Straining every muscle not to offend, Collateral Damage counts basic coherence among its own casualties. But it's crystal clear on one point: Taking mercy on the "enemy," women and children included, is for wimps.
Collateral Damage (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:141
Fresh:25
Rotten:116
Average Rating:4/10
Consensus: Despite its timely subject matter, Collateral Damage is an unexceptional and formulaic action thriller.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for violence and some language
Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:Feb 8, 2002 Wide
Box Office: $39,965,988
Synopsis: Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as a lone Los Angeles fireman whose wife and child are killed by a terrorist bomb in this eerily prescient action drama. Vowing revenge against the Columbian guerilla... Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as a lone Los Angeles fireman whose wife and child are killed by a terrorist bomb in this eerily prescient action drama. Vowing revenge against the Columbian guerilla leader who set the bomb, Gordy Brewer (Schwarzenegger) heads down to Central America where he is soon caught in a crossfire between the terrorists and a cadre of CIA operatives led by hard-nosed agent Peter Brandt (Elias Koteas). Escaping prisons, diving off waterfalls, and biting off ears, Gordy seems unstoppable until he realizes his target has a wife and child of his own, and moral confusion sets in. Action fans expecting typical brainless mayhem might be surprised to find emoting, ethical dilemmas and criticism of US foreign policy in an Arnold vehicle, but they needn't worry: he still finds time for plenty of bone-breaking and blowing things up before the credits roll. Gorgeous Italian actress Francesca Neri (LIVE FLESH) is a major asset as the terrorist's wife. Andrew Davis (THE FUGITIVE) directed the film. Though it has nothing to do with the actual terrorist attack on America or political events in the Middle East, this film's mix of firemen, grief, and terrorism may still strike a sensitive nerve in some viewers. [More]
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elias Koteas, Francesca Neri, John Leguizamo
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elias Koteas, Francesca Neri, John Leguizamo, John Turturro, Cliff Curtis
Director: Andrew Davis
Director: Andrew Davis
Screenwriter: David Griffiths, Peter Griffiths
Producer: Steven Reuther, David Foster
Composer: Graeme Revell
Studio: Warner Bros.
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Reviews for Collateral Damage
Schwarzenegger's Brewer remarks, 'If I don't do it, it seems no one else will,' but that's a lousy excuse for...a multi-million dollar mistake like this one. [Blu-ray]
...the studio didn't make it for any particular political purpose; it's basically just a stock, action-revenge flick, typical of Big Arnold.
A competent Schwarzenegger action movie that will appeal to the nostalgic.
Judged purely as a piece of escapist popcorn fun, Collateral Damage only barely passes muster.
Apparently, it's relatively easy for a 6-foot tall, musclebound, non Spanish-speaking white guy to penetrate the depths of the Colombian guerilla-controlled jungle
The whole South American adventure looks so forced you half expect Schwarzenegger to break into a travel programme piece to camera.
Rule of thumb: if Arnold Schwarzenegger is the smartest person in a movie, you've got problems.
All in all, "Collateral Damage" is entertaining in all the ways a Schwarzenegger film is expected to: bad guys do him dirty, Arnold's character vows revenge, lots of things blow up, and the bad guys get theirs... a more intense actor would have carried it
It will be remembered less for its generic content than for the real-life events that give it an eerie resonance.
This simplistic good and evil concept has long been a staple of Hollywood. What is more worrying is that it now appears to constitute American foreign policy.
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August 29, 2001:
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as a firefighter who hunts down the terrorist who murdered his wife and child. ![]()
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