The Rookie (1990 film)
Encyclopedia
The Rookie is a 1990 American action film
directed by Clint Eastwood
and produced by Howard G. Kazanjian, Steven Siebert and David Valdes. It was written from a screenplay conceived by Boaz Yakin
and Scott Spiegel
. The film stars Charlie Sheen
, Clint Eastwood
, Raúl Juliá
, Sônia Braga
, Lara Flynn Boyle
and Tom Skerritt
. Eastwood plays a veteran police officer teamed up with a younger detective played by Sheen (the rookie of the title), whose intent is to take down a German crime lord in downtown Los Angeles following months of investigation into his illegal activities.
The film is notable for its unconventional female-on-male rape scene by a statuesque cocaine-sniffing seductress. Shot entirely on location in California during the spring of 1990, the film is distinctly remembered for its elaborate pyrotechnics
and extravagant commanding theatrics. The film crew's reliance on expensive sets and elaborate stunt equipment outweighed the need for utilizing extensive CGI
special effects during production. Distributed by Warner Bros., the film never spawned a sequel.
The Rookie premiered in theaters nationwide in the United States and Canada on December 7, 1990 grossing $21,633,874 in ticket receipts. The film was overshadowed by the continuing success of Home Alone; which opened in theaters three weeks earlier, but ended up being one of the top 100 highest grossing films of all time. Although considered a mild financial success, The Rookie was met with generally lackluster reviews before its initial screening in cinemas. After its theatrical run, it failed to receive award nominations for acting or production merits from accredited motion picture organizations in any category.
and chop shop
operations. During an encounter with Strom and his men, who are loading a semi-trailer truck with stolen cars, Powell is murdered. Pulovski, despite efforts to catch the criminals on the highway, ends up losing them.
Consequently, Pulovski is removed from the case by his superior, Lt. Raymond Garcia, and given a new partner, David Ackerman, a young officer recently promoted to rookie Detective, who has continual nightmares and is plagued by guilt over his brother's death, believing it was his fault as a child. Against regulations, Pulovski and Ackerman start investigating the Strom case. Pulovski tracks down a man working for Strom named Morales, whom he forces to cooperate. Morales, under Pulovski's instructions, manages to plant a two-way radio inside Strom's house without getting caught, but is still murdered later on by Strom's companion Liesl. Feeling pressured by the authorities, Strom deduced that there was a connection between Morales and another one of his operatives named Little Felix. Unbeknown to Strom earlier, Little Felix had also been secretly working as an informant for Pulovski regarding the disclosure of his illegal activities at his wrecking yards.
Through the listening device, Pulovski and Ackerman learn that Strom is planning to leave the country after robbing a local casino of two million dollars. Strom's men set off smoke bombs inside the casino and capture the general manager, Alphonse (Anthony Alexander), forcing him to open the vault for them. Inside the vault however, are Pulovski and Ackerman, who had conspired with Alphonse to capture Strom. Yet Liesl, knowing of Ackerman's naïvete, dares him and distracts Pulovski long enough for Strom to pin the detective down to the floor. Liesl shoots Ackerman in the back; although he is not injured due to his bulletproof vest. But moments later, one of Strom's men, Cruz (Pete Randall), discovers that the vault is empty. With police surrounding the building, Strom takes Pulovski hostage and demands the two million dollars as a ransom.
In trying to determine Pulovski's whereabouts, Ackerman tracks down one of Strom's henchmen named Loco. Loco, however, manages to elude Ackerman following a violent encounter with him at a dry cleaners where Little Felix is also found murdered. Ackerman then decides to turn to his father Eugene, for help in securing the ransom money, which he reluctantly agrees to. While at his father's office, Ackerman's girlfriend Sarah (Lara Flynn Boyle), informs him over the phone that Lt. Garcia is at their house waiting to interrogate him. Just then, Ackerman is visited by two detectives, who claim that Garcia is at headquarters and has sent them to retrieve him over his alleged forbidden involvement in the Strom case. Ackerman suddenly realizes that there is only one person capable of impersonating Garcia; Loco, with Ackerman's badge which he acquired by stealing it from him during a previous encounter at a bar. Ackerman evades the detectives and races home on a borrowed motorcycle. During an ensuing physical confrontation between the two men, Sarah grabs Ackerman's gun and kills Loco. Ackerman is distraught, as he needed Loco alive to tell him where Pulovski is being held captive. However, Ackerman later notices Loco's car outside their door, a bizarrely colored Lotus, which he and Pulovski spotted earlier at a warehouse in which one of Strom's mechanics, Max, was working on.
After killing Max in a struggle within an elevator shaft, Pulovski is rescued by Ackerman. The pair escape the warehouse by driving a Mercedes convertible through a wall and Pulovski quotes a Mercedes Benz commercial, Engineered like no other car and later capture Cruz, whom Strom sent to collect the ransom. As the group arrives at the airport, Cruz gives Strom the money and is murdered. Pulovski and Ackerman open fire at the scene as a situation is created where one of Strom's men, Blackwell, in charge of flying him out of the country aboard a private jet, is killed following a collision with a commercial airliner. Ackerman later pursues Liesl into the airport and kills her, while Pulovski attempts to shoot Strom during his own chase, but ends up out of ammunition. Strom shoots Pulovski, and prepares to kill him when Ackerman arrives, and shoots Strom. Seriously injured, Strom collapses onto a luggage conveyor belt. Pulovski climbs on, and to avenge Powell and end the homicide spree there, kills him despite Strom's requests for medical attention. Sometime later, Pulovski, Ackerman and Garcia have been promoted. Ackerman is now a detective and Pulovski the new Lieutenant (Garcia's new position is left unrevealed). Pulovski introduces Ackerman to another "rookie" cop, Playboy hottie Heather Torres (Roberta Vasquez), as his new partner.
, filming was done primarily on location in Saratoga
, San Jose
and Los Angeles
. Various filming sites included Interstate 680
and State Route 87
in San Jose for the opening chase sequence featuring the semi-tractor trailer, the famous Villa Montalvo
mansion for the henchmen meeting scene in the Santa Cruz Mountains
of Saratoga, and the San Jose International Airport
as well as the Mojave Air & Space Port for the final action climax scene, which author Laurence F. Knapp described as "both purgative and objectionable—a vivid, personal exchange of camera angles and vantage points that complicate, rather than conclude." A furniture warehouse on the corner of 4th and Hewitt streets in downtown Los Angeles, stood in as the hideaway for Strom's illegal theft operation. But in relation to same hideaway's demise later in the film, a different building was used in the City of Commerce. A warehouse previously occupied by an auto agency slated for demolition on Flower near 12th Street, stood in for the impending explosion-filled destruction. During an introductory scene, where Eastwood's character pulls up in an unmarked squad car to foil the plans of the car thieves, a z-shaped thoroughfare called Santa Fe Street, provided the perfect secluded background at night which also happened to overlook the Los Angeles skyline. For the action sequences involving aircraft at the San Jose airport, a Hansa twin-engine jet was used to collide with a Convair 880 that was briefly disguised as a 150-passenger Evergreen International Airlines
Boeing 727
.
