Collateral Damage (2002 film)
Collateral Damage | |
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Directed by | Andrew Davis |
Written by |
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Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Adam Greenberg |
Edited by | |
Music by | Bel-Air Entertainment |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 109 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | English Spanish |
Budget | $85 million[1] |
Box office | $78.4 million |
Collateral Damage is a 2002 American
Collateral Damage was released in the United States on February 8, 2002, to negative reviews, and was a commercial failure.[2]
Plot
A bomb detonates in the plaza of the
Frustrated at the political red tape regarding the investigation, Brewer travels to Mompós to personally hunt down Claudio but is quickly arrested for illegal entry. The guerrillas stage a prison break to free their comrades and abduct Brewer to demand a large ransom for him. Brandt's unit is alerted to Brewer's presence in Colombia but arrive too late. Brewer escapes the prison, evades capture, and secures a guerrilla zone pass from Canadian mechanic Sean Armstrong. Armstrong introduces him to drug runner Felix Ramirez, the manager of the cocaine distribution facility that finances the guerrillas. Masquerading as a "mechanic", Brewer rigs several improvised explosives and destroys the facility. Felix is blamed for the destruction of the drug plant and is executed in front of a hiding Brewer's eyes. Brewer infiltrates Claudio's headquarters and plants a bomb to kill him, but he is captured when he tries to prevent a woman, Selena, from being caught in the blast radius along with her son, Mauro. At Claudio's home compound, Selena reveals she is Claudio's wife. She and Claudio once lost their own child during an American attack, which compelled Claudio to become a terrorist; Selena found and adopted Mauro, whose parents were killed in the attack. Regardless, Selena eventually sympathizes with Brewer and admits that Claudio is planning another bombing in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, Brandt's unit locates Claudio's compound and launches an attack. During the ensuing shootout, Selena helps free Brewer and, along with Brandt, travels back to the State Department in Washington, D.C. to help the search effort for Claudio. Selena identifies
Brewer chases Selena to the basement of the building where she and Claudio ride off through the tunnels on a motorcycle. Brewer finds the tunnel control console and shuts the gates, preventing their escape. Brewer uses an axe to rupture some gas lines along the walls of the tunnel and, as they ride back, Selena shoots at Brewer, unwittingly igniting the gas. Brewer jumps through a doorway just as the entire tunnel explodes. Selena and Claudio survive the blast, however, and attack him simultaneously. After a short, hand-to-hand fight, Selena is electrocuted by being tossed on the exposed circuitry of the control panel, and Claudio is himself killed when Brewer throws an axe into his chest before he can detonate a second bomb in the State Department.
In the aftermath, Brewer carries Mauro in his arms as they leave the State Department. A newscast voiceover explains that Brewer will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom for preventing one of the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history from taking place.
Cast
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Captain Gordon "Gordy" Brewer, A Los Angeles firefighter who seeks Colombian terrorists responsible for the killing of his wife and son.
- Elias Koteas as Peter Brandt, the head of the CIA station of Colombia.
- Francesca Neri as Selena Perrini, the wife of Claudio.
- Cliff Curtis as Claudio "El Lobo" Perrini, a Colombian terrorist known as the Wolf.
- John Leguizamo as Felix Ramirez, the manager of cocaine distribution facility.
- John Turturro as Sean Armstrong, a Canadian mechanic.
- Lindsay Frost as Anne Brewer, Gordy's wife.
- Ethan Dampf as Matt Brewer, Gordy's son.
- Miguel Sandoval as FBI Special Agent Joe Phipps, the FBI agent in charge.
- Harry Lennix as FBI Agent Dray, Phipps's FBI partner
- Jane Lynch as Agent Russo
- Tyler Posey as Mauro, the adopted son of Selena and Claudio.
- Fernando Sarfati as Federale
- Jsu Garcia as Roman, Claudio's right-hand man.
- Michael Milhoan as Jack, Gordy's fellow fireman.
- Rick Worthy as Ronnie, Gordy's fellow fireman.
- Raymond Cruz as Junior, Gordy's fellow fireman.
- J. Kenneth Campbell as Ed Coonts, the former military advisor of Colombia who gives Brewer advice to survive Colombia.
- Rodrigo Obregón as Rodrigo
- Michael Cavanaugh as Chairman Paul Devereaux
- Nicholas Pryor as Senator Delich
Production
The original script for the film had the same plotline but would have addressed American policy in the Middle East by taking place in Libya; director Davis and his screenwriters chose Colombia as the new location because it had not been used as extensively and touched on a current geopolitical conflict area.[citation needed]
The film was shot in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. The scenes that represent Colombia were shot in the town of Coatepec in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. Filming in Mexico lasted ten weeks. First were shot during first eight weeks and then returned to roll other two.[citation needed]
Release
Marketing
The September 11 attacks affected the release and editing of the final film. The film's original trailer was scrapped because it showed a major bomb attack in the United States. The film was originally scheduled to be released on October 5, 2001, but it was postponed due to its terrorism theme and the attacks.[3] Following this, Warner Bros. removed any mentions of Collateral Damage from the website, radio stations, television and movie theaters. All trailers and posters for the film were also recalled.[4] Eventually, it was released on February 8, 2002. The premiere was held four days earlier.[5] Collateral Damage was also supposed to include Colombian actress Sofía Vergara in the role of an airplane hijacker; however the scene where Vergara would hijack a plane was cut from the film.[6]
Home media
Reception
Box office
Collateral Damage earned a total of $15.2 million during its opening weekend.[9] It ranked number one at the box office ahead of Big Fat Liar, Rollerball and Black Hawk Down. This was also the first Arnold Schwarzenegger film to do so since Batman & Robin in 1997.[10] For its second weekend, the film dropped into fifth place behind John Q., Crossroads, Return to Never Land and Big Fat Liar, making $8.7 million.[11] In Spain, it opened in second place behind Monsters, Inc. with $1.1 million in its first weekend.[12] The film made $78.4 million worldwide against its $85 million budget.[13]
Critical response
Rotten Tomatoes, rated it 19% based on reviews from 142 critics, with an average rating of 4/10. The site's consensus reads: "Despite its timely subject matter, Collateral Damage is an unexceptional and formulaic action thriller."[14] Metacritic rated it 33 out of 100 based on reviews from 34 critics.[15] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[16]
See also
References
- ^ "Collateral Damage (2002) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
- ^ "Warner Bros. Pictures to Release Action Thriller Collateral Damage, Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nationwide on February 8, 2002". Business Wire. Berkshire Hathaway. November 14, 2001. Archived from the original on November 16, 2001. Retrieved June 9, 2019 – via Yahoo.com.
- ^ "Violent TV shows, movies postponed".
- ^ IGN Staff (September 13, 2001). "Hollywood Halted in Wake of Tragedy". IGN. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
- ^ Karger, Dave (2002-02-12). "Collateral Damage tops the box office". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2015-06-13.
- E! Online. Retrieved 2015-06-13.
- ^ Holm, D. K. (2002-07-05). "Collateral Damage". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2015-06-13.
- ^ "Schwarzenegger's 'Collateral Damage' strongarms way to No. 1 at box office". The Muscatine Journal. February 11, 2002. p. 12. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
- ^ "Rings sets new Polish box office record".
- ^ "Collateral Damage". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2015-06-13.
- ^ "Collateral Damage (2002)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
- ^ "Collateral Damage". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-06-13.
- ^ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
- Howe, Desson. "Minimal 'Damage'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
- ^ Puig, Claudia. "'Collateral' is damaged goods". USA Today. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (February 8, 2002). "Collateral Damage". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2023-03-13.