Blown Away (1994)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Stephen Hopkins

Writers (WGA):

John Rice (story) &
Joe Batteer (story) ...

Release Date:

1 July 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

The fuse has been lit...

Plot:

An Irish bomber escapes from prison and targets a member of the Boston bomb squad.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Irish | Ireland | Revenge | Ship

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	James 'Jimmy' Dove / Liam McGivney
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Ryan Gaerity
Suzy Amis	...	Kate Dove
Lloyd Bridges	...	Max O'Bannon
Forest Whitaker	...	Anthony Franklin
Stephi Lineburg	...	Lizzy
John Finn	...	Capt. Fred Roarke
Caitlin Clarke	...	Rita
Christofer de Oni	...	Cortez (as Chris de Oni)
Loyd Catlett	...	Bama
Ruben Santiago-Hudson	...	Blanket
Lucinda Weist	...	Nancy
Brendan Burns	...	Kevin
Patricia A. Heine	...	Connie
Josh McLaglen	...	Prison Guard

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and some language.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Irish Gaelic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Australia:M | Canada:14A (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Ireland:18 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Iceland:14 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

There is a scene where a copy of the Boston Globe is seen with an article reading "2 More Bomb Squad Officers Killed in Mystery Blast". Behind it you can see the Business section with a headline "Bay State Bankruptcy Filings...". This article appeared in the 1 July 1993 Boston Globe.

Goofs:

Factual errors: There is a clip of a Red Sox game on the TV. When Mo Vaughn hits the homerun, the announcer says it's "over the green monster". The green monster is the name for the left field wall. Vaughn clearly hit it over the right-center field wall, nowhere near the green monster.

Quotes:

Kate Dove: [helping Lizzie turn on the stove] Which hand do you pledge allegiance with?

Movie Connections:

Edited into Stealth Fighter (1999)

Soundtrack:

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

A classier action thriller.

How did "Speed" ever get better reviews than this? Whilst De Bont's runaway bus is certainly good, "Blown Away" is by far the better bomb movie as it relies on suspense driven thrills rather than big budget stunts to deliver the kicks. Admittedly the film starts slowly but the pace steadily keeps increasing until the final half-hour where things (literally) explode in one of the best fight scenes ever put on celluloid. Stephen Hopkins plays every scene for as much tension as he can (I defy you to watch the kitchen scene without cringing at every slomo) and displays a De Palma like understanding of virtuoso camerawork. Jones menaces away as his usual psychotic prankster (think Two-Face with an Irish accent) and J Bridges is good but never truly called on to do anything special. Amis, Whitaker and the rest of the support are perhaps a little under-used but the film is never about them. This is about Jones and Bridges in a deadly, vengeful face-off and the final showdown is everything you could ever want from an action thriller. Watch it and enjoy.