9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It is easy to say, this flim will blow you away!, November 18, 2001
Tommy Lee Jones is at his insane and malevolent-genius best as Ryan Garrity, an escaped I.R.A. bomber. He has the film's most chilling line, when he calls Jeff Bridges and says "I've come to create a new country called chaos, and a new government called anarchy."
Great special effects, not in the bombs but the close ups of everyday devices we see (?) Garrity use to make his weapons. When the phone is reconnected, or the oven ignited, we know that a huge conflagration will follow. It is fascinating, and among the more gripping scenes of the movie.
Why the "pros' dog this out is beyond me. Neither it nor Jones are wacky. It is more spellbinding that just the reviews suggest.
The music of U-2 makes a great backdrop to the impending action. Forrest Whittaker and Lloyd Bridges make great supporting cast members.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Explosions Galore, May 11, 2001
Jimmy Dove (Jeff Bridges) is ready to give up his dangerous job on the Boston Bomb Squad and settle down with his girlfriend(Suzy Amis). Shortly after Jimmy accepts a teaching position a mad bomber strikes in Boston. When Jimmy discovers that the mad bomber is his former mentor(Tommy Lee Jones) he is forced back into the life he thought he left behind and his secret past is revealed.
This film takes off with an exciting prison break and never slows down. Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones are great in thier roles and have an excellent supporting cast including Forest Whitaker, Lloyd Bridges and Suzi Amis. I found this movie very tense and exciting. The only downside is the dvd it self. The disk only includes a theatrical trailer. You can watch the film in widescreen or standard with DD 5.1. All in all its a great movie for any thriller or action junkies like myself and is a steal at this low price.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
NONE BETTER, June 6, 2003
Even though there's only one 1-star review of this movie, I still saw a number of reviews that say that Blown Away has little or no plot and is mainly just action/explosions. Those reviews couldn't be farther from the truth.
Blown Away teaches a valuable lesson: its ok to put a friendship at stake if its for a good cause. When Jeff Bridges left Belfast, Northern Ireland and changed his name, it was after his former friend, played by Tommy Lee Jones, was put away in Castle Gleigh prison in Northern Ireland. It seems unrealistic to see Jones' character ever breaking out AND finding Bridges, but he uses his own talent with building explosive devices to escape prison and he spots Bridges, whose name changes from Liam McGivney to Jimmy Dove on the screen.
Without spoiling anything, Tommy Lee Jones' character, Ryan Gaerity, does kill friends of Jimmy Dove, and the deaths are followed by very well-crafted scenes that seem to convey the emotion, pain and suffering of Bridges very effectively.
Both Jones and Bridges are well-cast and suitable for their roles. They both portray the Irish descent very believably, especially Jones (who, in the same year, 1994, did a pretty bad job of trying to sound southern in the movie "The Client").
I saw this movie for the first time when I was 13, and at that time i wasn't supposed to be watching it because it was rated R, and now, at 20, I still watch it and consider it one of the most underrated movies ever just because critics think that the high presence of explosions takes away from the plot. Its a shame that it didn't get better reviews, but, Tommy Lee Jones went to Harvard to learn how to act, and he sure did a good job in this movie. He won a few awards as best villain, deservedly. Today, movies like "The Matrix," are bringing in millions for not having a plot. Go for "Blown Away." You'll be glad you did.
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