MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Down 408 this week

Spartan (2004)

 -  Action | Crime | Drama  -  12 March 2004 (USA)
6.6
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.6/10 from 21,977 users   Metascore: 60/100
Reviews: 233 user | 113 critic | 34 from Metacritic.com

The investigation into a kidnapping of the daughter of a high-ranking US government official.

Director:

Writer:

Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 10000 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 56 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 2696 titles created 4 months ago
 
a list of 599 images created 6 months ago
 
a list of 155 titles created 15 Dec 2010
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Spartan (2004)

Spartan (2004) on IMDb 6.6/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Spartan.

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Four Brothers (2005)
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

Four brothers look to avenge their mother's death.

Director: John Singleton
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, André Benjamin
Blood Work (2002)
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

Still recovering from a heart transplant, a retired FBI profiler returns to service when his own blood analysis offers clues to the identity of a serial killer.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Jeff Daniels, Anjelica Huston
The Sentinel (2006)
Action | Crime | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6/10 X  

A secret service agent is framed as the mole in an assassination attempt on the president. He must clear his name and foil another assassination attempt while on the run from a relentless FBI agent.

Director: Clark Johnson
Stars: Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

A women suffering from amnesia begins to recover her memories after trouble from her past finds her again.

Director: Renny Harlin
Stars: Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, Yvonne Zima
Backdraft (1991)
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

Two Chicago firefighter brothers who don't get along have to work together while a dangerous arsonist is on the loose.

Director: Ron Howard
Stars: Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert De Niro
Eraser (1996)
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.9/10 X  

A Witness Protection specialist becomes suspicious of his co-workers when dealing with a case involving high-tech weapons.

Director: Chuck Russell
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Caan, Vanessa Williams
Rising Sun (1993)
Crime | Drama | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

At the offices of a Japanese corporation, during a party, a woman, who's evidently a professional mistress, is found dead, apparently after some rough sex. A police detective, Web Smith is ... See full summary »

Director: Philip Kaufman
Stars: Sean Connery, Wesley Snipes, Harvey Keitel
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.9/10 X  

At a time of international incident, the body of a young female staffer is found in a White House wash room. Homicide detective Harlan Regis is called in to investigate the murder only to ... See full summary »

Director: Dwight H. Little
Stars: Wesley Snipes, Diane Lane, Daniel Benzali
The Corruptor (1999)
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.8/10 X  

With the aid from a NYC policeman, a top immigrant cop tries to stop drug-trafficking and corruption by immigrant Chinese Triads, but things complicate when the Triads try to bribe the policeman.

Director: James Foley
Stars: Yun-Fat Chow, Mark Wahlberg, Ric Young
Max Payne (2008)
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.3/10 X  

Coming together to solve a series of murders in New York City are a police detective whose family was slain as part of a conspiracy and an assassin out to avenge her sister's death. The duo will be hunted by the police, the mob, and a ruthless corporation.

Director: John Moore
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

In a desperate attempt to prove his innocence, a skilled police negotiator accused of corruption and murder takes hostages in a government office to gain the time he needs to find the truth.

Director: F. Gary Gray
Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, David Morse
Bullitt (1968)
Action | Mystery | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

An all guts, no glory San Francisco cop becomes determined to find the underworld kingpin that killed the witness in his protection.

Director: Peter Yates
Stars: Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
Cadre Candidate
...
Grace's Aide
Lionel Mark Smith ...
...
...
Cpl. Sattler (as Chris J. Lacentra)
Renato Magno ...
Grossler
Mark FitzGerald ...
Training Facility Guard
Tony Mamet ...
Parker
...
...
Headquarters Agent
...
Gaines (as Stephen Culp)
...
Naylor
Edit

Storyline

Maverick Ranger Scott, known for ruthless, unorthodox methods but good results, is called in to help the secret service after Washington big whig's brat daughter is abducted while studying at Harvard. Scott quickly realizes the protection detail's prime suspect, her boyfriend Michael Blake, is innocent and dumped her for being a drug-addicted slut. Next he traces her to a bordello, only to realize the captors didn't realize who she is but simply recruited her for the Middle Eastern white slavery market, and are likely to dispose of her rather than confront her father. But instead of the support expected in such high-profile case, Scott gets orders to work in secret before the press catches on, and even finds his quest sabotaged. Written by KGF Vissers

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

She's missing.


