I don't think it's in the same league as the films mentioned, but it did get good reviews when it came out. I don't think it had a wide release at the box office, and most of it's popularity came later through cable and home video.

I always found the chase seen way over the top, and obviously included for box office appeal to a more widespread audience. Same deal with Sean Young's gratuitous nudity.

I really liked the movie tooiD give it a 8 at least. Some douche gave it a 2.5 outta 5..lolprolly the same clown who loves "out of Africa" and " the color purple"

You're right. This is one of the best thrillers and my favorite Kevin Costner film. The chase scene where Tom is trying to save Nina Bika is really well done. The soundtrack is fantastic, and the twist was really a surprise the first time I saw it.
Plus the tension caused by "How fast can the computer extrapolate this photo?" and "How fast can the computer print out this gift registry?" is kind of fun, considering the state of computer technology in the mid-80's.
Finally, this gave us our first taste of Fred Dalton Thompson as a government official, and you can never get enough of that.
I'm surprised it's only rated a 7.1 here.

They had to make Pritchard a straight up character early in the film, to make the gradual revelation of him as a bad guy more dramatic.

To me, the original film - The Big Clock is very much superior to this version. This one is pretty much a mess, even when you've seen it a few times. TBC works from the gitgo and has a much more satisfying ending than the cheap trick one here.
JMO.

Just rewatched it after many years. It's a mediocre genre thriller at best. The first hour with the love story kind of sucksnot just dated but kind of tv-show style. The second hour is the genre thriller, which is fine, but not more than that. I mean, the twist makes it witty and all and does fit the story, which is appreciated, but doesn't really add to the thrill. It's worth comparing to 1948's The Big Clock, which is also a classic genre thriller, but is a shorter movie that doesn't waste time going outside its genre. Maybe if they'd made the first hour more raunchy in some way connected to the thriller, for example, Pritchard probably has some interesting back story to him, including his obsession with the Secretary.
Ebert gave this four stars, and I rarely deviate more than a half star from him, but I'd call this 3 stars if you admit it's a genre film, and 2 1/2 measured against movies in general, and even then only movies of the 80's. Perhaps Roger was in a good mood when he wrote his review and was particularly ready to overlook thats "The movie contains some of the ingredients I have declared myself tired of in recent thrillers."