Man on Fire is a 1987 thriller starring Scott Glenn and directed by Élie Chouraqui in his first English-language feature. It is based on A.J. Quinnel's 1980 novel of the same name, which was adapted again in 2004 by Tony Scott.
Creasy is an ex-CIA agent turned mercenary who takes a job as the bodyguard of 12-year-old Samantha, the daughter of a wealthy Italian couple. Creasy develops an unlikely friendship with the girl. When she's kidnapped despite his efforts, he stages a one-man vendetta against The Mafia to get her back alive.
This film provides examples of:
- Adaptational Backstory Change: In the book, Creasy is a former member of the French Foreign Legion. Here, he's a former American soldier and CIA operative.
- All Gays are Promiscuous: The gayngster is introduced leering at a comrade. He then attends a porno theater where gay men are pairing off. Creasy doesn't have to do more than look at the man and walk to the bathroom to pick him up. As Creasy leaves the theater, a gay leatherman tries to pick him up under the pretext of lighting his cigarette, but Creasy isn't even holding a cigarette. As Creasy keeps walking, the leatherman snickers at him coquettishly with another gay man.
- And Starring: Jade Malle gets an "And Introducing" credit, though this is the only film she would ever appear in.
- Badass and Child Duo: Creasy the badass former CIA operative and Samantha the cute child.
- Bait-and-Switch: The film begins with Creasy being zipped into a bodybag, apparently dead, but in the end it's revealed that his death is being faked for his protection against mob reprisals.
- Beard of Sorrow: When we meet Creasy, he's a shell-shocked vet with shaggy locks and a beard.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Creasy beats up the gay gangster and threatens to cut off his fingers and toes until he gets answers.
- Determinator: Despite getting quite injured throughout his efforts, Creasy won't stop his mission.
- Dramatic Irony: We see a mob goon hiding below a truck and aiming at Creasy as Creasy ignorantly searches the warehouse and calls for Samantha.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Conti has a wife and children and begs for his life for their sake.
- Faking the Dead: It turns out that Creasy isn't really dead. His death is being faked to spare him from mob reprisals.
- Gayngster: Creasy's first lead is a gay mob goon, whom he picks up at a gay porno theater.
- Honey Pot: Creasy lures a gay mob goon into the toilet by sitting next to him at a porno theater and giving him a meaningful look.
- How We Got Here: The film begins with Creasy being zipped into a bodybag, then flashes back to how he got there.
- The Mafia: The primary villains are Mafia goons.
- My Greatest Failure: Creasy's nightmare is a flashback to him trying to rescue a Vietnamese child and failing. It ends with him screaming in anguish. This is why it's so difficult for him to open up to Samantha and why he takes his mission to rescue her so seriously.
- Newspaper Dating: The Mafia deliver a videotape of Samantha standing beside newspapers as proof of life.
- Off Screen Moment Of Awesome: The film essentially skips over the final confrontation in the warehouse, where Creasy apparently survives getting shot at by the hidden mobster and manages to gun him down before locating Samantha.
- Out of Focus: Various recognizable actors, most notably Jonathan Pryce, have only a few lines and no significant contributions to the plot, suggesting that their parts were left on the cutting room floor.
- Police Are Useless: The police insist that paying the ransom will only cause the Mafia to immediately kill Samantha to cover their tracks. However, they're also unable to locate her themselves, requiring Creasy to take matters into his own hands.
- Reality Has No Subtitles: The film takes place in Italy, and none of the Italian speech is subtitled. This leads to whole conversations between Italian characters being untranslated. The film was made by an Italian.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran:
- Creasy is traumatized by his time serving in Vietnam and Lebanon.
- It seems to be vaguely implied that Creasy's comrade-in-arms David is also has some sort of demons. At his wedding, his song degenerates into screaming, causing the audience to panic, and David explains that he was just joking that something was wrong with him.
- Significant Haircut: Creasy trims his hair and shaves his Beard of Sorrow before going on his quest, both as a disguise and to signal that he's committed to his objective.
- Spared by the Adaptation: In the book, Samantha's counterpart Pinta is raped and dies choking on vomit. Creasy's mission is a Roaring Rampage of Revenge rather than a rescue.
- Sunglasses at Night: As part of his disguise as a cruising gay man, Creasy wears sunglasses that look completely opaque in the night. He only takes them off midway through his Cold-Blooded Torture.
- Weapon Twirling: A whole scene is dedicated to Creasy twirling his butterfly knife and slashing the air.
