Metro (1997)

A Hostage Negotiator teams up with a Sharpshooter to bring down a dangerous jewel thief.

Director:

Thomas Carter

Writer:

Randy Feldman

Stars:

Eddie Murphy, Michael Rapaport, Kim Miyori

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eddie Murphy	...	Insp. Scott Roper
Kim Miyori	...	Detective Kimura
Art Evans	...	Lt. Sam Baffett
James Carpenter	...	Officer Forbes
Michael Rapaport	...	Kevin McCall
Donal Logue	...	Earl
Jeni Chua	...	Debbie, Earl's Hostage
Dick Bright	...	Bank Manager
David Michael Silverman	...	SWAT Officer Jennings
Denis Arndt	...	Capt. Frank Solis
Frank Somerville	...	Reporter
Malou Nubla	...	Reporter
Carmen Ejogo	...	Veronica 'Ronnie' Tate
Nino Degennaro	...	Repoman
Michael Wincott	...	Michael Korda

Storyline

Roper, a hostage negotiator catches a murderous bank robber after a blown heist. The bank robber escapes and immediately goes after the man who put him behind bars. The ending is played out with Roper and his partner McCall attempting to rescue Roper's kidnapped girlfriend. A major element in the plot is the relationship between Roper and his girlfriend.

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Plot Keywords:

hostage | chase | police officer | gunfight | violence | 

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Taglines:

San Francisco's top police hostage negotiator is about to get more than he ever bargained for.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

El negociador

Filming Locations:

San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, San Francisco Bay, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,411,107, 19 January 1997, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$31,987,563, 27 April 1997

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$74,387,563

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Caravan Pictures, Roger Birnbaum Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filming the cable car chase with real San Francisco cable cars would've meant closing down a major thoroughfare for several days. Instead, fake cable car tracks were painted on quieter Jones Street, and most of the shots filmed there used motorized cars.

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Goofs

In the opening hostage scene, Roper is wearing an orange v-neck sweater with a t-shirt showing under it. The t-shirt disappears and reappears multiple times.

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Quotes

Michael Korda: You know, there's a saying in Naples: When you think you're fuckin' them, they're fuckin' you.

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Connections

Referenced in True Anal Stories 1 (1998)

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Soundtracks

HIGH NOON (DO NOT FORSAKE ME)
Written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington

User Reviews

Standard cliché-ridden cop thriller

Fast talking police negotiator Scott Roper foils a bank robbery and catches the head thief. When the thief, Korda, escapes from jail, he comes after Roper. Roper meanwhile is trying to juggle his job, his girlfriend and train a sniper to become a negotiator like him.

This film was made before Nutty Porfessor but was held back because the makers realesed it was a bit of a dog by itself and decided to wait till Nutty Professor had made Murphy hot again before riding on that wave. Sadly I was one of those fooled into thinking that the hot new Murphy had made a cool cop thriller. Rather this is a by the numbers affair that has plenty of cliches and very little spark to it.

What spark there is, is added by Murphy's motor mouth performance – he is funny and lively even when the film isn't. Rapaport is also good despite everything else and British born Ejogo is good as Murphy's girlfriend. Wincott's villain is right out of a catalogue and is typical of the film's lack of initiative or spark.

Overall, like most average cop thrillers it's worth a watch once because it is just about entertaining. The problem is it is plain – average. It never rises above the norm and there are much better cop thrillers out there than this. The producers and studio knew it – who am I to argue.