The 2004 movie version of Man on Fire stars Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning. Christopher Walken also appeared. The Director is Tony Scott. The original book by A. J. Quinnell and a 1987 movie version, were both set in Italy. However the 2004 movie version is set in Mexico. Presumably this is because the kidnapping situation in Mexico of 2004, is similar to what it was in Italy in the 1970s, which was when the events which inspired the book took place.

Many people who have read the book Man on Fire, and other books by the same author, featuring the same lead character, a mercenary named "Creasy", have commented that they had never imagined that Creasy would resemble Denzel Washington. Regardless of that point, Denzel plays the part very convincingly, while Dakota Fanning delivers a fascinating performance as a child, endowed with a maturity well beyond her years.

Some commentators have suggested that the 2004 version movie is unnecessarily violent. Not everyone agrees, since for some the crime justifies the retribution. The author has made some comments about the movie on the A. J. Quinnell page on this site. I thought the first half of the movie was great in the way the characters were introduced and developed along with the tense atmosphere, but I felt that some of the cinematography detracted from Creasy's rampage in the second half.

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The picture in the centre above was scanned from a pirate copy of Man on Fire, which I stumbled across in Thailand. The vendor told me the picture was poor, on account of it having been captured a day after it's Thai release, using a camcorder smuggled into the cinema. Despite the poor picture quality and the mis-titling on the front cover, I was able to enjoy the film. I have since bought a legitimate copy, so I could appreciate it properly. The great thing about the non pirated version, is that apart from greatly superior picture and sound quality, there was a bonus disc, which was packed with documentary material. The documentary gives a great insight into the challenges of making the movie, as well as explaining many of the mysteries of areas where the film strayed from the original book.

I have now watched the 2004 version of Man on Fire several times. Each time I watch it I notice details which I missed previously. Like a great painting it grows on you even more with each repeated viewing.