Masterminds (1997)

Trapped in a school in which a gang of criminals has siezed control, a young troublemaker fights a cat and mouse battle from inside.

Director:

Roger Christian

Writers:

Floyd Byars (story), Alex Siskin (story)

Stars:

Patrick Stewart, Vincent Kartheiser, Brenda Fricker

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Stewart	...	Bentley
Vincent Kartheiser	...	Ozzie
Brenda Fricker	...	Principal Maloney
Bradley Whitford	...	Miles (as Brad Whitford)
Matt Craven	...	Jake
Annabelle Gurwitch	...	Helen
Jon Abrahams	...	K-Dog
Katie Stuart	...	Melissa
Michael MacRae	...	Deroy
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Ollie
Earl Pastko	...	Captain Jankel
Jason Schombing	...	Marvin
Michael David Simms	...	Colonel Duke
David Avalon	...	Ferret (as David Paul Grove)
Akiko Morison	...	Janet

Storyline

Oz, a rebellious teenager who just got expelled from his preppy school returns for one final prank. But as he goes to the basement to set things up, he stumbles upon a security consultant, former school employee, that just took the entire school hostage for millions in ransom. Oz must rely on his youth and love for pranks to outwit the devious criminal mastermind.

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Plot Keywords:

rebellious teenager | cigarette smoking | die hard scenario | ransom | hostage | 

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Taglines:

The criminal mastermind of the century just met his match...

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence included in a children hostage situation, and for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 August 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Smart Alec

Filming Locations:

Hatley Castle, Royal Roads, Colwood, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,014,606, 24 August 1997, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$1,890,472, 7 September 1997

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Dunlevy Pictures, Pacific Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kelsey Grammer was the original choice for the villain.

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Goofs

One of the yellow vans used by Rafe's men to gain access to the school is seen parked by the front of the school when Ozzie drops off her sister. A couple scenes later this same van makes its entrance to the school when the security guard gets shot with a tranquilizer dart.

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Quotes

[last lines]
[Bentley sees a light in the tunnel while driving his vehicle]
Raif Bentley: Yes! Yes!
[the vehicle exits the tunnel and falls to the pond raw sewage, Bentley screams, the vehicle splashes to the pond, Bentley rises from the sewage and sees his suitcase of money in the sewage, he swims for it]

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Leave It to Beaver/Money Talks/Mimic/Masterminds/Gabbeh (1997)

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Soundtracks

Biscuit Barrel
Written and Performed by China Drum
Courtesy of Mantra Recordings

User Reviews

Flawed but enjoyable Die Hard clone

'No good kid' Ozzie takes his young stepsister to school, and winds up in a hostage of the school by head of security Rafe Bentley (Patrick Stewart from Startrek / X-men). As Ozzie says himself: We got a die hard situation here people!

Thank goodness Ozzie is some sort of (computer)whizkid (apparently learned it from his dad) and sabotages the bad guys in many ways. Now, this computer thing is going way out of hand, with him infiltrating in the Pentagon (or something) in the beginning of the movie and his dad touching 2 keys and immediately infiltrates in the bad guys files... You also see the obligatory flickering 'NO ACCESS' and stuff like that... but who cares!

Near the end the movie loses it's touch a bit with a chase in the sewers (or something) and Patrick Stewart claiming to be a Manchester United fan... one of the worst scenes in movie history, I must admit.

But for 'one of the worst movies ever' (as it's sometimes called), I thought the movie was highly enjoyable. Flawed yes, far-fetched sure, but still...

Final score: 5/10.