Customer Reviews

U.S. Marshals

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

In 1993, Warner Brothers studios released an incredibly successful movie called "The Fugitive" starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones, and based on the hit TV series of the same name. 5 years after the success of that film, the WB decided to release a semi-sequel/spin-off to the film focusing on the further exploits of the character of U.S. Marshal, Sam Gerard, played by Tommy Lee Jones. It was surprising that Warner Bros. wanted to explore this supporting character further, in fact it was just as surprising that they felt there could even be any chance of success with having a sequel/spin-off to a movie that was completely self-contained. But, the decision was made and Warner Bros. actually managed to re-sign Tommy Lee Jones, along with the rest of the actors that comprised his original crew of deputy U.S. Marshals, and adding Wesley Snipes and talented, yet troubled actor Robert Downey Jr. to the mix. With the cast all set, the story greenlit, and acclaimed editor turned director Stuart Baird ("Star Trek: Nemesis") helming the picture, it was time to see if Warner Bros.' gamble would pay off with "U.S. Marshals".

"U.S. Marshals" follows U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones) as he pursues yet another fugitive on the loose. When a truck driver named Mark Roberts (Wesley Snipes) is involved in a car crash, the police reporting on the scene discover that this truck driver is actually wanted for a double homicide of two federal agents in New York City, and has been living in Chicago under an assumed name for the last several months. During the transfer flight from Chicago to New York, an assassination attempt on Mark's life takes place causing the plane to depressurize and crash into a river. As the police officers, including Sam Gerard who was aboard the plane overseeing the transfer of his latest prisoner, struggle to release the prisoners before they drown, Mark is released and succeeds in escaping without being noticed until the next morning. Now, Sam and his team of deputies are pursuing yet another fugitive, but they will soon find out that this is no ordinary case of murder, as the federal government gets involved by sending in an agent (Robert Downey Jr.) to oversee the pursuit, and it turns out that Mark Roberts is a former agent of the very same agency as that of the two men he is accused of murdering.

Director Stuart Baird really had his work cut out for him with this movie, not only was he tasked with the job of directing a semi-sequel/spin-off to a highly successful movie based on a TV show, but he was also forced to find a way to have Sam Gerard pursue yet another fugitive without the story seeming too much like the previous movie. Surprisingly, he succeeds rather well, there is the glaring similarity in that both fugitives only escape due to an accident (Richard Kimble escaped due to a train wreck and Mark Roberts escapes due to a plane wreck), but this can be overlooked as being a necessary plot device to realistically propel the story into motion. Otherwise, I couldn't complain about the direction of the movie, I felt that for this type of movie Stuart Baird did an overall great job of handling the material, keeping a similar tone to the first film, and yet making this one a standalone movie that doesn't require the audience to have seen or remember any of the events from "The Fugitive".

The cast for the movie was terrific. Tommy Lee Jones was wise to return to the character that won him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor 5 years prior. I believe that ever since this movie, and even "The Fugitive" for that matter, Tommy Lee Jones has essentially played this same character in every other movie he's been in (with the exception of his role of Two-Face in "Batman Forever"), and still manages to entertain audiences with the same exact performance. The supporting actors that comprised the rest of the U.S. Marshals were just as good, if not better than they were the first time around, especially Joe Pantoliano who was given much more screen time and injected several bits of humor to lighten things up throughout the movie, while still delivering some really dramatic scenes with Tommy Lee Jones. The additions of Robert Downey Jr. and Wesley Snipes to the cast were very good choices as both are accomplished actors who handle both drama and action very well. Sometimes in sequels or spin-offs the new cast members tend to stick out a little bit because they are replacing a cast member that didn't return, so their performance seems to be a little too much like the person they are replacing instead of making the characters their own. In this instance though, both new actors do excellent jobs of making their characters their own, and quickly draw the audience in to their aspects of the story.

Even though I felt Warner Bros. had made a mistake in making this film, Stuart Baird and company managed to prove me wrong, and I must say that I completely enjoyed "U.S. Marshals", and that it was a worthy sequel/spin-off to the equally impressive film "The Fugitive".

"U.S. Marshals" is rated PG-13 for violence and language.

If you're looking for more than cheap thrills and bravado, you may be disappointed as US Marshal drags for about half an hour or so more than it needs to. But it rises above its hackneyed chase routines with Jones' commanding screen presence. Some scenes, such as the opening plane crash, are exemplary cinematography. The soundtrack effectively complements the roller-coaster action sequences. There's a surprise twist in the tale too, but don't read too much lest you should spoil it. Recommended rental, for sure.

They could have named this one the Fugitive II and gotten away with it. There was a slight lack of originality, but the spectacular cast pulls it off. Overall the movie was good. Tommy Lee Jones does a wonderful job and Robert Downey, Jr. was memorable as well. The comic relief was a must and was appreciated as it helped counterract the amazing suspense level present. I think I will add this one to my collection.

While "U.S. Marshalls" is not really a sequel to "The Fugitive" is a worthwhile followup. This film has crisp action, good pacing, an is well acted by the lead actors. The plane crash in this movie is not as spectacular as the bus-train wreck from "The Fugitive" but it is exciting nontheless. If your looking for 2 hours of solid entertainment give "U.S. Marshalls" a look.

