while this makes for good entertainment, its far from being a actual, factual event,some of the forensic evidence didn't match up with the FBI agents statements as to what happened,,this is not unusual..given being in a shootout,the agents were not out manned ,8 agents to 2 felons, they were out gunned but that was the agents fault, they were in FBI headquarters waiting ,in the arms locker were mp5 9mm submachine guns, m16 machine guns, and heavy armoured vests,none of which they took with them, despite knowing that the 2 felons had a rifle and a shotgun,,but most disturbing is the fact that the mini-14 used by the robbers was NOT a machine gun, as shown by NBC,, plenty of time passed so NBC did know that fact, but put a machine gun in the criminals hands, which didn't happen,this was common back then , when NBC did these in line of fire TV movies,NBC took every opportunity to put any kind of anti-gun message on screen ,regardless of the truth..

I somehow more or less missed the news reports of this case when it first hit the headlines more than twenty years ago. But I have a feeling that this movie reasonably (at least) recreates what happened, since this movie got the cooperation of the real FBI. And what it portrays is pretty chilling. The two criminals are real nasty pieces of work, and their various crimes are depicted in a way that I don't think any viewer will find "fun". Murder in this movie is shown to be really awful, and the climatic shootout is filled with characters in a great deal of pain and dying in front of our eyes. While the movie is almost twenty-five years old, it really hasn't dated that much, except for a few minor details like gigantic cell phones. And it's available on DVD, so it should be easy to track down a copy of this must-see movie.

The FBI Murders is a made-for-TV film that really surprised me. The acting ranges from good to excellent. No one in this film did a poor job portraying their characters. Ronny Cox and David Soul are the stand-out performances here.The shoot-out in the end is quite graphic for TV standards. There were a few moments in the shoot-out where I was wondering how this film made it onto network television. And this was in the late 80's, way before shows like "The X-Files" and "ER" started to push the limits of graphic bloodletting. The climactic confrontation certainly isn't gratuitous, but it doesn't shy away from showing a little blood (as would be expected when shotguns, sub machine guns, and a dozen pistols are going off).The film isn't perfect though. There are a few times where it feels like this was filmed in the early 80's. Shaky aerial shots support this noticeable flaw. It's hard to explain, but see it and you'll know what I mean. And the music is, at times, a little chintzy. Synthesizers in the 80's usually never helped a film to age well and it certainly shows in this case. Still, this did not detract too much from my satisfying viewing experience.All-in-all though, highly recommended.

Finally out on DVD, fans of true crime dramas and action films will really enjoy this 1988 made-for-television production. Based on actual events in Miami, Florida (I'm not sure how embellished), "In the Line of Duty: The FBI Murders concerns a pair of military trained bank- robbers and the FBI task force who attempted to identify and apprehend them. This is a far cry from the fictional movies that attempt to glorify G-Men or violent criminals. Both sides are portrayed in their real life bumbling glory as the robbers act stupidly and recklessly and the task force basically stumbles into them and is ill prepared for the confrontation. But this makes the story quite fascinating and if you connect with it you will probably want to watch it several times. The film is structured as two parallel stories and what suspense there is stems from the viewers knowledge that the two stories will eventually intersect with each other, you just don't know how or when it will occur. The strength of the film (besides its real life feel) is the characterization of the two robbers, played by David Soul and Michael Gross. Although their backgrounds are fragmentary, it appears that they bring out the worst in each other and their crime spree continues more for the adrenaline rush it provides. They begin to really get off on the violence and power, their crimes are almost random which tends to work in their favor as the investigation can find little logic or pattern behind their activities. The film's weakness is the parallel story of the task force. This was a far cry from a cerebral Sherlock Holmes type investigation so you eagerly wait for them to cut back to Soul and Grace. The characterizations are generally shallow and weak so almost all viewers will end up identifying with the two criminals; even though they have a lot of mad dog qualities. Doug Sheehan is quite effective as the task force commander but Bruce Greenwood and Ronny Cox (rookie paired with veteran) are painful to watch. The violent climax is worth waiting for, although the violence is in real time, the confrontation has the slow-mo feel of a Sam Peckinpah production. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.