# U.S. Marshals (film)
**U.S. Marshals** is a 1998 American action thriller directed by Stuart Baird and written by John Pogue, in which Deputy Marshal Sam Gerard, the character [Tommy Lee Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/tommy-lee-jones) played in *[The Fugitive](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-fugitive-1993-film)* (1993), pursues a fugitive accused of double murder after their prisoner transport plane crashes. It is a spin-off of *The Fugitive*, which in turn was based on the television series of the same name created by Roy Huggins, who shares story credit here.[1](https://moviebuff.herokuapp.com/u-s-marshals) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/us-marshals/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | March 6, 1998 (domestic, wide); distributed by Warner Bros.; rated PG-13; running time 2 hr 11 min[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0120873/) |
| Director and writers | Directed by Stuart Baird; written by John Pogue; story credit Roy Huggins[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/us-marshals/) |
| Lead cast | Tommy Lee Jones (Samuel Gerard), Wesley Snipes (Mark Sheridan), Robert Downey Jr. (John Royce), Kate Nelligan (Catherine Walsh), Joe Pantoliano (Cosmo Renfro)[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/us_marshals) |
| Box office | Domestic $57,167,405; international $45,200,000; worldwide $102,367,405; domestic opening $16,863,988[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0120873/) |
| Critical reception | Rotten Tomatoes 31% Tomatometer (42 reviews), 53% Popcornmeter; Metacritic Metascore 47 from 20 critic reviews[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/us_marshals) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/us-marshals/) |
| Key crew | Original music Jerry Goldsmith; cinematography Andrzej Bartkowiak; editing Terry Rawlings[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/us_marshals/cast-and-crew) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Marshal Sam Gerard and his team are assigned to track down Mark Sheridan ([Wesley Snipes](https://www.edgepedia.org/wesley-snipes)), a federal prisoner accused of a double murder, after the transport plane carrying them crashes and Sheridan escapes in the chaos, not before rescuing several people from the wreckage.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/us_marshals) Gerard is ordered to hunt the fugitive alongside State Department agent John Royce ([Robert Downey Jr.](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-downey-jr)), and the two pursue Sheridan relentlessly even as doubts grow about his guilt.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/us_marshals) A fingerprint investigation reveals the fugitive, initially known as Roberts, is wanted for two murders, and the pursuit takes Gerard's team across swamps, bayous, interstates, and New York; the story involves betrayal and an international spy ring.[6](https://www.movieguide.org/reviews/movies/u-s-marshals.html)
Unlike *The Fugitive*, the film centers on the pursuer rather than the hunted man, and several actors who portrayed deputy marshals in the first film return in their roles, including [Joe Pantoliano](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-pantoliano) as Cosmo Renfro, Daniel Roebuck as Biggs, Tom Wood as Newman, and LaTanya Richardson Jackson as Cooper.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/us-marshals/)
## Production
The film was produced by Anne Kopelson and Arnold Kopelson for Warner Brothers and Kopelson Entertainment.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/us_marshals) To film the plane wreck, the makers leased an actual [Boeing 727](https://www.edgepedia.org/boeing-727) from a Las Vegas casino owner, bought two fuselages to use in the scenes after the crash, and constructed a 1,000-pound model for the impact itself.[1](https://moviebuff.herokuapp.com/u-s-marshals) Director Stuart Baird was a long-time film editor who had turned to directing two years earlier with *Executive Decision*; the Irish Times's Michael Dwyer wrote that he delivered the film's action set pieces with aplomb.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/us_marshals)
## Reception
**Critical response.** The film received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes' critics consensus calls it "a rote albeit well-cast action thriller" that "suffers badly in comparison to the beloved blockbuster that preceded it," and the site recorded 31% on the Tomatometer from 42 reviews with a 53% audience score.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/us_marshals) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 47, labeled mixed or average, based on 20 critic reviews, against a user score of 6.6 from 62 ratings.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/us-marshals/) Roger Ebert, writing in the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times), granted that there were spectacular stunts and that Jones was "right on the money," but judged the story unconvincing and disorganized.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/us-marshals/) [The Christian Science Monitor](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-christian-science-monitor) found it a fast-paced and entertaining chase that was not as fine-tuned or character-driven as its precursor.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/us-marshals/)
**Box office.** The film opened domestically on March 6, 1998 with $16,863,988 and finished with $57,167,405 in the United States and $45,200,000 internationally, for a worldwide total of $102,367,405.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0120873/)
## Retrospective assessment
Commentary since release has generally treated the film as a lesser companion to *The Fugitive*. The Time Out review called it "simply a carbon of the original, with a few token changes," and noted that Snipes plays second fiddle to Jones's pursuing hero.[7](https://www.timeout.com/movies/u-s-marshals) Robert Downey Jr. later called it "possibly the worst action movie of all time," saying in a later interview with [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club) that he remembered little of the production beyond running from place to place and pretending the film could compare with *The Fugitive*.[8](https://as.com/meristation/cine/robert-downey-jr-califico-esta-secuela-como-la-peor-pelicula-de-accion-de-todos-los-tiempos-y-hoy-es-un-clasico-para-muchos-f202608-n/)
## References
1. [U.S. Marshals on Moviebuff.com](https://moviebuff.herokuapp.com/u-s-marshals)
2. [U.S. Marshals (1998) Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/us-marshals/)
3. [U.S. Marshals (1998), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0120873/)
4. [U.S. Marshals, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/us_marshals)
5. [U.S. Marshals Cast and Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/us_marshals/cast-and-crew)
6. [U.S. Marshals review, Movieguide](https://www.movieguide.org/reviews/movies/u-s-marshals.html)
7. [U.S. Marshals 1998 film review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/u-s-marshals)
8. [Robert Downey Jr. on U.S. Marshals, AS.com](https://as.com/meristation/cine/robert-downey-jr-califico-esta-secuela-como-la-peor-pelicula-de-accion-de-todos-los-tiempos-y-hoy-es-un-clasico-para-muchos-f202608-n/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Action, thriller, and crime series film entries › Entries released in the 1990s*
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