Enemy of the State (1998)
Directed by Tony Scott
When the videotape of the murder of a congressman unknowingly ends up in the hands of labor lawyer and dedicated family man Robert Clayton Dean, he is framed for the murder. With the help of the mysterious Brill, Dean attempts to throw the NSA off his trail and prove his innocence.
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What critics say influenced Enemy of the State
I realize this may brand me a philistine--did I mention my theory that Tony Scott's Enemy of the State is a sequel (and a pretty good one) to The Conversation?
Mr. Hackman�s role is a sly reprise of his classic role from 1974, the paranoid investigator in The Conversation.
(There is an echo here of Francis Coppola's 1974 film " The Conversation ," which also starred Hackman as a paranoid high-tech eavesdropper; the workplaces in the two movies resemble each other--deliberately, I assume.)
Veteran filmgoers should appreciate Hackman's part -- he offers a clever echo of his role as the surveillance expert in Francis Ford Coppola's seminal '70s film The Conversation.
Two dozen years after Francis Ford Coppola's great privacy-violation nightmare The Conversation, Tony Scott (who most recently directed The Fan), working, as he did in Top Gun and Crimson Tide, with producer Jerry Bruckheimer (who most recently delivered Armageddon), has come up with a high-adrenaline, high-concept action thriller that mixes hot-button issues of privacy and surveillance, easy-to-identify good and bad guys, attention-getting stars, and well-choreographed chase scenes, then sexes up the works with an array of supercool hardware and software you'll wish you were getting for your birthday.
A convincing Jon Voight plays NSA zealot Thomas Brian Reynolds, the devil in a Brooks Brothers suit, and Gene Hackman helps make this film "The Conversation" on steroids with a tough turn as a rogue surveillance wizard.
From Cary Grant in "North By Northwest" and Harrison Ford in "The Fugitive," to John Travolta in "Blow Out," and Robert Redford headlining "Three Days of the Condor," watching these actors portraying men pushed to their limits has always thrilled moviegoers.
This amalgam of The Conversation, Three Days Of The Condor, and The Net talks a lot of techno-babble and pulls out a terrific array of toys, but despite Scotts slick veneer the splashy action pieces never translate into the kind of roller coaster excitement it should and instead spotlights the horrible inconsistencies: why does Brill help Dean?
From Cary Grant in "North By Northwest" and Harrison Ford in "The Fugitive," to John Travolta in "Blow Out," and Robert Redford headlining "Three Days of the Condor," watching these actors portraying men pushed to their limits has always thrilled moviegoers.
As a conspiracy thriller, produced by Jerry (Armageddon) Bruckheimer, this strives for the techno significance of The Conversation, although given the standard chase narrative, a closer model is North by Northwest.
It may also have been Bruckheimer's idea to make Enemy of the State as a cross between Hitchcock's North by Northwest and Coppola's The Conversation, with Smith playing the Cary Grant role and, um, Gene Hackman playing the Gene Hackman role.
Reuniting for the first time since "Crimson Tide," Scott and Bruckheimer this time impose their ballistic style on the reliable old paranoid thriller, taking cues from films as diverse as "The Fugitive," "The Conversation," "North by Northwest" and even Wim Wenders' recent arthouse entry, "The End of Violence."
The twists are a bit predictable, but the flick is still exciting and relatively fresh, even though it borrows from "The Net", "Total Recall", "The Fugitive", "The Firm", "The X-Files" and other paranoia-fueled thrillers.
From Cary Grant in "North By Northwest" and Harrison Ford in "The Fugitive," to John Travolta in "Blow Out," and Robert Redford headlining "Three Days of the Condor," watching these actors portraying men pushed to their limits has always thrilled moviegoers.
Reuniting for the first time since "Crimson Tide," Scott and Bruckheimer this time impose their ballistic style on the reliable old paranoid thriller, taking cues from films as diverse as "The Fugitive," "The Conversation," "North by Northwest" and even Wim Wenders' recent arthouse entry, "The End of Violence."
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From Cary Grant in "North By Northwest" and Harrison Ford in "The Fugitive," to John Travolta in "Blow Out," and Robert Redford headlining "Three Days of the Condor," watching these actors portraying men pushed to their limits has always thrilled moviegoers.
