Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17004 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-06-12
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Dubbed, Full Screen, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 114 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Extreme Measures loses credibility near the climax when it sacrifices its hold on reality, but this entertaining, intelligent thriller effectively applies a formulaic plot to the complicated ethics of medical research. It also gives Hugh Grant an opportunity to break free from lightweight comedy by playing an emergency room surgeon who discovers that a renowned neurologist (Gene Hackman) has been conducting secret experiments on patients. When Grant fails to save a patient whose body later mysteriously disappears from the morgue, his investigation leads to an underground community of healthy homeless people, some of whom have been test subjects in Hackman's revolutionary, but criminal research toward a cure for paralysis. Co-produced by actor-model Elizabeth Hurley and capably directed by Michael Apted, this otherwise conventional thriller rises above its limitations by asking morally complex questions that give its far-fetched plot an extra kick of dramatic impact. --Jeff Shannon

Special Features
4:3 Full Frame
2.35 Wide Screen
DVD 10
French\Italian
English\Italian
English
Region 2
Dolby Surround English French Italian
Dolby Surround
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Trailer
Arabic\Bulgarian\Dutch\English\French\German\Italian\Portuguese\Romanian\Spanish

Synopsis
At New York's Gramercy Hospital, a homeless man under the care of English doctor Guy Luthan (Hugh Grant) dies in a horrific manner. Soon both the patient and his file mysteriously disappear. The puzzled Luthan is told by a superior to forget about it and move on. Undaunted, Luthan conducts his own investigation--and uncovers a scandal in which homeless people are being used as human guinea pigs in the name of science. The moral Luthan wants to put a stop to this, but doing so may cost him his career--and his life.
Adapted from a book by Michael Palmer, the film marches to its conclusion with as much suspense as director Michael Apted's previous thrillers (AGATHA, GORKY PARK, and THUNDERHEART). Grant plays the charming, put-upon Englishman to perfection, while Gene Hackman and Sarah Jessica Parker provide strong supporting roles. An intelligent examination of the contemporary dilemmas in medical ethics, the film concludes with an ending that will challenge viewers' moral beliefs.

Customer Reviews

HUGH DUNNIT
It was weird watching Hugh Grant acting as a serious character. I kept waiting for him to dither and mumble, but he did quite well.

Playing the part of an English doctor in an A+E hospital dept. he uncovers a ghoulish plot to use homeless vagrants as medical guinea pigs, by Gene Hackman, who is trying to use brain stem technology to cure victims of paralysis. Grant plays the hero quite well and thankfully doesn't really go down the James Bond route i feared initially.

Good story and well worth a watch.

Extremely OK
I have hardly seen Hugh Grant is any serious roles, and without being a bumbling hopeless-romantic, and this is a good break away from that stereotyping. He plays Dr. Guy Luthan, the main man of a New York hospital, he may be a little fussy and make difficult decisions, but he is a good doctor. The film by the way starts with two victims of a mysterious experiment, Claude Minkins (Shaun Austin-Olsen) comes to Guy's hospital, and Teddy Dolson (André De Shields) goes missing. Guy is now investigating Claude's mysterious condition for reason of death, and for some reason, all evidence of him or Teddy are not found. The only person who may know something about it would be Dr. Lawrence Myrick (Gene Hackman), who runs a secret research building, where Claude and Teddy escaped. Eventually Guy uncovers that he is taking homeless people to try and find cures for serious conditions, e.g. broken backs. Guy knows that what he is doing is wrong, as he torturing and in some cases murdering these people. Also starring Sarah Jessica Parker as Jodie Trammel, The Green Mile's David Morse as FBI Agent Frank Hare, Sister Act's Bill Nunn as Det. Bob Burke, Shaun Austin-Olsen as Claude Minkins, André De Shields as Teddy Dolson and Spider-Man's J.K. Simmons as Dr. Mingus. The ending is a little hard to handle because when justice is done (accidently), you don't know if it was the right thing to do or not.

whew!
I found the movie really intriguing since it deals with human life. There are two opposing forces in the movie-people who find human creatures, as just mere creatures and people who find it as a sacred and precious gift from above, that need to be respected and cared for. I can see in my own point of view as a Filipino, since Filipinos give importance to one's life.