Live Wire (1992)

Avaliação/utilizador:

5,4/10   

Diretor:

Christian Duguay

Roteirista (WGA):

Bart Baker (written by)

Data de Lançamento:

3 Setembro 1992 (USA)

Gênero:

Ação | Drama | Suspense

Chamada:

Your body is 93% water... no one is safe.

Argumento:

Danny O'Neill is a bomb disposal expert assigned to a case where terrorists have developed an "invisible"...

Plot Keywords:

Senator | Terrorist | Explosive | Impalement | Loss Of Child

Comentários dos utilizadores:

As formulaic as they came back in 1992

Elenco

Pierce Brosnan	...	Danny O'Neill
Ron Silver	...	Frank Traveres
Ben Cross	...	Mikhail Rashid
Lisa Eilbacher	...	Terry O'Neill
Tony Plana	...	Al-red
Al Waxman	...	James Garvey
Brent Jennings	...	Shane Rogers
Philip Baker Hall	...	Senator Thyme
Michael St. Gerard	...	Ben
Clement von Franckenstein	...	Dr. Bernard
Ivan E. Roth	...	Process Server
Selma Archerd	...	Judge Blair
Rick Cicetti	...	Bailiff
Norman Burton	...	Senator Victor
Scott Burkholder	...	Thyme's Aide

Duração:

85 min

País:

USA

Língua:

Inglês

Cor:

Cor

Aspect Ratio:

1,85 : 1

Som:

Dolby

Certificação:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | South Korea:15 | Canada:18A | Germany:18 | Spain:18 | UK:15 (cut) | USA:R | Norway:18

Locais de filmagem:

Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Companhia :

New Line Cinema

Goofs:

Continuidade: When Danny and Frank are coming back into the attic from the balcony, Frank is on Danny's right. In the next shot, he is on his left. It would be impossible for him to move that fast since he is handcuffed.

Citações:

Danny: Shane please, turn your robot off. I feel like I'm in "Lost in Space"

Conexões:

Referido em Be Kind Rewind (2008)

As formulaic as they came back in 1992

There was a simple recipe in the late 1980's early 1990's for the common action film:

Take one part flawed hero (preferably divorced, a heavy smoker and drinker), Mix in their defiance for authority figures, Add one part tragic family history (the loss of a child works best), Add corrupt politicians, Stir with mix of gratuitous violence set to a heavy electric guitar musical score, And serve with plenty of one-liners preferably after a death or tense moment has passed.

1992's Live Wire follows this recipe to the exact measurements. Pierce Bronson plays Danny O'Neill, a member of the FBI bomb squad that stumbles on a plot consisting of corrupt Senators and a new form of explosive that is in the form of drinking water - when mixed with acidity of the human stomach, one becomes a walking time bomb that even the strongest Alka-Seltzer wouldn't cure.

Danny has had a rough year. His only daughter died in a swimming pool accident, his wife left him (for a Senator no less – didn't see that coming!), and now he works his job uttering such unique catchphrases as ‘Man, I love Mondays'. But when Danny is assigned to a job of investigating a rash of murdered politicians where no triggering device is evident in the debris, Danny soon fears for his wife's safety, and thus his extra incentive to bring the bad guys to justice. Yawn.

Live Wire is helmed by perennial television director Christian Duguay (Million Dollar Babies, Joan of Arc), and it is the advice of this reviewer that he stick to that forum. And its not that the premise of this movie is so awful, its actually the opposite. I was intrigued of the notion of bodies being used as bombers, but Duguay does not seem to know where to take the story or characters outside of the normal formulaic routine. He doesn't even try. Thrown into the mix are Ron Silver (Timecop, Blue Steel), and Ben Cross (Chariots of Fire) who just waste time and are less interesting than the robot they use to assess bomb threats.

It would have been interesting to see what the movie could have been in the hands of a more seasoned or focused director. As bad as Live Wire was, it was still better than other films released in the same decade like Tango & Cash or Raw Deal.

I would tell you how the film ends, but I would not want to ruin the surprise. I will leave you wondering if our hero will get back with his wife once he exposes the Senator, whether anyone will fall from a great height onto a sharp object or…wait for it…if the final bomb will be defused in the nick of time!

Finally, one postscript. At the beginning of the film, we read that last decade 3,600 lives were taken due to terrorist acts around the world, but due to American's stable political system, the U.S. has been safe…until now. Somehow in this post 9/11 world, I bet Christian Duguay would want that one back for a re-write.