Product Details

• Actors: Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, David Morse, Ron Rifkin, John Spencer
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: November 24, 1998
• Run Time: 138 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (149 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305178186
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #541,879 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Although it eventually runs out of smart ideas and resorts to a typically explosive finale, this above-average thriller rises above its formulaic limitations on the strength of powerful performances by Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey. Both play Chicago police negotiators with hotshot reputations, but when Jackson's character finds himself falsely accused of embezzling funds from a police pension fund, he's so thoroughly framed that he must take extreme measures to prove his innocence. He takes hostages in police headquarters to buy time and plan his strategy, demanding that Spacey be brought in to mediate with him as an army of cops threatens to attack, and a media circus ensues. Both negotiators know how to get into the other man's thoughts, and this intellectual showdown allows both Spacey and Jackson to ignite the screen with a burst of volatile intensity. Director F. Gary Gray is disadvantaged by an otherwise predictable screenplay, but he has a knack for building suspense and is generous to a fine supporting cast, including Paul Giamatti as one of Jackson's high-strung hostages, and the late J.T. Walsh in what would sadly be his final big-screen role. The movie should have trusted its compelling characters a little more, probing their psyches more intensely to give the suspense a deeper dramatic foundation, but it's good enough to give two great actors a chance to strut their stuff. --Jeff Shannon

Amazon.com

Although it eventually runs out of smart ideas and resorts to a typically explosive finale, this above-average thriller rises above its formulaic limitations on the strength of powerful performances by Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey. Both play Chicago police negotiators with hotshot reputations, but when Jackson's character finds himself falsely accused of embezzling funds from a police pension fund, he's so thoroughly framed that he must take extreme measures to prove his innocence. He takes hostages in police headquarters to buy time and plan his strategy, demanding that Spacey be brought in to mediate with him as an army of cops threatens to attack, and a media circus ensues. Both negotiators know how to get into the other man's thoughts, and this intellectual showdown allows both Spacey and Jackson to ignite the screen with a burst of volatile intensity. Director F. Gary Gray is disadvantaged by an otherwise predictable screenplay, but he has a knack for building suspense and is generous to a fine supporting cast, including Paul Giamatti as one of Jackson's high-strung hostages, and the late J.T. Walsh in what would sadly be his final big-screen role. The movie should have trusted its compelling characters a little more, probing their psyches more intensely to give the suspense a deeper dramatic foundation, but it's good enough to give two great actors a chance to strut their stuff. --Jeff Shannon

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Negotiator, April 5, 2008

By 

Kelly "Reviewer for The Sinfully Sensuous" (Littleton, Colorado) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Negotiator (DVD)

Someone is embezzling money from the police department, and when Danny Roman is accused of the deed, he ends up taking several hostages within the department when things escalate and get out of hand. Danny has lost confidence in everyone in his own department, so he requests hostage negotiator Chris Sabian to help negotiate, and help prove his innocence. As the situation gets to a critical level, pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place. This is a very intense emotional suspense movie. Samuel Jackson and Kevin Spacey turn in phenomenal performances. This thrill a minute film is a definite must see.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Intelligent, Taut Thriller, October 10, 2008

By 

Justin Heath (Stevensville, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Negotiator (DVD)

Just when you think he's cornered, he thinks of a new strategy. Samuel L. Jackson portrays Lieutenant Danny Roman, police hostage negotiator. When he's framed for a crime he didn't commit, against his fellow police officers no less, he knows that the only way out is to bring in an equally tough negotiator, Lieutenant Chris Sabian played by Kevin Spacey, who's from another precinct and who therefore could not have been contaminated by the bad elements within his own force, which buys him the necessary time to bluff and blindside while he finds the clues he needs to prove he's innocent. Chicago is taken hostage along with the few people he retains as bargaining chips, and we are taken along for the ride. This was a masterful job of film-making from beginning to end. The characters and story were flawlessly developed. We don't precisely know who's guilty or who's innocent. Roman conducts his interrogation and trial while he negotiates with the police outside, some of whom are working overtime to eliminate Roman before he figures it all out. This all occurs right under the noses of the FBI who are in way over their heads and don't have a clue who's guilty or innocent, just like the rest of us watching. Along the way, we get to witness Roman lecture his underlings about the finer points of negotiations while he himself has just become a hostage taker. "Never say no!" he barks with effective zeal. And he tests his bewildered pupils continuously, who fail continuously. Only Sabian is smart enough to understand what's going on in Roman's mind. The strategy is shared by two men who think alike, who are under stress, and have an innate instinct for lie detection. The screenplay was terrific. The cinematography was effective. The acting of Jackson and Spacey exceptional. And the supporting cast, particularly bad-guy-turned-good-guy Paul Giamatti who provides great comic relief, was outstanding. If you're in the mood for an intelligent, taut thriller, The Negotiator delivers... 9/10.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I was entertained. But not blown away., July 28, 2005

By 

Tim Wright "Content King" (Menlo Park, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Negotiator (DVD)

Another "hostage scenario with twists" thriller. In it, Samuel Jackson and Kevin Spacey both play police hostage negotiators, operating on opposite sides of the law. Jackson is forced to take hostages in a bid to prove his innocence after he is framed for the murder of his partner. As part of his strategy for exposing the conspiracy of corrupt cops resposnsible for framing him and killing his partner, Jackson calls in the impartial Spacey to act as his negotitator and buy him the time he needs. Meanwhile the corrupt cops are trying to find excuses for killing Jackson while making it look like a neccessary part of the hostage-freeing operation.

Jackson does his usual powerful action hero stuff but think more Danny Glover in lethal weapon than Jules in Pulp Fiction (less cool and swagger). Spacey (surely a true acting god) is somewhat restricted in this role (lets face it the material doesn't really allow him to showcase his full talents), but does a great job of bringing to life the rather pedestrian script.

I was entertained. But not blown away.