The Hostage Negotiator

Starring:Gail O'Grady, Michael Bowen, Brian Bloom, Don S. Davis, Jason Schombing, Brad Sihvon, Taylor Anne Reid, Connor Widdows, Brian Jensen, Michael P. Northey, Frank Cassini, Alexandra Castillo, Jon Bak, Peter Bryant, Nicki Clyne, April Siler, Claire Riley, Michael O'Grady, Jim Nasser, Kristina Matisic
Director: Keoni Waxman
Studio: Paramount
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

Although it eventually runs out of smart ideas and resorts to a typically explosive finale, this above-average thriller rises above its formulaic limitations on the strength of powerful performances by Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey. Both play Chicago police negotiators with hotshot reputations, but when Jackson's character finds himself falsely accused of embezzling funds from a police pension fund, he's so thoroughly framed that he must take extreme measures to prove his innocence. He takes hostages in police headquarters to buy time and plan his strategy, demanding that Spacey be brought in to mediate with him as an army of cops threatens to attack, and a media circus ensues. Both negotiators know how to get into the other man's thoughts, and this intellectual showdown allows both Spacey and Jackson to ignite the screen with a burst of volatile intensity. Director F. Gary Gray is disadvantaged by an otherwise predictable screenplay, but he has a knack for building suspense and is generous to a fine supporting cast, including Paul Giamatti as one of Jackson's high-strung hostages, and the late J.T. Walsh in what would sadly be his final big-screen role. The movie should have trusted its compelling characters a little more, probing their psyches more intensely to give the suspense a deeper dramatic foundation, but it's good enough to give two great actors a chance to strut their stuff. --Jeff Shannon

Description

This film centers on a former FBI hostage negotiator who, after being framed for murder, tries to clear his name by taking several people hostage in order to uncover the guilty party.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent movie with realistic negotiation tactics.......2007-06-08

I had seen this movie many times over the past few years, but decided to buy it to incorporate into a presentation I recently did on Crisis/Hostage Negotiation. It was the first time that I watched the movie with the intent of evaluating the accuracy of the movie's portrayal of actual negotiations. I was surprised how accurate the negotiation processes were portrayed in the movie...it matched many of the conflict communication theories I studied.

On the entertainment side, getting Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson together in the movie surely didn't hurt. Good cast, decent story line, well put together and enjoyable to watch.

One of the best action-thrillers.......2007-05-29

The Negotiator is an excellent action/thriller with 2 great performances from Kevin Spacey and Samuel Jackson. Despite being billed as an action film, this isn't your standard brainless Van Damme flick. The impression throughout the movie is tense. The best thing about the movie is the dialogue.

Both Spacey and Jackson are negotiators. Jackson is accused of murdering his partner and is determined to prove his innocence. He does a good job acting as an on the edge, almost out of control guy to the negotiators but also does a good job convincing his hostages and the audience that he is innocent. Spacey arrives almost half way thru the movie but is outstanding in his scenes. He immediately takes over the negotiations with Jackson's character from a helpless, nervous negotiator who Jackson made a complete fool of in a couple of especially good scenes.

This film made sense, and provided a good, logical ending. I wish more movies were half as good as this one. The plot twists are interesting, and not as shallow as the average film in the genre. The story is very original, and Gary Gray is in my opinion one of the most underrated directors today and deserves credit for putting this together. Fans of the genre should admire this movie, while many others can probably appreciate what it has to offer. Solid entertainment for 140 minutes.

Exciting..........2007-05-04

to the end! That is the best word to discribe this movie! Great action and drama. Perfect casting with great acting. The truth will be brought out in the end!

Too much drama.......2007-03-15

A friend told me alot about this movie and I happened to buy this movie from Wal-Mart and I watched it and it doesnt sound the same as what my friend told me about. This movie is about drama and crime and she knows I am not into drama and crime so I made her buy the DVD from me. I am not too interested in this movie.

Underated Drama.......2006-06-29

Going through my DVD's I have never seen before I came across a film called the "negotiator," with Kevin Spacey and Samuel Jackson. Jackson plays a hostage negotiator that is framed for murder. The police plant evidence to make it appear that he is putting money in overseas accounts. When his partner is murdered in a park the police see Jackson with his gun at the scene. Fact is that he was set to meet his partner only to find him slumped over the steering wheel. Everything unravels for Jackson. He goes to confront the man whom he suspects set him up. One of his body guards pulls a gun on him. Jackson's character disarms him and ends up taking everyone hostage in the process.

