Customer Reviews

The Package [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Bravo MGM; you've managed yet again to screw up a great movie with a terrible DVD. -It's actually an ORION picture, and I'd hoped that they would've cared more about its appearance, but no such luck. Of my 100+ DVDs, this is one of the worst looking with dull colors and a fuzzy image. (Let's hope they're more careful with their upcoming Woody Allen ORION collection.) This is a rather oldfashioned straight-ahead action suspenser like they just don't make them anymore in Hollywood, but it's difficult to be thrilled about that when you know you can enjoy a much sharper version on TV. Hackman, Heard, Cassidy and Jones lead a good cast, but in order to see them clearly we desperately need a remastering of this otherwise wonderful movie. Until then, avoid like the plague.

The Package is one of the best films about the end of the Cold War. The plot was interesting and easy to follow. The characters were impressive. I don't think that this was a weak or depressing film at all.

just saw an amazingly clean print of this on one of the national cable channels, first viewing since theatrical release. What struck me immediately were the similarities to The Fugitive, director Andrew Davis' later film, most notably the Chicago shooting locations, actors, and plot elements. There's the Hilton Towers' ballroom (locale of the medical-conference confrontation between Drs. Kimble and Sykes)! There's the bagpipe parade! There's Ron Dean (Fugitive's Detective Kelly "Now you all know in what high regard I hold this scumbag") as a cop! Regardless, The Package never really gels as a thriller--and the Cold War denouement plot is obviously dated--although Davis' directorial style (lots of medium and long shots, few closeups, harsh and gloomy light/color) always gets points for relying on the music score rather than hyperkinetic editing to build tension. But it is fun to watch Hackman and Jones together (even if they're not exactly chewing up scenes with their usual aplomb) and more fun to check out the late-80s hair (Joanna Cassidy's is piled high; Dennis Franz actually has some).

Somehow "The Package" seems to have become one of those films that fell through the cracks of the general public interest and has never received the credit it deserves as a top-notch action/thriller. With a cast featuring Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones you have two magnificent, veteran actors who play well off each other throughout. Hackman plays Career soldier Johnny Gallagher assigned to deliver a package from Berlin to the United States. The package just happens to be Thomas Boyette (Jones)who is a military prisoner.

Once returned to the states, Boyette manages to escape and now begins a cat and mouse game as Gallagher races to find the fugitive who turns out to be an assassin with plans on killing a Soviet Leader and breaking the cold war peace process. Boyette uses clever diguises to avoid capture as he plans his kill. Gallagher receives some much needed assistanc in the form of his ex-wife Eileen (Joanna Cassidy) and Dennis Franz playing yet another tough cop as Detective Milan. Pam Grier and John Heard round out the stellar cast.

Director Andrew Davis would direct Tommy Lee Jones in two more thrillers "under Siege" and "The Fugitive" and proves himself quite deft at handling action/thrillers and mixing between the intrigue and gunplay very well. Hackman is just always a joy to watch and brings such beleivability to every role he plays. This is a top-notch thriller!

The package presents an interesting plot loosely based on the Kennedy asassination. The acting of Hackman, Cassidy and Jones is excellent. The suspense is almost unbearable and the end is very good. The action happens during the cold war and Hackman plays the role of a Special Forces Sergeant in charge of bringing a military prisoner played by Jones to the states to face court martial. Saying more would be given the movie in advance. Anyone interested in an excellent thriller must have this movie in his/her collection.

This low budget, barely known film stars Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones. There is never a dull moment, and kept me on the edge of my seat much of the time. A great conspiracy thriller with another great Hackman car scene, ala the French Connection.

..only in this case, its a Russian premier they are after. The ending, i.e., the very last scene is a macabre twist, which leaves the audience intrigued about who was running it all. Overall a predictably Hollywood production with some inspiration from Oswald findings. Occasionally a well-done action sequence or two injects some life into the picture, but it never really grabs fully, instead leads us to a quick, anticlimactic ending which doesn't reward us for our patience. The pace is commendable, the characters sacrificed for the plot (as in a typical thriller) and the twists and turns are engaging. Worthy rental, nothing more nothing less.

This movie has always seemed to me to be one of the most efficient, best crafted of its type, the military suspense thriller. And one of the most under-rated, too.

Gene Hackman stars as Sergeant Johnny Gallagher, an Army lifer who finds himself up to his ears in a ruthless conspiracy to assassinate the Soviet leader when the man visits Chicago. Gallagher had been stationed in West Berlin. His squad failed to stop the assassination of a U.S. Army general who had been taking part in a top military meeting in the outskirts of Berlin. Semi-disgraced, he is given the job of escorting an Army sergeant under arrest, the package, to Washington. But he's mugged in the D.C. airport and the prisoner escapes. Then he discovers the photo of the prisoner doesn't match the guy he was escorting. As he tries to find out what's going on, people start getting killed.

This movie works, I think, for several reasons. First, we know what's going on before Gallagher does, so there is the pleasure of watching him figure things out. There is a conspiracy, we realize, involving top U.S. and Soviet generals to sabotage the signing of a nuclear disarmament treaty. This will be done by killing the Soviet leader in Chicago on a visit to sign the treaty. The assassin, Tommy Lee Jones, is being provided by the senior American officers taking part in the plot. Gallagher at first stumbles around, but slowly, using his intelligence and with the help of the few friends he can count on, he begins to put things together. We know where this is going, but the fun is in seeing how Gallagher thinks and then acts. Second, Hackman's performance, as usual, is excellent. Hackman was 59 when he made this movie, but he is every bit believable as a shrewd, action-focused Army sergeant. He's nearly matched by Tommy Lee Jones as the cynical, amused hit man who doesn't respect anyone. Dennis Franz as a tough Chicago cop and John Heard as a ruthless Army colonel both give first-rate performances. Third, Andrew Davis keeps the movie moving quickly, with clues discovered, shoot-outs, near misses, chases. The plot is complicated, but Davis plays fair. Watch the movie again and it still makes sense.

It's interesting to compare this movie or The Fugitive, both by Davis, with an other good movie he directed, Holes. The Package and The Fugitive couldn't be more different than Holes, but all three, in my view, are very well handled. The DVD transfer is very good.

Andrew Davis directs this 1989 political thriller starring Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones. A great spy thriller that keeps its audience in mystery and suspense until almost the end. Along with 'Hunt for Red October' and 'Patriot Games', this is one of the better spy/political thrillers to come out of the late 80s and early 90s.

In this film, Gene Hackman is an officer stationed in Germany who's assigned to pick up a miscreant soldier (Tommy Lee Jones) coming from Berlin. Hackman loses his precious cargo when in the US and finds some very strange inconsistencies as he searches for him. Uncovering a major political plot, Hackman races against time to clear himself and expose the culprits.

An excellent political thriller with very good acting on the part of Hackman and Jones. A good movie to either rent or own.

I love this lesser known Action Thriller set in the last days of the cold war. Hackman and Jones are pitch perfect as hero and villain,squareing off after Hackman brings prisoner Tommy Lee back from Germany only to get attacked and Jones escapes. Then the set-ups ,Double crosses, and conspiracy's start. Never a dull moment and both men are at the top of their game.