8MM

"You can't prepare for where the truth will take you."

1999 2h 3m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

🥫

23%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.6

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 2,398🥫23%Rotten Tomatoes●21Metacritic★6.6IMDB · 150,624

ThrillerCrimeMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max, he relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his work turns into obsession, he drifts farther and farther away from his wife, family and simple life as a small-town PI.

“You can't prepare for where the truth will take you.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Nicolas Cage
Tom Welles
Joaquin Phoenix
Max California
James Gandolfini
Eddie Poole
Peter Stormare
Dino Velvet
Anthony Heald
Longdale
Chris Bauer
Machine
Catherine Keener
Amy Welles
Myra Carter
Mrs. Christian

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joel Schumacher
Writers: Andrew Kevin Walker
Languages: English
Countries: Germany, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Germany, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "8MM Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joel Schumacher, shot by Robert Elswit. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mychael Danna. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Mark Stevens shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Nicolas Cage and Joaquin Phoenix and James Gandolfini carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "You can't prepare for where the truth will take you.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joel Schumacher directs. Robert Elswit behind the camera. Mychael Danna scores. Mark Stevens cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Germany, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

127 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2International production across 2 countries: Germany, United States of America.
3Part of the "8MM Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Joel Schumacher, shot by Robert Elswit. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Mychael Danna. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Mark Stevens shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Nicolas Cage and Joaquin Phoenix and James Gandolfini carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "You can't prepare for where the truth will take you.".
9IMDB entry: tt0134273 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 17 themes, including "new york city", "pornography", "underground", "loss of loved one".

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Elswit
Original score: Mychael Danna
Editing: Mark Stevens
Production design: Gary Wissner
Costume design: Mona May
Makeup / hair: Peter Tothpal
Stunt coordinator: Eddie Yansick
Runtime: 123 min · 2h 3m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $40,000,000
Box office: $96,618,699
Return: 242% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: 8MM (1999)
Rotten Tomatoes: 23% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 21/100
IMDB rating: 6.6/10 · 150,624 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

2 wins & 2 nominations total

Part of

8MM Collection

8mm is a 1999 mystery thriller film directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. The film stars Nicolas Cage as a private investigator who delves into the world of snuff films. Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, and Anthony Heald appear in supporting roles. 8mm 2 is a 2005 direct-to-video thriller film directed by J. S. Cardone and starring Johnathon Schaech and Lori Heuring. When the film was in production, it was titled The Velvet Side of Hell. When Sony picked up the rights to distribute it, it was re-titled 8mm 2. Although this title suggests the film to be a sequel to the 1999 Nicolas Cage film 8mm, the film has no connective elements relating it to the first 8mm film.

Also by

Joel Schumacher

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2018-04-29
★ 7/10
Into the perverse underworld of smut, S&M and snuff films RELEASED IN 1999 and directed by Joel Schumacher, "8MM" chronicles events when a private investigator (Nicolas Cage) is hired by an aged wealthy woman whose husband recently passed away. A snuff film was found in his safe and she wants to see if the girl in the movie (Jenny Powell) really died or not. Amy Morton appears as the girl’s mother while Joaquin Phoenix plays a wannabe rock musician in Los Angeles who works in the porn trade. Catherine Keener is on hand as the P.I.’s wife. The movie combines the basic plot of “Hardcore” (1979) with the style of late 90’s crime thrillers, like “Kiss the Girls” (1997). The first half involves the P.I.’s tracking down the makers of the snuff film. While it’s tedious work (which I wouldn’t want to do) this part of the movie is gritty and compelling. The second half of the movie goes into material that’s difficult to pull off with a straight face, like the smut-obsessed underbelly of Los Angeles & New York. The main villains come off cartoonish somehow rather than gritty realistic, but it’s a fine line. Still, I like the message of the movie. My wife & I knew a wealthy man who passed away a few years ago. He often didn’t pay the people he did business with, not to mention his employees who were living paycheck to paycheck. Someone asked him how he could own two Cadillacs and regularly go on globetrotting vacations while treating people like this and he arrogantly responded: “Because I caaAAAN.” The low-lifes in “8MM” have a similar attitude. THE MOVIE RUNS 2 hours 3 minutes and was shot in Miami, Pennsylvania (Wormleysburg/Harrisburg), New York (Hastings-on-Hudson, Elmsford, Yonkers, Queens & Long Island) and S. Cal. (Los Angeles & Long Beach). WRITER: Andrew Kevin Walker. ADDITIONAL CAST: Anthony Heald plays the rich woman’s lawyer while James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare and Chris Bauer appear as smut pervs. GRADE: B
tmdb440066252019-03-09
★ 5/10
8MM probably only got greenlit due to the success of Se7en. Like Se7en, 8MM explores the existence of people who are simply pure evil while the main character wants to know why they are like this. 8MM doesn't provide many answers but it also isn't thematically complex. It follows a standard whodunit plot. While Nicolas Cage gives a solid performance, there are times where he takes us out of the story with his signature freak outs. Joel Schumacher manages to create a gritty tone but he has a rather bland style. Regardless of its flaws, 8MM is still a decent movie. It prefers plot over exploitation and story over violence. For those reasons, I recommend it.
Andre Gonzales2023-03-17
★ 6/10
Another one of Nicholas Cage's crazy movies. Like all the rest of his movies, this one was good too.