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Collateral Damage
Warner Bros.


4.7

based on 34 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 14 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for violence and some language

Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elias Koteas, Francesca Neri, Cliff Curtis, John Leguizamo, and John Turturro

Family man and firefighter Gordon Brewer (Schwarzenegger) 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 (Curtis). 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 travels to Colombia to track down the terrorist. (Warner Bros.)

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	David Griffiths (also story) Peter Griffiths (also story) Ronald Roose (story)
DIRECTED BY:	Andrew Davis
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: July 30, 2002 Video: July 30, 2002 Theatrical: February 8, 2002
RUNNING TIME:	115 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

My guess is that the average firefighter, like the average American moviegoer, might sort of enjoy the movie, which is a skillfully made example of your typical Schwarzenegger action film.

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

Efficient action thriller.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

A pretty decent action picture.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Your heart will have you cheering Gordy on -- even as your brain complains that there are plot holes you could drive a truck bomb through.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Schwarzenegger's mortality for the first time suits him.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

The best that can be said about Collateral Damage is that it offers a fleeting fantasy of American invincibility at a time when we desperately crave the reality. It functions as a movie narcotic.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Morally simple, action packed and explosive.

Film Threat Michael Dequina

It's throwback, formula Ah-nuld all the way, a straightforward and simple revenge thriller.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

I liked, too, some late plot reversals, sorely needed after the numbingly simple straight-ahead plunge of the first hour of the movie. Things aren't quite what they seem and the twists are neatly done.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

It's about as convincing as any other Arnie musclefest, but has a little too much resonance with real world events and ultimately comes off as insultingly simplistic.

USA Today Claudia Puig

What we get is simply another opportunity for Schwarzenegger -- who seems to be in perpetual Terminator mode -- to flex his muscles.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

In a way, Collateral Damage is redeemed by its implausibility, because the closer it comes to reality, the more disturbing it gets. For once, viewers have reason to be grateful for having their intelligence insulted.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The result is an ''action film'' mired in stasis. The ending piles on the potboiler mayhem, but it's telling that Schwarzenegger's climactic catchphrase is down to one measly word. This time, he's the luggage.

New Times (L.A.) Luke Y. Thompson

Feels dated in the post-9/11 world. But it would have felt passé and unnecessary regardless; it's the sort of film Michael Dudikoff, Chuck Norris and their ilk cranked out on a near-monthly basis when Reagan was president.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

He's still big and burly, but, at age 54, Schwarzenegger is starting to look a little too old to be involved in this kind of stuff. Action films are the province of younger stars.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Schwarzenegger doesn't at all seem too old for the part; his bulging muscles still fill the action-hero's suit just fine. It's what he's doing that is tired and, maybe, played out.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Utterly predictable, noisy and stupid.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

The film's political philosophy, as much as it has one, is of the "a plague on both your houses" variety, painting the rebels and the CIA as equally fixated on killing innocent civilians for their own nefarious ideological ends. We've seen it all before, and we'll likely see it all again.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

A mind-numbing carnival of violence.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

This is one of those would-be blockbusters that wants to have it both ways: It includes enough political commentary to have pretensions of seriousness, yet it's engineered to satisfy the explosion cravings of Schwarzenegger action fans, if any are left.

Slate David Edelstein

It's another dumb vengeance picture -- "In the Bedroom" for meatheads.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Five months after Sept. 11, the movie inevitably echoes those events, but in a loud and extremely cheesy way.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Intermittently, in attempts to articulate a coherent argument, Collateral Damage shifts from pulse-pounding mode to something more migraine-conducive.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Head-scratchingly ordinary, given Schwarzenegger's need to prove he's still a virile (i.e., non-aging) action hero.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

A stinker.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

There's nothing special about this movie -- it's just business as usual for today's debased action-movie genre.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Exploits and trivializes public anxiety for entertainment and commercial gain. They've been doing it for years. But this little piggie didn't get to the market in time.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Collateral Damage isn't jingoistic; it also isn't exciting. It's a depressed rabble-rouser.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Manages to squeeze in several different endings — like a bad pop song that doesn't know when to fade out. But as Mr. Schwarzenegger's stature as an action figure diminishes, his effort to retain a piece of the market is touching.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Ludicrous revenge thriller.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Quickly plunges into boggy terrain from which it can never extricate itself.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Plays like a bad adolescent revenge fantasy on Ritalin, all jagged editorial edges and silly, pumped-up testosterone.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Abort! Abort! It's that time of year when Hollywood releases movies it should never have made in the first place.

Variety Todd McCarthy

More than an embarrassment, it's an insult.

The average user rating for this movie is 4.7 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Pat C. gave it a 3:
Travelogue, with Arnold as the conde nasty tourist. Move over Mel, Arnold wants to use the revenge-by-a-shell-of-a-family-man gimmick. If you're an Arnold fan, find it, view it, get it over with. To the rest of you, if God hadn't wanted you to see it eventually he would have smitten the hundreds of cable channels that every day have to fill thousands of hours of programming.

Gilbert Mulroneycakes' Video Cassete Recorder gave it a 0:
No. No. NO. Get the HELL out of here. Now. And here was I thinking that claims that certain films insulted the audience were exaggerated. Ha!

Arthur gave it a 6:
A movie that was better than I expected. The tedious beginning eventually leads to a pretty suspensful ending. Definately farfetched but fun to watch. There is pretty of action, but what would you expect from Arnold.

Jack D. gave it a 7:
Better-than-average Arnold flick.

Paul D. gave it a 3:
Unbelievable is too mild a word for this stinker.

Prêtre B. gave it a 5:
Simply written "Arnold-against-all-the-bad-guys-to-save-the-US" story. Despite the bad context of this moive, it still can be enjoyable.

Rick J. G. gave it a 1:
I wasn't expecting a Hollywood production to accurately reflect the current realities of Colombia ravaged by more than $1 billion in U.S. military aid to the country's brutal military and para-militaries. The movie also insults historical memory when the term "Collateral Damage" is introduced in the movie by a representative of a Colombia solidarity organization. An irony considering the term was brought into common usage during the Gulf War by the administration of President Bush, Sr., who Schwarzenegger campaigned for when he made his two presidential runs in '88 and '92. A dreadful movie. I wish I hadn't put myself through it.

Collateral Damage Warner Bros.

Collateral Damage
Warner Bros.