Eraser

Plot synopsis:
During the opening credits, a man (later identified as John Kruger) (Arnold Schwarzenegger) gets dressed in ninja clothing, and then loads his gun. There are scattered images of Social Security papers, a passport, a birth certificate, etc. The man burns the means of ID; one of the pictures burning is of a woman (later identified as Lee Cullen) (Vanessa Williams). John is a U.S. Marshal for the Witness Protection Program (Witness Security Program, or WitSec).Nighttime: A mobster is punching a man (later identified as Johnny Casteleone) (Robert Pastorelli), gagged with duct tape in a chair. The mobster tells him, "You can't hide, Johnny. Nobody hides from us." His accomplice is pouring gasoline on Johnny's wife on the floor, also gagged. Another hoodlum sees the front door drift open. When he goes outside to check it out, a garrote grabs him by the neck and pulls him up. Back in the house, the thug is telling Johnny that Mr. Cannelli wants a "souvenir." He brandishes a knife, removes the tape from Johnny's mouth, and slams him onto the floor, holding his mouth open, while another thug pulls out some pliers. The first thug tells the man that he'll forward his tongue to witness protection.One of thugs gets some food from the fridge. When he turns around, he sees John Kruger in ninja gear. He tries to shoot, but John kicks him, and then slams the freezer door on his neck, killing him. The first thug calls for the two dead guys with no response. John enters the living room, and shoots and kills two of the thugs. He finally kicks the first one, knocking him through the glass of a coffee table, then chokes him and breaks his neck, killing him. John removes his mask and tells Johnny to shut up when he tries to talk. He pours red liquid on Johnny and his wife, then tells them not to move, that they're "dead", while he takes photos of them. He tells them he needs their clothes, rings, watches, and all IDs. He frees them, and has Johnny help take two corpses in morgue body bags from his station wagon to the house. When he opens the body bags in the house, the corpses are dead ringers for Johnny and his wife. He tells them to put the clothes on the corpses. John drags two of the dead thugs to the front yard and puts the Polaroid photos in one of the thug's coat pockets. He shoots one thug and puts the gun in the hand of the other thug. He calls 911 on his cell phone, telling them that there's been a murder at Johnny's address. When Johnny comes outside John tells him that he's staging it to appear that they killed him then turned on each other. Inside the house, John pours some more gasoline on the floor and hears sirens. He tells Johnny not to worry because they need an audience. He lights a flare and tosses it onto the floor next to the corpses from the morgue, then carries the other two dead thugs in the body bags to his station wagon. They drive away as the house explodes in flames, just before the police arrive.John tells Johnny that he endangered himself and the lives of U.S. Marshals assigned to protect him when he went to a restaurant at his old neighborhood. He tells Johnny that next time he'll be dead, because a rescue like this one only happens once. They stop by a lake and get out. John rigs the gas pedal, sending the car into the lake, where it sinks. He takes them to an SUV where government agents are waiting to take them away. He tells them he'll never see them again, but he'll know every move they make, that if they skip out on their testimony he'll deliver them to the Cannelli family himself. John walks away, and Johnny shouts to him that John can ask anything of him in the future. As Johnny and his wife get in, an agent tells them, "Smile, you've just been erased."The next day, John goes to the offices of the United States Marshal Witness Security Protection Program. A coworker tells him to look at some driver's licenses; one is from their shop and the other two are real. John runs his fingers over them and correctly chooses the fake.John logs into the computer and creates new IDs for Johnny Casteleone and his wife. His coworker and mentor Robert Deguerin (James Caan) congratulates John then asks him about last night. John tells him that a couple of witnesses got careless and he had to diffuse the situation. Robert tells him that improvisation is the old days, because congress is on their backs. As John leaves to talk to WitSec Chief Beller, Robert tells him that he's the best.Beller (James Coburn) tells John that in all the cases under WitSec protection, there's not one like this -- Lee Cullen is an honest person. He says that she is a senior executive of Cyrez Corporation, a top secret weapons research company, and that someone there is selling out the U.S.; Lee is the key witness for the government's case, and will participate in a sting operation tomorrow. Beller says that John will take over after the sting; the sealed file is for John's eyes only, and only John and Beller will know her exact location. Beller tells John that important people in Washington could be burned by the sting. John tells Beller that so could she.Lee walks into the Cyrez building and takes an elevator upstairs to her office. Two FBI agents in another building across the street watch her through cameras with telescopic lenses and binoculars. She puts a small speaker into her left ear. A brooch on the lapel of her business suit is the microphone/camera. Finally she does a sound and visual check with the FBI.Lee passes through security before reaching the vault, and punches the combination the FBI provided her. After she enters the vault the FBI's reception disappears and an agent says that they lose transmission in the vault; she only has 5 minutes until the security shift change. She inserts a mini CD from her purse into the computer, enters an access code and starts copying a file. The display shows the file she's copying: a weapon called a hypervelocity mag pulse (rifle). The agents wonder what's taking her so long, that she only has two minutes left. When the copying is complete, she takes the disk and starts to leave, but she grabs another mini CD from the desk and copies the file again. Lee takes the 2 disks and the vault code, then leaves. Outside the vault, her audio/video transmission resumes. The security guard tells Lee that Mr. Donohue (her boss) wants to see her now, and escorts her to his office. The agents wonder where Donohue's office is, and Lee says, "25th floor," so the FBI agents get backup ready. Inside the office, William Donohue (James Cromwell) shows her a video of her on the way to the vault, saying he trusted her for 5 years, someone he told others could be trusted. He asks who she is working for, and she says she should ask him that question. Donohue tells her that this isn't the