Walter Hill's Movies

[Senza]

His latest one, Bullet To The Head could've been a lot better.

[drinkanddestroy]

Saw Hard Times on TCM. I give it a 7/10

This was my second viewing of the movie (but the first time was on a pan-and-scan dvd)

[dave jenkins]

The reviews of the new Hard Times blu are coming in, and they're very positive:
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Hard-Times-Blu-ray/65402/#Review
http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4216hard.html

[drinkanddestroy]

The reviews of the new Hard Times blu are coming in, and they're very positive:
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Hard-Times-Blu-ray/65402/#Review
http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4216hard.html

why would you be excited about a blu-ray disc of a "film without any point whatsoever" getting good reviews? http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=1807.msg138473#msg138473

[dave jenkins]

Why do you assume I'm "excited"? I'm simply posting info that may be of interest to others on this board. I guess that's something you yourself would never do, so I guess that's why you can't understand it.

[drinkanddestroy]

I must have underrated your magnanimity 

[dave jenkins]

After careful research (ha!), I determined that the better Blu-ray choice for The Long Riders was the UK edition (sucks to be you, region-bound losers). Took it for a spin last night. In addition to a very solid transfer, the disc comes with 3 supplementary pieces on the making of the film, prepared by those Western-loving krauts at Fiction Factory. The 3 docs, copyrighted 2013, are actually one, carved up to make the extras look more impressive than they are. Still, there's at least an hour's worth of material here. The pieces are assembled from very, very recent interviews with Walter Hill, James Keach, and Robert Carradine. All have interesting stories to tell, as all were involved in the creation of the film. The movie was actually the brainchild of the Keaches, who had the project gestating before Hill was attached. It was their gimmick to have all the brother roles played by real brothers. Originally, the Bridges bros were supposed to play the Fords, but Beau wasn't all that keen on the script and Jeff got caught in the Heaven's Gate quagmire. So the Guests were brought in, even though the couldn't ride. All the other actors could ride, and the Carradine bros were especially noted for their equestrian skills. Hill was especially keen to do a Western. He claims he wasn't trying to copy Peckinpah on the Northfield sequence, he was using the slo-mo to give the event a nightmare quality. In contradistinction to Peckinpah's practice (according to Hill), who used slo-mo to extend and heighten reality, Hill's purpose was to make everything seem irreal. Whatever. We get an elaborate explanation of how the filmmakers did the horses-crashing-through-the-storefront-and-then-out-the-back sequence. We're told about how Ry Cooder was used for the music, and how what he came up with wasn't, for the time, considered a conventional score (which made the suits nervous). Finally, we get the distinct impression that the 3 men being interviewed are very proud of the film and feel it to be an important work in their respective careers.

[dave jenkins]

The Driver Blu-ray in da house!

[T.H.]

I received my copy yesterday but haven't had time to check it out. I can't wait to watch the car chases.

[dave jenkins]

The car chases are still there and still good. The overall PQ is pretty murky, though. Maybe that's the way the film has always been. I was hoping the Blu was gonna be a startling improvement over the DVD, and it's only an incremental one.

[Novecento]

....and made probably the ultimate cult film, The Warriors.

One of my most enjoyable nights at the movies was watching a double bill of "The Warriors" followed by Alex Cox's "Repo Man".

After careful research (ha!), I determined that the better Blu-ray choice for The Long Riders was the UK edition...

Never seen it, but the reviews say better PQ yet apparently cut for a horse fall

(sucks to be you, region-bound losers).

Well that's not going to be an issue for people living in the UK (or any other region B territory). However, I am surprised how few people seem to care enough about such regional differences to go multi-region.

He claims he wasn't trying to copy Peckinpah on the Northfield sequence, he was using the slo-mo to give the event a nightmare quality. In contradistinction to Peckinpah's practice (according to Hill), who used slo-mo to extend and heighten reality, Hill's purpose was to make everything seem irreal.

I haven't seen it, but if the action sequences merit a comparison with Peckinpah then maybe I should. Having said I've never seen any Peckinpah inspired/derived action sequences that come even close to Peckinpah at his best.

[stanton]

Longriders is the perfect 2nd hand film. Shooting like Peckinpah, dancing like Ford and the Jesse James legend somewheree in the middle of all JJ films before. That means an amalgam of King's classic and Kaufman's anti-western.
The slo mo is overused, but probably on purpose. The dialogues are often somehow idiotic. I liked it a bit less last time I ewatched it.  6,5/10

[dave jenkins]

The car chases are still there and still good. The overall PQ is pretty murky, though. Maybe that's the way the film has always been. I was hoping the Blu was gonna be a startling improvement over the DVD, and it's only an incremental one.

Another (perhaps better informed) perspective: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/325071-a-sneak-peek-at-the-driver/

[dave jenkins]

Savant on The Driver: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4259driv.html

[dave jenkins]

The Warriors (1979) 35mm - 5/10. Oddly, I had never seen this Walter Hill film, so I rectified the situation yesterday with a 10pm screening at the Alamo Drafthouse in Yonkers. I'd heard that the movie has a cult following--well, the cultists were out in force last night, there was hardly a seat to be had. This was the original threatrical cut of the print. I guess the cultists don't much like the director's re-vamped version now available on home video. Anyway, I was surprised how dull this film is. The premise is great: a gang from Coney Island must get from the Bronx back to home turf during a night in which every hand in the city is raised against them. Good thing those metro trains are so reliable, although that transfer at Union Square sure can be a bitch. The biggest problem with this film is that for most of the time the Warriors don't know they're being chased (they've been blamed for the death of a charismatic gang overlord, so all the gangs are out to "rack" 'em--if I have the parlance right). Hey, if you don't know you're in the middle of a mine field, it's just another walk in the park. The rumble scenes are fun, shot and edited for maximum effect, but the long pauses between fights dissipates most of the tension. This could have been so much better--where's the remake?