User reviews

I remember when this came out and how much it freaked people out. Could we really be living in such a surveillance state? Could the government really be monitoring us whenever they want?

Well, over 20 years later and... Yeah, that's probably all true and then some. Still, this was a fun movie with a compelling enough story, solid acting and a surprisingly deep cast of comedians playing serious computer nerds.

Biggest downside to me was the tech itself. Movies of this nature can't help themselves from reaching into the nonsense handbag and pulling out things like the "zoom and enhance" cliché or the ability to tell exactly where someone is at all times with pinpoint accuracy among others.

Dated though it may be, this was still a pretty enjoyable watch. I'd say it's worth checking out if you have it streaming somewhere.

Why? Well for starters there is the best chase sequence since The French Connection. Then there is Will Smith as an actor - not just a star, though later in the movie he is admittedly overshadowed by veteran Gene Hackman.

There are two layers to this movie: On the surface is a pacy thriller with edge-of-the-seat chases but underneath lies a telling commentary on government surveillance. It is one of those truth-in-fiction stories which makes its point about government intrusion into privacy dramatically and effectively.

There are references to the classic, The Conversation: The surveilled couple talking in the park, and the Hackman character's premises are an obvious recreation of his workshop in the earlier movie. If you haven't yet seen The Conversation - see it before you see this one - you will understand the Hackman character a lot better (besides, it is a superb movie in its own right).

Oh, and Jon Voight is terrific as the bad guy...

Well, I like this one. I like the cast, the visuals are well done, but what is more important is the plot that I like really much. It's not the most sophisticated plot of all times, but I think it's quite good, and to some degree, realistic. Of course it's not possible to move sattelites that quickly, or zoom in on a videotape that much and still have crystal-clear visual, but quite some technology seen is realistic today, or in the near future. This is an hollywood flick, all right, so they have quite much action and everything looks very easy, steering a sattelite seems to be no harder than playing a video game, what makes it all seem a bit unrealistic/sci-fi-like, but today's technical posibilities are quite large, and continue to grow, so informing oneself about the issue (I mean the real world issue) is not a bad idea.

To give you some points to think:

• It's routine for the credid card companies to document every transaction made with the cards, go figure who gets the docs if police is investigating.

• Every call / fax done is documented for billing, go figure, who...

• At least for your ISP it's possible to read every unencrypted email you send or receive, go figure ...

• Today there are MANY cameras in public areas in Great Britain, with numbers still growing.

• Face recognition software is already being used in combination with some surveillance cameras.

• Dictation software that can interpret your spoken word and convert it into written text is being sold to you today, maybe some organisations have much better versions at their hands ...

The list could go on, but what I want to say is that one should think about the posibilities and listen to what the politicians say, and what they want to allow the federal organisations.

You want to be able to still _enjoy_ the movie in some years time, not thinking of it as being somewhat normal just as everyday life, all right?

Sucessful lawyer Robert Dean is passed information by an old friend without noticing. Seconds later that friend is killed and Dean is targeted by a group within the Government who wish to cover up a conspiracy involving the murder of a congressman. With the Government's full weight of surveillance equipment brought to bear Dean turns to ex-NSA agent Brill to help protect him, find the information and get it out into the open.

This is much better than the ususal summer crash, bang, wallop stuff we usually get fed. It's greatly helped by the sense of paranonia that runs through the whole story from the Government's power and corruption at some levels. The film starts well, with 'everyman' Dean being drawn into a game of cat and mouse, framed for a crime he didn't commit and forced to go on the run from Government agents. Will Smith carries the film only so far but it realy gets interesting when Hackman turns up as Brill. He casts light on the ability of the government and is almost able to play them at their own game. Brill makes an appearance when the film starts to become too much of a staight chase movie.

To me the use of Hackman as Brill is the best bit of casting ever and makes this film stand out as being clever. In the 70's Hackman played a surveillance expert in Copolla's The Conversation. The film ends with Hackman being monitored himself, with him ripping his house apart looking for the bugs. What makes his casting as Brill so good is that Brill is where Hackman's "The Conversation" character would be 20 years on - it feels like it's the same character again. The director also deserves a lot of praise - he manages to keep the pace up throughout the film, whether it be scenes of chasing action or technological pursuit. The script helps as well - the conspiracy and the paranoia is strong throughout.

Smith is good in the lead, but he isn't quite as good an "everyman" as classic actors as Cary Grant or James Stewart were. Smith also struggles to carry the whole movie and the chases do get a bit samey after a while. Fortunately Hackman is brilliant as Brill, he is a classy actor and brings a lot of weight to the film just as Smith begins to feel the strain. Jon Voight is also good as the villian of the piece. The supporting cast is deep! There were so many famous faces in small roles that I really felt this was an allstar cast, despite the fact that it's a Smith vehicle. Gabriel Byrne makes a fleeting appearance, Ian Hart is there, Jake Busey (son of Gary) shows up, Jason Lee (actor in many Kevin Smith films) witnesses the murder, a gorgeous Lisa Bonet has a small part, James Le Gros, Regina King etc etc. The cast is well packed with famous faces - they don't all get the chance to put on a show but it adds quality at all levels.

