Detonator is 2003 Direct-To-DVD film about a former FBI agent stopping a domestic terrorist in Los Angeles. The film stars Randall Bantikoff, Elizabeth Berkeley, Stan Shaw, Bookem Woodbrine, and Denis Forest. This was one of Forest's last roles before his unexpected death on March 14, 2002, just a year before the film was released.
The film is notably rare. There is only one trailer on YouTube and another on a German website. Frustratingly enough, it does not have a Wikipedia article. However, it does have an IMDB page, which is the only source of information for this movie.
Detonator provides examples of:
- Asshole Victim: Brickland when he is captured by Steve Kirwin. It's hard to feel sorry for him because he was an asshole to Beau.
- Artistic License – Law Enforcement: FBI agent Jane Dryer sports an outfit that shows part of her midriff. This is a no-no for government agencies. Justified as she was later assigned that same night to provide undercover security to the U.S.-Russia hockey game so dressing up somehow loose would provide the perfect cover.
- Badass Boast: James Grimes, wounded and held at gunpoint, claims the "feds never get things right" before dying of his wounds inflicted by Beau. It turns out he was right after all since it is revealed who was behind the bombings occurring around Los Angeles.
- Black Dude Dies First: Averted. One of the African-American characters is found dead with a bullet to the head by Beau and Jane in one of Steve Kirwin's warehouses. A Time Bomb was placed as a Booby Trap in his body.
- Contrived Coincidence: Just a Beau was busting some street thugs of mailbox vandalism, he witnesses the explosion in one of the buildings dotting the Los Angeles skyline, thus prompting him to drive to that location to investigate.
- Cool Car: Beau drives around town with a classic Chevrolet Camaro muscle car.
- Dark Action Girl: When the FBI raid a suspected house, they encounter a woman who fires at and wounds Beau (acting as a Mole) when the FBI's cover was blown. She is later apprehended.
- Dirty Cop: Since the FBI is technically a law enforcement agency, Brickland counts as one.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Kirwin. The real Big Bad is Brickland.
- The Dragon: James Grimes. He is mistaken as the domestic terrorist behind the LA bombings when in fact Steve Kerwin is the perpetuator and Robert Brickland is the mastermind behind everything.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: For Beau at least. He and Jane have solved the entire conspiracy within the FBI (see The Reveal below) and have rekindled old feelings for each other.
- Foreshadowing: Beau finds a caricature of Brickland tied to a chair with an X on the face in Steve Kirwin's warehouse.
- Friendly Sniper: An FBI sniper provides fire support to the team when they raid James Grimes' house.
- Hidden Villain: In the end, Robert Brickland is exposed as the main antagonist of the film for he orchestrated the events to further his career in the FBI.
- Intrepid Reporter: One is shown to be a Paparazzi of some sort as he takes multiple photos of the bombed building in Downtown Los Angeles. A policeman promptly orders him to back-off and walkaway.
- Monumental Damage: Staples Center goes up in flames just as the attendees and the FBI agents evacuate.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: The villain does this to the FBI Director when he was tied to a chair. Beau manages to catch up with villain and land a few blows at him, but he ultimately overpowers Beau himself.
- No-Sell: When the FBI raids James Grime's hideout, they go full frontal charge. As a result, four FBI agents are killed. And these are highly, trained professional agents clad in body armor against a group of criminals.
- Police Are Useless: They are mostly reduced to background characters while the FBI does most of the work. Averted as they along with firefighters and EMS take part in the evacuation of Staples Center in the climax of the film.
- Post-9/11 Terrorism Movie: This movie was released in 2003 and has many references to terrorism, just not September 11th. However, it is more of a crime movie.
- Precision F-Strike: After being prosecuted by the agents and when it came time for Brickland to be arrested, he remarked “STFU” to Beau to spare him the usual reading of his "rights."
- The Reveal: Robert Brickland, the nominee for the Director of Domestic Security, is revealed by Beau and Jane to be the perpetuator of the Los Angeles bombings that was to further his careen in the FBI when the he was in front of several FBI agents in a post-investigation conference.
- Right-Wing Militia Fanatic: James Grimes and his companions count as one judging by their distrust of the feds as well as having Confederate and POW/MIA flags in their hideout.
- Russia Is Western: The film's climax takes place in a friendly U.S. vs Russia hockey match in Los Angeles. In fact, there are some slight references to the Cold War and how sports enables both countries to cement their friendship.
- Scenery Gorn: In the first few films as Beau busts street thugs from vandalizing mail boxes in a suburban neighborhood, he is interrupted by a big explosion visibly seen from the skyline of downtown Los Angeles.
- Scenery Porn: Establishing shots of the Los Angeles skyline is prominent throughout the film.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: Several FBI agents are armed with shotguns as they raid James Grimes' hideout.
- Shout-Out: To Collateral Damage. This film was released a year after Collateral Damage and involves a plot of terrorist attacks in Los Angeles.
- Stock Footage:
- This movie uses stock footage from Die Hard 2, End of Days, and The Glimmer Man for explosion scenes.
- The overhead shots of the arena, the arena scenes, and parking lot explosions was taken from Jean-Claude Van Damme's Sudden Death.
- Time Bomb: Steve Kirwin's weapon of choice.
- Villain Has a Point: Steve Kirwin, the mentally unstable madman, is angry at the police and the Feds because he wants them to answer for their misuse among vague happenings occurring around Los Angeles.
- Western Terrorists: Rather, a domestic terrorist.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Kirwin felt he had to unleash his psychotic nature upon Los Angeles due to the controversial acts the LAPD and the FBI did during many "vague" and "mysterious" happenings throughout the city.