In keeping with the continuity of the subject matter and storyline, the filming was punctuated with the use—and in some cases the destruction—of expensive and alluring foreign automobiles; including a Ferrari Daytona
, a Porsche 928
, a Jaguar XJ
, as well as brief appearances of a Cadillac Allante
and a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit
. A vintage gull-wing
Mercedes-Benz 300SL
is also presented in the film, being personally driven by Braga's character in an introductory sequence before a large-scale climactic car chase scene. In addition to driving a newly redesigned Mercedes-Benz 500SL
for the 1990 model year, Eastwood's character is also seen conveying his distaste for the Lime Green color on the Lotus Esprit and later driving said vehicle during a criminal pursuit. Sheen's character also takes part in a scene involving an older, rare Harley-Davidson
, riding head-on through the front door of a residential home.
Jack N. Green
. Stunt coordinator
Terry Leonard and second unit director Buddy Van Horn
, oversaw the task of integrating the scope of stunt
people working to produce the action which numbered over twice as many actors in the film (said to be over 80 stuntmen), while supervisor John Frazier controlled the special effect
s. Green, Van Horn, Leonard, Frazier, and production manager Valdez began close pre-production discussions three months before principal photography. To meet his stylistic lighting objectives in shaping the scenery environment, Green utilized powerful Musco Lighting
developed during the 1980s. Commenting on a production scene surrounding the character of Pulovski at his residence, Green noted the home was characteristic of "359 degrees" of accessible turns of the camera. He detailed how the crew would "go in with these little ceiling units, as close to the ceiling as we could get them, little accent lights onto the place the actors would be. It would look like it was coming from those practicals but, again, at a dramatic angle." Describing a stunt-related sequence early in the film performed by Eastwood himself, Van Horn who had been a stunt associate for almost 35 years, took the opportunity to commend the actor on his contributions saying, "Clint likes to do everything live, ... When you read the script, you know everything is going to be pretty much live action. Sometimes you have to talk him out of something that just might be a little too risky. Not that he couldn't do it, but if something even minor should happen, you couldn't afford to suspend the production." The sequence which Van Horn alluded to, was a scene that involved Eastwood behind the driver's seat racing a Chevrolet Blazer through stop and go traffic, while swerving to avoid upcoming cars from the opposite direction. The scene included 20 other stunt drivers operating a carefully rehearsed formation through a head on collision course. According to Van Horn who engineered the sequence with Leonard, he noted, "The whole thing is like a football play, ... We all sit down and figure out where the cars are, where Clint makes the break out of traffic, where the other cars are going, and just the whole cause and effect for how and why he pulls into (the intersection) and decides to head on through. That's all worked out ahead of time." Leonard added, "In a situation where your rehearsal time is extremely limited, it becomes that old expression: experience, ... It becomes a seat of the pants kind of thing, about 20 drivers and Clint who know where the close calls are going to be and who's going to be in what position when. But once you get going, there's always the element of surprise, where maybe a car is 10 feet closer than it was expected to be, and a driver must react to that."
Speaking on the origins of the film, Eastwood mentioned "I have a project for this spring that will be full of action. It's another cop picture, very different from this one. It has its own character and if it's done well it can turn out to be something good. Charlie Sheen will play the rookie and I'll play the mature cop." During the initial production phase of the film, Sheen was also dealing with alcohol and drug related issues, as Eastwood took it upon himself as a fatherly figure, in trying to discipline the younger actor into proper behavior and responsibility. Certain critics such as author Daniel O'Brien, failed to understand why director Eastwood used Hispanic
actors Juliá and Braga, to portray German villains. Puzzled, he mused, "Why Eastwood thought that the Puerto Rican Juliá and the Brazilian Braga would make convincing German schweinehund is difficult to determine, with Braga in particular suffering the indignities of awful dialogue ..." In summing up the filming experience, Frazier said, "You know, things went really well, but you have to give credit to everyone involved. Clint Eastwood and David Valdez really gave us the time and their confidence to do it right. We were never really rushed, which is so important. We were able to do every one of the major shots in one take: the car out of the building, the carrier turning over and the planes colliding. That says something. These guys respect the crew and every job being done. It makes a big difference."
In an interview with Orange Coast Magazine, co-star Braga confessed she had "never done action before" in film, while also stating, "I had to learn running and kicking and hitting." Under Eastwood's direction, Braga commented, "When you act with the director, you don't have any barriers because you're giving and taking at the same time." On a separate note, author Marc Eliot described the graphic rape scene in the film that gained much publicity as being, "an explosive sequence, and the only one in the film that people talked about. As obviously provocative and exploitative as it was, ars gratia artis the scene may also be read as conveying Clint's feeling victimized at the hands of a beautiful but bad woman." Offering another take on the scene, author John H. Foote noticed, "Braga looks somewhat embarrassed during the rape sequence, leaving us to wonder why Eastwood the director did not handle the sequence in a different manner. Was he hoping that the film would offer audiences something new?" Author Douglas Thompson bluntly referred to the rape scene as "sadomasochistic" and Braga as a "kinky nymphomaniac" while adding, "before she rapes Eastwood she plays around his chest with a razor blade, then gets into torrid action." Author Howard Hughes indicated that the event was one of Eastwood's "most distasteful scenes in [his] entire career".
convertible driving through the fourth floor window of an exploding warehouse. For the scene, a 1,500 pound Mercedes auto mock-up was connected by 150 feet of quarter-inch pulleyed cable to a Ford 4×4 pickup on the ground. The truck would drive straight ahead and pull the Mercedes through the windows as the cable that connected the two vehicles exhibited a tensile strength of 8,000 pounds. Once the pull on the cable started, both vehicles would move in precise proportion to one another. After the mock-up launched through the windows, the hook connecting the Mercedes would drop. As Frazier explained, "The hook is very similar to the kind used to launch jets on air craft carriers, ... Once the hook falls away, the Mercedes is propelled by its own momentum." Aerodynamics
played a key role in the execution, as Frazier referred to the stunt saying, "When the car left the building it was very important that it exit and travel flat, ... A lot of times it doesn't matter. In this case, if the car didn't travel flat, you would know that the car could not have survived into the next sequence where it landed on the rooftop. We had to set up aerodynamics on that car, so that every time it went out the window, including the tests, it flew out without the nose dipping down." The explosion filled destruction of the warehouse was produced by 9 separate 18-inch steel mortars on each of the 4 floors. When fully discharged, all 36 mortars produced the largest orchestrated explosion ever allowed in Los Angeles city limits permitted at the time.
