RED
Still armed. Still dangerous. Still got it.
Production
Budget
$58 000 000
Revenue
$199 006 387
Director
Scenario
Cully Hamner
Author
Composer
Producer
Actors
Bruce Willis
Frank Moses
John Malkovich
Marvin Boggs
Morgan Freeman
Joe Matheson
Helen Mirren
Victoria
Mary-Louise Parker
Sarah Ross
Karl Urban
William Cooper
Richard Dreyfuss
Alexander Dunning
Brian Cox
Ivan Simanov
Short description
RED is an action comedy about Frank Moses, a former CIA operative who has settled into a quiet retirement. That peace ends when a hit squad comes after him, forcing him to go on the run. Convinced that his old employer is behind the attempt on his life, Frank tracks down the people he once worked with: Joe Matheson, Marvin Boggs and Victoria. The group, all long retired but still highly capable, sets out to find out who wants them dead. Their investigation points toward a conspiracy reaching into the highest levels of the agency, and it pushes them toward a direct confrontation at CIA headquarters. The film is based on the comic by Warren Ellis.
Robert Schwentke directed, working from a screenplay by Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber. It was his fourth feature, following The Family Jewels, Flightplan and The Time Traveler's Wife. Bruce Willis plays Frank, with John Malkovich as Marvin, Morgan Freeman as Joe and Helen Mirren as Victoria; Mary-Louise Parker appears as Sarah Ross and Karl Urban as William Cooper.
Made for about 58 million dollars, the film took in roughly 199 million worldwide, a strong return on its budget. It holds a 6.7 rating on IMDb and the same on TMDB. The critics' rating stands at 6.4 from 216 reviews, close to but slightly below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- During Frank and Sarah's first meeting at her apartment, Sarah is holding a candlestick, and each time the camera focuses on her, she holds it in a different way.
- The black limousine driven by Ivan Simonov (Brian Cox) is a Soviet GAZ-M14 "Chaika".
- The first time Marvin sees the helicopter, he states its number as “November 745,” the second time, when he tells Frank it’s the same helicopter, he reads its number as “November 748 Charlie.”
- Outside the window of the control tower at Mobile Regional Airport (Alabama), mountains are visible, which should not be there.
- The clock in the ambulance they use for their escape shows 10:15. However, later, obviously after some time has passed, the clock still shows the same time.
- Morgan Freeman, as a pseudo-African dictator, is transported in a "Mercedes 600 Pullman" limousine, the favorite car of world leaders, including dictators of developing countries with communist regimes, such as: Nicolae Ceaușescu, Josip Broz Tito, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Enver Hoxha, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, Idi Amin and Ferdinand Marcos.
- During the scene in the airport control tower in Mobile, a plane tail with a "British Airways" logo can be seen being shot at. "British Airways" does not serve Mobile Regional Airport, Alabama.
- At the vice president's evening in the ballroom, the American flag has only 9 stripes and 32 stars.
- Towards the end of the film, Cooper handcuffs Moses, and when he places the key in his hand, it’s visible that the right handcuff is not fastened.
- The wallet that Victoria uses as a weapon is Helen Mirren's personal wallet. It was a gift from Giorgio Armani. Since it matched the dress she was wearing very well, and the wallet was part of the script, she asked if she could use it, and received an affirmative answer.
- In the limousine, when Cooper opens Frank Moses’ file, the photograph is mirrored (the flag is on the left, badges on the chest, etc.).
- In the scene where Victoria removes the bullet from Frank's arm, a bottle of Sobieski vodka, which Bruce Willis advertises, is visible.
- When Frank, Sarah, and Marvin are waiting in the hangar, a wide shot shows all three of them, with Marvin holding the "piggy bank" by the tail and with its legs facing the camera. Then, in a close-up, the "piggy bank" is already facing away from the camera.
- After the call from the payphone, the character Parker pronounces the name of the city in Alabama the same way as “mobile phone.” It is actually pronounced “mo-BEEL.” This is surprising, as Mary-Louise Parker is from South Carolina and the pronunciation of this city’s name (Mobile) is widely known in the South.
- In the scene where General Moses is saluted by armed guards, they lower their weapons while doing so. Armed security personnel on duty never lower their weapons to salute anyone.
- Frank Moses's date of birth in the dossier is listed as March 19, 1955, which is the actual birthday of Bruce Willis.
- When Sarah Ross returns home after a date, she opens a can of “Corona Extra” and takes a couple of sips, then throws the can at Frank, at which point the can is already empty.
- Both Bruce Willis and Julian McMahon were engaged to model/actress Brooke Burns. McMahon and Burns married after their engagement and were married from 1999 to 2001. Willis and Burns were only engaged from 2003 to 2004, and the relationship did not lead to marriage.
- John C. Reilly was originally planned for the role of Marvin Boggs, but he declined and was replaced by John Malkovich.
- During the shootout at the Vice President's event, the color of Victoria's (Helen Mirren) lipstick changes.
- During filming in Toronto, police received several phone calls reporting machine gun fire after local residents mistook the film's gunfire effects for the real thing.
- RED stands for “Retired, Extremely Dangerous”.
- Karl Urban cut Bruce Willis with a mug that he throws at him during their first fight scene. This happened because he threw it faster than Willis expected. A slight look of surprise can be seen on Willis's face in this scene.
