Man on Fire (2004 film)
Encyclopedia
Man on Fire is a 2004 American thriller film, based on the 1980 novel of the same name by A. J. Quinnell
. Another film based on the same novel
was also filmed in 1987.
Man on Fire stars Denzel Washington
as a despondent former CIA operative turned bodyguard. It also stars Christopher Walken
, Dakota Fanning
, Radha Mitchell
, Giancarlo Giannini
, Marc Anthony
, Rachel Ticotin
and Mickey Rourke
.
officer and CIA
operative John Creasy (Denzel Washington
) travels to Ciudad Juarez
to visit his friend and former CIA
colleague Paul Rayburn (Christopher Walken
) who owns a private-sector security firm
to protect business executives. Creasy confides that he has become an alcoholic, disillusioned with life because of the horrors of his past, and Rayburn offers his support, encouraging Creasy to take a job as a bodyguard in Mexico City
.
Because of the extremely high rate of kidnappings in Mexico City
for the lucrative ransom money, businessman Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony
) hires Creasy to guard his nine year-old daughter Lupita "Pita" (Dakota Fanning
) and Creasy reluctantly accepts. Pita immediately takes a liking to Creasy, though he remains distant and unapproachable due to his depression. After a night of heavy drinking of Jack Daniels, Creasy attempts to commit suicide, but the chambered round in his gun fails to fire. Considering it a sign to live on, he begins to warm up to Pita and they develop a deep friendship. He mentors Pita and through his training and encouragement she wins a swim meet competition. Pita gives Creasy an emblem of Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost causes as a token of appreciation and he wears it as a necklace from then on.
A gang of kidnappers strike when Creasy is ready to pick up Pita from her piano lesson and despite killing four of the assailants, Creasy is shot multiple times and is unable to prevent her abduction. The Ramos' agree to deliver a dead drop
ransom of US$
10 million per the instructions of "The Voice" (Roberto Sosa), the mastermind of the kidnapping ring. The drop, however, is ambushed by members of a Mexican crime syndicate called "La Hermandad" and the money is stolen, resulting in The Voice notifying the Ramoses that Pita will not be returned.
Upon hearing the news of Pita's assumed death, Creasy leaves the hospital before fully recovering from his wounds and uses one of Rayburn's contacts to procure a formidable arsenal including multiple sawed-off shotguns, hand guns, C-4 explosives, and a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG
) launcher. He vows to Pita's mother Lisa (Radha Mitchell
) that "he plans to kill everyone who profited from or was involved in anyway with the kidnapping" then leaves to search the crime scene for clues.
Mariana Guerrero (Rachel Ticotin
), a newspaper columnist for the Diario Reforma, meets with Creasy at the crime scene and offers to use her connections to help. She provides the name of the corrupt Judicial policeman
who drove the vehicle used in the kidnapping. Creasy finds and tortures him for information by cutting off the man's ear and fingers duct taped to a steering wheel. Creasy stops the bleeding with a hot cigarette lighter. Before dying, the man explains his team left Pita with guardians who operate out of a rave club
in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl
(Neza City).
At the rave club, Creasy kills two guardians point blank with a sawed-off shotgun to gain information on the banking system the kidnapping ring uses to pay its network of employees as well as a tip that Victor Fuentes (Jesús Ochoa), Lieutenant for the Judicial Police's Anti-Kidnapping Division, was involved in the botched drop. Mariana provides Creasy with the name of the depositor to the bank account of the kidnapping ring who happens to be The Voice's ex-wife.
Creasy uses the RPG to ambush Fuentes' convoy and abducts him, bringing Fuentes to the location where the ransom money was stolen to interrogate him. He tie wraps Fuentes to a car and sticks a bomb made of C-4 in his rectum, then gives him five minutes to talk. Fuentes reveals himself to be the president of La Hermandad and admits to having stolen the ransom but claims there was only $2.5 million and not the full $10 million that was requested by The Voice. He speculates that Samuel's attorney, Jordan Kalfus (Mickey Rourke
) took the missing $7.5 million before the money was sent to the drop.
Creasy leaves to follow the new lead as the bomb in Fuentes' rectum detonates. Upon being confronted with the incriminating evidence, Samuel confesses that he agreed to Kalfus' plan for Pita's kidnapping because he intended to pay off business debts with his share of the missing insurance money provided for the ransom. He assumed she would not be harmed, but when La Hermandad unexpectedly stole the ransom money and Pita was not returned, he killed Kalfus in revenge. After the confession, Samuel accepts Creasy's gun and kills himself with the same bullet that failed to fire in Creasy's suicide attempt.