Overall this is a fancy chase movie, but good direction, a strong and deep cast and a fantastic Hackman all make this film much better than it could have been. The last scene of the film is a little too upbeat but other than that it's pretty good stuff.

Enemy of the State was released in 1998, only 3 years before the Nein Eleven false flag that excused the launching of the most intrusive surveillance apparatus the world has ever known.

And just like the Congressdoosh in the movie, everybody except for RonP aul said it would only be used on dirty furriners to protect the Good Ol' USofA.

But as Edwards Nowden and later Julia Nassange revealed a decade later, America's alphabet agencies soon turned the surveillance against Americans themselves.

Fast-forward to 2021, where it turns out the movie plays more like a documentary than a political thriller. The good guys are now the bad guys. Politicians are hopelessly compromised. The sp00ks are in charge. All our moves are on camera somewhere. Everything we write - including our movie reviews - is logged. There is no privacy.

Somewhere in the bowels of Hollywood there is probably a script in development about the disingtegration of the Western World, probably disguised as a Fall of the Roman Empire Netflix series, featuring barbarian hordes and starving serfs. Twenty years from now it will all come depressingly true.

Enjoy the film !

I don't know how I missed this in theaters, but I watched it for the first time tonight. I almost gave it a 10, because this is as good as the suspense/action drama gets. Somebody on the DVD special features called it "...a combination of Crimson Tide, The French Connection, and 3 Days of the Condor." From my list of favorites I'd also say it has aspects of Marathon Man, The Fugitive, and The Firm. Will Smith, whose work does not thrill me 100% of the time, is terrific, and Gene Hackman could not have been better. They also receive support from some great character actors, many of them UNCREDITED (a fact which blew me away).

My enjoyment was enhanced by being familiar with Hackman's The Conversation, in which he plays Harry Caul, one of the world's greatest audio surveillance men. His hideout/office in Enemy is reminiscent of Caul's digs, and the photograph which the bad guys have on file for him is of his character from The Conversation. I sort of wish they'd named the new character Caul, giving long-term continuity to the story.

I'm running off at the fingers here, so I won't elaborate on the location, direction, etcetera, but will end with SEE THIS FILM!

This was surprisingly a lot of fun and holds up very well. It's not going to blow your mind, but you could do much worse with a couple of free hours on your hands.

Gene Hackman really ties this flick together -- the decision to cast him in this type of role is brilliant. Will Smith's performance is pretty much what you'd expect -- some people like his acting and some don't, but I thought he did pretty damn good here. The rest of the acting here ranges from mediocre to subpar. But don't let that deter you; Smith and Hackman take up most of the screen time. Their chemistry when on screen with one another is fantastic.

Oh, if you hate jumpy cuts, be prepared for those. There's a lot of them here.

People who don't care about government surveillance will find the movie boring. For everyone else it's a paranoid thriller with an important message. Is there any greater power then the ability to spy on anyone at anytime? "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."Exhilarating and entertaining, Enemy of the State is a topical chase thriller that provides the audience with solid escapism and a thought-provoking narrative inspired by Francis Ford Coppola's timeless classic The Conversation.

This is a pretty good flick that I caught at the time in my room at the Pittsburgh Hilton. A really good cast helps it along, aided by a very small but effective (if not completely soaked in sweat) role from Tom Sizemore. What really gets me now is what followed in the few years after its' release. The motivation for the story is the ruthless push by the NSA to get approval for a bill that would allow them to spy on anyone at anytime using any method they deem necessary with unilateral and total approval issued by the NSA itself. Little did we know at the time that just a few years later President George W. Bush would do that very thing, with a nice, catchy, flag waving title. We all know it by its' minuteman moniker - The Patriot Act.

This movie was released 1998 and then got critique that is was not that realistic. Now 22 years later we know that this is no science fiction at all. Unfortunately. The movie has stood the the test of time really well - especially since being made 22-23 years ago! Very underrated! Should be way over 8.5 - at least!

Hi - really latetotheshow once again As for my review title . . . I edited it and my rating from a 5 to a 7 after watching special features - an action I often take once I view them and get more insight into the impetus behind the movie.

I also find that anything Jerry Bruckmeyer is behind is often top notch.

Of course, Gene Hackman could make any movie worth a high rating - and I still think there are a lot of unrealistic extremes that make this borderline comedy. And maybe they should've made this a more obvious dark comedy.