Another major stunt sequence consisted of a 50 feet (15.2 m), 21-ton two-tiered automobile carrier flipping over on its side, flinging its automotive cargo onto a freeway of traffic. In the sequence, the carrier is scripted to disconnect from the primary cab at highway speed, so that the carrier veers off to one side while eventually flipping over. Frazier explained how "Clint did not want the car carrier rolling over and over down the freeway, ... He just wanted it to go over on its side and then slide until it stopped. It would have been easier to load that thing up (with cars), get up to speed and 'barrel' roll it down the freeway. But it wouldn't have looked realistic for his character to have survived it." A semi-truck which was trailing 150 feet behind the carrier, held on to it by means of a cable. After the carrier became detached from the passenger cab, the semi-truck came to a stop yanking the carrier from the cab. Frazier demonstrated how gravity played a significant and key role during the scene. He noted, "By itself, the carrier would not have come off the (cab), ... It could ride there forever, even though it's been released, just due to the weight of the carrier. So we needed the 'holdback' cable to the truck behind, and on cue, the driver locked his brakes." After the carrier disengaged from the cab, steel castor wheels attached to the underside of the carrier directed it to the center embankment. A stuntman who was riding in the carrier fired 3 cannons to physically lift it over on its side.
A small jet aircraft pursuing the lead characters played by Eastwood and Sheen, compliments another tightly coordinated stunt scene (aerial coordinators James W. Gavin and Eric W. Gray). After chasing the two detectives through a grassy area, a Hansa twin-engine jet collides with a Convair 880 traveling at 100 mph. Both the San Jose and Mojave airports were scripted as LA International Airport during filming of the scene. Right before the impact, the Hansa was actually stationary being pulled by a 150-foot steel cable attached to a 4-wheel drive pickup truck right before the explosion erupted. Frazier explained, "The reason we did that is because if the planes collide first, it's likely they'll upend all our wires and the explosion wouldn't occur at all. Another reason is that had the Hansa not demolished before impact, it could have spun the other plane around, and we might have ended up with the 880 in our shot instead. The ensuing explosion after the Convair dissects the Hansa was powered by 10 gallons of gasoline and 4 separate 18-inch mortars. The detonation device included a 125-foot electrical cable set off by a bull switch to help achieve the desired effect.
for the film which included elements of jazz
music and considerable use of the trumpet
, was originally composed by American saxophonist Lennie Niehaus
. The music score was mixed by Robert Fernandez and edited by Donald Harris. The sound effects in the film were supervised by Robert G. Henderson and Alan Robert Murray
. The mixing of the sound effects were orchestrated by Donald F. Johnson and Michael Evje. Although not officially released, music from the soundtrack included songs entitled "All The Things You Are" written by Jerome Kern
and Oscar Hammerstein II
as well as the "Red Zone" written by Kyle Eastwood
and Michael Stevens.
of the Chicago Sun Times, mildly complimented the stunts and special effects mentioning, "There are some good ones, including a chase down an expressway, with Eastwood driving his car right up the loading ramp of a semi auto-carrier" and noting that the film was "... jammed with material and the budget was obviously large, but somehow not much pays off. It's all there on the screen, but lifeless." On another negative front, Ebert also criticized Sheen's performance saying, he kept "a poker face and laconic voice through much of the movie, and doesn't generate the kind of vigor and intensity the role needs; a more nervous actor might have been a better choice." Ebert's partner Gene Siskel
voiced his agreement: "It's a very depressing experience. Everyone's wasted in the film. The latino stereotypes, when they get out on the street, are just awful." He went on to state, "... nobody has a good role. Raúl Juliá is wasted, Sônia Braga is tawdry. This was gonna be a classy international star, it's a joke." Hal Hinson of the Washington Post solidly concurred saying, "Eastwood runs his patented American macho numbers, plays the same limited repertoire of squints, but he's gotten way too long in the tooth to pull them off and the thrill is long gone." Incidentally, another Washington Post staff writer Desson Howe, dismissed the film as well. He openly wondered whether the film "will have something original about it. Maybe there's a twist somewhere, something to set it apart from the 20,595 other buddies-in-uniform movies made in recent years." In contrast with the buddy film genre though, Pat Collins
of WWOR-TV
, enthusiastically proclaimed the film to be "The best buddy cop movie of the year." The Variety
staff however, added to the general dismay with the film saying, "Overlong, sadistic and stale even by the conventions of the buddy pic genre, Clint Eastwood's The Rookie is actually Dirty Harry 5 since Eastwood's tough-as-nails cop Nick Pulovski could just as easily be named Harry Callahan, ..."
Vincent Canby
of The New York Times
, expressed his dissatisfaction with the film too. He mused, "The Rookie is an astonishingly empty movie to come from Mr. Eastwood. The screenplay for The Rookie seems to have been pumped up from a script originally intended as a segment for a half-hour television series. There's not much of a story." He wasn't impressed with the special effects either saying, "the movie devotes itself to extended set pieces, mostly chases, which are so lazily thought out and edited that the audience is always ready for the twists that are supposed to surprise." Also in regards to the stunt work, author MK of Time Out in London commented, the "movie is full of caricatured cops and robbers, and punctuated with interminably dull car-chases."
Alternatively though, Dave Kehr
of the Chicago Tribune
felt the quality of the stunt work was superb, commenting that they were, "the most spectacular action sequences Eastwood has ever filmed." Noted critic Leonard Maltin
gave the film a star and a half, somewhat approving of the stuntwork by figuratively mentioning, "there's one good freeway crackup" but in the end, felt the theme amounted to "Formula filmmaking that even bored its intended audience."
