Desperate Measures LaserDisc, Rare LaserDiscs
AC-3 Dolby Digital Laser Disc

Worlds Leading Rare LaserDisc Authority

Bullet-proof Boxing Systems

Member Sign-In

Forgot your password ?

Stay Signed-in

Go To Sign-in Page

Widescreen Editions Desperate Measures AC-3 WS Rare LaserDisc Keaton Garcia Chase Movie Thriller

Desperate Measures AC-3 WS Rare LaserDisc Keaton Garcia Chase Movie Thriller

A Mass Murderer on the Loose and Dying Son... Sounds Fun

Desperate Measures AC-3 WS Rare LaserDisc Keaton Garcia Chase Movie Thriller

A Mass Murderer on the Loose and Dying Son... Sounds Fun

Rare Dolby Digital AC-3, Widescreen, LaserDisc Movie Near-Mint LaserDisc and Jacket with light scratch on front and compressed corner

$4.97

Click to Zoom-in on Hi-res Pictures

Desperate Measures AC-3 WS Rare LaserDisc Keaton Garcia Chase Movie Thriller

A Mass Murderer on the Loose and Dying Son... Sounds Fun

Rare Dolby Digital AC-3, Widescreen, LaserDisc Movie Near-Mint LaserDisc and Jacket with light scratch on front and compressed corner

$4.97

Member Options

$4.97

Rare Dolby Digital AC-3, Widescreen, LaserDisc Movie

Near-Mint LaserDisc and Jacket with light scratch on front and compressed corner

Michael Keaton and Andy Garcia in...

Desperate Measures

( Catalog Number 21756 )
(1.85:1) (2 Sides) (CLV) (CC) (NTSC)

LaserDisc Special Features

Best Version on LaserDisc
See Many More Rare Dolby Digital AC-3 LaserDiscs at DaDon's...

Desperate Measures
1998 - 100 min. - Color
Genre: Thriller
Rated R
Country: USA

LaserDisc Movie Storyline:
Widowed police officer Frank Conner (Andy Garcia) has a cancer-stricken nine-year-old son, Matthew (Joseph Cross), whose only hope for survival is a bone-marrow transplant, but the only matching donor is Pete McCabe (Michael Keaton), a vicious, psychotic killer being held in a maximum-security prison. McCabe at first denies Conner's request for help but then agrees, devising an elaborate plan to use the medical procedure as an opportunity to escape. McCabe breaks loose before the transfusion can occur, and Conner is forced to become both his tracker and his ally, wanting to bring the serial killer back into custody but determined--for the sake of his son--to keep McCabe alive. 

Keaton is chilling as the vicious, brilliant convict, while Garcia turns in a heartfelt performance as a devoted father caught in the middle of a bad situation getting worse. With DESPERATE MEASURES, director Barbet Schroeder (REVERSAL OF FORTUNE), renowned for his knack of combining urgent family drama with white-knuckle suspense, adds another crowd-pleasing, thought-provoking film to his list of successes.

LaserDisc Movie Review:
Although he enjoyed great critical success with crime dramas and slice-of-life pictures, director Barbet Schroeder continued dabbling in the thriller genre with this action-oriented film. Andy Garcia stars as Frank Conner, a widowed San Francisco police officer whose young son Matt (Joseph Cross) is suffering from leukemia. Without a bone marrow transplant, Matt will die, but Frank isn't a donor. In fact, the only potential match is prison inmate Peter McCabe (Michael Keaton), a psychotic but charming serial killer. At first, McCabe refused to participate despite Conner's pleas, but eventually, the convict relents and agrees to the procedure. It is all a ruse, however, as McCabe has discovered a clever way to escape the confines of the operating room where Matt's oncologist, Dr. Hawkins (Marcia Gay Harden) is scheduled to perform the transplant. Faced with the dual nightmare of his son's deteriorating condition and a mass murderer on the loose in a major metropolitan hospital, the frantic Conner finds himself bending and even breaking the law to bring McCabe down and save Matt's life. --- Karl Williams

Desperate Measures would be an utterly unremarkable, middle-of-the-road thriller if it weren't for its one original idea: that its escaped convict can't be brought down by force because the pursuing detective needs his bone marrow, which will be useless if he's dead. Even so, it does little of interest with that clever plot point, making for a second-rate film that continues Barbet Schroeder's run of disappointing projects following his American breakthrough in Reversal of Fortune. Andy Garcia and Michael Keaton sleepwalk through their respective performances as cat and mouse, with Garcia imploring earnestly and Keaton sneering remorselessly. Both look like they might have an appointment to be elsewhere. It doesn't help that David Klass' script hangs them out to dry, offering several implausible escapes but no sustained --- or even momentary --- tension. Even without such an anonymous --- albeit accurate - title, Desperate Measures would be destined to get lost in the bargain bin of the local video store, among dozens of other low-level thrillers with interchangeable parts. --- Derek Armstrong

Thanks for Visiting DaDon's !

