FBI portrayal in the media
Encyclopedia
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been a staple of American popular culture since its christening in 1935. That year also marked the beginning of the popular "G-Man"
phenomenon that helped establish the Bureau's image, beginning with the aptly titled James Cagney
movie, G Men
. Although the detective novel and other police-related entertainment had long enthralled audiences, the FBI itself can take some of the credit for its media prominence. J. Edgar Hoover
, the Bureau's "patriarch," took an active interest to ensure that it was not only well-represented in the media, but also that the FBI was depicted in a heroic, positive light and that the message, "crime doesn't pay," was blatantly conveyed to audiences. The context, naturally, has changed profoundly since the 1930s "war on crime," and especially so since Hoover's death in 1972.
There have been many fiction and non-fiction portrayals of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
, from which the following is only a small sample.
and was quite successful, with a 21 year run and spin-offs as a movie serial
in the 1940s, a big little book, a DC
comic book
, and a television series in the 1950s.
Two other popular radio shows based on the activities of the Bureau were The FBI in Peace and War
, and the Bureau-approved series This is Your FBI
.
In 1965, Warner Bros. Television
produced a long-running television series called The F.B.I., based in part on concepts from their 1959
film The FBI Story
. The series, which ran until 1974, was taken from actual FBI cases, told through the eyes of fictitious agent Louis Erskine (played by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
). Epilogues to most episodes included Zimbalist stepping out of character to warn viewers of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives," years before the premiere of Fox's America's Most Wanted
. After the show was cancelled, WB TV continued to produce TV movies based on the FBI. Recent disclosures of memos by the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the real FBI had casting control over the show. Both Bette Davis
and Robert Blake
were banned from appearing, citing "conflicting political" differences on crime in general. In 1981, the show was completely revived with entirely new cast and production crew as Today's F.B.I., with Mike Connors
, but it only lasted one season. A remake of the original series, also called The F.B.I., was planned by Imagine Entertainment
for airing on the Fox network for the Fall of 2008, but as of August 2009, it had not yet been produced.
From 1990 to 1991, the television series Twin Peaks
featured the fictitious FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, beginning with the investigation of the murder of small-town homecoming queen Laura Palmer
, and included repeated references to the FBI.
As described in "FBI on The Sopranos
", a major plotline on the fictional HBO drama, The Sopranos
, has been the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) ongoing pursuit of the Dimeo
(New Jersey) and Lupertazzi (Brooklyn) crime families. The Bureau's investigations have met with varying degrees of success.
The Fox TV network has produced some of the longest television shows based on the FBI to date. From 1993 to 2002, the popular television series The X-Files
, which concerned investigations into paranormal
phenomena by five fictional characters known as Special Agents Dana Scully
, Fox Mulder
, John Doggett
, Monica Reyes
, and Assistant Director Walter Skinner
. This also spawned two feature films; The X-Files: Fight The Future
in 1998 and The X-Files: I Want to Believe
in 2008.
Beginning in 2001, the fictional Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) agency in the TV drama 24
works with, and is patterned closely after, the FBI Counterterrorism Division
. A canceled show, Standoff
, had premiered about negotiators in the Critical Incident Response Group
(CIRG). As of August 2009, America's Most Wanted
was still showing profiles of people on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
list.
Beginning in 2003, Lifetime Network showed its three year television show Missing
. The show began as 1-800 Missing but starting Season 2, the "1-800" was taken off.
In 2005, Fox aired Bones
, a forensics and police procedural drama that pairs FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth
with forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan. Each episode focuses on an FBI case file, depicting both the analysis of the human remains at the fictional Jeffersonian Institute and the investigative role of the FBI.
In 2002, Pax TV aired Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye
, based on the real life of and about the world's first deaf FBI agent of the show's title. The show ran until 2005, but only ended up producing 57 episodes.
CBS has aired a number of shows that portray the FBI. In 2002, Without a Trace
, about the fictional FBI missing persons unit in New York City
. In 2005, CBS
launched two series: Numb3rs
, about FBI agents who collaborate with a mathematics professor who is the brother of the Lead Special Agent in Los Angeles
, and the other called Criminal Minds
, about the agents of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit
(BAU). In 2006, CBS launched the short-lived drama Smith
, where FBI agents were in pursuit of a group of professional thieves. CBS' show NCIS
, which deals, and whose planned spin-off, NCIS: Los Angeles, is intended to deal, primarily with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service
, often features FBI collaboration and/or good natured jurisdictional arguments.
The 2007 Spike TV
series The Kill Point
featured the FBI in early episodes, one agent being fatally wounded in a shootout with the antagonists and another briefly taking over the role of primary negotiator in the ensuing hostage situation.
The FBI is prominent in the seventh season
of 24
.
New A&E Original Series The Beast
(13 episodes, January - April, 2009) was about two FBI agents, a new rookie and a veteran officer, starring Patrick Swayze
and Travis Fimmel
.
In September 2008, Fox premiered Fringe
, created by Lost
producer J. J. Abrams
. The series is a slight spin off of the X-Files, as Special Agent Olivia Dunham
, along with Peter Bishop
and his father Dr. Walter Bishop, investigate paranormal phenomena similar to its predecessor.
In 2009, the USA Network
launched a new show called White Collar
, which features con-artist Neal Caffrey
working with a FBI white-collar crime
unit, led by his old nemesis, Peter Burke
.
In the 2011 movie called In Time
, there is a futuristic version of the FBI, where their mission is to hunt down a poor young laborer, Will Silas, who they believed that he is the one who murdered an extremely wealthy old man, Henry Hamilton. In this film, the FBI are known as the Timekeepers instead of Agents.
