More gratuitous than the violence are the constant reminders of how much this was a movie of it's time. When "breaking news" wasn't just a buzzword and used only for something as serious as a terrorist take-over, limousines had tape decks, and the price of gas was less then a dollar. This extends to some of the production details too, namely using real locations in Los Angeles, painted backings and relying almost entirely on practical physical effects.

These things conversely…

Putting aside the broadest notions of what people can consider a Western, this is the closest film Al Pacino and Robert De Niro could ever have come to doing one. At least doing so while remaining so close to the mannerisms and approaches to dialogue and emotions they have been known for, for careers collectively coming up on their 6th decade. I've heard this loosely described as a gangster film, and find that to be erroneous for obvious reasons but…

I remember watching this, then reading the book around the same time I was in my teenage obsession with 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film naturally condenses some aspects of the novel, the limitation of 2 hours against 300 pages. The major difference I appreciated more in the book was the idea that, at first, American-Russian relations were more relaxed. At the time (20 years ago, yes, 2001) I foolishly felt this could be more accurate at the time than…

One element I haven't seen much in the praise of this film is actually how funny it is. There is a subtle but direct layer of levity, which is mostly used to ease the very palpable tension. I saw it twice in theaters and both times one particular line got a hearty response from the audience. Nearly all of it surrounds the chemistry of it's two leads, and the individual choices they made regarding their characters.

Tom Cruise (in arguably…