Other movie critics like Jeffrey Lyons
of WPIX
, applauded the performances of the lead characters and called the film "Tough and gritty. Fires with a full clip. Eastwood and Sheen are terrific together." Equally swayed in opinion was film critic Susan Granger of American Movie Classics: "This slam-bam, action-packed thriller packs a wallop." Giving the film a C+ rating, critic Owen Gleiberman
from Entertainment Weekly
posted, "The Rookie is like a series of garish exploitation set pieces jammed into the shape of a buddy movie." He went further in his criticism saying, "as moviemaking goes, The Rookie is on the slovenly side. The plot makes almost no sense, and Eastwood directs in his usual toneless fashion." But on a lighter note, relating to the film's comedic appeal, he stated, "in this case, the fact that you can't always tell the intentional comedy from the unintentional isn't necessarily a drawback." In agreement on the lack of plausibility surrounding the plot, author Marshall Julius still offered though an almost entirely positive review, giving the film three and a half guns, exclaiming, "As directed by Eastwood, The Rookie is a deliberately silly, knockabout adventure which aims for outrageous and hits a bullseye. We're talking good, dumb, fun. Get your brains out and the beers in, and you're all set."
grossing $5,510,056 in its opening weekend. During that first weekend in release, the film opened in third place behind Home Alone and Misery
. The film's revenue dropped by 36% in its second week of release, earning $3,512,765. During its final weekend showing in theaters, the film grossed $1,224,696. The film went on to top out at $21,633,874 in total ticket sales through a 5-week theatrical run. For 1990
as a whole, the film would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 56.
video format on May 27, 1992. The Region 1 Code
widescreen
edition of the film was released on DVD
in the United States on September 2, 2003 and includes a digital transfer soundtrack remastered in Dobly Digital 5.1, interactive menus, Eastwood film highlights, scene access and the theatrical trailer. The film was released on Blu-ray Disc
on June 1, 2010.
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 Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
and produced by Howard G. Kazanjian, Steven Siebert and David Valdes. It was written from a screenplay conceived by Boaz Yakin
Boaz Yakin
Boaz Yakin is an American screenwriter and film director based in New York City. Yakin studied filmmaking at New York City College and New York University.-Life and career:...
and Scott Spiegel
Scott Spiegel
Scott Spiegel is an American screenwriter, film director, producer and actor. He is best known for co-writing the screenplay for the movie Evil Dead II with longtime friend, film director Sam Raimi, with whom he attended Wylie E. Groves High School in Birmingham, Michigan...
. The film stars Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
, Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
, Raúl Juliá
Raúl Juliá
Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor.Born in San Juan, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson...
, Sônia Braga
Sônia Braga
Sônia Maria Campos Braga is a Brazilian actress. She has been nominated for both a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award.-Early life:...
, Lara Flynn Boyle
Lara Flynn Boyle
Lara Flynn Boyle is an American film and television actress best known for her performances as Laura Palmer's best friend Donna Hayward in Twin Peaks and Assistant District Attorney Helen Gamble in The Practice...
and Tom Skerritt
Tom Skerritt
Thomas Roy "Tom" Skerritt is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962.-Early life:...
. Eastwood plays a veteran police officer teamed up with a younger detective played by Sheen (the rookie of the title), whose intent is to take down a German crime lord in downtown Los Angeles following months of investigation into his illegal activities.
The film is notable for its unconventional female-on-male rape scene by a statuesque cocaine-sniffing seductress. Shot entirely on location in California during the spring of 1990, the film is distinctly remembered for its elaborate pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...
and extravagant commanding theatrics. The film crew's reliance on expensive sets and elaborate stunt equipment outweighed the need for utilizing extensive CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
special effects during production. Distributed by Warner Bros., the film never spawned a sequel.
The Rookie premiered in theaters nationwide in the United States and Canada on December 7, 1990 grossing $21,633,874 in ticket receipts. The film was overshadowed by the continuing success of Home Alone; which opened in theaters three weeks earlier, but ended up being one of the top 100 highest grossing films of all time. Although considered a mild financial success, The Rookie was met with generally lackluster reviews before its initial screening in cinemas. After its theatrical run, it failed to receive award nominations for acting or production merits from accredited motion picture organizations in any category.
Plot
Sgt. Nick Pulovski and his partner, Powell, are assigned to the case of taking down the criminal empire of a German felon, Strom, who engages in grand theft autoMotor vehicle theft
Motor vehicle theft is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle...
and chop shop
Chop shop
In motor vehicle theft, a chop shop is a location or business which disassembles stolen automobiles for the purpose of selling them as parts. It may also be used to refer to a location or business that is involved with the selling of stolen or fraudulent goods in general, an example of the latter...
operations. During an encounter with Strom and his men, who are loading a semi-trailer truck with stolen cars, Powell is murdered. Pulovski, despite efforts to catch the criminals on the highway, ends up losing them.
Consequently, Pulovski is removed from the case by his superior, Lt. Raymond Garcia, and given a new partner, David Ackerman, a young officer recently promoted to rookie Detective, who has continual nightmares and is plagued by guilt over his brother's death, believing it was his fault as a child. Against regulations, Pulovski and Ackerman start investigating the Strom case. Pulovski tracks down a man working for Strom named Morales, whom he forces to cooperate. Morales, under Pulovski's instructions, manages to plant a two-way radio inside Strom's house without getting caught, but is still murdered later on by Strom's companion Liesl. Feeling pressured by the authorities, Strom deduced that there was a connection between Morales and another one of his operatives named Little Felix. Unbeknown to Strom earlier, Little Felix had also been secretly working as an informant for Pulovski regarding the disclosure of his illegal activities at his wrecking yards.
Through the listening device, Pulovski and Ackerman learn that Strom is planning to leave the country after robbing a local casino of two million dollars. Strom's men set off smoke bombs inside the casino and capture the general manager, Alphonse (Anthony Alexander), forcing him to open the vault for them. Inside the vault however, are Pulovski and Ackerman, who had conspired with Alphonse to capture Strom. Yet Liesl, knowing of Ackerman's naïvete, dares him and distracts Pulovski long enough for Strom to pin the detective down to the floor. Liesl shoots Ackerman in the back; although he is not injured due to his bulletproof vest. But moments later, one of Strom's men, Cruz (Pete Randall), discovers that the vault is empty. With police surrounding the building, Strom takes Pulovski hostage and demands the two million dollars as a ransom.
In trying to determine Pulovski's whereabouts, Ackerman tracks down one of Strom's henchmen named Loco. Loco, however, manages to elude Ackerman following a violent encounter with him at a dry cleaners where Little Felix is also found murdered. Ackerman then decides to turn to his father Eugene, for help in securing the ransom money, which he reluctantly agrees to. While at his father's office, Ackerman's girlfriend Sarah (Lara Flynn Boyle), informs him over the phone that Lt. Garcia is at their house waiting to interrogate him. Just then, Ackerman is visited by two detectives, who claim that Garcia is at headquarters and has sent them to retrieve him over his alleged forbidden involvement in the Strom case. Ackerman suddenly realizes that there is only one person capable of impersonating Garcia; Loco, with Ackerman's badge which he acquired by stealing it from him during a previous encounter at a bar. Ackerman evades the detectives and races home on a borrowed motorcycle. During an ensuing physical confrontation between the two men, Sarah grabs Ackerman's gun and kills Loco. Ackerman is distraught, as he needed Loco alive to tell him where Pulovski is being held captive. However, Ackerman later notices Loco's car outside their door, a bizarrely colored Lotus, which he and Pulovski spotted earlier at a warehouse in which one of Strom's mechanics, Max, was working on.
