Product Details

• Actors: Wesley Snipes, Diane Lane, Daniel Benzali, Dennis Miller, Alan Alda
• Directors: Dwight H. Little
• Writers: David Hodgin, Wayne Beach
• Producers: Anne Kopelson, Arnold Kopelson, Arnon Milchan, David Eichler, Michael G. Nathanson
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
• DVD Release Date: August 6, 1997
• Run Time: 107 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0790732149
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,657 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Murder at 1600 (Snap Case Packaging)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There were two movies about murder and the U.S. presidency released in 1997, and when you compare it to Absolute Power, this one is clearly the lesser of the two. That doesn't mean it's a bad movie, but it does make it a mildly disappointing one, and it illustrates the hazards of crafting a film to fit the persona of its leading man. In this case, you've got Wesley Snipes, a young, savvy man of action, playing a Washington, D.C., police detective assigned to investigate the murder of a woman in the White House. The president's son is a prime suspect, but there's a cover-up underway that forces Snipes to intensify his investigation beyond normal parameters. For a while at least, this makes Murder at 1600 a sharp and interesting film, and while the national security advisor (Alan Alda) seems highly cooperative (but don't be so sure), Snipes meets a secret service member (Diane Lane) who shares his belief in a high-level conspiracy. Unfortunately, that's when the film takes a downward plunge, resorting to a series of thriller clichés including an unlikely chase through secret tunnels beneath the White House. We're not suggesting this couldn't happen, but it's the kind of thing you typically see in movies that have run out of original ideas before they're over. Kinda makes you want to watch Absolute Power again, doesn't it? --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

Wesley Snipes plays a Washington, D.C., homicide detective who is called in to investigate a murder in the White House and becomes embroiled in a top-level cover-up plot.

DVD Features:
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An impressive, tantalizing thriller March 27, 2004

By Daniel Jolley HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Once again I find myself praising a movie that a majority of folks seem to view as average at best. Murder at 1600 is a serious movie that you can't take too seriously, not if you want to enjoy it. Wesley Snipes has a few humorous bits, and Dennis Miller is his normally wisecracking self, and I think the movie perhaps benefits from this remote air of unreality due to its subject matter - after all, the brutal murder of a young woman inside the White House is some pretty serious stuff. The other main aspect of the film, which supplies the motive for the murder in the first place, is - granted - a little bit out there, and that is where the subtle sense of unreality pays dividends; without it, it would really be hard to get from here to there.

Carla Towne is a young unknown White House staffer - until her body is found in a White House restroom sporting a number of deadly knife wounds. This is not good news for the President, who is already bottoming out in the polls for still attempting to negotiate, six months into the crisis, the release of an AWAC crew captured and obviously tortured by the North Koreans. Wesley Snipes plays Detective Harlan Regis, the investigator summoned to the White House to investigate the murder. The Secret Service as an organization is less than friendly and cooperative, viewing the White House as its beat alone. Except for his buddy and sometimes partner (played by Dennis Miller), Regis is pretty much on his own. The tight-lipped and intimidating Nick Spikings (Daniel Benzali), the chief of White House security and definite contender for the next Lex Luthor look-alike contest (his Marlon Brando impersonation isn't half bad, either) assigns Agent Nina Chance (Diane Lane) as Regis' liaison with the Secret Service.... Spikings doesn't mess around, and once he has tabbed an individual for the murder, he wants Chance to have nothing to do with Regis. The detective is pretty persistent, though, and Chance has to weigh her sense of duty against her sense of justice.

The list of suspects is quite fluid, and I think the movie does a very good job of sustaining suspense and the sense of mystery throughout. The facts as Regis acquires them make not only the President's philandering son, but the President himself possible suspects. Then you have the crisis with North Korea coming to the fore, with the President really frustrating his top advisors with his incredibly wimpy refusal to risk war with North Korea over the military hostage crisis. The truth, when it comes, does push the envelope to some degree, but it is certainly logical in the given context. I didn't ID the real bad guy any sooner than Regis and Chance did, so that to me is a good thing.

