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The Patriot

Play trailer Poster for The Patriot R Released Jul 25, 1986 1h 28m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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Some nuclear warheads go missing and Lt. Matt Ryder (Gregg Henry), a disgraced member of U.S. Navy Special Forces, meets with Adm. Frazer (Leslie Nielsen) for a chance at redemption -- if he agrees to find the weapons. Ryder, a Vietnam veteran, really wants to just drink beer and get into fights. But he's also a patriot who will do anything for his country. Ryder and his gang of technicians snoop around an oil rig and uncover evidence that the warheads are about to be sold to the Soviets.
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The Patriot

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Audience Member Something of a relic of the cold-war with its story, as a movie it has pretty poor production value throughout. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member The Patriot is one of those bad movies that probably should have never been made. If there was a passion for it, it certainly doesn't come across in the final product. The film is about an ex-Navy guy who is out for revenge against a group of criminals that killed his scuba diving girlfriend. The criminals are also smuggling nuclear warheads, which interests the Navy and they subsequently enlist this guy into stopping them before they cause world chaos. Despite pop ups from actors like Jeff Conaway and Leslie Nielsen (whose appearance is hung on the marketing for the film on DVD nowadays), it's a pretty boring and uninteresting movie. The action is subpar, as is the dialogue, story and score. Easily skippable. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Enough nuclear power to level three cities are stolen by three men in a pickup truck and the Navy has no one on its current roster up to the task of bringing the goods back. Every girl Ryder engages has two questions--where he's been and why he didn't call. Leslie Nielson would not be relegated to these roles for much longer. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Naval officers track stolen nuclear weapons to an oil rig after finding a weapon label on the ocean floor of all places. How fortunate. I thought character actor Glenn made a decent lead. Leslie Neilson is always a value add in serious roles. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Naval officers track stolen nuclear weapons to an oil rig after finding a weapon label on the ocean floor of all places. How fortunate. I thought character actor Glenn made a decent lead. Leslie Neilson is always a value add in serious roles. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Over a decade before Mel Gibson and Steven Segal portrayed a 'Patriot' in their separate and totally unrelated films there was Gregg Henry. Never heard of him? Well he is actually a really underrated actor that has appeared in dozens of great movies.... but sadly "The Patriot" isn't one of them. Hey, what can you expect from the director who gave us such unwatchable action junk like "Killpoint" and "Low Blow". Well we get some jackasses steal a nuclear warhead and a salvage crew member notices that her boss is up to some sneaky shit after finding a nuclear radiation sticker. She approaches her old friend, our patriot, with her information and he takes it upon himself to do some investigating which in turn gets his friend killed. In comes the Navy who gives our 'patriot' an offer he can't refuse, a reinstatement into the military with his dishonorable discharge to honorable if he can catch the terrorists. The result is a few by-the-number action scenes that action fans have seen time and time before and better. Compared to director Frank Harris's previous two films I've had the displeasure to witness, "The Patriot" comes about being a step better... but not by much. The production values are a hair better and his handling of the camera has improved a bit but overall the direction is still piss poor. What also helps this film rise above Harris's previous films is the cast as we actually get good actors for a change. Sure there are a handful of the directors stock actors that reappear but casting Gregg Henry in the lead role helps tremendously. This guy is seriously underrated and it's great to finally see him get an actual main starring role but sadly it had to be such drivel like this. Hell we even get a short appearance by the late great Leslie Nielsen as an admiral. The cast may be better but director Fank Harris proves yet again how inept his behind the camera. With an actual director with talent this could have been an action film worth hunting down but as is it's just another forgettable C-grade 80s action film. Underrated actors like Gregg Henry deserve so much better than rubbish like "The Patriot". Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Patriot

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Movie Info

Synopsis Some nuclear warheads go missing and Lt. Matt Ryder (Gregg Henry), a disgraced member of U.S. Navy Special Forces, meets with Adm. Frazer (Leslie Nielsen) for a chance at redemption -- if he agrees to find the weapons. Ryder, a Vietnam veteran, really wants to just drink beer and get into fights. But he's also a patriot who will do anything for his country. Ryder and his gang of technicians snoop around an oil rig and uncover evidence that the warheads are about to be sold to the Soviets.
Director
Frank Harris
Producer
Michael Bennett
Screenwriter
Andy Ruben, Katt Shea
Production Co
Crown International Pictures, Patriot Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 25, 1986, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 1, 2007
Runtime
1h 28m
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