The Fugitive Review "I don't bargain!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, time for one last post of the month before December (if I can fit it in!) and this one will be on yet ANOTHER film from 1993 (as Cliffhanger was from 1993 also which I previously reviewed). And this one will be on a film I could have sworn I reviewed before but apparently haven't and that film is the movie version of the 1960's TV show, The Fugitive, which stars Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. 

So, let's take a look at this film, which also is 30 years old now and see how it fairs...

And the usual waring is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!

STORY

So, the film begins with vascular surgeon, Dr Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) being questioned over the murder of his wife, Helen (Sela Ward) by Chigaco police and Kimble claims that his wife was killed by a one-armed man. The police however decide to pin the murder on Kimble as they question him and find his wife was worth a lot of money and he has scratch marks on him (from moving Helen) and there was no forced entry into the house. Kimble is soon put on trial where misinterpeted 911 call appears to indicate that Helen told the operator that Kimble was trying to kill her. Kimble is subsequently then convicted for the crime and sentenced to death by lethal injection.

On the prison bus enroute to death row, some of the passengers attempt an escape, causing the bus to crash down a ravine into the path of an oncoming train. Before the train hits however, Kimble manages to escape as does one of the other prisoners, Copeland (Eddie Bo Smith) but Kimble also manages to rescue one of the injured prison guards before the train destroys the bus. Kimble then afterward has his cuffs removed by Copeland, who tells him not to follow him, Kimble then flees for his life.

Not long after, Deputy US Marshal Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones) arrives at the scene of the derailment along with his team of Marshals and they launch a manhunt for Kimble. Kimble himself manages to sneak into a hospital where he treats his wounds, shaves off his beard and changes clothes before stealing an ambulance. Gerard and his team pursue Kimble as he soon abandons the ambulance in a tunnel and sneaks into a strom drain and the tunnels below that lead out to a dam. Gerard goes into the tunnels after Kimble and after falling into water, Kimble grabs Gerard's gun and tells him "I didn't kill my wife!" to which Gerard replies "I don't care!" and Kimble takes off. However, Gerard soon catches up to him (with a second gun) tells Kimble to get on his knees but Kimble escapes by jumping off the dam below. Gerard's marshals are convinced Kimble is dead but Gerard remains undeterred and determined to find Kimble, dead or alive.

And from here, Kimble and Gerard's game of cat and mouse really begins to heat up as Kimble tries to find out who was behind his wife's murder and evade the clutches of Gerard...

THOUGHTS

After 30 years, The Fugitive still remains an excellent thriller and a fine adaption of the TV series (well as far as TV show adaptations go I guess!). The film also makes great uses of its locations in Chicago and also has several impressive action setpieces with the bus crash and train derailment being done for real with no CGI and according to the film's director, Andrew Davis, was done in one take. The dynamic between Ford and Jones also works pretty well, with Ford playing the more serious Kimble, fleeing for his life against Jones's more humourful and tenacious Deputy Marshal Gerard, so it makes a good contrast in personalities.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this may contain spoilers but I will try and keep this section from being too long!)

As for the performances, the cast are all on excellent form here.

Starting with Harrison Ford, who is excellent in his role as Dr Richard Kimble, a vascular surgeon, who's wife is murdered and he is falsely accused of the crime to be sentenced to death, but manages to escape his fate and goes on the run from the authorities. And Harrison does play the part quite straight and serious for the most part but he does allow for the odd bit of humour here and there at times.

And I will mention a few of Harrison's scenes starting with the one where the police question Kimble and as the questions continue, the police become more convinced that Kimble killed his wife. And in the scene as Kimble realises this, he expresses his anger and disgust. And he says to the officers "Are you suggesting I killed my wife? Are you saying that I crushed her skull and shot her??! How dare you!". And as the officers are about to question him again, Kimble shouts "When I came home there was a man in my house! He had a mechanical arm! You find this man! You find this man!" and he becomes tearful and says "He took everything from me!!". 

