3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Less impressive than its cast might make you think, February 17, 2008
This review is from: Man on Fire ( Absinthe ) ( Un Uomo sotto tiro ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Germany ] (DVD)
Heavily re-edited and often confusing, the original screen version of Man On Fire was at least ten years out of date when it was made and the passing years haven't made it any better. This is the kind of movie that producers with too much money and too little experience make to get attention and everyone else does just to pay off their outstanding alimony or their drug dealer, with Scott Glenn's bodyguard going out on a limb to rescue his 12-year-old charge, the kidnapped daughter of a wealthy Italian family. An interesting cast - Joe Pesci, Brooke Adams, Danny Aiello, Jonathan Pryce - have all done better, the action is sluggish and sparse and only John Scott's exceptionally fine score (part of which turned up in the last reel of Die Hard) makes a positive impression. One case where the remake (made by Tony Scott, the original choice of director for this version) is an improvement.
The German PAL DVD has an acceptable but unimpressive fullscreen transfer with English and German soundtrack options (the titles are in German, as are a couple of scenes not in all the English-language versions of the film, which are subtitled in English) but no extras.
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