Liberty Stands Still (2002)

Liberty, the wife of a gun manufacturer, is held hostage at a hot dog stand by a sniper seeking revenge.

Director:

Kari Skogland

Writer:

Kari Skogland

Stars:

Tanya Allen, Hart Bochner, Fulvio Cecere

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tanya Allen	...	May
Hart Bochner	...	Hank Wilford
Fulvio Cecere	...	Burt McGovern
Gregory Calpakis	...	Vince (as Greg Calpakis)
Terry Chen	...	Officer Tom
Garvin Cross	...	CIA Henchman #1
Roger Cross	...	Officer Miller (as Roger R. Cross)
Martin Cummins	...	Russell Williams
Keith Dallas	...	Young Man
Linda Fiorentino	...	Liberty Wallace
Marrett Green	...	Gary P. Evans - Reporter #2
Darcy Laurie	...	Drunk Guy
David Lewis	...	Businessman
Robert Lewis	...	Fireman Frank
Brian Markinson	...	Rex Perry

Storyline

A gunman ties up an actor and locks him in his dressing room just before a performance. He also puts a bomb with a 90-minute timer next to the actor. Then, he goes to a room above an LA plaza and draws a bead on the actor's lover, international arms dealer, Liberty Wallace. Calling himself "Joe," he calls her cell phone, demonstrates that a rifle is pointed at her, and tells her to cuff herself to a hot-dog cart nearby (the cuffs are there). Over the next 90 minutes, the story unfolds: as a result of his daughter's death, he wants a public debate on the Second Amendment. As Liberty begins to bond with Joe on the phone, he gets some truths from her - and his revenge.

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Plot Keywords:

bomb | hostage | gunman | sniper | gun control | 

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Taglines:

In the game of life and death... you only lose once.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

Germany Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 May 2002 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Appel au meurtre

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lions Gate Films,Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG,Pearl Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The multiple shots about sniper nest show, his rifle has set position to cover area around hot dog stand and covering area is very narrow because of opened only last bottom slot in louvers. However, when Liberty's husband killers (and later from CIA) start shooting on Liberty from building roof or top car park level, Joe found them in his sniper scope and hit them. The view from scope showing picture, that rifle is on same level or below of target, but for such angle sniper would must change angle of rifle to position, where are closed louvers. And he definitely would not move louvers, it would reveal his position. Especially when all SWAT snipers was around.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Liberty Wallace: [on phone] I'm not wearing any underwear, and you going to be able to concentrate?
Russell Williams: Not if you're aren't here.
Liberty Wallace: [laughs] I'm on my way.

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Connections

Referenced in Angry Birds (2016)

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Soundtracks

Creatures
Performed by Carmen Rizzo
Written by Carmen Rizzo, Christina Calero, Ashley Slater and Joel Shearer
Published by Povi-Lu Music

User Reviews

A "Phone Booth" Ripoff

Liberty Stands Still, even though it wields considerable talent due to having starts such as Linda Fiorentino and Wesley Snipes, is one of those kinds of projects that happens too frequently in Hollywood. The storyline is a blatant ripoff of the plot of the movie Phone Booth. It is very common, given the lack of secrecy and discretion in Tinseltown, and the necessity of promoting and publicizing scripts, for there to be competing projects with the same or very similar plots. The plot for Phone Booth had been much publicized, especially since Will Smith was originally pegged to star in the movie. Even with Smith not making the movie, and Colin Farrell becoming the lead, the plot was novel and well known enough for someone to write something very, very similar.

Both movies involve a lead character who spends nearly the entire film stuck on the telephone as a prisoner to a sniper who threatens to shoot the lead if they move. In Phone Booth, Farrell plays a PR guy who is as cuddly as a piranha. His caller is obviously seeking revenge against him personally. In Liberty Stands Still, Fiorentino plays Liberty, the wife of a notorious arms dealer. Her tormentor, played by Snipes, is seeking revenge for the loss of a child killed by one of Liberty's husbands' guns.

The only major differences are 1) we see Snipes throughout the movie, while Kiefer Sutherland, who plays the corresponding character in Phone Booth, is unseen, and 2) Snipes is using Fiorentino's character to get back at her husband, not seeking revenge against her personally.

Phone Booth is a much better movie, although on its own, Liberty Stands Still has some merit. But if you have to choose, see Phone Booth first or only.