Man on Fire (1987)

An ex-CIA agent is hired to protect the daughter of a rich American family.

Director:

Élie Chouraqui

Writers:

A.J. Quinnell (novel), Élie Chouraqui (screenplay),

Stars:

Scott Glenn, Jade Malle, Joe Pesci

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Scott Glenn	...	Creasy
Jade Malle	...	Samantha
Joe Pesci	...	David
Brooke Adams	...	Jane
Jonathan Pryce	...	Michael
Paul Shenar	...	Ettore
Danny Aiello	...	Conti
Laura Morante	...	Julia
Giancarlo Prati	...	Satta
Inigo Lezzi	...	Bellu
Alessandro Haber	...	Sandri
Franco Trevisi	...	Rabbia
Lou Castel	...	Violente
Lorenzo Piani	...	Bruno
Giuseppe Cederna	...	Snake

Storyline

An ex-CIA agent is hired to protect the daughter of a rich American family.

---

Plot Keywords:

agent | friendship | terrorist | bodyguard | italy | 

---

Taglines:

For an ex-CIA agent, the job of bodyguard for a twelve-year old girl should have been a breeze...

---

Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French English Italian

Release Date:

4 September 1987 (France)

Also Known As:

Absinthe

Filming Locations:

Lake Como, Lombardia, Italy

Box Office

Gross:

$519,596 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

7 Films Cinéma, Cima Produzioni, France 3 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 87 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tony Scott was originally slated to direct. But the studio balked because at the time they felt he was not accomplished enough to pull off the project. He would go on to direct the remake Man on Fire.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Creasy: And so. That's how I ended. A stiff in a body bag.

---

Connections

Referenced in Vengeance Is Mine: Reinventing 'Man on Fire' (2005)

---

Soundtracks

"Someone to Watch Over Me"
Words and Music by George Gershwin (as George) and Ira Gershwin
Published by 'WB Music Corp. [us]' All Rights Reserved

User Reviews

Gritty European Style

Man On Fire is a pretty good movie. On the grittiness level, I would give it a ten. It is gritty. It is mean. It is the kind of movie that is good suspense and entertainment. But the "European Style" ruins parts of the movie. There are crucial scenes (like the ending), where the director cuts away to something else, and you never see what happened. That is a typical trait of the European style of movie-making, and it is highly annoying to be cheated out of the climax of some of the action sequences. So you have to guess what happened by watching the next scenes and discovering which characters are still alive and which ones have been killed or hospitalized. Except for this major issue, I like this movie a lot. It has a lot of power which comes from the under-stated acting of Scott Glenn. Because he is not a muscular athletic action star his predicaments are more realistic and the danger feels more real. Glenn and his co-stars do a good job of under-acting. One of the best things about Man on Fire is that the events unfold in an exciting manner because all of the actors are very subdued and natural. The cast is made up of outstanding actors.