IMDb > Striking Distance (1993)
Striking Distance
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Striking Distance (1993) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 3 NEW)
Striking Distance (1993) -- Coming from a police family, Tom Hardy ends up fighting his uncle after the murder of his father. Tom believes the killer is another cop, and goes on the record with his allegations. Demoted then to river duty, the killer taunts Tom.
Striking Distance (1993) -- Post
Striking Distance (1993) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
5.4/10   10,186 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 18% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Rowdy Herrington
Writers (WGA):
Rowdy Herrington (written by) &
Marty Kaplan (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Striking Distance on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
17 September 1993 (USA) more
Tagline:
They shouldn't have put him in the water, if they didn't want him to make waves.
Plot:
Coming from a police family, Tom Hardy ends up fighting his uncle after the murder of his father. Tom believes the killer is another cop... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
User Comments:
Unfairly ignored more (65 total)
US TV Schedule:
Sat. Nov. 142:00 AMTNT   

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Bruce Willis ... Det. Tom Hardy

Sarah Jessica Parker ... Jo Christman

Dennis Farina ... Capt. Nick Detillo

Tom Sizemore ... Det. Danny Detillo

Brion James ... Det. Eddie Eiler

Robert Pastorelli ... Det. Jimmy Detillo
Timothy Busfield ... Tony Sacco

John Mahoney ... Lt. Vince Hardy

Andre Braugher ... Dist. Atty. Frank Morris
Tom Atkins ... Sgt. Fred Hardy
Mike Hodge ... Capt. Penderman, River Rescue Commandant

Jodi Long ... Officer Kim Lee, River Rescue Dispatcher

Roscoe Orman ... Sid, Eddie Eiler's Partner
Robert Gould ... Douglas Kesser
Gareth Williams ... Chick Chicanis
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Three Rivers (USA) (working title)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for violence, strong language and a sex scene.
Runtime:
101 min | Argentina:112 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby SR

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The shotgun Hardy uses to take control of the barge is a Mossberg 500 Marine. more
Goofs:
Continuity: During the opening chase, in close-ups there is a patrol car behind Tom and his father's unmarked car, but in long shots they are the last car in the pursuit. more
Quotes:
Tom Hardy: Maybe you need a drink to ease the pain of being wrong! more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Angels' Revenge (#7.22)" (1995) more
Soundtrack:
LIL' RED RIDING HOOD more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
36 out of 40 people found the following comment useful.
Unfairly ignored, 21 September 2000
Author: J. D.

This film arrived during what some might refer to as Bruce Willis' darker days. After the one-two punch of the `Die Hard' movies, he then found himself in troubled projects like `Hudson Hawk,' `Last Boy Scout' and `Bonfire of the Vanities.' (To give him credit, he did sneak in an almost unrecognizable comic performance in the otherwise unremarkable `Death Becomes Her.') A year after `Striking Distance,' Willis would hit his nadir with the silly `Color of Night' and `North,' the latter of which would provide Roger Ebert with one of his most hysterically negative reactions ever to a film (`I HATED THIS MOVIE! HATED HATED HATED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!').

How fortunate that Quentin Tarantino (`Pulp Fiction') and Terry Gilliam (`12 Monkeys') got to Willis when they did; he could have been written off as the Tom Selleck of the '90s with too many more disasters.

`Striking Distance,' released in autumn of 1993, seems typical of the mid-period Willis pictures. It's gratuitously violent, profane and filled with hackneyed dialogue, underwritten female roles, plot holes and a shoebox full of cop movie clichés. Willis' hardcore fans were kept happy (though not mainstream audiences, as the movie died a quick box office death); his growing ranks of detractors had more reasons to hate him. The movie, from most accounts, was best left forgotten.

Watching it today, nearly seven years after its release, it's impressive how well `Striking Distance' holds up to repeat viewings. The action sequences - including a powerful chase sequence through downtown Pittsburgh that ranks among the best car chases in the 1990s - are slick and tightly edited. No computer-generated silliness here: This is meat-and-potatoes action filmmaking that, in this day of MTV editing and arty camera shots, seems to be of a dying breed.

And check out the load of actors who signed on. Sarah Jessica Parker's rookie female cop is a cliché, sure, but she plays off Willis' harshness well. The rest of the cast is a collection of character actors that any director would kill for: Brion James, John Mahoney, Tom Sizemore and Dennis Farina.

Willis himself is nothing special - he's basically playing John McClane with a bad hangover - but he's not afraid to let his cop look foolish, even stupid at times. It's certainly a more interesting performance than his recent sleepwalking in `Armageddon' and `The Sixth Sense.'

It's sad that so many of today's MTV-bred filmmakers don't know how to make these kinds of low-budget genre pictures; they're too busy shooting scenes with color filters or aping Orson Welles when they should be learning about rhythm, choreography and atmosphere from the likes of Howard Hawks, John Frankenheimer and John Carpenter. `Striking Distance,' along with the best genre film of the 1990s, 1997's `Breakdown,' is a fond reminder of the old-school approach to action.

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PLEASE HELP! vikings_fan15
Worst suicide attempt I've ever seen. TortillaChip
what about that murder...? evilkharn
Rating matthogueolemiss
why does everyone hate this movie ? murphy_3489
question about the killer(SPOILERS) lincktur
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