What is this movie about an ex-military man against a police force, surviving a fire by hiding in a metal box?

December 9, 2004 12:23 PM

Can anyone identify a movie for me? I saw it on television (it could have been on a movie channel), probably in the early 80s. The portion I remember had to do with a guy holed up in a house (or other building). [MI]

The guy was possibly an ex-military type of guy, as I recall that he had booby-trapped the area around the place and set tons of landmines, etc.

Near the end of the film (or possibly the end? I can't recall...) the building is burned down, and he survives by hiding in a metal box of some sort.

Does anyone have any idea what movie this might be?

posted by bucko to Media & Arts (10 answers total)

Was it The Park Is Mine, by any chance?

I don't remember a building, but he did take over Central Park.
posted by bondcliff at 12:29 PM on December 9, 2004

Was the film, by any chance, Australian?

Because I remember a similar film, though the title escapes me.
posted by Gnatcho at 12:29 PM on December 9, 2004

Who'll Stop the Rain?
posted by Pressed Rat at 12:59 PM on December 9, 2004

Response by poster: Judging by the plot summary, "Who'll Stop the Rain" doesn't sound right and "The Park Is Mine" came out in 86... I guess it's possible. Were there landmines, a huge fire and a metal box involved at all?

Gnatcho - It could have been Australian, though I would have seen it in the states.

This has bugged me for at least ten years. I'd love it if the fine readers of Metafilter could help a brother out.
posted by bucko at 2:16 PM on December 9, 2004

Response by poster: Aah, and for what it's worth, I remember reading Stephen King's "Roadwork" years later and thinking that there were some parallels between the book and the Film Which Has Yet to Be Named...
posted by bucko at 2:24 PM on December 9, 2004

How about 1981's Harry's War, a movie I remember solely because my Mom and I arrived late to the theater and had to watch the middle and end of the movie, then stay for the beginning.
posted by JDC8 at 6:13 PM on December 9, 2004

Response by poster: Possibly. Do you remember if there was an element involving surviving a fire in a metal box of some sort?
posted by bucko at 9:38 PM on December 9, 2004

Think it's The Specialist starring the immense talent of Mr Stallone
posted by lloyder at 1:51 AM on December 10, 2004

Response by poster: I don't think so. I would have seen it in the early 80s, and the IMDB link you gave dates it in 1994.
posted by bucko at 3:03 PM on December 10, 2004

Well, Harry's War is a little fuzzy, but I do remember him wearing a WWI-era gas mask while stuffing an active tear-gas grenade into a trash bag to launch back at the cops.

I'm not sure that his house was burned down, but he may have taken shelter in a bunker with the military artifacts.

I'd also suggest cross-posting this question at the Fametracker Forums in the "What is this movie?" thread.
posted by JDC8 at 6:23 PM on December 10, 2004