Mariana uses information from AFI
Detective Miguel Manzano's (Giancarlo Giannini
) concurrent investigation to write an article revealing The Voice's identity as Daniel Sánchez. Creasy shows up to Daniel's ex-wife's house and captures his brother Aurelio (Gero Camilo) during which time he blows his four fingers off with a sawed-off shotgun. He calls Daniel to tell him he is going to take his family apart "piece-by-piece" and demands a meeting. Daniel reveals that Pita is still alive and offers to free her if Creasy surrenders himself with Aurelio. Creasy agrees and he and Lisa meet at the exchange site where the kidnappers release Pita as Creasy releases Aurelio. Creasy then surrenders himself after giving Pita a final hug goodbye before she returns to her mother. Creasy is driven away by the kidnappers and kisses the Saint Jude medal before he finally succumbs to his wounds, dying in the backseat as he looks upon the Popocatépetl
volcano on the horizon.
An epilogue reveals that Daniel Sánchez was killed by Manzano during a police raid that same day, his location discovered by AFI officers who were following Creasy's actions.
, the director, tried to have a version of the film made in 1983, but since the film would have been his second after The Hunger, Paul Davies, a journal article author, theorized that movie producers would have believed that Scott lacked the experience to direct the film. At the time Italy was still a major center of kidnapping in the world. Scott said that Arnon Milchan
, the producer of the 1987 film
, asked Scott if he was still interested in producing a version of Man on Fire, as Milchan still owned the rights to the series.
20th Century Fox
wanted the film to be set in Italy. An early draft of the film script was set in Naples
. Scott argued that if the setting would be Italy, then the film would have to be a period piece, since by the 2000s kidnappings became a rare occurrence in Italy. Mexico City
became the setting of the 2004 film because Mexico City had a high kidnapping rate, and due to other reasons. As a result, the character Rika Balletto was renamed to Lisa Martin Ramos, and Pinta Balletto was renamed to Lupita "Pita" Ramos. Ettore Balletto became Samuel Ramos. Robert De Niro
was originally offered the role of Creasy.
had a favorable reception to this adaptation, and that he was satisfied that the film used many of the book's lines. The Times of Malta stated that the overall critical acclaim was positive.
This film's script was copied by Indian director Apoorva Lakhia
for his 2005 film Ek Ajnabee
.
A. J. Quinnell
A. J. Quinnell was the pen name of the English thriller novelist Philip Nicholson. He is best known for his novel Man on Fire, which has been adapted to film twice, most recently in 2004 featuring Denzel Washington.-Life and work:...
. Another film based on the same novel
Man on Fire (1987 film)
Man on Fire is a 1987 French-Italian film based on the 1980 novel of the same name by A. J. Quinnell. Another film based on the same novel was filmed in 2004.-Plot:...
was also filmed in 1987.
Man on Fire stars 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...
as a despondent former CIA operative turned bodyguard. It also stars Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
, Dakota Fanning
Dakota Fanning
Hannah Dakota Fanning , better known as Dakota Fanning, is an American actress. Fanning's breakthrough performance was in I Am Sam in 2001. As a child actress, she appeared in high-profile films such as Man on Fire, War of the Worlds, and Charlotte's Web...
, Radha Mitchell
Radha Mitchell
Radha Rani Amber Indigo Anunda Mitchell is an Australian actress. Her film roles include Finding Neverland, Phone Booth, Man on Fire, Silent Hill, and the The Crazies-Early life:...
, Giancarlo Giannini
Giancarlo Giannini
Giancarlo Giannini is an Italian actor and dubber.Giannini was born La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. He studied at the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica in Rome, and made his film debut in a small part in Fango sulla metropoli in 1965...
, Marc Anthony
Marc Anthony
Marc Anthony is an American singer-songwriter, actor and producer. Anthony is the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. The two-time Grammy and three-time Latin Grammy–winner has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. He is best known for his Latin salsa numbers and ballads...
, Rachel Ticotin
Rachel Ticotin
Rachel Ticotin is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Ticotin was born in Bronx, New York, the daughter of Iris Torres, a Puerto Rican educator, and Abe Ticotin, a Russian Jewish used car salesman. Her brother, Sahaj, is a musician and the lead singer for his rock group, Ra...
and Mickey Rourke
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films....
.
Plot
Former Force ReconUnited States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance
The Force Reconnaissance Companies , are one of the United States Marine Corps's special operations "capable" forces that provide essential elements of military intelligence to the command element of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force ; supporting the landing or joint task force commanders, and...
officer and CIA
Special Activities Division
The Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
operative John Creasy (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...
