Die Killer-Brigade

The end of the Cold War and the toppling of the Berlin Wall made this film outdated almost before it was released. Nevertheless, it remains one of the best conspiracy mystery/thrillers ever made. The plot is amazingly intricate, but by the finish everything is tied up neatly, with no loose ends, a rarity for this type of story.

Gene Hackman is at his no-nonsense best as Johnny Gallagher, a career military man caught up in a complex assassination scheme. As the events unfold, he becomes more and more personally involved, which serves to ratchet up the tension for the audience. His relationships with his ex-wife Eileen (Joanna Cassidy) and the 'package' of the title, a prisoner that Johnny is assigned to escort into the U.S. from Berlin (played by Tommy Lee Jones in top form), are what really elevate "The Package" into the first rank of suspense dramas. The scenes featuring Hackman and Jones together are wonderful examples of understatement, as the larger political conflict becomes a personal one. Dennis Franz (NYPD Blue) turns up in a great supporting role.

"The Package" maintains an entertaining balance between action movie excitement and character-driven drama. The political background may be out of date, but the fine acting and writing deliver a story that is still compelling.

EDIT by author, 08.30.2006 Note: I saw this film during its original theatrical run. Events at that time (late 80's) moved so rapidly, the political situation had changed significantly between the start of production and its release. It was meant to be occurring in the present, not designed as a period piece. That is what I mean by outdated, which in no way detracted from the film's quality, or my enjoyment of it.

Gene Hackman is great in this good political thriller that has plenty of action, twists and surprises as he races against time to thwart an assassination attempt. The target of the hit is the Russian premier who's scheduled to visit Chicago and sign the disarmament treaty with the President that would end the threat of nuclear war. The movie takes off when Hackman's prisoner escapes from a Washington airport and sets in motion the events that lead to the picture's tense payoff. Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones have great chemistry between them during their brief screen time, and most of the film is about Hackman and Joanne Cassidy hunting for Jones while staying out of harm's way as unknown killers hunt them down. Dennis Franz and Thalmus Rasulala are good in supporting roles as the chase scenes intensify against the backdrop of Chicago's skyscrapers and downtown areas.

A decent thriller with a fairly convoluted plot. This far removed from the Cold War, it's hard to remember what a threat the Soviet Union was, the incredible evil which she served as vanguard. This film was fairly leftish, seeing accommodation with the USSR as the ultimate good, and confrontation as the ultimate bad. (Sort of a hangover from the demonstrably dumb Nuclear Freeze Movement of the mid '80's) Must have been embarrassing three years later. Tommy Lee Jones and Dennis Franz were totally adequate here. Pam Grier seemed a lot more professional, and a lot prettier, than in the blaxploitation stuff I remember her from. And Joanna Cassidy was great. She played her role intense and low-key at the same time. And what can you say about Gene Hackman. Amazing, the career he's had, looking like that. He is the consummate professional actor, and of course, he had to be. I've never seen him in ANY role that he didn't pull off with seeming effortlessness. (Although I will say, that seeing him in the car scenes seemed to almost be a teensy bit of a self-parody) But some of the plot were a bit big. This one is worth checking out on cable, or a Netflix rental.

Tommy Lee Jones is "The Package," a prisoner that Gene Hackman is returning to the United States from Germany in this 1989 film also starring Joanna Cassidy, Dennis Franz and John Heard. The United States and the Soviet Union are in the midst of delicate peace negotiations, but there are factions of the military who don't want to see it happen. Jones is Tommy Boyette, their hired assassin who, through an intricate plot, is supposed to kill the soviet premier. Boyette escapes via a mens room while the Hackman character, Johnny Gallagher, is returning him to the states. Gallagher starts investigating; it's not long before he's uncovered the plot.

This is a very good movie with some exciting sequences and lots of tension, as Gallagher finds himself and everyone around him in tremendous danger as he figures out what's going on. He has the help of his ex-wife (Joanna Cassidy) who is in the military, and a Chicago police officer, played by Dennis Franz.

The problem with this film is in its timing - it was released in August 1989 in the U.S., and in November of that year, the Berlin Wall came down, rendering the film dated -- and it had only been released in two countries by then. It's nevertheless a well-acted, well-directed film. Seen today, it holds up better as a story set in the past than it did a story set in a present that was changing dramatically.

During this movie I had some fun to predict what will happen next. If you had watched (or read) many Thrillers with the Cold War as Topic it's quite easy. This movie is like a time travel back to 1980's. The music score was typical 80's as the photography of the action scenes. Not only the photography and the score were solid like all the actors. Gene Hackman was the leading cast next to Tommy Lee Jones, Dennis Franz, Pam Grier and Joanna Cassidy. Gene Hackman is more or the less the same character as he was in many other thrillers. This time he is a good U.S. Sgt. who had some bad luck in his life but is still good enough to fight against all enemies of the U.S. Tommy Lee Jones is playing a villain and he always was great in such Roles. Hopefully he is doing more roles like that again in the future.

The suspenseful final wasn't without flaws but overall I enjoyed "The Package". Not the best Cold War Thriller but entertaining enough.