Excessive Force (film)

''Excessive Force'' is a 1993 American action film. It was directed by Jon Hess and written, co-produced and starred by Thomas Ian Griffith. It was released by New Line Cinema in the summer of 1993. Despite being panned by critics and becoming a box office bomb, the film had a direct-to-video sequel, called '' Excessive Force II: Force on Force'' (1995), that bears no relation to this film and does not follow its storyline.

Plot

Detective Terry McCain (Thomas Ian Griffith) is accused of robbery and murder and needs to prove his innocence with his own hands before the Chicago mafia and his fellow law enforcement officers take him out.

Cast

* Thomas Ian Griffith as Detective Terry McCain
* Charlotte Lewis as Anna Gilmour
* Lance Henriksen as Captain Raymond Devlin
* James Earl Jones as Jake
* Tony Todd as Detective Frankie Hawkins
* Tom Hodges as Detective Dylan
* Danny Goldring as Lieutenant Landry
* Richard Mawe as Sergeant Sam Atwell
* Christopher Garbrecht as "Red"
* Ian Gomez as Lucas
* Sam Sanders as Dexter
* Burt Young as Sal DiMarco
* W. Earl Brown as Vinnie DiMarco
* Antoni Corone as Tommy "Fat Tommy"
* Tom Milanovich as Mario
* Randy Popplewell as Tony
* Paula Anglin as Yvonne
* Susan Wood as Lisa
* Brian Leahy as Irish Gang Leader
* Carl Ciarfalio as Guard #1

Reception

Box office

''Excessive Force'' grossed only $1,152,117 at box office and became a flop. The film opened on May 14, 1993 at 501 theaters, grossing only $308,499 on its opening Weekend.

Critical response

''Excessive Force'' was panned by critics. ''TV Guide'' gave the film only one star out of four and stated: "At some point, ''Excessive Force'', which lives up to its title, might have been envisioned as a taut, mysterious, high-action cop thriller. The end result, however, showcases relentless violence over plot—bludgeoning viewers with machine gun fire, bomb blasts, and endless kick-boxing battles. Joe Leydon of ''Variety'' wrote: "Even though New Line is going through the motions with a spotty, regional theatrical release, ''Excessive Force'' appears headed down the express lane to homevid, where it may find favor with undiscriminating action fans." Rich Rosell from ''digitallyObsessed!'' gave it a very negative review, stating: "All of the dull fistfights and fiery explosions can do little to make this anything more than it is, which is something we've all seen before, and not necessarily something we would want to see again."

Christopher Armstead from ''Film Critics United'' gave the film mixed review: "''Excessive Force'' is not a good movie and Thomas Ian Griffith did not become a big action star. That makes us sad, even though he's had a nice career. Charlotte Lewis topless and Lance and Tony overacting makes us happier. And this why ''Excessive Force'' is in my personal collection." Nick Michalak writing at ''Forever Cinematic'' praised some aspects of ''Excessive Force'', concluding: "''Excessive Force'' is not a great action movie, but it's a really good effort that I did like. The script is well written, and very well directed by Jon Hess, but it's really the exceptional acting talents of its admirable cast that allows this movie to be as good as it is. If filled with lesser grade talents, this would really falter, but putting guys like Griffith, Henriksen, Todd, Jones, and more into it gives it some extra substance."

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 20% based on reviews from 5 critics.

References

External links

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* {{Mojo title, excessiveforce

1993 films
American action films
3 Arts Entertainment films
1993 action films
New Line Cinema films
Films scored by Charles Bernstein
1990s English-language films
1990s American films