''Flashpoint'' is a 1984 American

neo-western The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referre ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

starring

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are " Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", " Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and " Help Me Make It Through the ...

Treat Williams Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor, writer and aviator who has appeared on film, stage and television in over 120 credits. He first became well known for his starring role in the 1979 musical film '' Hair'', and la ...

Rip Torn Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn Jr. (February 6, 1931 – July 9, 2019) was an American actor whose career spanned more than 60 years. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his part as Marsh Turner in '' Cross Creek'' ...

Jean Smart Jean Elizabeth Smart (born September 13, 1951) is an American actress. After beginning her career in regional theater in the Pacific Northwest, she appeared on Broadway in 1981 as Marlene Dietrich in the biographical play '' Piaf''. Smart was ...

Kurtwood Smith Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943) is an American television and film actor. He is known for playing Clarence Boddicker in ''RoboCop'' (1987), Robert Griggs in ''Rambo III'' (1988), and Red Forman in ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006), as ...

, and

Tess Harper Tessie Jean Harper (''née'' Washam; born August 15, 1950) is an American actress. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her first film role in 1983's ''Tender Mercies'', and for the Academy Award for Be ...

. The film is directed by William Tannen in his directorial debut, and is based on the novel of the same name by George LaFountaine, with a screenplay by

Dennis Shryack Dennis Shryack (August 25, 1936 – September 14, 2016) was an American screenwriter. Born and raised in Duluth, Minnesota, Shryack began his career as a singer in The Escorts quartet, which toured as an opening act for well-known artists such ...

and Michael Butler. The original score was composed and performed by

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

. It was the first theatrical film produced by

Home Box Office Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is b ...

(HBO).

Plot

Border Patrol agents Bobby Logan and Ernie Wyatt are planting

motion sensor A motion detector is an electrical device that utilizes a sensor to detect nearby motion. Such a device is often integrated as a component of a system that automatically performs a task or alerts a user of motion in an area. They form a vital co ...

s in a remote area of the

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

desert when they stumble across what appears to be a decades-old

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Motors ...

buried in the sand. Upon excavating the vehicle, they find an intact skeleton in the driver's seat, a toolbox containing $800,000 in unused 10 and 20 dollar bills, and a hunting case containing a scoped

sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range rifle. Requirements include accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment and optics for anti-personnel, anti-materiel and surveillance uses of the military sniper. The modern sniper rifle is a port ...

with matching ammunition. The skeleton is accompanied by a wallet, containing the

driver's license A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a publi ...

of a Michael J. Curtis from

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

, and a slip of paper with two phone numbers on it. Logan speculates that the money is from a bank heist in the early 1960s, and suggests that he and Wyatt take the money for themselves. While Wyatt is reluctant; they both finally agree to put out the jeep's license plate information to the Sheriff's department, and ask their telephone operator girlfriends to check out the two phone numbers. After re-burying the jeep and its contents, the duo take two of the bills to be analyzed, and learn that they were circulated directly from the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

and are all dated between 1962 and 1963. On checking newspaper records in the town library, Logan can find nothing relating to any bank robberies in 1962/63. He does however pause to read the headlines of 22 November 1963, the day of John F. Kennedy's assassination. When the two return to the station, they discover federal agents, led by self-proclaimed "fixer" Carson, have arrived, ostensibly to take control of the planned surveillance operation and possible bust of a drug trafficker in coordinating with the local Sheriff Wells. Logan quickly dislikes and distrusts Carson, who seems to be intimately familiar with Logan's service in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. Logan was a decorated

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

officer who served in the

United States Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mi ...

and fought in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

. Later on he left the Army and went on a self-imposed exile from higher government activities. Carson appears to deliberately blow Logan and Wyatt's cover when they are moving in to arrest a drug smuggler, almost killing Wyatt. They learn afterwards that Carson has taken over as head of station after the sudden promotion of their previous supervisor. A local prospector discovers the Jeep burial and site and re-excavates it, summoning the attention of Carson and the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

who cordon off the area. Logan and Wyatt's girlfriends tell them that the phone numbers are a number in Washington, D.C., and an old, unused number for the

Dallas Police Department The Dallas Police Department, established in 1881, is the principal law enforcement agency serving the city of Dallas, Texas. Organization The department is headed by a chief of police who is appointed by the city manager who, in turn, is hir ...

. They also tell them that the information has been passed onto two fellow Border Patrol agents, Roget and Lambassino. Upon driving to the house of the prospector, they find him murdered and the building burned to the ground. Following the tire tracks leading away from the house, they track down one of their station's Jeeps to a deserted farm, and find the corpses of Roget and Lambassino. Carson and his team subsequently arrive on the scene, intimating to a shocked Logan and Wyatt that the incident will be covered up. Disgusted at Carson's callousness, Logan is ready to leave town for good, but he first sends him on a solo mission to Soledad Mountain to investigate a suspicious vehicle, while sending Wyatt to a location where he claims illegal immigrants are being smuggled across the border. Logan realizes the mission is a setup, and Carson is trying to eliminate anyone who knows about the jeep. He rushes to Wyatt's last known location, but arrives too late, finding him stabbed to death with Logan's hunting knife. Grieving for his friend and determined to get revenge, Logan heads to the location where he and Wyatt had hidden the money and rifle. As he approaches, he is shot in the shoulder by Carson and his men. Logan manages to elude their line of sight, flanking behind them and killing Carson's men and shooting him in the leg. Carson limps to Logan's Jeep to try to escape, only to discover the keys are not in the ignition. Logan empties his revolver into Carson, killing him. Examining the rifle in the case, Logan is approached by Sheriff Wells holding a gun to his head, berating him for uncovering the Jeep and reawakening a twenty-year old nightmare. He reveals the truth about the Jeep and its contents, that Michael J. Curtis was part of a government conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy, and was himself the true assassin. Wells admits complicity in the conspiracy, providing the assassin with the jeep, gun, and money. Curtis was meant to take these things and drive south to Mexico, but instead accidentally crashed his jeep in the desert during a storm, killing himself and leaving his car to the elements. Wells tells Logan to take the money and go to Mexico; he refuses and states his intention to go back to the station and report everything. Wells tells him that he cannot, that he has been framed not only for the murder of Wyatt but also Roget and Lambassino. Wells tells Logan that he will buy him time from Carson's men. With some reluctance, Logan boards the jeep and tells Wells to tell them he will return one day. He drives away towards the border, leaving Wells staring out across the desert.

