was waiting for this one to start, which allowed me to make a comparison notable only due to similar subject matter. No matter how simplistic Hegeland's script may be (despite its great length), the difference between what he wrote here and what Hensleigh created with Punisher was rather incredulous (and a little refreshing, walking out of the one to see the other).

[meatball]

I liked the direction and the acting. The story was incredibly simple. I like what Tony Scott did with such simplicity.