A classic action thriller that still lost money despite being one of the best an entire decade had to offer holds hostages on Netflix

The 1990s was a phenomenal time for both the action and thriller genres, with a slew of all-time greats arriving on a regular basis. F. Gary Gray’s The Negotiator combined the two and entered the annals of the decade’s finest as a result, but it still wasn’t enough to make it a profitable enterprise.

Before the latter disgraced himself, the prospect of seeing a titanic showdown between heavyweight actors Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey in a hard-boiled tale of hostage-taking and citywide conspiracies was a mouthwatering prospect, and the cast was populated by a who’s who of “that guy from that thing” actors to boot.

David Morse, Ron Rifkin, J.T. Walsh, John Spencer, and Paul Guilfoyle are just some of the faces you’ll definitely recognize without necessarily being able to name, and the riveting story saw Jackson’s expert negotiator using all the tricks in his arsenal to prevent Spacey’s peer from allowing armed police to storm in and gun him down before the overarching mystery can be revealed.

It may have recouped its $43.5 million budget almost twice over at the box office, but once marketing and distribution costs were factored in, The Negotiator posted a loss of $13 million by the time it exited theaters. Great thrillers endure forever, though, and Netflix subscribers have embraced that sentiment.

Per FlixPatrol, The Negotiator has debuted as one of the 20 most-watched titles on the content library after being added in a multitude of markets, and it remains as entertaining and intense 25 years on as it ever did.