Then there is the scene where Kimble arrives at a hospital where he sneaks in and treats his wounds from the bus crash and shaves his beard and steals some doctor's clothes and proceeds to walk down the hall only to be stopped by a state trooper. So, the trooper says to Kimble "Hey, Doc. We are looking for a prisoner from that bus-train wreck a couple of hours ago, might be hurt" and Kimble asks "What did he look like?" and the trooper says "6'1, 180, brown eyes, brown hair. See anyone like that?" and Kimble smiles and points at himself and says "Every time I look in the mirror, pal, except for the beard of course!". However as Kimble makes to leave, the trooper says "Doc?" and Kimble nervously says "Yeah?" and the trooper indicates that Kimble's fly is unzipped and Kimble says "Thanks" and zips it up.

WARNING: PLOT SPOILER AHEAD!!

And lastly there is the scene where Kimble breaks into Frederick Sykes apartment (the one-armed man) and looks around for clues and then he calls Gerard, so they can trace Sykes location. So, Kimble says to Gerard on the phone "Do you remember what I told you in the tunnel?" and Gerard in his office, quietly and frantiaclly tells his team to trace the call "Yeah, I think it was noisy and I think you said that you didn't kill your wife". Kimble then says "Do you remember what told me?" and Gerard says "I remember you pointing your gun at me" and Kimble says "You said "I don't care"" and Gerard says "Yes, that's right, Richard. I don't care. I'm not trying to solve a puzzle here". However Kimble then says "Well, I am trying to solve a puzzle and I just found a big piece!" and he puts the phone down on the desk he sat at without hanging up.

Tommy Lee Jones next up is great in his role as Deputy Marshal, Samuel Gerard, who hunts Kimble endlessly in an effor to bring him back to justice but things take a series of unusual twists and turns as they go on. And Jones himself received an Academy Award for best supporting actor in this role and he has plenty of great dialogue and amusing lines to deliver here, most of which were suprisingly ad-libbed. 

Jones has plenty of highlights of course and I will mention a few of his scenes, starting with his first one where he takes over the investigation to hunt Kimble. And in the scene the local sherriff, Sheriff Raawlins gives up on pursuing Kimble, believing him to have not survived the bus crash, so Gerard says to him "Well shit, Sherriff, I'd hate to see your office flooded with calls, so I guess I'll just have take over your investigation". So, after he gives his jurisdictional rights to do so, the sheriff sarcastically says "Right! Gather around everyone, we're shutting it down and Wyatt Earp is taking over!" and Gerard says "Very funny! Wyatt Earp!". But then they find Kimble's leg chains and the prison guard says of Kimble looking at his picture "He might have got out". So, Gerard gives his orders to his team and the police officers and says "You're fugitive's nane is Dr Richard Kimble. Got get him!".

Then there is the scene where Gerard chases Kimble through the tunnels of the dam and he falls down a slipway and drops his gun in the water and Kimble picks up it and aims it at Gerard, who puts his hands up. Kimble then says to Gerard "I didn't kill my wife!" and Gerard says "I don't care!" and Kimble backs away and runs off through the tunnel but Gerard reveals he has a second gun and soon catches up with Kimble at the end of the slipway overlooking the drop below. So, Gerard pointing his gun at Kimble shouts "Put that gun down! Put that gun down! Richard, do you wanna get shot?!" and Kimble drops the gun and Gerard shouts at him "Right! Down on your knees RIGHT NOW!!". Kimble get's down and looks over the edge at big drop below and he decides to jump off much to Gerard's disbelief. And one of Gerard's men, Cosmo (Joe Pantoliano) joins him and Gerard tells him "Guy did a Peter Pan right off this dam, right here!" and Cosmo says "Holy shit! Now can we go home?" and Gerard shakes his head and says "No! No, no!" and walks off.

Then in the next scene as Gerard directs the search party to check the river for signs of Kimble, one of his marshals says to him "Sam, are you out of your mind? He's dead!" and Gerard says "That will make him easier to catch!". And one of the chief state troopers says to Gerard "Only one man in a million can survive that fall! The guy is fish food!" and Gerard says "OK, get a cane pole, catch the fish that ate him!".

