Rules of Engagement (2000)

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers (WGA):

James Webb (story)
Stephen Gaghan (screenplay)

Release Date:

31 March 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller | War

Tagline:

A hero should never have to stand alone.

Plot:

An attorney defends an officer on trial for ordering his troops to fire on civilians after they stormed a U.S. embassy in a third world country.

Plot Keywords:

Dead Children | What Happened To Epilogue | Colonel | Demonstration | Embassy

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones	...	Col. Hayes 'Hodge' Hodges
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Col. Terry L. Childers
Guy Pearce	...	Maj. Mark Biggs
Ben Kingsley	...	Ambassador Mourain
Bruce Greenwood	...	National Security Advisor Bill Sokal
Anne Archer	...	Mrs. Mourain
Blair Underwood	...	Capt. Lee
Philip Baker Hall	...	Gen. H. Lawrence Hodges
Dale Dye	...	Gen. Perry
Amidou	...	Dr. Ahmar
Mark Feuerstein	...	Tom Chandler
Richard McGonagle	...	Judge Col. E. Warner
Baoan Coleman	...	Col. Binh Le Cao
Nicky Katt	...	Hayes Hodges III
Ryan Hurst	...	Capt. Hustings
Gordon Clapp	...	Harris
Hayden Tank	...	Justin Mourain
Ahmed Abounouom	...	Jimi
William Gibson	...	Hodges' Radioman
Tuan Tran	...	Translator
John Speredakos	...	Lawyer
Scott Alan Smith	...	Another Lawyer
Jihane Kortobi	...	Little Girl
David Lewis Hays	...	NCO Bailiff
Peter Tran	...	Col. Cao's Radioman
Bonnie Johnson	...	Mary Hodges
Jason C. West	...	Childers' Radioman
Mohamed Attifi	...	Tariq
Zouheir Mohamed	...	Aziz
Chris Ufland	...	Ambassador Aide
Thom Barry	...	Gen. West, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
Kevin Cooney	...	Gen. Laurie
Helen Manning	...	Sarah Hodges
David Graf	...	ARG Commander
Conrad Bachmann	...	Secretary of Defense Wyatt
Aziz Assimi	...	Little Boy
Robert Pentz Jr.	...	Courtroom Spectator
Laird Macintosh	...	Radio Operator, Gen. Perry's Cadre
Baouyen C. Bruyere	...	Col. Cao's Granddaughter
Steven M. Gagnon	...	Juror #1
Richard Whiten	...	Juror #2 (as Richard F. Whiten)
Thomas Knickerbocker	...	Juror #3 (as Tom Knickerbocker)
Terry Bozeman	...	Juror #4
Mary Wickliffe	...	Juror #5
Jody Wood	...	Juror #6
Elayn Taylor	...	Juror #7
Todd Kimsey	...	Officer #1
Stephen Ramsey	...	Officer #3
G. Gordon Liddy	...	Talk Show Host (voice)
Mike Stokey	...	Gen. Perry's Cadre
Jack Galle	...	Gen. Perry's Cadre
John Barnett	...	Gen. Perry's Cadre
Mike Bedmiston	...	Gen. Perry's Cadre
Michael Gerald	...	Gen. Perry's Cadre (as Mike Gerald)
Freddie Joe Farnsworth	...	Gen. Perry's Cadre
Dennis Fitzgerald	...	Gen. Perry's Cadre
Jim Boensch	...	Gen. Perry's Cadre
Brian Maynard	...	Gen. Perry's Cadre
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joseph Aguilar	...	Naval Officer (uncredited)
Johnny Alonso	...	Spitting Protestor (uncredited)
Benjamin Busch	...	Marine (uncredited)
Dani Englander	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Lawrence Larsen	...	Officer #2 (uncredited)
LauraLee O'Shell	...	Reporter (uncredited)

Directed by
William Friedkin

Writing credits (WGA)
James Webb		(story)
Stephen Gaghan		(screenplay)

