Shoot to Kill (1988)

An FBI agent teams up with a tracker to pursue a murderer after he vanishes into the mountains and infiltrates a hiking group.

Director:

Roger Spottiswoode

Writers:

Harv Zimmel (story), Harv Zimmel (screenplay)

Stars:

Sidney Poitier, Tom Berenger, Kirstie Alley

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sidney Poitier	...	Warren Stantin
Tom Berenger	...	Jonathan Knox
Kirstie Alley	...	Sarah Rennell
Clancy Brown	...	Steve
Richard Masur	...	Norman
Andrew Robinson	...	Harvey
Kevin Scannell	...	Ben
Frederick Coffin	...	Ralph
Michael MacRae	...	Fournier
Robert Lesser	...	Minelli
Milton Selzer	...	Mr. Berger
Les Lannom	...	Sheriff Arnett
Walter Marsh	...	Sam Baker
Frank C. Turner	...	Crilly
Sam Hiona	...	Inspector Hsu (as Samuel Hiona)

Storyline

Sidney Poitier returned to the big screen in this action-thriller, after a decade-long absence. When a cunning murderer vanishes into the rugged mountains of the Pacific Northwest, pursuing FBI agent Warren Stantin (Poitier) must exchange familiar city streets for unknown wilderness trails. Completely out of his element, Stantin is forced to enlist the aid of expert tracker Jonathan Knox (PLATOON'S Tom Berenger). The killer has infiltrated a guided hiking trip led by Knox's girlfriend Sarah (Kirstie Alley, at the height of her Cheers fame). Viewers don't know which of the hikers is the killer, and the tension lasts well into the movie.

---

Plot Keywords:

mountain | hiking | wilderness | fbi | pacific northwest | 

---

Taglines:

A ruthless killer. A beautiful hostage. Two men follow them into the mountains. One for love. One for revenge.

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 February 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mountain Man

Filming Locations:

Buntzen Lake, Anmore, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Gross USA:

$29,300,090

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Silver Screen Partners III, Century Park Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sidney Poitier's first acting role in 10 years.

---

Goofs

When the jeweler wraps the diamonds, the bag is open at both ends, and is essentially too pieces of cloth tied together (which is why some diamonds fall out when he picks it up). For the rest of the film, the bag is a proper bag made of a completely different material.

---

Quotes

Jonathan Knox: [when Stantin complains over the differences between the country and the city] Tell me something; What would you miss, beside telephones?
Warren Stantin: Everything!

---

Connections

Referenced in MacGyver: The Invisible Killer (1989)

---

Soundtracks

I Love A Parade
Lyrics by Ted Koehler
Music by Harold Arlen
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Music

User Reviews

Some Inconvenient Allies

After an eleven year absence from the screen, Sidney Poitier chose to return in an action/adventure film where he plays an FBI agent in search of a killer.

He's got good reason to want this guy bad. His quarry is ruthless and kills without mercy. Poitier loses a hostage and the ransom he's asked for. But some good detective work has traced the man to a remote part of the Pacific Northwest.

Where the perpetrator has killed again and joined a party of dry fly fishermen being guided by Kirstie Alley into the rugged mountains. No place for a city kid like Poitier, says mountaineer/hermit Tom Berenger who has the prerequisite skills to get the job done. These two are forced into an alliance of inconvenience.

The best thing I liked about Shoot To Kill is the guessing game we play for the identity of the perpetrator. Any one of the five men in Kirstie Alley's party could have been the killer. Look at the cast list and you'll recognize a few names who've played some pretty loathsome villains in the past. The identity is revealed suddenly and quite shockingly.

What I didn't like with Shoot To Kill is the fact that the final confrontation with the perpetrator is in big city Vancouver where he's escaped with Alley. He needed her in the woods, not any longer, she should have wound up dead. And Berenger and Poitier should have confronted him in the woods.

That script decision made the climax a rather ordinary one that you see in a whole lot of police chase films. Still all the players do fine here, my favorite being Kirstie Alley as the woods smart guide.