An aging alcoholic cop is assigned the task of escorting a witness from police custody to a courthouse 16 blocks away. There are, however, chaotic forces at work that prevent them from making it in one piece.
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When a family is held hostage, former hostage negotiator Jeff Talley arrives at the scene. Talley's own family is kidnapped and Talley must decide which is more important: saving a family he doesn't even know or saving his own family.
Director:
Florent-Emilio Siri
Stars:
Bruce Willis,
Kevin Pollak,
Serena Scott Thomas
A struggling dentist's life is turned upside down when a famous gangster moves in next door, and his wife convinces him to inform a notorious mob boss about the gangster's whereabouts.
Director:
Jonathan Lynn
Stars:
Bruce Willis,
Matthew Perry,
Rosanna Arquette
A Special-Ops commander leads his team into the Nigerian jungle in order to rescue a doctor who will only join them if they agree to save 70 refugees too.
A private detective's protected female witness is murdered, prompting him and the victim's boyfriend to investigate the crime that leads to a corrupt politician and a crooked football team owner.
A case of mistaken identity lands Slevin into the middle of a war being plotted by two of the city's most rival crime bosses: The Rabbi and The Boss. Slevin is under constant surveillance by relentless Detective Brikowski as well as the infamous assassin Goodkat and finds himself having to hatch his own ingenious plot to get them before they get him.
Director:
Paul McGuigan
Stars:
Josh Hartnett,
Ben Kingsley,
Morgan Freeman
Jimmy the Tulip's (Willis) quiet new life is shaken up by his old pal Oz (Perry), whose wife (Henstridge) has been kidnapped by a Hungarian mob. The Tulip and his wife Jill (Peet) spring into action.
Director:
Howard Deutch
Stars:
Bruce Willis,
Matthew Perry,
Natasha Henstridge
Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others' surrogates.
Coming from a police family, Tom Hardy ends up fighting his uncle after the murder of his father. Tom believes the killer is another cop and goes on the record with his allegations. Demoted then to river duty, the killer taunts Tom.
Director:
Rowdy Herrington
Stars:
Bruce Willis,
Sarah Jessica Parker,
Dennis Farina
Jack Mosley, a burnt-out detective, is assigned the unenviable task of transporting a fast-talking convict from jail to a courthouse 16 blocks away. However, along the way he learns that the man is supposed to testify against Mosley's colleagues, and the entire NYPD wants him dead. Mosley must choose between loyalty to his colleagues and protecting the witness, and never has such a short distance seemed so long...Written by
Anonymous
Richard Donner's last directorial film as of 2018. See more »
Goofs
When Jack first saves Eddie from the assassins (after buying his alcohol at the store), the slide on his pistol is in the empty position, indicating that he had a round in the chamber, but none in the clip. In the next scene, the slide is in the normal position. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Jack Mosley:
[tape recording]
It's Detective Jack Mosley, Shield number 227. I guess this will be my last will and testament. This is for Diane. When this day is over, they're gonna come and talk to you about this and they're gonna... gonna tell you what happened, Diane. But what they tell you is not really what happened here. So I hope that you get this. I was trying to do a good thing.
See more »
Crazy Credits
There are no opening credits save the title "16 BLOCKS". See more »
Alternate Versions
SPOILER: On the DVD is a version with an alternate ending, where Nugent calls off killing Jack after they talk in the basement of the courthouse, but can't get through to Torres. Nugent runs upstairs to stop Torres. After Jack tells the ADA he's willing to testify, Torres shoots him when he pulls the tape recorder from his pocket just as Nugent reaches him. They both fall down the stairs. But then Nugent moves as the playback starts on the tape recorder. The ADA rushes to the jury with the recording as someone covers Jack's face with a blanket. Later a voice over (when Diane gets the cake) by Eddie reveals that Diane came to see him in Seattle to tell him that Jack is dead. See more »
Besame
Written by Ed McCoyd (Spanish translation by Edwin Perez)
Performed by Mystico
Published by Ed McCoyd Music (SESAC)
Courtesy of Blast Music Management See more »
16 BLOCKS is a neat little Hollywood thriller that might not offer the bulldozing excitement of a DIE HARD movie or the fantastic stuntwork of a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE flick, but which still generates plenty of suspense from its straightforward premise. It tells the story of a cop and a criminal, two men who have to cross New York before their deadline runs out. Of course, there's a lot more at stake than it first appears, and gradually director Richard Donner weaves a story of friendship, betrayal, skeletons in the closet and, above all else, the need to "do the right thing". It's a story that's character-focused throughout, with the emphasis on the developing relationship between Bruce Willis' detective and Mos Def's criminal. Some might find this emphasis off putting, but I for one thoroughly enjoyed it.
Bruce Willis is much as we met him in DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (and indeed there are many parallels and references to that movie in this one); he's washed up, past his glory, except here he's even worse, saddled with a paunch and a gammy leg. Once the bullets start flying, Bruce's character takes a turn for the better and he becomes the everyday hero we all know and love him for. I was prepared to dislike Mos Def's high-talking criminal but, surprisingly enough, he's one of the best things in the film, and he really makes the criminal character his own, adding warmth to the feature. David Morse, off our screens for too long, is as great as ever as the corrupt cop who becomes the nemesis of the heroes.
While the film is not action-focused, there are some highly impressive set-pieces which strive for realism – the stand-out scene being the bus hostage rescue, of course. Elsewhere, the layer of gritty realism – no pyrotechnics here – and the endless cops-vs-robbers stealthy sneaking around generate plenty of tension and also excitement. My only real complaint is with the ending, which could have been handled a little better, but then it chooses emotion over action and it's a character-focused finale rather than one with big bangs. I remember a few years back when the film S.W.A.T. attempted a similar storyline; the difference is, that film was a piece of crap, and this one is rather good.
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16 BLOCKS is a neat little Hollywood thriller that might not offer the bulldozing excitement of a DIE HARD movie or the fantastic stuntwork of a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE flick, but which still generates plenty of suspense from its straightforward premise. It tells the story of a cop and a criminal, two men who have to cross New York before their deadline runs out. Of course, there's a lot more at stake than it first appears, and gradually director Richard Donner weaves a story of friendship, betrayal, skeletons in the closet and, above all else, the need to "do the right thing". It's a story that's character-focused throughout, with the emphasis on the developing relationship between Bruce Willis' detective and Mos Def's criminal. Some might find this emphasis off putting, but I for one thoroughly enjoyed it.
Bruce Willis is much as we met him in DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (and indeed there are many parallels and references to that movie in this one); he's washed up, past his glory, except here he's even worse, saddled with a paunch and a gammy leg. Once the bullets start flying, Bruce's character takes a turn for the better and he becomes the everyday hero we all know and love him for. I was prepared to dislike Mos Def's high-talking criminal but, surprisingly enough, he's one of the best things in the film, and he really makes the criminal character his own, adding warmth to the feature. David Morse, off our screens for too long, is as great as ever as the corrupt cop who becomes the nemesis of the heroes.
While the film is not action-focused, there are some highly impressive set-pieces which strive for realism – the stand-out scene being the bus hostage rescue, of course. Elsewhere, the layer of gritty realism – no pyrotechnics here – and the endless cops-vs-robbers stealthy sneaking around generate plenty of tension and also excitement. My only real complaint is with the ending, which could have been handled a little better, but then it chooses emotion over action and it's a character-focused finale rather than one with big bangs. I remember a few years back when the film S.W.A.T. attempted a similar storyline; the difference is, that film was a piece of crap, and this one is rather good.