Collateral Damage (2002)

After his family is killed by a terrorist act, a firefighter goes in search of the one responsible.

Director:

Andrew Davis

Writers:

Ronald Roose (story), David Griffiths (story)

Stars:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Leguizamo, Francesca Neri

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Gordy Brewer
Francesca Neri	...	Selena Perrini
Elias Koteas	...	Peter Brandt
Cliff Curtis	...	Claudio 'El Lobo' Perrini
John Leguizamo	...	Felix Ramirez
John Turturro	...	Sean Armstrong
Jsu Garcia	...	Roman
Tyler Posey	...	Mauro (as Tyler Garcia Posey)
Michael Milhoan	...	Jack
Rick Worthy	...	Ronnie
Raymond Cruz	...	Junior
Lindsay Frost	...	Anne Brewer
Ethan Dampf	...	Matt Brewer
Jorge Zepeda	...	Rocha
Miguel Sandoval	...	Special Agent Joe Phipps

Storyline

Firefighter Gordon Brewer is plunged into the complex and dangerous world of international terrorism after he loses his wife and child in a bombing credited to Claudio "The Wolf" Perrini. Frustrated with the official investigation and haunted by the thought that the man responsible for murdering his family might never be brought to justice, Brewer takes matters into his own hands and tracks his quarry ultimately to Colombia.

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Plot Keywords:

outrunning explosion | woman murders a woman | murderess | firefighter | dream | 

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Taglines:

What Would You Do If You Lost Everything?

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The credit for composer Graeme Revell appears as we see Brewer and his son playing with a model kit made by the company Revell (presumably no relation).

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Goofs

After the gas explosion the terrorists are unhurt and not even a single hair is singed. The fire would have burned their lungs, killing them. Gordon was also lucky to escape the effects.

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Quotes

Felix: Why isn't Armstrong here?
Gordon Brewer: He was arrested for screwing the police chief's daughter.
Felix: That's Armstrong for ya.

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Connections

References 7 Men from Now (1956)

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Soundtracks

Amazing Grace
(uncredited)
Lyrics by John Newton

User Reviews

Entertaining, As Always, Especially With Francesca Neri

Yes, another typical Arnold Schwarnegger film which translates to (a) interesting all the way; (b) very violent; (c) very far-fetched. Here, Arnold is just a plain old fireman but he turns into superhero, doing things only Superman or Batman could accomplish....but it's still fun to watch.

After seeing his wife and kid blown up by Columbian terrorists, Arnold goes after the latter, traveling to the jungles of that South American country and taking them on! In the end, he's in Washington trying to diffuse another terrorist plot. He's amazing. What CAN'T this guy do? Yes, it's ludicrous....but it's not meant to be taken seriously, folks! It's just entertainment for fans of action movies, nothing more.

There is a nice twist at the end of this story and it involves a very intriguing-looking woman, Francesco Neri. I just love that woman's face: very sexy, especially for someone her age. She's also in "Hannibal" but I think the rest of her films are Italian. I would like to see more of her work.

There are also some short appearances by two always-entertaining actors, John Turturro and John Leguizimo. Scharwarznegger's action films usually have a fair amount of tongue-in-cheek humor and those two actors help along those lines in this film.

Elias Koteas plays the too-gung-ho FBI guy. Hollywood just will not portray an FBI, CIA, DEA, or any government agent in a positive manner. That would offend their liberal peers in the movie business, so Koteas plays the lawman you can't trust in this movie. In fact, they make it so you don't know if you can trust anyone in the government, which also is typical Hollywood fare.

Don't believe the national critics, however, if they panned this film. It's two hours of good escapist fare.

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [UK] Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA Mexico

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

8 February 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Collateral Damage

Filming Locations:

La Antigua, Veracruz, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$85,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,058,432, 10 February 2002

Gross USA:

$40,077,257

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$78,382,433

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Bel Air Entertainment, David Foster Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1