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One Man's Justice

Original title: One Tough Bastard
  • 1996
  • R
  • 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
5.3/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
Brian Bosworth in One Man's Justice (1996)
B-ActionConspiracy ThrillerOne-Person Army ActionPsychological DramaTragedyActionThriller

When a man's wife and family are murdered, he plots revenge only to find out that the killer is under Federal protection and he must exact his own form of justice.When a man's wife and family are murdered, he plots revenge only to find out that the killer is under Federal protection and he must exact his own form of justice.When a man's wife and family are murdered, he plots revenge only to find out that the killer is under Federal protection and he must exact his own form of justice.

  • Directors
    • Kurt Wimmer
    • Kurt Anderson
  • Writer
    • Steven Selling
  • Stars
    • Brian Bosworth
    • Bruce Payne
    • Jeff Kober
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.3/10
    1.4K
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Kurt Wimmer
      • Kurt Anderson
    • Writer
      • Steven Selling
    • Stars
      • Brian Bosworth
      • Bruce Payne
      • Jeff Kober
    • 22User reviews
    • 19Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos46

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    Top cast35

    Edit
    Brian Bosworth
    Brian Bosworth
    • Sgt. John North
    Bruce Payne
    Bruce Payne
    • Agent Karl Savak
    Jeff Kober
    Jeff Kober
    • Marcus
    DeJuan Guy
    • Mikey Adams
    M.C. Hammer
    M.C. Hammer
    • Dexter Kane
    • (as Hammer)
    Neal McDonough
    Neal McDonough
    • Agent Ward
    Robert Kotecki
    Robert Kotecki
    • Agent Klark
    Deborah Worthing
    • Darlene North
    Rachel Duncan
    • Marianne North
    Cyrus Farmer
    Cyrus Farmer
    • Chocolate
    M.C. Gainey
    M.C. Gainey
    • Hank
    Robert LaSardo
    Robert LaSardo
    • Tattoist
    • (as Robert La Sardo)
    Leo Lee
    Leo Lee
    • Agent Tan
    Christopher M. Brown
    Christopher M. Brown
    • Jake
    • (as Christopher Brown)
    Justice Bowens
    • Mustapha
    • (as R.B. Bowens)
    Angelle Brooks
    Angelle Brooks
    • India Adams
    Nick Richert
    • Dred #1
    Lawrence Lowe
    Lawrence Lowe
    • Luther Kane
    • Directors
      • Kurt Wimmer
      • Kurt Anderson
    • Writer
      • Steven Selling
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews22

    5.31.3K
    1
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    10

    Featured reviews

    5BroadswordCallinDannyBoy

    One man's haircut and nose ring

    A run of the mill revenge flick. It is basically a movie version of the hit game "Max Payne" but the story is told in a bleak and rather dull manner.

    The hero goes around beating people up and teaching a kid that that is actually a bad thing to do. Pretty funny if you think about, but it manages to be half-way entertaining. Kurt Wimmer, in his pre-Equilibrium days, displays some directing talent, but this is nothing when compared to Equilibrium.

    The undisputed highlight of the film is a great performance by Bruce Payne as a corrupt FBI agent. Complete with a 80's metal hairstyle and a nose ring, he makes one hell of a funny, though very improbable villain. His constant sarcasm and wit save this movie from being totally generic and uninspired. 5/10

    Rated R: violence and profanity
    8PeterMitchell-506-564364

    One tough actioner rides solid all the way

    Bosworth shows us now, that he can act. He's very good here, putting a lot of heart into his performance. He plays Seargeant North who runs an army corp. Unfortunately for his little daughter and ex wife, they were in the wrong place in the wrong when they're witnesses to a shootout involving some bad guys, one being the ever villainous Kober of course. Bosworth comes a little too late, him taking a bullet too, but surviving. Only there's more dangerous people higher, corrupt DEA agents, led by the versatile Payne as Drew Savaak. Payne creates a real piece of work here, where killer Kober, a real piece of s..t here, is kept under his protection. Bosworth who finally has to pull the plug on his daughter's life support, where the wife'e was executed, starts asking questions and getting involved, as smelling the rats, where he exacts his own investigation and revenge. He forms a friendship with a black kid, Mikey, who helps him, while Bosworth may of found a new love, as he develops a soft spot for Mikey's mother, a social worker if memory serves me correct. Mikey has his own vendetta too, wanting to go after the guys who shot his friend. I loved the scene in the restaurant between the two, exchanging their resolutions on the killers, when they find 'em. Bosworth, a great role figure here, telling Mikey it's wrong to kill, warning him on the consequences. Mikey then asks Bosworth, "What are you gonna do, when you find em". Bosworth of course not stating the obvious, comes out with a safer answer "This is different". OTB is a solid actioner with heart too, you wouldn't expect the movie to be this good. Bosworth is a force to be reckoned with. I loved it when he was kicking a..e as you so much wanted him too. His acting, particularly at the start, really impressed. There's no denying, Payne's evil presence here is fantastic. He even brought some of his mob from Passenger 57 on board, a film I loved him in.
    The Beer Kids

    One of the best B-movie action flicks ever made.

