Force brute

Original title: Ulterior Motives

1992
R
1h 35m

IMDb RATING

5.1/10

256

YOUR RATING

On the eve of a big US-Japan trade summit, a reporter gets a hot tip that the Japanese-American head of a big aerospace firm will be selling trade secrets to a Japanese contact. Intent on getting a scoop, the reporter hires private investigator John Blaylock to help her find out just what information is being handed over. In the course of snooping, the pair are discovered, but not before they learn that the Japanese contact is a member of the Yakuza. When the aerospace executive turns up dead after an apparent suicide, the investigators realize that some very big secrets are being kept by some very important people.

Play trailer2:22

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Action Drama

On the eve of a big US-Japan trade summit, a reporter, Erica Boswell, gets a hot tip that the Japanese-American head of a big aerospace firm will be selling trade secrets to a Japanese conta... Read allOn the eve of a big US-Japan trade summit, a reporter, Erica Boswell, gets a hot tip that the Japanese-American head of a big aerospace firm will be selling trade secrets to a Japanese contact. Intent on getting a scoop, Boswell hires private investigator John Blaylock to help he... Read allOn the eve of a big US-Japan trade summit, a reporter, Erica Boswell, gets a hot tip that the Japanese-American head of a big aerospace firm will be selling trade secrets to a Japanese contact. Intent on getting a scoop, Boswell hires private investigator John Blaylock to help her find out just what information is being handed over. In the course of snooping, the pair... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.1/10

256

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Videos1

Trailer 2:22

Trailer

Photos7

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Trivia
During a scene in the mortuary, the tannoy voice calls for Dr David, Dr Blair and Dr J Hamilton. This audio clip is similar to that appearing at the beginning of the Progressive Metal album Operation Mindcrime by Queensryche (1988). This perhaps foreshadows later events in the film, given the parallel themes between the movie and album.

Soundtracks
Forever Love
Music and Words by Anjani and Freddie Ravel
Vocals by Joe Yamanaka

User reviews7

Featured review

7/10

The Performances Carry It

The performances are the selling point here, overshadowing the low budget and routine script. Thomas Ian Griffith handles his role as a private investigator just fine and is well matched with Mary Page Keller as the Lois Lane-like truth-seeking reporter. Connecting the bad guys to the Japanese Mafia is, at least, an attempt to come up with unusual villains. What's unfortunate about this film is that so little screen time is given to Ellen Crawford, who plays the most interesting character -- the "mystery woman." Her fascinating face and persona appears quite prominently in the early scenes but, sadly, only intermittently after that. It's too bad that more of the movie does not feature her. Although the ending is a bit of a letdown, overall I'd say "Ulterior Motives" is worth a look.