Gotcha! (1985)

Jonathan plays a game called Gotcha in which he hunts and is hunted by other students with paint guns. After a big win, he goes off for a vacation in France where he meets the sexy Sasha ... See full summary »

Director:

Jeff Kanew

Writers:

Paul G. Hensler (story), Dan Gordon (story),

Stars:

Anthony Edwards, Linda Fiorentino, Jsu Garcia

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Edwards	...	Jonathan
Linda Fiorentino	...	Sasha
Jsu Garcia	...	Manolo (as Nick Corri)
Alex Rocco	...	Al
Marla Adams	...	Maria
Klaus Löwitsch	...	Vlad (as Klaus Loewitsch)
Christopher Rydell	...	Bob Jensen
Christie Claridge	...	Girl Student
Brad Cowgill	...	Reilly
Kari Lizer	...	Muffy
David Wohl	...	Professor
Irene Olga López	...	Rosario
Bernard Spiegel	...	Taxi Driver
Muriel Dubrule	...	Paris Blonde
Tiina Maria	...	Heidi

Storyline

Jonathan plays a game called Gotcha in which he hunts and is hunted by other students with paint guns. After a big win, he goes off for a vacation in France where he meets the sexy Sasha who says she is only interested in him because he is a virgin. She takes him with her to East Germany where they are separated and he has to escape back to the west on his own, all the while being trailed by East German spies. He arrives home only to find the game is still going on, and a canister of film is in his backpack. Then Sasha re-appears.

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Plot Keywords:

game | spy | role playing game | punk | cold war | 

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Taglines:

Meet Jonathan. A college student who loves girls, games & gunplay. This year, on vacation in Paris, he's going to find out about all three. For real!

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Mystery | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Russian French

Release Date:

3 May 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bang du er død

Filming Locations:

Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Gross:

$8,800,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's score was composed by Bill Conti, who had in recent times, about four years earlier, composed the music score for the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only. That was the only Bond score Conti ever composed. Parts of his score for Gotcha! evoke that Bond score making the music in the two movies unique companion pieces.

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Goofs

When leaving the DDR by foot the border guard asks Jonathon "What was your purpose of visit to East Berlin?" - East Berlin was never referred to as "East" by the DDR as this would lend recognition to the occupying forces of the other side - they would have said just "Berlin" or "Berlin Haupstadt der DDR" (capital of the DDR)- they referred to West Berlin as "Westberlin" or "Berlin (west)"

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Quotes

Waiter: Avec de l'eau?
Jonathan: A Victor who?
Waiter: With water?

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Connections

Referenced in Anmäld försvunnen (1986)

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Soundtracks

"Wouldn't It Be Good"
Performed by Nik Kershaw
Courtesy of MCA Records, Inc.

User Reviews

Great Surprise

I cannot say that this is one of the best movies ever, not even a great film or an undeniable mark on its genre, but sometimes there is a movie that without an apparent reason we happen to enjoy it very much. I really found `Gotcha!' to be a very impressive movie, especially because I was waiting to see nothing more than another teen movie full of unremarkable sex quotes.

Unfortunately, that is the way `Gotcha!' is usually promoted, regardless of being one of the funnier movies of the decade. The storyline is great and indeed reminds the brilliant and (I must say) superior `After Hours', but somehow it has its originality in never before seen action and suspense sequences.

Anthony Edwards, who would later play one of the leads in `ER', does a great job as the central character Jonathan Moore. Linda Fiorentino proved here to be a talented actress and Klaus Loewitsch is impressive as the leader of the `bad guys'. See it, if you have the chance.

My personal rating: ***1/2 out of ****