The Big Hit (1998)

Director:

Kirk Wong

Writer (WGA):

Ben Ramsey (written by)

Release Date:

24 April 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Hit Happens

Plot:

To payoff his second girlfriend's debt, hitman Melvin Smiley undertakes a kidnapping job with his usual associates...

Plot Keywords:

Hitman | Kidnapping | Video Store | Kosher | Jewish

Cast

Mark Wahlberg	...	Melvin Smiley
Lou Diamond Phillips	...	Cisco
Christina Applegate	...	Pam Shulman
Avery Brooks	...	Paris
Bokeem Woodbine	...	Crunch
Antonio Sabato Jr.	...	Vince
China Chow	...	Keiko Nishi
Lainie Kazan	...	Jeanne Shulman
Elliott Gould	...	Morton Shulman
Sab Shimono	...	Jiro Nishi
Robin Dunne	...	Gump
Lela Rochon	...	Chantel
Danny Smith	...	Video Store Kid
Joshua Peace	...	Lance
David Usher	...	Sergio
Hardee T. Lineham	...	Accountant
Gerry Mendicino	...	Slave Trader
Robert Eaton	...	Pimp (as Robert Vernon Eaton)
John Stoneham Sr.	...	Pimp
Nicola Jones	...	Blonde
Alexa Gilmour	...	Aly - Keiko's Friend
John Stocker	...	Sid Mussberger - The Neighbor
Cotton Mather	...	Moe
Derrek Peels	...	Windbush
Tig Fong	...	Kaya
Danny Lima	...	Aaron - The Limo Driver
Morgan Freeman	...	Boy in Hotel Lobby
Giovahann White	...	Paris' Son
Robert Hannah	...	Paris' Driver (as Bobby Hannah)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Terrence Baker	...	Guard (uncredited)
Matt Birman	...	Theater Thug (uncredited)
Jordan-Patrick Marcantonio	...	Extra (uncredited)
Layton Morrison	...	Guard (uncredited)

Directed by
Kirk Wong		(as Che-Kirk Wong)

Writing credits (WGA)
Ben Ramsey		(written by)

Produced by
Terence Chang	....	executive producer
John M. Eckert	....	executive producer
Roger Garcia	....	co-producer
Victor McGauley	....	co-producer
Craig Perry	....	co-producer
Wesley Snipes	....	producer
John Woo	....	executive producer
Warren Zide	....	producer

Original Music by
Graeme Revell

Cinematography by
Danny Nowak		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Robin Russell
Pietro Scalia

Casting by
Roger Mussenden

Production Design by
Taavo Soodor

Art Direction by
Craig Lathrop
Andrew M. Stearn		(as Andrew Stearn)

Set Decoration by
Enrico Campana

Costume Design by
Margaret Mohr

Makeup Department
James D. Brown	....	key hair stylist
Paula Fleet	....	assistant hair stylist
Donald Mowat	....	key makeup artist (as Donald J. Mowat)
Edelgard K. Pfluegl	....	assistant makeup artist (as Edelgard Pfluegl)
Colin Penman	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)

Production Management
John M. Eckert	....	unit production manager
Pasia Schonberg	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Patrick Arias	....	third assistant director
Jeff J.J. Authors	....	first assistant director (as Jeff Authors)
Chris Baillie	....	dgc trainee
Harley Cohen	....	dgc trainee
G. Michael Currie	....	assistant director
Eric S. Potechin	....	second assistant director (as Eric Potechin)