- In Frank's safe, which he digs up, a South African passport is on top. The team that tried to kill Frank are South African militants.
- The film was supplied to cinemas under the code name "Cooper".
- When Frank kidnaps Sarah Ross, she is sitting in the back seat of the car with her hands tied in front, which absolutely does not prevent her from reaching up and removing the tape over her mouth. But instead, she continues to scream through the tape.
- The business jet shown in the film is a “Dassault Falcon 900EX.” The registration number “N900EX” is used by “Dassault” as a corporate one, and after the aircraft is sold to a customer, this number is removed.
- When the Vice President's motorcade was trapped in a parking lot, Victoria (Helen Mirren) fires a .50 caliber machine gun to prevent the motorcade from moving. Ammunition belts are visible hanging from the left side of the weapon. A .50 caliber machine gun utilizes a belt-fed ammunition system. Its large rounds (138 mm long, including the cartridge case – 99 mm) typically come in a 35-pound box with a capacity of 100 rounds. The weapon, with sustained high-rate fire, would be capable of 450-550 rounds per minute and would require reloading every 13 seconds. Before the Vice President’s security detail realized the weapon was firing without human intervention, it had fired for at least 30 seconds without being reloaded. Armor-piercing rounds easily penetrate vehicles and, consequently, would reach those hiding behind them.
- Meryl Streep was considered for the role of Victoria.
- When Frank reports “officer down” over the radio, he describes Cooper as a man in a black suit. His suit was dark blue, and a CIA agent would have noticed this.
- John Malkovich liked the script after reading 40 pages. He then asked his agent why he was chosen for the role of Frank. His agent replied that Malkovich had made a mistake and read the wrong script, as he was intended to play Marvin.
- Frank wakes up at 6:00 at the very beginning of the film (according to the clock in his bedroom). It's implied that it's Christmas. At this time of year in the US, it would be dark at 6:00 (AM or PM), but sunlight is visible streaming into his house.
- When Cooper is flying on a plane and discovers that Moses has made countless calls to Sarah, he gets angry that no one noticed it, and then he intercepts her 911 call from the motel. But they already knew about her and were on their way to her house when Moses first met her there.
- When Moses reports "officer down" on the radio in New Orleans, he also states that cars need to be sent to the corner of N. Peters and Conti. In reality, the events are taking place at the intersection of Royal and Ursuline streets.
- The first feature film based on a comic book from "DC Comics" not produced by "Warner Bros.". (The Batman from "Fox" was a spin-off of a television series, and the Superman from "Columbia" was a serial).
- Outside the hotel where the Vice President is performing, a Canadian flag can be seen. This is because the supposed location of Chicago is actually "The Royal York Hotel" located in Toronto, Canada.
- After Moses inserts a syringe into the neck of the bandit, he falls, and the syringe is tilted to the right. Then, when a grenade explodes in Moses' house, you can notice the killed fighter with a syringe in his neck, this time the syringe is in a vertical position.
- At the beginning of the film, there are Christmas decorations everywhere, but when Frank opens his social security check, the date on the check is March 1, 2011.
- When Joe introduces Victoria to Sarah, he originally says “she is an artist with an RPN” (she is a true master among RPNs). It may seem like a mistake and should be RPG, but in fact, RPN stands for Registered Practical Nurse, and Moses’ team goes to her for medical assistance.
- Julian McMahon agreed to star in the film without even reading the script.
- Brian Cox and Helen Mirren play a Russian and an English spy, respectively. In real life, it's the other way around: Brian Cox is British, and Mirren, although born in England, has Russian roots.
- When Frank takes a police car in New Orleans and reports over the radio that “an officer is down,” he states the suspect (Cooper) is driving a “Tahoe.” The vehicle Cooper was driving was a “GMC Yukon,” not a “Chevrolet Tahoe.”
- When Frank Moses goes to "Eagle's Nest," he has a scrape near his right eye. When he talks to the woman in the house, and the camera cuts back to him – the scrape disappears.
- When Sarah Ross holds the candelabra, the last candle intermittently disappears and reappears. And its position changes as well.
- Brian Cox also starred in the film “Red” (2008).
- All the action in the hotel takes place at night. However, when the events move outside the hotel, it's daytime.
- When entering Frank's weapons container, Marvin picks up a submachine gun and says it's a “Swedish K.” This weapon is a “Kpist m/45,” which was used by the Swedish military until 2007. A copy was produced in the US by “Smith & Wesson” under the designation SW-76. It was used by US special forces due to its resistance to harsh operating conditions, so it is possible that Marvin used it previously as his service weapon.
- In Bulgaria, the film was distributed under the title "BSP" (Besni Strashni Pensii – meaning Furious Terrible Pensioners). However, "BSP" could also be a reference to the Bulgarian Socialist Party. The color of this party is red, and its voters are mainly older people and pensioners – just like the film's main characters.
- When Frank wakes up in the first scene, the clock in his bedroom shows 6:00. When he goes downstairs, the clock in the kitchen shows 7:00.
- When the heroes leave New Orleans and the postcard says "Mobile, Alabama", they are actually walking through the New Orleans train station.
- When William Cooper arrives at the Vice President's event, his earpiece for communicating with security is clearly visible. When he goes through the door, it's gone.
- When the recording from the CD that Alexander Dunning plays begins to skip, it sounds like a slowly rotating vinyl record, not like a sharp jump during CD playback.
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Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