Red Cross; they make weapons. He tells her that if the government isn't willing to pay the price for them, it's his job to find someone who will. Lee accuses him of treason. Donohue grabs her and finds the microphone/camera. Lee tells Donohue that the FBI heard everything he said and are watching them now. Donohue pulls a gun out of his desk drawer and points it at her, asking her how she could do that to him, then puts it in his mouth and shoots and kills himself. The blast blows out the window behind him. The guard and other people come in, and Lee runs out in the pandemonium. When she reaches the lobby, security guards chase her, but she runs outside into a van with the FBI agents inside and it drives away.At the FBI offices, Lee gives one of the disks to agent Corman (John Slattery), who gives it to two other agents. Agent Leiman (Michael Gregory) tells her that if Cyrez is selling weapons technology, it's treason. He tells her that the disk and her testimony will put the conspirators behind bars, then tells her that they are now concerned for her safety. John steps out of the elevator. Another agent tells her that it's U.S. Marshal John Kruger with the Witness Protection Program, and will handle her personal protection because more people are involved in the conspiracy. John tells her that he will give her a new identity. Lee refuses WitSec help, and tells them that she will keep up her end of the bargain and testify, then leaves. John criticizes the agents because they told her it would be easy. Leiman insists that they didn't have a case without her. John tells him that it was easier to put her life on the line instead of theirs, and then leaves.The two agents with the disk sign the disk over to agent Sully at the evidence locker. When Sully is alone, he swaps the disk with another one. He calls an unknown person on the phone and says, "It's me. Your music has arrived."Lee gets home at night and inserts the disk into her computer. A warning comes onto the screen: "Unable To Run Program. USE RESTRICTED TO DEDICATED SYSTEMS". A technician (Denis Forest) at Cyrez sees the same warning on his computer and alerts Morehart. When Lee tries to decrypt the files, another warning comes on the screen: "Decryption Problem. USE RESTRICTED TO DEDICATED SYSTEMS. HARDWARE DECRYPTION REQUIRED". Lee removes the disk from the computer and calls Claire Isaacs (Roma Maffia) on the phone.Lee agrees with Claire that she shouldn't have trusted the Feds, and that they are watching her. Claire calls them idiots, and then tells Lee that if Lee lets her write the story, Cyrez will be on the front page. Lee tells her that it's probably not safe to talk on the phone. The camera shows that both agents at the car are dead and the windows are smashed, and men are gathering outside Lee's house. Lee tells Claire that she made a copy of the disk. Claire tells her that it's her insurance.Lee hears noises and nervously tells Claire she has to go, and hangs up the phone. Lee's ex-boyfriend Darryl (Cylk Cozart) comes downstairs. She asks him why he let himself into her house. He replies that he has been worried about her, but she tells him that it's over and there's nothing else to talk about. Outside, a man charges up a rifle and looks through the x-ray scope, peering through the walls of her house. He finds Lee and Darryl in the kitchen, their skeletons and organs visible, and aims for Darryl's heart, but stops when a van approaches the house. Darryl accuses Lee of seeing someone else. A man with a "LET'S PARTY!" logo on his back and carrying party balloons comes to the door and rings the bell. Darryl opens the door, assuming that it's Lee's new boyfriend. The man with balloons hands Darryl a card, then tells them to get down and pulls Lee to the floor. It's John! The man with the rifle shoots Darryl, knocking him across the room into a wall. John and Lee run through the house while shots from the rifle pour in, destroying everything they hit but missing John and Lee. John overturns the fridge and they hide behind it. The gunman tells his leader that he doesn't have a shot, so the leader launches a grenade into the kitchen. John raises the fridge door for shielding just before drill bits fly out of the grenade all throughout the kitchen; one of them hits his hand. The assassins' leader sends them into the house. John pulls his bloody hand off the drill bit, and then rips off the gas line from the stove. He tells Lee that he's lighting a fuse. He aims the gas line at the thermostat then they sneak away. The assassins meet in the kitchen and see the gas line and thermostat just as the thermostat sparks. John and Lee sneak past the men and escape through the front door safely just before the gas explodes, destroying the house.John and Lee drive away in the van as the assassins' leader shoots at them. She's not hurt but worries because Darryl is dead and they could come after her. John reassures her that he will protect her. Lee sees John's hand, and then gets a first aid kit from under the seat and bandages his hand. John asks her if the weapon was from their company. She tells him that it's a secret electromagnetic pulse rifle (later called an EM gun in the movie), which doesn't use gunpowder or bullets, but fires aluminum rounds at extremely high speed. John says he knows about rail guns, another name for it, but the smallest one is on a battleship. Lee tells him that Cyrez was contracted to scale it down to make an assault rifle, the most powerful assault rifle on Earth, but took the money and told the U.S. that it was impossible. John says that Cyrez might have found a higher bidder. Lee tells him that Cyrez is connected everywhere, perhaps even with John's people, so John asks Lee if she wants to put them away. She agrees, and John tells her that he will hide her until the hearings, that no one else will know where she is -- not even his boss. He tells her that the Feds knew she could die but used her anyway. Lee says that she was stupid. John tells her that she trusted them, but now should trust him.Meanwhile, Morehart (Gerry Becker) from Cyrez calls Undersecretary of Defense Daniel Harper (Andy Romano) on the phone, saying that they have a problem. He tells Harper that Lee Cullen is still alive and has a disk and tried to access their program with it. Harper says that he took a lot of risks to retrieve the disk. Morehart replies that she must have made a duplicate. Harper orders him to do whatever it takes to get the disk back. Morehart also tells Harper that Lee called a woman named Isaacs, who is a reporter for The Washington Herald. Harper tells him to do what is necessary. Before leaving for his meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Harper snaps the disk in half.At a safe house, John and Lee are burning her driver's