Man on Fire

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2:24

Man on Fire

R

Released Apr 21, 2004

2h 25m

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

38%

Tomatometer

167 Reviews

89%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

In a Mexico City wracked by a recent wave of kidnappings, ex-CIA operative John Creasy (Denzel Washington) reluctantly accepts a job as a bodyguard for 9-year-old Lupita (Dakota Fanning), the daughter of wealthy businessman Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony). Just as Creasy begins to develop a fondness for the young girl, a bloodthirsty gunman (Jesús Ochoa) kidnaps her. Now, Creasy must pick off a succession of corrupt cops and criminals to reach his ultimate object of vengeance.

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Critics Consensus

Man on Fire's solid action and top-shelf cast are undone by a relentlessly grim story that gets harder to take the longer it goes on.

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Andrea Gronvall

Chicago Reader

Washington has chosen wisely, and he hasn't had to wait long.

Rated: 3/4

Apr 17, 2019

Full Review

Nathan Rabin

AV Club

Scott's latest exercise in assaultive excess nevertheless lingers for two and a half hours, like a drunken houseguest who won't leave.

Apr 17, 2019

Full Review

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Extremely violent; not for kids.

Rated: 1/5

Dec 25, 2010

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

At almost two-and-a-half hours the film really needs more meat on its bones.

Rated: 2.5/5

Aug 24, 2022

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

This is a merely average film that had much more potential.

Rated: 2.0/4.0

Sep 15, 2020

Full Review

Fernando Lopez

La Nación (Argentina)

A film that ends up being tedious due to its excessive duration, annoying by its formal lack of control. [Full Review in Spanish]

Apr 17, 2019

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Christian K

Cements Dakota Fanning into the child actor hall of fame. The movie is almost nothing without her. I do think the editing eventually gets annoying and the middle hour is rough to get through and there is minimal intrigue and forward momentum in the plot.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

06/20/25

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Jerrod G

Very watchable critics lie. Walken kinda sucked, life ending could have been taken out to make movie 20 minutes shorter/more bad ass.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/09/25

Full Review

21 - Priyan B

An excellent movie. Rating: 7.9/10

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/02/25

Full Review

Unimpressed G

The film leads on vigilantism and how the law's corruption cries for justice. This is not a film about justice, though. This is a film about the cost of vengeance. A film that needs to be taken greatly with a grain of salt, due to the understanding of "justice" being done; this is not justice, it's murder of passion. This all said: it's a very moving film at it's core with the precept of a man being redeemed by an unlikely person: his contract's sweet and charitable daughter, Pita. As stated in the film: "She brought him back to life again." These were the moments that made the crime of passion very understandable, yet extremely unjustified. I give it 4 stars, .5 off for the brutal nature of the killings, and another half star for the obnoxious editing with the flashing lights, and trippy moments of feeling like I just suffered a concussion. Thematically at times, it works superb: other times though, it's quite annoying to watch. Overall: a great story about total sacrifice, with the cost of it being a man's total control and will towards vengeance, not justice.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/27/25

Full Review

Crazy M

I’m genuinely shocked at the critics rating. This movie has been in my top 5 movies since it came out.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/26/25

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Mohammed F

Movie was great, start to finish. The "critic" reviews sound like they were written by bots lol

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/24/25

Full Review

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Tony Scott

Director

Denzel Washington

Creasy

Dakota Fanning

Pita

Christopher Walken

Rayburn

Giancarlo Giannini

Manzano

Radha Mitchell

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Man on Fire: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

In a Mexico City wracked by a recent wave of kidnappings, ex-CIA operative John Creasy (Denzel Washington) reluctantly accepts a job as a bodyguard for 9-year-old Lupita (Dakota Fanning), the daughter of wealthy businessman Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony). Just as Creasy begins to develop a fondness for the young girl, a bloodthirsty gunman (Jesús Ochoa) kidnaps her. Now, Creasy must pick off a succession of corrupt cops and criminals to reach his ultimate object of vengeance.

Director: Tony Scott
Producer: Arnon Milchan, Lucas Foster, Tony Scott
Screenwriter: Brian Helgeland
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Scott Free Productions, Fox 2000 Pictures, New Regency Pictures, Regency Enterprises
Rating: R (Strong Violence)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 21, 2004, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $77.9M
Runtime: 2h 25m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, DTS, Surround
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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