    I saw this movie on HBO about a year and a half ago, and I absolutely loved it. I've never heard of Brian Bosworth, who seems to be the typical American action movie star (he's better than Jeff Speakman by far, though). The throwaway plot in this film deals with the not-so-accidental death of North's wife and child at the hands of a couple of street hoods working for a Disney Dollars counterfeiter or an herbal tea smuggler or something. Johnny sets off in pursuit of the dudes and is led to Karl Savak (Bruce Payne from Passenger 57), the aforementioned bad guy.

    There are some very well-done fight scenes here, and the story actually develops (somewhat) as North tries to lure his nemesis out of the woodwork by posing as another criminal, and is eventually offered a chance by Savak to avenge his family's death. The dialogue is laughable at points, mainly Bosworth's lines, but for the most part this movie is well-paced. Payne is right at home as the villain, and the showdown at the end is incredible. The supporting cast did well with what they had, also.

    If you find this one at the bottom of a sales bin, you would do well to pick it up. Hell, I'll buy it from you. No rental store around Chicago has this film.
    6fmarkland32

    One Tough Bastard indeed...

    Brian Bosworth stars as a military man who looks to avenge the murder of his family at the hands of some random thugs in a convenience store hold up, however along the way there is something about super-powered guns and a street kid who teams up with the Boz to take down Bruce Payne and M.C Hammer. It's no secret that Brian Bosworth was a bust in the NFL (Not the biggest one, let us never speak of Ryan Leaf again.) however as an action star he has far more acting ability than guys like Olivier Gruner and Jeff Speakman. (His two main competitors in the B.movie market) After starring in the insanely silly (yet extremely fun) Stone Cold, One Man's Justice was his second movie and it's an adequate revenge-action film if not quite as fun as his debut. After this though the Boz's career went through a downward spiral with a series of worse and worse movies (peaking at Virus, in terms of badness) until finally making his comeback in the XFL (Where all the NFL rejects go) and finally having a high profile role in the Dean Cain mediocrity Phase IV. As Bosworth goes, he has some charisma but mainly it's Bruce Payne's typically hammy performance (Complete with nose-ring) and M.C Hammer's hysterical Nino Brown impression which makes this so enjoyable. Sadly M.C Hammer's theory that you can't touch him is proved wrong in this movie.

    * *1/2 out of 4-(Pretty good)
    5dementomstie

    Wow, just wow.

    I haven't made it all the way through this movie yet, but I have to say that this is one of the best terrible movies I have ever seen. It's an almost standard "good guy vs. cop gone bad" story, but the level of "bad" that the cop has going for himself is ridiculous. The bad guy is so bad that in the first scene that I saw him in he shoots up a room full of drug dealers, then someone else comes in to shoot him and he shoots them too. Blood all over the place. Again, standard fair for a movie like this. The best scene in this movie was where the bad guy is talking to an informant while holding an ice cream cone. The informant doesn't give him the information that he wanted so out of nowhere the bad guy kicks him in the crotch so hard the informant throws up. I hadn't really been paying attention to the movie up until this point, and maybe it says something about my generation, but I couldn't stop laughing at that. It's like the script writers went "OK, he's bad sure, we've shown him smuggling drugs and shooting people and being in general a terrible person, but what can we do to make it clear that this is the bad guy? I know! Let's have him kick a guy in the crotch really hard! BRILLIANT!" Of course, the other possibility is that the actor was a method actor and this was an improved action on his part. If so, that is the most brilliant director in the world to allow it to be kept in, since that's not what's happening, it's still a really odd action movie.

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    Related interests

    Mathew Karedas in Samurai Cop (1991)
    B-Action
    Gene Hackman in The Conversation (1974)
    Conspiracy Thriller
    Keanu Reeves in John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
    One-Person Army Action
    Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
    Psychological Drama
    Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams in Manchester by the Sea (2016)
    Tragedy
    Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988)
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    Thriller

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Though credited as director, Kurt Wimmer was removed early during filming and producer Kurt Anderson took over as director.
    • Goofs
      In the cemetery scene Sgt. John North is wearing a field grade officers cap (embellishments on visor) instead of an enlisted type (plain black visor).
    • Quotes

      Karl Savak: Don't you know it's illegal to drive while dead?

    • Alternate versions
      German VHS release, rated "Not under 18", is cut by a little over five minutes to secure such rating. There is another release with "SPIO/JK" approval, which is completely uncut. Only in October of 2024 the uncut version was given a "Not under 18" rating after a successful FSK rating re-examination.
    • Connections
      Referenced in Hot Fuzz (2007)
    • Soundtracks
      I Left it Wet for You
      Written by Bun B and Pimp C

      Performed by Underground Kingz

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    FAQ14

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 26, 1996 (Italy)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • One Tough Bastard
    • Filming locations
      • Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Live Entertainment
      • OTB Productions
      • Westwind Productions Inc.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 40m(100 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Ultra Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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