Produced by
Scott Rudin	....	producer
Arne Schmidt	....	co-producer (as Arne L. Schmidt)
Adam Schroeder	....	executive producer
James Webb	....	executive producer
Richard D. Zanuck	....	producer

Original Music by
Mark Isham

Cinematography by
William A. Fraker		(director of photography)
Nicola Pecorini		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Augie Hess

Casting by
Denise Chamian

Production Design by
Robert W. Laing		(as Robert Laing)

Art Direction by
William Cruse

Costume Design by
Gloria Gresham

Makeup Department
Allan A. Apone	....	makeup artist: Mr. Jackson
John Blake	....	makeup artist: Mr. Jones
Cydney Cornell	....	hair stylist: Mr. Jones
Zoltan Elek	....	makeup artist (as Zoltan)
Gail Rowell-Ryan	....	key hair stylist (as Gail Ryan)
Robert Ryan	....	key makeup artist
Robert L. Stevenson	....	hair stylist: Mr. Jackson (as Robert Louis Stevenson)
Brian Penikas	....	prosthetic makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Roberto Malerba	....	unit production manager
Richard H. Prince	....	unit production manager
Carlos H. Sánchez	....	production supervisor (as Carlos H. Sanchez)
Arne Schmidt	....	unit production manager (as Arne L. Schmidt)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Newt Arnold	....	first assistant director
J. Michael Haynie	....	first assistant director
Martin Jedlicka	....	second assistant director
Michael Salven	....	second second assistant director
Ali Cherkaoui	....	second assistant director: Morocco (uncredited)

Art Department
Scott M. Anderson	....	assistant property master
Barry Bedig	....	property master
Rick Simpson	....	supervising set decorator
Youssef Abagourram	....	assistant construction manager (uncredited)
Kirsten Anderson	....	construction accountant (uncredited)
Carl Catanese	....	set dresser: Virginia (uncredited)
Eric Hunsaker	....	set dresser (uncredited)
William S. Maxwell III	....	lead man (uncredited)
Luigi Mugavero	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Dennis Murray	....	head plasterer (uncredited)
Andy Nicholson	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Amin Rharda	....	assistant production buyer (uncredited)
John A. Scott III	....	lead man (uncredited)
Christopher Woodworth	....	lead painter (uncredited)
Christopher Woodworth	....	scenic supervisor (uncredited)

