Inspired by the modern classic, Wings of Desire, City involves an angel (Cage) who is spotted by a doctor in an operating room. Franz plays Cage's buddy who somehow knows a lot about angels.
In order to foil a terrorist plot, an FBI agent undergoes a facial transplant surgery and assumes the identity and physical appearance of a terrorist, but the plan turns from bad to worse when the same terrorist impersonates the FBI agent.
A fast-lane investment broker, offered the opportunity to see how the other half lives, wakes up to find that his sports car and girlfriend have become a mini-van and wife.
Ben Sanderson, a Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his alcoholism, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.
A mild-mannered chemist and an ex-con must lead the counterstrike when a rogue group of military men, led by a renegade general, threaten a nerve gas attack from Alcatraz against San Francisco.
A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max, Welles relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his work turns into obsession, he drifts farther and farther away from his wife, family and simple life as a small-town private eye.Written by
Columbia Pictures
(at around 20 mins) When Tom returns to the adult video store for the second time, immediately after approaching the counter, a boom mic briefly enters the shot in the upper left. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Airport Announcer:
Welcome to Miami. While in the airport, please observe Florida and local laws which prohibit any smoking in the terminal. Thank you for not smoking.
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Alternate Versions
The film was heavily cut before release to gain an 'R' rating. Joel Schumacher's audio commentary on the DVD points out the multitude of MPAA cuts throughout the film. The cuts include:
Sex throughout the movie. For example, background sexual activity was trimmed under the "no more than two buttock-thrusts rule"
A lot of a conversation between Phoenix and Cage was removed because a bank of TV monitors in the background were showing hardcore pornography footage
Sequences in the underground sex club were trimmed to remove shots of enema porn (which were in fact real)
8MM is a very dark, disturbing film that isn't for everyone. Nicolas Cage puts in an excellent performance as a private detective named Tom Welles who is hired to investigate whether a snuff film is real or acted. His journey takes him farther and farther into the realm of pornography. Every minute of this film is suspenseful and riveting. I also found Joaquin Phoenix's performance to be outstanding as well. This movie does a wonderful job of creating a dark mood and exploring the motives and drives behind its characters. One of Cage's best, and a severely under-rated film.
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8MM is a very dark, disturbing film that isn't for everyone. Nicolas Cage puts in an excellent performance as a private detective named Tom Welles who is hired to investigate whether a snuff film is real or acted. His journey takes him farther and farther into the realm of pornography. Every minute of this film is suspenseful and riveting. I also found Joaquin Phoenix's performance to be outstanding as well. This movie does a wonderful job of creating a dark mood and exploring the motives and drives behind its characters. One of Cage's best, and a severely under-rated film.