license, credit cards, and all her photos and IDs in the fireplace. She tells John, "That's it, it's everything I am." John replies that it's just a few numbers and plastic, what you are is inside you; no one can take that from you. Lee tells him that they will try, and John replies he and she will stop them. John says that he needs everything, and makes her remove her pendant. She tells John that it's St. George, and she wore it because she had nightmares about dragons when she was a kid. John tells her that it's his job to watch over her now. He tells her to sleep because they leave at dawn.The next day, John drives Lee to Chinatown in New York to stay with a woman he helped before. Her new name is Mei-Ling, and she testified against the Yakuza in San Francisco. He tells Lee that she will be safe there until the hearings, and gives Lee a new driver's license and credit card under her new name -- Deborah Elliot. He tells her to keep a low profile. As they look at a map of the New York City Zoo he gives her a pager. The signal is 911, upon which she should get out of the apartment and go to the zoo, and wait for his call at the pay phone; she should go to an exit in an emergency. John gives her a snub-nosed revolver and tells her that if anyone claims that John sent them to use it because John works alone. John hopes it will go well so she won't have to see him again until the trial, then he leaves.Lee watches the news on TV as she makes dinner. Undersecretary Harper is seen talking to reporters after testifying before Congress about the Cyrez scandal and said that the use of private contractors is within the limits of the Defense Department spending. He is confident they will be vindicated in the hearings about mismanagement of funds.Meanwhile, John meets with Deguerin at a café. Two other WitSec agents sit at another table. Deguerin tells John that someone's been murdering their witnesses, 3 in the last 48 hours. Deguerin tells John that no one could know the location of all three witnesses. John realizes that there is a mole inside WitSec. Deguerin tells John that they were all witnesses in high-profile federal cases with international ties. He adds that three more witnesses that fit the profile have to be moved; one is John's and one is Deguerin's. John tells him that he works alone, but Deguerin says that Beller ordered it. John tells Deguerin to move his witness first.At the airport, Deguerin introduces John to the two WitSec agents: Schiffer (Michael Papajohn) and Calderon (Nick Chinlund). Calderon shows a picture of Claire Isaacs to John. He tells John that she could be connected to his witness, but John says he doesn't know her. Calderon says that Isaacs was doing a report on Cyrez, but someone tortured and killed her to make her talk. Deguerin introduces John to WitSec Deputy Monroe (Danny Nucci), and tells Monroe that John is a legend. When they board the WitSec jet, Calderon asks John if he ever gets tired of babysitting scum. John replies that he will make an exception in Calderon's case. Calderon gets indignant, but Deguerin tells him that John is the best, and not to make him angry.Somewhere in the woods, John and the others load their weapons (equipped with silencers) and put on bulletproof vests. Deguerin sends them to surround a cabin by a stream. Deguerin shows them a picture of his witness, Allison. John and Deguerin go to the front door, but find the glass broken and enter the house. Deguerin shoots a man who is about to shoot John, and then John goes upstairs. Deguerin stays downstairs, goes to the bedroom where an armed man is holding Allison, and bursts through the door. The man tells Deguerin that he's early. Deguerin replies that he's late and shoots him in the head. John reaches a bedroom upstairs where a man is hiding behind a door, but John kicks it in his face. The man shoots but John stabs him through the door then shoots another man shooting at him in the hallway. Another man runs up the stairs shooting at John but John fires back and runs into a room. The man checks out the broken window there, but John swings from the overhead and kicks him out the window. Deguerin grabs the gun of the man he just killed and shoots Allison in the lung. Monroe comes in and finds Deguerin pretending to resuscitate her on the floor. Deguerin tells Monroe to get an ambulance. When Monroe leaves, Deguerin smothers her with his mouth, killing her. John comes in just as she dies. He asks why five men were sent to kill her, but Deguerin says that they were set up. Calderon secretly puts a photo of Lee in the man's vest pocket, then pulls it out and hands it to John, asking if she's his witness. John nods yes, so Deguerin tells him to call her now. John becomes suspicious and replies that she doesn't have a phone, so they have to contact her in person, and that she's in Atlanta.Back in the jet, John grabs a water bottle from a bowl. Calderon tries to take one too, but Deguerin gives him a Pepsi from the fridge then hides the bowl. Monroe is shook up, but Deguerin tells him it's nothing to be ashamed of. John agrees and continues to drink the water, but suddenly feels dizzy and looks at the bottle and staggers into a seat. As Deguerin lectures Monroe, John calls Lee's pager.Lee hears the pager and looks at it. She quickly packs a few items, including the gun, into her purse and then leaves the house. Deguerin sits across from John and Monroe asks John why he joined WitSec. John can't answer because he's zoning out. He tells Deguerin, "It's you," then passes out. Deguerin removes John's gun with a handkerchief, bewildering Monroe. Deguerin grabs John's phone, but he cleared the phone number. Deguerin tells Monroe to be quiet, and then asks Schiffer if he captured the call. Schiffer replies that it's a New York prefix.Lee takes a cab to the zoo. Deguerin makes the pilot change course for New York. Monroe tries to call WitSec, but Deguerin stops him and makes him sit down. He gives Monroe his "evaluation" by shooting him with John's gun. Deguerin tells Calderon to get their guys in New York ready, then tells Schiffer to clean up the mess (Monroe).Lee goes to the zoo. John wakes up and looks out the window, then tells Deguerin that they are off course. Deguerin replies that John will take them to Lee. John reaches for his gun, but Deguerin has it in a plastic bag, and tells John that John killed Monroe. Deguerin tosses it to Schiffer and says that John is the mole. John says that Deguerin is a murderer and goes toward him, but everyone draws their guns on John. Deguerin explains that he's a businessman, doing it to get rich, and offers to make John a part of it if he reveals Lee's location. John tells Deguerin that if he drops the gun, John won't have to kill him. Deguerin refuses, so John throws a knife from