Metro (1997)

Director:

Thomas Carter

Writer (WGA):

Randy Feldman (written by)

Release Date:

17 January 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

San Francisco's top police hostage negotiator is about to get more than he ever bargained for.

Plot:

Roper, a hostage negotiator catches a murderous bank robber after a blown heist. The bank robber escapes...

Plot Keywords:

Hostage | Chase | Revenge | Fire | Police

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Eddie Murphy	...	Insp. Scott Roper
Kim Miyori	...	Detective Kimura
Art Evans	...	Lt. Sam Baffett
James Carpenter	...	Officer Forbes
Michael Rapaport	...	Kevin McCall
Donal Logue	...	Earl
Jeni Chua	...	Debbie, Earl's Hostage
Dick Bright	...	Bank Manager
David Michael Silverman	...	SWAT Officer Jennings
Denis Arndt	...	Capt. Frank Solis
Frank Sommerville	...	Reporter
Malou Nubla	...	Reporter
Carmen Ejogo	...	Veronica 'Ronnie' Tate
Nino Degennaro	...	Repoman
Michael Wincott	...	Michael Korda

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and language.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M (TV rating) | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Netherlands:12 (TV version) | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Albany, California, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

The final scene was filmed at Mare Island Naval Base in Vallejo, California one year after the naval base had closed down.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Near the end of the film, Kevin McCall squeezes off three rounds at the speeding car in a quick, semi-automatic fashion with his sniper rifle. The SWAT standard issue M24 SWS is a bolt-action rifle which requires the shooter to manually chamber each round.

Quotes:

[On watching a foreign film]
Scott Roper: My eyes still hurt from reading that movie.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dak ging san yan lui (1999)

Soundtrack:

O YEAH, IT FEEL SO GOOD

Actually not as bad as it seems

Eddie Murphy plays a hostage negotiator in San Francisco, he lives a dangerous life, but he still thinks it´s pretty okay. One thing he doesn´t think is okay is when his friends gets killed. But that is just what happens, his best friend is murdered by an evil jewel-thief, and now Murphy wants revenge.

The plot in "Metro" did not really impress me when I heard about it. Eddie Murphy as a comical hostage negotiator... It sounds pretty corny to me, but it was actually not as bad as it first seemed. The action scenes are well made, especially the breath taking car chases down the steep streets of San Francisco.

But I can´t really say the movie was good. The plot is not very original, this could actually have been titled "Beverly Hills Cop 4" and no one would have noticed. Between the action scenes there aren´t very much to write home about. Murphy is occasionally funny, but he can be really annoying too.

The best thing in "Metro" is definitely the villain, played by the underrated Michael Wincott. He is truly the perfect bad guy. That rasping voice, that glance in his eyes, wow! He can make even the simplest villain into a terrifying monster, which he should be highly praised for. And I wonder if not this guy holds the record in movie-deaths? I´ve seen Wincott in about ten movies, and he gets to meet his maker in all of them! I almost feel sorry for him, but I don´t think he´s complaining too much. If he dies in "Metro" or not, I´ll let you figure out for yourself.

Back to "Metro" now. If you don´t expect any clever ideas, just some good action sequences with a silly plot, it´s not that bad. But on the other hand, not that good either.

* * ½ out of * * * * *