Robert J. Maxwell Miami in the 80s. This better-than-average television movie first introduces us to the half dozen members of the FBI team that will figure prominently in the shoot out. They are all happy and adjusted. Their modern houses are as neat and clean as an operating theater. One of them, Bruce Greenwood, sings a happy song while getting dressed at six in the morning after a run on the beach. His comely wife smooches him but there's no time because he must be off to work, snapping a round into the chamber and holstering his Glock. They're all that way -- kidding one another about their weight, playing grabass. They go to church bake sales. I haven't been that happy at six in the morning since I discovered puberty. Maybe it's time to join the FBI.Gradually we meet the bad guys, who may give the most credible performances in the film. They have sloppy back yards, lie to their wives, and play dirty pool when they conduct business. Michael Gross is the more relaxed of the two -- his expression a cross between a smile and a leer. David Soul is less stable. Gee, the guy has a terrible temper, kicking around some defective goods he's just bought, throwing bottles against the wall. The most memorable feature of this duo is that they are absolutely fearless and ruthless. Apparently they ride around armed and wearing camos LOOKING for armored cars or anything else to rob. When balked, Soul deliberately kills an innocent bystander. "Well, we didn't get anything," remarks Gross. "I did," says Soul.They're hypocrites too. Gross gives a phony spiel in church about having buried his daughter so he can hustle young ladies. He tells his pregnant girl friend, "You disgust me," then kicks her out. The victim, Becky Ann Baker, has a small role but she delivers. The surprising element of the script is that it shows us David Soul in an apparently happy marriage, teaching his son some basketball moves with obvious proprietary affection. It must have been tempting to edit the brief scene out -- draw a clear dividing line between good and evil -- but it would have cheapened the movie.The miscreant duo become more bold and reckless until a confrontation in a residential area. The battle is persuasively presented and it winds up rather like a slaughterhouse with two agents and both armed robbers dead.Of the two adversaries, the robbers are the more interesting. Law enforcement was doing it's job but for Gross and Soul it had turned into a witting way of life. Neither had ever been charged with a crime before and there was no evidence that they'd ever been violent. Yet here they are, carrying deadly automatic weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition, two men courageously shooting it out with a dozen FBI agents on a quiet palm-lined street. Both men struggled on despite multiple bullet holes. Mortally wounded, Soul drags himself from car to car, shooting the agents who have already been downed.What he and Gross did would have earned them decorations had they done it on a battlefield in service of their country. Instead they chose to display their bravery and their willingness to fight to the last breath somewhere in Dade County, Florida. We treasure values like that but only when they are subject to the control of the state. No individual entrepreneurs.It's exceptional for a TV movie, in the script, in the direction, and in the performances.

ramblinjack1 The true 1985/86 Dade County, Florida account of two ex-Army buddies, William Russell Matix and Michael Lee Platt and their twisted "my way or the highway" attitudes against the local FBI Bureau (Miami Division). Matix and Platt discover there is more than one way to 'play Army' and become the most aggressive bank / armored car robbers that ever packed heat since Bonnie Parker psychologically nailed Clyde Barrow's manhood to a Thompson drum magazine! The Bureau, after an exhaustive investigation, finally I-D the pair and make plans to apprehend them 'by the book'. Unfortunately the 'book' hasn't been updated since J. Edgar Hoover got fitted for his burial culottes!What transpires is the most intense TV movie crime drama ever put to film. Some claim this is the "greatest TV movie ever made". The steady, 100% believable build-up to the final 'shock and awe' shootout will have you transfixed in the knowledge that this actually went down and there wasn't a darn thing that could have stopped it, at the time. The FBI suffered the most devastating losses in the bureaus' history with only two dead scum-bags to show for it. The case has been a textbook study guide within the bureau ever since.Michael (Family Ties) Gross and David (Starky & Hutch) Soul as the suburban-psycho-punks go totally against type casting to deliver mesmerizing Emmy winning caliber roles (they didn't). If you consider the helicopter scene in Goodfellas brilliant this film's climax is simply a must see.

Tom Smith This is the best, or one of the best made for TV movies I've seen. Along with enjoying the movie, I was really moved by some of it's somber moments. It's total suspense, excellent action, and some incredible shoot out scenes. Everyone who enjoys cops and robber movies will really be engrossed in this high suspense thriller.

Squrpleboy Liberally based on true events surrounding a mid-80's F.B.I.investigation and notorious apprehension attempt of a pair ofmurderous, military-styled bank-robbers, IN THE LINE OF DUTY:THE F.B.I. MURDERS (1988) is well-scripted, beautifully acted,and superbly directed. The pacing and tension build up perfectlyas the two story-lines –– one involving the F.B.I. team diligentlyworking its way through the case, the other showing the harshcriminal viewpoint –– mesh together with ever-tightening switch- ups until the dramatic and bloody climax. Nothing feels forced orout of place, and nothing seems missing. Just solid story-tellingand top-notch drama from beginning to end.It's largely the casting which plays such a huge role in determiningthe quality of this picture, in my opinion. With screen veteransRonny Cox, as senior agent Ben "The Grinch" Grogan, and DavidSoul, as the sadistically deadly robber Michael Lee Platt, you haveboth sides of a very truthful and convincing acting teamrepresented. Add to that Bruce Greenwood, as the rookie agent,his ex-"Knot's Landing" compatriot Doug Sheehan, as anotherhard-driven and concerned field-agent, and a plethora of otherlesser-known but equally skilled actors and you have a solid cast. But the most notable and electrifying performance turned in is inthe surprisingly cold and delivered performance by Michael Gross,as fellow killer William Russell Matix. Here Gross completelysheds the compassionate, intelligent and endearing charactertraits so well-portrayed with his much-loved character StevenKeaton on the TV series "Family Ties", and gives a completelyinner-defined and chilling turn as a contradictory bible-thumping/womanizing, murderer and bank-robbing degenerate. Shockingand terribly engaging all in one. The film pulls few punches withregards to violence throughout –– the final "take-down" scene issurely one of the most graphic and bloody ever shot formainstream audiences, even by today's standards I'd wager ––but it never comes across as exploitive. The story is always themain focus of the film and for THAT reason it succeeds; it's simplya good, engaging story that needed to be told. I first saw this made-for-TV movie on it's original network televisionairing and was extremely impressed. Now, 15 years later, I stillhold it in high regard (with only the cars and the synth-drivensoundtrack music really adding any dating to the picture at all). Unfortunately, IN THE LINE OF DUTY: THE F.B.I. MURDERS, haslong since been out-of-print on VHS, and rarely turns up on TV. Forthose lucky enough to come across it I whole-heartedlyrecommend it.7/10. A made-for-TV movie that succeeds in being more!