Two-Minute Warning

1976
R
1h 55m

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

4.5K

YOUR RATING

Home Video Trailer from Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Play trailer1:45

1 Video

59 Photos

Dark Comedy Tragedy Action Crime Drama Mystery Thriller

A crazed sniper is set to kill spectators at an L.A. Coliseum football championship game and the police race against time to eliminate him.A crazed sniper is set to kill spectators at an L.A. Coliseum football championship game and the police race against time to eliminate him.A crazed sniper is set to kill spectators at an L.A. Coliseum football championship game and the police race against time to eliminate him.

Director
- Larry Peerce
Writers
- George LaFountaine
- Edward Hume
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

4.5K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Larry Peerce
Writers
- George LaFountaine
- Edward Hume
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total

Trivia
Actors who appeared in the film's television version who didn't appear in the cinema movie included Rossano Brazzi, Joanna Pettet, Paul Shenar, James Olson, and William Prince. Warren Miller reprised his role as "The Sniper" and Charlton Heston shot three short new scenes for the television version. Heston's hair is of a noticeably different color in these new scenes.

Goofs
When Pratt, the SWAT team member, is climbing up to the stadium lights platform, he is first shown in a long shot climbing up the fixed rung ladder attached to the platform's support pole. A close-up then shows Pratt climbing up the steel extension ladder that he used a moment before to ascend to the support pole. A wide shot then shows him ascending the fixed rung ladder on the support pole again.

Quotes
Janet: I was on the same plane as you. I couldn't help but notice how attractive you are. You know you have a very beautiful mouth?
Steve: Yeah, so do you, but it's big. You go away, lady, or I'll call a cop.
Janet: I am a cop.
Steve: Well, then kiss me, I'm crazy about cops.

Alternate versions
Originally with a straightforward plot about a homicidal sniper acting alone and a SWAT team hunting him down, the network-TV version adds 30 minutes of side story, making the sniper a hired hand for a band of robbers, acting as a cover-up for an art heist. This version was conceived during negotiations between Universal Pictures and NBC in 1978, because NBC refused to air a film centered around a homicidal sniper. This version is sometimes aired on broadcast TV in the USA. In this version, the copyright and legal information titles are left out!

Connections
Edited into The Day After (1983)

User reviews69

Review

Featured review

Closer to reality now

A determined sniper is discovered by a TV crew in a scoreboard tower at a football game and how will police deal with the situation. The placement of S.W.A.T. sharpshooters on the light towers to take out the gunman would be the logical response since sneaking up on the guy might provoke him to shoot into the crowd.

I find this film to be a bit slow as stock characters are introduced and placed at the game. Once the sniper takes his position and becomes a threat, this film turns exciting, gritty and violent as shots are exchanged.

The fact that the shooter is faceless adds to the scariness of the situation. Who is this guy and what is his major malfunction?

The recent events in the Washington D.C. area add an air of reality to the movie. Previously no one would have believed that people were capable of such an ugly crime.

"Two-Minute Warning", aside from the formula melodrama, is a creepy thriller that might be a little too real now.