The Big Hit (1998)
61%RT Audience Score: 57%
Awards & Nominations: NA
The Big Hit seeks to blend the best of Hong Kong and American action cinema, but ends up offering a muddled mush that mostly misses
The Big Hit is like a piñata filled with disappointment and bad jokes. It’s the kind of movie that makes you wonder if the filmmakers were trying to be funny or just trying to see how much they could get away with. The action scenes are forgettable, the characters are one-dimensional, and the plot is a mess. If you’re looking for a good time, skip this one and go hit an actual piñata instead.
Production Company(ies)
ITVS International, Kartemquin Films, P.O.V., American Documentary
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for violence, pervasive language and some sexuality
Year of Release
1998
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:SDDS Dolby SR
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:France
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Oct 20, 1998
Genre(s)
Action
Keyword(s)
starring Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, Avery Brooks, Bokeem Woodbine, China Chow, directed by Kirk Wong, written by Ben Ramsey, action, R rating, Warren Zide, Wesley Snipes, $27.1M box office, reviewed by Danny Leigh, Jack Mathews, Peter Stack, Lawrence Van Gelder, James Berardinelli, Roger Ebert, David Nusair, Rob Gonsalves, Garth Franklin, Dragan Antulov, Blake French, comedy, hitman, kidnapping, electronics mogul, crime boss, fiancée, bullets, ammunition, subplots, black comedy, American action cinema, Hong Kong cinema, muddled mush, scamming, prime score, unsuspecting, dodging bullets, cutthroat colleagues, goddaughter, sound mix, surround
Worldwide gross: $27,007,143
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $49,561,916
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,334
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 5,404,789
US/Canada gross: $27,007,143
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $49,561,916
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,074
US/Canada opening weekend: $10,809,424
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $19,836,817
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 659
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $13,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $23,856,833
Production budget ranking: 1,270
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $12,846,905
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $12,858,178
ROI to date (est.): 35%
ROI ranking: 1,219
Lou Diamond Phillips – Cisco
Christina Applegate – Pam Shulman
Avery Brooks – Paris
Bokeem Woodbine – Crunch
China Chow – Keiko Nishi
Director – Kirk Wong
Producers – Warren Zide, Wesley Snipes
Director(s)
Kirk Wong
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Warren Zide, Wesley Snipes
Film Festivals
Cannes
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (40) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (17) | Rotten (23)
…vacant and ill-conceived…
March 5, 2002 | Rating: 2/5
Danny Leigh
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
The Big Hit is nothing more, or less, than a big goof.
February 14, 2001 | Rating: 3/5
Jack Mathews
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Score it big-time inane but a load of fun.
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 3/4
Peter Stack
San Francisco Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
Insatiable moviegoers are advised to wait till this action-comedy, written by Ben Ramsey, thuds into video stores; tasteful moviegoers will avoid it altogether.
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 2/5
Lawrence Van Gelder
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
As low- intelligence entertainment goes, this film is very much a hit-and-miss affair.
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 2.5/4
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
TOP CRITIC
The characters in these movies exist in a Twilight Zone where thousands of rounds of ammunition are fired, but no one ever gets shot unless the plot requires him to. The bullets have read the screenplay.
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 1/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
There’s a lot going on within The Big Hit and filmmaker Wong, making his North American debut here, generally does a nice job of juggling the various digressions and subplots…
July 23, 2020 | Rating: 3/4
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
The script, by rookie writer Ben Ramsey, is among the most disgraceful screenplays ever to be produced by a major studio.
July 23, 2007 | Rating: 1/5
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
April 2, 2005 | Rating: 2/5
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
May 11, 2004 | Rating: 7/10
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews
The Big Hit should be titled The Big Miss. That?s a really bad pun, but it?s better than anything in this movie.
January 8, 2004 | Rating: 1/5
Blake French
Filmcritic.com
This frantic black comedy is one long obscure joke.
May 30, 2003 | Rating: 2/4
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)…
Plot
To payoff his second girlfriend’s debt, hitman Melvin Smiley undertakes a kidnapping job with his usual associates. In a world of prospective Jewish in-laws and late movie fees, the hitman falls in love with the victim and must settle the score with those out to double-cross him.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No goofy or funny or odd comments were found in the Fresh Kernels review for The Big Hit.
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