Sound Department
Steve Boeddeker	....	sound designer
Steve Boeddeker	....	supervising sound editor
Beau Borders	....	assistant sound editor
Scott Curtis	....	foley editor
Dean Drabin	....	adr mixer
Thom 'Coach' Ehle	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby (as Tom 'Coach' Ehle)
Ronald Eng	....	sound editor (as Ron Eng)
Roger Fearing	....	assistant sound editor
Tammy Fearing	....	foley editor
Dana LeBlanc Frankley	....	assistant sound editor (as Dana Le Blanc)
Robin Harlan	....	foley artist
Courtenay Marvin	....	assistant sound editor
Sarah Monat	....	foley artist
Kevin O'Connell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Michael A. Patillo	....	boom operator
Carin Rogers	....	dialogue editor
Greg P. Russell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gary Rydstrom	....	sound design consultant
Christopher Scarabosio	....	sound editor (as Chris Scarabosio)
Randy Singer	....	foley mixer (as Randy K. Singer)
Thomas W. Small	....	supervising foley editor (as Tom Small)
Mike Szakmeister	....	supervising sound editor
Robert Ulrich	....	supervising adr editor
Russell Williams II	....	sound mixer
Kerry Dean Williams	....	supervising adr editor (as Kerry Williams)
Ronald L. Wright	....	utility sound
Petra Bach	....	adr editor (uncredited)
Tom Caton	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Hanson Hsu	....	sound engineer (uncredited)
Fred Peck III	....	sound re-recordist (uncredited)
Karym Ronda	....	sound assistant (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Terry Erickson	....	special effects technician
Paul J. Lombardi	....	special effects supervisor (as Paul Lombardi)
Scott Roark	....	special effects
Parry Willard	....	special effects technician
Dick Wood	....	special effects coordinator (as Richard S. Wood)
Michael J. Hudson	....	special effects technician (uncredited)
Scott D. Mattson	....	special effects office coordinator (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Denise Ballantyne	....	visual effects producer: Digital Domain
Eric Barba	....	digital artist: Digital Domain
Jay Barton	....	digital artist: Digital Domain
Nancy Bernstein	....	visual effects producer: Digital Domain
Robert Feng	....	visual effects production assistant: Digital Domain
Claas Henke	....	digital compositing supervisor: Digital Domain
Jon Jacobsen	....	visual effects production assistant: Digital Domain
Jeffrey Kalmus	....	digital imaging supervisor: Digital Domain
Michael Kanfer	....	creative imaging supervisor: Digital Domain (as Michael D. Kanfer)
Kelly L'Estrange	....	digital production manager: Digital Domain
Christine Lo	....	digital artist: Digital Domain
Martha Snow Mack	....	digital artist: Digital Domain
Joel Román Mendías	....	visual effects coordinator: Digital Domain (as Joel Roman Mendias)
Rebecca Misiorowski	....	visual effects accountant: Digital Domain
Howie Muzika	....	digital artist: Digital Domain
Erik Nash	....	visual effects supervisor: Digital Domain
Lou Pecora	....	digital artist: Digital Domain
Dennis 'wiz' Price	....	digital artist: Digital Domain (as Dennis Price)
Carey Villegas	....	digital artist: Digital Domain (as Carey Grant Villegas)
Byron Werner	....	digital artist: Digital Domain
Debra Wolff	....	visual effects editor: Digital Domain
Ralph Maiers	....	composite supervisor: Cinema Research Corp./D-rez (uncredited)
Eric Pham	....	visual effects artist: Cinema Research Corp./D-rez (uncredited)
Jason Shea	....	systems administrator: Digital Domain (uncredited)
Kieran Woo	....	production controller: pre-production, Digital Domain (uncredited)

