Blown Away

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.

How did "Speed" ever get better reviews than this? Whilst De Bont's runaway bus is certainly good, "Blown Away" is by far the better bomb movie as it relies on suspense driven thrills rather than big budget stunts to deliver the kicks. Admittedly the film starts slowly but the pace steadily keeps increasing until the final half-hour where things (literally) explode in one of the best fight scenes ever put on celluloid. Stephen Hopkins plays every scene for as much tension as he can (I defy you to watch the kitchen scene without cringing at every slomo) and displays a De Palma like understanding of virtuoso camerawork. Jones menaces away as his usual psychotic prankster (think Two-Face with an Irish accent) and J Bridges is good but never truly called on to do anything special. Amis, Whitaker and the rest of the support are perhaps a little under-used but the film is never about them. This is about Jones and Bridges in a deadly, vengeful face-off and the final showdown is everything you could ever want from an action thriller. Watch it and enjoy.

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.

An Irish bomber , Ryan Gaerity (Tommy Lee Jones) , getaways from prison and targets a member of the Boston bomb squad , Jimmy Dove (Jeff Bridges) . The latter starts investigating and finds out that his worst nightmare has gone back from his past . While Irish radical and compatriot Ryan Gaerity's taken his bombing expertise onto Jimmy's new turf . And Dove significantly concerned that he didn't get his purports . Haunted by grisly flashbacks, Dove soon figures out the identity of the mad bomber . Along the way , Jimmy wants to keep his unsavory past from unsuspecting wife (Suzy Amis) .The fuse has been lit...! Boom baby !. Sweet dreams.5. 4. 3. 2. 1......Time's Up.

This bone-chilling film packs thrills , intrigue , grisly events , quick cut edition and tension enough . A nice and suspenseful thriller that moves on predictable path toward explosive climax . Special effects create the suspense , as everyday objects become lethal in Gaerity's knowledgeable hands . The final blow up was more than even the special effects coordinator desired , that's why the windows were unintentionally blown out in nearly buildings. Interpretations are uniformly good , including four Academy Award winners: Tommy Lee Jones , Jeff Bridges, Cuba Gooding Jr and Forest Whitaker. Stars James Bridges playing Jimmy Dove who works for the bomb squad in Boston and he is always the one who is on the tough jobs . While Tommy Lee Jones equally gives fine performance -though overacting at times- as Gaerity who seems adequately obsessed with making things go boom . They're well accompanied by a good secondary cast , such as : Suzy Amis , Forest Whitaker , Cuba Gooding Jr , John Finn , Ruben Santiago-Hudson and special mention for Lloyd Bridges ; though they are really father and son, Lloyd Bridges and Jeff Bridges are cast as uncle and nephew in the film. The movie is dedicated to the memory of officer Jeremiah Hurley of the Boston Squad , and to more than three thousand certified bomb technicians throughout the world who risk their lives for our safety every day.

It displays a thrilling and intrusive musical score by Alan Silvestri , including a lot of songs of the band U2 and singer Bono. The motion picture was compellingly filmed by director Stephen Hopkins (Lost in space , Predator 2 , Under suspicion , Night on El Street 5 : The Dream Child , The Ghost and the Darkness , Blown away, Judgment Night , Race) , he uses to work with his longtime collaborator Peter Levy to be the film's cinematographer, who carries out a splendid and colorful phototography. Rating : 6.5/10 . Above average . Well worth watching .

"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!