Gunmen (1994 film)

Gunmen
Directed by Deran Sarafian
Produced by Laurence Mark
John Davis
John Flock
Written by Stephen Sommers
Starring Christopher Lambert
Mario Van Peebles
Denis Leary
Kadeem Hardison
Sally Kirkland
Richard C. Sarafian
Brenda Bakke
Robert Harper
Patrick Stewart
Music by John Debney
Cinematography Hiro Narita
Edited by Bonnie Koehler
Production
company
Davis Entertainment
Gray Gunmen Productions
Distributed by Dimension Films
Release dates
  • February 4, 1994
Running time
 91 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $3,411,885 (USA)

Gunmen is a 1994 action-comedy film directed by Deran Sarafian. It stars Mario Van Peebles, Christopher Lambert, Denis Leary, Kadeem Hardison and Patrick Stewart. Robert Harper and Brenda Bakke are co-stars of the film. It was released to home video by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

Plot

Wheelchair-bound drug baron Peter Loomis (Patrick Stewart) has his $400 million drug fortune stolen in South America by his errand boy Carlos, who stashed the fortune on an undisclosed boat in an undisclosed harbor. Loomis sends ruthless killer Armor O'Malley (Denis Leary) to find the boat and recover the money—he and sidekick Marie (Brenda Bakke) kill Carlos before they can get the name and location of the boat, but they learn that Carlos's brother Dani (Christopher Lambert) knows where it is, and set out to find him.

Dani is sprung from a South American prison by Cole Parker (Mario Van Peebles), a bounty hunter working for the DEA who is bent on taking down Loomis—Cole knows the name of the boat, Dani knows the location, and both men want the money for their own reasons. Complicating matters is a mole in the DEA who feeds intel to O'Malley about the heroes' movements. Alone and outnumbered, Cole and Dani are forced into a reluctant alliance as they quest for the 400 million dollar boat, with O'Malley and his men chasing them every step of the way.

Loomis quickly realizes that O'Malley wants the fortune for himself and tries to have him and his men assassinated, but the attempt fails. O'Malley returns to Loomis's estate and makes it clear that he now wears the pants in their relationship: without the $400 million, Loomis can't pay his soldiers, and O'Malley will get his hands on the money before the stay-at-home cripple does. Loomis is killed and O'Malley renews the chase with a small army at his disposal.

After numerous betrayals on both sides of the conflict, the chase ends at a Puerto Vallarta harbor, and a yacht called the "Matador" according to Cole. Dani and Cole shoot it out with O'Malley's soldiers and leave the boat a flaming wreck (and Dani beside himself at the loss of the money). But Cole reveals he lied about the boat name to mislead and eliminate O'Malley: the fortune was actually stashed on a rickety old fishing boat called the "Gunmen." The heroes agree to split the money and sail into the sunset.

Reception

Gunmen received negative reviews from critics and currently holds a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Widescreen availability

There are two known DVD versions of Gunmen which present the film in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio: The Japanese release from Columbia Tristar and a Hungarian version released as "Fenegyerekek". All other versions of the film are only presented in a cropped 1.33:1 format.

External links