While protecting an Amish boy - who is the sole witness to a brutal murder - and his mother, a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when his own life is threatened.While protecting an Amish boy - who is the sole witness to a brutal murder - and his mother, a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when his own life is threatened.While protecting an Amish boy - who is the sole witness to a brutal murder - and his mother, a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when his own life is threatened.
- Won 2 Oscars
- 13 wins & 28 nominations total
The Life and Times of Harrison Ford
The Life and Times of Harrison Ford
Take a look back at Harrison Ford's movie career in photos.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn preparation for her role, Kelly McGillis lived with an actual Amish widow and her seven children for a while before filming began to get the speech cadence down and to observe the daily life of an Amish widowed mother.
- GoofsJohn Book's Volkswagen hit the birdhouse and broke its windshield. Later the car is seen in the barn with an unbroken windshield.
- Crazy creditsThe closing shot of John Book driving away in his car passing Daniel provides an initial backdrop for the end credits.
- Alternate versionsIn the original theatrical stereo mix, just after John Book is shot, we see a close-up of his gun and a voice-over from an earlier conversation Book had with the captain. We hear the words: "Who else knows about this? "Just you and me." In the DVD version, which contains a remixed 5.1 track, we see the close-up of the gun and then it segues to Book's sister waking up Rachel and her son Samuel, but the voice-over is missing. In addition to that, there are also new sound effects like ambient noise and especially gunshots added throughout. However Arrow's 2023 4K release restores the theatrical mix which contains the original sound effects and the missing parking garage dialogue.
- Soundtracks(What a) Wonderful World
(1959)
Written by Sam Cooke, Herb Alpert and Lou Adler
Performed by Greg Chapman
Courtesy of Abkco Music, Inc.
Featured review
Witness (1985)
It is a film about adults, whose lives have dignity and whose choices matter to them. The story focuses on a detective (Harrison Ford) protecting a young Amish boy who becomes the target of a ruthless killer after he witnesses a brutal murder. Witness is as much about the meeting of cultures as about cops and robbers, this is one of those lucky movies which works out well on all counts and shows that there are still craftsmen lurking in Hollywood. The film is powerful, assured, full of beautiful imagery and devoid of easy moralising, which is good. Ford is Chicago Detective John Book, assigned to investigate a murder that was committed by crooked cop Danny Glover. The only witness is the son of an Amish widow, played by Kelly McGillis. When Book gets too close to the truth, the crooked cops try to kill him, forcing Book to take it on the lamb and hide out in the Amish country. There, he slowly makes a transition into their society, their way of life, and of course, he starts to fall for Kelly McGillis. (who would later star with pretty boy Cruise in "Top Gun"). Alexander Godunov, who later played the murderous Karl in "Die Hard", makes his debut here as an Amish farmer who is, Ford's romantic rival for Kelly. Also making his debut here is a much younger Viggo Mortensen as another Amish father. Mortensen's barely evident in the role out here,although had his eventual success as Aragorn in "Lord of the Rings" ........ After Star Wars & Indiana Jones,Ford succeeded in a serious role and his multi-layered performance earned him his only Oscar Nomination till date.Well directed Romantic Thriller by Peter Weir (Director of Dead poet's Society and Truman Show) that earned him his first Academy Award Nomination. Do watch this one for great Cinematography and Artwork
My Rating - 8/10
My Rating - 8/10
Helpful•212
- ashi-lance
- Feb 6, 2013
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Testigo en peligro
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $12,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $68,706,993
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,539,990
- Feb 10, 1985
- Gross worldwide
- $68,706,993
- Runtime1 hour 52 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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