Some reviewer on here said it was 'informative & educational' . . . Good grief.

I think there are more informative & educational sources out there than a entertainment piece. That's the only thing that worries me about movies. So many people use movies for school rather than ENTERTAINMENT.

However, this subject matter is something we all think about when we zoom in on our own home in maps . . .

There's several good suspenseful moments, and again Hackman was the draw for me. I really liked how he portrayed being both very helpful while also couldn't care less about Robert at first, in one a particular fast-paced scene.

He played paranoia very realistically. Also played a highly intelligent nerd really well too. Seemed a really different character from the tough guys he usually plays.

Now I really want to see him in The Conversation, which is allegedly the prequel to his Brill character here.

Anyway, this movie provides a lot of food for thought . . .

Enemy of the State is a most annoying film. Even with an intensely unoriginal story, it could have been quite good. Unfortunately, by deciding to treat the audience as if its members were stupid, the film falls on its face. It is, literally, incredible.

Will Smith can act very well, as seen in Six Degrees of Separation. Unfortunately he mailed in this performance. Weak direction seems to have left everyone incapable of deciding what Smith's character should be: the smart, wise-cracking lawyer or the action hero? In North By Northwest Cary Grant never appears to have the full measure of the situation into which he has been thrust, rendering the film and his portrayal believable. In Enemy of the State, Will Smith seems to go from intelligent but confused dupe out of his depth to omniscient and omnipotent hero for no apparent reason. How?

Gene Hackman is, as always, eminently watchable and believable. Unfortunately, he has done this film before, played most of the characters better, and he must have known this cheap imitation of "The Conversation" wasn't even in the same league as the original. Two other great actors, Jon Voigt and Jason Robards, are wasted in this film. Robards' cameo at the beginning shows the impact a great screen actor can have in the smallest of roles. His proves in many ways more intriguing than any other character, and he's dead after the first five minutes!

The silliest thing about the film is the technology represented: satellites taking real-time, moving images of *infinite* resolution through clouds visible from the ground; call tracing which takes place in barely a minute, with 'kewl graphix'; ability to rotate a three dimensional image taken by a single *fixed* camera. Further offending the viewer are blatant and incessant product placements and excessively relaxed techno-geeks who are so stereotyped it's disgusting...not to mention the various ethno-stereotypes in the film, which annoyed me though I am proudly non-PC. Ugh.

This film is so ridiculous as to be an unintentional comedy. Hollywood wonders why Americans are perceived as buffoons they are not, and why some fellow countrymen seem to be convinced of endless government conspiracy?! More a Hollywood conspiracy to create audience stupidity.

Jon Voight, Will Smith, and Gene Hackman are the three stars who make this movie interesting. Voight is a rogue NSA operative and Smith quite accidentally gets on his trail without even realizing it. Hackman provides the key to exposing the crooks and facilitating a reasonable ending. Watching this movie makes you wonder how much of the surveillance depicted can really be done today by our governments. Although the movie has its share of violence, and an ending out of Reservoir Dogs, it also is sprinkled with some good humor. If you like action and espionage, then you'll like this movie. The DVD picture and soundtrack are both excellent. I give the movie overall 8 of 10.

Another astoundingly decent film by Tony Scott. It's very watchable and pretty well-made. Some of it's ahead of its time and clever, but then other parts feel kind of stupid and excessive. I did really like how Will Smith's character was a bit more of a clumsy loser than usual - he was good here, along with Gene Hackman of course (once the latter finally showed up, almost 60 minutes into the movie).

It certainly gets the job done, and while I'm not over the moon about it (I feel that way about most Tony Scott films), it's admittedly pretty good overall. If you need 1990s cheese but don't want 1990s trash, this is a good watch.

Enemy of the State (1998)

Review: This is a different direction for many. Will Smith for one and some noticeable comedic actors are here, but this is no comedy.

Enemy of the State is quite a movie. What is the main point of this is the plot. It works in many ways. In a situation like this, anyone with connections and power can have access to such technology to track down anyone who knows far too much. It's quite real. Scary in a real sort of way.

Another truly strong point here is the acting. Will Smith and Gene Hackman deliver excellent performances. Smith showed great emotion and Hackman had conviction. Not just these two were great, we have Jon Voight as well. But what really got me is the acting from other characters as Seth Green, Barry Pepper, Jake Busey, and even Jack Black. These people are great especially Black who is really acting here! Black should have realised that comedy is not his thing if suspense and drama are as he is great here.

Overall, we get great acting, a fine plot, and fast, character development and fast and intense action as well. Sound like a winner to me. Enemy of the State is fresh and original and clever. One of Smith's finest movies.

The Last Word: Don't miss. Gripping and Suspenseful.