Art Department
John Bannister	....	scenic artist
Ronald Bunt	....	head carpenter (as Ron Bunt)
David Orin Charles	....	second lead set dresser
Sheila Church	....	art department coordinator
Janet Cormack	....	scenic artist
Jim Craig	....	storyboard artist (as James Craig)
Malcolm Davis	....	storyboard artist
David DeMarinis	....	set dresser
Barry Isenor	....	second assistant art director
Mari Laughlen	....	assistant property master
John Mackenzie	....	construction coordinator (as John MacKenzie)
Linda McClelland	....	assistant set decorator (as Linda McLelland)
Melissa Morgan	....	head painter
Jeff Poulis	....	property master (as Jeffrey W. Poulis)
David Ritchie	....	property buyer
Jonathan Savan	....	leadman (as D. Jonathan Savan)
Robert S. Smith	....	stand-by carpenter
Jacques-Alexander Veilleux	....	on-set dresser (as Jacques A. Veilleux)
Peter Legault	....	carpenter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Stephen Barden	....	dialogue editor (as Steve Barden)
Tom Bjelic	....	sound effects editor
Terry Burke	....	foley artist
Keith Elliott	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Keith Elliot)
Douglas Ganton	....	production sound mixer
Sandy Gendler	....	sound designer
David Giammarco	....	adr supervisor
Mark Gingras	....	sound effects editor
Wayne Griffin	....	supervising sound editor
Andy Koyama	....	sound re-recording mixer
Goro Koyama	....	foley artist
Andy Malcolm	....	foley artist
Anna Malkin	....	assistant sound editor
Ron Malligers	....	foley mixer (as Ron Mellegers)
Mark L. Mangino	....	sound effects editor
Michael O'Farrell	....	supervising sound editor
Ron Stermac	....	cable person
Brad Thornton	....	sound re-recording mixer
Reynald Trudel	....	boom operator
Tony Van den Akker	....	foley mixer (as Tony Van Den Akker)
Don White	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gren-Erich Zwicker	....	assistant sound editor
Randolph Saucedo	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Jason Board	....	effects key
Marcel Caissie	....	special effects technician
Daniel Gibson	....	special effects technician (as Dan Gibson)
Warren Keillor	....	special effects props
Gary Kleinsteuber	....	pyrotechnician
Kaz Kobielski	....	special effects supervisor
Mark Lawton	....	special effects technician
Joseph P. Mercurio	....	special effects key (as Joseph Mercurio)
Tony Vandenecker	....	assistant special effects key
Mark Rice	....	special effects technician (uncredited)
Troy Rundle	....	aerial rigging technician (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Berj Bannayan	....	software engineer
Jesse Bradstreet	....	visual effects
Bret Culp	....	senior artist
Colin Cunningham	....	senior 3D animator: C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures
John Fraser	....	digital matte artist
Robbi Hinds	....	director of photography: miniatures and visual effects
Nick Hsieh	....	compositor: C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures
Kelvin Kanagaraj	....	effects animator
Warren J.W. Leathem	....	animator
Mindy Minkow	....	optical camera
Stephen Price	....	visual effects executive producer: C.O.R.E. Digital
Kelley Ray	....	visual effects supervisor: SPI
Michael Lennick	....	motion control (uncredited)
Paul McGhee	....	film scanning and recording (uncredited)
Ray McMillan	....	motion control (uncredited)

Stunts
Lloyd Adams	....	stunts
Roy T. Anderson	....	stunts (as Roy Anderson)
Matt Birman	....	stunts
Bob Brown	....	stunts (as Bobby Brown)
Eric Bryson	....	stunts
Randy Butcher	....	stunts
Shane Cardwell	....	stunts
Michael Chan	....	stunts
Phil Chiu	....	stunts
Wayne Downer	....	stunts
Mary Fallick	....	stunts (as Mary Fallic)
Sandra Feldman	....	stunts
Mike Gow	....	stunts
Brian Jagersky	....	stunts
Erin Jarvis	....	stunts
Loi Kwan Kam	....	stunts (as Kam Loi-Kwan)
Chi-Ho Lau	....	stunt coordinator (as Lau Chi-Ho)
Steve Lucescu	....	stunts
Patrick Mark	....	stunts
Dwayne McLean	....	stunts
Duncan McLeod	....	stunts
Rudyard Moncayo	....	stunts
Regan Moore	....	stunts
Layton Morrison	....	stunts
Panou	....	stunts (as Panou Mowling)
Rick Parker	....	stunts
Edward A. Queffelec	....	stunts (as Ed Queffelec)
Branko Racki	....	stunts
Robert Racki	....	stunts
Bryan Renfro	....	stunts
Kevin Rushton	....	stunts
Robert C. Shannon	....	dive supervisor
John Stoneham Jr.	....	stunt coordinator
Peter Szkoda	....	stunts
Bryan Thomas	....	stunts
Robert Thomas	....	stunts
Tye Tyukodi	....	stunts (as Anton Tyukodi)
Benny Urquidez	....	fight coordinator
Ron Van Hart	....	stunts
Len Wagner	....	stunts
Chun Kang Wang	....	fight coordinator (as Wang Chun-Kang)
Tommy Chang	....	stunts (uncredited)
Hakan Coskuner	....	stunt driving double: Lou Diamond Phillips (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Scotty Allan	....	gaffer
Laurence Bortnick	....	second assistant camera
Carlo Campana	....	dolly grip
Dennis Daigle	....	camera car operator
Roger Finlay	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
David Harcourt	....	aerial rigger
John Holosko	....	director of photography: second unit/helicopter unit
David Kellner	....	best boy (as Dave Kellner)
Mike Kirilenko	....	key grip (as Michael Kirilenko)
Bruce Macaulay	....	still photographer
Christopher Nethercoat	....	key rigging grip
Ted Overton	....	first assistant camera: second camera
Peter Rosenfeld	....	camera operator
Ray Wong Che Wai	....	camera operator: "b" camera (as Ray Che-Wai Wong)
Ron Yolevsky	....	second grip
Robbi Hinds	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)