Warner Brothers 1935 G Men was a deliberate attempt to rehabilitate crime movies by transforming the "gangster movie," where criminal protagonists were shown as leading exciting, affluent lives and living above the law, into stories where the heroic G-Man, or FBI agent, triumphs against the nefarious criminal underworld. The title of the movie is from a term allegedly coined by Machine Gun Kelly
and appropriated by J. Edgar Hoover as a name for his federal agents that would strike fear in the hearts of criminals. According to the FBI's own history, Machine Gun Kelly "was caught without a machine gun in his hands and cringed before the federal agents and pleaded, 'Don't shoot, G-Men! Don't shoot, G-Men!'" James Cagney
was recruited for the lead role as the well educated and incorruptible Brick Davis. G Men was essentially intended as a corrective to the film that catapulted Cagney to fame, The Public Enemy
. Just as he adopted G-Man as a badge of honor for his men, J. Edgar Hoover also attempted to re-invent the "Public Enemy" label by referring to the most notorious criminals as "public rat number one." The G-Men concept was extended in the 1940s to include the Junior G-Men
film serials. The Dead End Kids
, a group of wisecracking New York
street toughs who appeared in numerous films, were transformed into amateur detectives, helping the FBI solve cases.
In 1952, Columbia Pictures
released Walk East on Beacon!, a Film
regarding the activities of the Bureau in their hunt for Communist spies in the city of Boston
, starring George Murphy
. Released during the height of 1950s anti-Communist hysteria in the United States
, by its pedantic narrative, its presentation in the style of a documentary
, and its basis in a story written by J. Edgar Hoover
himself and published in Reader's Digest
, the film can only be viewed as propaganda
of the most blatant fashion.
Samuel Fuller
's Pickup on South Street
aroused the ire of J. Edgar Hoover who met with Fuller and Darryl F. Zanuck
of 20th Century Fox to express his disapproval of many aspects of the film. But Zanuck refused to make the changes Hoover demanded; as a result, the advertising for the film had to remove all references to the F.B.I.
In 1959, Warner Bros. and director Mervyn LeRoy
produced a film about the FBI entitled The FBI Story
. It told the history of the FBI from the point of view of a fictitious character, Chip Hardesty (played by James Stewart
). FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover served as consultant on this film, which forced director LeRoy to reshoot several scenes that did not meet with the FBI's approval.
Producer Robert Evans claimed that during production of the 1967 film The President's Analyst
he was visited by FBI Special Agents who told him that due to its unflattering depiction of the FBI, the Bureau wanted the film altered or canceled. However, Evans refused either to stop, or to make changes to, The President's Analyst. Only when pressure came from his studio did he change the FBI to the FBR and CIA to CEA by redubbing the voice track. Evans believed his telephone was monitored by the Bureau from then on.
A movie produced in 1988 named FEDS
gave an insight into how women train at the FBI Academy
. A comedy starring Rebecca De Mornay
alongside Mary Gross
, this movie had a limited release and could only be found on VHS
as of August 2009.
Also that year, Mississippi Burning
was released. This film chronicled a fictional account of the investigation into an actual civil rights murder case.
The 1991 Orion Pictures
movie sequel to Manhunter
, which itself was actually the first film version of Red Dragon, was titled The Silence of the Lambs and starred Jodie Foster
, as an FBI Agent trainee in pursuit of a serial killer, versus not only that serial killer but also Anthony Hopkins
as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The film received five Academy Awards
, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress - Jodie Foster
. The movie spawned another sequel
, but Foster did not reprise her role.
The 1992 film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, a prequel/sequel to the television series Twin Peaks
, included the character Special Agent Dale Cooper as well as several
other FBI agents, but to a more limited degree than during the television series.
Michael Apted
directed the 1992 documentary Incident at Oglala
in conjunction with the movie Thunderheart
.
The FBI was displayed, in the 1995 film Panther
, in a negative fashion as a crooked and racist organization that interacted with the Mafia to subdue the Black Panther Party
.
The 1997 movie Donnie Brasco
, is based on the true story of undercover FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone
infiltrating the mafia.
The 1998 American film The Siege
is based on the FBI's modern efforts to crack down on terrorism. The film, starring Denzel Washington
, Tony Shalhoub
, Annette Benning and Bruce Willis
, gives a hypothetical idea of what would happen if there were a series of consecutive terrorist attacks in New York City
.
The X-Files: Fight The Future
was released in 1998, following the characters of agents Fox Mulder
and Dana Scully
.
The films Saw IV
, Saw V
, and Saw VI
featured three agents (Peter Strahm, Lindsey Perez, and Dan Erickson), all of them falling victim to the Jigsaw Killer
.
The 2007 action film Transformers includes the FBI conducting a SWAT
-style raid, arresting and then interrogating two of the human protagonists.
The 2009 Indian movie New York
depicted an innocent student who is detained arbitrarily by the FBI and is tortured for nine months.
The 2009 film Public Enemies is about the 1930s bank robber John Dillinger
and the FBI's efforts to capture him, resulting in his death outside the Biograph Theater
in Chicago
.
G-Man (slang)
G-Man is a slang term for Special agents of the United States Government. It is specifically used as a term for a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent....
phenomenon that helped establish the Bureau's image, beginning with the aptly titled James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
movie, G Men
G Men
G Men is a 1935 Warner Bros. crime film starring James Cagney and Ann Dvorak. It also marked Lloyd Nolan's film debut. According to Variety Magazine, it was one of the top-grossing films of 1935....
