Man on Fire (2004 film)
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- This article is about the 2004 film. For the novel, see Man on Fire; for the 1987 film see Man on Fire (1987 film).
| Man on Fire (2004) | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster for Man on Fire |
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| Directed by | Tony Scott |
| Produced by | Lucas Foster Arnon Milchan Tony Scott |
| Written by | -Novel- A.J. Quinnell -Screenplay- Brian Helgeland |
| Starring | Denzel Washington Dakota Fanning Christopher Walken Giancarlo Giannini Radha Mitchell Mickey Rourke Marc Anthony |
| Music by | Harry Gregson-Williams |
| Cinematography | Paul Cameron |
| Editing by | Christian Wagner |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox (US, Italy, Netherlands, Argentina, Spain, France, UK) Paramount Pictures (Germany) Other various worldwide distributors |
| Release date(s) | April 23, 2004 |
| Running time | 146 minutes |
| Language | English Spanish |
| Budget | $70 million |
| IMDb profile | |
Man on Fire is a 2004 film directed by Tony Scott, starring Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Radha Mitchell, Giancarlo Giannini, and Christopher Walken. It is a remake of the 1987 film Man on Fire.
The film was originally based on a series of books by author A. J. Quinnell. Man on Fire loosely follows the first of the series about a former Marine and Foreign Legionnaire turned mercenary.
The remake was released on April 23, 2004 in the U.S. and drew $23 million USD in its opening weekend.
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[edit] Plot
In Mexico City, kidnapping is a business. The wealthy and their families are targets for criminals looking to ransom those of value. Bodyguards are a standard for most families, and Samuel Ramos needs to hire a new one to protect his daughter. Enter John Creasy, a veteran military man, burned out on his long career of combat and espionage. Creasy's friend Rayburn (Christopher Walken) sets him up to be a bodyguard to nine-year-old Pita, Samuel's daughter. Creasy is not interested in being a bodyguard, especially to a youngster, but for lack of something better to do, he accepts the assignment. Creasy barely tolerates the precocious child and her pestering questions about him and his life. Slowly, she chips away at his seemingly impenetrable exterior, his defenses drop, and he opens up to her. They become friends, and he replaces her parents in their absences, giving her advice, guidance and help with her competition swimming.
Creasy's new-found purpose in life is shattered when Pita is kidnapped by a man known only as "The Voice", and then killed when the ransom drop is botched. Despite being seriously wounded during the kidnapping, and framed for shooting two corrupt police officers that tried to aid the kidnappers, he vows to kill anyone involved in or profiting from the kidnapping. Only a select few know of Creasy's mission: Rayburn, and an AFI detective named Manzano (Giancarlo Giannini), who tries to understand Creasy's mission but is also trying to stop the killing.
With grisly efficiency, Creasy takes apart the corrupt organization that is responsible for not only Pita's kidnapping but many throughout Mexico City. Creasy really "cleanses" the gang; for example, he kidnaps one kidnapper, ties his hands to the wheel of a car above a hill, cuts off his fingers and stops the bleeding with the car's cigarette lighter (to prolong suffering) until he finally pushes the car off of a cliff. Another one, a bribed police chief - ironically the head of the anti-kidnapping division - helping the gang, is kidnapped, his escort neutralized with a RPG-7 missile, and he is tied unconscious to a car dressed in only underwear. Creasy waits until he awakens and reveals that he has placed a bomb with a timer inside a plastic bag inside of his rectum. Creasy then lets him make a final confession, revealing the location of the family of "The Voice", and then leaves seconds before the bomb goes off.
The trail to the Voice also leads him through Jordan Kalfus, the attorney who managed the negotiation but arranged to take a cut of the ransom money, and even Samuel Ramos, who Creasy convinces to commit suicide.
Creasy is shot while capturing pregnant young wife and brother of "The Voice", but manages to subdue them and talk to "The Voice" on the phone. He shoots off the hand of "The Voice"'s brother with a lupara, and threatens to kill the wife. He relents when "The Voice" tells him that Pita is still alive. Creasy makes an exchange - trading himself and the brother for Pita. Pita is rescued but Creasy dies of his gunshot wound as he is transported away. As he dies, he drops an emblem of St Jude - the patron saint of lost causes. The Voice is executed that same day by Manzano.
[edit] Trivia
- Tony Scott was initially lined up to direct the 1987 version of the film. But after the disappointment of his first feature The Hunger, the studio balked and handed the project to Elie Chouraqui. They later regretted the decision following the success of Scott's Top Gun.
- The initial idea for remaking the film came from Quentin Tarantino. Before he was a Hollywood filmmaker, Tarantino worked at a video store in Manhattan Beach - screenwriter Brian Helgeland walked in one day and asked what was good, to which Tarantino recommended the original Man on Fire. Nearly 15 years later, Tarantino called the remake "one of Tony Scott's best pictures. Hard, gripping and tough as hell!"
- Among the directors offered the project before Scott were Michael Bay and Antoine Fuqua.