) travels to Ciudad Juarez
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
to visit his friend and former CIA
Special Activities Division
The Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
colleague Paul Rayburn (Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
) who owns a private-sector security firm
Private security company
A private security company is a for-profit enterprise, sometimes a corporation or a limited liability partnership, which provides armed and unarmed security services and expertise to private and public clients. Private security companies are defined by the U.S...
to protect business executives. Creasy confides that he has become an alcoholic, disillusioned with life because of the horrors of his past, and Rayburn offers his support, encouraging Creasy to take a job as a bodyguard in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
.
Because of the extremely high rate of kidnappings in Mexico City
International child abduction in Mexico
Mexico is amongst the world's most popular sources and destinations for international child abduction while also being widely regarded as having one of the least effective systems of protecting and returning internationally abducted children within its borders....
for the lucrative ransom money, businessman Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony
Marc Anthony
Marc Anthony is an American singer-songwriter, actor and producer. Anthony is the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. The two-time Grammy and three-time Latin Grammy–winner has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. He is best known for his Latin salsa numbers and ballads...
) hires Creasy to guard his nine year-old daughter Lupita "Pita" (Dakota Fanning
Dakota Fanning
Hannah Dakota Fanning , better known as Dakota Fanning, is an American actress. Fanning's breakthrough performance was in I Am Sam in 2001. As a child actress, she appeared in high-profile films such as Man on Fire, War of the Worlds, and Charlotte's Web...
) and Creasy reluctantly accepts. Pita immediately takes a liking to Creasy, though he remains distant and unapproachable due to his depression. After a night of heavy drinking of Jack Daniels, Creasy attempts to commit suicide, but the chambered round in his gun fails to fire. Considering it a sign to live on, he begins to warm up to Pita and they develop a deep friendship. He mentors Pita and through his training and encouragement she wins a swim meet competition. Pita gives Creasy an emblem of Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost causes as a token of appreciation and he wears it as a necklace from then on.
A gang of kidnappers strike when Creasy is ready to pick up Pita from her piano lesson and despite killing four of the assailants, Creasy is shot multiple times and is unable to prevent her abduction. The Ramos' agree to deliver a dead drop
Dead drop
A dead drop or dead letter box is a method of espionage tradecraft used to pass items between two individuals by using a secret location and thus does not require them to meet directly. Using a dead drop permits a Case Officer and his Agent to exchange objects and information while maintaining...
ransom of US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
10 million per the instructions of "The Voice" (Roberto Sosa), the mastermind of the kidnapping ring. The drop, however, is ambushed by members of a Mexican crime syndicate called "La Hermandad" and the money is stolen, resulting in The Voice notifying the Ramoses that Pita will not be returned.
Upon hearing the news of Pita's assumed death, Creasy leaves the hospital before fully recovering from his wounds and uses one of Rayburn's contacts to procure a formidable arsenal including multiple sawed-off shotguns, hand guns, C-4 explosives, and a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG
RPG
RPG may refer to:* Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon* Role-playing game, in which players act out the roles of characters in a narrative game** Role-playing video game, a type of computer or video game-Organisations:...
) launcher. He vows to Pita's mother Lisa (Radha Mitchell
Radha Mitchell
Radha Rani Amber Indigo Anunda Mitchell is an Australian actress. Her film roles include Finding Neverland, Phone Booth, Man on Fire, Silent Hill, and the The Crazies-Early life:...
) that "he plans to kill everyone who profited from or was involved in anyway with the kidnapping" then leaves to search the crime scene for clues.
Mariana Guerrero (Rachel Ticotin
Rachel Ticotin
Rachel Ticotin is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Ticotin was born in Bronx, New York, the daughter of Iris Torres, a Puerto Rican educator, and Abe Ticotin, a Russian Jewish used car salesman. Her brother, Sahaj, is a musician and the lead singer for his rock group, Ra...
), a newspaper columnist for the Diario Reforma, meets with Creasy at the crime scene and offers to use her connections to help. She provides the name of the corrupt Judicial policeman
Federal Judicial Police
The Federal Judicial Police was the former federal police force of Mexico.The jurisdiction of the Federal Judicial Police encompasses the entire nation and was divided into thirteen zones with fifty-two smaller detachment headquarters...
who drove the vehicle used in the kidnapping. Creasy finds and tortures him for information by cutting off the man's ear and fingers duct taped to a steering wheel. Creasy stops the bleeding with a hot cigarette lighter. Before dying, the man explains his team left Pita with guardians who operate out of a rave club
New Rave
New rave is a term applied to several types of music that fuse elements of electronic music, new wave, rock, indie, techno, bastard pop, breakbeat hardcore and electro house...
in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl
Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl
Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, or more commonly Ciudad Neza, is a city and municipality of Mexico State adjacent to the northeast corner of Mexico's Federal District: it is thus part of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. It was named after Nezahualcoyotl, the Acolhua poet and king of nearby Texcoco, and...