This film troubled the average viewer because of how vulnerable they were made to feel.

It seemed to be as spot on as could be. 22 years later society smoothered in electronic gadgetry, cameras on every street corner and hundreds of billions of dollars per year appropriated to "defense," even "eyes only" likely are not aware of 100% of where America is with surveillance.

Jon Voight plays a familiar role as 'villain.' 'Good' prevails in the end even if massive casualties accompanied it.

Smith and Hackman not surprisingly are outstanding.

Love this Tony Scott conspiracy theory film! Glad I own Enemy of the state, it's exhilarating and has a great cast! Thought provoking types are my jam lots of ins and outs involved. FBI tracking people is always intriguing in movies especially in the vein of Tony Scott; he's done a lot of wildly entertaining projects. Extortion scheme thats a unique way to describe part of the story. I absolutely love in this Gene Hackman he's legendary - all around awesome would recommend to anyone!

Poor Jason Lee ("Zavitz") has only the smallest of parts in this film, yet in the few minutes he is on screen (before he is squished in a road accident) he manages to dump unsuspecting lawyer "Dean" (Will Smith) into an whole world of pain. Why? Well we already know what happened regarding the mysterious death of "Congressman Hammersley" (Jason Robards) but unfortunately for the killers, a video camera used for monitoring bird life caught them in the act. "Zavitz" managed to pass the tape to "Dean" and soon the considerable resources of the NSA are shutting down his credits cards, testing his already precariously balanced marriage and setting him up for a fall as they desperately try to retrieve this incriminating evidence. Luckily, though, he alights on maverick "Lyle" (Gene Hackman) and they start to come up with a strategy to fight back and trap their nemesis "Reynolds" (Jon Voight). There are a few sub-plots - but essentially this is just a vehicle for Will Smith to do what he always does and there is nothing remarkable about that. Hackman joins late and does inject a little class into this otherwise by-the-numbers political thriller that serves as a conspiracy theorist's wet dream and sees Voight just reminding me of his "Mission Impossible" (1996) persona. I did quite like the premiss of the ending, but it really bordered on the spoof upon execution. Nobody can sustain it for 2¼ hours, it sags often and even the tag-team pursuit scenes and the slowest self-destruct sequence I think I've ever seen really don't invigorate it. Watchable on the television on a wet winter's night, but nothing more memorable than that I'm afraid.

Enemy Of The State is one of the few movies I went out of my way to see in the theater ( I'm a video-rental guy) and it's indeed a grand action-movie. The big surplus is of course the great messages behind the film. It entails a fear that we all have in some degree, the loss of our privacy. Of course all the Hollywood-elements are present: the returning catchphrases and jokes, the over-dramatic scenes, etc. but Scott never goes too far. The pacing is great and the film's over before you know it even though it has a relatively long run-time( for an action-movie) of 120 min. Will Smith is solid but Gene Hackman is the one who steals the show. It's the first movie I saw that starred him (I was only 10 when the movie came out and I've been a big fan ever since.

Tony Scott's new movie, Deja Vu, really is a lot like EOTS in many ways but I still deem EOTS to be superior. Deja Vu is great of course but I guess I add some sentimental value to EOTS. It's really a must-see for action/thriller fans and I do not say this lightly.

EOTS fully deserves it's 8

The action producing-directing team of Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott is back with another thrill-a-minute ride called Enemy of the State. Taking its "innocent man accidentally caught up in political corruption" story from such films as Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation, Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Sydney Pollack's Three Days of the Condor, they turn up the high- tech volume in an attempt to create the ultimate action film. Robert Clayton Dean, played by Will Smith, is a devoted father, husband, and attorney shopping for a sexy gift for his wife. What he doesn't know is that he was given a videotape from a friend (Jason Lee) regarding the recent murder of a U.S. senator led by corrupt National Security Agency official Thomas Reynolds (Jon Voight). Now Reynolds is after Dean to cover his tracks or, as the audience soon finds out, frame Dean for Rachel's murder. Since Dean isn't up on his high-tech gadgetry, he needs the aid of ex-intelligence operative Brill (Gene Hackman).Dean realizes that in the modern world, there is no such thing as total privacy

The murder of a congressman is caught on tape and Robert Dean (Will Smith) has it. He has to save his family career and life all in 2 hours! Although the plot twists aren't always surprising they are convincing. Gene Hackman plays the role of the paranoid informant wonderfully but Will Smith can't help being funny no matter how hard he tries. Tony Scott shows the action from surveillance camera and telephoto angles giving an edgy feeling throughout the picture. Most of the chases are on foot keeping car chases are kept to a minimum. The chases technically well done but seem to be missing an over the edge quality like most of the movie.The story moves along at a good speed making it a good action movie with a solid plot.