William Forsythe Movies

In this thriller, a developer who is building a resort hotel has been leveling a rain forest to make room for his building project, which angers a scientist who has been living in the forest while studying its ecosystem. The scientist, however, finds himself playing detective in his spare time when he learns of a number of unsolved homicides that have occurred in the forest. Paradise Lost (not to be confused with the acclaimed documentary of the same title by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky) stars William Forsythe, Marina Sirtis, and Nigel Havers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Can a crook go straight without really trying? Jewel thief Miles Logan (Martin Lawrence) was being chased by the police after a robbery when he was forced to hide a cache of diamonds, worth $20 million, at a construction site. Despite his caution, Miles ended up behind bars anyway; after serving his time, he goes back to retrieve the stones only to discover what was being built: a police station. Miles needs to spend some time at the station to figure out what happened to his nest egg, so he sneaks in, posing as a police detective. Trouble is, he's so convincing that the cops assign him a rookie partner, Carlson (Luke Wilson), to put through training. To his surprise, Miles turns out to be a good cop, and the more he tries to find the missing diamonds, the higher he's promoted through the department, until he finds himself in line for a top spot in the detective's division. Supporting Lawrence and Wilson in Blue Streak are Dave Chappelle, William Forsythe, and Nicole Parker. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Scott Glenn, Randall Batinkoff, and Constance Marie star in this crime thriller. A cop makes his way to Miami in the wake of the attempted murder of a judge when he learns that the killing was set up by a key player in the violent world of drug smuggling -- and several DEA agents are his next targets. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A criminal burns his bridges with his fellow outlaws and lives to regret it in this drama. John Shakley (William McNamara) is a small-time crook who has decided it's time to put his life back on the straight and narrow. However, his efforts to stay on the right side of the law are foiled by two longtime acquaintances -- an old buddy and John's former girlfriend approach him, hoping he can help them fence a cache of stolen jewelry. John can't turn his back on his friend and wants to convince his girl to come back to him, so he reluctantly agrees to the proposition. However, he discovers the jewels are too hot to be moved through any channels he knows, and in order to save his own skin, he's forced to turn himself in to the police. When John's partners discover he's turned informer, John quickly learns he's only traded one sort of grave danger for another. Snitch also stars Marlee Matlin and Tisha Campbell. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This Chris Soth screenplay is directed by Dean Semler, the Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves cinematographer who also did cinematography for Waterworld and Last Action Hero. The film's action hero is Howie Long (Broken Arrow), Fox Sports commentator and former NFL star. Wyoming firefighter Jesse Graves (Long) leads a team of smoke-jumpers who parachute into forest fires. Inside a penitentiary, killer Earl Shaye (William Forsythe) devises an escape plan in order to recover a hidden $37 million. He murders a fellow inmate and takes his place in a group of convicts headed out to fight a forest fire. They make an escape, pose as visiting Canadian firefighters, and are ready to look for the loot when retired firefighter Wynt (Scott Glenn) discovers the escape. Shaye's group rescues trapped ornithologist Jennifer (Suzy Amis, Titanic's Lizzy Calvert). Jesse parachutes in, but time is running out, since the original fire and the backfire will soon combine to create a firestorm. Filmed on location in British Columbia with fire-enhancement special effects by Chris Corbould. Not to be confused with Firestorm: 2024 A.D. (1996) or Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland (1993). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Steven Widi Ho directed this drama about sound mixer Igby Walters (Wayne Pere), who's working on a western-style Hamlet titled Dead Cowboys. After Igby encounters young violinist Juliet (Eliane Chappuis), he attempts to score with a promise of film score work. Can he deliver on this promise? Shown in competition at the 1998 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In this hard-edged crime drama, four kids from the tough New York neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen decide to pull a robbery, but their first foray into crime does not go well. When the dust settles, Hayden (Ryan Slater) is dead, and Johnny (Mekhi Phifer) gets pinched by the cops, while Patty (Johnny Whitworth) and Gloria (Angelina Jolie) manage to get away. Johnny serves a five-year stretch in prison for the theft. Although Gloria was in love with Johnny, Hayden was her brother, so she's become susceptible to gossip that Johnny was responsible for Hayden's death, and she is eager to get revenge on her former lover. Patty has also fallen in love with Gloria, and while he is not happy about betraying his old friend, he's soon ensnared in Gloria's plot to kill Johnny. Patty also has to deal with the guilt he feels about his on-again, off-again affair with Gloria's mother Liz (Rosanna Arquette), a failed lounge singer sunk deep into drugs and alcohol. Meanwhile, as he tries to clear his name with Gloria, Johnny is trying to make a career as a boxer; Lou (William Forsythe), a veteran trainer and manager, offers to help Johnny, but the young fighter isn't so sure he wants to be linked to someone with Lou's ties to organized crime. Hell's Kitchen N.Y.C. was the feature directorial debut for Tony Cinciripini, who was formerly an assistant to famed acting coach Lee Strasberg. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An ex-mercenary (Tom Berenger) becomes a take-no-prisoners teacher in a drug-ridden, gang-infested Miami high school in this campy morality tale about restoring lost American virtues to the inner city. Berenger's character, Shale, has no first name, a shadowy past as a patriotic gun-for-hire, and is temporarily unemployed and living with an idealistic teacher, Jane Hetzko (Diane Verona). Jane has angered a school gang leader, Juan Lucas (Marc Anthony), by asking the principal to get him transferred after he has threatened her in the schoolyard. After Jane is kneecapped by a gang member, Shale fakes a resume and becomes a substitute teacher, Mr. Smith. He lectures his class on the lessons of Vietnam ("We were fighting Communism") while looking for a way to get revenge on Juan. When he challenges the school's tolerance for student misbehavior, Smith is fired by the slimy principal, Claude Rolle (Ernie Hudson), an ex-cop who is running for City Council and doesn't want to rock the boat. Shale stays because he cites a union rule requiring two weeks' notice. During that period, tensions escalate and eventually Shale intervenes in a gang war that degenerates into a school-destroying inferno of violence. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

