''Shoot to Kill'' (known outside North America as ''Deadly Pursuit'') is a 1988 American

buddy cop Buddy cop is a film and television genre with plots involving two people of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process. ...

action thriller film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by

Roger Spottiswoode John Roger Spottiswoode (born 5 January 1945) is a Canadian-British director, editor and writer of film and Television program, television. Early life He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and was raised in Britain. His father Raymond Spotti ...

and starring

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was a Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Among his ot ...

(in his first role in eleven years),

Tom Berenger Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in ''Platoon'' (1986). He is also known for playing ...

Clancy Brown Clarence James Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles. His film roles include Rawhide in ''The Adventures of Buckaroo Ban ...

, Andrew Robinson, and

Kirstie Alley Kirstie Louise Alley (January 12, 1951 – December 5, 2022) was an American actress. Her breakthrough role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. From 1 ...

. The film follows an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

agent pursuing a homicidal

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

ist; when the extortionist kidnaps a fishing guide in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

, the agent teams up with her partner, a local wilderness guide, to rescue her. The film was released to positive reviews from critics, who praised the film's direction, performances, and quality despite its formulaic plot.

Plot

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, a man is discovered breaking into his own jewelry store. The FBI questions him and learns the man's wife is being held hostage at their home by a brutal extortionist who demands the store's diamonds for her life. During a standoff at the jeweler's home, the extortionist shoots the family's maid and demands that he be allowed to bring the jeweler's wife to the docks. FBI agent Warren Stantin tails them, but his attempt to apprehend the extortionist leads to the jeweler's wife being shot in the left eye and killed, while the extortionist rigs a boat as a

decoy A decoy (derived from the Dutch ''de'' ''kooi'', literally "the cage" or possibly ''eenden kooi'', " duck cage") is usually a person, device, or event which resembles what an individual or a group might be looking for, but it is only meant to ...

and escapes. Stantin trails him to

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, where a man has been found shot in the left eye at a mine in a mountainous forest. Convinced that the extortionist killed the man and stole his identity, Stantin learns that a fishing party led by local fishing guide Sarah Rennell went into the forest from the mine, and he enlists her partner Jonathan Knox to help find them; Knox, who wanted to search for Sarah by himself, reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile, Sarah's fishing party halts when a fisherman nearly falls from a ledge, and another fisherman, Steve, attempts to help him. When a gun he is carrying slips into a crack, Steve asks the fisherman to return it but then lets the fisherman fall, throws the rest of the fishing party off the ledge, and takes Sarah hostage, demanding that she lead him to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. After crossing a treacherous gorge, Stantin and Knox make camp and discover the dead fishermen in a stream. The pair reach Sarah's cabin, where Steve and Sarah rested for the night, and find a note to the FBI in Sarah's handwriting, confirming that she is still alive. The pursuit continues into a snowstorm in the mountains, where Knox pulls Stantin the rest of the way so he can recover from exhaustion. The pair gain respect for each other, which improves when Stantin saves Knox from a

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...

. Sarah breaks free from Steve, who fires his gun at her, alerting Stantin and Knox to their location; however, Steve recaptures Sarah and escapes in a

logging truck A logging truck or timber lorry is a large truck used to carry logs. Some have integrated flatbeds, some are discrete tractor units, and some are configured to spread a load between the tractor unit and a dollied trailer pulled behind it. Oft ...

. Stantin and Knox arrive in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, where they learn that Steve and Sarah broke into a home to rest and call a diamond broker. Stantin and Knox break into the broker's home and interrogate him to learn where he plans to meet Steve. The pair stake out the meeting place and find Steve holding Sarah, but Steve spots Knox. After a brief shootout, Steve carjacks an SUV and leads Stantin, Knox, and the

Vancouver Police Department The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) () is the police force in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Greater Vancouver, Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the provinc ...

on a

car chase A car chase or vehicle pursuit is the vehicular overland chase of one party by another, involving at least one automobile or other wheeled motor vehicle, commonly hot pursuit of suspects by law enforcement. The rise of the automotive industry i ...

. Stantin and Knox spot the SUV on a departing ferry, but police search the SUV and do not find them; Stantin realizes that this is another decoy, and he and Knox search a second ferry. Stantin finds Steve and exchanges fire with him before Knox distracts him and frees Sarah. When Steve runs away and takes a passenger and her children hostage, Stantin draws his attention and is shot multiple times. Steve prepares to execute Stantin by shooting him in the left eye, but he has run out of bullets; both men then fall overboard, and Stantin shoots Steve, killing him. Knox dives into the water to rescue Stantin, and the pair are picked up by a

rescue boat A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crew and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine. Lifeboats may be rigid, inflatable or rigid-in ...

Cast

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $29.3 million on a $15 million budget.

Critical response

The film holds a 100% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, based on reviews from 14 critics.

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' remarked that it "marks the return of Sidney Poitier after a long absence from the screen, and a reappearance of good old-fashioned storytelling technique as well. This is essentially a formula film, and as such it's nothing fancy. But it has crisp, spare direction, enormous momentum and a story full of twists and turns. For anyone who thinks they don't make spine-tingling detective films the way they used to, good news: they've just made another." In a three-star review,

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

recalled that it was "yet another example, rather late in the day, of the buddy movie, that most dependable genre from the early 1970s. The formula still works. Two characters who have nothing in common are linked together on a dangerous mission, and after a lot of close calls they survive, prevail and become buddies." He stated that Poitier "is probably not going to win any awards for this performance, but it's nice to have him back." In a mixed review, Shelia Benson opined in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' that "too many cooks overlooked too many mistakes of character and logic here; they seem to have made characters out of smudgy carbons instead of living tissue. The Poitier and Berenger roles are perfunctorily sketched, their exchanges sometimes excruciatingly embarrassing. It's nice to have a leading woman who knows her way around the outdoors, but every chance possible to have intelligence pitted against brute force has been ignored. In "Shoot to Kill" (MPAA-rated R for violence) the scenery is wild, the movie is a walk on the tame side."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shoot To Kill (1988 Film) 1988 films 1988 action thriller films 1980s adventure thriller films 1980s buddy cop films 1980s chase films 1988 crime thriller films 1980s English-language films American action thriller films American adventure thriller films American buddy cop films American buddy action films American chase films American crime thriller films Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Films directed by Roger Spottiswoode Films scored by John Scott (composer) Films set in forests Films set in Seattle Films set in Vancouver Films shot in San Francisco Films shot in Vancouver Films with screenplays by Daniel Petrie Jr. Climbing and mountaineering films Touchstone Pictures films 1980s American films English-language action thriller films English-language crime thriller films English-language adventure thriller films English-language buddy comedy films