The Sweeper
The Sweeper
| 25 June 1996 (USA)
The Sweeper Trailers

A young cop, haunted by the murder of his entire family years earlier, is recruited by a shadowy organization to hunt down criminals who are beyond the reach of the law.

Reviews
Steinesongo

Too many fans seem to be blown away

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Greenes

Please don't spend money on this.

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Aedonerre

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

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Dirtylogy

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

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merklekranz

Here we have a movie that carries on screen explosions to new lofty levels. Chase scenes with exploding propane tanks and gasoline trucks, create almost continuous mayhem. So what's not to like about "The Sweeper"? Quite a bit actually, starting with a most unlikable performance by C. Thomas Howell. Long boring diatribes about things as mundane as breakfast cereals permeate this disjointed, loosely connected mess of a film. In addition, continuity problems distract, such as where broad daylight suddenly turns into the blackest night. I say this, the stunts are definitely worth checking out, so simply fast forward between fire balls, and avoid the in between. - MERK

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Comeuppance Reviews

Ever since he was a young boy, there was no question that Mark Goddard (Howell) would become a good cop like his father Dale (Fahey). When bad guys gun down his whole family, it traumatizes him, but he grows up to become a police officer anyway - but naturally his unfortunate past has given him a chip on his shoulder and a proclivity towards violence. Sure, the recipients of said violence are criminal scum, and this allows him entry into a super-secret fraternity of criminal-killers called J.I. or "Justice Incorporated". If you have nine kills to your credit, you are allowed entry. Even though the naturally suspicious Goddard is wary, he reluctantly joins because the leader, Molls (Lauter) is persuasive, his associate Rachel (Dalton) is seductive, and he gets to go on off-the-books missions and kill as many bad guys as he wants and still get paid. But the awesomeness of this setup quickly wears thin as Molls hides a sinister secret. All Goddard wants to do is see his son, and reconnect with his estranged wife Melissa (Gunn)...but will he get the chance before all his incredibly dangerous doings get to him first? This is an excellent movie. God bless PM, they've done it again. This ranks right up there with Zero Tolerance (1994) and Last Man Standing (1996) with the best of the PM's. C. Thomas Howell is great as the troubled cop on the edge, and while other actors in this situation would have relied on simply having a goatee, sunglasses, necklaces and a leather vest, not to mention an awesome House of Pain baseball cap (all of which he has because he's a badass, duh), Howell actually adds a lot of care and subtlety to his role. You can see his rage issues and suspicions without him saying anything. It really is CTH at his best. Very under-appreciated.Speaking of things that are under-appreciated, this movie is packed with killer and hugely enjoyable stunts and action setpieces in the true PM tradition. It takes tons of work and skill to pull these things off, but they go by in such a flash, people tend not to think about all the talent, artistry and labor that goes into them. You've got to admit, PM brings it, and brings it hard, and you CAN'T not love it.There's plenty of familiar faces on show as well, besides the aforementioned CTH, Dalton, Gunn and Lauter, there's also John Ryan of American Cyborg: Steel Warrior (1993) fame as the head of the "Concrete Lion" gang, PM mainstay Kathrin Middleton, the legendary Felton Perry, and lastly Max Slade, who famously was one of the 3 Ninjas (1992). Of the supporting cast, we saved the best for last: Jeff Fahey. Perhaps the only flaw in this movie is that we would have liked to see more Fahey. His role is small. But it's important and fits the plot, we understand.PM understands that stunts aren't worth jack if you don't have characters that you care about that are in danger. Thanks to some above average acting and writing, they can now marry that to their top-notch stuntwork. PM puts in actual effort and it pays off in dividends.We wholeheartedly recommend The Sweeper! For more action insanity, please visit: www.comeuppancereviews.com

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Duellist

I'm not going to re-hash what others have said about the storyline in this movie, so, I'll comment on the other aspects. As a B-movie, the action scenes are rather well directed. They are easy to follow, with lots of bullets and explosions. The stunt work is very good, with lots of good surprises. The movie has 2 fairly good car chases, the first with the exploding gas cylinders, the last ending with a biplane. The acting in the movie is nothing to write home about, but really, this isn't the Royal Shakespeare Company, it's a manly action movie.Bullets? Yup. Bad words? Yup. Bare breasts? Yup. Booms? Yup. What else could you ask for?

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caspian1978

The title of the movie doesn't do justice for what the movie is about. If I had it my way, I would have called this movie "Fire and Explosions!" Half the movie has something or other blowing up and catching on fire. Almost a hundred people are shot and killed by either C. Thomas Howell or one of the other hit-men. The acting and direction are good. Surprisingly, for a straight to video release, the movie has excellent production value equal to many Hollywood movies. This is one of C. Thomas Howell better film as he holds most of the movie together. The only problem I had with the movie was its story. Like one of Howell's victims that gets shot up with a number of bullets, this story had a lot of holes in it. A typical story for many action movies you see late at night on Cinemax, The Sweeper is one of th better films to watch. A movie for your typical guy who likes explosions, fire, bullets flying and nudity, The Sweeper is terrific.

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