his belt buckle at him and punches Calderon. Deguerin blocks the knife with his arm and John runs to the emergency exit and opens the door. Schiffer gets sucked towards the exit, so John grabs his gun and throws him out. As John exchanges gunfire with them, he grabs an emergency parachute. Deguerin pulls the knife out of his arm and tells John that he will get sucked into the engine. John grabs a chair and throws it into the engine, setting it on fire. Deguerin shoots at John's hand when he reaches for the parachute, making him fall outside. John hangs on at the doorway and reaches for the parachute again, but Deguerin shoots at him again so John throws it out and lets go. John falls past the engine, points himself at the parachute, and reaches it. He is able to pull the chute, but Deguerin makes the pilot turn the jet around and aim for John. John pulls out the gun and shoots out the cockpit glass, causing the pilot to miss him. The backwash scrambles John's parachute and he falls with it wrapped around him. He untangles and removes it, then pulls the emergency chute shortly before reaching the ground. He lands hard on the roof of a car in a junkyard. A boy and girl rush to him. He trades the parachute plus $50 for their father's tow truck. The father runs out of the office as John drives away.Fire crews put out the WitSec jet engine fire at the airport. One of Deguerin's men traced the call to Mei-Ling's apartment, but Lee was gone. Deguerin replies that it was a signal for her to run. Another man tells Deguerin that three cabs picked a woman by herself near the apartment within 15 minutes of the call. Deguerin says that the one going to the New York City Zoo is the correct one because it's a public place.Lee waits by a pay phone at the zoo while John races through traffic. A man approaches her and tells her he is a U.S. Marshal, and shows her a badge. Lee asks where John Kruger is, and the man tells her that John sent him to be sure Lee is safe until he arrives. Lee asks for the "secret handshake" then shoots him in the leg and runs away. The man calls Deguerin on the phone. He tells the man that he can shoot her but not to kill her. Deguerin and his men reach the zoo. Deguerin shows his badge to an employee, and orders the man to get everyone out and close the exits. Deguerin and his men find Lee and start to chase after her, but John arrives and crashes the truck through a gate and into a tree. The men shoot up the truck, but John is not in it when they check. Lee runs into the reptile house and locks the doors, but men break in and shoot at her. Lee fires back but runs out of bullets. John bursts in through another door and shoots a man, then tells Lee that he's late because of traffic. John asks Lee about her ammunition, and then tells her that he only has two rounds left and to run for the door when he tells her. John doesn't shoot at the approaching men but instead shoots the glass of the alligator tank. Water and alligators rush towards the men. When the alligators start eating the men, John and Lee run to an exit, but other armed men are running toward them. An alligator attacks John and Lee, knocking John's gun away. Lee runs up the stairs. John throws a small stand at the alligator, but it chews it apart. John retrieves his gun and shoots the alligator in the mouth, killing it and then saying, "You're luggage." Deguerin and his men come in and shoot at John and Lee, but they jump through a window and escape.Beller arrives at the zoo in a helicopter. Deguerin tells him that John shot and killed three of his men, and his fingerprints on the gun prove it. Beller is surprised that he ran prints already, but Deguerin replies that he saw it. Beller can't believe it because he's known John for years. Deguerin adds that Lee is in with John and shot one of Deguerin's men. Beller orders Deguerin to bring John in alive, then gets back in the helicopter. Deguerin orders the police captain to put an APB on John.On the roof of a church somewhere in New York, John calls Beller. He tells Beller that Deguerin is the mole, is after his witness, and has killed the others. Beller asks John where he is and tells him to turn himself in, and that witnesses say he is the shooter. John tells Beller he will call him back when he has proof and hangs up. John tells Lee that they need hard evidence and she shows him the copy of the disk she made. She says she was supposed to give it to a friend who is a reporter at The Washington Herald. John asks if it was Claire Isaacs, which surprises Lee. John tells Lee that Claire is dead. Lee says she didn't tell anyone, and fears that they will be next, but John says they probably tapped her phone. John tells her that the disk is keeping them alive. Lee says that the disk has to be run inside Cyrez, which has high security. John replies that they will go there anyway. Just then, the church catholic priest, Father Rodriguez (Ismael 'East' Carlo), (his new identity) comes onto the roof, and John introduces him to Lee. John tells her that some of his Columbian "associates" tried to kill him. Father Rodriguez lets them borrow his car.Later that night, John and Lee arrive at a gay nightclub for men in Washington D.C. While Lee waits in the car, John goes inside to talk to "Johnny C", working there as a bartender (and the only straight person there). John tells him that he needs his help, so Johnny has the other bartender Kevin (Rick Batalla) cover for him while he goes out for a while.While Johnny drives the car, John tells him that he needs his help to break into Cyrez. Johnny thinks that they need large weapons, but John hands him three packs of "Ultra-Seltzer" tablets, telling him that it's all they need. Johnny drops John off at a hospital, and John says he will meet them at Johnny's place. John runs to an ambulance while Johnny drives to his apartment with Lee.The next day, Deguerin gets into a limousine where he tells Harper that he'll have the situation under control in 24 hours. The hot-tempered and wicked Harper is not satisfied, because they have 10 tons of secret assault weaponry that they already sold on the black market. Deguerin suggests canceling the arms shipment for a while because of all the commotion, but Harper orders Deguerin to get the guns out of the country tonight or he will be killed tomorrow. Deguerin informs him that John will take Lee into Cyrez to read the disk. Harper orders Deguerin to get rid of her, the disk, and the guns by dawn.That afternoon, reporters are gathered out the Cyrez building because of the House Armed Services Committee investigation of the company. Deguerin is inside Cyrez talking to security chief James Haggerty (Patrick Kilpatrick) about John, who is expected to show up to run the disk there. Haggerty tells Deguerin that the vault is the