Stunts
Jeffrey J. Dashnaw	....	stunts (as Jeff Dashnaw)
Kiante Elam	....	stunts (as Kianti Elam)
Lance Gilbert	....	stunts
Clifford Happy	....	stunts (as Cliff Happy)
Buddy Joe Hooker	....	stunt coordinator
Chad Randall	....	stunts (as Chad R. Randall)
Dick Ziker	....	stunts
Jon Drew	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dennis Fitzgerald	....	stunts (uncredited)
Clifford Happy	....	stunt double: Tommy Lee Jones (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Pete Cavaciuti	....	camera operator (as Peter Cavaciuti)
Pete Cavaciuti	....	steadicam operator (as Peter Cavaciuti)
Ray De La Motte	....	camera operator (as Ray J. De La Motte)
Stacy De La Motte	....	film loader
Sam Emerson	....	still photographer (as Sam Young Emerson)
Robert Heine	....	first assistant camera
Christopher Lyons	....	chief rigging electrician
William T. McKane	....	chief rigging technician
Mark Meyers	....	dolly grip (as Mark J. Meyers)
Matthew Moriarty	....	second assistant camera
Doug Pentek	....	chief lighting technician (as Douglas J. Pentek)
J. Michael Popovich	....	first company grip
Don Steinberg	....	second assistant camera (as Donny Steinberg)
Wayne Tidwell	....	video assist operator (as Wayne R. Tidwell)
Mark Van Loon	....	camera operator (as Mark R. Van Loon)
Mark Van Loon	....	steadicam operator (as Mark R. Van Loon)
Zoran Veselic	....	first assistant camera
Steve Wolfe	....	film loader
Don Yamasaki	....	assistant chief lighting technician (as Donald M. Yamasaki)
Sam Barnes	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Bryan Booth	....	electrician (uncredited)
Martin Bosworth	....	rigging gaffer (uncredited)
Alessio Bramucci	....	best boy electric (uncredited)
Patrick Bramucci	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Claudio Del Gobbo	....	grip (uncredited)
Daniel Dietrich	....	rigging grip (uncredited)
Ron Goodman	....	camera operator: SpaceCam (uncredited)
Ben D. Griffith Jr.	....	grip (uncredited)
Casey Hall	....	grip (uncredited)
Gene Hara	....	dimmer operator (uncredited)
Matt Hedt	....	rigging electrician (uncredited)
Steve Itano	....	first assistant camera (uncredited)
Charles Laughon	....	video playback operator (uncredited)
Greg Lopez	....	rigging electrician (uncredited)
Patriq Luo	....	electrician (uncredited)
Derek Paulin	....	electrician (uncredited)
Art Schultz	....	rigging electrician (uncredited)
Monte Swann	....	24 frame video operator (uncredited)
Jonathan Sykes	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Stephen Thorp	....	lighting technician (uncredited)
Tammo van Hoorn	....	clapper loader: Morocco (uncredited)
Dale White	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Mark Fincannon	....	location casting
Stacie Goodman	....	casting assistant
Barbara Harris	....	voice casting
Jim Choate	....	local extras casting (uncredited)
Yann Mari Faget	....	casting assistant (uncredited)
Deborah German	....	extras casting (uncredited)
Chris Gray	....	extras casting (uncredited)
Vivienne Williamson	....	extras casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mitchell Ray Kenney	....	costume supervisor (as Mitchell Kenney)
Nina Risolio	....	costumer: Mr. Jones
Deb Dalton	....	costumer (uncredited)
Deborah Pollard Matthews	....	costumer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Terry Haggar	....	color timer
Tracy Carl Joy	....	apprentice film editor
Dana L. Marker	....	negative cutter
Bryan McMahan	....	color timer: digital high definition digital video, Cinema Research Corporation
Darrin Navarro	....	first assistant film editor
Fred C. Vitale	....	assistant film editor
John M. Vitale	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Thomas A. Carlson	....	music editor (as Tom Carlson)
Mark Isham	....	musician: solo trumpet
Stephen Krause	....	music mixer
Stephen Krause	....	music recordist
Andy Brown	....	music contractor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Dusty Saunders	....	transportation coordinator
Austin Thompson	....	transportation captain
Hank Van Apeldoorn	....	transportation: South Carolina
Susan Van Apeldoorn	....	transportation: South Carolina
Hicham Regragui	....	transportation coordinator (uncredited)

Other crew
Amidou	....	assistant: Mr. Friedkin
Bruce Benson	....	helicopter ground coordinator
Brenda Berrisford	....	assistant: Mr. Zanuck
Jennifer Blair	....	assistant production coordinator
John A. Cohen	....	assistant: Scott Rudin (as John Cohen)
Eben Davidson	....	executive assistant: Scott Rudin
Margo Day	....	assistant: Mr. Friedkin (as Margo F. Day)
Dale Dye	....	military advisor (as Captain Dale Dye)
Ben Famiglietti	....	assistant: Scott Rudin
Cliff Fleming	....	helicopter pilot
Cory Fleming	....	helicopter safety
Peter Hansen	....	caterer: pastry chef
Craig Hosking	....	helicopter pilot
David Israel	....	location manager (as David R. Israel)
Nicki McCain	....	first assistant accountant
Angelique Palozzi	....	assistant: Scott Rudin
David Paris	....	helicopter pilot
Nina Saxon	....	title designer: New Wave Entertainment
John T. Scanlon	....	helicopter pilot (as John Scanlon)
Melissa Schuermann	....	production consultant: USN (as Melissa Schuermann)
Jeremy Selman	....	assistant: Scott Rudin
Rick Shuster	....	helicopter pilot
Nanette Siegert	....	production coordinator
Norma Smith	....	production accountant
Philip M. Strub	....	production consultant (as Phil Strub)
Leonard L. Thomas	....	assistant: Samuel L. Jackson (as Leonard Thomas)
P.R. Tooke	....	script supervisor
Andrea Alunni	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Cecilia Alvarenga	....	production coordinator: Morocco (uncredited)
Kelley Baker	....	assistant accountant: Morocco (uncredited)
Giorgio Catalano	....	production accountant assistant (uncredited)
Cullen G. Chambers	....	stand-in: Samuel L. Jackson (uncredited)
Vito Colazzo	....	location manager (uncredited)
David Fencl	....	armorer (uncredited)
Alessandro Fiorito	....	assistant accountant (uncredited)
Marco Giacalone	....	location manager (uncredited)
Thomas Taylor Goodman	....	voice-over (uncredited)
Emmanuelle-Claude Heroux	....	assistant shipping coordinator (uncredited)
Vien Hong	....	adr voice (uncredited)
Tim Monich	....	dialect coach (uncredited)
Enzo Sisti	....	production accountant: Morocco (uncredited)
Tony Swatton	....	knife maker (uncredited)
Will Wallace	....	voice-over artist (uncredited)
Christopher Winsor	....	adr loop group (uncredited)