. Although the detective novel and other police-related entertainment had long enthralled audiences, the FBI itself can take some of the credit for its media prominence. J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
, the Bureau's "patriarch," took an active interest to ensure that it was not only well-represented in the media, but also that the FBI was depicted in a heroic, positive light and that the message, "crime doesn't pay," was blatantly conveyed to audiences. The context, naturally, has changed profoundly since the 1930s "war on crime," and especially so since Hoover's death in 1972.
The FBI's role
Any author, television script writer, or producer may consult with the FBI Office of Public Affairs about closed cases or their operations, services, or history. However, there is no requirement for the FBI to cooperate and it does not edit or approve fictional works. The Office of Public Affairs may, on a project by project basis, provide assistance to help ensure accuracy (http://www.fbi.gov/aboutus/faqs/working_with_fbi.htm) Some authors, television programs, or motion picture producers offer reasonably accurate presentations of the FBI's responsibilities, investigations, and procedures in their story lines, while others present their own interpretations or introduce fictional events, persons, or places for dramatic effect.There have been many fiction and non-fiction portrayals of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, from which the following is only a small sample.
Books and novels
- In 1936, British crime writer Peter CheyneyPeter CheyneyReginald Evelyn Peter Southouse Cheyney, known as Peter Cheyney, was a British crime fiction writer who flourished between 1936 and 1951...
introduced G ManG-Man (slang)G-Man is a slang term for Special agents of the United States Government. It is specifically used as a term for a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent....
Lemmy Caution in his novel, This Man Is Dangerous. Another novel featuring Caution is Can Ladies Kill?Can Ladies Kill?Can Ladies Kill? is a crime novel by British author Peter Cheyney first published in 1938 by William Collins, Sons & Co. Ltd. Set in San Francisco and featuring Cheyney's creation, G-Man Lemmy Caution, it belongs to the hardboiled school of crime writing....
(19381938 in literatureThe year 1938 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The trilogy, U.S.A. by John Dos Passos, is published containing his three novels The 42nd Parallel , 1919 , and The Big Money ....
). - In many of Tom ClancyTom ClancyThomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
's books, the FBI plays a major role. - In 1986, Margaret TrumanMargaret TrumanMary Margaret Truman Daniel , also known as Margaret Truman or Margaret Daniel, was an American singer who later became a successful writer. The only child of US President Harry S...
(daughter of former President Truman) wrote a novel titled Murder at the FBI, dealing with the murder of two FBI agents. - Many characters in Thomas HarrisThomas HarrisThomas Harris is an American author and screenwriter, best known for a series of suspense novels about his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter...
' novels are Special Agents of the FBI, including protagonists Will GrahamWill GrahamWill Graham is a fictional character and the main protagonist in Thomas Harris' 1981 novel Red Dragon. He is an FBI profiler responsible for the original capture of the serial killer Hannibal Lecter and the man who is assigned to locate killer Francis Dolarhyde.Although successful, Graham is...
and Clarice StarlingClarice StarlingClarice M. Starling is a fictional character and the protagonist in the novels The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal by Thomas Harris....
. Some of the serial killers in the novels, like Francis DolarhydeFrancis DolarhydeFrancis Dolarhyde is a fictional character and the main antagonist featured in the Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon.-Character overview:Dolarhyde is a serial killer nicknamed "The Tooth-Fairy" due to his tendency to bite his victims' bodies, the uncommon size and sharpness of his teeth and other...
and Jame GumbJame GumbJame Gumb, known by the nickname Buffalo Bill, is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1988 novel The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris, and its 1991 film adaptation, in which he was played by Ted Levine...
, were loosely based on real serial killerSerial killerA serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
s pursued by the FBI, such as Ted BundyTed BundyTheodore Robert "Ted" Bundy was an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, and necrophile who assaulted and murdered numerous young women during the 1970s, and possibly earlier...
. - In Douglas PrestonDouglas PrestonDouglas Preston is an American author who has written seventeen popular techno-thriller and horror novels, four alone and the rest with Lincoln Child...
and Lincoln ChildLincoln ChildLincoln Child is an author of seventeen techno-thriller and horror novels. He often writes with Douglas Preston. Many of their novels have become bestsellers, and one, Relic, was adapted into a feature film...
's Pendergast novels, the featured character Aloysius PendergastAloysius PendergastAloysius Xingu L. Pendergast is a fictional character appearing in novels by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. He first appeared as a supporting character in their first novel, Relic, and in its sequel Reliquary, before assuming the protagonist role in The Cabinet of Curiosities.Pendergast is a...
is a Special Agent of the FBI. - Jip Tan's Andrew Stanton series novels included the FBI.
- Gosho Aoyama's Detective Conan mangaMangaManga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
has FBI agents involved in solving cases.
Radio and television
One early portrayal of the G-Men image was a 1935 radio program produced in collaboration with J. Edgar Hoover titled G-Men. Hoover wished to depict the FBI's successes as the product of teamwork rather than the heroics of individual agents. His concept, however, did not translate well into mass entertainment. The show was soon re-conceptualized and re-named Gang BustersGang Busters
Gang Busters was an American dramatic radio program heralded as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories." It premiered as G-Men, sponsored by Chevrolet, on July 20, 1935.-History:...
and was quite successful, with a 21 year run and spin-offs as a movie serial
Gang Busters (serial)
Gang Busters is a Universal movie serial based on the radio series Gang Busters. The city is terrorized by a crime wave masterminded by the elusive, soft-spoken Professor Mortis...
in the 1940s, a big little book, a DC
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
, and a television series in the 1950s.
