Eraser (1996)

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

Director:

Chuck Russell (as Charles Russell)

Writers:

Tony Puryear (story), Walon Green (story)

Stars:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vanessa Williams, James Caan

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	U.S. Marshal John 'The Eraser' Kruger
James Caan	...	U.S. Marshal Robert DeGuerin
Vanessa Williams	...	Lee Cullen
James Coburn	...	WitSec Chief Beller
Robert Pastorelli	...	Johnny Casteleone
James Cromwell	...	William Donohue
Danny Nucci	...	WitSec Deputy Monroe
Andy Romano	...	Undersecretary of Defense Daniel Harper
Nick Chinlund	...	WitSec Agent Calderon
Michael Papajohn	...	WitSec Agent Schiffer
Joe Viterelli	...	Tony Two-Toes
Mark Rolston	...	J. Scar
John Slattery	...	FBI Agent Corman
Robert Miranda	...	Frediano
Roma Maffia	...	Claire Isaacs

Storyline

U.S. Marshal deputy John Kruger is one of the toughest Marshals, his methods are to "Erase" The identities of his witnesses he is assigned to protect. Meanwhile, a woman named Lee Cullen who works for a corporation named Cyrez performed an undercover job for the FBI to unveil a top secret weapon which uses an electromagnetic pulse to dispatch targets. Cyrez discovered this about Lee and are now out to kill her, Kruger's job is now to protect Lee so she can testify against Cyrez. But, when Kruger was assigned to perform a job with another Marshal named Robert Deguerin, he discovers that Deguerin is behind some kind of scam that will involve the EM Gun, which will change hands to a Russian criminal if Kruger does not stop them, Kruger must not only protect Lee's life but his own.

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Plot Keywords:

witness protection program | rogue agent | fbi | treason | railgun | 

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Taglines:

He will erase your past to protect your future.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violent action throughout and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 June 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Eraser

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$24,566,446, 23 June 1996, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$101,295,562

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$242,295,562

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kopelson Entertainment, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In total, Arnold Schwarzenegger was strapped into ten kinds of flying rigs for nearly a week of filming.

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Goofs

Near the beginning of the film, when Kruger is changing the dental records, he uses a graphics tablet and pen instead of a mouse. When he moves the second set of details from right to left, you see him move the pen on the tablet across the middle in one straight, horizontal line but the image on the screen moves from top right diagonally downwards. Unlike when using a mouse, graphics tablets map the screen area exactly, so his pen movement should have copied exactly what we saw on the monitor.

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Quotes

Robert: I want this town locked up so tight, it'll make his balls ache.

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Alternate Versions

In later versions of the movie, the reference of UBS meaning "Union de Bank Swiss" is changed to "United Bank of Syria."

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Eraser/Wallace and Gromit: The Best of Aardman Animation/The Hunchback of Notre Dame/Lone Star/Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud (1996)

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Soundtracks

Caught A Train
Written and Produced by Trevor Rabin

User Reviews

Exciting action with Arnold

Chuck Russel's Eraser is exploding and intense action film starring Arnold Scwarzenegger as secret government officer, who "erases" people i.e. destroys their past in order to save their future. He gets to erase an important witness (Vanessa Williams) who knows about her company's illegal activities as it sells guns to foreigners. The film is full of action and mayhem, which is great since hardboiled action films are not made too often in Hollywood anymore.

There are hardly any stops throughout the movie and the viewer should not be bored, at least I wasn't now that I watched the movie for the second time. It looks fantastic in its original widescreen format, and this is definitely among Arnold's more noteworthy performances and proves the talent of director Chuck (Scorpion King, Elm Street 3) Russell.

There are many effects that look pretty realistic and the crocodile shoot out is one memorable scene, and maybe that is the screenwriters' comment on zoos' that don't feed their animals sufficiently as the crocodiles are VERY hungry and fierce for food! Also, there is one over the top airplane scene, that really grabs an attention. The actors are great throughout the film and James Caan doesn't make an exception. The finale is perhaps little too familiar and relies on gun fights and explosions, but still, as a whole, I found this film very pleasant experience in its own genre. It is not the greatest action film ever made in Hollywood, but it is one of the most interesting US action films of the 90's.

7/10