Walter Hill's Movies

[Nobody]

After going through a long period mainly watching serious "art-films", I needed something lighter. First Sergio, then Peckinpah, and then I ended up going through earlier Walter Hill films. I really think this guy is an underappreciated filmmaker. Sure, he hasn't had a huge hit since -82, but has made several great films since then.

I think he decerves a mention on this board for the westerns he has made. The Long Riders may be one of the finest westerns made the last 25 years, and Wild Bill one of the most underrated films of the nineties. He also remade Yojimbo/Fistful. Apart from westerns, he has made The Driver,which in my opinion is the best "car-chase" film ever made, and Undisputed was an extremely enjoyable nod towards B-pictures of the 40's-50's. Extreme Prejudice is a campy, although very stylish Peckinpah homage.

Still, his greatest achievment is Southern Comfort. A fascinating allegory of the Vietnam War. Incredible cinematography, great performances by a cast led by Powers Boothe and Keith Carradine, and terrific score by Ry Cooder.

Am I the only one with a soft spot for Walter Hill here? As a side note, he also directed the pilot for HBO's fantastic western series, Deadwood. Do yourself a favour and check it out if you haven't done so already.

[Belkin]

I love Hill's work. If you haven't seen em', check out; HARD TIMES with BRONSON and COBURN, a slow burning classic; also; THE WARRIORS; CROSSROADS and the ultra classic THE GETAWAY (screenplay only). THE LONG RIDERS; DRIVER and SOUTHERN COMFORT (and the above mentioned) always make my top 20 list. I hope he gets to direct more episodes of DEADWOOD.

[KERMIT]

hill wrote the getaway for peckinpah. has anyone read the kind of realationship these two men had together.
i can't nail a MR. WALTER HILL favorite.

[Blueberry]

Like you guys I am a very big fan of Southern Comfort. It's released as a discount DVD here and I was very joyful having bought it for the equivalent of 5$. The movie rocks in the same way as Deliverance, of which it has a hard time hiding it's debt.

Brion James, who plays the indigenous swamp prisoner of the band of brothers, was good back in them days. This part is excellent. Likewise his part as Leon in Blade Runner. He's got kind of a Leone-face.

And yes, Ry Cooders soundtrack... reminds a man of Jarmusch's Dead Man and the merciless Neil Young soundtrack.

Don't remember Long Riders and Hard Times, they are now on my list. Thanks.

[Nobody]

Haven't seen Crossroads, but bought it today.

As far as his relationship with Peckinpah, it's one of his favourite directors, toghether with Howard Hawks, John Ford, John Huston, and, you guessed it, Sergio Leone. At least according to his imdb biography page. Of these five directors, two of them directed films written by Walter Hill: John Huston and Peckkinpah. Lucky Guy. I doubt he had much to do with Peckinpah apart from that. As far as I know, he tried to make anyone he worked with dislike him. Plus, I don't know if Walter Hill is as good with the liquor as Peckinpah was. Hill also co-wrote the remake of The Getaway. I don't remember that one being much good, but I love the original, and it will be getting the special edition treatment next month...

[Bill Carson]

  hola amigos - my favourite Hill films are THE WARRIORS and SOUTHERN COMFORT. TRESPASS and STREETS OF FIRE were fun also.

[Nobody]

I've been continuing my marathon, and have seen the two films I had not seen before: Crossroads and Supernova.

Hill took his name of Supernova, so I did not expect much, but this film could have been much worse. It did lose itself during the final 30 minutes, but it wasn't a turkey.

Crossroads is one of two films he did with no action in it at all. The other one was the awful Brewster's Millions. Crossroads was a lot better. It was fun seeing Ralph "The Karate Kid" Macchio again. Can't say I was impressed by Jami Gertz though. Still, it was a film about blues, so there was a lot of great music.

The next Hill film on the agenda will be Red Heat. Haven't seen that one since grade school. Not exactly a classic, but strangely enough, the only one of his films which have received the special edition treatment.

Finally a question: According to Southern Comforts trivia page on imdb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083111/trivia), this film is a semi-sequel to The Warriors. I don't see the connection. Is there anyone who does?

[Bill Carson]

I've been continuing my marathon, and have seen the two films I had not seen before: Crossroads and Supernova.

Hill took his name of Supernova, so I did not expect much, but this film could have been much worse. It did lose itself during the final 30 minutes, but it wasn't a turkey.

Crossroads is one of two films he did with no action in it at all. The other one was the awful Brewster's Millions. Crossroads was a lot better. It was fun seeing Ralph "The Karate Kid" Macchio again. Can't say I was impressed by Jami Gertz though. Still, it was a film about blues, so there was a lot of great music.

The next Hill film on the agenda will be Red Heat. Haven't seen that one since grade school. Not exactly a classic, but strangely enough, the only one of his films which have received the special edition treatment.

Finally a question: According to Southern Comforts trivia page on imdb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083111/trivia), this film is a semi-sequel to The Warriors. I don't see the connection. Is there anyone who does?

  hola Nobody. I also read that byte about SOUTHERN COMFORT being a semi-sequel to THE WARRIORS. both films have the obvious connection of a group of guys fighting for survival in a hostile environment and with a lot of tension within the groups themselves. I think 'follow-up' would be a more appropiate term.  little fact: Sonny Landham ('Billy' from PREDATOR) played a New York Cop in THE WARRIORS and one of the cajuns in SOUTHERN COMFORT.

[Nobody]

Sonny also was one of the bad guys in 48 hours.

I still wouldn't call it a semi-sequel or even a follow-up. Arguments are too thin. You might as well call Saving Private Ryan a follow-up. A group of soldiers in a hostile environment , and tension within the group.

[deMaie]

Hi Guys, been a while.

I like Walter Hill movies when they are his original stories.
I saw The Warriors a long time ago, I was tripping on the
movie poster alone  . I craved The Driver. Love The Long
Riders, and Streets of Fire(mind-bogling setting).
But when he does a 'remake' of Peckinpaw,  I don't like.
Extreme Prejudice(Wild Bunch remake).

I can't stand Another 48 Hrs. and Last Man Standing.

[JamesK]

Am I the only one with a soft spot for Walter Hill here?

No, I'm with you in that I feel Hill is a sorely underappreciated director.  He singlehandedly created the buddy cop action/comedy subgenre with 48 Hours and made probably the ultimate cult film, The Warriors.  I've watched everything he's ever done, though I found much of what he's made after 1990 to be of lesser quality than his work in the '80s.

My hands-down Walter Hill favorite: Extreme Prejudice, from 1987.  Unfortunately the DVD release is a lousy pan-and-scan, so I haven't been able to add it to my collection in good conscience.  Bleh.

[Leone Admirer]

I very much enjoyed The Warriors and have yet to check out his newly released DC DVD (though I hear the only things put back in are some Comic Strip Effects). I also recently played the game, shown to me by my cousion and I was surprised by how good that was.

[JamesK]

I very much enjoyed The Warriors and have yet to check out his newly released DC DVD (though I hear the only things put back in are some Comic Strip Effects). I also recently played the game, shown to me by my cousion and I was surprised by how good that was.

Yeah, I'd definitely like to check out the game.  It's gotten excellent reviews across the board, and is largely adored by even the most rabid fans of the film, so it's clearly doing something right.

[Leone Admirer]

I was introduced to the game by being told that the player could "dig a garden trowel into the opponent of another" which rather put me off the game but playing it, especially in the co-op mode was rather enjoyable.

[dave jenkins]

http://www.hulu.com/watch/73260/hard-times