And then there is the scene where Gerard and his team track down the other prison bus survivor, Copeland, who grabs one of Gerard's men, Newman and holds him at gun point and shouts out his demands but Gerard sneaks up from a side door and shoots Copeland dead. And afterward, Gerard goes out to check if Newman is OK, who holds his right ear, which is ringing from the gun shots. So, Newman tells Gerard "My ear is terrible. I can't hear anything. Can't believe you did that?" and Gerard says "You think I should have bargained with that guy" and Newman says "Yeah, I do. You could have missed". Gerard changes the subject and asks Newman "How bad is that ear?" and Newman says "Its terrible. I'm gonna have permanent hearing damage" and Gerard leans in near his bad ear and says "Can you hear me now?" and Newman says "Yeah" and Gerard whispers "I don't bargain. Can you hear that?" and Newman says "Yeah" and Gerard wraps a coat around him and walks off.

WARNING: PLOT SPOILER AHEAD!!!

And last of all is the scene where Gerard pursues Kimble through the convention center building where Nicholls was giving his speech, but is revealed to be the bad guy and the sneak around an empty laundry room. So, Kimble shouts out "Dr Richard Kimble! There is no way out of here! The whole building locked down!". However, Gerard then goes on to plead with Kimble and let's him know the truth of his wife's murder "Richard, I know you're innocent! I know about Frederick Sykes! I know about Dr Charles Nichols! Richard, he borrowed your car the night of the murder, he had your keys! No forced entry, Richard. He telephoned Sykes from your car, Richard! Richard, give it up! Its time to stop running!". And at this moment, Nichols grabs Cosmo's gun (after Nichols knocked him out with a beam) and appears behind Geard to shoot him and Kimble suddenly appears behind Nichols and knocks him unconsious with a lead pipe. Gerard aims his gun at Kimble and Kimble drops the pipe and says "They killed my wife" and Geard says "I know, Richard. I know it! But its over now" and he sighs "You know, I'm glad. I need the rest!". 

Jerone Krabbe next is excellent also in his role as Dr Charles Nichols, Kimble's good friend and work colleage, who isn't entirely what he seems to be as the film progresses. 

And Krabbe has a couple of good scenes I will mention starting with the one where Gerard first questions Nichols at his office. So, in the scene Gerard asks when he last saw Kimble and Nichols admits the truth "Alright, I last saw him this morning" and Gerard laughs "Where was this?" and Nichols says "Outside my tennis club". Gerard then asks "What did you help him?" and Nichols says "I volunteered but he wouldn't accept, I give him some money" and one of the marshals asks "How much?" and Nichols says "Just a couple of bucks, what I had on me". Gerard then says to Nichols "Doctor Nichols, if you really want to help him? Be his friend? Help us bring him in, unharmed". Nichols then asks "So, he can go back to prison?" and he tisks and tells Gerard "If you want help, gentlemen, then you've come to the wrong man. Richard is innocent, he's too smart, you'll never find him". Gerard and the other marshals all smiles a bit bemused "We're all smart. I mean smart can he be? Is he smart as you?" and Nichols takes a moment and says "Smarter!". 

And last of all is the scene where Nichols gives his speech at the convention center but is then interrupted by Kimble and Nichols smiles nervously at him and says "Richard, I am in the middle of this speech!". Kimble bitterly says to him "You almost got away with it, didn't you? I know all about it, I can prove it". Nichols tells the audience "Ladies and gentlemen, my friend Richard Kimble doesn't feel well. So, if you go on with your dessert and coffee, then I'll be right back. Richard, would you mind to step aside and we can just talk". However Kimble confronts Nichols infront of the crowd and tells them truth as Nichols walks off "He falsified his research. So, that RD-U90 could be approved and Devlin McGregor could give you Provasic!". And as Kimble follows Nichols into a room outside, Nichols smashes a chair over Kimble and shouts at him "You never give up, do you Richard?! You never give up!!". 

Andreas Kutsulas is also very good in his role as Frederick Sykes, who is a suspect in the murder of Kimble's wife and is a one armed man with a cosmetic arm. 

