Product Details

• Actors: Michael Keaton, Andy Garcia, Brian Cox, Marcia Gay Harden, Erik King
• Directors: Barbet Schroeder
• Writers: David Klass
• Producers: Barbet Schroeder, Gary Foster, Jeffrey Chernov, Josie Rosen, Lee Rich
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• 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
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: May 27, 1998
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0767812743
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,845 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "Desperate Measures" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Call it "Desperate Movie," because this ludicrous thriller deteriorates into unintentional comedy. For reasons that are never explained, a sociopathic killer (Michael Keaton) is the only available bone marrow donor for the cancer-stricken son of a San Francisco cop (Andy Garcia), who must capture the killer alive after a laughable escape in a labyrinthine hospital. The ensuing manhunt relies on plentiful plot holes and ridiculous shortcuts (like Keaton's use of a surgical laser to cut leg irons, or accessing hospital schematics from a prison computer). Self-consciously shot in film noir style, the cat-and-mouse routine leads to a briefly impressive car chase, but the premise (which even the movie's original press notes described as "intriguing, if unlikely") is based on "moral ambiguity" that doesn't translate from script to screen. Instead of forcing Keaton's typically "sick genius" to prove his ingenuity, the film pits him against a squad of cops who couldn't find a beer in a crowded pub. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

TWO POWERFUL STARS GO HEAD-TO-HEAD IN THIS INTRIGUING THRILLER ABOUT A COP WHO MUST PROTECT A MURDERER IN ORDER TO SAVE HIS DYING SON. SCORCHING SUSPENSE AND KEATON'S HIGH-OCTANE PERFORMANCE MAKE FOR A KILLER COMBINATION.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dramatic but never tragic, September 9, 2007

By	Jacques COULARDEAU "A soul doctor, so to say" (OLLIERGUES France) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A good film indeed but it does not compare to any Seven or Silence of the Lambs. It has punch, rhythm, inventiveness, creativity even. It has some good dramatic stuff with a kid who is going to die of leukemia as the main stake. It has the antagonistic situation needed for a good film with the only donor being the serial killer who is going to try anything he can to escape. A criminal donor for the son of a cop. We avoid the easy tear forcing unreal situations like when the child is confronted to the escaping criminal who had taken him hostage, but we are not far from it with a child of 9 slightly too mature for his breeches. The female doctor, or rather surgeon is quite valiant and faces danger with elegance and courage. But in spite of all it is nothing but an adventure film more than a thriller because we know the transplant will take place, hence we know the end and we also know that the killer is going to try to escape again and the last scene is outrageously amateurish on the side of the security forces. Well done, good rhythm, good suspense but not more than good, a few creative ideas but nothing really poignant with pathos at any moment.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Organ, April 13, 2008

By	Christine Andersen - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

His son need's a organ, and ge want his to give his kidney to him, but he doesn't give it up with out a fight.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting, to say the least, January 31, 2006

By	L. Jerome "jamdown" (Silver Spring, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Michael Keaton puts in another excellent turn as a bad guy. This time he's a multi-murdering felon in a maximum security prison.

Overall, this movie will keep you on the edge of your seat to the very end. I agree that the plot is a bit unbelievable, but why should movies be believable anyway. Aren't movies supposed to transport you to another place where reality is temporarily suspended.

Deserves 5 stars for thrills, acting and dark humor.