Blown Away (1994)

Director:

Stephen Hopkins

Writers (WGA):

John Rice (story) &
Joe Batteer (story) ...

Release Date:

1 July 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

The fuse has been lit...

Plot:

An Irish bomber escapes from prison and targets a member of the Boston bomb squad.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Irish | Ireland | Revenge | Ship

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	James 'Jimmy' Dove / Liam McGivney
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Ryan Gaerity
Suzy Amis	...	Kate Dove
Lloyd Bridges	...	Max O'Bannon
Forest Whitaker	...	Anthony Franklin
Stephi Lineburg	...	Lizzy
John Finn	...	Capt. Fred Roarke
Caitlin Clarke	...	Rita
Christofer de Oni	...	Cortez (as Chris de Oni)
Loyd Catlett	...	Bama
Ruben Santiago-Hudson	...	Blanket
Lucinda Weist	...	Nancy
Brendan Burns	...	Kevin
Patricia A. Heine	...	Connie
Josh McLaglen	...	Prison Guard

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and some language.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Irish Gaelic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Australia:M | Canada:14A (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Ireland:18 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Iceland:14 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

A piece of shrapnel from the exploding bomb truck nearly killed Jeff Bridges.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: At the scene where the helicopters are flying on top of Boston, at the time the two bomb squad members get killed, you can clearly see the Canadian parliament with the Canadian flag waving in the air on top of the parliament.

Quotes:

Kate Dove: [helping Lizzie turn on the stove] Which hand do you pledge allegiance with?

Movie Connections:

References Mad Max (1979)

Soundtrack:

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

A better 'bomb' movie than Speed.

Most IRA movies made in Hollywood are always criticised for the actors not sounding like real Irishmen. I have never once found this to be true and certainly not for Blown Away. Tommy Lee Jones is quite convincing as a deranged bomber who goes after Jeff Bridges in revenge for betraying him 25 years earlier.

Stephen Hopkins uses his fave cinematographer and composer Peter Levy and Alan Silvestri to bring some visual style and a powerful musical score to accompany the action and explosion scenes. The final encounter between Jones and Bridges is WAY cool. Trust me. It's one of the best showdowns in history.

A cool use of widescreen photography captures a pleasant and eye-pleasing view of Boston. I only ever saw this city in Cheers previously and now it makes wanna visit. This film was overlooked in the summer of 1994 because the audience was too busy with the other BOMB movie Speed. By that I mean movies with bombs. Not movies that are bombs. Speed was about a bomber wanting money. But Blown Away is a more personal, character-driven film and definitely the superior of the two.