And I will mention one of his scenes, which is the one where he arrives at his apartment to find Gerard and his marshals waiting for him, who traced Kimble here after he called Gerard from Sykes's place. 

And in the scene, Sykes walks into his apartment, irritated by all the cops and marshals around him and he asks "What the hell is going on here?!" and Gerard says "You've had a break in, Mr Sykes. A fugitive, Richard Kimble broke in here and called us from your apartment, now why would he do that?" and Sykes says "I don't know any Kimble". Gerard's team have him show Sykes Kimble's picture and he realises "Right, Kimble? The guy who murdered his wife and kept blaming it on a one armed man with a prosthetic arm?" and Gerard asks "Did you?" and Sykes jokes "Well, yes I must have killed her, I have a prosthetic arm!" and Gerard laughs. Sykes then says "Give me a break. I went through all this last year, the police questioned me about. I wasn't even in Chicago that night, 15 people verified it! I was on a business trip". Gerard then asks "What is your line of work?" and Sykes says "Security. I work for a pharmacutical company" and Gerard asks "Which one?" and Sykes says "Devlin MacGregor. I handle security for all their top executives". Sykes then asks "You don't mind if I check and see nothing is missing?" and Gerard says "Go ahead" and then he asks "How did you lose that arm?" and Sykes glibly says "In the line of duty". 

Joe Pantoliano is also very good in his role as Cosmo Renfro, one of the US Marshals, who often wisecracks throughout the film.

And I will mention two of his scenes starting with the one where Cosmo at Cook county hospital where Kimble was sighted by a doctor (played by Julianne Moore) and he questions why Kimble was there. So, in the scene Cosmo says to Gerard "Right, here's what I don't get, Sam. Everybody is looking for Kimble right?" and Gerard says "Yeah" and Cosmo asks "Then why would he hang around a hospital, acting like he is Mother Teresa?" and at that moment, a man with a prosthetic arm walks past them, which catches their attention. 

And then there is the scene where Gerard and Cosmo appear at the convention center and question Nichols once again and show him a photo of Sykes and another doctor, Lentz. So, in the scene Gerard asks Nichols if he knows both men in the picture and Nichols says no. So, Cosmo says to Nichols "OK, Doctor and enjoy the rest of the convention" and Cosmo looks at the leaflet about Nichols speech and says "Advances in tissue and pathology research by Dr Charles Nichols". I bet they'd line up to hear this one!". 

Julianne Moore is also pretty good (and pretty!) in her role as the doctor, Anne, who works at Cook county hospital and later recognises Kimble, who pretends to be a janitor while acccessing info about prosthetic limb patients to track down the one-armed killer. 

So, I will mention two scenes with the first being the one where Anne confronts Kimble about the young boy he sends up for emergency surgery. So, Anne says to Kimble, who is trying to leave "Hey, do you have a particular interest in our patients X-rays?" and Kimble awkwardly asks "What do you mean?" and Anne says "I saw you look at that boy's chest X-Ray" and Kimble says "Its a hobby of mine". Anne however angrily says "Bullshit! What are your other hobbies? Brain surgery?!". Anne then firmly asks Kimble "I wanna know how that boy ended up in surgery? Who changed those orders?" and Kimble nervously says "I don't know what you mean" and Anne then realises who Kimble is and says to him "You stay right there!" and she takes his false ID card off him and calls for security and Kimble takes off.

And in her last scene, Anne speaks to Gerard who says to her "So, you find out he's Richard Kimble and all you do is take his ID card off him?" and Anne says "Look, I called for security and he took off down the hall. What else was I supposed to do?". Anne then says "Look, I've just finished a long shift, I'm really tired, can I go home?" and Gerard says yes and asks "How is the boy doing?" and Anne says "He saved his life" and she walks off, leaving Gerard a bit puzzled.

