Man on Fire

"Creasy's art is death, and he is about to paint his masterpiece."

2004 2h 26m EN

👍

7.5

SOLID

★7.5TMDB · 5,943

ActionDramaThriller

Synopsis

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Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she's kidnapped he's consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save her life.

“Creasy's art is death, and he is about to paint his masterpiece.”

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Cast

Denzel Washington
John W. Creasy
Dakota Fanning
Lupita Ramos
Christopher Walken
Paul Rayburn
Radha Mitchell
Lisa Ramos
Marc Anthony
Samuel Ramos
Giancarlo Giannini
Miguel Manzano
Rachel Ticotin
Mariana Garcia Guerrero
Mickey Rourke
Jordan Kalfus

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Tony Scott
Writers: Brian Helgeland
Languages: English, Spanish
Countries: United Kingdom, 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

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $70M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 22 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

272+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Tony Scott, shot by Paul Cameron. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Harry Gregson-Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Tony Scott directs. Paul Cameron behind the camera. Harry Gregson-Williams scores. Christian Wagner cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $70M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Released 22 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
4International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
5272+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Tony Scott, shot by Paul Cameron. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Harry Gregson-Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Christian Wagner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning and Christopher Walken carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Creasy's art is death, and he is about to paint his masterpiece.".
11IMDB entry: tt0328107 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12The top-rated still from this film on TMDB has multiple community votes — a signal the frame composition stuck with viewers.
13Classified under 28 themes, including "mexico", "mexico city, mexico", "based on novel or book", "kidnapping".
14Released under 19 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Paul Cameron
Original score: Harry Gregson-Williams
Editing: Christian Wagner
Production design: Benjamín Fernández
Costume design: Louise Frogley
Makeup / hair: Graham Johnston
VFX supervisor: Nathan McGuinness
Stunt coordinator: Paul Borne
Runtime: 146 min · 2h 26m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $70,000,000
Box office: $130,300,000
Return: 186% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Man on Fire (2004)

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Tony Scott

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Community reviews

What people are saying

cryodome2021-07-08
★ 5/10
His bodyguard style is much entertaining. I could watch it all up until certain point. Then it seems Denzels character goes against his usual serious bodyguard style. Only to progress the plot. That is when I turn this movie off
Wuchak2021-08-16
★ 7/10
The Punisher in Mexico City, albeit black A disillusioned ex-CIA operative (Denzel Washington) gets a gig in Mexico as the bodyguard of a precocious girl (Dakota Fanning) from a wealthy family. Christopher Walken plays his friend, Radha Mitchell the mother of the girl and Mickey Rourke an attorney of the family. “Man on Fire” is a crime drama/thriller that debuted five days after Thomas Jane’s “The Punisher” in 2004. While “Man of Fire” was based on a novel by A.J. Quinnell and “The Punisher” was based on the Marvel Comics’ character, they’re both about men who suffer great tragedy and enact merciless strategies to take out the criminals responsible. They’re about on par, but I give this one the edge as it has more dramatic depth and flashier filmmaking by director Tony Scott (which some may find annoying). But neither is as supremely effective as the later “Taken” (2008). Some complain that the movie’s “schizophrenic” because it’s like two movies stitched together, but don’t all revenge stories have a set-up for the oncoming revenge part? This one just has a longer and more satisfying set-up. The film runs 2 hour, 26 minutes, and was shot mostly in Mexico City. GRADE: B
Narate2024-11-20
★ 9/10
"Forgiveness is between them and God. It's my job to arrange the meeting." Denzel is always amazing in any movie. Most of this movies are just top tier as is, but this one really sticks out to me now that I am a parent. I would have this kind of fire in me if anything happened to my kid. The colors, editing, acting, even the violence is perfect in this.