Two other popular radio shows based on the activities of the Bureau were The FBI in Peace and War
The FBI in Peace and War
The FBI in Peace and War was a radio crime drama inspired by Frederick Lewis Collins' book, The FBI in Peace and War.The idea for the show came from Louis Pelletier who wrote many of the scripts. Among the show's other writers were Jack Finke, Ed Adamson and Collins...
, and the Bureau-approved series This is Your FBI
This is Your FBI
This Is Your FBI was a radio crime drama which aired in the United States on ABC from April 6, 1945 to January 30, 1953 for a total of 409 shows. FBI chief J...
.
In 1965, Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
produced a long-running television series called The F.B.I., based in part on concepts from their 1959
1959 in film
The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....
film The FBI Story
The FBI Story
The FBI Story is a 1959 American drama film produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Richard L. Breen and John Twist is based on a book by Don Whitehead.-Plot:...
. The series, which ran until 1974, was taken from actual FBI cases, told through the eyes of fictitious agent Louis Erskine (played by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. is an American actor known for his starring roles in the television series 77 Sunset Strip and The F.B.I. He is also known as recurring character "Dandy Jim Buckley" in the series Maverick and as the voice behind the character Alfred Pennyworth in Batman: The Animated Series...
). Epilogues to most episodes included Zimbalist stepping out of character to warn viewers of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives," years before the premiere of Fox's America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
. After the show was cancelled, WB TV continued to produce TV movies based on the FBI. Recent disclosures of memos by the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the real FBI had casting control over the show. Both Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
and Robert Blake
Robert Blake (actor)
Robert Blake is an American actor who starred in the film In Cold Blood and the U.S. television series Baretta. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted for the 2001 murder of his wife, but on November 18, 2005, Blake was found liable in a California civil court for her wrongful death.-Early...
were banned from appearing, citing "conflicting political" differences on crime in general. In 1981, the show was completely revived with entirely new cast and production crew as Today's F.B.I., with Mike Connors
Mike Connors
Mike Connors is an American actor best known for playing detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series, Mannix. Before that, he had played a crime-fighting investigator, wielding a .38 handgun hidden in his back, in another CBS series, Tightrope.-Early life:Connors was born Krekor Ohanian in...
, but it only lasted one season. A remake of the original series, also called The F.B.I., was planned by Imagine Entertainment
Imagine Entertainment
Imagine Entertainment is a film and television production company founded in 1986 by director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer.Its productions include the television series 24 and Arrested Development and the films Apollo 13 , A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code .-Organization:Karen...
for airing on the Fox network for the Fall of 2008, but as of August 2009, it had not yet been produced.
From 1990 to 1991, the television series Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
featured the fictitious FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, beginning with the investigation of the murder of small-town homecoming queen Laura Palmer
Laura Palmer
Laura Palmer is a fictional character from the television series Twin Peaks, created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. Her death was the catalyst for the events of the series...
, and included repeated references to the FBI.
As described in "FBI on The Sopranos
FBI on The Sopranos
A major plotline on the fictional HBO drama The Sopranos has been the Federal Bureau of Investigation's ongoing pursuit of the DiMeo and Lupertazzi crime families. The Bureau's investigations have met with varying degrees of success...
", a major plotline on the fictional HBO drama, The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
, has been the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) ongoing pursuit of the Dimeo
DiMeo Crime Family
The DiMeo crime family, later referred to as the Soprano crime family, is a fictional Mafia family from the HBO series The Sopranos. It is thought to be loosely based on the DeCavalcante crime family, a real New Jersey Mafia family....
(New Jersey) and Lupertazzi (Brooklyn) crime families. The Bureau's investigations have met with varying degrees of success.
The Fox TV network has produced some of the longest television shows based on the FBI to date. From 1993 to 2002, the popular television series The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
, which concerned investigations into paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
phenomena by five fictional characters known as Special Agents Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
, Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
, John Doggett
John Doggett
FBI Special agent John Jay Doggett is a fictional character in the American Fox television series The X-Files, a science fiction show about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of alien existence...
, Monica Reyes
Monica Reyes
Special Agent Monica Reyes is a fictional character in the American FOX television series The X-Files, a science fiction show about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence...
, and Assistant Director Walter Skinner
Walter Skinner
FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character in the American FOX television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence...
. This also spawned two feature films; The X-Files: Fight The Future
The X-Files (film)
The X-Files is a 1998 American science fiction-thriller film written by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Rob Bowman. It is the first feature film based on The X-Files series created by Carter that revolves around a fictional FBI paranormal investigation unit called the X-Files...
in 1998 and The X-Files: I Want to Believe
The X-Files: I Want to Believe
The X-Files: I Want to Believe is a 2008 science fiction-thriller directed by Chris Carter and written by both Carter and Frank Spotnitz. It is the second feature film based on The X-Files franchise created by Carter, following the 1998 film...
in 2008.
Beginning in 2001, the fictional Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) agency in the TV drama 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
works with, and is patterned closely after, the FBI Counterterrorism Division
FBI Counterterrorism Division
The FBI Counterterrorism Division is the division of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation that deals with terrorist threats inside the United States. It also provides information on terrorists outside the country and tracks known terrorists worldwide...
. A canceled show, Standoff
Standoff (TV series)
Standoff is an American drama series that premiered on the Fox network on September 5, 2006. Created by Craig Silverstein, the series focused on an FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit whose members negotiated hostage situations and shared relationships. The show was produced by 20th Century Fox Television...
