screening was very successful, as was its premiere at the United States Film Festival (later known as the Sundance Film Festival). Release While F/X performed well at the box office, grossing over $20 million in North America (well over its $10 million budget), executives at Orion Pictures, which financed and distributed the film, felt that it could have performed even better with a different title. One executive claimed that no one understood what the title meant, but they accepted it because it was what the producers wanted. Wiener admitted that they thought that the two letters together would be "provocative" like MASH and admitted that they had made a mistake. Reception Vincent Canby praised the look of the film in his review for The New York Times, writing, "the movie, which looks as if it had been made on an A-picture budget, has a lot of the zest one associates with special-effects-filled B-pictures". Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of four: In his review for The Globe and Mail, Jay Scott wrote, "F/X is simply out to give a good time, which it does superbly". Paul Attanasio in his review for The Washington Post praised Brian Dennehy's performance: In his review for The Sunday Times, George Perry praised the film's premise as a "nice idea, but the effects themselves are merely ingenious when they might have been spectacular". Sheila Benson wrote in her review for the Los Angeles Times: F/X holds an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 27 critics. The site's consensus states; "Smart, twisty, and perfectly cast, the effects-assisted neo-noir F/X reminds viewers that a well-told story is the most special effect of all." References External links 1986 films 1980s action thriller films 1980s chase films 1986 independent films American films about revenge American action thriller films American chase films American independent films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Robert Mandel Films scored by Bill Conti Films shot in Switzerland Orion Pictures films 1980s American films