LIVE WIRE (1992)
“Live Wire,” a 1992 action thriller directed by Christian Duguay, stars Pierce Brosnan as Danny O’Neill, a wisecracking FBI bomb expert in Washington, D.C. The plot kicks off when a U.S. senator is gruesomely killed—exploding after drinking water laced with an undetectable liquid explosive. O’Neill, estranged from his wife Terry (Lisa Eilbacher) after her affair with Senator Frank Traveres (Ron Silver), is pulled into the case as more politicians die in fiery, public blasts. The bombings trace back to Mikhail Rashid (Ben Cross), a terrorist mastermind targeting the Senate to derail a Middle East peace deal, backed by a shadowy traitor.
O’Neill’s investigation reveals the explosive is ingested, turning victims into human bombs—a chilling twist weaponized by Rashid’s crew, including a sultry assassin (Ingrid Uribe). As he races against time, O’Neill clashes with Traveres, who’s sleeping with Terry and dodging the blasts, fueling personal stakes. The action ramps up with car chases, a motorcycle stunt through a glass wall, and a tense bomb-defusing scene in a park fountain. Brosnan’s charisma—pre-Bond—shines amid quips and mulleted machismo, though the script leans on ’90s clichés.
The climax pits O’Neill against Rashid in a senator-filled trap at Traveres’ mansion. After a brutal fight—Rashid’s hand impaled on a chandelier—O’Neill force-feeds him the explosive, ending the threat with a literal bang. Terry survives a rigged car, but their marriage stays rocky, leaving O’Neill a lone hero. Shot with New Line Cinema’s modest budget, “Live Wire” mixes practical stunts and a pulsing score, earning cult status despite mixed reviews—praised for pace, panned for predictability. It’s a time capsule of early ’90s action: bold, brash, and unapologetically over-the-top, with Brosnan flexing his action chops before 007.