, had premiered about negotiators in the Critical Incident Response Group
Critical Incident Response Group
The Critical Incident Response Group is the part of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation which facilitates the FBI's rapid response to, and the management of, crisis incidents...
(CIRG). As of August 2009, America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
was still showing profiles of people on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and William Kinsey Hutchinson, International News Service Editor-in-Chief, who were discussing ways to promote capture of the...
list.
Beginning in 2003, Lifetime Network showed its three year television show Missing
Missing (TV series)
Missing, hosted by Alex Paen, is a weekly syndicated TV series in the United States profiling real cases of missing persons. The series debuted in 2003....
. The show began as 1-800 Missing but starting Season 2, the "1-800" was taken off.
In 2005, Fox aired Bones
Bones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...
, a forensics and police procedural drama that pairs FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth
Seeley Booth
FBI Special Agent "In charge" Seeley Joseph Booth is a fictional character in the US television series, Bones , portrayed by David Boreanaz. Agent Booth is a co-protagonist of the series alongside Dr...
with forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan. Each episode focuses on an FBI case file, depicting both the analysis of the human remains at the fictional Jeffersonian Institute and the investigative role of the FBI.
In 2002, Pax TV aired Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye
Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye
Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye is a Canadian-American television series that premiered in the United States in 2002 and Canada in 2003. The show ended in May 2005 due to PAX's decision to halt the production of original programming. It was one of the two highest rated shows on PAX. In September 2009, Gospel...
, based on the real life of and about the world's first deaf FBI agent of the show's title. The show ran until 2005, but only ended up producing 57 episodes.
CBS has aired a number of shows that portray the FBI. In 2002, Without a Trace
Without a Trace
Without a Trace is an American television drama which originally ran on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009. The series was set in New York City and concerned a fictitious FBI Missing Persons Unit.-Premise:...
, about the fictional FBI missing persons unit in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In 2005, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
launched two series: Numb3rs
NUMB3RS
Numb3rs is an American television drama which premiered on CBS on January 23, 2005, and concluded on March 12, 2010. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes , who helps Don solve crimes...
, about FBI agents who collaborate with a mathematics professor who is the brother of the Lead Special Agent in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and the other called Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds is an American police procedural drama that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime...
, about the agents of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit
Behavioral Analysis Unit
The Behavioral Analysis Unit is a component of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime that uses behavioral sciences to assist in criminal investigations...
(BAU). In 2006, CBS launched the short-lived drama Smith
Smith (TV series)
Smith is an American television drama that premiered on September 16, 2006 at 10:00 PM ET on CBS and on September 18, 2006 on CTV in Canada...
, where FBI agents were in pursuit of a group of professional thieves. CBS' show NCIS
NCIS (TV series)
NCIS, formerly known as NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural drama television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S...
, which deals, and whose planned spin-off, NCIS: Los Angeles, is intended to deal, primarily with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service is the primary security, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, and law enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Navy...
, often features FBI collaboration and/or good natured jurisdictional arguments.
The 2007 Spike TV
Spike TV
Spike is an American cable television channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network , a joint venture of WSM, Inc...
series The Kill Point
The Kill Point
The Kill Point is a television series that follows a group of U.S. Marines recently returned from serving in Iraq as they come together to pull off a major bank heist of a Three Rivers Bank branch in Pittsburgh. The series, produced by Mandeville Films and Lionsgate Television, is the first drama...
featured the FBI in early episodes, one agent being fatally wounded in a shootout with the antagonists and another briefly taking over the role of primary negotiator in the ensuing hostage situation.
The FBI is prominent in the seventh season
24 (season 7)
Season Seven, also known as Day 7 of the American serial television series 24, was to premiere on January 13, 2008, but was delayed for one year due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. On November 23, 2008, Fox aired 24: Redemption, a two-hour TV movie set between seasons. Season...
of 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
.
New A&E Original Series The Beast
The Beast (2009 TV series)
The Beast is an American crime drama series starring Patrick Swayze and Travis Fimmel. It debuted on the A&E Network on Thursday, 15 January 2009 at 10 PM EST. On June 15, 2009, Entertainment Tonight announced that the show was canceled due to Swayze's pancreatic cancer...
(13 episodes, January - April, 2009) was about two FBI agents, a new rookie and a veteran officer, starring Patrick Swayze
Patrick Swayze
Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best known for his tough-guy roles, as romantic leading men in the hit films Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was named by People magazine as its "Sexiest...
and Travis Fimmel
Travis Fimmel
Travis Fimmel is an Australian actor and former model who is currently based in the United States. He is best known for his high-profile Calvin Klein campaign and for co-starring with Patrick Swayze in TV series The Beast shortly before Swayze's death.- Early years :Fimmel was raised as the...
.
In September 2008, Fox premiered Fringe
Fringe (TV series)
Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...
, created by Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
producer J. J. Abrams
J. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, and composer. He wrote and produced feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity...
. The series is a slight spin off of the X-Files, as Special Agent Olivia Dunham
Olivia Dunham
FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series Fringe . Olivia first appeared in the pilot episode on September 9, 2008. She is portrayed by actress Anna Torv....
, along with Peter Bishop
Peter Bishop
Peter Bishop is a fictional character on the Fox television series Fringe. He is portrayed by Joshua Jackson.-Fictional character biography:...
and his father Dr. Walter Bishop, investigate paranormal phenomena similar to its predecessor.
