Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Duration: 128 minutes
In the Line of Fire (1993) (4K UHD) – Movie Review
More and more movies are being prepped for their 4K resurrection it seems. We have featured our fair share of timeless classics on the site, but also a few releases that didn’t need the overhaul and the huge price increase that comes with a 4K UHD release. Recently we discussed Last Action Hero but also Gattaca, both having aged quite well. Now, we dive into Dirty Harry’s treasure trove to find a Clint Eastwood classic from the 90s; In the Line of Fire. This film revolves around a trauma-riddled secret service agent who couldn’t prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, but might be able to prevent the death of the current president. We dive back into the web of intrigue of this 1993 movie.
In the Line of Fire follows Frank (Clint Eastwood), a secret service agent that was active during the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He is still an active agent, albeit not on the security detail of the now-elected president anymore. When a new threat surfaces, he asks to be put on the security detail again after thirty years, hoping he can prevent the death of the current president. He soon gets treated like a relic from the past by his colleagues, only for the unknown killer (John Malkovich) to gain more and more ground. Frank is fighting an uphill battle, hoping he can chase away the demons of his past.
We feel that this film has not aged as well as many other older films. While the overall story value and the overall suspense-building are fine, something feels off. We are unsure if it has to do with the very pervy and over-the-top behavior of Eastwood’s character, the clichés that are found around every corner, or the typical love plot where a 25 year-older man still gets the girl in the end. There is a lot to enjoy in this film, but also a lot that wouldn’t be ‘fine’ by today’s standards. This is especially noticeable when one of the other agents states he suffers from a form of PTSD, only for Frank to basically call him weak and that he should get over it. The machoness is somewhat all over the place, and while this is understandable for a movie such as this, it also makes you hate the main character. Again, nothing really bad happens or nothing that would seriously offend anyone, but certain items are a bit dodgy at times.
In terms of special features, this 4K UHD release of In the Line of Fire is quite impressive. You’ll easily have around an hour of extra content to plow through, as you learn more about the process of how this movie was made, how the real secret service agents get trained, events that occurred in the past when it comes to protecting the then-elected president and so on. We even get to see a small snippet revolving around counterfeit money. It’s the special content on this release that actually cranks up the score quite a bit.
Conclusion
In the Line of Fire is still a fairly nice experience, but it has not aged as well as certain other movies. Older viewers can certainly appreciate the suspense that emanates during the entire film, but younger viewers might not appreciate the cheesy acting, and sometimes even the quite pervy demeanor of Clint Eastwood’s character. While you should normally sympathize with the ‘hero’ of the story more, it was truly John Malkovich that deserves the most praise here. If you like other similar films, this one might be a nice addition to your collection. If you’re more into modern crime stories, we cannot fully recommend this one.
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