Collateral Damage (film)
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| Collateral Damage | |
|---|---|
 The Promotional Poster For The Fiim |
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| Directed by | Andrew Davis |
| Produced by | Hawk Koch Nicholas Meyer |
| Written by | David Griffiths Ronald Roose |
| Starring | Arnold Schwarzenegger Francesca Neri Elias Koteas |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | February 8 2002 (USA) |
| Running time | 108 min. |
| Language | English, Spanish |
| Budget | ~ US$85,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Collateral Damage is a 2002 action film which tells the story of a Los Angeles firefighter, Gordy Brewer (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger), who looks to avenge his son's and wife's deaths at the hands of a guerrilla commando, by traveling to Colombia and facing his family's killers.
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[edit] Plot
The movie begins inside a burning building. Fire fighters are searching for people inside. One of them, Gordon "Gordy" Brewer (Arnold Schwarzenegger), sees a woman trapped on the end of a burning corridor. He jumps across a gap in the floor and rescues her.
Later, at Gordy's home, his wife is waking up and sees Gordy playing with his son Matt (Ethan Dampf), helping him build a model plane. His wife Anne (Lindsay Frost) is taking their son to the doctor for a check up, and she wants Gordy to pick them up afterwards, to which he agrees.
However, Gordy is running late. His wife and son are waiting for him in a plaza near the Colombian consulate. "The Wolf", Claudio Perrini (Cliff Curtis), disguised as a police officer, pulls up to the consulate in a motorcycle. He leaves the motorcycle in front of the entrance and starts to leave. Gordy parks near the consulate and sees the Wolf as he comes by. Gordy thinks he is a police officer, and tells him that he is just parking for a second to pick up his wife and son. The Wolf smiles and nods, then leaves. Gordy sees his wife and starts across the street to her when the bomb in the motorcycle explodes. His wife and son are killed, as well as some people in the consulate. Gordy is injured.
Later, while recovering, he sees the news footage of the explosion. He figures out that the motorcycle cop was the terrorist and informs the FBI. They bring him in for questioning, and he learns about The Wolf. He sees a video of a taped message from the terrorist organization supporting the Wolf. The person speaking is hidden from view, and the voice on the tape distorted. He learns that the terrorists were retaliating for CIA operations within Colombia, and that one of the targets of the attack was CIA agent Peter Brandt (Elias Koteas). They tell him The Wolf has returned to Colombia and there is nothing they can do. But Gordy rebels and decides to go after the Wolf himself.
After evading many guerrillas in the jungle, Gordy finally makes it to where The Wolf is staying. He is immediately targeted by the terrorists, who want to hold him for ransom, and the CIA and police, who do not want him to stir up anything.
The police get to him first and he is locked up in a prison. While there, he makes contact with Canadian hustler Sean Armstrong (John Turturro). The terrorists attack the prison to try to get to Gordy and free some of their members. Gordy manages to escape and rescue Sean. Sean returns the favor by hooking him up with Felix Ramirez (John Leguizamo), who manages the drug production that finances the terrorists.
After reaching the main drug plant, Gordy destroys it with explosives. Felix is blamed and he is killed.
Then, Gordy sneaks into The Wolf's headquarters. He plants a bomb near The Wolf's room and leaves. But he spots a woman and a child walking towards the room, he runs towards them and shouts to warn them. The Wolf hears and jumps out of the building just as it explodes. He and his men beat up Gordy. The woman, Selena Perrini (Francesca Neri), is the Wolf's wife.
Gordy is taken prisoner. He talks to Selena, trying to get her to help him. Selena explains to Gordy why her husband is a terrorist. Gordy tells her that no matter the reason, what he is doing is wrong and that she should help him stop him. Selena says Gordy and the Wolf are the same, both consumed by hate and vengeance.
Meanwhile, the early explosion at The Wolf's headquarters catches the attention of the CIA. They track down the Wolf's terrorist camp and launch an attack. During the confusion, Selena helps Gordy break out, on the condition that he takes her and her son to the US. She says the Wolf has gone back to Washington for another attack.
Gordy, Selena, and her son are taken back to the State Department in Washington to help the search effort for the Wolf. Selena points out the train station in a photo, and the FBI goes to investigate. Selena excuses herself to go to the bathroom. She tells her son to go with her. When he refuses, she becomes very irritated and angry. Gordy said the son would be fine in the room, and she reluctantly agrees. Gordy is suspicious. He then views the original terrorist video sent after the first bombing. He realizes that the person in the video makes the same gesture that Selena made. He realizes that she was working with The Wolf, and that the real target was the State Department. He warns everyone to leave, and throws the son's toy dinosaur out of a window just as it explodes, realizing it was never checked by the metal detectors upon entry. Brandt gets killed by Selena after trying to stop her escape.
Gordy chases Selena down to the basement of the building. The Wolf is waiting for her and they ride away in the underground tunnels beneath the building. Gordy finds the controls and shuts the gates leading out of the tunnels. The Wolf and Selena have to go back to the controls to open them. Gordy break open some gas lines along the walls of the tunnel and waits. As they ride back, Selena shoots at Gordy. Her gun ignites the gas. Gordy jumps through a doorway just as the entire tunnel explodes. When he goes back to survey the damage, Selena and the Wolf attack him - they had survived the explosion. He throws Selena through a control panel and she is electrocuted. The Wolf and Gordy continue fighting. Gordy throws a fire fighter's axe at the Wolf, which hits him in his chest, killing him.
At the end, Gordy holds Selena's son as they leave the State Department with a voiceover of a news person explaining that he's going to get the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest honor a civilian can get) for his actions.
[edit] Release
The September 11, 2001 attacks affected the release and editing of the final film.
The film was originally scheduled to be released on October 5, 2001, but it was postponed due to its terrorism theme and eventually released on February 8, 2002. The premiere was held on February 4, 2002.
The film also was supposed to include Colombian actress Sofía Vergara in the role of an airplane hijacker; however the scene where Vergara would hijack a plane was cut from the movie.
