''Getting Even'' (also known as ''Hostage: Dallas'') is a 1986 American film directed by
Dwight H. Little.
Plot
A soldier-of-fortune, Tag Taggert, played by Edward Albert, steals some Russian nerve gas from Afghanistan, and brings it to the U.S. to be analyzed. A greedy millionaire rancher, played by Joe Don Baker, finds out about it, steals it and uses it in an extortion scheme. Audrey Landers plays the lead FBI agent-in-charge tasked with thwarting the extortion scheme.
Production
In an interview, director Dwight H. Little explained that ''Getting Even'' was a "vanity project" for members of a wealthy Texas oil family. "They owned helicopters, a Lear jet, ranches. Their only condition was that we used all of their stuff. The whole movie was written and devised around what they owned", said Little.
Actress
Audrey Landers
Audrey Landers (born Audrey Hamburg; July 18, 1956) is an American actress and singer, best known for her role as Afton Cooper on the television series ''Dallas'' and her role as Val Clarke in the film version of ''A Chorus Line'' (1985).
Early ...
was dating one of the financiers of the film, according to Little. She also helped getting a lot of local acting talent, many of whom she knew from her work on the TV show
''Dallas''.
Little also explained that stuntman
Paul Baxley was instrumental in making the film: "He really helped me to figure out the helicopter sequences, the explosions, how to do all of it safely. He was super knowledgeable. If he wanted a guy to drop from a helicopter, he knew who to call. Paul Baxley was my secret weapon."
The final scene, which takes place on top of
Reunion Tower
Reunion Tower is a observation tower in Dallas, Texas and one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. Located at 300 Reunion Boulevard in the Reunion district of downtown Dallas, the tower is part of the Hyatt Regency Hotel complex and is the ...
, was filmed there with permission. The financiers knew the owners of the restaurant on top of the tower. According to Little, the helicopter from which Joe Don Baker's character shoots at Edward Albert's character, was really flying only thirty feet from the tower.
Cast
*
Edward Albert as 'Tag' Taggert
*
Audrey Landers
Audrey Landers (born Audrey Hamburg; July 18, 1956) is an American actress and singer, best known for her role as Afton Cooper on the television series ''Dallas'' and her role as Val Clarke in the film version of ''A Chorus Line'' (1985).
Early ...
as Paige Starson
*
Joe Don Baker
Joe Don Baker (born February 12, 1936) is an American character actor and a life member of the Actors Studio. He established himself as an action star with supporting roles as a mysterious cowboy drifter in '' Guns of the Magnificent Seven'' (1 ...
as King R. Kenderson
* Rod Pilloud as Doc
* Billy Streater as Ryder
* Blue Deckard as Kurt
* Dan Shackleford as Roule
*
Caroline Williams as Molly
* Woody Watson as Max
References
External links
*
*
1986 films
Films scored by Christopher Young
Films directed by Dwight H. Little
1980s action films
The Samuel Goldwyn Company films
Films set in Dallas
Cold War spy films
1980s English-language films
American spy action films
1980s American films
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