- Actors: John Travolta, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Alda, Mia Kirshner, Robert Prosky
- Directors: Costa-Gavras
- Writers: Eric Williams, Tom Matthews
- Producers: Anne Kopelson, Arnold Kopelson, Jonathan D. Krane, Linda Warren, Stephen Brown
- Format: PAL
- Language English
- Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 12
- Studio: Whv
- DVD Release Date: 22 April 2002
- Run Time: 115 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00005V4V0
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 32,682 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Mad City is an earnest effort at media criticism that's never convincing enough to stir a viewer's outrage in the way filmmaker Costa-Gavras (Music Box) might have intended. John Travolta plays a barely educated museum guard who is laid off from his job and ends up holding his former boss (Blythe Danner) and a bunch of schoolchildren hostage. Dustin Hoffman is a former television-network journalist making a grab at the limelight again by pushing and controlling press coverage of the story.
What follows is by the numbers and not nearly as enlightening or enthralling as other films (such as Dog Day Afternoon or Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole) about simple events manipulated into a media circus. Despite Travolta's tragic performance and Hoffman's impassioned one, the film breaks up over efforts to blame electronic voyeurism for social chaos. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
DVD Description
DVD Features:
Interactive menus
Scene Access
Languages: English, French and Italian, Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Italian, Dutch, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Romanian, Bulgarian.
Hearing impaired: English, Italian.
2.35:1 widescreen
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
an action lead drama .... spicy and the story goes MAD,
By A Customer
This review is from: Mad City [DVD] [1998] (DVD)
Unfairly ignored on it's cinema release, and admittedly a bit of a stacked deck, Costa-Gavras' amusing assault on the American media is ably performed and hilariously funny. John Travolta is Sam Bailey, a none-too bright museum guard laid off from his job, who returns to take some hostages and get his job back. Among the captives is Max Brackett (Dustin Hoffman), a vaguely shabby journalist who sees the chance to get a bit of exposure by playing the story up. John Travolta stars as Sam Baily, a museum security guard who's upset over losing his job. He decides to bring a duffel bag containing a shotgun and sticks of dynamite to work and takes visitors to the museum hostage in an attempt to get his job back. But he hasn't forged any plan and ends up shooting his best friend, another guard. Max Brackett, played by Dustin Hoffman, is a local reporter, who was once a network star, but after running afoul of an egotistical news anchor he's been exiled to the sticks. So he seizes the hostage situation as a chance to revive his flagging career and get back into the big time. He stays inside the museum, broadcasting from a battery-powered lapel mic and within minutes he is broadcasting live. As the long hours pass, he becomes friends with the hapless guard, who is terrified that now his wife will be mad at him. But Max wants to prolong the situation for his own benefit and manipulates it by offering Sam advice on how to solidify his position and exercise damage control. Max has no realisation about crossing over the blurred line that divides reporting a story from becoming part of it,. And Sam doesn't understand the dynamics of the situation - until he looks out a window and sees the throng of reporters and law enforcement officials that have gathered around the museum......and the story goes Mad in the City! :)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Clear but Overblown,
By Jay "The Amazon Reviewer" (Mauritius) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mad City [DVD] [1998] (DVD)
This is an above average film. The plot is, admittedly, a little overblown and exaggerated, but it has a wonderful clarity. The message is simple - the media are now running our lives, and how true that is. The film has striking parallels with Ace in the Hole (1951), and also with The Truman Show (1998) in that both deal with society's manipulation by the media.
Hoffmann plays the TV reporter to perfection, and Travolta's performance is distinguished by the fact that this is one of the few roles where he is playing one of the lowly of society. He portrays it well, and from the first time you see him you can tell that he is quite stupid, but well-meaning. The overhead shot of the media rat-pack at the end leaves a lasting impression of our crazy world.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant performances from Travolta and Hoffman!,
By Louise Roberts "Lou" (Norwich, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mad City [DVD] [1998] (DVD)
Not a huge blockbuster but nonetheless a really entertaining film with great on-screen chemistry between John Travolta and Dustin Hoffman - Mad City is what the media makes of an unknown museum security guard who loses his cool when his boss fires him, and his story completely spins out of his control following an encounter with a tv new presenter. Overall - the pace can be slow at times but an interesting film and worth a watch.
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