Thanks
King Mohamed VI	....	thanks (as His Majesty King Mohamed VI of Moracco)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures (presents)
• Seven Arts Productions (as Seven Arts Pictures) (in association with) (presents)
• Dune Films
• Munich Film Partners & Company (MFP) ROE Production
• Roe Productions KG

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (2000) (USA) (theatrical)
• New Films International (2000) (non-USA) (all media)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2000) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• GAGA Communications (2000) (Japan) (theatrical)
• New World Films Internacional S.A. (2000) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Vitória Filmes (2000) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2000) (France) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Pinema (2000) (Turkey) (theatrical)
• Helkon Filmverleih GmbH (2000) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Independent Films (2000) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2000) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2000) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2000) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2001) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2001) (France) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• Yorin (2003) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)
• Paramount Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Fox Crime (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Paramount Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Cinema Research (additional visual effects)
• Digital Domain (special visual effects and digital animation)

Other Companies

• Christopher Gray Casting  extras casting
• Cinema Research  titles and opticals
• Consolidated Film Industries (CFI)  color (as CFI)
• DeLuxe Laboratories  prints
• Elizabeth Bardsley & Associates  research
• Flying Pictures  Gyrosphere aerial camera system provided by
• Global Music Service  music copyist
• In Motion Catering  catering
• London Metropolitan Orchestra, The  score performed by
• Milan Records  soundtrack
• Movie Movers  star trailers
• Movie Movers  transportation
• New Wave Entertainment  title design
• Panavision  cameras and lenses
• Paramount Pictures  digital sound editing
• Spacecam Systems  aerial camera system
• Sunset Digital  high-definition digital color timing (as Sunset Digital Studios)
• Technicolor  dailies
• Technovision USA  additional photographic equipment (as Technovision)
• Warriors  military advice

Also Known As:

Règles d'engagement, Les (Canada: French title)
Rules - Sekunden der Entscheidung (Germany)
Rules of Engagement - Die Regeln des Krieges (Germany) (TV title)

MPAA:

Rated R for scenes of war violence, and for language.

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

USA | Canada | UK | Germany

Language:

English | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Iceland:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:12 (DVD rating) | Netherlands:16 (original rating) | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Alexandria, Virginia, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

When Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones) returns to the bombed-out embassy, there is a picture of then Vice President Al Gore on the charred wall. Gore and Jones were roommates at Harvard.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Hodge is talking to his father in the garage, he screws a wing nut down on the air cleaner of the antique truck twice between shots.

Quotes:

Colonel Terry L. Childers: Waste those motherf*ckers.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Will & Grace: Rules of Engagement (#4.6)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

On the Threshold of Liberty

moronic militaristic propaganda

Big missed opportunity: This could have been an intelligent movie about the fine line between self-defense and murder, the ambiguity in perception and judgement faced by people in dangerous situations(real life example: A Chicago police officer killed a woman who made a false move with a metallic object in her hand--it turned out to be a lock, not a weapon. Was the policewoman guilty of murder? Would we have done the same in her situation?) Instead the director turned this into jingoistic drivel. The portrayal of Arabs/Muslims is a really offensive stereotype: Gun-totin, rock-throwin, jihad-lovin, towel-head fanatics, every last one of them, man, woman, and child. Most disturbing thing about it: