Collateral Damage (2002)

The initial irony about "Collateral Damage" is that it almost became that itself - an "innocent victim" of the small Hollywood fallout after 9/11/2001, delayed for months because its plot happened to involve violent revolutionaries and bombs at a time when thousands lost their lives due to a tragedy of terrorists and bombs. Had the film been released at its intended date, it could've held more meaning and may have even been "forgiven" for being rather dull and unmemorable, due to leading man Schwarzenegger's ever-increasingly-fading action star status.

The film, textbook Arnold Schwarzenegger, has one major flaw: Arnie's getting old. He has noticeably less hair, and his trademark accent doesn't seem as pronounced as it used to be. His "invincible/robotic action hero" style also seems lacking, and he isn't even given any cool "sarcastic action hero catch phrases"! The last problem (arguably the worst, especially seeing how "I'll be back..." is still a major part of his reputation today) is made even worse since nobody has any such lines; even the sole comic relief character, an employee at a drug camp with dreams of being a rapper, is killed off but a few minutes after introduction. A potentially shocking swerve is handled fairly well until it becomes immediately obvious during its setup. There's a relatively impressive explosion/climactic battle sequence, but other than that, there's not much to like in this film.

There is one interesting thing about the film, that being that, made before 9/11 but released after, it is not a total propaganda piece. Arnold hardly oozes patriotism, and the script is even fair enough to present the truth that, though the Columbian rebels may indeed be a villainous lot who conduct heartless acts of terror, that their reason for fighting and their actions can be traced back to similar actions against their own countrymen by the U.S. government. The film-makers even let an intelligence agent who is seen commanding the slaughter of a rebel camp get killed.

Had the film been released as coincidentally intended almost immediately after 9/11 (and really, the fact that it was "too controversial" at the time is rather ludicrous, since the explosion from the beginning and the explosion averted at the end are nowhere near on level with the events of 9/11, unless the controversy referred to was the admission of the U.S. causing the trouble in Columbia), it would've no doubt gained at least a low level of appreciation just because Arnie kills some terrorists. Now that the media has overdone patriotism everywhere else, however, even that part of its concept seems too weak and gimmicky to be taken seriously.

Fmovies: This action, is about a fireman (Schwartzenegger) who loses his family to a terrorist's bomb in LA, and then goes after the terrorist when the authorities do nothing, is OK! The pace is fast and the effects plentiful!

There are a few logical problems, like why is it the fireman, among thousands of security personnel in DC, that is the only one going after the killer, when the latter is trying to turn DC into an inferno?!

Lots of good actors, nice cinematography and special effects, in short better than average, but the misses are sometimes bad, like not getting Colombia's map correct! That he can travel on someone else's pass is also amazing.

But it is fairly logical, in its own context, so you don't mind the misses the first time you see it!

Not too bad for a hero, over 50 :-)!

Mildly entertaining and predictable, but not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. The casting of the woman with the weird lips and her husband seemed as believable as that of the gigantic muscle-laden German guy playing a firefighter, but what the hey, it's Hollywood and ya just gotta love it. I'm not anticipating any great Arnold 'til T3, the role he was born to do. Still, this was some hell-raising, explosion-riddled, sock-'em-in-the-gut mindless fun.

Collateral Damage fmovies. Imagine this picture: A room full of students, future filmmakers. They are watching a movie, Collateral Damage, an average action movie, but with a big problem an absurd story, an ideological story. The students are learning how to be subtle and convince the viewer of their personal points of views without making their future movies an advertisement. That's why they first must learn what not to do. Collateral Damage is a fine example of how to insult the intellect of the audience and spit the message in their faces.

The bigotry that is palpable in this excuse of a fictional work is unbelievable lame. Every old trick in the history of screen writing is used in a self-indulgent manner. There's even more! Davis is a great director as he proved in The Fugitive, he could mix action and drama in a superb way. But here he fails miserably because his lead actor (Schwarzenegger) is too dull for this role and the action is lack. Schwarzenegger in the last years tried to play new roles. But it seems that the only one that succeeded in creating a different image for the Austrian-American actor was James Cameron in True Lies.

