Plot
An attorney is terrorized by the criminal he put away years ago when he was a cop.
Release Year: 1991
Rating: 5.9/10 (7,767 voted)
Director:
Russell Mulcahy
Stars: Denzel Washington, John Lithgow, Ice-T
Storyline In this action thriller, Denzel Washington plays Nick Styles, the assistant district attorney of L.A. The film opens in his early days as a cop on the L.A.P.D. During a carnival, master criminal Earl Talbot Blake creates a scene after a botched drug deal. Styles and Blake confront each other, during which Blake is wounded by Styles and later sent to prison. Seven years later, Blake escapes from prison during a parole board hearing to carry out his revenge against Styles, and what follows is a violent series of events that destroys Styles' career. This sets the stage for one last bloody duel between Styles and Blake.
Writers: Fred Dekker, Menno Meyjes
Cast: Denzel Washington
-
Nick Styles
John Lithgow
-
Earl Talbot Blake
Ice-T
-
Odessa
(as Ice T)
Kevin Pollak
-
Larry Doyle
Lindsay Wagner
-
DA Priscilla Brimleigh
Mary Ellen Trainor
-
Gail Wallens
Josh Evans
-
Kim
Victoria Dillard
-
Alice
John Amos
-
Reverend Styles
John Cothran Jr.
-
Councilman Farris
Linda Dona
-
Wanda
(as Linda Doná)
Matt Landers
-
Chief Floyd
Lydell M. Cheshier
-
R.C.
Starletta DuPois
-
Mrs. Styles
Sherman Howard
-
Kiley
Taglines:
He's a cop accused of murder. And the only man who knows he's innocent is the killer who framed him.
Release Date: 4 October 1991
Filming Locations: City Hall - 200 N. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA
Opening Weekend: $4,831,181
(USA)
(6 October 1991)
(1560 Screens)
Gross: $21,760,000
(USA)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia: Denzel Washington worked out for three hours a day, six days a week for four months so as not to look out of shape for his shirtless scenes.
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers):
When the lead characters arm wrestle their hands are not in the correct positions - fingers wrap around the lower thumb, not the opponents palm.
Quotes: Parole Board Official:
The parole board's ready, Blake. I hope you remembered to floss. Parole Board Official:
I did! With your wife's pubic hair!
User Review
Typical Washington Fare, Which Means Interesting
Rating: 8/10
This is a typical Denzel Washington film: well-acted, rough language, a
racial theme and an involved story that holds your interest. A lot of
his movies fit those categories.
Washington plays a preacher's kid and its nice to see he has such
respect for him.So many times, Hollywood portrays fathers and
especially clergymen in a bad light. John Lithgow is the villain and is
such a crazy over-the-top loon he's fun to watch. There are no lulls in
this story, yet the action scenes weren't overdone.
It gets predictable in the end but I like the analogy in the film to
the classic movie, "White Heat."
I was sorry to see a few things: once again, white people are all the
bigots; Lindsay Wagner, television's nice lady of the past, now using
very profane language here and looking hard.
Overall, this sometimes looks like a "B" action film more than a classy
one but it's still an interesting crime film that sports a few
different angles. It may not be one of Washington's better-known
efforts, ut it is still entertaining.
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