Bird on a Wire
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Short description
Rick Jarmin has spent fifteen years living under a new identity through an FBI witness protection program after testifying against drug traffickers. When the criminals he helped put away are released and come looking for revenge, his carefully hidden life falls apart. At the same time, he runs into Marianne Graves, a former girlfriend who recognizes him immediately despite his changed identity. Her discovery makes him easier for his pursuers to find, and the two of them end up on the run together across the country.
John Badham directed the film, the eighth of the fifteen features he has directed in chronological order, arriving between Stakeout and The Hard Way. Mel Gibson plays Rick and Goldie Hawn plays Marianne, with David Carradine, Bill Duke, Stephen Tobolowsky and Joan Severance in supporting roles. The screenplay was written by David Seltzer, Louis Venosta and Eric Lerner, and Rob Cohen produced. It blends action, adventure, comedy and romance across its 110-minute running time.
Made for a budget of 20 million dollars, the film took in about 139 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on its production cost. Audiences have been moderate in their assessments: it holds a 6 out of 10 on IMDb from around 51,000 votes and a 6.2 out of 10 on TMDB from roughly a thousand votes. A critics' rating of 4.2 out of 10 from 27 reviews places professional opinion clearly below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The walls of the cages in the zoo were made of plaster, so they had to ensure that none of the predators, such as tigers, broke through the plaster with their paws.
- Mel Gibson was finally persuaded to film this movie with the offer to spend the summer living in the producer’s house, allowing him to film and relax with his family after shooting.
- Two bridges at a height of three stories were built across an 18-meter-deep chasm in the middle of the tropical forest set. The main suspension bridge had to be reinforced to withstand the weight of the film crew and equipment, which exceeded half a ton.
- Initially, it was planned that Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn would star in the film. However, it turned out that Russell had already agreed to star in Andrei Konchalovsky and Albert Magnoli's comedic thriller 'Tango & Cash' (1989), which was filmed simultaneously with this film but released slightly earlier. Russell suggested to director John Badham that he approach Mel Gibson, with whom he had previously worked with Robert Towne on the thriller 'The Morning After' (1988), and Badham did so, with Gibson agreeing.
- The enormous zoo set was 35 by 106 meters in area and almost as tall as a five-story building.
- Goldie Hawn performed a significant number of the stunts herself, encouraged to do so by none other than Mel Gibson. Initially, she didn’t want to perform the stunts – simply out of fear – but ultimately she was very pleased with how she executed them, and even kept a stuntman’s jacket after filming.
- Although the film's plot unfolds exclusively in the USA, filming took place mainly in Canada, in the province of British Columbia. The only location in the USA where filming occurred was Detroit (the scene with the Four Seasons hotel).
- Artificial plant leaves were filmed in the background against the backdrop of the zoo scenery, while live plants were used for close-up shots from a short distance.
- Three waterfalls were constructed in the tropical forest set, the largest of which was almost as tall as a three-story building. This waterfall and the other two were the first ever built in a soundstage in Canada.
- Filming of the movie took place from April 15 to July 17, 1989.
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