What is the iRankMovies score for Enemy of the State?

Name: Enemy of the State
Director: Tony Scott
Genre: action, drama, thriller
Released: 1998
Duration: 2 h 12 min
Rating: 7.3

Enemy of the State has an iRankMovies score of 71/100, based on a weighted combination of IMDb (×3.0), Rotten Tomatoes (×2.0), Metacritic (×1.5), and TMDb (×1.0).

Enemy of the State (1998)

It's not paranoia if they're really after you.

Release:1998

Runtime:2h 12m

Country:United Kingdom

Director:Tony Scott

Language:English

Genre

ActionDramaThriller

See the best action movies →

Keywords

Washington Dc UsaWiretapSatelliteNational Security Agency NsamurderInvasion Of PrivacyOn The Run Mafia

iRank71

Enemy of the State rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb7.3/10· 272K votes

Rotten Tomatoes71%

Metacritic67%

TMDb7.065/10· 4K votes

With 71% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 7.3/10 on IMDb and 67/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been positive.

About Enemy of the State

When the videotape of the murder of a congressman unknowingly ends up in the hands of labor lawyer and dedicated family man Robert Clayton Dean, he is framed for the murder. With the help of the mysterious Brill, Dean attempts to throw the NSA off his trail and prove his innocence.

Cast of Enemy of the State

Will Smith
as Robert Clayton Dean
Gene Hackman
as Brill
Jon Voight
as Reynolds
Regina King
as Carla Dean
Loren Dean
as Hicks
Jake Busey
as Krug
Barry Pepper
as Pratt
Jason Lee
as Daniel Zavitz
Gabriel Byrne
as 'Brill'
Lisa Bonet
as Rachel Banks
Stuart Wilson
as Congressman Albert
Laura Cayouette
as Christa Hawkins

Enemy of the State facts

Budget: $90M
Box office: $250.6M

Our take on Enemy of the State

Tony Scott's 1998 thriller drops labor lawyer and devoted family man Robert Clayton Dean into a nightmare when a videotape documenting a congressman's murder lands in his possession without his knowledge. Framed for the crime and hunted by shadowy government operatives, Dean turns to Brill, an enigmatic former intelligence hand, to shake the NSA and clear his name. Scott stages the chase with kinetic energy and a paranoid edge, mining a surveillance state where privacy is an illusion. It suits viewers who like fast, twisty conspiracy thrillers and stories of an ordinary man outmatched by an all-seeing system yet refusing to fold.

Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026Methodology Data sources

Audience opinions

What the audience liked

•Surveillance thriller captures contemporary paranoia through concealed cameras and authoritarian scope
•Tony Scott injects kinetic action and tension into political thriller narrative effectively
•Protagonist wrongly accused setup creates compelling chase sequences with genuine stakes throughout

What the audience disliked

•Plot complexity occasionally overwhelms clarity creating labyrinthine narrative confusing viewers midway
•Dated technology and whistleblower themes feel somewhat prescient but aesthetically aging noticeably