A great mystery, plenty of action, power politics, lust, murder, conspiracy inside conspiracy: Murder in 1600 offers the viewers all of this and more. The ending itself is well done in my opinion, as well. Thus, this reviewer counts this as an impressive and very entertaining thriller. Read more ›

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars CAPITOL PUNISHMENT April 27, 2005

By Michael Butts HALL OF FAMEVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

It's a dark and stormy night at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Under the eternally captured eyes of Washington and Jefferson, a lovely young blonde is having sex in one of the rooms in the White House. Soon a maid discovers her body in a stall in the restroom. She has been stabbed to death. Uh-oh, is this going to be a problem or what?

MURDER AT 1600 has a lot of incredible plot contrivances that don't work unless you go ahead, suspend your belief, and enjoy the ride. Dwight Little's competent direction allows us to do that. Remember, it's just a movie, and even though its plot seems a bit far-fetched at times, it works as an engrossing thriller. Wesley Snipes is convincing as a no-nonsense DC homicide detective who forces himself onto the investigation, which should have been federally handled since it took place on Federal property. But then we wouldn't have had a movie. Diane Lane in a rare "action" role is marvelous as Dena Chance, the secret service liaison who realizes a cover up is going on. Daniel Benzali (from the critically acclaimed but short-lived tv series MURDER ONE) chews up the scenery as the head of security and the always delightful Alan Alda gives fine support as the head of NSA. It was nice to see the still lovely Diane Baker as the First Lady (I remember her so fondly from those 60s tearjerkers and of course as the murderess in STRAIT JACKET); Ronny Cox is an appropriately wimpy president; and Tate Donovan does well in the underdeveloped role of the president's sexually promiscous son.

This is one of those aw heck, what the heck kind of movies. It's fun to watch and I enjoyed it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Just as good as Absolute Power. July 15, 2000

By Eric Finkelstein

Format:DVD

This is the first murder mystery film to have the White House as the location of the crime. This is what makes the film more suspenseful and interesting. I have this DVD and I really like this movie. It's really worth watching.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Murder at 1600 an Okay Film. February 11, 2002

By A Customer

Format:DVD

Murder at 1600's strong point is that it has characters you want to care about. Wesley Snipes has this type of character nailed down as an "officer just wanting to do my job" (Detective Regis) as he's done in pictures such as Passenger 57. Diane Lane as Special Agent Nina Chance is once again great and beautiful as ever. The plot of the movie has some twists as a murder in the White House is used as a cover up (or not as a cover up) to disgrace the First Family. One complaint is, somehow Ronny Cox should have continued his run as a "baddie" (Total Recall, Robo Cop) in films. He and Alan Alda (as Alvin Jordan, National Security Advisor) should have switched roles in the film. Alan Alda should have played the President in the movie. Otherwise, a pretty good thriller from start to finish.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Loads of fun September 20, 2000

By Amie Staley

Format:VHS Tape

Conspiracies, corruption, cover ups. Welcome to Washington D.C. Nothing new there, but a murder in the White House along with all the corruption and cover ups makes for a good story. Snipes, D.C. homicide cop, is called in to investigate. Through the political jungle that surrounds the White House and its denizens, Snipes makes his way through to the truth with the help of a Secret Service agent, played very well by Lane. Twists and turns abound, which is one of the elements that make the movie so enjoyable. It was just an all around fun movie, and more believable than a lot of other action, who-done-it films.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Can you say AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! October 17, 2009

By pjthepanda

Format:DVD

It's a cop flick with WESLEY SNIPES, can it get any better! *sigh* Seriously though....normally i roll my eyes when I see that my mom got ANOTHER cop flick but when I watched this I realized that it wasn't just another cop flick, it was exciting, thrilling, and definitely #1 on my best cop flick list. I encourage you to if not buy this movie then at least watch it. You won't be disappointed! (WARNING: this is my opinion, this comment doesn't guarantee absolute satisfaction or any other such thing!)