After killing Max in a struggle within an elevator shaft, Pulovski is rescued by Ackerman. The pair escape the warehouse by driving a Mercedes convertible through a wall and Pulovski quotes a Mercedes Benz commercial, Engineered like no other car and later capture Cruz, whom Strom sent to collect the ransom. As the group arrives at the airport, Cruz gives Strom the money and is murdered. Pulovski and Ackerman open fire at the scene as a situation is created where one of Strom's men, Blackwell, in charge of flying him out of the country aboard a private jet, is killed following a collision with a commercial airliner. Ackerman later pursues Liesl into the airport and kills her, while Pulovski attempts to shoot Strom during his own chase, but ends up out of ammunition. Strom shoots Pulovski, and prepares to kill him when Ackerman arrives, and shoots Strom. Seriously injured, Strom collapses onto a luggage conveyor belt. Pulovski climbs on, and to avenge Powell and end the homicide spree there, kills him despite Strom's requests for medical attention. Sometime later, Pulovski, Ackerman and Garcia have been promoted. Ackerman is now a detective and Pulovski the new Lieutenant (Garcia's new position is left unrevealed). Pulovski introduces Ackerman to another "rookie" cop, Playboy hottie Heather Torres (Roberta Vasquez), as his new partner.
Cast
- Clint EastwoodClint EastwoodClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
as Nick Pulovski - Charlie SheenCharlie SheenCarlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
as David Ackerman - Raúl JuliáRaúl JuliáRaúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor.Born in San Juan, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson...
as Strom - Sônia BragaSônia BragaSônia Maria Campos Braga is a Brazilian actress. She has been nominated for both a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award.-Early life:...
as Liesl - Tom SkerrittTom SkerrittThomas Roy "Tom" Skerritt is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962.-Early life:...
as Eugene Ackerman - Lara Flynn BoyleLara Flynn BoyleLara Flynn Boyle is an American film and television actress best known for her performances as Laura Palmer's best friend Donna Hayward in Twin Peaks and Assistant District Attorney Helen Gamble in The Practice...
as Sarah - Pepe SernaPepe SernaPepe Serna is an American film actor and artist.Serna's first break in movies came in 1970 on the Roger Corman directed film Student Nurses. Over the years Serna has appeared in over 100 films, most notably Car Wash and Scarface directed by Brian De Palma, where he played Montana's friend Angel...
as Lieutenant Raymond Garcia - Marco Rodriguez as Loco Martinez
- Xander BerkeleyXander BerkeleyAlexander Harper "Xander" Berkeley is an American actor. His roles include George Mason on the television series 24.-Early life:Berkeley was born in Brooklyn, New York, but has lived most of his life in New Jersey...
as Blackwell
Sets and equipment
Within CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, filming was done primarily on location in Saratoga
Saratoga, California
Saratoga is a city in Santa Clara County, California, USA. It is located on the west side of the Santa Clara Valley, directly west of San Jose, in the San Francisco Bay area. The population was 29,926 at the 2010 census....
, San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Various filming sites included Interstate 680
Interstate 680 (California)
Interstate 680 is a north–south Interstate Highway in Northern California. It curves around the eastern cities of the San Francisco Bay Area from San Jose to Interstate 80 at Cordelia, bypassing cities along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay such as Oakland and Richmond while serving...
and State Route 87
California State Route 87
State Route 87 , locally called Highway 87 or the Guadalupe Freeway, is a north–south state highway entirely within San Jose, California, United States. Its name was changed from Guadalupe Parkway in 2004 after its entire constructed length was upgraded to a freeway...
in San Jose for the opening chase sequence featuring the semi-tractor trailer, the famous Villa Montalvo
Villa Montalvo
Villa Montalvo is an Italian Mediterranean style mansion nestled in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, in Saratoga, California, United States. It was constructed from 1912 to 1914 by California statesman and businessman James Duval Phelan. After Phelan's death, it was donated to the state...
mansion for the henchmen meeting scene in the Santa Cruz Mountains
Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California, United States. They form a ridge along the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco, separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley, and continuing south,...
of Saratoga, and the San Jose International Airport
San Jose International Airport
Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport is a city-owned public-use airport serving the city of San Jose in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is named for San Jose native Norman Yoshio Mineta, who was Transportation Secretary in the Cabinet of George W...
as well as the Mojave Air & Space Port for the final action climax scene, which author Laurence F. Knapp described as "both purgative and objectionable—a vivid, personal exchange of camera angles and vantage points that complicate, rather than conclude." A furniture warehouse on the corner of 4th and Hewitt streets in downtown Los Angeles, stood in as the hideaway for Strom's illegal theft operation. But in relation to same hideaway's demise later in the film, a different building was used in the City of Commerce. A warehouse previously occupied by an auto agency slated for demolition on Flower near 12th Street, stood in for the impending explosion-filled destruction. During an introductory scene, where Eastwood's character pulls up in an unmarked squad car to foil the plans of the car thieves, a z-shaped thoroughfare called Santa Fe Street, provided the perfect secluded background at night which also happened to overlook the Los Angeles skyline. For the action sequences involving aircraft at the San Jose airport, a Hansa twin-engine jet was used to collide with a Convair 880 that was briefly disguised as a 150-passenger Evergreen International Airlines
Evergreen International Airlines
Evergreen International Airlines is a cargo airline based in McMinnville, Oregon, USA. It operates contract freight services, offering charters and scheduled flights, as well as wet lease services. It operates services for the U.S. military and the United States Postal Service, as well as ad hoc...
Boeing 727
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
.
In keeping with the continuity of the subject matter and storyline, the filming was punctuated with the use—and in some cases the destruction—of expensive and alluring foreign automobiles; including a Ferrari Daytona
Ferrari Daytona
The Ferrari 365 GTB/4, better known by the unofficial name Ferrari Daytona, is a Gran Turismo automobile produced from 1968 to 1973. It was first introduced to the public at the Paris Auto Salon in 1968 and replaced the 275 GTB/4...
, a Porsche 928
Porsche 928
The Porsche 928 was a sports-GT car sold by Porsche AG of Germany from 1978 to 1995. Originally intended to replace the company's iconic 911, the 928 attempted to combine the power, poise, and handling of a sports car with the refinement, comfort, and equipment of a luxury sedan to create what some...
