Golden Gate (I) (1993) User Reviews

Only Joan Chen saves the movie. Matt ugh . He never was an actor. The plot is very thin, and ends way too fast.

[PatrynXX · 6/10 · 24 September 2020]

The Chinese actors were the primaries here. Not much acting from Matt as usual. I've yet to watch a movie of his I've liked. This one is okay but only for Joan. Otherwise pretty weak film.. Yeah it could be rewatchable. but not great..

Quality: 4/10 Entertainment: 7:10 Replayable: 3/10

dillon saves this from being a one-star dog!!!

[inframan · 2/10 · 18 June 2000]

Hey, don't these screenwriters know how to read any more? I mean this screenplay is so rank with vague cliches & timeless imprecision, it's beyond comprehension. There's no cohesion here, narrative, emotional, political or otherwise. It's beyond embarrassment. Woof. Only poor Matt Dillon gives it any dignity or professionality. What is he, the indie's Jeff Bridges? The guy deserves some kind of special award. Definitely.

love and witch hunts

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 5 May 2015]

John Madden's "Golden Gate" mixes issues of racism with McCarthy-era witch hunts. Matt Dillon plays an FBI agent in San Francisco who trumps up charges against a Chinese-American man and later starts up a relationship with the man's daughter (Joan Chen). I actually thought that one of the most effective scenes was the college scene in which the Asian-American students reflect on discrimination. But even so I thought that they did a sufficient job looking at the issues. I understand that screenwriter David Henry Hwang is a noted dramatist; indeed, part of the movie feels like a play.

Anyway, pretty good movie. Also starring Bruno Kirby (young Pete Clemenza in "The Godfather Part II"), Teri Polo (Pam in "Meet the Parents") and Tzi Ma (one of the accomplices in the remake of "The Ladykillers").

Highly atmospheric but flimsy on plot

[alanshills · 20 December 2018]

John Madden, who last year brought to life a dark, moody adaptation of Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome, shows some of the same tendencies with Golden Gate. In spite of the film's uneven tone, the atmosphere is consistently strong. The sense of place, cemented by various shots of the Golden Gate Bridge, is never lost on the viewer. Unfortunately, the sudden shifts in mood, and the screenplay's unwillingness to develop in a more original direction, hamper Golden Gate. The movie has themes to explore, and it holds the audience's attention while doing so, but there are flaws that even all the fog of the Bay Area can't conceal. The acting by leads Matt Dillon and Joan Chen is more than adequate.

A bridge made of cardboard

[poj-man · 2/10 · 2 May 2013]

Who knew that the Golden Gate was made of cardboard instead of steel? Obviously not the producers and the director of this garbage. They filled the film with cardboard characters and standard tripe.

Matt Damon plays a guy who wanders around morosely spouting below stock lines trying to reconcile his life as a Federal Agent. He works in Chinatown for years but throughout a whole film set in Chinatown not one damn person speaks Chinese ever in the film! Throughout the film the Chinese actors and actresses speak fluent 1980's style English. They all dress drably except when it is time to show of Ms. Chen. Then she wears a bright red tittie-forming top that makes her stand out against the drabness all around Chinatown. The hokiness of the story and characters dribs and drabs making one dread each next line of dialog for it is obviously going to be worse than the prior one.

Meanwhile...like an Okie of John Steinbeck's...Matt Damon never is seen having a home in Chinatown at all. All he does is wander around from scene to scene. There is not one shred of him being a realistic human at all.

This film is so awful it makes one want to throw themselves off the Golden Gate bridge.

period piece... looking for communists

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 15 June 2020]

Matt Dillon is agent Walker, a young FBI agent in 1952. he and partner Pirelli (Bruno Kirby) are tracking down communists here in the Chinese community of san francisco. They find a loophole to bring charges on a guy sending money home to his mom back in china. he's back out of jail now, but when Walker checks up on him, he's flipped out because he can't get a job. Joan Chen narrates the story, and she also plays "Marilyn", Song Chen's daughter. Walker wants to do something to help the daughter, but it seems she doesn't know the role Walker played in putting him away. but of course, the daughter DOES find out. and things go haywire from there. some big issues going on. some great scenes of san francisco. it's pretty good! gets dark in places. Directed by John Madden.. he was nominated for shakespeare in love.

A touching and timeless film of tragic love

[radio_tokyo · 10/10 · 8 June 2007]

I caught this film late one night in Japan. I had never heard of it and was amazed. I've always liked Matt Dillon, and fell in love with Joan Chen watching this film.

Matt Dillon is his usual brilliant self playing an FBI agent who falls in love with a subject under observation. He contrives a way to meet her and they connect with a blinding love. However a love founded on a great lie and betrayal. Joan Chen is beautiful and pure, true to her culture and family. Her role here could not have been portrayed by an American-Chinese actress with such realism.

This film spoke to my heart and I would definitely rate that night in Japan watching this as an unforgettable experience. Watch it if you like films that speak true.

Incredibly real

[theoneonlybob · 9/10 · 30 January 2020]

Matt Dillon is so good in anything he does. This is a heartbreaker of mistakes both human and political. It had nothing to do with left or right just a story of the times told with a realism which must have been repeated many times. A hidden gem of a movie.

Interesting, era-relevant, and outstanding lead roles

[divincenzo-12367 · 10/10 · 25 January 2016]

I came across this film while in my workshop. I stopped working and from there on, I sat and was drawn into this film. Matt Dillon (you either like him or hate him). I like him, as the FBI agent Kevin David Walker, and Joan Chen as his lover Marilyn Song, have chemistry that appears real. The plot is era correct, in every way. The paranoia about Communism and Marijuana was depicted as a tool of subversive abuse by the FBI and local police. This was well acted by character actor Bruno Kirby who portrays Dillon's boss, Ron Pirelli and is good in this role. The story is a bit slow in some spots, but that is overcome by the underlying disintegration of Dillon's life. The last scene was a cinematic masterpiece and had me in tears. It is a gem that should be on every viewers list.

Entertaining and relatively accurate view of how lives were destroyed by right wing hysteria

[midas55 · 8/10 · 16 October 2008]

Despite the ridiculous comments about the movie "not taking seriously the Communist threat" there was no Communist threat in the 50's. The only threat was that of the right-wing zealots who, in their crooked hysteria, did their best to destroy the Consitution and the Bill of Rights for their own political gains! Sort of sounds like today, doesn't it? The movie is very well done, although a little hazy in the script but excellent performances by the leads make up for it! The ending is a little too sudden and a little too fantasy laden for my tastes but I get the impression that it was meddled with by the studio types.

an under-rated film gem

[dmans-899-510846 · 10/10 · 13 January 2016]

Feel like this is an under-rated classic with a film noir touch. Had an odd way of drawing you in until you were completely seduced. Just something about it made me love it more each time I viewed it. The acting was wonderful and well-done. Always nice to see Bruno Kirby though a different role for him. Same for Matt Dillon - totally unexpected but nice the same. Liked the atmosphere & setting which adds to the allure. A shame this was not better promoted as seems to be somewhat unknown. Regardless people should really give this a chance & check it out. Will be purchasing this as I could watch many more times. Truly unique.