Casting Department
Maria Armstrong	....	casting: Canada
Karen Church	....	casting associate: Los Angeles
Jeff Marshall	....	casting associate: Canada
Jane Rogers	....	extras casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Quita Alfred	....	wardrobe supervisor
Pauline Chung	....	wardrobe assistant
Linda Petty	....	key wardrobe

Editorial Department
Shelley Croft	....	second assistant film editor
Chris Hinton	....	color timer
Russell Langille	....	second assistant film editor
Catherine Rankin	....	negative cutter
Ron Wisman Jr.	....	first assistant film editor
Chisako Yokoyama	....	first assistant film editor
Vaughan Killin	....	co-color timer (uncredited)
Fulvio Valsangiacomo	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Mark Curry	....	scoring mixer (as Mark Currie)
Pilar McCurry	....	music supervisor
Denise Okimoto	....	assistant music editor
David E. Russo	....	orchestrator (as David Russo)
Melodee Sutton	....	music coordinator
Brian Williams	....	music designer
Joshua Winget	....	music editor
Ashley Revell	....	assistant music editor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Fred Ionson	....	transportation captain
Bruce Raymer	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Samantha Armstrong	....	script supervisor
John 'Frenchie' Berger	....	gun supervisor (as John Berger)
Celeste Butt	....	assistant location manager
Darryl Chan	....	trainer: Lou Diamond Phillips
Fernando DaSilva	....	production assistant (as Fernando Da Silva)
Dorigen Fode	....	location manager
Lori Greenberg	....	production coordinator
Melissa Hall	....	assistant production coordinator
Steve Holt	....	on-set medic
Cynthia Lejeune	....	assistant accountant (as Cynthia Le Jeune)
David McIlroy	....	production assistant
Peter Phillips	....	armorer
Catherine Sample	....	production assistant
Karen Sharp	....	assistant accountant
Misha Skoric	....	production assistant
Dave Ian Smith	....	fire protection & safety
Alan Sutton	....	fire protection & safety
Lori Tilkin	....	assistant: Mr. Chang
Dave Tommasini	....	helicopter pilot
Karen Tyrell	....	unit publicist
Benny Urquidez	....	fight trainer: Mark Wahlberg
Nick Veziris	....	gun wrangler
Carole Wattles	....	production accountant (as Carole A. Wattles)
David Krae	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• TriStar Pictures (presents)
• Amen Ra Films
• Zide-Perry Productions
• Lion Rock Productions

Distributors

• TriStar Pictures (1998) (USA) (theatrical) (as TriStar a Sony Pictures Entertainment company)
• Columbia TriStar Films (1998) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films (1998) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films de España (199?) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Falcon (199?) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (1999) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (1999) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1999) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (1999) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (1999) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-Ray Disc)
• V8 (2001) (Netherlands) (TV)

Special Effects

• C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures (digital visual effects and animation)
• D. Rez Hollywood (digital visual effects and animation) (as D.Rez)
• JJamb Productions (miniatures)
• Martin Malivoire Pictures (special effects) (as Malivoire Pictures Inc.)
• Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI) (digital visual effects and animation)

Other Companies

• 1st Unit Fire & Safety  fire protection
• 1st Unit Fire & Safety  safety
• Cinema Research  titles and opticals
• DeLuxe Laboratories  color timing (as Deluxe Toronto)
• DeLuxe Toronto  sound re-recording
• Deluxe Post-Production  post-production facilities
• Panavision  cameras and lenses
• Panavision  cameras and lenses
• TVT Soundtrax  soundtrack
• William F. White International  grip and lighting equipment

Also Known As:

"Warheads" - Asia (English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, pervasive language and some sexuality

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | France:U | Germany:18 | Mexico:C | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #35552) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Hong Kong:III | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | Philippines:R-18 | Germany:16 (cut) | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:M (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Company:

TriStar Pictures

Trivia:

China Chow who plays Keiko Nishi, despite claiming to have not cooked before (in the kitchen scene) is in real life the daughter of famous restaurateur, Michael Chow.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: When Chantel is pulling away with Sergio.

Quotes:

Melvin:Understand this, okay? I absolutely, positively cannot be the only person falling head over heels in love in this relationship. It's got to be mutual.

Movie Connections:

References Very Bad Things (1998)

Soundtrack:

Someone to Call My Own

If you think the movie was supposed to be serious, you missed the point...

I had absolutely no idea that this movie was supposed to be a silly, spoofy action film when I saw it at the theater. The first 10 minutes makes this perfectly clear. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie for just being "guilty pleasure" escapist entertainment. Yes the movie is silly and corny - but that was the intent of the film.

Its more than understandable that this movie isn't for everybody, either you love it or hate it. However, if you watched the movie and took it seriously (ie the breakdancing during the first 'hit'), then you definitely missed the point. 8 out of 10.