Explosiv - Blown Away

From reading the other comments on this site, I was surprised at all the negativity surrounding this film. Sure, the accents are probably bad, but everyone knows that Hollywood can't do accents and aging.

This is not a movie to be picked apart, but one to be enjoyed. Sure, the characters aren't completely fleshed out, but there is enough depth for you to feel for them. The action is good, and despite many contrary opinions, I think the pacing is good too.

One of the high points of this film was the sequence where the wife and daughter are in the house and the audience is left suspecting there may be a bomb plant. The camera shots that frame the stove turning on, the light bulb, the phone jack, etc. were done very well, and suspensefully, though I suspect this well done sequence is what is making many people call this film "slow."

Finally, the use of "The Joshua Tree" by U2 was a really nice touch.

Overall, this film is not outstanding, but if you want a movie that is relatively light, but has some comedy, drama, suspense and action all mixed in, then check it out.

The 90's was a great time for the Action Thriller genre & here the Awesome yet underrated Director, Stephen Hopkins, had his go at a sweaty, thrilling actioner & cast Jeff Bridges as his main Cop lead & he's pretty damn good in the role & makes for an ordinary type guy in an extremely dangerous situation. Bridges plays a good guy Bomb Specialist Cop with a dark past & he's Irish American & the film is set in Boston during a sweaty hot summertime with an extremely deadly terrorist that escaped from prison, is blowing things up & targeting Bridges squad/Bomb unit becomes of their dark past.

The psycho bomber is played manically by the Awesome TOMMY LEE JONES (The Fugitive, Men In Black Trilogy, U. S Marshalls, Volcano) & here Jones is off his nut & reminded me of his crazy & cartoony performance as Two-Face in Batman Forever, he's fun & mental but his Irish accent is pretty bad but he does give it his all as a memorable villain.

Jeff Bridges starts the film dressed & looking exactly like Ace Ventura which made me laugh but he does give a very tense & exhausting performance as he panicks & tries to outwit his arch enemy accross the city. Now I've never been a fan of Bridges simply because he's never done anything I've really liked but here he is great on screen & gives a fine performance for an action Thriller & works well against Tommy's wacky terrorist.

I didn't like the silly music/songs throughout the film & i didn't like the stupid "Irish" themed dreary music at the opening of the film, should've been an exciting & beefed up score for it's opening especially as the score is done by the Legendary Alan Silvestri (Predator, Predator 2, Judgment Night) but his score when the action kicks-in is fine later on in the film.

Cinematography is great & really captures the gritty look of Boston during the summertime.

Stephen Hopkins is such a great Director who made two of my all time favourite films with his PREDATOR 2 (1990) & JUDGMENT NIGHT (1993) & this "Blown Away" came after "Night" in 1994 & it's another classy film from Hopkins.

Another great performance in this suspenseful Thriller is that of the excellent, Forrest Whitaker as the new cocky member of the Bomb Squad.

With plenty of thrilling set-pieces & intense moments with memorable performances i think Blown Away is a very good 90's Action-packed Thriller & little known underrated film too.

This movie was made during the period (early '90s) in which Hollywood was absolutely in love with blowing things up. The more explosions, the better, seemed to be the prevailing attitude.

At least they weren't overdone in this film, as they were in so many others. However, the accents might have been overdone as none of the stars - Jeff Bridges,Tommy Lee Jones, Forest Whitaker, Suzy Amis and Lloyd Bridges - sounded like a true Bostonian.

It's especially odd to hear Jones attempt his Irish-Boston accent, although he's more adept at it than the younger Bridges. Jones plays an Irish terrorist in this revenge movie, wreaking his havoc in Boston. The film's best asset is the suspense it builds for the two hours and the fact it keeps you interested the entire way, right from the opening scene.

The negatives are too much profanity and a contrived story in spots, particularly at the end when the fight between Bridges and Jones goes on forever as does the scene with Jones trying to save his wife. It's just too much. A lot of modern-day action films just don't know when to quit, and this is a prime example. Yet, it's definitely worth at least one look.

Most IRA movies made in Hollywood are always criticised for the actors not sounding like real Irishmen. I have never once found this to be true and certainly not for Blown Away. Tommy Lee Jones is quite convincing as a deranged bomber who goes after Jeff Bridges in revenge for betraying him 25 years earlier.

Stephen Hopkins uses his fave cinematographer and composer Peter Levy and Alan Silvestri to bring some visual style and a powerful musical score to accompany the action and explosion scenes. The final encounter between Jones and Bridges is WAY cool. Trust me. It's one of the best showdowns in history.

A cool use of widescreen photography captures a pleasant and eye-pleasing view of Boston. I only ever saw this city in Cheers previously and now it makes wanna visit. This film was overlooked in the summer of 1994 because the audience was too busy with the other BOMB movie Speed. By that I mean movies with bombs. Not movies that are bombs. Speed was about a bomber wanting money. But Blown Away is a more personal, character-driven film and definitely the superior of the two.

"Blown Away" obviously suffered in comparison to "Speed" since both films were released the same year during the same summer. I never really considered this a pure action film more than a suspense thriller. Things aren't blowing up every 10 minutes and the characters are more deep and interesting here than in a lot of your mindless action romps. I found Jeff Bridges desire to resume a normal life in Boston after his questionable "IRA-like" activities back home in Ireland appealing and his lovely fiancee played by Suzy Amis very likeable. Tommy Lee Jones has a great Irish accent and the lunatic he plays is great fun to watch. Lloyd Bridges as Jeff's uncle and Boston cop Forest Whittaker are equally appealing. My home-town newspaper, "The Dayton Daily News" gave the film 3 stars. I'd say that's about right.

No sequels please!