It's true I never have been a too big fan of John Boorman but I can
still appreciate some of his movie, of which this movie is definitely
one.
It's actually a surprisingly great movie really. Surprising, since the movie is a very simple and minimalistic one, with its setup and settings. But that obviously is actually a huge part of its strength and helps to give the movie a great sense of realism.
I would even describe this movie as hyper-realistic, in which none of the events feel forced and everything progresses in a very natural way, even though the story itself in essence is still a pretty far fetched one. There is not even really a buildup to things but the movie simply just allows things to happen, as also would be the case in real life. This doesn't always work out for a movie but in this case it works out extremely well and gives the movie a great sense of tension and constant danger as well. It besides makes the movie an unpredictable one, especially once you start to realize that none of the main characters are ever safe.
It ultimately is a very basic movie about survival, in which men literally goes back to nature. It lets this movie sound like the ultimate guys movie but its approach ensures that this movie remains very watchable and accessible for just about everybody. Everybody should be able to get something out of this movie and should be able to identify themselves with at least one of the movie its main characters and their behavior and reasoning.
It's also still a very violent movie but the movie its violence isn't there to shock or impressive you. It instead is their to add to the movie its realism and helps to let all of its characters come across as real human beings, that can get hurt in an all too real way.
It's a funny thing that this movie has some great actors in it, that are all quite hard to recognize, to be honest. First of all Burt Reynolds without a mustache....it makes him look like a totally different guy! Same story for a still very young looking Jon Voight, with lots of blond hair and Ronny Cox, looking younger and more dorky than you have ever seen him. For the first few minutes I honestly had no idea I was watching Jon Voight and Ronny Cox! But having said all that, all of them are great in this movie of course, as is Ned Beatty, who is more recognizable.
A really great and above all very effective movie!
8/10
It's actually a surprisingly great movie really. Surprising, since the movie is a very simple and minimalistic one, with its setup and settings. But that obviously is actually a huge part of its strength and helps to give the movie a great sense of realism.
I would even describe this movie as hyper-realistic, in which none of the events feel forced and everything progresses in a very natural way, even though the story itself in essence is still a pretty far fetched one. There is not even really a buildup to things but the movie simply just allows things to happen, as also would be the case in real life. This doesn't always work out for a movie but in this case it works out extremely well and gives the movie a great sense of tension and constant danger as well. It besides makes the movie an unpredictable one, especially once you start to realize that none of the main characters are ever safe.
It ultimately is a very basic movie about survival, in which men literally goes back to nature. It lets this movie sound like the ultimate guys movie but its approach ensures that this movie remains very watchable and accessible for just about everybody. Everybody should be able to get something out of this movie and should be able to identify themselves with at least one of the movie its main characters and their behavior and reasoning.
It's also still a very violent movie but the movie its violence isn't there to shock or impressive you. It instead is their to add to the movie its realism and helps to let all of its characters come across as real human beings, that can get hurt in an all too real way.
It's a funny thing that this movie has some great actors in it, that are all quite hard to recognize, to be honest. First of all Burt Reynolds without a mustache....it makes him look like a totally different guy! Same story for a still very young looking Jon Voight, with lots of blond hair and Ronny Cox, looking younger and more dorky than you have ever seen him. For the first few minutes I honestly had no idea I was watching Jon Voight and Ronny Cox! But having said all that, all of them are great in this movie of course, as is Ned Beatty, who is more recognizable.
A really great and above all very effective movie!
8/10
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