The Patriot is a 1986 action film

Action film

Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...

 directed by Frank Harris

Frank Harris (director)

Frank Harris is a director and cinematographer who has been working in films since the late 1970s.In 1984 he directed Killpoint, a film that starred Leo Fong, Hope Holiday, Cameron Mitchell, Stack Pierce and Richard Rountree. In 1986 he directed Low Blow, another Leo Fong Film that featured Billy...

 and starring Gregg Henry

Gregg Henry

Gregg Lee Henry is an American theatre, film and television character actor and rock, blues and country musician.-Biography:...

 and Simone Griffeth

Simone Griffeth

Simone Griffeth McDonald is an American actress.-Career:The tall, blonde Griffeth starred in a number of movies in the 1970s, followed by numerous recurring roles in many prime-time TV series through the early 1990s, including her role of serious minded reporter Gretchen, on the series Ladies Man...

 with Leslie Nielsen

Leslie Nielsen

Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...

.

Plot summary

Agent tries to track down terrorists who are intercepting government nuclear weapons.

Cast

• Gregg Henry
  Gregg Henry
  Gregg Lee Henry is an American theatre, film and television character actor and rock, blues and country musician.-Biography:...
  
   as Lieutenant Matt Ryder
• Simone Griffeth
  Simone Griffeth
  Simone Griffeth McDonald is an American actress.-Career:The tall, blonde Griffeth starred in a number of movies in the 1970s, followed by numerous recurring roles in many prime-time TV series through the early 1990s, including her role of serious minded reporter Gretchen, on the series Ladies Man...
  
   as Sean
• Michael J. Pollard
  Michael J. Pollard
  - Early life :Born Michael John Pollack, Jr. in Passaic, New Jersey, he is the son of Sonia and Michael John Pollack. He attended the Montclair Academy and the Actors Studio.- Career :...
  
   as Howard
• Jeff Conaway
  Jeff Conaway
  Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew...
  
   as Mitchell
• Stack Pierce
  Stack Pierce
  Stack Pierce is an actor who prior to becoming an actor was once a boxer and then later on a pro baseball player -Acting career:His acting career mainly began in the early 1970s with film roles in Night Call Nurses , Fred Williamson's film Hammer and Cool Breeze as well as many acting roles in...
  
   as Atkins
• Leslie Nielsen
  Leslie Nielsen
  Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...
  
   as Admiral Frazer
• Glenn Withrow
  Glenn Withrow
  Glenn Withrow is an American actor, director, producer and writer.-Personal life:Withrow was born in Highland Heights, Kentucky in 1953. He is married to actress Hallie Todd...
  
   as Pink

Legacy

The Coen Brothers have referenced the film as a major influence on their later work. In particular, the character Jim "Kraken" Jones was a role model for the character Anton Chigurh in the movie No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men is a 2005 novel by U.S. author Cormac McCarthy. Set along the United States–Mexico border in 1980, the story concerns an illicit drug deal gone wrong in a remote desert location. The title comes from the poem "Sailing to Byzantium" by William Butler Yeats...

. It also helped to popularize the phrase, "Tijuana oil job".