The sophomore film from former music video and commercial director Michael Bay, this fast-paced action yarn featured rapid-fire editing, a cutting-edge rock soundtrack and liberal use of shots awash in a haze of burnished hues, all trademarks of producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. Nicolas Cage stars as Stanley Goodspeed, an FBI chemical weapons expert handed a unique assignment. Francis X. Hummel (Ed Harris), an insane Marine Corps general, has taken 81 tourists hostage on the abandoned island prison of Alcatraz. He and his men are threatening to bomb San Francisco with deadly gas unless $100 million is paid in war reparations to the families of servicemen killed in covert operations. Goodspeed is teamed with former British spy John Patrick Mason (Sean Connery), the only man ever to escape "The Rock," as well as a Navy SEAL team. When their military escorts are ambushed, it's up to odd couple Goodspeed and Mason to break into Alcatraz and stop Hummel. The Rock was the last film produced by Simpson, who died of a drug overdose before the film's release. Solo, his partner Bruckheimer continued making the sort of glossy, frenetic films for which the duo was famed. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

In a futuristic, high-tech world run by huge corporations, Parker Barnes (Denzel Washington) is an L.A. policeman serving time for killing the psychotic who murdered his wife and child. Lindenmeyer (Stephen Spinella), a Dr. Frankenstein of the computer era, has created a monster, Sid 6.7 (Russell Crowe), a virtual reality entity which is programmed with the character traits of scores of mass murderers. Sid 6.7 has escaped the control of its creator and is now running amok. The privatized police force in charge of keeping the peace in the city is run by Elizabeth Deane (Louise Fletcher). Barnes has volunteered to test a new criminal tracking system based on a virtual reality device. His job is to find Sid 6.7, with the help of psychologist Madison Carter (Kelly Lynch). Barnes gets out of prison and reinstated to the police force to pursue his dangerous prey. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

In the mode of Quentin Tarantino, this film, directed by Gary Fleder from a script by Scott Rosenberg, concerns itself with hip, smart gangsters. The film is set in Denver, and the title comes from a Warren Zevon song. A retired, good-hearted gangster named Jimmy the Saint (Andy Garcia) runs a company that videotapes dying people giving life advice to their children and grandchildren, to be delivered when they come of age. Jimmy's former crime boss, The Man with the Plan (Christopher Walken), summons him. The Man is wheelchair-bound and doesn't have long to live; he explains that Jimmy owes him a favor and must perform one final job. It involves frightening the boyfriend of the ex-girlfriend of Bernard (Michael Nicolosi), the son of The Man, who has been so shaken by the girl's rejection of him that he has been fondling schoolyard children. Jimmy rounds up his old gang -- including Pieces (Christopher Lloyd), a porno theater projectionist; Franchise (William Forsythe), an ex-biker with a trailer-trash family to support; Critical Bill (Treat Williams), a psychotic, trigger-happy ex-con; and Easy Wind (Bill Nunn), an exterminator. Pieces and Bill pose as cops as part of the needlessly elaborate plan, which misfires badly. The Man, enraged, gives Jimmy 48 hours to leave town, and he orders his comrades wiped out, hiring the notorious hitman Mr. Shhh (Steve Buscemi) to track them down. But Jimmy can't seem to get the others to leave town, and despite The Man's decree, Jimmy is also reluctant to leave, because he's become romantically entangled with Dagney (Gabrielle Anwar). Jack Warden's character serves as a kind of Greek chorus who comments from time to time on the unfolding action. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

In this crime thriller, Ray (William Forsythe) has just been released from prison after serving 14 years for a murder he insists he didn't commit. Ray meets Rita (Kari Wuhrer), an attractive prostitute, and while she seems more than fond of Ray, Ray has good reason not to trust her. Ray has stashed $1 million somewhere in Las Vegas, and word has circulated in the criminal underground that's it's out there somewhere. Plenty of people would like to find it -- or simply kill Ray once he retrieves it. And with a secret like that, trust becomes a little hard to come by. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide