O Detonador de Alta Voltagem

I came upon this film while channel surfing on an uneventful Tuesday evening. Being that I am both a fan of Pierce Brosnan and action movies, I gave it a chance. And let me tell you, I was not disappionted. Pierce portrays Danny O'Neil, a temperamental FBI bomb squad agent. O'Neil must protect a Senator from a group of terrorists who have invented a kind of liquid explosives that destroy the victims from the inside out. I know, the premise does sound kinda cheesy, but the film itself is quite entertaining. With plot twist (the Senator had an affair with O'Neil's wife) and invigorating action sequences, I would recommend this film to anybody.

Another film with several good elements that manages to fail, chiefly because of weaknesses in the story.

Good cast in Pierce Brosnan and Ben Cross -- they must have needed the money to take the job.

A key "science fiction" element is not really believable, but this is a Hollywood thriller, so if you accept it, you could enjoy the story.

There are many good one-liners, and the interactions between the protagonists and various minor characters are believable and entertaining. The pace is reasonable, and some degree of suspense is maintained, with some stock "thriller" elements.

Brosnan's character and his personal problems are well developed and make him sympathetic, and he plays his part well.

The film is also mercifully short.

BUT -- two major holes in the story killed it for me: 1. A political background (the reason the story is happening) is mentioned, but not really explained in terms of motives. Two minutes dialog could have filled in the holes and added a lot in terms of believability.

2. The villain's character is not developed at all. What motivates him (other than money?) Ben Cross does what he can with a lousy script (not much). And his name, Mikhail Rashid (I think never actually mentioned in the film - a Tatar father and Russian mother) seems intended to exploit negative racist stereotypes (Russian = corrupt mafiosi; Arabic name = terrorist). He seems like a cartoon, Bond-esquire villain without the glitz. With Ben Cross, they could have written a complex, nuanced, even sympathetic villain, and this would have improved the story immensely.

I gave this 5 out of 10 -- not painfully repulsive, but there are better ways to spend your time.

This is the best pre-bond Brosnan movie (ok so that's not saying much) but this is relly enjoyable if you leave your brain at the door and get used to brosnan's dodgy american accent.

a must see for all Brosnan & tounge in cheek action fans.

rating 8/10 for originality 9/10 for action 6/10 for script and direction (could have been better)

Long before his stint as James Bond, Pierce Brosnan did make some darn good movies. One of them is 'Live Wire'. Director Christian Duguay (The Hitchhiker series) has done a brilliant job in making Brosnan's entry into the world of action as smooth as possible. Brosnan plays Danny O' Neill, an Irish bomb defusion specialist working for the FBI's anti-terrorist division. The movie is a cat and mouse game between Brosnan's old adversary from the IRA and Brosnan himself. The IRA terrorist is out to make his millions from corrupt politicians and their wrongful ways. Ron Silver plays a Senator under threat and Brosnan is called in to protect him. The movie also intertwines Danny O' Neill's separation from his wife due to her alleged affair with the Senator (Ron Silver). All these make for very intriguing drama and fast paced yet "intelligent" action. Worth a rental definitely.

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Danny O'Neill (Pierce Brosnan) is a bomb disposal expert.He's your typical cynical,hard-bitten good guy type,chewing on a cigar and uttering hard-edged one liners.Not only that,he's got the typical good guy set up.His young daughter's been killed in a tragic swimming pool accident,he's getting stick from his superiors for his unorthodox approach to his job and his wife Terry (Lisa Eilbacher) has left him and has started seeing smarmy senator Frank Traveres (Ron Silver).His life is about to get a whole lot worse,though,when a nasty piece of work by the name of Mikhail Rashid (Ben Cross) and his sidekick Al-red (Tony Plana) start putting explosive devices in the drinking water of politicians and eventually get plans to start targeting the rest of society as well.

In an action role he was to take on a few years before his debut as Bond,Brosnan manages the tough,swaggering good guy role reasonably well,as effective and convincing as he needed to be.Cross can always be relied on to deliver the goods in terms of presence as a good guy or bad guy respectively,but here his part is very poorly written and not given much meat to chew on at all.It's with the action that the film comes alive though,with one or two rollicking good sequences that you will have to see to believe.It certainly ain't with said performances or even the story which,by the end,is stewing so deeply in it's own preposterousness you can practically hear it gurgling.

But,hey,if it wasn't so silly,maybe it wouldn't have been such fun.That,and a surprisingly and ultimately pleasantly compact running time make Live Wire a genuine piece of no-brainer entertainment to savour.

Sit back,switch your brain off and enjoy.****