Hostile Intent

"Hostile Intent" is a nice action film, with a very well rhythmed man hunt; the few reflections about the future of a world doomed to informatic war contain enough humour to avoid becoming supid clichés.

But that is not the problem. The problem is this outrageous movie stinks american far-right extremism: a conspiration from the federal authorities, which, during a clandestine military operation, wants to shoot honest citizens who do not want anything else than the world's good. But the brave citizens, armed (not only with paint-ball guns) and ready to defend themselves, will retaliate against the tyranny of a corrupt government. And the movie ends in a remote hut which appears to be a real hi-tech bunker. Welcome to the militia, soldier.

You could think that it's just an innocent film, and that you could say the same things from any other movie where some "normal" man or woman becomes a hero. You could. But "Hostile Intent" is so filled with little signs that doubt can't remain very long.

Who's responsible for this scandalous film? The director, Heap, or the writer, Cotto? Tradition wants it to be the first one. Let's hope he didn't know what he was doing.

Unrealistic weapons, physics, computers, electronics.

If you are shot in the leg can you run? Clips are unlimmited.. don't think anyone reloaded once.

I almost didn't make it through the end of this movie. IT was SO sad.

Rob Lowe is a much better actor than this... he was wasted on this film... He needs to do more comedy in my opinion.

The story itself is simple enough - a hacker too smart for his own good gets into the corporate life and is in over his head before he knows it.

That said, the story does a stunning job of portraying the morbid danger of an info-police state, and the viewer is drawn into the implications to such an extent they can almost see the movie characters as actually out there, fighting for them.

There are a some rather unexpected plot twists that do throw the viewer off, but, fortunately they lead solidly back to the story-line & do a remarkable job of creating enriching characters the viewer can cheer on. Great movie. If this had the budget of Enemy of the State, it would probably already be in your collection as an untouchable classic.

When the Canadian B movie company Le Monde Entertainment folded its tents, I didn't exactly shed a tear, because their efforts were uniformly bad, "Hostile Intent" being just one such example. Oh, I admit that it's not completely bad. It is fairly well shot, and by setting almost all the movie in the wilderness, the filmmakers were able to mask the low budget... for the most part. There are some tacky bits here and there. But that's not one of the real problems with the movie. One of them is that the protagonists rub you the wrong way, particularly the one played by a very miscast Rob Lowe. They are not made to be very sympathetic. The second problem is that under the direction of Jonathan Heap, the movie really lacks sufficient tension and excitement. There's an almost casual feeling at times. Maybe it because the whole "most dangerous game" formula has been done to death, but whatever the reason, the movie ends up being predictable and dull. The title tells you how you will feel towards the filmmakers after watching the movie.

I find it hard to understand why this movie has received such a low overall rating. Granted that it's a little hard to follow in places, but whenever that's so it soon becomes clear. The underlying premise of a Federal government that seeks to keep detailed watch on its citizens whenever they use the internet was still sci-fi when this movie was released in 1997, but probably is sober reality now. The acting is fair-to-good, the characters' gradual realization that they are being mercilessly hunted is suspenseful and well done, the action sequences, which make up much of the film, are superb. I obtained this in an inexpensive 4-DVD pack called Thugs and Guns Collector's Set. Look for it!