, a Jaguar XJ
Jaguar XJ
Jaguar XJ is the designation that has been used for a series of luxury saloon cars sold under the British Jaguar marque. The first XJ was launched in 1968 and the designation has been used for successive Jaguar flagship models since then. The original model was the last Jaguar saloon to have had...
, as well as brief appearances of a Cadillac Allante
Cadillac Allanté
The Allanté was Cadillac's first venture into the ultra-luxury roadster market. The vehicle was sold from 1987 until 1993, with roughly 21,000 models built over its 7-year production run...
and a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit
Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit
For the cruise ship see MS Silver SpiritThe Silver Spirit is a British saloon automobile made by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, in England. It was launched in 1980.The Silver Spur was a long-wheelbase version of the Silver Spirit, produced at the same time....
. A vintage gull-wing
Gull-wing door
Gull-wing door is an automotive industry term describing car doors that are hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by the 1952 Mercedes-Benz 300SL race car and its road-legal version introduced in 1954....
Mercedes-Benz 300SL
Mercedes-Benz 300SL
The Mercedes-Benz 300SL was introduced in 1954 as a two-seat, closed sports car with distinctive gull-wing doors. Later it was offered as an open roadster...
is also presented in the film, being personally driven by Braga's character in an introductory sequence before a large-scale climactic car chase scene. In addition to driving a newly redesigned Mercedes-Benz 500SL
Mercedes-Benz R129
The Mercedes-Benz R129 automobiles were produced from 1989 through 2002. They were sold under the SL-Class model names. The R129 replaced the R107 SL-Class in 1989 and was in its turn replaced by the R230 in 2003 .-Models:-Model history:...
for the 1990 model year, Eastwood's character is also seen conveying his distaste for the Lime Green color on the Lotus Esprit and later driving said vehicle during a criminal pursuit. Sheen's character also takes part in a scene involving an older, rare Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...
, riding head-on through the front door of a residential home.
Filming
Coordination of the lighting along with the capturing of all other photographic elements in the film were achieved by cinematographerCinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Jack N. Green
Jack N. Green
John Niel "Jack" Green A.S.C. , often credited as Jack N. Green, is an American cinematographer.Green was born in San Francisco, California. A frequent collaborator with Clint Eastwood, he was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for best cinematography for the 1992 western, Unforgiven...
. Stunt coordinator
Stunt coordinator
A stunt coordinator, usually an experienced stunt performer, is hired by a TV, film or theatre director or production company to arrange the casting and performance of stunts for a film, television programme or a live audience...
Terry Leonard and second unit director Buddy Van Horn
Buddy Van Horn
Buddy Van Horn is a Hollywood stunt coordinator. A long-time stunt double for Clint Eastwood, he directed such Eastwood films as Any Which Way You Can, The Dead Pool, and Pink Cadillac...
, oversaw the task of integrating the scope of stunt
Stunt
A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat, or any act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes in TV, theatre, or cinema...
people working to produce the action which numbered over twice as many actors in the film (said to be over 80 stuntmen), while supervisor John Frazier controlled the special effect
Special effect
The illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....
s. Green, Van Horn, Leonard, Frazier, and production manager Valdez began close pre-production discussions three months before principal photography. To meet his stylistic lighting objectives in shaping the scenery environment, Green utilized powerful Musco Lighting
Musco Lighting
Musco Lighting is an American privately owned company, based out of Oskaloosa, Iowa that is noted for providing permanent or temporary lighting at major sports events and stadiums including the Super Bowl and Olympics....
developed during the 1980s. Commenting on a production scene surrounding the character of Pulovski at his residence, Green noted the home was characteristic of "359 degrees" of accessible turns of the camera. He detailed how the crew would "go in with these little ceiling units, as close to the ceiling as we could get them, little accent lights onto the place the actors would be. It would look like it was coming from those practicals but, again, at a dramatic angle." Describing a stunt-related sequence early in the film performed by Eastwood himself, Van Horn who had been a stunt associate for almost 35 years, took the opportunity to commend the actor on his contributions saying, "Clint likes to do everything live, ... When you read the script, you know everything is going to be pretty much live action. Sometimes you have to talk him out of something that just might be a little too risky. Not that he couldn't do it, but if something even minor should happen, you couldn't afford to suspend the production." The sequence which Van Horn alluded to, was a scene that involved Eastwood behind the driver's seat racing a Chevrolet Blazer through stop and go traffic, while swerving to avoid upcoming cars from the opposite direction. The scene included 20 other stunt drivers operating a carefully rehearsed formation through a head on collision course. According to Van Horn who engineered the sequence with Leonard, he noted, "The whole thing is like a football play, ... We all sit down and figure out where the cars are, where Clint makes the break out of traffic, where the other cars are going, and just the whole cause and effect for how and why he pulls into (the intersection) and decides to head on through. That's all worked out ahead of time." Leonard added, "In a situation where your rehearsal time is extremely limited, it becomes that old expression: experience, ... It becomes a seat of the pants kind of thing, about 20 drivers and Clint who know where the close calls are going to be and who's going to be in what position when. But once you get going, there's always the element of surprise, where maybe a car is 10 feet closer than it was expected to be, and a driver must react to that."
| "Why Eastwood thought that the Puerto Rican Juliá and the Brazilian Braga would make convincing German schweinehund is difficult to determine, with Braga in particular suffering the indignities of awful dialogue." |
| —Daniel O'Brien, author |
Speaking on the origins of the film, Eastwood mentioned "I have a project for this spring that will be full of action. It's another cop picture, very different from this one. It has its own character and if it's done well it can turn out to be something good. Charlie Sheen will play the rookie and I'll play the mature cop." During the initial production phase of the film, Sheen was also dealing with alcohol and drug related issues, as Eastwood took it upon himself as a fatherly figure, in trying to discipline the younger actor into proper behavior and responsibility. Certain critics such as author Daniel O'Brien, failed to understand why director Eastwood used Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
actors Juliá and Braga, to portray German villains. Puzzled, he mused, "Why Eastwood thought that the Puerto Rican Juliá and the Brazilian Braga would make convincing German schweinehund is difficult to determine, with Braga in particular suffering the indignities of awful dialogue ..." In summing up the filming experience, Frazier said, "You know, things went really well, but you have to give credit to everyone involved. Clint Eastwood and David Valdez really gave us the time and their confidence to do it right. We were never really rushed, which is so important. We were able to do every one of the major shots in one take: the car out of the building, the carrier turning over and the planes colliding. That says something. These guys respect the crew and every job being done. It makes a big difference."