(Neza City).
At the rave club, Creasy kills two guardians point blank with a sawed-off shotgun to gain information on the banking system the kidnapping ring uses to pay its network of employees as well as a tip that Victor Fuentes (Jesús Ochoa), Lieutenant for the Judicial Police's Anti-Kidnapping Division, was involved in the botched drop. Mariana provides Creasy with the name of the depositor to the bank account of the kidnapping ring who happens to be The Voice's ex-wife.
Creasy uses the RPG to ambush Fuentes' convoy and abducts him, bringing Fuentes to the location where the ransom money was stolen to interrogate him. He tie wraps Fuentes to a car and sticks a bomb made of C-4 in his rectum, then gives him five minutes to talk. Fuentes reveals himself to be the president of La Hermandad and admits to having stolen the ransom but claims there was only $2.5 million and not the full $10 million that was requested by The Voice. He speculates that Samuel's attorney, Jordan Kalfus (Mickey Rourke
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films....
) took the missing $7.5 million before the money was sent to the drop.
Creasy leaves to follow the new lead as the bomb in Fuentes' rectum detonates. Upon being confronted with the incriminating evidence, Samuel confesses that he agreed to Kalfus' plan for Pita's kidnapping because he intended to pay off business debts with his share of the missing insurance money provided for the ransom. He assumed she would not be harmed, but when La Hermandad unexpectedly stole the ransom money and Pita was not returned, he killed Kalfus in revenge. After the confession, Samuel accepts Creasy's gun and kills himself with the same bullet that failed to fire in Creasy's suicide attempt.
Mariana uses information from AFI
Federal Investigations Agency
The Federal Investigations Agency was a Mexican federal agency that existed to fight corruption and organized crime, through an executive order by President Vicente Fox Quesada. The AFI replaced an earlier agency, the Federal Judicial Police...
Detective Miguel Manzano's (Giancarlo Giannini
Giancarlo Giannini
Giancarlo Giannini is an Italian actor and dubber.Giannini was born La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. He studied at the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica in Rome, and made his film debut in a small part in Fango sulla metropoli in 1965...
) concurrent investigation to write an article revealing The Voice's identity as Daniel Sánchez. Creasy shows up to Daniel's ex-wife's house and captures his brother Aurelio (Gero Camilo) during which time he blows his four fingers off with a sawed-off shotgun. He calls Daniel to tell him he is going to take his family apart "piece-by-piece" and demands a meeting. Daniel reveals that Pita is still alive and offers to free her if Creasy surrenders himself with Aurelio. Creasy agrees and he and Lisa meet at the exchange site where the kidnappers release Pita as Creasy releases Aurelio. Creasy then surrenders himself after giving Pita a final hug goodbye before she returns to her mother. Creasy is driven away by the kidnappers and kisses the Saint Jude medal before he finally succumbs to his wounds, dying in the backseat as he looks upon the Popocatépetl
Popocatépetl
Popocatépetl also known as "Popochowa" by the local population is an active volcano and, at , the second highest peak in Mexico after the Pico de Orizaba...
volcano on the horizon.
An epilogue reveals that Daniel Sánchez was killed by Manzano during a police raid that same day, his location discovered by AFI officers who were following Creasy's actions.
Cast
- Denzel WashingtonDenzel WashingtonDenzel 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...
as John W. Creasy - Dakota FanningDakota FanningHannah Dakota Fanning , better known as Dakota Fanning, is an American actress. Fanning's breakthrough performance was in I Am Sam in 2001. As a child actress, she appeared in high-profile films such as Man on Fire, War of the Worlds, and Charlotte's Web...
as Lupita-Martin Ramos, "Pita" - Marc AnthonyMarc AnthonyMarc Anthony is an American singer-songwriter, actor and producer. Anthony is the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. The two-time Grammy and three-time Latin Grammy–winner has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. He is best known for his Latin salsa numbers and ballads...
as Samuel Ramos - Radha MitchellRadha MitchellRadha Rani Amber Indigo Anunda Mitchell is an Australian actress. Her film roles include Finding Neverland, Phone Booth, Man on Fire, Silent Hill, and the The Crazies-Early life:...