only place he can run it, so he waits by the video monitor.Johnny poses as a pizza deliveryman and sneaks into Cyrez, insisting that he has a pizza delivery for Blevins. Two of Deguerin's men search Johnny, but they find pizza in the boxes. Unseen to them, Johnny puts the tablets in his mouth and pretends to have a seizure, rolling his eyes and foaming at the mouth. Security takes him to the infirmary and calls an ambulance. Deguerin calls Schiffer, who informs him they will move the weapons within an hour. Disguised as paramedics and driving the ambulance that John took from the hospital the previous night, John and Lee arrive at the Cyrez security gate then go to the infirmary and load supposed medical equipment onto a gurney, but Deguerin doesn't see them on the video monitor. Johnny removes the heart monitor leads, but the nurse thinks his heat stopped and shocks him with a defibrillator. John and Lee burst in, and John points his gun at them and makes her stop. Johnny grabs the guard's gun and then ties the guard and the nurses up with medical tape while John and Lee leave.In the security office, the technician reports that someone is accessing the disk, but no one entered the vault through the door. Deguerin goes with security guards to the vault. John's not inside, and the technician reports that he must be using a remote terminal somewhere in the building. He tells Deguerin that he can locate John by scanning all the terminals for activity. Meanwhile, John and Lee are in Donohue's office accessing the disk. They find offshore banking deposits for $52 million, which John determines is for an arms sale. The buyer is Sergei Ivanovich Petrofsky (Olek Krupa). John informs Lee that Petrofsky heads a Russian mafia cartel that sells guns and drugs. At the same time, the technician narrows the search to the wing where Donohue's office is located, so Deguerin takes his men there. John finds the delivery date is tonight at midnight, for 1,000 EM guns, at Baltimore Harbor. The technician locates John and Lee in Donohue's office and begins erasing the disk, and a message appears on the screen: "YOU'VE JUST BEEN ERASED", so John smashes open the disk drive and removes the disk, but its too late as the disk (and the evidence) is erased. Suddenly, security men bursts into the room, and shoot at John and Lee. John throws Lee to the floor and shoots back, then throws the chair at them. More security men arrive in the elevator, so John blocks their fire with a security guy, then pulls the pins on the guy's grenades and kicks him into the elevator (blowing up the men). John and Lee run out of the office, and then John tells her to meet him at the ambulance on the ground floor so they can get away. Lee runs down the hallway, and a bulletproof glass wall lowers behind her while an alarm sounds. Deguerin grabs her, and then he and John shoot at each other but can't break the glass. Deguerin threatens to kill Lee if John interferes, then takes her away. John shoots a fire sprinkler, causing the sprinklers turn on, the fire alarm to sound, and the glass wall to rise. John reaches the roof as Deguerin leaves with Lee in a helicopter.A short while later, John and Johnny take the ambulance back to the car. John tells Johnny that he is going to Baltimore alone, but Johnny tells him that his cousin Tony (head of the local mafia union) runs the docks at Baltimore and will find the shipment. John lets Johnny take him there.That evening, John and Johnny arrive at the docks find Tony -- nicknamed Tony Two-Toes (Joe Viterelli), and he is surprised that Johnny is alive. Johnny tells him that John saved his life. Johnny introduces Tony's right hand men; Sal -- nicknamed Sally Boy (John Snyder) and Little Mike (Tony Longo) to John. Johnny tells the mob union guys that they have bigger worries than Cannelli. John informs them that a major arms deal is happening tonight on Tony's docks.A Russian cargo ship is moored at the dock. Deguerin meets Petrofsky there and assures him that he has things under control. Lee is tied up on a chair, and Deguerin tells him that she is an "insurance policy", but he shouldn't worry. Deguerin tells Petrofsky that he can do what he wants with her when they reach international waters, then leaves.John calls Beller and informs that he has proof that Cyrez is selling weapons on the black market, and that Harper is involved and Deguerin is the facilitator. John tells him that it's happening tonight at Baltimore docks, Pier 57, and then throws the phone aside without hanging up, knowing that Beller will trace the call.Deguerin drives to his command van to coordinate the shipment, and tells his men to watch for John. Johnny and the union guys, Tony, Sal, and Mike, approach a guard at the gate. Tony and his men ask the guard why no union people are loading the ship. The security chief comes over where he orders them to leave, and they ask him the same thing. Meanwhile, John jumps down from a warehouse and takes out two gunmen. Their gunfire distracts the security guards, allowing Tony and the others to knock them out and take their guns. John breaks into a building, but Calderon locates him with an EM gun and tries to shoot him. John sees the light from the scope and jumps aside in time. Calderon and Schiffer fire several rounds into the building, destroying the interior. Deguerin sends men in to check that John is dead.Meanwhile, John is trying to remove a sharp piece of metal that pierced his leg. John's shotgun is jammed, so he throws it across the building and one of the men picks it up. Calderon mistakes the man for John and shoots him. John removes the piece of metal from his leg just as the other man reaches him, and then stabs and kills him with it and takes his pistols. Schiffer and Calderon enter the building, so John breaks through the floorboards and crawls underneath them. He shoots them, breaks through the floorboards again, and then takes their EM guns and shoots two more men who came in. Deguerin orders all the other men to shoot at the building.On the docked ship, Lee uses the distraction to untie one hand and hit Petrofsky in the head with the coffee pot, unties her other hand, then kicks him and runs out. John comes out of the building, shooting and destroying everything in his path. Meanwhile, Sal shoots the sniper in the crane before he can shoot Sal, causing the operator to drop the container. Lee escapes from the ship and runs away. Deguerin, up on a container, has captured Lee; he holds her hostage with a pistol and makes John drop his EM guns. He then shoots John in the shoulder and makes the crane operator raise the container. Petrofsky and his men shoot at John, but he safely jumps onto the end of the container. Johnny, Tony, Sal, and Little Mike come up in a front loader and shoot the