In 2009, the USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
launched a new show called White Collar
White Collar (TV series)
White Collar is a USA Network television series created by Jeff Eastin, starring Matt Bomer as con-man Neal Caffrey and Tim DeKay as Special Agent Peter Burke. It premiered on October 23, 2009. In December 2009, White Collar was renewed for a second season that began on July 13, 2010...
, which features con-artist Neal Caffrey
Neal Caffrey
Neal Caffrey is the main character of the USA Network original series White Collar. He is first introduced as a con artist serving out a four year prison sentence for bond forgery, but after escaping from prison with three months left on his sentence and being recaptured by the FBI, he agrees to...
working with a FBI white-collar crime
White-collar crime
Within the field of criminology, white-collar crime has been defined by Edwin Sutherland as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" . Sutherland was a proponent of Symbolic Interactionism, and believed that criminal behavior was...
unit, led by his old nemesis, Peter Burke
Peter Burke
Peter Burke is a British historian and professor.He was born to a Roman Catholic father and Jewish mother . He was educated by the Jesuits and at St John's College, Oxford, and was a doctoral candidate at St Antony's College...
.
In the 2011 movie called In Time
In time
In time may refer to:* Punctuality* In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003, a compilation album by the music group R.E.M.* "In Time" , a song by Mark Collie from the album The Punisher: The Album...
, there is a futuristic version of the FBI, where their mission is to hunt down a poor young laborer, Will Silas, who they believed that he is the one who murdered an extremely wealthy old man, Henry Hamilton. In this film, the FBI are known as the Timekeepers instead of Agents.
Movies
Machine Gun Kelly
George Kelley Barnes , better known as "Machine Gun Kelly", was an American gangster during the prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thompson submachine gun. His most famous crime was the kidnapping of oil tycoon & businessman Charles Urschel in July 1933 for which he,...
and appropriated by J. Edgar Hoover as a name for his federal agents that would strike fear in the hearts of criminals. According to the FBI's own history, Machine Gun Kelly "was caught without a machine gun in his hands and cringed before the federal agents and pleaded, 'Don't shoot, G-Men! Don't shoot, G-Men!'" James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
was recruited for the lead role as the well educated and incorruptible Brick Davis. G Men was essentially intended as a corrective to the film that catapulted Cagney to fame, The Public Enemy
The Public Enemy
The Public Enemy is a 1931 American Pre-Code crime film starring James Cagney and directed by William A. Wellman. The film relates the story of a young man's rise in the criminal underworld in prohibition-era urban America...
. Just as he adopted G-Man as a badge of honor for his men, J. Edgar Hoover also attempted to re-invent the "Public Enemy" label by referring to the most notorious criminals as "public rat number one." The G-Men concept was extended in the 1940s to include the Junior G-Men
Junior G-Men
Junior G-Men was an American boys club and popular culture phenomenon during the late 1930s and early 1940s that began with a radio program and culminated with films featuring the Dead End Kids.-Origins:...
film serials. The Dead End Kids
Dead End Kids
The Dead End Kids were a group of young actors from New York who appeared in Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play Dead End in 1935. In 1937 producer Samuel Goldwyn brought all of them to Hollywood and turned the play into a film...
, a group of wisecracking New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
street toughs who appeared in numerous films, were transformed into amateur detectives, helping the FBI solve cases.
In 1952, Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
released Walk East on Beacon!, a Film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
regarding the activities of the Bureau in their hunt for Communist spies in the city of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, starring George Murphy
George Murphy
George Lloyd Murphy was an American dancer, actor, and politician.-Life and career:He was born in New Haven, Connecticut of Irish Catholic extraction, the son of Michael Charles "Mike" Murphy, athletic trainer and coach, and Nora Long. He was educated at Peddie School, Trinity-Pawling School, and...
. Released during the height of 1950s anti-Communist hysteria in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, by its pedantic narrative, its presentation in the style of a documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, and its basis in a story written by J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
himself and published in Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
, the film can only be viewed as propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
of the most blatant fashion.
Samuel Fuller
Samuel Fuller
Samuel Michael Fuller was an American screenwriter, novelist, and film director known for low-budget genre movies with controversial themes.-Personal life:...
's Pickup on South Street
Pickup on South Street
Pickup on South Street is writer-director Samuel Fuller's film noir released by the 20th Century Fox studio. The film stars Richard Widmark, Jean Peters and Thelma Ritter....
aroused the ire of J. Edgar Hoover who met with Fuller and Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
of 20th Century Fox to express his disapproval of many aspects of the film. But Zanuck refused to make the changes Hoover demanded; as a result, the advertising for the film had to remove all references to the F.B.I.
In 1959, Warner Bros. and director Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy was an American film director, producer and sometime actor.-Early life:Born to Jewish parents in San Francisco, California, his family was financially ruined by the 1906 earthquake...
produced a film about the FBI entitled The FBI Story
The FBI Story
The FBI Story is a 1959 American drama film produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Richard L. Breen and John Twist is based on a book by Don Whitehead.-Plot:...
. It told the history of the FBI from the point of view of a fictitious character, Chip Hardesty (played by James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
). FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover served as consultant on this film, which forced director LeRoy to reshoot several scenes that did not meet with the FBI's approval.