In an interview with Orange Coast Magazine, co-star Braga confessed she had "never done action before" in film, while also stating, "I had to learn running and kicking and hitting." Under Eastwood's direction, Braga commented, "When you act with the director, you don't have any barriers because you're giving and taking at the same time." On a separate note, author Marc Eliot described the graphic rape scene in the film that gained much publicity as being, "an explosive sequence, and the only one in the film that people talked about. As obviously provocative and exploitative as it was, ars gratia artis the scene may also be read as conveying Clint's feeling victimized at the hands of a beautiful but bad woman." Offering another take on the scene, author John H. Foote noticed, "Braga looks somewhat embarrassed during the rape sequence, leaving us to wonder why Eastwood the director did not handle the sequence in a different manner. Was he hoping that the film would offer audiences something new?" Author Douglas Thompson bluntly referred to the rape scene as "sadomasochistic" and Braga as a "kinky nymphomaniac" while adding, "before she rapes Eastwood she plays around his chest with a razor blade, then gets into torrid action." Author Howard Hughes indicated that the event was one of Eastwood's "most distasteful scenes in [his] entire career".
Stunts
The major stunt scenes were executed before the camera with no miniatures, no blue screens, while mostly being shot at night. Completed during May 1990, the centerpiece stunt of the film involved a Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
convertible driving through the fourth floor window of an exploding warehouse. For the scene, a 1,500 pound Mercedes auto mock-up was connected by 150 feet of quarter-inch pulleyed cable to a Ford 4×4 pickup on the ground. The truck would drive straight ahead and pull the Mercedes through the windows as the cable that connected the two vehicles exhibited a tensile strength of 8,000 pounds. Once the pull on the cable started, both vehicles would move in precise proportion to one another. After the mock-up launched through the windows, the hook connecting the Mercedes would drop. As Frazier explained, "The hook is very similar to the kind used to launch jets on air craft carriers, ... Once the hook falls away, the Mercedes is propelled by its own momentum." Aerodynamics
Aerodynamics
Aerodynamics is a branch of dynamics concerned with studying the motion of air, particularly when it interacts with a moving object. Aerodynamics is a subfield of fluid dynamics and gas dynamics, with much theory shared between them. Aerodynamics is often used synonymously with gas dynamics, with...
played a key role in the execution, as Frazier referred to the stunt saying, "When the car left the building it was very important that it exit and travel flat, ... A lot of times it doesn't matter. In this case, if the car didn't travel flat, you would know that the car could not have survived into the next sequence where it landed on the rooftop. We had to set up aerodynamics on that car, so that every time it went out the window, including the tests, it flew out without the nose dipping down." The explosion filled destruction of the warehouse was produced by 9 separate 18-inch steel mortars on each of the 4 floors. When fully discharged, all 36 mortars produced the largest orchestrated explosion ever allowed in Los Angeles city limits permitted at the time.
Another major stunt sequence consisted of a 50 feet (15.2 m), 21-ton two-tiered automobile carrier flipping over on its side, flinging its automotive cargo onto a freeway of traffic. In the sequence, the carrier is scripted to disconnect from the primary cab at highway speed, so that the carrier veers off to one side while eventually flipping over. Frazier explained how "Clint did not want the car carrier rolling over and over down the freeway, ... He just wanted it to go over on its side and then slide until it stopped. It would have been easier to load that thing up (with cars), get up to speed and 'barrel' roll it down the freeway. But it wouldn't have looked realistic for his character to have survived it." A semi-truck which was trailing 150 feet behind the carrier, held on to it by means of a cable. After the carrier became detached from the passenger cab, the semi-truck came to a stop yanking the carrier from the cab. Frazier demonstrated how gravity played a significant and key role during the scene. He noted, "By itself, the carrier would not have come off the (cab), ... It could ride there forever, even though it's been released, just due to the weight of the carrier. So we needed the 'holdback' cable to the truck behind, and on cue, the driver locked his brakes." After the carrier disengaged from the cab, steel castor wheels attached to the underside of the carrier directed it to the center embankment. A stuntman who was riding in the carrier fired 3 cannons to physically lift it over on its side.
| "When the car left the building it was very important that it exit and travel flat, ... A lot of times it doesn't matter. In this case, if the car didn't travel flat, you would know that the car could not have survived into the next sequence where it landed on the rooftop. We had to set up aerodynamics on that car, so that every time it went out the window, including the tests, it flew out without the nose dipping down." |
| —John Frazier, stunt supervisor |
A small jet aircraft pursuing the lead characters played by Eastwood and Sheen, compliments another tightly coordinated stunt scene (aerial coordinators James W. Gavin and Eric W. Gray). After chasing the two detectives through a grassy area, a Hansa twin-engine jet collides with a Convair 880 traveling at 100 mph. Both the San Jose and Mojave airports were scripted as LA International Airport during filming of the scene. Right before the impact, the Hansa was actually stationary being pulled by a 150-foot steel cable attached to a 4-wheel drive pickup truck right before the explosion erupted. Frazier explained, "The reason we did that is because if the planes collide first, it's likely they'll upend all our wires and the explosion wouldn't occur at all. Another reason is that had the Hansa not demolished before impact, it could have spun the other plane around, and we might have ended up with the 880 in our shot instead. The ensuing explosion after the Convair dissects the Hansa was powered by 10 gallons of gasoline and 4 separate 18-inch mortars. The detonation device included a 125-foot electrical cable set off by a bull switch to help achieve the desired effect.
Music
The scoreFilm score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
for the film which included elements of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music and considerable use of the trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, was originally composed by American saxophonist Lennie Niehaus
Lennie Niehaus
Lennie Niehaus is an American alto saxophonist, arranger, and composer on the West Coast jazz scene. He has played with the Stan Kenton big band, and various other jazz bands on the West Coast of the U.S. Niehaus has arranged and composed for motion pictures, including several produced by Clint...
. The music score was mixed by Robert Fernandez and edited by Donald Harris. The sound effects in the film were supervised by Robert G. Henderson and Alan Robert Murray
Alan Robert Murray
Alan Robert Murray is a sound editor. He won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing in 2006 for his work in Letters from Iwo Jima.-External links:...
. The mixing of the sound effects were orchestrated by Donald F. Johnson and Michael Evje. Although not officially released, music from the soundtrack included songs entitled "All The Things You Are" written by Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
and Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
as well as the "Red Zone" written by Kyle Eastwood
Kyle Eastwood
Kyle Eastwood is an American jazz musician. He studied film at the University of Southern California for two years before embarking on a music career. After becoming a session player in the early '90s and leading his own quartet, he released his first solo album, From There to Here, in 1998...
and Michael Stevens.