Kevin Spacey stars as a negotiator who knows little about him. Having an objective view will help the case. It has lots of twists and turns that are too numerous to mention, however it is a good thriller/action movie. Yet it doesn't easily fall into that category. If Stallone were in this one, it would have been a standard action yarn. This one is a lot more intense and realistic. A lot of areas explored in this movie could actually happen in real life.

Average customer rating:

Interesting, but definitely a made-for-TV movie
VERY REAL... IN EVERY DETAIL!!!
Good movie - sad story
considering i was ther
Prinze and Schroder deliver amazing performances

Hostage High
Starring: Rick Schroder , Freddie Prinze Jr. , Katie Wright , Alexis Cruz , and Patrick Malone
Director: Michael W. Watkins
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005N5QX
Release Date: 2001-10-16

Description

In the vein of "187" and "The Substitute" comes this explosive thriller based on a true story. While students at a local high school prepare for the annual prom and graduation, a tense game of wits develops when Jason Copeland (Rick Schroder), a former student with a grudge, plans to take over the school. Only through the courage of one student, Aaron Sullivan (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) and police negotiator, Skip Fine (Henry Winkler), do the students stand a chance in this edge-of-your-seat thriller!

Customer Reviews:

Interesting, but definitely a made-for-TV movie.......2007-02-23

I was one of the real-life hostages, so I bought the movie as soon as I heard about it. I knew it was a made for TV movie, so I wasn't expecting Oscar quality. I realize this is only "based on" a true story, so they have some artistic license, but they definitely did not capture the mood of the real-life events. It is much more like a mash up of the real event and a 12 year old's pizza party, which I found insulting. We did crack jokes and try to lighten the mood, but that is something you have to do in order to deal with having a gun pointed at you all the time. I blame the direction. All of that aside, the movie was interesting to watch, even as a watered-down version of the events and I think it would be a good conversation starter for parents and their children. I also give Henry Winkler a hair comb and two thumbs up. "ehhhhh"

VERY REAL... IN EVERY DETAIL!!!.......2006-07-16

I was a senior at Lindhurst High School the day of the shooting in 1992, and this movie, which the story was based, has done its homework. There is not a day that goes by that I am not, in some way, reminded or affected by the horrific events of that May 1 day. I was 19 at the time of the shooting when I lost my first period teacher, which this film portrays. He was more like a lifelong family friend than just my Civics Instructor. He was a true mentor to me and an inspiration to everyone who knew him. He will continue to be missed and never forgotten. This true-to-life epic recaptures the raw terror and horror of the siege. I very highly recommend this movie to everyone.

Good movie - sad story.......2005-01-08

I saw this movie when it first came out, but it was called "Detention: Seige at Johnson High". i recorded it but it has since been ruined. I was also there that day, although i was not in the same building. I was friends with alot of the people that got shot, and with some of the people that were held hostage. as a matter of fact, Beamon was supposed to call me that day after school. but thats all im going to say about that because i dont want to scare my kids by breaking down right now. Johnny...i never knew that you were the one. i cant even imagine how your life has been since that day. i dont think ive even talked to you since just after it all. email me some time... yeah_baby_its_wicked_@msn.com
anyone else that went to school with us can email me also.

considering i was ther.......2004-07-30

I have saw this film and it is a good one but the problem is i was one of the real hosteges and the movie is close enough to dreg up alotta memmorys i have tryed to for get i lost alotta good frends that day wich for their sake i will not say and my child hood to boot but to tell ya the truth if it is to be tolde it should be told the way it really went but for vewing sake good job all in all i just wish i would have known about this when it was being mad this is dedicated to all my frends and teachers who lived this nightmire with me i love all of ya ....forever in my thoughts... John M

Prinze and Schroder deliver amazing performances.......2003-10-23

I was impressed with the leads and this is a movie based on actual happenings. Prinze in one of his better roles and Schroder has never been better. the school shooting footage themselves might disturb a lot of viewers and it puts thoughts in your mind. Schroder is electric as the kid who was once a student at the school, comes back. Henry Winkler is great also as the police chief. powerful, violent to the extreme and a shcoking end that will leave you hanging.

Average customer rating:

Victims of the Pit
Great Thiller!!