One of the problems US Marhsals has is that it is suffering a bit of an identity crisis. Is it a sequel or just another insight into Gerard's job? It's a bit of a rehash of The Fugitive while falling short of being as good - Gerard's obsession is more of a caricature, despite Tommy Lee Jones' best efforts to salvage it, and sometimes the script lapses into cliche, with a frankly bizarre plot which is sort of something to do with the CIA. Robert Downey Jr comes across well, as does Jones, but Wesley Snipes could have been much better. It's a good hour or so spent if you can't find The Fugitive, but otherwise it's best not to be too critical while watching it.

You are not sure who is the bad guy and it keeps you guessing.
The swamp scenes were good, actually enjoyed all the scenes.
The Jones and his co-horts are excellent working together. I was disappointed in the loss of Newman.

Kim

Out of all of the years that Hollywood has been producing films,it has always been,and always will be,interesting to see film sequels. Whether a sequel to a film does or doesn't live up the original film,it is always interesting to see how everything picks up where it left off. And,with "The Fugitive" being as successful as it turned out to be,how does its sequel,"U.S. Marshals",measure up?

Here,you find Tommy Lee Jones reprising his role as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard. This time around,what is Samuel Gerard's assignment? Being on a plane from Chicago to Tennessee to New York with a large amount of prisoners. The purpose is to get the plane's prisoners to where they need to be,and helping the other U.S. Marshals who are on the plane. While Samuel Gerard is not happy with this assignment,the facts that the U.S. Marshals who are on the plane are nice and Gerard being able to keep himself entertained does not make things too bad.

But,in the middle of the flight,things go from fine to bad. This is when the plane crashes,and leaves Samuel Gerard and his fellow U.S. Marshals with a truckload of responsibility. When one prisoner on the plane,Mark Sheridan(Wesley Snipes)has esacped,trouble finds itself in the face of Samuel Gerard once more,as Sheridan is wanted for the murder of agents. Will Samuel Gerard be able to solve the case with the aide of his trusted and respected U.S. Marshals (the ones that were in "The Fugitive")and Agent John Royce (Robert Downey Jr.),or will the difficulty of the case lead to Gerard losing to his opposite side? Only time will tell!!!!

"U.S. Marshals" has received a mixed response from people,so let me set the story straight. Like most films,"U.S. Marshals" has its up and its downs. The plot for "U.S. Marshals" is well written,interesting,and creative. It succeeds at remaining close to--but not too close to--its predecessor. The acting here is top notch,the script provides a lot of suspense and surprises along the way,makes its viewers ask a lot of questions,and wait for an appropriate amount of time for the questions to be answered.

But,where does "U.S. Marshals" fall low? There are a couple of scenes in this film that make it a bit predictable,something that no film should contain. Don't the plane crash and train scenes recycle two of the most important scenes that were in "The Fugitive"? These are things that could have and should have been easily patched up in the script for "U.S. Marshals". "U.S. Marshals" really falls low by the fact that it fails to live up to be what it is:a sequel. While most film sequels find a way to talk about the events of this previous film to let viewers know where it is leaving off at and to make the film more interesting,"U.S. Marshals" fails to do this. Sure,the characters and actors that were the U.S. Marshals in "The Fugitive" are to be found here. Yes,there is one certain scene with Tommy Lee Jones and Joe Pantoliano here that does take one back to "The Fugitive" in a certain way. Yet,nothing in "The Fugitive" is mentioned at all. I understand that "U.S. Marshals" film is not "The Fugitive",and I am not asking it to be. But,the intention of a sequel is follow up on where the sequel's predecessor left off. Unfortunately,"U.S. Marshals" fails to do so,and becomes its own film throughout its running time.

Overall,nothing special,but worth a look if you enjoyed "The Fugitive".

I loved this movie, if only for Tommy Lee Jones and Tom Wood (don't know who that is? Don't worry, I'm the only one) and because it was a sequal to my most favourite of movies.
But if you're not considering this movie because of your fantatical devotion to a single actor or series, then take your time deciding. The director was a first-timer, the plot is almost completely identical to the Fugitive (except...Tommy Lee Jones and Wesley Snipes aren't as cool together as Tommy and Harrison) and there are a fair number of awkwardly done 'funny bits'. I would rate it as an average cop drama, and a fairly underwhelming sequel.
However, I loved it, but I suspect that my motives are a little different than most peoples'.

This is an outstanding sequel to an outstanding movie The Fugitive (1993). In this film, the focus is on the team that was searching for Dr. Richard Kimble in the first movie. That team was led by Tommy Lee Jones, who won an Oscar for his performance, which probably helped spur this sequel. It worked, as Jones and company (Joe Pantoliano and others) are just as much fun to watch as they were in The Fugitive.

There are many similarities to the latter, especially in the first third of the film, featuring some tremendous action scenes. Instead of a train crash, we have a plane crash. Instead of Harrison Ford on the run, we have Wesley Snipes. In both films, you have such an involving story that the two hours fly by.

U.S Marshals, being the newer film of the two, has better sound and even better special effects for the action scenes. As spectacular as was the train crash in The Fugitive, the plane disaster in here is even better. The same goes for a few other scenes. There is more action in this film. Normally, I don't need that but it's so well-done here, it's fine....fun to watch.

The Fugitive is still one of my all-time favorite movies. If you were entertained by it as well but are wary of sequels, you needn't be here: this is excellent.

How this movie came to be is anybody's guess. Who would have thought that you could make a sequel, cut the main character from the original movie, and still succeed. While there weren't any really big surprises throughout this movie it still is action packed and ready to please. I would highly recommend this movie. A little better defined plot would have helped improve this movies standing. I also would have appreciated a little bit better character development for the rest of the supporting cast. Overall though it was a good movie and I would watch it again.