Live Wire (1992)

An FBI bomb expert tracks down terrorists armed with exploding water. Starring Pierce Brosnan, Ron Silver, Ben Cross and Lisa Eillbacher. Year: 1992 Director: Christian Duguay Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Ron Silver, Ben Cross

Is there a lower rating than 1 star?

The movie is absolute garbage. Everyone's a badguy(almost all the characters but Pierce are involved in some crazy plot to blow everyone else up), the acting by almost all involved is horrendous, and the editing blows! The silly love scene in the bathtub actually has 3 hair style changes where the woman's bangs disappear and reappear and disappear again, then reappear again in bed. You can see the people running from the bomb threats just falling over in panic, the "bad guys" completely overact and many don't seam to have any reason to even be involved. Hah, Pierce got shot point blank by two guys with uzi's and still not only gets away, but blows them up and goes on to finish the mastermind off and rescue the girl. It kind of reminded of a Beverly Hill's Cop(even has the same love interest) without any comedic value and an all B-list acting crew. I would say don't waste your time... but it does have a certain "so bad it's good" quality. Just know what your walking into :) (Btw I can't understand how this possibly has a 3 1/2 star rating... it really is bad). April 7, 2007

Good Movie

The movie is great, unfortunately only the R-rated DVD was available. I originally saw the uncut version which is better. All in all, a good movie for Pierce Brosnan fans. March 10, 2007

Better Than His Bond Flicks

OK I know thats a bold statement that this is better than Pierce's Bond flicks. It's probably less than 10% of any of their budgets but it is at least as good as The World Is Not Enough and better than his other Bond films, at least I enjoyed it more and thats why we watch movies right? Maybe I'm tired of Bond (God forgive me but it is getting old, and without the big bad Soviets the world just seems different, I guess Bond needs to take on Al Qieda soon to make it more relevant), but I enjoyed watching this film when it first came out (I think it's an HBO flick). I have not seen it since 10 years ago so not sure if I'd still like it but I probably would cause Pierce in his non Bond roles has consistently been entertaining for me. I liked the part with the bomb under the blond with no panties car seat that is activated to blow up if she gets up (I think thats the way it went), that was a funny scene. The secret bomb was cool too and had me going hook, line, and sinker. Recommended! March 5, 2006

he's an urban guerilla...

My wife suggested this movie while browsing in the local video store mainly because of her fascination for all things Brosnan whom she has liked since she first saw Remington Steele.

Very reminiscent at the outset of Blown Away, the premise suggests that the US, so long immune from terrorist threat, may be subject to internal terroism. As the plot proceeds, one is reminded of the storyline of Die Hard where a supposed terrorist is nothing but a robber.

Themeans by which the terror is spread is an explosive which is detonated by the human body itself and thus leaves no trace. Brosnan appears as an explosives expertwith a personal life in turmoil instigated in the first instance by the accidental drowning of his young daughter in the family swimming pool and an estranged wife allegedly in the midst of a relationship with a senator.

It is clear from the start that there is no terorist in the sense of a freedom fighter but there is a ruthless murderer who uses a terrorist approach to secure a ten million dollar payoff which he has been swindled out of.

The story proceeds at a good pace with hardly any time to draw breath but really does not carry the viewer with it. The scenes are all shot in glorious sunshine which shows off the Washington tourist attractions to good effect but which also serves to reduce the impact of the story. Similarly the extensive inclusion of insiders in the senate reduces the plausibilty of the plot. I was disturbed too by the focus on the ease by which Brosnan's character concocts explosives using highly visible ingredients in order to defeat the baddies. Although I do not like the idea of censorship I do question the judgement of film producers to educate the weak minded in this way.

In the end the bad guys get their comeuppance, the good guy gets thegirl and we all live happily everafter.

Brosnan had not yet aquired the gravitas that he would eventually bring to Bond and in many ways his character is an extension of the Remington Steels one where he is basically a good looking model. At times the character resembles that of an earlier movie, Taffin, where he falls into a depressive state but pulls himself out although the character there is much more interesting and dark.

This is not a bad movie but an OK movie. I would not put it into the same class as Blown Away or the Devil's Own or In the Name of the Father but nevertheless it is a slient reminder of the dangers we face from within. It does not take much for one person to terrorise anyone and we should always be on our guard for that eventuality.

On a final note. As I drew this review to a close I realised why the third senator in the story is so recognisable. It is because it is essentially the same part that the same actor plays in Timecop.
Ha. November 30, 2005

Deeply creepy, but ends up a dud

The film starts out with a brilliant, and creepy premise -- what if there was a chemical that could be added to ordinary water, colorless, tasteless and odorless, that, when drunk, didn't just kill its drinker but turned that person's body into a deadly explosive? As the movie initially unfolds, this premise is handled well and is remarkably chilling.

Pierce Brosnan plays the munitions expert who is in charge of determining the cause of several inexplicable explosions that have been taking out prominent senators. His investigations put him in uncomfortably close proximity with one of the senators who may be the next target -- the man his ex-wife left him for following the death of their daughter. As his investigation leads him to the bizarre method being used to kill off these lawmakers, he finds that his attempts to protect them are being misinterpreted and miscast, damaging his reputation... until he manages to prevent what would have been a deadly attack during a public rally.

Unfortunately, it's right after this attack that the film unravels into a mess. Up until this point it was a tight, chilling mystery; the attacks unfolded with spooky "it could happen anywhere" finesse, the chemistry used in the film to explain the explosive compound was handled remarkably well, and the haunted past driving the protagonist (his daughter's accidental drowning and the way his life and marriage fell apart in the aftermath) was a nice subplot that helped but wasn't overbearing.

But at this point the film abruptly changes course and becomes a cliche'd 80s actioner. His wife, witnessing his act of heroism, has the epiphany that she's with the wrong guy and comes back to him for a heapin' helping of "hot" 80s-style music-video simulated-sex. Now the senator is the one on the outs, and gee, turns out he's dirty and probably deserves to get blown up, but our hero is still sworn to protect him. The man out to get him, who up until now has been using remarkable finesse (and who wouldn't be creeped out by the concept that any glass of water could be their last?) suddenly switches over to much cruder tactics. You could swap in virtually any action movie with a rugged loner hero, unscrupulous ass who has to be protected, glowering villain, and useless woman screaming encouragement on the sidelines, at this point, to the same effect. Our hero, of course, saves the day, solves the crime, and wins the girl.

Live Wire had the potential to be brilliant, and would have been, but the final act ruins the entire puzzle-box effect of the film. It's a shame, because it could have been a great thriller. But it's not.

My recommendation: rent, don't buy. Watch up until the end of the rally sequence, when the ex-wife gets that speculative, "we're going to have SO much sex!" gleam in her eye, and then hit the stop button, and imagine the ending yourself. You'll get a much better film out of it that way. August 29, 2005

More reviews at Amazon.com ...