Mercury Rising (1998)

Shadowy elements in the NSA target a nine-year old autistic savant for death when he is able to decipher a top secret code.

Director:

Harold Becker

Writers:

Ryne Douglas Pearson (novel), Lawrence Konner (screenplay)

Stars:

Bruce Willis, Miko Hughes, Alec Baldwin

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Willis	...	Art Jeffries
Alec Baldwin	...	Nick Kudrow
Miko Hughes	...	Simon Lynch
Chi McBride	...	Tommy B. Jordan
Kim Dickens	...	Stacey
Robert Stanton	...	Dean Crandell
Bodhi Elfman	...	Leo Pedranski (as Bodhi Pine Elfman)
Carrie Preston	...	Emily Lang
Lindsey Ginter	...	Peter Burrell (as L.L. Ginter)
Peter Stormare	...	Shayes
Kevin Conway	...	Lomax
John Carroll Lynch	...	Martin Lynch
Kelley Hazen	...	Jenny Lynch
John Doman	...	Supervisor Hartley
Richard Riehle	...	Edgar Halstrom

Storyline

Bruce Willis is an outcast FBI agent who protects a 9 year old autistic boy who is the target for assassins after cracking a top secret government code.

---

Plot Keywords:

autistic child | child in danger | autism | assassin | 9 year old | 

---

Taglines:

The boy no one could reach. The code no one could crack. The agent no one could stop.

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 April 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mercury Falling

Filming Locations:

Greystone Park & Mansion - 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,104,715, 5 April 1998

Gross USA:

$32,935,289

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$93,107,289

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS DTS-Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Mercury Rising" was released on Alec Baldwin's 40th birthday.

---

Goofs

When art and Simon return to Simon's home days later the blood on the floor from where his father died is still wet and red. It should have been clotted/ dry and brownish-red by now.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
FBI Supervisor Hartley: Let's go down.

---

Alternate Versions

The german TV-Channel RTL cut all of the violence out of the movie, to send it on an earlier timespot (8.15pm).

---

Connections

Features Woody Woodpecker (1941)

---

Soundtracks

Evil (Is Going On)
Written by Willie Dixon
Performed by KoKo Taylor
Courtesy of Alligator Records

User Reviews

What is really sad is the grain of truth in this story

Mercury Rising is a very conventional "government bad guys" story about evil agents out to kill an autistic boy who can break their top code. Of course, the premise of the movie, that the government would rather kill someone who can break their code rather than fixing the problems with the code, is incredibly stupid. If one boy can break the code, isn't is reasonable that some other boy in Russia or wherever can also break it? If it has a flaw that allows the kid to find the pattern, doesn't it need to be fixed? Of course, not. We just kill the kid and pretend nothing ever happened.

But, what is really sad is that there is a grain of truth in this story. It is the policy of the US Government that TRYING to break codes is illegal. If you are smart enough to figure out that the DVD encryption has a major flaw, it's not the fault of the designers, it's your fault. Researchers who have discovered flaws in codes, watermarks, etc, have been arrested. This "head in the sand" policy has been around for a long time.

So, next time you see this movie, just think how easy it would be to combine this attitude with someone a bit too gung ho.