The Substitute poster & wallpaper

Tom Berenger, Raymond Cruz, Luis Guzman

After a botched mission in Cuba, professional mercenary Shale and his crew Joey Six, Hollan, Rem, and Wellman head home to Miami, Florida, where Shale is reunited with his fiance Jane Hetzko, who is a...( read more  read more... ) history teacher at Columbus High School in Miami. Some of Jane's students happen to be members of a street gang known as the "Kings of Destruction" (KOD), led by Juan Lacas, who has been terrorizing Jane. After Jane's kneecap is broken by a big seminole named Bull, she tells Shale that she believes Lacas ordered the attack, so Shale goes undercover as Jane's substitute, and initially, Jane has no idea that Shale is doing this. At the school, Shale meets principal Claude Rolle, librarian Hannah Dillon, and english and drama teacher Darrell Sherman. It turns out that Lacas is one of Jane's students. As Shale investigates the attack on Jane, he discovers that drugs are being circulated into the school. Shale even investigates local drug kingpin Johnny Glades, who may or may not have someone inside the school distributing the drugs for him. Lives are threatened as Shale investigates and sets out to clean up the crime infested school.

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46% liked it

14,000 ratings

R, 1 hr. 54 min.

Directed by: Robert Mandel

Release Date: June 1, 1995

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DVD Release Date: July 25, 2000

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Stats: 274 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (274)

  • allan913
    December 25, 2008
    allan913
    A tense, smart and powerful action-packed thriller. It gets an A+. A classic. a unique, compelling and very excing film with lots of great action, interesting characters and surprising human tenderness. Stylish, clever and very original. It's like Dangerous Minds with explosions ...( read more)and gun fights with a bit of Steven Segal. Tom Berenger gives a strong, riveting and unforgettable performance. It will have your-pulse-racing and your adreniline-pumping.
  • Chiefilms
    March 13, 2008
    Chiefilms
    A reworking of "Dangerous Minds", which was a reworking of "Stand and Deliver". DM and SAD were in west coast environments. This film takes place in South Florida and Tom Berenger shows that he still is BA in this film even though it is nothing special.
  • EarthlyAlien
    February 9, 2008
    EarthlyAlien
    A cheaper, male version of Michelle Pfeiffer's Dangerous Minds, basically.
  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    February 8, 2008
    YLOWBSTARDreturns
    A real guilty pleasure... and completely badass.
  • sanjurosamurai
    November 23, 2007
    sanjurosamurai
    interesting and good even though it was silly
  • josephclancy2
    November 6, 2009
    josephclancy2
    I like it. I thought it would be nice for our schools today.
  • Liloh
    October 9, 2009
    Liloh
    Shale: I'd like to know what area of history you're studying.
    Student: The fuck you history!


    Really Awesome Movie. Berenger in his best days. What happened?
  • SirGenius
    October 2, 2009
    SirGenius
    Wont get teacher of the year award but will get the job done.
  • Tetsuo8
    February 16, 2009
    Tetsuo8
    one of the films that started the tough teacher taking the tough class
  • doctordoom
    December 23, 2008
    doctordoom
    You have to like a film when a a teacher beats the hell out of snot nosed teenagers. The film has a good story and cast. Some good action scenes in this.

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The Substitute Trivia

  • In the movie the Waterboy, they actually used a substitute for water, because water was too heavy and didn't work well on film.  Answer »
  • "Your son has been pretending to be a substitute teacher, lecturing the students, uh, giving out homework, uh. Mrs. Glasser has been ill, there was some confusion with the real sub." If Leonardo Di Caprio is the son, who's the father?  Answer »
  • Sometimes you just gotta say 'What the fuck!'." Porsche. There is no substitute Joel, go to school. Go learn something. name this 1983 movie starring tom cruise and rebecca de mornay  Answer »
  • Name the movie this quote is from: Joel: Porsche... there's no substitute. Miles: Fuck You.   Answer »
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