| | | A Tony Scott Film.
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 2.35:1, English, French, Spanish, Subtitled
Two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington ignites a masterpiece of mayhem in this "powerful" (Los Angeles Times) action-thriller. Hard-drinking, burned-out CIA operative John Creasy (Washington) has given up on life - until his friend Rayburn (Oscar winner Christopher Walken) gets him a job as a bodyguard to nine-year-old Pita Ramos (Dakota Fanning). Bit by bit, Creasy begins to reclaim his soul, but when Pita is kidnapped, Creasy's fiery rage is released and he will stop at nothing to save her.
"...terrific fun." Ian Freer, Empire
"Man on Fire, with a best-ever Denzel Washington, is the first (nonreligious) sure thing to hit the multiplex this year." Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
"...awakens a genuine sense of bloodlust in the viewer...a slick, big-budget, A-list production..." Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
"...superb craftsmanship and a powerful Denzel Washington performance..." Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"...very compelling, and it offers a commanding star vehicle for Denzel Washington." William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Editor's Note
John Creasy (Denzel Washington) is a lost soul. A former government operative, he has become an alcoholic nomad, searching for inspiration and redemption. An old friend (Christopher Walken) who lives in Mexico gets Creasy a job as a bodyguard for nine-year-old Lupita "Pita" Ramos (Dakota Fanning), the daughter of Mexican Samuel (Marc Anthony) and his American wife Lisa (Radha Mitchell). Creasy's primary job is to protect Pita from the kidnapping attempts that are an increasing menace to the children of Mexico City's wealthy. A man of few words and many secrets, Creasy initially balks at Pita's attempts to befriend him, but soon a bond grows between the precocious child and this lonely man who is tormented by his past. When Pita is kidnapped despite Creasy's valiant attempts to save her, he will do anything to bring all of those involved to justice. His fury unravels a net of almost unimaginable corruption and greed in the process. Director Tony Scott (TOP GUN, CRIMSON TIDE) builds the relationship between Creasy and Pita in the first half of the film in order to justify Creasy's violent actions in the latter half, and in the process he does a fine job of keeping the film's tension consistently high.
| Features | Audio: English DTS HD 5.1 Surround Sound | | Audio: French, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Dubbed: French, Spanish | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | This Is A Blu-Ray DVD Made For Blue-Laser Format Players Which Produce Higher Quality Picture & Sound |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Foxvideo |
| Release Date: 3/31/2009 |
| Running Time: 146 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2004 | | Catalog ID: 2243547 | | UPC: 00024543435457 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Nominee (2005) | | | Image Award, Denzel Washington, Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture | | | Image Award, Man on Fire, Outstanding Motion Picture |
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| | Professional Reviews | Los Angeles Times
"[Fanning] turns Pita into a delightful, distinctive, self-possessed individual, likely the most mature youthful presence we'll see on screen all summer." 04/21/2004 p.C1USA Today
"[The director] gives us solid chemistry between Fanning and lead Denzel Washington, plus a more complex than expected characterization by Radha Mitchell..." 04/23/2004 p.7E Chicago Sun-Times
"We're absorbed by Washington's character." 04/23/2004 p.33 Uncut
"MAN ON FIRE explodes with some beautifully orchestrated mayhem that's driven by a cast of fully realised characters." 11/01/2004 p.147 ReelViews 8 of 10
It's open season for vigilantes. With Kill Bill Volume 2, The Punisher, and Walking Tall already out there, Man on Fire is entering a crowded marketplace...When you line up Uma Thurman, Thomas Jane, The Rock, and Denzel Washington, Washington comes out the clear winner when it comes to both box office appeal and acting chops. So it's no surprise that Man on Fire represents the best of this crop of revenge movies...Man on Fire is a remake of a 1987 film starring Scott Glenn. Not having seen the earlier film or read A.J. Quinnell source novel, I can't compare this version to the other incarnations, but, standing on its own, this is a solid motion picture and a better-than-average example of a revenge flick. By concentrating on the emotional impact rather than the pyrotechnics, ammunition, and action/thriller elements, this comes across as an effective piece of drama, and it doesn't cheat us with a Hollywood cop-out ending. - James Berardinelli
Reel.com 7 of 10
In a near-reprisal of his violent Training Day role, Denzel Washington brings the same intensity to Man on Fire, playing yet another good cop/bad cop rolled into one--this time, more good than bad...In part, Scott seems drawn to the tradition of the slow-simmering kidnapping thriller a la Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much. But he's also a visual-minded stylist who's fascinated by the same edgy film tricks that Steven Soderbergh used in Traffic: multiple cameras, odd angles, sped-up and slowed-down shots, rotational shots, skip printing, cross-processing, and film reversals that saturate the frames with strobe-light bursts of grainy color. It all adds a stylish intensity and creates a surreal atmosphere that the The Punisher, another 2004 violent revenge film, could have used. - James Plath
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