Shoot to Kill (1988 film)

Shoot to Kill (known outside North America as Deadly Pursuit) is a 1988 American buddy cop action thriller film[3] directed by Roger Spottiswoode and starring Sidney Poitier (in his first role in eleven years), Tom Berenger, Clancy Brown, Andrew Robinson, and Kirstie Alley. The film follows an FBI agent pursuing a homicidal extortionist; when the extortionist kidnaps a fishing guide in the Pacific Northwest, the agent teams up with her partner, a local wilderness guide, to rescue her.

Shoot to Kill
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRoger Spottiswoode
Screenplay byHarv Zimmel
Michael Burton
Daniel Petrie Jr.
Story byHarv Zimmel
Produced byDaniel Petrie Jr.
Ron Silverman
Starring
CinematographyMichael Chapman
Edited byGeorge Bowers
Garth Craven
Music byJohn Scott
Production
companies
Touchstone Pictures
Silver Screen Partners III
Century Park Pictures Corporation
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date
  • February 12, 1988 (1988-02-12)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million[1]
Box office$29.3 million[2]

The film was released to positive reviews from critics, who praised the film's direction, performances, and quality despite its formulaic plot. It was a box office success, earning $29.3 million on a $15 million budget.

Plot

In San Francisco, a man is discovered breaking into his own jewelry store overnight. The FBI questions him and learns the man's wife is being held hostage at their home by a brutal extortionist who demands the store's diamonds for her life. During a standoff at the jeweler's home, the extortionist shoots the family's maid and demands he be allowed to bring the jeweler's wife to the docks. FBI agent Warren Stantin tails them, but his attempt to apprehend the extortionist leads to the jeweler's wife being shot in the eye and killed, while the extortionist uses a decoy getaway boat to escape.

Stantin becomes obsessed with finding the extortionist and trails him to Washington, where a man has been found shot in the eye at a mine in a mountainous forest. Convinced the extortionist killed the man and stole his identity, Stantin learns a fishing party led by local fishing guide Sarah Rennell went into the forest from the mine, and enlists her partner Jonathan Knox to help find them; Knox, who wanted to search for Sarah himself, reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile, Sarah's fishing party halts when a fisherman nearly falls from a ledge, and another fisherman, Steve, attempts to help him. When a gun he is carrying slips into a crack, Steve asks the fisherman to return it, but then lets the fisherman fall, throws the rest of the fishing party off the ledge, and takes Sarah hostage, demanding she lead him to Canada.

After crossing a treacherous gorge, Stantin and Knox make camp and discover the dead fishermen in a stream, and Knox becomes convinced Sarah is dead. The pair reach Sarah's cabin, where Steve and Sarah rested for the night, and find a note to the FBI in Sarah's handwriting, confirming she is still alive. The pursuit continues into a snowstorm in the mountains, where Knox pulls Stantin the rest of the way so he can recover from exhaustion. The pair gain respect for each other, which improves when Stantin saves Knox from a grizzly bear. Sarah manages to break free from Steve, who fires his gun at her, alerting Stantin and Knox to their location; however, Steve recaptures Sarah and escapes in a logging truck, evading capture yet again.

Stantin and Knox arrive in Vancouver, where they learn Steve and Sarah broke into a home to rest and call a diamond broker. Stantin and Knox break into the diamond broker's home and interrogate him to learn where he plans to meet Steve. The pair stake out the meeting place and find Steve holding Sarah, but Steve spots Knox. After a brief shootout, Steve carjacks an SUV and leads Stantin, Knox, and the Vancouver Police Department on a car chase. Stantin and Knox spot the SUV on a departing ferry, but police search the ferry and do not find them; Stantin realizes this is another decoy and search a second ferry.

Stantin finds Steve and exchanges fire with him before Knox can distract him into getting shot in the ear and releasing Sarah. When Steve takes a passenger and her children hostage, Stantin tries to distract him but is shot multiple times. Steve prepares to execute Stantin by shooting him in the eye, but the gun misfires; Stantin uses the opportunity to throw both of them overboard, and after a brief struggle he shoots Steve in the eye, killing him. Knox dives into the water to rescue Stantin, and the pair are picked up by a rescue boat.

Cast

Reception

Box office

The film was a box office success,[4][5] grossing $29.3 million on a $15 million budget.[1][2]

Critical response

The film holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on reviews from 14 critics.[6]

Janet Maslin of The New York Times remarked that it "marks the return of Sidney Poitier after a long absence from the screen, and a reappearance of good old-fashioned storytelling technique as well. This is essentially a formula film, and as such it's nothing fancy. But it has crisp, spare direction, enormous momentum and a story full of twists and turns. For anyone who thinks they don't make spine-tingling detective films the way they used to, good news: they've just made another."[7]

In a three-star review, Roger Ebert recalled that it was "yet another example, rather late in the day, of the buddy movie, that most dependable genre from the early 1970s. The formula still works. Two characters who have nothing in common are linked together on a dangerous mission, and after a lot of close calls they survive, prevail and become buddies." He stated that Poitier "is probably not going to win any awards for this performance, but it's nice to have him back."[8]

In a mixed review, Shelia Benson opined in the Los Angeles Times that "too many cooks overlooked too many mistakes of character and logic here; they seem to have made characters out of smudgy carbons instead of living tissue. The Poitier and Berenger roles are perfunctorily sketched, their exchanges sometimes excruciatingly embarrassing. It's nice to have a leading woman who knows her way around the outdoors, but every chance possible to have intelligence pitted against brute force has been ignored. In "Shoot to Kill" (MPAA-rated R for violence) the scenery is wild, the movie is a walk on the tame side."[9]

References
  1. "Shoot to Kill (1988)". Catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  2. Shoot to Kill at Box Office Mojo
  3. "Shoot to Kill (1988) - Roger Spottiswoode". AllMovie.
  4. Mathews, Jack (2006-11-30). "WEEKEND BOX OFFICE : 'Shoot' Leads Black Film Group". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  5. Cieply, Michael (1988-02-19). "3 Black-Keyed Films a Hit and a First at Theater". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  6. "Shoot to Kill (Deadly Pursuit)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  7. Maslin, Janet (1988-02-12). "Film: 'Shoot to Kill'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  8. Ebert, Roger (1988-02-12). "Shoot to Kill Movie Review & Film Summary (1988)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  9. Benson, Sheila (1988-02-12). "MOVIE REVIEW : Aim Is Off on 'Shoot to Kill'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
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