Daredevil (2003)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Mark Steven Johnson

Writer (WGA):

Mark Steven Johnson (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 February 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Fantasy | Thriller

Tagline:

A Guardian Devil.

Plot:

A man blinded by toxic waste which also enhanced his remaining senses fights crime as an acrobatic martial arts superhero.

Plot Keywords:

Daredevil | Lawyer | New York City | Justice | Hazardous Waste

Awards:

4 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Ben Affleck	...	Matt Murdock / Daredevil
Jennifer Garner	...	Elektra Natchios
Colin Farrell	...	Bullseye
Michael Clarke Duncan	...	Wilson Fisk / The Kingpin
Jon Favreau	...	Franklin 'Foggy' Nelson
Scott Terra	...	Young Matt
Ellen Pompeo	...	Karen Page
Joe Pantoliano	...	Ben Urich
Leland Orser	...	Wesley Owen Welch
Lennie Loftin	...	Nick Manolis
Erick Avari	...	Nikolas Natchios
Derrick O'Connor	...	Father Everett
Paul Ben-Victor	...	Jose Quesada
David Keith	...	Jack Murdock
Frankie J. Allison	...	Abusive Father (as Frankie Jay Allison)

Also Known As:

Daredevil: A Daring New Vision (USA) (director's cut (DVD title))
Daredevil (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Сорвиголова (Russia) [ru]
Daredevil (Finland) [fi]
Daredevil (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Daredevil (Italy) [it]
Daredevil (Greece) [el]
Daredevil (Germany) [de]
Daredevil (Slovakia) [sk]
Daredevil (Czech Republic) [cs]
Daredevil (Spain) [es]
Daredevil - Mies vailla pelkoa (Finland) (promotional title) [fi]
Daredevil - kartmatu tasuja (Estonia) [et]
Daredevil: El hombre sin miedo (Argentina) [es]
Demolidor - O Homem Sem Medo (Brazil) [pt]
Korkusuz (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for action/violence and some sensuality.

Runtime:

103 min | USA:133 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Greek | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #39586) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:14 (theatrical rating) | Netherlands:12 | India:UA | USA:R (director's cut) | Germany:16 (also director's cut) | Brazil:12 | USA:TV-14 (edited tv version) | Malaysia:U (2008 director's cut DVD release) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M (director's cut) | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14A | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:12 (cut) | Hong Kong:IIB | Malaysia:(Banned) | Mexico:B | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 (director's cut) | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Greece:K-13

Filming Locations:

Biltmore Hotel - 506 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Marvel Enterprises

Trivia:

The rat in the opening sequence is entirely computer generated, the result of a real one not moving appropriately during filming.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the end of the climactic scene between Daredevil and The Kingpin, as the cane is first stuck in the ground we see it on the right-hand side of Kingpin. In the next shot it's gone, and moments later Daredevil drops it right in front of Kingpin although we never see him budge it out from being driven into the floor.

Quotes:

Elektra: You sure you're blind?
Matt Murdock: Sure you don't wanna tell me your name?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Jennifer Garner/Beck (#28.12)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Hang On

One of the best Marvel movies to date

Despite the low ratings this movie has gotten from the masses, I honestly can say that this is probably the best Marvel movie to come out in the recent barrage of comic based movies to hit the big screen. I'm guessing the reason for the lack of high ratings is that most people were looking for a super hero along the lines of Spiderman who saves people and is always doing "the right thing". Well this obviously isn't the case here, as one can clearly see from how Daredevil does away with the baddies. I personally think that the concept of an avenging lawyer who serves up street justice to those that manipulate the system is a great concept. I also think that everybody did a great job of playing their characters as they should be played, yes… I know, even Ben. The only person I thought did a mediocre job was Colin, who only helped to make the already stupid looking Bullseye look even dumber then the character deserves. As you can no doubt guess from reading this, I'm a huge fan of the series. What you probably wouldn't guess is that choosing Michael Clarke Duncan to play the Kingpin is by far the best "improvisational" casting choice I've ever seen. For those of you who don't know, the Kingpin is "supposed" to be a big white guy… we're talking sumo style big. While Michael isn't quite that big, his size and look are by far better then anybody else they could have ever gotten to play this role. So, in conclusion, if you like your hero's on the darker side, a la Batman, then this should be a good choice for you. The effects and story line are great; I can only hope that the only "acceptable" attendance at the theaters won't stop them from making a sequel to this movie… I know, don't hate me… but with Ben playing Daredevil again as well… don't worry, I hate myself too!!! And P.S. Elektra isn't a sequel… it's a separate plot line all together, although they try to link the two at some point in the movie, but that's another comment for another movie.