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Bringing Out the Dead

R Released Oct 22, 1999 2h 1m Drama List
73% Tomatometer 113 Reviews 70% Audience Score 25,000+ Ratings
After a disheartening and haunting career wears him down, New York City paramedic Frank Pierce (Nicolas Cage) begins to collapse under the strain of saving lives and witnessing deaths. Through the course of a few nights, three co-workers (John Goodman, Ving Rhames, Tom Sizemore) accompany Pierce as he grasps for sanity and pushes to be fired. Before Pierce falls off the edge, he still has a hope when he forms a friendship with a victim's daughter (Patricia Arquette). Read More Read Less
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Bringing Out the Dead

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Critics Consensus

Stunning and compelling, Scorsese and Cage succeed at satisfying the audience.

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Critics Reviews

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Anthony Lane New Yorker The new picture comes supplied with the same tension [as Taxi Driver], but, though I hate to say so, it feels like a package. Apr 14, 2020 Full Review Lisa Alspector Chicago Reader Its hard-to-pin-down tone is frighteningly original -- simultaneously world-weary and adolescent with an aura of perpetual anxiety, as if the characters and filmmakers were in pursuit of a catharsis everyone knows will never come. Sep 17, 2008 Full Review Ian Freer Empire Magazine An exciting, invigorating return to old preoccupations. Welcome home, Marty. Rated: 4/5 Dec 30, 2006 Full Review Chuck Klosterman Akron Beacon Journal It seems like Bringing Out the Dead should be highly complex and multi-layered, but it's unlikely that anyone would walk out of the theater at its conclusion with new insight on anything. Rated: 2/4 Oct 30, 2023 Full Review Farah Cheded A Good Movie To Watch Anyone who’s seen [Taxi Driver] will find the evolution from bitter cynicism to persisting hope here illuminating, both for what it says about Scorsese’s growth as an artist and as a human. Oct 21, 2023 Full Review Calum Baker Radio Times A smart, urgent and compulsively entertaining blend of the personal, political and religious, this stands among both Scorsese's and Schrader's most accomplished statements. Rated: 4/5 May 13, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Dale R A Touchstone release directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Nicholas Cage as a burnt out EMT who is bordering on the edge of sanity. I understood the basic plot of the movie, but I felt that during the entire film that there was a deeper meaning in some of the poetic lines or cinematography that I wasn’t getting. The movie happens over three days and each night Cage’s character has a different partner and he slowly takes on some of their personality. I’m not sure why, or if there are stages of sanity reduction that was represented? Maybe I’m reading too much into it, or I wanted this movie to be better. As I did understand the movie, you might like it if you enjoy Scorsese’s films or Nicholas Cage as an actor. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/07/24 Full Review Richard B Great performance of Nicolas Cage in a average movie Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/27/24 Full Review Online A Fantastic. A misunderstood comedy. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/08/23 Full Review Brendan L Another of Schrader's meditations on being a single, white, male frustrated by society at large. This time, the male in question is an EMS responder played by Nic Cage. Cage does a fantastic job as the literally haunted Frank Pierce, whose bloodshot eyes convey too many hours awake on the job. Great supporting performances by Tom Sizemore, Ving Rhames, and even Scorsese himself as the voice of a 911 dispatcher. The plot itself is simple, almost barely there, instead the film is a character study of someone who deals with life and death on a daily basis and the heavy toll such a responsibility can take. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/22/23 Full Review Madie R If you're looking for a good Nic Cage performance then watch "Bringing Out the Dead". It's not the movie Martin Scorsese will be known for but the camera work is brilliant. It is the journey of a paramedic who must come to grips with the reality that he is not God, despite his ability to save lives. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/09/23 Full Review AB L One of Scorsese's most interesting and underrated efforts. The vision of New York as a hellscape of madness, is something to behold. Also, this is a great role for Cage as it allows him the perfect outlet for his manic energy. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Bringing Out the Dead

Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - Mr. O the Drunk Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - Mr. O the Drunk 1:47 Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - Worst Suicide Attempt Ever Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - Worst Suicide Attempt Ever 1:52 Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - Ambulance Crash Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - Ambulance Crash 2:13 Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - Saving Cy Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - Saving Cy 1:55 Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - The City's Burning Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - The City's Burning 1:57 Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - I Be Bangin'! Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - I Be Bangin'! 2:12 Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - Sick Time Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - Sick Time 2:11 Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - A Virgin Miracle Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - A Virgin Miracle 2:12 Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - First Call of the Night Bringing Out the Dead: Official Clip - First Call of the Night 2:13 View more videos

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Bringing Out the Dead

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Movie Info

Synopsis After a disheartening and haunting career wears him down, New York City paramedic Frank Pierce (Nicolas Cage) begins to collapse under the strain of saving lives and witnessing deaths. Through the course of a few nights, three co-workers (John Goodman, Ving Rhames, Tom Sizemore) accompany Pierce as he grasps for sanity and pushes to be fired. Before Pierce falls off the edge, he still has a hope when he forms a friendship with a victim's daughter (Patricia Arquette).
Director
Martin Scorsese
Producer
Barbara De Fina, Scott Rudin
Screenwriter
Joe Connelly, Paul Schrader
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Touchstone Pictures, De Fina-Cappa, Paramount Pictures
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 22, 1999, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 21, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA)
$16.6M
Runtime
2h 1m
Sound Mix
SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS, Surround
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