Angels & Demons (2009)

Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon works with a nuclear physicist to solve a murder and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican during one of the significant events within the church.

Director:

Ron Howard

Writers:

David Koepp (screenplay), Akiva Goldsman (screenplay)

Stars:

Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Hanks	...	Robert Langdon
Ewan McGregor	...	Camerlengo Patrick McKenna
Ayelet Zurer	...	Vittoria Vetra
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Commander Richter
Pierfrancesco Favino	...	Inspector Olivetti
Nikolaj Lie Kaas	...	Assassin
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Cardinal Strauss
Thure Lindhardt	...	Chartrand
David Pasquesi	...	Claudio Vincenzi
Cosimo Fusco	...	Father Simeon
Victor Alfieri	...	Lieutenant Valenti
Franklin Amobi	...	Cardinal Lamasse
Curt Lowens	...	Cardinal Ebner
Bob Yerkes	...	Cardinal Guidera
Marc Fiorini	...	Cardinal Baggia (as Marco Fiorini)

Storyline

Following the murder of a physicist, Father Silvano Bentivoglio, a symbolist, Robert Langdon, and a scientist, Vittoria Vetra, are on an adventure involving a secret brotherhood, the Illuminati. Clues lead them all around the Vatican, including the four altars of science, Earth, Air, Fire and Water. An assassin, working for the Illuminati, has captured four cardinals, and murders each, painfully. Robert and Vittoria also are searching for a new very destructive weapon that could kill millions.

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Plot Keywords:

illuminati | reference to bernini | reference to raphael | murder of a priest | psychotronic film | 

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Taglines:

The holiest event of our time. Perfect for their return.

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence, disturbing images and thematic material

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures [United States]

Country:

USA Italy

Language:

English Italian Latin French Swiss German German Chinese Spanish Polish

Release Date:

15 May 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Obelisk

Filming Locations:

UCLA, Westwood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$150,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$46,204,168, 17 May 2009

Gross USA:

$133,375,846

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$485,930,816

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Skylark Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min 146 min (extended edition)

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The name for Vittoria Vetra was based on sixties model/actress Victoria Vetri.

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Goofs

(at around 9 mins) Early in the film, Langdon can be seen swimming in a pool purported on the graphic early in the scene as being at "Harvard University - Cambridge, Mass." The pool has Harvard athletic banners, but is neither the older pool in Cambridge (the "MAC") nor the newer pool, across the Charles in Boston (the Blodgett Pool). In addition, at 5:30am when he's swimming, both pools have an active collection of swimmers.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: The Ring of the Fisherman, which bears the official papal seal, must be destroyed immediately following the Pope's death. The papal apartment is then sealed for nine days of mourning, a period known as "Sede Vacante", the time of the empty throne.

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Crazy Credits

At the very beginning, when the Columbia girl is standing holding aloft the torch, it flickers like the anti-matter.

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Alternate Versions

The UK version has been cut in four scenes to attain a more lucrative 12A rating. The BBFC suggested to the filmmakers that sight of blood splattering onto a character's face, sight of a character screaming in pain as he burns, sight of a wound being injected and sight of a character self-immolating and burning should all be reduced, in order to avoid a 15 rating.

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Connections

Referenced in Lucifer: My Brother's Keeper (2018)

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Soundtracks

Gregorian Chant: Requiem Aeternam-Introitus (VI)
from "Liturgia Defunctorum, Missae Pro Defunctis"
Traditional
Performed by Schola of the Hofburgkapelle, Vienna
Hubert Dopf S.J.
Courtesy of Decca Music Group Limited
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

I wish I hadn't read the book

I am sorry for all the readers, but I don't know where to begin.

Let me say at first that I'm not a big Dan Brown fan, but I read Angels & Demons with great pleasure. The book deals a lot with the eternal question of Science vs. Religion and that made me think a lot about that subject again. That big battle is totally lost in the movie.

A lot of the important lines in the book (CERN, Maximilian Kohler, the scepsis of the Swiss Guard, the love relationship between Robert and Vittoria, the Hassassin, the relationship between the Camerlengo and the pope) are lost in the movie screenplay. This makes the movie a very cut-down and over-simplified version.

Would the movie be any good if I hadn't read the book? I still doubt it. From scene 3 on, the movie is a 'chase-movie' without interruption. There is no time for contemplation or depth. No story-line, no backgrounds. It's just a chase movie in a GREAT decorum.

You would think that with a running time of about 140 minutes a movie is able to bring more. Much more.