Cast

as Bobby Logan *

as Ernie Wyatt *

as Sheriff Wells *

as Carson *

as Doris *

as Ellen * Kevin Conway as Brook *

Miguel Ferrer Miguel José Ferrer (February 7, 1955 – January 19, 2017) was an American actor. His breakthrough role was as Bob Morton in the 1987 film ''RoboCop''. Other film roles include Quigley in '' Blank Check'' (1994), Harbinger in ''Hot Shots! Part D ...

as Roget * Guy Boyd as Bobby Joe Lambasino *

Roberts Blossom Roberts Scott Blossom (March 25, 1924July 8, 2011) was an American poet and character actor of theatre, film, and television. He is best known for his roles as Old Man Marley in ''Home Alone'' (1990) and as Ezra Cobb in the horror film '' Derange ...

as Amarillo *

Mark Slade Mark Van Blarcom Slade (born May 1, 1939) is an American actor, artist, and author, particularly remembered for his role of Billy Blue Cannon on the NBC Western television series, ''The High Chaparral''.Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of ...

as Hawthorne * Terry Alexander as Peterson *

William Frankfather William Frankfather (born Billy Joe Frankfather; August 4, 1944 – December 28, 1998) was an American actor. Early life Frankfather was born in Kermit, Texas on August 4, 1944. Career Frankfather guest-starred in many popular television seri ...

as Lacy *

Joaquín Martínez Joaquín Martínez (November 5, 1930 – January 3, 2012) was a Mexican-born American film, theatre and television actor. Often appearing in Westerns, Martínez had roles in '' Jeremiah Johnson'', in which he played a Crow chief, and ''Ulzana's ...

as Pedroza *

Dick O'Neill Richard Francis O'Neill (August 29, 1928 – November 17, 1998) was an American stage, film and television character actor best known for playing Irish cops, fathers, judges and army generals. He began his acting career as an original company ...

as Hinshaw

Production

The rights to George La Fountaine’s novel, ''Flashpoint'', were first purchased in 1975 by

First Artists First Artists was a production company which operated from 1969 to 1980. It made films for stars such as Barbra Streisand, Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen, who agreed to take lesser fees in exchange for greater creative ...

with screenwriters Michael Butler and Dennis Shyrack writing the script for stars

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...

and

Warren Oates Warren Mercer Oates (July 5, 1928 – April 3, 1982) was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah, including ''The Wild Bunch'' (1969) and ''Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia'' (1974). A ...

with

Martin Ritt Martin Ritt (March 2, 1914 – December 8, 1990) was an American director and actor who worked in both film and theater, noted for his socially conscious films. Some of the films he directed include '' The Long, Hot Summer'' (1958), '' The Black ...

intended to direct. Following the collapse of First Artists many of the company's assets were liquidated including the ''Flashpoint'' rights which were acquired by producer Skip Short and director William Tannen. ''Flashpoint'' was the first production of Silver Screen Partners, a joint venture between cable television station

and

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

Reception

''Flashpoint'' received mixed reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds a rating of 54% from 13 reviews.

Soundtrack

''Flashpoint'' is the twenty-third major release and sixth soundtrack album by

. A CD version was released in 1984 on the Heavy Metal label but was soon recalled due to pressing errors that rendered the CD unplayable. The soundtrack was not released on CD again until 1995. The entire album was released as part of the bootleg ''Mystery Tracks'' (1993).

Track listings

Personnel

Edgar Froese Edgar Willmar Froese (; 6 June 1944 – 20 January 2015) was a German musical artist and electronic music pioneer, best known for founding the electronic music group Tangerine Dream in 1967. Froese was the only continuous member of the grou ...

– keyboards, electronic equipment, guitar *

Christopher Franke Christopher Franke (born 6 April 1953) is a German musician and composer. From 1971 to 1987, he was a member of the electronic group Tangerine Dream. Initially a drummer with The Agitation, later renamed Agitation Free, his primary focus eventu ...

– synthesizers, electronic equipment, electronic percussion *

Johannes Schmoelling Johannes Schmoelling (born 9 November 1950 in Lohne, Germany) is a German musician and keyboard artist. He was a member of the prolific electronic music group Tangerine Dream from 1979 to 1985. A classically trained musician, he began playing ...

– keyboards, electronic equipment * The Gems "Flashpoint"

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flashpoint (Film) 1984 films 1980s mystery films 1984 action thriller films American mystery films American action thriller films American detective films American buddy cop films 1984 directorial debut films Films about the assassination of John F. Kennedy Films based on American novels Films scored by Tangerine Dream TriStar Pictures films Films set in Texas United States Border Patrol Neo-Western films Films directed by William Tannen (director) 1980s English-language films 1980s American films