The movie was directed by Tony Scott (" Top Gun "), who films technology the way the National Geographic films wetlands.
Director Tony Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have teamed to create several high-energy box office hits, from Top Gun to Crimson Tide.
Yet this ain't a film from the 80s Tony Scott from the "Top Gun" days, but the slightly edgier, more stylish 90s Tony Scott, post-"True Romance" (his collaboration with Tarantino).
Vastly more intelligent when compared with the testosterone-laced pedigree for which Bruckheimer and Scott are famous (with films such as "Armageddon" and "Con Air" being produced by the former and "Crimson Tide" and "Top Gun" being directed by the latter), the film does contain a smattering of such revved up action.
Two dozen years after Francis Ford Coppola's great privacy-violation nightmare The Conversation, Tony Scott (who most recently directed The Fan), working, as he did in Top Gun and Crimson Tide, with producer Jerry Bruckheimer (who most recently delivered Armageddon), has come up with a high-adrenaline, high-concept action thriller that mixes hot-button issues of privacy and surveillance, easy-to-identify good and bad guys, attention-getting stars, and well-choreographed chase scenes, then sexes up the works with an array of supercool hardware and software you'll wish you were getting for your birthday.
Director Tony Scott ( "Top Gun," "Beverly Hills Cop II" ) hits the ground running.
At the helm of Spy Game is Scott, best known for other thrillers including Crimson Tide and Enemy of the State.
Director Tony Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have teamed to create several high-energy box office hits, from Top Gun to Crimson Tide.
Vastly more intelligent when compared with the testosterone-laced pedigree for which Bruckheimer and Scott are famous (with films such as "Armageddon" and "Con Air" being produced by the former and "Crimson Tide" and "Top Gun" being directed by the latter), the film does contain a smattering of such revved up action.
Two dozen years after Francis Ford Coppola's great privacy-violation nightmare The Conversation, Tony Scott (who most recently directed The Fan), working, as he did in Top Gun and Crimson Tide, with producer Jerry Bruckheimer (who most recently delivered Armageddon), has come up with a high-adrenaline, high-concept action thriller that mixes hot-button issues of privacy and surveillance, easy-to-identify good and bad guys, attention-getting stars, and well-choreographed chase scenes, then sexes up the works with an array of supercool hardware and software you'll wish you were getting for your birthday.
Director Scott has done some of his best work ("Crimson Tide," "Beverly Hills Cop II") for Bruckheimer, and, collaborating with cinematographer Dan Mindel, he does a compelling job of visualizing how satellites and computers could make this Truman-Show-for-real scenario actually happen.
Yet, as standard conspiracy films go, this one is a cut above the rest thanks to the nonstop forward thrust provided by director Tony Scott ("Top Gun," "Crimson Tide," "Man on Fire").
The twists are a bit predictable, but the flick is still exciting and relatively fresh, even though it borrows from "The Net", "Total Recall", "The Fugitive", "The Firm", "The X-Files" and other paranoia-fueled thrillers.
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The Internet Movie Database, f'rinstance, lists the following 1995 flicks under Bruckheimer's name (and partner Don Simpson's, though he died soon afterward): Crimson Tide , a surprisingly good men-yelling-at-each-other submarine movie, Bad Boys , a mediocre action flick that launched the career of ADD-afflicted movie director Michael Bay, and the atrocious Michelle Pfeiffer vehicle Dangerous Minds.
Two dozen years after Francis Ford Coppola's great privacy-violation nightmare The Conversation, Tony Scott (who most recently directed The Fan), working, as he did in Top Gun and Crimson Tide, with producer Jerry Bruckheimer (who most recently delivered Armageddon), has come up with a high-adrenaline, high-concept action thriller that mixes hot-button issues of privacy and surveillance, easy-to-identify good and bad guys, attention-getting stars, and well-choreographed chase scenes, then sexes up the works with an array of supercool hardware and software you'll wish you were getting for your birthday.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer ("Crimson Tide," "The Rock," "Armageddon,") is also on a roll and director Tony Scott ("Crimson Tide," "The Fan" and "True Romance") shows a great touch in this film.
Directed by Tony Scott ("Crimson Tide," "The Fan"), "Enemy of the State" has something of saving grace in Gene Hackman, who plays a justifiably paranoid ex-spook that helps Smith stay one step ahead of the NSA.