Alex Rocco, Anthony Edwards, Brad Cowgill

Before he started losing his hair (which gave his baby face the maturity it needed for him to be taken seriously as a doctor on E.R.), Anthony Edwards was the quintessential juvenile lead, coll...( read more  read more... )ege division. That is what he plays here: a college kid who is campus champ at an assassination game called Gotcha (that uses fake guns). Then he goes on a summer vacation behind the Iron Curtain (before it came tumbling down) and falls for a female operative (Linda Fiorentino), who not only uses him as an unsuspecting courier for spy stuff but makes him a fall guy, as well. When he finally extricates himself from the trouble, the trouble follows him back to campus. Silly and far-fetched, though Edwards has that wounded-puppy look down perfectly. --Marshall Fine

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48% liked it

842 ratings

PG-13, 97 min.

Directed by: Jeff Kanew

Release Date: May 3, 1985

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DVD Release Date: August 12, 2003

 

Stats: 158 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (158)


  • June 11, 2008
    Very entertaining and one of my favourites when I was a kid. A good movie for young boys dreaming of being a super spy.
  • September 16, 2007
    Anthony Edwards stars as young college student Jonathan who is bright, smart, and savvy likes James Bond. His only problem is with women, he can't get them. So on a trip to Paris, he gets entangled with an international spy and his whole life is turned upside down.
    Gotcha is a f...( read more)un movie. You need to turn your brain off, sit back and enjoy. Gotcha has the great combination of laughs and action. The movie is from the eighties and it refreshes your mind when movies were actually done right and entertain. Gotcha also shows the beginning of Anthony Edwards and the promise he had to become a good actor. Gotcha deserves four paint ball darts out of five.
  • September 24, 2006
    Fun 80s fluff. With a delicious Linda Fiorentino.
  • September 17, 2008
    Here's a movie that, for many reasons, could never be made today. In its opening sequence, college students run all over campus with black paint guns, shooting at each other. The mere sight of something like that today would send people running a panic, and lead to endless highli...( read more)ghts on CNN. The students are playing "Gotcha!", a game where they compete against others in an assassination-type game involving red paint pellets. One of the best players is Jonathan (Anthony Edwards), and it's about the only thing he's good at. When he and his lothario roomate take off on a European trip, he meets the seductive Sasha (Linda Fiorentino), that is all too willing to show him the ways of the world. What Jonathan doesn't know is that Sasha is a spy. Here's the other area where the movie couldn't be made today. Firmly cemented in 1985, the movie was made when the Berlin Wall, and communism split Germany in half. The plot simply wouldn't fly today. Sasha lures Jonathan to East Berlin, and ends up dragging him into a cat and mouse game with Germans, Russians, and any number of people that would just as soon kill you as look at you. Edwards is a likeable doofus, and comes across as a believable character who finds he has more wits and cunning that he gave himself credit for. The husky voice Fiorentino does two things in this movie very well...smoke, and get naked. The latter of which is surprising given the movies PG-13 rating. Director Jeff "Revenge Of The Nerds" Kanew makes excellent use of the Eurpoean surroundings. From tourist attractions to back alleys, the movie has a real feel that sells it far more than if they had gone the cheap route and shot it on a backlot. The movie does take a little while to get moving, and occasionally falls a little too deeply into slapstick when it comes to its humor. But it is a fun revisit to the 80's, and showcases when times were both safer and more dangerous at the same time.
  • July 25, 2008
    Another old one from Goose with hair! This must be when my Dad got the illegal device to get HBO...good stuff.
  • September 20, 2009
    its no classic but you cant go wrong with a healthy mix of the 80's and russian boarder patrols!

    next time im in paris im gonna see if i can get laid by telling people im a terrorist!?
  • July 6, 2009
    now its been a really long time wince i seen this movie but i loved it then
  • January 12, 2009
    Extremely entertaining as a kid, you have the spy's, the beautiful woman, a lil espionage and the paint ball guns, lol
  • December 29, 2008
    an old childhood favrite. havnt seen it in years. Its probably sucks really bad. But I loved it as a kid
  • November 11, 2008
    The teen movie is funny, mystery and excitement - it's like James Bond in college. Anthony Edwards is well-cast as the young man being whirled into the wicked world of espionage behind the Iron Curtain, and Linda Fiorentino is so seductive and sexy in a strange mysterious way.

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  • "Who we gonna crush? -The guards!- Who we gonna kill?- The guards!- Who we gonna kiss? (one guy)-The guards!- Gotcha!" from what movie is this piece taken?  Answer »
  • "Who we gonna crush?" "The guards!" "Who we gonna kill?" "The guards!" "Who we gonna kiss?" "The guards!" "Gotcha!" From what movie is this quote taken?   Answer »
  • "Who we gonna crush?" "The guards!" "Who we gonna kill?" "The guards!" "Who we gonna kiss?" "The guards!" "Gotcha!" From what 2005 movie is this quote taken?  Answer »
  • Fill in the blank for this quote from The Breakfast Club: "For (blank) months I gotcha. I gotcha."   Answer »

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