Russians. John climbs to the top of the container and punches Deguerin in the face, causing him to drop the pistol. Deguerin hits John with a crowbar, but John gains the upper hand. As John and Deguerin fight, Lee reaches for the pistol, but the container tilts to one side and she falls over the edge. John grabs her and pulls her back up, then puts her up on the ladder. Deguerin recovers the pistol and prepares to shoot John, but John removes the chain with the crowbar and the container falls to the ground. The container shatters, spilling the EM guns, and throwing John and Deguerin off.A short while later, the police and Beller arrive on the dock as John is trying to pull the container door off Deguerin. Deguerin tries to shoot John so John takes the pistol away. Beller's men take the door off Deguerin and take him away on a stretcher, and Beller thanks John. Lee runs over and thanks John, and they hug.A few days later, Deguerin and Harper leave a courthouse after being indicted for treason over the arms shipment. Deguerin tells the press that he was being patriotic and their actions have exposed a secret alliance the administration had with the nation's enemies. Deguerin insists that they will be vindicated at the trial. After John and Lee observe this, John tells her that Deguerin and the others could get away with it if they are able to blame it on Morehart. John asks her if she's ready, and they walk to a van. Deguerin tells Harper that the case won't go to trial without Lee's testimony. John and Lee get into the van, and it explodes a few seconds later; pandemonium erupts. Deguerin and Harper get into a limousine as if the explosion were expected. No one sees a hand close a grating under the van. Deguerin then tells Harper that now that Lee is dead, they can begin clearing themselves of responsibility, including killing Lee's friends and family if necessary. Deguerin and Harper think each other arranged the van explosion. The limousine stops abruptly and the doors lock, and then the driver's security window rises. Johnny, the chauffer, gets out and runs away from the limousine, leaving it stopped on some train tracks. John calls Deguerin on the limousine phone and tells him, "You've just been erased." Deguerin looks out the window and sees John. The railroad crossing gates lower and a train sounds the horn as it approaches the limousine. All the men inside the limousine struggle futilely to unlock the doors and break the windows, but the train slams into the limousine and destroys it. Johnny drives by in the car and waves to John. John gets into an SUV where Lee is waiting, and Lee asks him what happened. He replies, "They caught a train," then they drive away.Synopsis written by Mu_Ve_Watchr_89.

Tags: violence, action, neo noir, murder

Review:
A decade ago, this Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick was fairly hot stuff but I wonder if it would have the impact today since special effects are so much better and we've seen so many of these type of action stories in the past 10 years.One of Arnold's keys to his successful career in films was simply that his movies were entertaining, and that's why people come to the theaters.
It's also fun to hear if you have a nice surround system.This movie has one of the most outrageous action scenes I've ever seen on film, even to this day: one in which Arnold hangs from the outside of a jet airplane, finally lets go, free-falls to catch his parachute that had been ripped off, and then has to worry about the jet plane which had circled around and was going to smash him!!The audio came into play nicely each time the super rifle that was featured in the movie was shot.
This isn't a movie you go see if you're seeking a two hour thinking experience.Casting Schwarzenegger for the lead instantly gives the main character, John Kruger, a personality of his own.
Dialogue is used mainly for two purposes: to explain the unfolding saga of the federal scandal in the movie, and for the ever-composed and ever-cool Schwarzenegger to calm Dr. Lee Cullen (Vanessa Williams), a key witness in the scandal saga.
Instead, what drives the movie is the action sequences and Schwarzenegger's resourcefulness in a myriad of combat situations where he always finds himself outmanned, outgunned, and beaten to the first punch, yet always manages to gain the upper hand.Williams does an excellent job, and in many ways, is forced to be more of an "actor," per se, than Schwarzenegger.
Chuck Russel's Eraser is exploding and intense action film starring Arnold Scwarzenegger as secret government officer, who "erases" people i.e. destroys their past in order to save their future.
There are too many action films with weak acting, but people like Williams, Caan, Coburn and Pastorelli ensure that "Eraser" is the opposite.
the story goes as follows Lee Cullen a worker for Cyrez Corporation which develops top secret weapons stumbles upon illegal arms deals and acquires the information and barley escapes with help from the F.B.I and is then placed under the protection of U.S Marshell John Kruger who erases the past of witnesses under Witness Protection to give them a future Lee however has been targeted by terrorists to cover up the scam and John Kruger is being targeted by some of his fellow US Marshells and is framed for murder now he has to protect Lee prove his innocence and exposes the illegal arms deal before it happens.
"The Eraser" (The big man himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a ferocious U.S. Federal Marshal working as a member for the Witness Protection Agency.
Cullen's life is in jeopardy...she has been targeted for murder...and only John Kruger can save and protect her from imminent threats...by "erasing" Cullen's old identity and implanting a new one...Robert Deguerin (James Caan), Kruger's superior, has to make sure that everything in this operation is running smoothly and that Kruger does a decent job keeping his eye on Cullen.
Yes, ERASER is a definite high testosterone thriller with state of the art effects and a wonderful sense of humor thanks to Arnold's crafty one-liners.As a chef who owes a "debt of gratitude" to "The Eraser," Robert Pastorelli ( Striking Distance, TV's Murphy Brown ) shines with some spotlight stealing moments also.ERASER is fun-filled and exhilarating, with a pace that moves lightning fast.
ERASER is a standard, "kill or be killed" thriller, nothing more.Considering Arnold's earlier blockbuster achievements which actually included three dimensional characters such as TOTAL RECALL (1990), TERMINATOR 2, JUDGMENT DAY, (1991) and TRUE LIES (1994), this film is somewhat rudimentary in characterization.
For many people though, this quality may not exactly be a setback.ERASER is a film that is always fun to sit back, watch, and enjoy the action!