The Hostage Negotiator
Starring: Gail O'Grady , Michael Bowen , Brian Bloom , Don S. Davis , and Jason Schombing
Director: Keoni Waxman
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000089QCE
Release Date: 2003-03-25

Description

On the job, top FBI hostage negotiator Theresa Foley (Gail O'Grady) is a tough, no-nonsense professional...calm and cool in the face of risky, potentially deadly situations. At home, she's a loving mother, with two kids and a devoted husband, Frank (Michael Bowen), a fellow FBI agent. But her idyllic home life is shattered when a three-time loser she took down in a failed bank heist escapes from jail and vows revenge. And the man who could afford her solace and comfort - Frank - is becoming increasingly irrational and distant after losing his job with the bureau. Theresa's former partner Danny McBaine (Brian Bloom) is seemingly the one relief valve in her ever-spiraling predicament as pressures build to the breaking point. But can Danny help protect her from the madman who is stalking her - or will his presence only serve to inflame her husband's simmering paranoia and growing suspicions? The explosive climax threatens to sweep Theresa, her family, her life and her skills as a Hostage Negotiator to the very brink of terror in this edge-of-the-seat thriller!

Customer Reviews:

Victims of the Pit.......2004-06-04

Intentionally or not Hostage Negotiator graphically exposes the small missed chances to turn the worst of all human tragedies into redemption. I can feel every bare emotion of Frank as he struggles to regain his footing, to retain his manhood, to blank away the hints of pity as a beautiful wife first passes him professionally and then becomes his better in front of all the world that matters. Of course, Teresa rushes to his aid, supportive in every way even when he is humiliated at the gathering by his peers. Her support is enough to hold Frank steady until Teresa unknowingly does the one thing that no man could bear: she stands in front of the man she loves high above him on the balcony, award in hand, and shares it with another man. I watched Frank on the screen, alone, hurt, humbled and emotionally skinned alive, watch his wife innocently embrace this man, nevertheless a better man, a man who could take his wife when the time was right.

From there the pit that surrounds Frank begins to turn and deepen. The fight is uneven at best, Frank can't open his heart to Teresa and seek the assurances he needs without the cost of his manhood. Then, the things that linger in the back of every man's mind begin the march from subconscious to conscious. The pit spins faster, deepening. Frank's calls for help, the clandestine photos, the accusations of infidelity all go unanswered. If Teresa had only, gently approached her husband, held him tightly and whispered the truth he needed to hear, the spinning would have slowed and the darkness would have stayed just that bit that makes the difference between lovers. "Honey, I know you're in pain, I'll do anything to stop it. You're the man I made babies with and the man I'll never leave. I'll always be only for you: in your home, with your children, in your bed and in your life." When this doesn't happen, Frank's calls for help turn to screams: "Oh God, help me, I can't stand to imagine my wife wanting to be alone with this man, this particular man. Any other man, God, any other but him." Even thought untrue, the thoughts of his wife being touched, her look of passion and the longing for more bring Frank to the bottom of the pit - no light, no air, no hope and finally -- the death of the marriage. Frank free-falls to a place that crushes everything he was and everything he could ever be. Then, like a bleeding, broken, tortured escaped prisoner he manages to crawl to the edge of the pit, back to Teresa with nothing but a pathetic hope. When Frank walks uninvited into the birthday party for Teresa, hears the plates clatter and turns to see the one man on earth he could not stand to have his wife, it ends, it all ends. This is the last place for Frank or for any man. Still Teresa follows him outside: "Frank I should have invited you, you're still a part of this family, the children love you they need you". But, think, how could this work? Imagine! Frank receives a call from Teresa at his dingy room fit for an ex-con to join the family for Christmas. When he arrives and has to ring the bell for permission to enter, the better man holds his wife, plays with his children and lives in his house - all while Teresa smiles - even at Frank. What can his mind do to survive: he sees them in bed - this time a reality. Is her new man larger than me? Is her orgasm stronger with him? What am I now, what can I ever be-now?

The final scene is preordained. Frank briefly holds Teresa's life in his hands but relents when she confesses: "Don't you get it, I loved you, there's not a night I don't lay awake in my bed and think about you, about our wedding, when our daughter was born. But Frank's mind wonders back to the scene he taped in the park. He sees Teresa with the other man, holding him, smiling and kissing him as they watch his children play. It helps to know that the man is with Teresa only because of Frank's failure to master the pit. Nice to know that Teresa's thoughts that night will be of Frank and the way it was. But no matter, the pit is too deep and the darkness too final.

Frank lays dead, never having heard Teresa cry. When the bullets tear into his skin, the last thoughts must have turned to what he has lost - to the knowledge that he will lie in a grave while one day Teresa and the man will find passion in the same bed and the same home where he made babies with his wife. They will see the birthdays of his children and the man will walk his daughter down the aisle, his memory will fade - just as if he never existed.