- Among the actors offered the role of Creasy before Denzel Washington were Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis and Will Smith.
- Christopher Walken was the first choice for the role of Jordan Kalfus, but took the part of Rayburn as he was tired of playing the villain.
- A fan-made edit by the CBB group (Matrix: Dezionized, Kirkless Generations, War of the Worlds: Extinctive Cut), titled Creasy, is circulating the internet. It focuses solely on the character of Creasy, cutting out any scene that he doesn't appear in, as well as keeping the bleaker alternate ending. The running time is 40 minutes shorter.
- Henry Bean performed uncredited rewrites on the script.
- The film grossed $23 million USD in its opening weekend, second only to Washington's 2006 thriller Inside Man.
- Brian Helgeland initially refused to write the screenplay for the film, as he now considers himself to be a director first and foremost. The studio told him if he wrote it, they would let him direct, but changed their minds following the failure of his latest film The Order and Tony Scott's interest.
- Over half an hour of footage was cut from the initial workprint to form the final theatrical version, making the first cut almost 3 hours long. Among the excised footage (included on the Special Edition DVD) are two sex scenes and an extended ending, where Creasy's revenge literally leads him to becoming a man on fire.
- Deleted scenes on the DVD include several significant plot elements excised from the film. Creasy is shown having an affair with Lisa, and Lisa herself ultimately kills her husband, rather than in the theatrical version in which he kills himself.
- The 2004 version of Man on Fire featured clips from six Nine Inch Nails songs: "The Art of Self Destruction, Part One", "Self Destruction, Part Two", and "The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)" from Further Down the Spiral; "The Mark Has Been Made" and "The Great Below" from The Fragile; and "The Wretched (Version)" from Things Falling Apart. Trent Reznor, the only official member of the band, received a "Music Consultant" credit on the film.
- Denzel Washington came up with the idea for the alternate ending. It continues past the final shot of the film, with Creasy being driven to the house of The Voice. The two chat for a while about the price of human life, with Creasy continually looking down at his watch. When the stopwatch finally reaches zero, Creasy flashes a freeze-frame smile. It cuts to the entire house being blown up, revealing Creasy's use of the anal bomb. Tony Scott cut it as he felt it didn't fit in with the tone of the film.
[edit] Featured cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Marc Anthony | Samuel Ramos |
| Gero Camilo | Aurelio Rosas Sanchez |
| Dakota Fanning | Lupita Martin Ramos |
| Giancarlo Giannini | Miguel Manzano |
| Radha Mitchell | Lisa Martin Ramos |
| Jesús Ochoa | Victor Fuentes |
| Roberto Sosa | Daniel Rosas Sanchez a.k.a "The Voice" |
| Norma Pablo | Reina Rosas Sanchez |
| Angelina Peláez | Sister Anna |
| Mickey Rourke | Jordan Kalfus |
| Rachel Ticotin | Mariana Garcia Guerrero |
| Christopher Walken | Paul Rayburn |
| Denzel Washington | John W. Creasy |
| Mario Zaragoza | Jorge Ramirez |
[edit] Soundtrack
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| The Mark Has Been Made | Nine Inch Nails |
| The Wretched | Nine Inch Nails |
| Le Negra | Ruben Fuentes |
| Prelude In B Minor, Op. 28, No.6 | Frédéric Chopin |
| Blue Bayou | Linda Ronstadt (written by Joe Melson & Roy Orbison) |
| The Art Of Self Destruction, Part One | Nine Inch Nails |
| The Downward Spiral (The Bottom) | Nine Inch Nails |
| Self Destruction, Part Two | Nine Inch Nails |
| The Great Below | Nine Inch Nails |
| Field-Goal | Kinky |
| Clair De Lune | Claude Debussy |
| Guadalajara | Pepe Guizar |
| Nocturne No.4 In F, Op. 15, No.1 | Frédéric Chopin |
| Gavin Leaves Message | David Arnold |
| Corridor | David Arnold |
| Gavin See's Val and Kids | David Arnold |
| Follow Me Down | Clint Mansell |
| Katie Snow Dreams | Clint Mansell |
| Embry Threatens | Clint Mansell |
| Take Me With You | Clint Mansell |
| Oye Como Va | Kinky |
| Micky | Toni Basil |
| Razzle Dazzle | Jo Park |
| Nessun Dorma From Turandot | Giacomo Puccini, Guiseppe Adami, Renato Simoni |
| Más | Kinky |
| Deedrah Reload (GMS Remix) | Deedrah |
| Juice (Live Mix) | G.M.S. |
| GMS Vs Alien Project | G.M.S. |
| Bring Out The Gimp | G.M.S. |
| Hell-Bent | Dean Scott |
| Space | Baby Doc, S-J |
| Premajor | Massive/Power/Strike |
| Una Palabra | Carlos Varela |
| The Search | Michel Jean Pierre Colombier |
| Creasy Dies | Harry Gregson-Williams & Lisa Gerrard |
[edit] See also
- Aanai, a Tamil remake
- Ek Ajnabee, a Hindi remake
[edit] External links