ERASER is a cool, better than expected action film with great special effects, two appealing leads, and a package full of car explosions and other assortments of surprises and tricks.
Lots of baddies are killed and shot by Schwarzenegger, and it's great to see him return to a solid action role after the rather nauseating comedies like JUNIOR and JINGLE ALL THE WAY.
There are also a number of outrageous stunts and action sequences, set pieces including Arnie jumping out of a plane to get his parachute and a fight in a zoo, where crocodiles eat a number of bad guys in a hilarious moment: just a shame about the extremely dodgy nature of the CGI effects.
She stole every scene she was in, and it would be nice to see more singers-turned-actor take a performance like this.Schwarzenegger stars as John Kruger whose job is to, well, "erase" the lives of people set up for witness protection by faking their deaths and setting up anonymous new identities.
And he attempts to clear his name and save the dame at the same time.Sure the movie's as predictable as most Schwarzenegger movies are, but due to a lot of great action sequences, Williams' performance and a real ode to The Terminator (Terminator 3, a few years down he road, doesn't count as it sucked bad) this movie is highly recommended for die-hard Schwarzenegger fans.Suffice to say, it's hard to go further into this without giving away so-called "surprises." Skip everything since this 1996 gem and enjoy the real Schwarzenegger..
You may think that Eraser is just another special-effects filled, common killing-spree, Schwarzenegger action-fest....you'd be right except for one other simple attribute....original story.
I'm a great Schwarzenegger fan, and I like a good action bonanza, but this movie gave more than just that....a story that no other Hollywood flick has used before.
Average action movie that could have been better if it had a better screenplay and better CGI special effects.The movie was probably rushed during it's filming.Too bad because the acting,story and cast was good.Some ill adviced scene sequences that should have been reshot like the first few scenes showing Arnie doing the ERASURE procedures (very sloppy) and later on the very cartoonish hungry reptiles at the city Zoo (cheap CGI).The seriousness of the storyline also degrades toward the last 30 minutes of the movie.Only for big action movie fans and fans of the lead actors.......
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as a witness protection agent who protects Vanessa Williams from James Caan and the usual goons who are looking to do her in due to what she has uncovered on the computer and such.
Eraser is more Last Action Hero than Commando and it becomes quite obvious that we are watching a movie that thinks it is far more intelligent and interesting than it ever is.
Eraser is sadly not in the same league as The Terminator films or True Lies, but it's still good Arnie style action.John Kruger (Arnie) erases people who are entering the witness protection program, but now he has to protect Vanessa Williams who plays an executive that has uncovered a deal to place a new super-weapon in the wrong hands.Eraser has some great special effects, some cool weapons and of course plenty of action.
The film makers including, director Chuck Russell, do a good job in building the story naturally to well shot action scenes.
Now, in conclusion, if you like Arnold Schwarzenegger films or the music of Vanessa Williams, I highly recommend this movie.
Some people called Eraser 'Arnie's last great action film' (not including Terminator 3).
Here, Arnold plays U.S. marshal John Kruger who is assigned to protect Cyrez Corporation employee Lee Cullen (Vanessa Williams).
And, this film is also full of Arnold's famous one-liners and sometimes over-the-top action scenes.The writing credits did a great job on the screenplay, providing us with an intriguing story that grabs your attention.
It capped-off an awesome summer season (or so my 15-year-old self thought), and put to rest any fears that Big Arn was slowing down (although he has only made 5 action movies, to date, since then).Arn is John Kruger (an amusing choice of name since director Chuck Russell also made the 3rd Nightmare on Elm Street Movie), a Witness Protection Program Agent who is tasked with 'erasing' and protecting a high-level informant who can prove that there are traitors within the US government who are selling weapons to Russian terrorists.
James Caan and the always great James Coburn provide respectable support as Kruger's antagonist and mentor, but the best support is no doubt Robert Pastorelli (an actor who I really liked who died of a heroin overdose in 2004), who plays a previous witness who is eager to please Kruger in his latest, impossible quest.Overall, it's hardly revolutionary, but what makes Eraser stand out from the crowd is the utterly breathtaking (literally) scene in which Kruger escapes a jet, mid-flight, without the comfort of a parachute on his shoulders.
This movie was made when he was in his prime, and is one of the best movie he's done to this date.John Kruger (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a US marshal who's task is to "erase" the identity of government witnesses under witness protection program.
Arnold plays John Kruger, a U.S. Marshal who works for the witness protection program in the capacity of erasing peoples' pasts in order to give them a safe future.
Arnold sustains pretty serious injuries throughout the film which later have no effect on his ability to wrestle alligators or hold Vanessa Williams with one hand, keeping her from falling, and there's really no reason to go into the logistics of a hand-held weapon that can launch any kind of projectiles at "just below the speed of light." There are a lot of movies where these kind of logistical liberties cause a real problem for the movie, but I think Eraser stands well enough on it's own as pure popcorn fun.
They never worked for James Bond and they rarely worked for Arnold either (I can think of a few that were good though, like "I let him go"), so I could have certainly done without "You're luggage," or, even worse, "They caught a train." But hey, a few x-ray super-weapon shooting scenes will help you forget about all that.....
Then again, plot twists and character development take time away from the gun-fights and explosions...'Eraser' seems to be the last of a dying breed of 'Commando' style action flicks, where Arnie - or any other action-hero - can perform one man invasions of whole countries, and whatnot.
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenager, James Caan, Vanessa Williams Since this is my first action movie review, I'd like to take this moment to note that in real life, when you punch someone, it makes a dull thud noise.
Henceforth, Arnold is called onto the scene to protect her.Like I said, this is an action movie.
The major failing of this is you can tell that the film was designed, and scripted, around these big pulse rifles in the movie, for the sole reason of having some cool scenes with a very large gun, much like Lundgren's Silent Trigger was.
