Excessive Force (film)

Excessive Force is a 1993 American action film. It was directed by Jon Hess and written, co-produced and starred by Thomas Ian Griffith. It was released by New Line Cinema in the summer of 1993. Despite being panned by critics and becoming a box office bomb, the film had a direct-to-video sequel, called Excessive Force II: Force on Force (1995), that bears no relation to this film and does not follow its storyline.

Excessive Force
Film Poster
Directed byJon Hess
Produced byOscar L. Costo
Thomas Ian Griffith
Erwin Stoff
Written byThomas Ian Griffith
Starring
Music byCharles Bernstein
CinematographyDonald M. Morgan
Edited byAlan Baumgarten
Production
company
3 Arts Entertainment
Ian Page Productions
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
Release date
  • May 14, 1993 (1993-05-14)
(United States)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$13,000,000 (Estimated)[1]
Box office$1,152,117 (USA)[2][3]

Plot

Terry McCain (Thomas Ian Griffith) is a policeman accused of robbery and murder and needs to prove his innocence with his own hands.

Cast

Reception

Box office

Excessive Force grossed only $1,152,117 at box office and became a flop. The film opened on May 14, 1993 at 501 theaters, grossing only $308,499 on its opening Weekend.[3]

Critical response

Excessive Force was panned by critics. TV Guide gave the film only one star out of four and stated: "At some point, Excessive Force, which lives up to its title, might have been envisioned as a taut, mysterious, high-action cop thriller. The end result, however, showcases relentless violence over plot—bludgeoning viewers with machine gun fire, bomb blasts, and endless kick-boxing battles.[4] Joe Leydon from Variety wrote: "Even though New Line is going through the motions with a spotty, regional theatrical release, Excessive Force appears headed down the express lane to homevid, where it may find favor with undiscriminating action fans."[5] Rich Rosell from digitallyObsessed! gave it a very negative review, stating: "All of the dull fistfights and fiery explosions can do little to make this anything more than it is, which is something we've all seen before, and not necessarily something we would want to see again."[6]

Christopher Armstead from Film Critics United gave the film mixed review: "Excessive Force is not a good movie and Thomas Ian Griffith did not become a big action star. That makes us sad, even though he's had a nice career. Charlotte Lewis topless and Lance and Tony overacting makes us happier. And this why Excessive Force is in my personal collection."[7] Nick Michalak writing at Forever Cinematic praised some aspects of Excessive Force, concluding: "Excessive Force is not a great action movie, but it's a really good effort that I did like. The script is well written, and very well directed by Jon Hess, but it's really the exceptional acting talents of its admirable cast that allows this movie to be as good as it is. If filled with lesser grade talents, this would really falter, but putting guys like Griffith, Henriksen, Todd, Jones, and more into it gives it some extra substance."[8]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds a 20% approval rating from critics and a 37% approval rating from audiences.[9]

References
  1. "Excessive Force (1993)". The Numbers. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  2. "Budget". IMDB. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  3. "Excessive Force". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  4. "Excessive Force". TV Guide. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  5. Leydon, Joe. "Review: 'Excessive Force'". Variety. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  6. Rosell, Rich. "Excessive Force". digitallyObsessed!. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  7. Armstead, Christopher. "Excessive Force". Film Critics United. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  8. Michalak, Nick. "Excessive Force (1993". Forever Cinematic. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  9. "EXCESSIVE FORCE (1993)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
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