Enemy of the State (1998)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Tony Scott

Writer (WGA):

David Marconi (written by)

Release Date:

20 November 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

It's not paranoia if they're really after you.

Plot:

A lawyer becomes a target by a corrupt politician and his NSA goons when he accidentally receives key evidence to a serious politically motivated crime.

Plot Keywords:

NSA | Murder | Surveillance | Evidence | Washington D.C.

Awards:

5 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Will Smith	...	Robert Clayton Dean
Gene Hackman	...	Brill
Jon Voight	...	Reynolds
Lisa Bonet	...	Rachel Banks
Regina King	...	Carla Dean
Stuart Wilson	...	Congressman Albert
Laura Cayouette	...	Christa Hawkins
Loren Dean	...	Hicks
Barry Pepper	...	Pratt
Ian Hart	...	Bingham
Jake Busey	...	Krug
Scott Caan	...	Jones
Jason Lee	...	Zavitz
Gabriel Byrne	...	Brill
James LeGros	...	Jerry Miller (as James Le Gros)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and violence.

Runtime:

132 min | USA:140 min (extended version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #36342) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Ontario) (video rating) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | South Korea:15 | Canada:AA (Ontario) (original rating) | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:12 (re-rating) | Netherlands:16 (video rating) | Philippines:PG-13 | New Zealand:M | Brazil:14 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIB | Italy:T | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

The picture of a younger Gene Hackman shown in a white shirt and tie, supposedly from his NSA file, is actually taken from The Conversation (1974). In that film Hackman also plays a surveillance expert who, like his character Brill in this movie, has his workplace in an industrial warehouse.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the chase scene in the rail yard, the full size Ford Bronco rolls several times. Toward the end of the roll, it is no longer a Bronco, but a pick-up truck as you can see the truck bed and roll bar in the back.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Congressman Phillip Hammersley: Come on. Come on, mutt. Now, look at that ball. All right. Come on, get that ball. Ah!

Movie Connections:

References James and the Giant Peach (1996)

Soundtrack:

6 Underground

Gripping - Got My Attention

I stumbled onto this thriller while channel surfing in an Istanbul hotel room. I missed the first 20 minutes, but it didn't take long to be drawn into the story. In fact, the action is so fast and gripping that I didn't dare get up to take a pee for fear of missing something. Now that's gripping!

Earlier today I saw a report on cameras no larger than the size of a pill that can make a movie of your digestive tract, from mouth to anus. Now if such miniature devices are already a reality, then some of the tracking technology used in this film must be close to reality - maybe too close for comfort.