Man on Fire

Man on Fire (1987) — watch online on iFILM. This French-Italian thriller from director Élie Chouraqui predates the Denzel Washington version by seventeen years and tells the same story at a different temperature. Scott Glenn plays Creasy, a former CIA operative who takes a quiet job guarding Samantha — twelve years old, daughter of a wealthy Italian family, villa on Lake Como. Danny Aiello and Joe Pesci are in the supporting cast.

The friendship between the damaged soldier and the child is the first act. The kidnapping — one million dollars, no police — is the second. Based on A.J. Quinnell's novel, this version is slower and more European in feel: colder violence, grief that sits on screen rather than propelling action sequences. Stream Man on Fire (1987) online on iFILM.