Product Details

• Actors: Gene Hackman, Joanna Cassidy, Tommy Lee Jones, John Heard, Dennis Franz
• Directors: Andrew Davis
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: November 11, 1998
• Run Time: 108 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0792841948
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,262 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Gene Hackman is a career officer assigned a routine mission well beneath him: deliver a prisoner (Tommy Lee Jones) from Europe to the United States. However, the simple assignment becomes a daring cat-and-mouse game played as the last flames of the Cold War are flickering. This is the first of three films that teamed Jones with director Andrew Davis. In 1989 Jones was a wild card: an actor respected but only popping up in grade B fare. After Davis's Under Siege and The Fugitive, Jones was America's favorite gruff character actor, with an Oscar on his mantel. With a weaker script, Davis still creates the same kind of magic here. Hackman is superb as the officer, an action role similar to others that the nearly 60-year-old unexpectedly excelled at (Bat 21, Narrow Margin) during this period. Tight, tense, and with no letup in the third act, The Package is a good gem for a Saturday night flick. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good thriller, lousy DVD., October 1, 2000

By	Birthe Jrgensen (Odense, Denmark) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Package (DVD)

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.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great political espionage film, July 9, 2000

By	Eric Finkelstein (King Of Prussia, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Package (DVD)

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.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars it's "Fugitive" Lite!, February 11, 2002

By	Christopher Galvin "guyincolumbus" (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Package (DVD)

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).