First Target (2000 TV Movie) User Reviews

Tense, above-average save-the-day action-suspense potboiler.

[8-Foot · 6/10 · 22 October 2000]

Gregory Harrison and Doug Savant return as U.S. President and outdoors adventure guide, respectively, in this sequel to "First Daughter" (1999 TV). Daryl Hannah appears as the take-charge head of the President's Secret Service detail and Savant's love interest. This time, it's the president who's the target of one or maybe more assassins, and again it will be the outdoorsman, not the Secret Service, who facilitates the save. Naturally.

Almost to excess, there is treachery all over the place---the details won't be divulged here---but then you have to grudgingly admire the reaching. Consequently, dead bodies abound as the action takes off early and proceeds to its suspenseful conclusion. Production values are first rate.

In the end, this potboiler is a better way to kill time than most of its ilk. Let's hope that our country never faces the situation depicted here.

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Watchers of technical details will wonder why a brand new aerial tramway has peeling paint; also, how you can have doors turning into splintered bullet-hole sieves without endangering participants in a Secret Service training exercise.

not as good as the first movie in the series First Daughter,

[disdressed12 · 6/10 · 1 June 2010]

and mainly because of Darryl Hannah,in my opinion.not that she's a bad actress.but in this particular role,she's just does not come off as convincing to me.and since her role is pivotal,indeed the most important role in the movie,that kinda puts a damper on the rest of the proceedings.but there are other reasons i didn't like this second film in the series as much.i felt it lacked as much tension.don't get me wrong.there were one or two scenes where things were fairly intense,but just not to the same degree.plus,***minor spoiler***there was a side plot,that really had little to do with the rest of the movie***end of spoiler.filler,perhaps?anyway,despite some problems,this is still a watchable made for TV production.for me,First Target is a 6/10.

followed by First Shot (2002)

Different from the first daughter

[lia00027 · 5/10 · 8 October 2002]

I'm very disappointed with this movie. Alex is very different from the first daughter, in here Daryl Hannah more show her feeling and not clever or as great as Mariel Hemingway. The president better than his bodyguard. And she is not smart or have feeling like first daughter. I lost the tense in here.

A Cliché ridden TV movie

[Gonzolo99 · 2/10 · 23 April 2005]

First of all, has Daryl Hannah ever had a good hair day? Having her play the head of the president's secret service was a stroke of very poor casting. Her acting was good but she was not believable in the role. The other femme fatale, Brandy Ledford was not even good eye candy. Her acting was not passable. This is a TV movie relegated to the likes of runs on Saturday morning on TBS cable. Once you've seen this drivel you'll know why. The assassination plot is so cliché ridden it's a wonder anyone claimed writing credits. The action, what little there was, was poorly shot. This was obviously a low budget Canadian-based movie. How it ever got funded is beyond me.

Very poor

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 1 August 2018]

FIRST TARGET is a laughably stilted television movie featuring Botox-headed Daryl Hannah as the world's most unconvincing secret service agent. She gets drawn into a plot to assassinate the president, but said plot seems to take forever to get going and indeed the film is only interesting - cheesily interesting - in the last 20 minutes of the running time. Until then we get drawn-out and tiresome plotting with repeated scenes of bad computer animations that are supposed to be scary, and a kick-ass female fighter who beats up all the men in the film. Hannah sleepwalks her way through an underwritten role and only the reliable Doug Savant, of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES fame, lifts the spirits. The ending is hilarious in a knock-off-of WHERE EAGLES DARE kind of way, but it's all very poor.

Something Wrong

[giovannisyd · 27 March 2002]

This is a good action movie and it has a good stroy line. But there's something wrong with this movie. In the scene(with wide shot), when the senator was making out with the Hitman Lady in the bathroom, the camera was moving from the left to the right frame. Starting when the camera was about in the middle frame, I could see the 2 camera guys and also the camera from the reflection of the Shower Glass. This was unbelievable..........

Fodder

[cudax · 3/10 · 20 June 2023]

First off, the casting was lousy. Darryl Hannah has never been much more than a mediocre actress. In my opinion, she isn't even that attractive. If you gave her a crew cut, she could easily pass herself off as a man. The femme Fatale, played by Brandy Ledford is almost passable as far as looks go, but couldn't act her way out of a paper bag. The plot is a cliché as are most of the primary characters. I wonder how the cast got through the wooden dialog and how any writer would ever claim this drivel. The extreme closeups do nothing to enhance this flick, they are only unnecessary distractions in something that is such a snooze fest already! I am being charitable by giving it three stars. As for the tram itself, when the president is told to get everyone down on the floor, he does that, but a minute later, they show an open hatch in the center of the floor, which very few tram gondolas have. There's usually a manual override on the sliding door and a hatch to the rooftop for maintenance personnel.

Solid Thriller

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 12 January 2009]

The Secret Service Agent Alex McGregor (Daryl Hannah) is in charge of the security of President Jonathan Hayes (Gregory Harrison), who is facing problems with a powerful group represented by his vice-president (Ken Camroux) and the entrepreneur and Senator Jack 'J.P.' Hunter (Tom Butler) that helped him to win the elections. Alex's fiancé Grant Coleman (Doug Savant) is a close friend of the president, after saving the life of his daughter Jessica, and he intends to propose Alex. The conspirators leaded by Hunter decide to eliminate President Hayes while in Seattle to inaugurate the cable wire transportation Skytran, and they hire the professional and seductive killer Nina Stahl (Ona Grauer) and her brother and hacker Evan Stahl (Aaron Grain). With part of the Secret Service compromised and serving to the purposes of the Vice-President, Alex faces difficulties to protect the president.

