Green Arrow is a 1982 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and produced by Jon Peters, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It is the first installment of Warner Bros.' initial Green Arrow film series. In the film, Green Arrow is widely believed to be an urban legend until he actively goes to way against Constantine Drakon, a mercenary employed by a crime boss named the Brick.
Plot Summary[]
Oliver Queen (Kevin Costner) meets with a man named Ra's Al Ghul after travelling through the cold snowy mountains. Oliver reveals to Ra's that as a young child, his father Robert Queen would make him practice archery with bows and arrows. Oliver was mildly traumatized the first time he accidentally killed an animal, but when his mother and father were mauled by lions in a tragic safari accident his hesitation to shoot cost them their lives. Afterwards, he was raised by his family butler Eddie Fyers (Pat Hingle) and eventually inherited the family fortune as well as his family's business. However, Oliver is still a disturbed individual following his parents' death and when he learned of Ra's and where he was, he went all this way to seek training from the League of Assassins in order to cope. Ra's agreed to Oliver's request and began to call him Al Sah Him.
Years later, as Star City approaches its bicentennial, Mayor Jessica Dansforth orders district attorney Adrian Chase (Val Kilmer) and police commissioner Brian Nudocerdo (Christopher Walken) to make the city safer. Meanwhile, mobster Daniel Brickwell (Jack Palace) is conspiring to takeover Salvatore Valestra's criminal organization which is why he hires a mercenary named Constantine Drakon (Neil Clifford) to kill all of the strippers at clubs owned by Valestra night after night as a distraction for everyone while carrying out his plot since Valestra has half the Star City Police Department in his payroll.
Oliver returns to civilization and is reunited with Fyers and his old friend Walter Steele (Billy Dee Williams). They can sense that Oliver has changed, and try to question him about his time on the island after viewing the numerous scars that have riddled his body. After learning about the serial killer preying on Strippers, Oliver sets up his secret lair and becomes a green hooded vigilante armed with a bow, arrows, shurikens, a katana, and throwing knives. Oliver had homicidal urges because of his childhood trauma which is why Ra's suggested that Oliver cope with it by giving his monster an identity while training him. Oliver begins targeting criminals as the vigilante nicknamed "Green Arrow" by first killing a pedophile named Al Muncy.
Chase confronts Valestra about the killings, however, Valestra denies any knowledge about it. However, as more of the homicides occur on his strippers, Valestra and Nudocerdo both believe that the Green Arrow is responsible which is why Nudocerdo orders for Detective Lucas Hilton (Erik King) to investigate the vigilante. The only reason Nudocerdo suspects the Green Arrow is because of him killing criminals and the strippers all being employed at strip clubs owned by Valestra.
As Hilton investigates clues to who the killer may be, he gets smitten with a stripper named Loretta (Melanie Griffith). However, Loretta had become a drug addict in order to cope with the recent murders of her fellow strippers which prompts Hilton to do whatever it takes to bring in the Green Arrow. Hilton tries to capture the vigilante many times only for the Green Arrow to evade him. In the meantime, Brickwell began his crusade against Valestra by arranging for his henchmen to rob a casino owned by Valestra which fools Valestra into believing that the other crime lords are involved which is why he orders hits on them. The first crime lord was killed during a game of Poker after finding the Joker card, the second crime lord was killed when a thug used a flamethrower while posing as a clown selling balloons, and another crime lord was assassinated at Star City Plaza.
In desperation, Hilton grabs his gun and a ski mask and robs Valestra of his money. Hilton uses $70,000 of the take to pay for Loretta's treatment and gives the rest to Father Michael, who runs a local makeshift shelter, and admits to Loretta how he got the money for her treatment. Oliver learns of this and confronts Hilton as the Green Arrow convincing him that he is not responsible for what happened to the strippers, however, Hilton refuses to believe him.
One of Valestra's customers, who gave Hilton a tip as to the location where Valestra kept his money, breaks down under his questioning and gives Hilton to the drug lord. Valestra kidnaps Hilton and tortures him to find out what he did with the money. Knowing that Hilton will not reveal the information, and is about to be killed, Oliver blows his cover and saves him. Together they are forced to kill Beniamino and his colleagues. Oliver confronts Hilton again as the Green Arrow and convinces him to be his ally by revealing that he saved him while posing as the thug Matches Malone.
Drakon ambushes Loretta and attempts to kill her. Hilton, who was once a boxer who retired after killing an opponent in the ring, attacks Drakon and manages to kill him. Nudocerdo arrives to the scene with several police officers to discover that Drakon is dead. However, Nudocerdo still allows Hilton to take Loretta home much to the dismay of Lieutenant Max Eckhardt, who has a dislike for Hilton.
Commissioner Nuocerdo announces to the public that the killer is off the streets and that the Green Arrow will not be hunted down for what he has done despite the fact that still do not condone vigilantism. Hilton, having figured out Oliver is the Green Arrow, goes to confront Eddie about it. Eddie tells him that Oliver is out. Hilton responds by claiming he is not surprised, as Green Arrow confronts Brickwell during his operations and kills him after figuring out that he employed Drakon. Normally the Green Arrow wouldn't be involved in mob affairs, however, he decided to make an exception for Brickwell since he contributed to the crime on the streets.
Cast[]
- Kevin Costner as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
- Neil Clifford as Constantine Drakon/The Night Knifer
- Jack Palace as Daniel Brickwell/The Brick
- Val Kilmer as Adrian Chase
- Billy Dee Williams as Walter Steele
- Erik King as Lucas Hilton
- Dennis Paladino as Salvatore Valestra
- Pat Hingle as Eddie Fyers
- Christopher Walken as Brian Nudocerdo
- Melanie Griffith as Loretta