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

| |  »

Country:

|

Language:

| |

Release Date:

12 March 2004 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Halastamatu  »

Box Office

Budget:

$19,250,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$502,324 (Spain) (9 July 2004)

Gross:

$502,324 (Spain) (9 July 2004)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (DVD)

Sound Mix:

| |

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

David Mamet performed rewrites during production using nothing more than a typewriter on a cardboard box between takes. See more »

Goofs

During the beach house scene, Scott shoots "Essex House Man #1" twice, and the slide on his gun locks back. In the next shot, the slide is locked forward. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Scott: You had your whole life to prepare for this moment. Why aren't you ready?
See more »

Crazy Credits

Bicycle Boy - Camden Munson See more »

Connections

Referenced in The Benchwarmers (2006) See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

 
A thinking person's thriller
16 March 2004 | by (Toronto, Ontario) – See all my reviews

David Mamet first caught my attention when he did a small grifter film called House of Games. It was released three years prior to The Grifters and I am quite certain that The Grifters took a lot of inspiration from House of Games. The Grifters had a high priced cast and more money was spent on the production but it was not quite as good as Mamet's masterpiece. Later, I would learn that Mamet would go on to write some of the best dialogue in all of film with movies like The Untouchables (just like a Wop, brings a knife to a gunfight), The Heist ( everyone loves money, that's why they call it money) and my favourite Mamet film, Glengarry Glenross ( I make $900,000 a year, that's why...). Mamet has a gift for the way people sound and the way they might deliver a line. Spartan continues his trend of interesting and crisp dialogue and fascinating characters. I have to agree with Roger Ebert when he says that this is Val Kilmer's best performance since Tombstone. He nails the character Scott, to a tee. Where as many action thrillers are about guns and explosions and certain bad acting, this is more about the characters. I am not saying that dumb action thrillers aren't fun sometimes, because they are. But if you like films that treat you like you already know what you need to know, and then proceed to show you things that you don't, then Spartan, like The Bourne Identity, is a film that you should enjoy.

Val Kilmer plays perhaps a member of the Secret Service, or perhaps he is just one of those covert operatives that is so good at what he does that he is just an invisible spook who shows up to do a job that others have trouble with. Mamet has given us a character that is so exemplary and pensive and good at what he does that he is the paradigm that all others in his line of work should emulate. There is no hesitation with him. He is driven and he is serious and like The Terminator, he will not stop, ever, until he has finished the job.

In this film, that job is to rescue the president's daughter, who was kidnapped while the Secret Service agent watching over her claims he was sleeping while she disappeared. But what the real reason is we may never know. There is the possibility that her disappearance may have political ramifications that would go as high up as the President himself. It is learned that Laura Newton may have been kidnapped in a scheme that involves an international sex trade with American women. The kidnappers do not know they have the president's daughter. And that may complicate things.

What makes Kilmer's character so fascinating is the way Mamet writes him. This is a man who has seen much and done much and when the time calls for it, he does not hesitate to use whatever force is necessary to acquire information. He hunts down bar owners, prostitution ring leaders and terrorists. He kills death row inmates to get information, he roughs up middle aged women who hold keys to the case and he holds an extreme form or prejudice towards anyone who may be a link in solving the case. This is a job to Scott and he treats it like that. I think this is the fundamental difference in a film like Spartan and many other less intelligent films that try to glamorize political espionage thrillers. This film talks and sounds like you are literally witnessing what happens behind closed doors. It gives you the feeling that what are witnessing is everything that does not get reported in the papers. This is about as raw as it gets and Mamet can take full credit for writing and directing the film as beautifully as he did and Val Kilmer can be proud of what he brought to the table.

This is one of the best films of the young 2004 and while it will be forgotten soon enough, when it comes out on video, it is a film that must be seen.

9/10


80 of 111 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
100 Things I've learnt from SPARTAN hotfuzz101
worst movie ever clinseman
hilarious. (will 'spoil' the movie for you) tomstyle
The Ending Pollux001
A (very specific) question about the end. inspector_todd
movie playing in beach house missmabel
Discuss Spartan (2004) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?