Reviews, Articles, Newsletter and Information for Movies on LaserDisc LD Laser Disc, LazerDisc.

Cast for Desperate Measures

Michael Keaton - Peter McCabe
Andy Garcia - Frank Conner
Brian Cox - Jeremiah Cassidy
Marcia Gay Harden - Samantha Hawkins
Erik King - Nate Oliver
Efrain Figueroa - Vargus
Joseph Cross - Matthew Conner
Janel Maloney - Sarah Davis
Richard Riehle - Ed Fayne

Crew for Desperate Measures

Barbet Schroeder - Director / Producer
Gary Foster - Producer
Susan Hoffman - Producer
Lee Rich - Producer
David Klass - Screenwriter
Luciano Tovoli - Cinematographer
Trevor Jones - Composer (Music Score)
Lee Percy - Editor
Geoffrey Kirkland - Production Designer
Sandy Getzler - Art Director
Josie Rosen - Co-producer
Jeffrey Chernov - Executive Producer
Jennifer Williams - Set Designer
Gary Jones - Costume Designer
Steve Nelson - Sound/Sound Designer
Geoffrey Hansen - First Assistant Director
James M. Halty - Stunts
Howard Feuer - Casting

Feature Details

Title: Desperate Measures
Feature Release Date: 1998
Genre: Thriller
Rating: R
Color: Color
Runtime: 100 Minutes
Chapters: 44
Picture: Letterboxed
Ratio: 1.85:1
Playback Format: CLV

IMDB Info...

Technical Details

LD Release Date: 2 Jun 1998
Catalog Number: 21756
UPC: 043396217560
ISBN: 0-7678-1255-7
Manufacturer: DADC USA
Publisher: Columbia Tri-Star Video

Diameter: 12"
Sides: 2
Cover: Jacket
Sound Analog Right: Dolby Digital 5.1
Closed Caption: English
Spoken Language: English
Country: USA
Video Format: NTSC

Model: 21756
Shipping Weight: 1 lbs
0 in Stock

Rare Dolby Digital AC-3, Widescreen, LaserDisc Movie

Near-Mint LaserDisc and Jacket with light scratch on front and compressed corner

Michael Keaton and Andy Garcia in...

Desperate Measures

( Catalog Number 21756 )
(1.85:1) (2 Sides) (CLV) (CC) (NTSC)

LaserDisc Special Features

Best Version on LaserDisc
See Many More Rare Dolby Digital AC-3 LaserDiscs at DaDon's...

Desperate Measures
1998 - 100 min. - Color
Genre: Thriller
Rated R
Country: USA

LaserDisc Movie Storyline:
Widowed police officer Frank Conner (Andy Garcia) has a cancer-stricken nine-year-old son, Matthew (Joseph Cross), whose only hope for survival is a bone-marrow transplant, but the only matching donor is Pete McCabe (Michael Keaton), a vicious, psychotic killer being held in a maximum-security prison. McCabe at first denies Conner's request for help but then agrees, devising an elaborate plan to use the medical procedure as an opportunity to escape. McCabe breaks loose before the transfusion can occur, and Conner is forced to become both his tracker and his ally, wanting to bring the serial killer back into custody but determined--for the sake of his son--to keep McCabe alive. 

Keaton is chilling as the vicious, brilliant convict, while Garcia turns in a heartfelt performance as a devoted father caught in the middle of a bad situation getting worse. With DESPERATE MEASURES, director Barbet Schroeder (REVERSAL OF FORTUNE), renowned for his knack of combining urgent family drama with white-knuckle suspense, adds another crowd-pleasing, thought-provoking film to his list of successes.

