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To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
1 November 1985 (USA)
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Tagline:
The director of "The French Connection" is on the streets again! more
Plot:
A fearless Secret Service agent will stop at nothing to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
3 wins
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NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
'Star Trek' Boldly Goes, Brüno Gets Sensational And More In The DVD Report For November 17
(From MTV Movies Blog. 17 November 2009, 3:46 PM, PST)
Locarno 09: Review of Takeshi Koike's high octane anime Redline
(From QuietEarth. 17 August 2009, 12:03 PM, PDT)
(From MTV Movies Blog. 17 November 2009, 3:46 PM, PST)
Locarno 09: Review of Takeshi Koike's high octane anime Redline
(From QuietEarth. 17 August 2009, 12:03 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
To Live and Die in L.A. 20 years later, still fresh and authentic.
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | William Petersen | ... | Richard Chance (as William L. Petersen) |
 | Willem Dafoe | ... | Eric 'Rick' Masters |
 | John Pankow | ... | John Vukovich |
| Debra Feuer | ... | Bianca Torres |
 | John Turturro | ... | Carl Cody |
 | Darlanne Fluegel | ... | Ruth Lanier |
| Dean Stockwell | ... | Bob Grimes |
 | Steve James | ... | Jeff Rice |
 | Robert Downey Sr. | ... | Thomas Bateman (as Robert Downey) |
| Michael Greene | ... | Jim Hart |
 | Christopher Allport | ... | Max Waxman |
| Jack Hoar | ... | Jack |
| Valentin de Vargas | ... | Judge Filo Cedillo (as Val DeVargas) |
| Dwier Brown | ... | Doctor |
| Michael Chong | ... | Thomas Ling |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
116 min | Germany:101 min (TV version)
Country:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Finland:K-16 (cut) |
Finland:K-18 (uncut) |
Iceland:16 |
Argentina:18 |
Singapore:PG (cut) |
Singapore:M18 |
USA:R (certificate #27848) |
Australia:R |
France:-12 |
Sweden:15 |
UK:18 |
West Germany:16 |
Norway:18 (video premiere) (1987) |
Norway:(Banned) (1986-2003) (cinema release)
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The car chase sequence took six weeks to shoot. It was the last thing shot - apparently so that, if anything happened to the principle actors, the filmmakers would at least have the bulk of their movie completed without having to replace anybody.
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Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: Whenever frontal camera angles are used to film revolvers being pointed, it is clear that their cylinders are empty.
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Quotes:
Richard Chance:
Who are they?
Bianca Torres: Who are you?
Eric 'Rick' Masters: This is Mr. Jessup, whose name isn't really Jessup, wo says he's from Palm Springs but doesn't have a tan. You're not wired, are you?
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Bianca Torres: Who are you?
Eric 'Rick' Masters: This is Mr. Jessup, whose name isn't really Jessup, wo says he's from Palm Springs but doesn't have a tan. You're not wired, are you?
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Family Guy: To Love and Die in Dixie (#3.12)" (2001)
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Soundtrack:
Wait
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (175 total)
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I saw To Live and Die in L.A. during its original theatrical release in the summer of 1985. I thought then it had the potential to eventually become regarded as one of the best cop films ever. Recently I watched it again on DVD. It absolutely holds up in every respect to its original verity and impact, and it undeniably should be regarded as one of the top ten movies of its genre, and in my opinion, one of the top two or three. What is so remarkable about William Friedkin's film is the uniformly excellent level of the performances of his cast. There is not a single portrayal on screen that is not, from first scene to last, dead on target. William Petersen as Richard Chance, an ambitious adrenaline-charged treasury agent who becomes totally obsessed with avenging his partner's murder and Willem Dafoe as Rick Masters, a fabulously wealthy yet sleazy and violent counterfeiter form the nucleus around which the film unfolds. Both actors are superb in their roles, but no less impressive is John Pankow as the new partner who approaches emotional meltdown as he gets drawn deeper and deeper into a web of illegality and violence stemming from Chance's single-minded pursuit of Masters. Also Dean Stockwell as a cynical mob lawyer in his glass tower office and John Turturro as a lowlife ex-con, each in their own way a lackey to Masters, deliver taut finely-etched portrayals that linger in the mind with their subtle impact, all the more remarkable for the relatively brief time they appear on screen. And the same can be said about Debra Feuer and Steve James in even briefer roles, Feuer as Masters' longtime girlfriend and James as a ghetto crime lord totally dependent on a constant supply of counterfeit twenty dollar bills from Masters. The richly detailed location shots within which the film's action flows, from Masters' BelAir mansion to the barrios of East Los Angeles, from Hollywood Boulevard performance art theaters to federal prison exercise yards is unflinchingly authentic, but never intrusive. And as a bonus to all this is a car chase that at least equals if not surpasses the one Friedkin directed in 1971's Best Picture Oscar winner, The French Connection.