Critical response
The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. Among the reviews, Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun Times, mildly complimented the stunts and special effects mentioning, "There are some good ones, including a chase down an expressway, with Eastwood driving his car right up the loading ramp of a semi auto-carrier" and noting that the film was "... jammed with material and the budget was obviously large, but somehow not much pays off. It's all there on the screen, but lifeless." On another negative front, Ebert also criticized Sheen's performance saying, he kept "a poker face and laconic voice through much of the movie, and doesn't generate the kind of vigor and intensity the role needs; a more nervous actor might have been a better choice." Ebert's partner Gene Siskel
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
voiced his agreement: "It's a very depressing experience. Everyone's wasted in the film. The latino stereotypes, when they get out on the street, are just awful." He went on to state, "... nobody has a good role. Raúl Juliá is wasted, Sônia Braga is tawdry. This was gonna be a classy international star, it's a joke." Hal Hinson of the Washington Post solidly concurred saying, "Eastwood runs his patented American macho numbers, plays the same limited repertoire of squints, but he's gotten way too long in the tooth to pull them off and the thrill is long gone." Incidentally, another Washington Post staff writer Desson Howe, dismissed the film as well. He openly wondered whether the film "will have something original about it. Maybe there's a twist somewhere, something to set it apart from the 20,595 other buddies-in-uniform movies made in recent years." In contrast with the buddy film genre though, Pat Collins
Pat Collins (film critic)
Pat Collins is a film critic and three-time Emmy winner for WWOR-TV. Collins was an entertainment editor and film critic for Good Morning America, The CBS Morning News and from 1972-1977, hosted the Pat Collins Show which she won two Emmys on WCBS-TV....
of WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the flagship station of the MyNetworkTV programming service, licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey and serving the Tri-State metropolitan area. WWOR is owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox network flagship...
, enthusiastically proclaimed the film to be "The best buddy cop movie of the year." The Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
staff however, added to the general dismay with the film saying, "Overlong, sadistic and stale even by the conventions of the buddy pic genre, Clint Eastwood's The Rookie is actually Dirty Harry 5 since Eastwood's tough-as-nails cop Nick Pulovski could just as easily be named Harry Callahan, ..."
| "jammed with material and the budget was obviously large, but somehow not much pays off. It's all there on the screen, but lifeless." |
| —Roger Ebert, writing in The Chicago Sun Times |
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, expressed his dissatisfaction with the film too. He mused, "The Rookie is an astonishingly empty movie to come from Mr. Eastwood. The screenplay for The Rookie seems to have been pumped up from a script originally intended as a segment for a half-hour television series. There's not much of a story." He wasn't impressed with the special effects either saying, "the movie devotes itself to extended set pieces, mostly chases, which are so lazily thought out and edited that the audience is always ready for the twists that are supposed to surprise." Also in regards to the stunt work, author MK of Time Out in London commented, the "movie is full of caricatured cops and robbers, and punctuated with interminably dull car-chases."
Alternatively though, Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr is an American film critic. A critic at the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Tribune for many years, he writes a weekly column for The New York Times on DVD releases, in addition to contributing occasional pieces on individual films or filmmakers.-Early life and education:Dave Kehr did...
of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
felt the quality of the stunt work was superb, commenting that they were, "the most spectacular action sequences Eastwood has ever filmed." Noted critic Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
gave the film a star and a half, somewhat approving of the stuntwork by figuratively mentioning, "there's one good freeway crackup" but in the end, felt the theme amounted to "Formula filmmaking that even bored its intended audience."
Other movie critics like Jeffrey Lyons
Jeffrey Lyons (television critic)
Jeffrey Lyons is an American television and film critic.-Life and career:Lyons was born in New York City, one of the four sons of Sylvia and Leonard Lyons...
of WPIX
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
, applauded the performances of the lead characters and called the film "Tough and gritty. Fires with a full clip. Eastwood and Sheen are terrific together." Equally swayed in opinion was film critic Susan Granger of American Movie Classics: "This slam-bam, action-packed thriller packs a wallop." Giving the film a C+ rating, critic Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman is an American film critic for Entertainment Weekly, a position he has held since the magazine's launch in 1990. From 1981–89, he worked at the Boston Phoenix....
from Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
posted, "The Rookie is like a series of garish exploitation set pieces jammed into the shape of a buddy movie." He went further in his criticism saying, "as moviemaking goes, The Rookie is on the slovenly side. The plot makes almost no sense, and Eastwood directs in his usual toneless fashion." But on a lighter note, relating to the film's comedic appeal, he stated, "in this case, the fact that you can't always tell the intentional comedy from the unintentional isn't necessarily a drawback." In agreement on the lack of plausibility surrounding the plot, author Marshall Julius still offered though an almost entirely positive review, giving the film three and a half guns, exclaiming, "As directed by Eastwood, The Rookie is a deliberately silly, knockabout adventure which aims for outrageous and hits a bullseye. We're talking good, dumb, fun. Get your brains out and the beers in, and you're all set."
Box office
The film premiered in cinemas on December 7, 1990. At its widest distribution in the U.S., the film was screened at 1,862 theatersMovie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
grossing $5,510,056 in its opening weekend. During that first weekend in release, the film opened in third place behind Home Alone and Misery
Misery (film)
Misery is a 1990 American Psychological Horror Film based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Kathy Bates' performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes...
. The film's revenue dropped by 36% in its second week of release, earning $3,512,765. During its final weekend showing in theaters, the film grossed $1,224,696. The film went on to top out at $21,633,874 in total ticket sales through a 5-week theatrical run. For 1990
1990 in film
The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
as a whole, the film would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 56.
Home media
The film was initially released in VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
video format on May 27, 1992. The Region 1 Code
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
edition of the film was released on DVD
DVD-Video
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...
in the United States on September 2, 2003 and includes a digital transfer soundtrack remastered in Dobly Digital 5.1, interactive menus, Eastwood film highlights, scene access and the theatrical trailer. The film was released on Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on June 1, 2010.
Novelization
In January 1991, a novelization based on the screenplay was released. Distributed by Warner Books, it was written by Tom Philbin.External links
- Official website
- The Rookie at the Movie Review Query EngineMovie Review Query EngineThe Movie Review Query Engine also known as MRQE, is an index of movie reviews published online. Registered users are able to access movie-specific forums and provide their own reviews. The site aggregates reviews, news, interviews, and other material associated to specific movies...
- The Rookie at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
- The Rookie at Box Office MojoBox Office MojoBox Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...