I can't imagine a greater tragedy. I remember Teresa's last conversation with Frank: "I know you don't believe me but I know what you're feeling - I do!" If this is true, why the smile on Teresa's face when she gets her job back and rushes downstairs to fall into the man's arms. I wonder if she will still lay awake that night thinking of Frank? Thinking if his pain has ended or if it somehow never ends.

What a movie this would have been if the raw feelings of Frank and Teresa could have been explored to an understanding from both perspectives. What a movie if somehow, Frank and Teresa could have mastered the pit and a man and a woman who fell in love and made babies together could have grown old and walked into the sunset, instead of a grave for Frank and a number-two life for Teresa.

This movie stumbled on the most central nerve that completes a loving man and a loving woman. I felt the pain when it was torn apart but never understood if it could be healed.

Great Thiller!!.......2004-01-03

The movie Hostage negotiator is a great thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat.It's a must see flick!!

Average customer rating:

Not A Great Film, But Not Bad Either: Entertaining!
Just giving some information on this

Negotiator
Starring: Negotiator
Manufacturer: Tokyo Shock
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000AC7P6U
Release Date: 2005-10-25

Customer Reviews:

Not A Great Film, But Not Bad Either: Entertaining!.......2007-01-07

The film "Negotitator," while not a bad film, is not a very good film either. The film centers on Japan's most famous hostage negotiatior Masayoshi Mashita (Yusuke Santamaria). An unknown terrorist is terrorizing the Tokyo subway sytem and Masayoshi Mashita has been called in to help avert any disaster before the siutation becomes out of hand. [In a sidenote: This film derives from the TV-series "Bayside Shakedown," which led to two big budget films in its native Japan]. One of the prime reasons for my buying this film in the first place was that I do like the actor Yusuke Santamaria, although I have seen very little of him, I do like his character.

When the unknown terrorist has taken over a state of the art train in the Tokyo transit system, he has one major condition: He does not want to deal with any of the police, but instead only with negotiatior Masayoshi Mashita. In turn, Masayoshi Mashita must deal not only with the unknown terrorist, but belligerent railway officials. The film shows the red tape that Mashita must deal with in regards to the bureaucratic Tokyo transit system officials. The character Kataoka (Jun Kunimura), who portrays the railroad chief of the Tokyo transit system does not make sense in the film. He is willing to risk the lives of passengers in order to protect a secret [not a very important one]. And the film loses a little plausibility here.

Moreover, the terrorist clues are a bit ridiculous, and I was wondering while watching the film if the Tokyo transit beaurucrats would really put the lives of its passengers in danger as the film puts them in the back burner in order to catch the terrorist. [If you can believe it, the clues to some of the terrorist are solved by hunches and the use of Google by the character Koike (Kotaro Koizumi) who just happens to be the prime ministers son]. I really felt like I was watching a TV-drama. While not the worst film of its genre, this film was not that good either. With the great actors that are in the film, I expected more, and it should have been much better. Recommended with caution. [Stars: 3.5]

Just giving some information on this.......2006-02-18

This is a film directed by Takashi Miike.
It is listed on imdb.com as Koshonin.
The DVD contains a making of featurette and a subtitled commentary by Miike.
hope this helps someone.

Average customer rating:

Victims of the Pit
Great Thiller!!

Hostage Negotiator
Starring: Gail O'Grady , Michael Bowen , Brian Bloom , Don S. Davis , and Jason Schombing
Director: Keoni Waxman
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000897B5

Customer Reviews:

Victims of the Pit.......2004-06-04

This movie stumbled on the most central nerve that completes a loving man and a loving woman. I felt the pain when it was torn apart but never understood if it could be healed.

Great Thiller!!.......2004-01-03

The movie Hostage negotiator is a great thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat.It's a must see flick!!

Average customer rating:

Sometimes you just get wrong

Blind Heat
Starring: Maria Conchita Alonso , J. Eddie Peck , Jeff Fahey , Al Sapienza , and Alejandro Tommasi
Director: Adolfo Martínez Solares
Manufacturer: Monarch Video
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ASIN: B00008G5WB
Release Date: 2002-04-30

Customer Reviews:

Sometimes you just get wrong.......2006-10-09

This is one of those "movies" that never should be released. Good to see Mrs. Alonso in good shape but the story is weak and the acting......
Buy if you like her.

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