Tony Scott's 10 Greatest Films

7. Man on Fire (2004)

Marking the second collaboration between Scott and Denzel Washington, Man on Fire is a thoroughly underrated revenge-thriller, that takes an admittedly overdone concept - a bodyguard (Washington), having to rescue a kidnapped child (Dakota Fanning) from gangs - and infuses it with so much style and adrenaline, as well as a top-tier performance from Washington, that it essentially becomes reborn. Of particular note are the inventive visuals - scrawling notable lines of dialogue over the screen, as was recently copied in the video game Max Payne 3 - and what is easily the best use of C4 explosive in film history, as Washington's character inserts it up a perp's arse, grills him for info, and when he doesn't capitulate, lets it blow him up. The film is also notable for an alternate ending included on the DVD that is, in fact, much better than the theatrical one (hint: it involves more C4s in rectums).
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Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.