As people continue to mourn and look back on the celebrated career of the legendary Gene Hackman following his death a couple of weeks ago, some of his classic films have found new life on streaming. Case in point: Enemy of the State, the 1998 action thriller starring Will Smith that was directed by the incomparable Tony Scott, who sadly himself passed away in 2012.
Now, 27 years after its theatrical run, Enemy of the State is once again a hit, this time on Prime Video. At the time of this writing, the film currently sits in the #6 position on the movie charts, sandwiched between the recently released comedy You’re Cordially Invited at #5, and 2015’s Jurassic World at #7. Enemy of the State managed to gross $250 million at the box office against a budget of $90 million when it played in theaters back in ’98, earning $20 million during its opening weekend. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to earn it the number one spot, as that honor went to The Rugrats Movie, which took in $27 million in receipts when it debuted.
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Starring Smith as Robert Clayton Dean, Enemy of the State follows a lawyer targeted by a group of corrupt NSA agents after he comes into possession of incriminating evidence against them. In addition to Hackman, the film also features appearances from such others as Jon Voight, Regina King, Jake Busey, and Gabriel Byrne. Despite being blasted by the agency for being pure fiction, the film is known for being ahead of its time when it came to government surveillance in the wake of such tragic events as 9/11 in 2001.
Fans React to ‘Enemy of the State’ For the First Time
With Enemy of the State being viewed by the masses following Hackman’s death on Feb. 26, a whole new crop of reviews for the film are popping up on websites like Letterboxd, where people are sharing their assessments of it nearly 30 years after it first appeared in theaters. “Tony Scott’s focus on surveillance started much earlier than I thought,” said user Michael Stark, adding:
“His films have always touched on it, but I didn’t think he went full bore on it until post-9/11. Clearly I’m wrong because that’s pretty much his focus here.”
Having long been compared to another Hackman flick – the 1974 thriller The Conversation – Christopher Luke noted in his humorous review that “The Conversation 2 rocked! Tony Scott is a mad man and also f**k the NSA and long live Gene Hackman.” “My 2nd Tony Scott Gene Hackman film this week and it’s another banger,” added Letterboxd user JB Holbrook. “All star cast and a movie that moves at 100 mph. Had a lot of fun with this but I’m also gonna be paranoid that my entire house is bugged by the NSA for the next week.”
If you’ve never had the pleasure of watching it, or perhaps just want to relive one of Hackman’s great performances, you can check out Enemy of the State streaming now on Prime Video, or you can rent or purchase it from all VOD platforms.
Source: Flix Patrol