as Lisa-Martin Ramos - Christopher WalkenChristopher WalkenChristopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
as Paul Rayburn, an old friend of Creasy, from the CIA who runs a security firm in Mexico. - Giancarlo GianniniGiancarlo GianniniGiancarlo Giannini is an Italian actor and dubber.Giannini was born La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. He studied at the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica in Rome, and made his film debut in a small part in Fango sulla metropoli in 1965...
as Miguel Manzano, director of the AFI. - Rachel TicotinRachel TicotinRachel Ticotin is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Ticotin was born in Bronx, New York, the daughter of Iris Torres, a Puerto Rican educator, and Abe Ticotin, a Russian Jewish used car salesman. Her brother, Sahaj, is a musician and the lead singer for his rock group, Ra...
as Mariana Garcia Guerrero, a reporter for the Diario Reforma. - Jesús Ochoa as Victor Fuentes
- Mickey RourkeMickey RourkePhilip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films....
as Jordan Kalfus, Samuel Ramos' lawyer. - Angelina Peláez as Sister Anna
- Roberto Sosa as Daniel Rosas Sanchez a.k.a "The Voice"
- Gero Camilo as Aurelio Rosas Sanchez
- Mario Zaragoza as Jorge Ramirez
Production
Tony ScottTony Scott
Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable...
, the director, tried to have a version of the film made in 1983, but since the film would have been his second after The Hunger, Paul Davies, a journal article author, theorized that movie producers would have believed that Scott lacked the experience to direct the film. At the time Italy was still a major center of kidnapping in the world. Scott said that Arnon Milchan
Arnon Milchan
Arnon Milchan is a film producer, Israeli intelligence agent, and arms dealer. Milchan produced many films such as The War of the Roses, Once Upon a Time in America, Pretty Woman, Natural Born Killers, Under Siege, The Devil's Advocate, The Fountain, Unfaithful, L.A. Confidential and many others...
, the producer of the 1987 film
Man on Fire (1987 film)
Man on Fire is a 1987 French-Italian film based on the 1980 novel of the same name by A. J. Quinnell. Another film based on the same novel was filmed in 2004.-Plot:...
, asked Scott if he was still interested in producing a version of Man on Fire, as Milchan still owned the rights to the series.
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
wanted the film to be set in Italy. An early draft of the film script was set in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
. Scott argued that if the setting would be Italy, then the film would have to be a period piece, since by the 2000s kidnappings became a rare occurrence in Italy. Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
became the setting of the 2004 film because Mexico City had a high kidnapping rate, and due to other reasons. As a result, the character Rika Balletto was renamed to Lisa Martin Ramos, and Pinta Balletto was renamed to Lupita "Pita" Ramos. Ettore Balletto became Samuel Ramos. Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
was originally offered the role of Creasy.
Reception
The film grossed $77,911,774 in North America and $52,381,940 in other territories, totaling $130,293,714 worldwide. According to Rotten Tomatoes only 39% of reviews (from 158 samples) from critics were positive. Paul Davies, a journal article author, said that the critical reception to Man on Fire in the United States was "somewhat less than kind" because critics did not like the vigilantism that Creasy uses. Davies argues that "most critics missed" Creasy not taking "sadistic pleasure" in the killings since he kills to get information to get to all of the people involved in the kidnapping of Pita Ramos, and does not like harming innocent parties. A. J. QuinnellA. J. Quinnell
A. J. Quinnell was the pen name of the English thriller novelist Philip Nicholson. He is best known for his novel Man on Fire, which has been adapted to film twice, most recently in 2004 featuring Denzel Washington.-Life and work:...
had a favorable reception to this adaptation, and that he was satisfied that the film used many of the book's lines. The Times of Malta stated that the overall critical acclaim was positive.
This film's script was copied by Indian director Apoorva Lakhia
Apoorva Lakhia
Apoorva Lakhia is an Indian film director.Before becoming a film director, Apoorva was an assistant director for Ashutosh Gowariker's period epic film Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India and as second assistant director for the film Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love...
for his 2005 film Ek Ajnabee
Ek Ajnabee
Ek Ajnabee – A Man Apart is Bollywood remake of Tony Scott's 2004 film Man on Fire, which was also previously made in 1987. The film is directed by Apoorva Lakhia, with Amitabh Bachchan playing Denzel Washington's role...
.
See also
- Man on Fire (1987 film)Man on Fire (1987 film)Man on Fire is a 1987 French-Italian film based on the 1980 novel of the same name by A. J. Quinnell. Another film based on the same novel was filmed in 2004.-Plot:...
- 2004 in film2004 in filmThe year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
- Cinema of the United StatesCinema of the United StatesThe cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
- List of American films of 2004
External links
- Man on Fire official website (Archive)