"First Target" is a surprisingly solid thriller made for television that overcame my best expectations. The beginning is exaggerated, with the drill of the agents, but the screenplay develops the characters very well. The gorgeous Daryl Hannah seems to be tailored for this role and has a great performance. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Alvo Principal" ("The Main Target")

Executive Action

[lavatch · 7/10 · 18 March 2022]

"First Target" was a bit stiff and wooden with a predictable plot and one-dimensional characters. But Darryl Hannah turned in a stalwart effort as Alex McGregor, who headed up the Secret Service to protect the President of the United States in his time of need.

There was some good footage in the Seattle area, as the film built to the climactic scene. A small group of turncoats had plotted the assassination due the President's unwillingness to kowtow to their special interests.

Two of the principal villains were a dastardly brother-sister team who were skilled in computer technology and weaponry. The greedy businessman had teamed up with the Vice-President, as well as two other "dirty" members of the Secret Service. The executive committee took a unanimous vote to kill the President.

The key members who prevented a dark day in American history were Kelsey, the Secret Service agent who has trained with great rigor by Alex. It was surprising how deep the conspiracy went with the VP, plus two dirty agents.

One of the most essential characters was Alex's boyfriend, Grant Coleman. As a rugged outdoorsman, Grant had already saved the life of the President's daughter. Now, he is johnny-on-the-spot in playing a role to distract the villains. There was plenty of action in the final scene, as well as an effective denouement with a wedding proposal on the sky tram. What was unexpected is who popped the question, Alex or Grant. The film offered an exciting ride!

Very cool sequel!

[Streetwolf · 7/10 · 28 August 2001]

Daryl Hannah was much better than Merial Hemmingway as an agent even though they are both good actresses.Doug Savant returns as river guide Grant Carlson, who is on the verge of proposing to his girlfriend Agent Alex McGregor, but it's always a bad timing thing so he doesn't get the chance. A new group of agents work with Alex and they keep receiving death threats against President Jonathan Hayes again played by the gorgeous Gregory Harrison.Brandy Ledford gives a stunning performance as Agent Kelsey, who Alex always pushes around to toughen her up. Two assassins are hired by someone to make a perfect plan on killing the President, but first they intend to lure him to Seattle where they have people on the inside to help kill the President. A very handsome Aaron Grain stars as Evan, one of the assassins. Action packed sequel to First Daughter. I was looking forward on watching this and now I'll wait for the 3rd part! I just keep wondering why there isn't a love interest yet for the President since he did say in the first movie that he is a widower. I thought sparks would fly between him and Alex, but hey no such luck. It would be interesting to see that. This movie was good, but I don't think Daryl Hannah will be in the 3rd movie and it was also interesting to see the President trying to set Alex and Grant up.

Good Action TV Movie

[kenandraf · 12 August 2002]

Good action TV movie that delivers what is expected of it.An action movie about the Secret Service defending a U.S.President.Nothing spetacular and not too cheesy either.Just consistent production delivery.Good to see Hannah portray an action role.Only for big fans of Hannah and TV action movies......

Slick thriller.

[gergen45 · 10/10 · 3 February 2006]

This is a really good made for TV movie. Daryl Hannah turns in a top rate performance. Direction is excellent. The pacing is fast and I never lost interest during the whole movie. There are good supporting performances all round particularly Peter Fleming as Mcall. This went out on TV3 Ireland January 2006, just the tonic for a dull winter's Friday night!. I noticed at the end that it was made in Canada. Usually what we get here from Canada is pretty awful but this one is superior in a whole lot of different departments. If it is low budget it never shows. There are lots of clever twists so anybody could be a bad guy! Watch out for this one!

knockout

[cl-15 · 10/10 · 18 October 2000]

this film rocked - feature quality. tbs are treating us well with a show like this. daryl hannah as an action hero, who would have thought. also a very sexy opening - the sequel to this is going to be fun.

Pretty Basic

[bchawaii · 28 March 2001]

Not much to say for itself other than the fact that Darryl Hannah, and more importantly, Ona Grauer, are both in it. No pic of Ona here at IMDB, but there should be. This is blond deliciousness at its best: evil and sultry! Otherwise it has a bit of unbelievable action scenes with a weak plot line linking the secret service babe's (Hannah)boyfriend as the President's fishing buddy. Save it for a VERY rainy day!

First Target was a great movie

[erikwhyte · 10/10 · 11 January 2009]

I never noticed that before, but I guess you have to really sometimes look for the small things. Besides it's a movie and I guess mistakes have to come once in a while, that's life. But overall, it was a great movie, that unfortunately hasn't come to DVD yet, so I hope since "First Shot" has, this one will finally make it. Sort of having your cake and eating it too. Peace-out! Hollywood would make a lot of money (like if they need it????) if they released most/all TV shows. I'm still wait for "The Third Twin" from novelist, Ken Follettt, "Sole Survivor" from novelist, Dean Koontz. All these were amazing TV movies and I hope they will come soon to DVD.

The President (Gregory Harrison) Becomes a Target

[niki-21 · 24 January 2003]

First Target is a cute rewatchable TV movie that is 2nd in a series of 3 TV movies starring Gregory Harrison as the President. This is the only one of the series where the 2nd leading character Alex-(The head of the Secret Service' Protection detail for the President) is not played by Mariel Hemingway, but in fact by Daryl Hannah. The 2 other movies in the series are: First Daughter - 1999 and First Shot - 2002.

not so bad

[Kirpianuscus · 1 August 2019]

The subject is far to be original. But the film has right actors, fair predactibility, easy story, some sexuality and humor, love story and Gregory Harrison for the president role. And , sure, a not bad Doug Savant.