If someone supposes that the writers made an investigation of how is the life in Colombia and the liaisons between "carteles" and authorities of both countries, then it would be wise for that person to read more serious newspapers and watch less movies like this one. This film had its controversy because the people of Colombia felt this movie as an insult. Colombia is a poor country that has suffered terrorism for decades and that is not something that should be used by opportunist filmmakers avid of profit. Collateral Damage doesn't make easier understand the affliction of terrorism only tries to mock of a third-world country. As always there's no movie so bad that should not be seen but it would be best for the health of cinema if pieces like this were not created anymore.

Collateral Damage (2002) is one of the most decent Schwarzenegger action flicks. The story worked for me, Cliff Curtis was good as the villain, Arnold was great, the twist at the end was nice, the action scenes were fun, and altogether I think it's a very solid movie.For me, Collateral Damage & End of Days are the only Schwarzenegger movies where he actually gives a acting performance. I think both of the films are very underrated and bashed for their credits for it. This one is the 7h movie that in my opinion are his best movies and Collateral Damage is one of them. It is my favorite best movie that I absolutely love. Collateral Damage is above average action thriller very underrated from the early 2002 people just hate this movie I loved it, This movie rules!

Great movie if you like Arnold Schwarzenegger I would recommend this movie if you like a lot of action packed scenes and explosions. Collateral damage is very good movie and entertaining. I love the twist!

"You cannot take the law into your own hands."

While The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and Collateral Damage may not be classic examples of art imitating life and vice versa, the real-life attacks did put a temporary halt to the film's scheduled October 2001 release. And certainly, the film does share a few primary similarities with that day. Collateral Damage's hero is a firefighter, and a terror attack in a major U.S. city -- Los Angeles to be exact -- leads to panic and the main character's own struggles with loss and a thirst for revenge. But otherwise, director Andrew Davis' (Above the Law) Collateral Damage plays as a fun and superficially routine Action flick that's full of explosions and gunfire but that goes above and beyond the call of duty, crafting a surprisingly deep plot, one with a rather heavy emotional undercurrent -- even beyond the loss of the main characters' family -- and a few quality twists and turns that keep the movie fresh and its landscape always evolving. While this may not be the quintessential Action movie -- it's no Die Hard -- or even the finest flick to Andrew Davis' name, this is a good, high quality, high yield Action movie, and as is always the case with a Schwarzenegger film, it's well worth seeing if only for the star's presence, energy, and charisma.

Firefighter Gordon Brewer is plunged into the complex and dangerous world of international terrorism after he loses his wife and child in a bombing credited to Claudio "The Wolf" Perrini. Frustrated with the official investigation and haunted by the thought that the man responsible for murdering his family might never be brought to justice, Brewer takes matters into his own hands and tracks his quarry ultimately to Colombia.

After his family is killed by a terrorist act, a firefighter goes in search of the one responsible.

I love this Action flick How Arnold went on his own in to the jungle of Colombia to find the terrorists responsible for his family murder. I find this very Entertained action film for a Schwarzenegger fan like me. I love this film and I have always enjoy it. Collateral Damage is so much better film than Terminator Genisys ,Maggie or Sabotage were. I don't care about the new movies Arnold is doing today they are all crap, Escape Plan and The Last Stand are his last films that were really good to watch, the rest of the films he did weren't. Arnold stop making such a bad films this days please! I love the action scenes the explosion in all

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

It's easy to see why this was postponed because of September 11 (even the terrorist group in the film ALC only needs IADA put on the end of it).What's hard to understand is how Collateral Damage got released at all.It's hard to believe this film is directed by Andrew Davis,the director of such action greats as The Fugitive,Under Siege and Nico.Ageing action man Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Gordy Brewer ,the most ridiculously named action character ever,who goes to Columbia to seek revenge on El Lobo,the terrorist mastermind who killed his wife and child with a bomb blast on the Anti-Terrorism Agency in New York.The story is poor (how can a fireman have so much knowledge on how to locate and take out master terrorists?)as is the character development,and in fact,so is the action.Truly run-of-the-mill stuff and nothing that hasn't been done to better and much more impacting effect in previous films of this type.For this,54 year old Arnie still has impressive biceps,and things do heat up a bit at the end.But overall,on the basis of this and his previous films,one thinks the Arn ought to think about retiring from film and trying harder to become mayor of California.**