Producer Robert Evans claimed that during production of the 1967 film The President's Analyst
The President's Analyst
The President's Analyst is a 1967 satirical comedy film written and directed by Theodore J. Flicker, starring James Coburn. The widescreen cinematography was by William A. Fraker, and Lalo Schifrin provided the film's musical score...
he was visited by FBI Special Agents who told him that due to its unflattering depiction of the FBI, the Bureau wanted the film altered or canceled. However, Evans refused either to stop, or to make changes to, The President's Analyst. Only when pressure came from his studio did he change the FBI to the FBR and CIA to CEA by redubbing the voice track. Evans believed his telephone was monitored by the Bureau from then on.
A movie produced in 1988 named FEDS
Feds
Feds is a 1988 comedy film written and directed by Daniel Goldberg, and starring Rebecca De Mornay and Mary Gross.-Plot details:Ellie DeWitt is a former U.S. Marine who wants to become an FBI Agent. However, where she has the physical skills, she doesn't have as much success in memorizing all the...
gave an insight into how women train at the FBI Academy
FBI Academy
The FBI Academy, located in Quantico, Virginia, is the training site for new Special Agents of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was first opened for use in 1972 on 385 acres of woodland. It is a relatively small government academy, housing three dormitory buildings and...
. A comedy starring Rebecca De Mornay
Rebecca De Mornay
Rebecca De Mornay is an American film and television actress. Her breakthrough film role came in 1983, when she played Lana in Risky Business opposite Tom Cruise...
alongside Mary Gross
Mary Gross
Mary Gross is an American comedian and actress, perhaps best known for her four-year stint on Saturday Night Live from 1981 to 1985. Her credits also include minor roles on Animaniacs, Boston Legal and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch...
, this movie had a limited release and could only be found on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
as of August 2009.
Also that year, Mississippi Burning
Mississippi Burning
Mississippi Burning is a 1988 American crime drama film loosely based on the FBI investigation into the real-life murders of three civil rights workers in the U.S. state of Mississippi in 1964. The film focuses on two fictional FBI agents who investigate the murders...
was released. This film chronicled a fictional account of the investigation into an actual civil rights murder case.
The 1991 Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
movie sequel to Manhunter
Manhunter (film)
Manhunter is a 1986 American thriller film based on Thomas Harris's novel Red Dragon. Written and directed by Michael Mann, it stars William Petersen as Will Graham and features Brian Cox as Hannibal Lecktor...
, which itself was actually the first film version of Red Dragon, was titled The Silence of the Lambs and starred Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
, as an FBI Agent trainee in pursuit of a serial killer, versus not only that serial killer but also Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The film received five Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress - Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
. The movie spawned another sequel
Hannibal (film)
Hannibal is a 2001 psychological thriller film directed by Ridley Scott, adapted from the Thomas Harris novel of the same name. It is a sequel to the 1991 Academy Award-winning film The Silence of the Lambs that returns Anthony Hopkins to his iconic role as serial killer Hannibal Lecter...
, but Foster did not reprise her role.
The 1992 film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, a prequel/sequel to the television series Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
, included the character Special Agent Dale Cooper as well as several
other FBI agents, but to a more limited degree than during the television series.
Michael Apted
Michael Apted
Michael David Apted, CMG is an English director, producer, writer and actor. He is one of the most prolific British film directors of his generation but is best known for his work on the Up Series of documentaries and the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough.On 29 June 2003 he was elected...
directed the 1992 documentary Incident at Oglala
Incident at Oglala
Incident at Oglala is a 1992 documentary by Michael Apted, narrated by Robert Redford. The film documents the murder of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, Jack R. Coler and Ronald A...
in conjunction with the movie Thunderheart
Thunderheart
Thunderheart is a 1992 American contemporary western mystery film directed by Michael Apted from an original screenplay by John Fusco. The film is a loosely based fictional portrayal of events relating to the Wounded Knee incident in 1973...
.
The FBI was displayed, in the 1995 film Panther
Panther (film)
Panther is a 1995 film directed by Mario Van Peebles, from a screenplay adapted by his father, Melvin Van Peebles, based on his book. The film dramatizes the story of The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense...
, in a negative fashion as a crooked and racist organization that interacted with the Mafia to subdue the Black Panther Party
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
.
The 1997 movie Donnie Brasco
Donnie Brasco (film)
Donnie Brasco is a 1997 crime drama film directed by Mike Newell, starring Al Pacino, Johnny Depp and Michael Madsen. It is loosely based on the real-life events of Joseph D. Pistone, an FBI agent who infiltrated the Bonanno crime family, one of the Mafia's Five Families based in New York City...
, is based on the true story of undercover FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone
Joseph D. Pistone
Joseph Dominick Pistone, alias Donnie Brasco, , is a former FBI agent who worked undercover for six years infiltrating the Bonanno crime family and to a lesser extent the Colombo crime family, two of the Five Families of the Mafia in New York City...
infiltrating the mafia.
The 1998 American film The Siege
The Siege
The Siege is a 1998 American thriller film directed by Edward Zwick. The film is about a fictional situation in which terrorist cells have made several attacks on New York City...
is based on the FBI's modern efforts to crack down on terrorism. The film, starring Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
, Tony Shalhoub
Tony Shalhoub
Anthony Marcus "Tony" Shalhoub is an American actor of Lebanese descent. His television work includes the roles of Antonio Scarpacci on Wings and sleuth Adrian Monk on the TV series Monk. He has won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his work in Monk...
, Annette Benning and Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
, gives a hypothetical idea of what would happen if there were a series of consecutive terrorist attacks in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The X-Files: Fight The Future
The X-Files (film)
The X-Files is a 1998 American science fiction-thriller film written by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Rob Bowman. It is the first feature film based on The X-Files series created by Carter that revolves around a fictional FBI paranormal investigation unit called the X-Files...
was released in 1998, following the characters of agents Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
and Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
.