LaserDisc Movie Review:
Although he enjoyed great critical success with crime dramas and slice-of-life pictures, director Barbet Schroeder continued dabbling in the thriller genre with this action-oriented film. Andy Garcia stars as Frank Conner, a widowed San Francisco police officer whose young son Matt (Joseph Cross) is suffering from leukemia. Without a bone marrow transplant, Matt will die, but Frank isn't a donor. In fact, the only potential match is prison inmate Peter McCabe (Michael Keaton), a psychotic but charming serial killer. At first, McCabe refused to participate despite Conner's pleas, but eventually, the convict relents and agrees to the procedure. It is all a ruse, however, as McCabe has discovered a clever way to escape the confines of the operating room where Matt's oncologist, Dr. Hawkins (Marcia Gay Harden) is scheduled to perform the transplant. Faced with the dual nightmare of his son's deteriorating condition and a mass murderer on the loose in a major metropolitan hospital, the frantic Conner finds himself bending and even breaking the law to bring McCabe down and save Matt's life. --- Karl Williams

Desperate Measures would be an utterly unremarkable, middle-of-the-road thriller if it weren't for its one original idea: that its escaped convict can't be brought down by force because the pursuing detective needs his bone marrow, which will be useless if he's dead. Even so, it does little of interest with that clever plot point, making for a second-rate film that continues Barbet Schroeder's run of disappointing projects following his American breakthrough in Reversal of Fortune. Andy Garcia and Michael Keaton sleepwalk through their respective performances as cat and mouse, with Garcia imploring earnestly and Keaton sneering remorselessly. Both look like they might have an appointment to be elsewhere. It doesn't help that David Klass' script hangs them out to dry, offering several implausible escapes but no sustained --- or even momentary --- tension. Even without such an anonymous --- albeit accurate - title, Desperate Measures would be destined to get lost in the bargain bin of the local video store, among dozens of other low-level thrillers with interchangeable parts. --- Derek Armstrong

Thanks for Visiting DaDon's !

Reviews, Articles, Newsletter and Information for Movies on LaserDisc LD Laser Disc, LazerDisc.

Cast for Desperate Measures

Michael Keaton - Peter McCabe
Andy Garcia - Frank Conner
Brian Cox - Jeremiah Cassidy
Marcia Gay Harden - Samantha Hawkins
Erik King - Nate Oliver
Efrain Figueroa - Vargus
Joseph Cross - Matthew Conner
Janel Maloney - Sarah Davis
Richard Riehle - Ed Fayne

Crew for Desperate Measures

Barbet Schroeder - Director / Producer
Gary Foster - Producer
Susan Hoffman - Producer
Lee Rich - Producer
David Klass - Screenwriter
Luciano Tovoli - Cinematographer
Trevor Jones - Composer (Music Score)
Lee Percy - Editor
Geoffrey Kirkland - Production Designer
Sandy Getzler - Art Director
Josie Rosen - Co-producer
Jeffrey Chernov - Executive Producer
Jennifer Williams - Set Designer
Gary Jones - Costume Designer
Steve Nelson - Sound/Sound Designer
Geoffrey Hansen - First Assistant Director
James M. Halty - Stunts
Howard Feuer - Casting

Feature Details

Technical Details

Welcome Rare LaserDisc Collector !

In order to purchase from DaDons you need to be a Member Learn more about Membership Benefits

Movie Search

Movie Browser

Disc Label

223

714

247

1007

283

Full Moon - Cult LD's

IMAX - Documentaries

Pioneer Special Edition

188

RKO Classic Collection

152

102

Disc Format

1396

AC-3 Dolby Digital 6.1

Anamorphic / Squeeze

Black & White - B & W

2934

676

274

205

40799

Japan AC-3 Dolby LD's

408

Japan Boxsets

728

Japan Dolby Digital 6.1

115

431

1038

New Factory-Sealed LDs

5834

3969

1309

1540

249

11096

Disc Genre

4158

1163

2513

200

683

5023

3643

1751

6001

358

423

2264

889

2787

164

969

2645

611

DaDon's All Rights Reserved - All trademarks and copyrights on this web site are owned by their respective owners
LazerDisc Movies, Features and Reviews. Information, Articles and Laser Disc Tips and Tricks.

Desperate Measures LaserDisc, Rare LaserDiscs AC-3 Dolby Digital Laser Disc

Desperate Measures AC-3 WS Rare LaserDisc Keaton Garcia Chase Movie Thriller

Rare Dolby Digital AC-3, Widescreen, LaserDisc Movie

LaserDisc Special Features

Rare Dolby Digital AC-3, Widescreen, LaserDisc Movie

LaserDisc Special Features

Movie Search

Disc Genre

Desperate Measures LaserDisc, Rare LaserDiscs
AC-3 Dolby Digital Laser Disc