Take every action movie made by Arnold, put them in a blender, set for chop, put the pieces together when you're done and you have Eraser.
It's the typical good vs bad who is going to win and what is going to happen along the way sort of deals (like just about every other Arnie action movie).This one is just a smidged above average for me with End of Days being near a 5 and Conan being near a 10 (for me anyway).
In "Eraser", Arnold Schwarzenegger is a U.S. Marshall who specializes in helping government witnesses disappear.
The late Robert Pastorelli rounds out the main cast as the comic relief/buddy support character playing up the Italian stereotype all the way.This is probably the last movie of Arnold's prime and features much of the same tropes and clichés as his earlier work, but succeeds in having some fairly entertaining scenes and good spots.
Before things got serious after 2001, the 90s produced tons of fun action movies that had you laughing along with the good guys as they served up gun-blazing justice to bad guys.
For all of his outlandish stunts, this is a surprisingly long movie.It's the supporting cast (James Caan, Robert Pastorelli, and the stunning Vanessa Williams) that make it as good as it is.Although more CGI crocs couldn't have hurt.6/10.
There's plenty of plot holes and Schwarzenegger is at his corny best, but it's still an enjoyable action movie..
Eraser was Arnold Schwarzenegger's last decent movie before his string of box office flops including Batman and Robin (1997), End of Days (1999), The Sixth Day (2000), and Collateral Damage (2002).
Despite several flaws here and there as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger at his corny best dispensing his vintage one liners as well as the bad guys, Eraser is still an entertaining action movie.Arnold Schwarzenegger is U.S. Marshall John Kruger, also known as the Eraser.
Unfortunately there are plot holes aplenty and Arnold Schwarzenegger's corny humour seems forced, but is certainly an enjoyable action movie that can pass the time.7/10..
Arnold Schwarzenegger plays U.S. Marshal John 'The Eraser' Kruger, a specialist in the witness protection program who is assigned to protect Lee Cullen(Vanessa Williams) who had uncovered shady dealings at a military weapons manufacturer that she had worked for.
The company now wants her dead, so John takes Lee to New York City with the help of his friend, fellow U.S. Marshal Robert Guerin(played by James Caan) Unfortunately, someone in the program has betrayed them, and now John and Lee must go on the run from both forces in order to expose the true villains, and save their lives.Pretty good Arnold S.
The ummm barbarian.And believe it or not, as IMDb is my witness, he played ALL of those characters more than once by this time, the only difference sometimes being the Eastern European country he was supposed to have come from.So by this stage Schwarzenegger was sorta grasping at straws, the result often being awful and often recycled projects that played with his image and in desperation introduced more and more illogical and ridiculous hooks and sequences.Take Eraser, where the bad guys have heat detecting scopes on their RAY GUNS(!) that go bing-bing-bing and cut through anything in their path, and Arnie gets to kill a 90s style CGI alligator and after consigning it to its fate declares it 'luggage'.
This time however the case is a young employee who is a key witness against a Big (evil) Corporation that is illegally making the naughty bing-bing-bing weapons.Eraser actually sports a fairly string cast of mainly James'; Coburn, Caan and Cromwell all get turns at being bad guys or Arnie's superiors or both.
And Vanessa Williams is the damsel in distress in need of the protection only Arnie's big gun could give.The rest of the film is a series of carefully conceived yet palpably ridiculous action setpieces that are technically proficient but lack any sense of true action goodness.
So much for opinions.Anyway, this movie is about a agent working for the witness protection program, whose job is to erase people's identities and set them up with new ones.
ERASER is yet another Arnold Schwarzenegger action film that's loaded with shootouts, explosions, and exciting stunt scene's.
He stars as a witness protection program man who gets caught up protecting the beautiful Vanessa Williams who has some information about some new high-tech weapons that interest some really bad guys.
Slick, stylish action flick stars Schwarzenegger as a U.S. Marshal who protects witnesses by erasing their pasts and giving them a new future in the Witness Protection Program.
Fans may be disappointed by the video game-like special effects, but the film provides enough memorable, energetic action set pieces, colorful lines, and sophisticated, high-tech weaponry to be entertaining; score another one for Arnold.
I think as always, that schwarzenegger always do good action movies.
This is an ok but not perfect action movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
This time around, Arnold plays Kruger, a tough-assed U.S. Marshal protecting beautiful government operative Lee (Vanessa Williams) from bad guys who're trying to waste them left to right.
Eraser has all the essential elements that make a hugely enjoyable Arnie movie, outrageous scenes {an aeroplane bail out sequence is a riot}, a dastardly villain {James Caan hamming for all he's worth}, weapons aplenty {a gun here is as good as it gets} and a pretty girl for Arnie to posture around {Vanessa Williams gorgeous and effective}.
John Kruger (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a U.S. Marshall, who works for the Witness Relocation Program.
I think that this is the best movie Arnold Schwarzenegger has ever made.
Erasing bad moments in action movies.
The main interest (in my opinion) of this movie lies in watching James Caan, Vanessa Williams, Pastorelli and some comedy and action scenes.
His latest assignment has him protecting a woman who "knows too much." And the bad guys are actually on both sides of the playing field.With a decent beginning and some good ideas for a balls out action movie with big guy like Schwarzenegger, the film starts promisingly.
There are some nice set pieces and action scenes, like Arnold bailing out of a plane to get his parachute, but by then end the film seems tired and clichéd.
Arnold is the same as he is in every film and the action scenes are exciting, but not that surprising.
Continuing my plan to watch ever movie in Arnold Schwarzenegger's filmography in order, I come to Eraser.Plot In A Paragraph: A Witness Protection specialist (Arnie) becomes suspicious of his co- workers when dealing with a case involving high-tech weapons.Rewatching this for the first time in years, I found it very underwhelming, and it hasn't held up that well if I'm honest.