The films Saw IV
Saw IV
Saw IV is a 2007 Canadian-American horror film and midquel to 2006's Saw III. It was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by newcomers Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan and Thomas Fenton. The film was released in North America on October 26, 2007...
, Saw V
Saw V
Saw V is a 2008 Canadian-American horror film directed by David Hackl and written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan and stars Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor and Scott Patterson...
, and Saw VI
Saw VI
Saw VI is a 2009 horror film directed by Kevin Greutert from a screenplay written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. It is the sixth installment of the seven–part Saw film series and stars Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Mark Rolston, Peter Outerbridge, and Shawnee Smith...
featured three agents (Peter Strahm, Lindsey Perez, and Dan Erickson), all of them falling victim to the Jigsaw Killer
Jigsaw Killer
John Kramer is a fictional character and the central character of the Saw franchise. Jigsaw made his debut as the primary antagonist in the first film of the series, Saw, and he's later portrayed as an antihero in Saw II, III, IV, V, VI and 3D...
.
The 2007 action film Transformers includes the FBI conducting a SWAT
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
-style raid, arresting and then interrogating two of the human protagonists.
The 2009 Indian movie New York
New York (film)
New York is a 2009 Bollywood thriller directed by Kabir Khan, produced by Aditya Chopra under Yash Raj Films, and with a screenplay by Sandeep Srivastava. Visual effects are by Visual Computing Labs, Tata Elxsi Ltd. It stars John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh, and Irrfan Khan...
depicted an innocent student who is detained arbitrarily by the FBI and is tortured for nine months.
The 2009 film Public Enemies is about the 1930s bank robber John Dillinger
John Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger, Jr. was an American bank robber in Depression-era United States. He was charged with, but never convicted of, the murder of an East Chicago, Indiana police officer during a shoot-out. This was his only alleged homicide. His gang robbed two dozen banks and four police stations...
and the FBI's efforts to capture him, resulting in his death outside the Biograph Theater
Biograph Theater
The Biograph Theater, at 2433 North Lincoln Avenue, Lincoln Park in Chicago, Illinois, was originally a movie theater but now presents live productions. It is notable as the location where bank robber John Dillinger was shot by FBI agents after watching a gangster movie on July 22, 1934...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Video games
- In the Grand Theft Auto video game franchiseGrand Theft Auto (series)Grand Theft Auto is a multi-award-winning British video game series created in the United Kingdom by Dave Jones, then later by brothers Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke. It is primarily developed by Edinburgh based Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games...
, the FBI is portrayed in-game and drive black SUVs or town carsLincoln Town CarThe Lincoln Town Car is a full-size luxury sedan that was sold by the upscale Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company; it was produced from 1981 to the 2011 model years...
, wearing black ties, white shirts, and blue jackets with the letters "FBI" on the back. In gameplay, they appear during certain missions and when the player has reached a five star wanted level, appearing before the United States ArmyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
hunt the player. In Grand Theft Auto IVGrand Theft Auto IVGrand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 open world action video game published by Rockstar Games, and developed by British games developer Rockstar North. It has been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and for the Windows operating system...
, they are instead called FIBLieFor other uses, see Lie A lie is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement, especially with the intention to deceive others....
, as a parody of the FBI.
- The game Destroy All Humans!Destroy All Humans!Destroy All Humans! is a video game developed by Pandemic Studios and published by THQ. It was released for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 on June 21, 2005. The game is set in the late 1950s in the U.S. and parodies the lifestyles, pop culture, and politics of this time period...
features parodies of 1950s era FBI members, known as Majestics, acting in a similar role to the GTA series, appearing if the player causes too much mayhem. They wield the same technology as the alien protagonist, Crypto.
- The character G-ManG-Man (Half-Life)The G-Man, voiced by Michael Shapiro, is a mysterious recurring character in the Half-Life series of first-person shooter video games. He is known to display peculiar behavior and capabilities beyond that of a normal human, and his identity and motives remain almost completely unexplained...
from the Half-LifeHalf-Life (series)The Half-Life series of video games share a science fiction alternate history. Nearly all of the games are first-person shooters on the GoldSource or Source engines, and most are linear, narrative, single-player titles....
series is so named for his resemblance to a stereotypical member of the FBI (suit, tie and brief case) as well as his strange demeanor and conspiratorial nature.
- In the game Saints RowSaints RowSaints Row is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Volition, Inc. and published by THQ. It is the first title in the Saints Row series and is succeeded by Saints Row 2. A PlayStation 3 port was cancelled after protracted development time...
, after getting 3 "stars", the FBI come with a black SUV with sirens and lights. When they come out of the SUV, they are white males with all-black suits with guns.
- In the video game Heavy RainHeavy RainHeavy Rain is an interactive drama psychological thriller video game created by Quantic Dream exclusively for the PlayStation 3. The game is written and directed by Quantic Dream's founder and CEO David Cage....
one of the four main characters is Norman Jayden (played by Leon OckendenLeon OckendenLeon Ockenden is a British actor who has played supporting roles in a number of television dramas since 2003. He grew up in the resort town of Looe, in Cornwall starring in plays at his school before pursuing a career in acting....
), an FBI profiler who uses ARI (Added Reality Interface).
- In the video game Deadly Premonition, the main protagonist is an eccentric FBI profiler named Francis York Morgan.
- The video game Red Dead Redemption, set in 1911, features the BOI, the early FBI. In game, Bureau agents commit the "justified" murders of outlaws in order to "tame" the Wild West.