And last of all is Sela Ward, who is good in her role as Helen Kimble, Richard's wife, who is murdered by the one-armed man and Kimble is mistakenly convicted of the crime. I won't really mention any of Sela's dialogue however as she doesn't have too many lines that stand out that much other than in the scene Helen has been fatally shot and dials 911 just before she dies and says to the operator weakily "He's in the house...trying to kill me" and the operator "Did I hear you right? Someone is in your house?" and Helen gasps her last breaths and says "Richard....he's trying to kill me" and we see the killer's hand turn off the phone. 

DIRECTOR 

As for the director, Andrew Davis does an excellent job here with the film and his pacing of the film rarely ever lags and the action setpieces of the film are also very impressively staged and Davis had already previously directed Under Seige starring Steven Segal in 1992. Davis also makes good use of the locations in Chicago and even has one sequence where Kimble is chased into a busy crowd on St Patrick's day, which was actually shot on St Patrick's day itself in 1993. Davis on the DVD commentary also confirmed that alot of the dialogue was improvised by the actors, so its good that he gave them alot of freedom here. So, overall this is a very solid effort from Davis. 

MUSIC

Moving onto the music score, the score was composed by James Newton Howard and its a very good one and features some memorable themes, particularly the end theme aswell as some of the dramatic tracks where Kimble is being chased relentlessly by Gerard. Howard himself said he found it very difficult to score the film and was very surprised when it was nominated for an Academy Award at the 1994 oscars. 

FLAWS

As for flaws....yes the Fugitive isn't quite perfect and has a few.

For starters, I felt that the way the police investigation was handled of Kimble's wife's murder was pretty half-assed to say the least as the officers basically just went with the idea of Kimble being greedy and wanting his wife's money. They also thought that he had scratch marks and her skin under his fingernails (again when he tried to move her) was also sufficient enough to suggest he physically attacked her but clearly they seemed to have no interest in following up Kimble's claims of the one-armed killer. Although Sykes later on states that police approach him but at the same time, Kimble didn't even know who he was, so how did the police know to approach him in the first place??

Another issue is of course to do with the idea of Kimble being able to survive his jump off the dam, which he almost certainly would not have survived in reality and he most likely would have cracked his head open on the way down or died on impact of the water, or died some other way. Although the marshals do believe that Kimble is dead except Gerard, who stubbornly refuses to do so and somehow knows he's alive (that is some intuition he has there!).

You also have to wonder how Kimble could afford to keep getting new clothes as you see him change outfit quite a few times in the film. So, where does he get these clothes? Did he steal them or did he get money somewhere? Also,where would he have picked up money, other than the few bucks Nichols gives him earlier in the film. You could maybe argue that he somehow got paid for working as a janitor at the hospital but even that is a stretch, I mean how could he provide any details for payment, as he wouldn't have a clue of the real janitor's details and presumably his own cards would all be cancelled due to his conviction. So, yeah this all doesn't make much sense. 

Another scene that bugged me in the film was where Gerard shoots Copeland dead where Copeland holds one of Gerard's men, Newman, at gunpoint and Gerard sneaks up from a side door to shoot Copeland in the side of the head. However, when you look at the scene, Copeland and Newman are too near each other for Gerard to not shoot Newman as well and they are both so tight against the wall also you think there wouldn't be enough room for Gerad to get a clean shot at Copeland in the first place.

And last of all is the scene where Kimble barely escapes Gerard at the jailhouse as Gerard shoots at Kimble as he passes through the security doors and the doors are bullet proof and do not pass through. However in the scene, Kimble's foot is still trapped in the door and Gerard shoots a couple of bullets just to the right of his foot but why didn't Gerard simply shoot Kimble in his exposed foot and that way they could have captured him there and then! But no, Gerard decides to let Kimble flee but he had an open shot there to slow Kimble down and didn't take it.

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, The Fugitive remains an excellent action thriller, which features a fine cast and two fine performances from its leads with contrasting styles from Ford and Jones with the latter winning the Academy Award for best supporting actor that year at the Oscars. The direction of the film is also solid and Andrew Davis paces the film perfectly with hardly any lag in pacing and the action scenes are very impressive and suspenseful. The film's music score is also very good by James Newton Howard and features a memorable theme at the end credits as well as some other really good music tracks. 

So, after 30 years, I would definitely say The Fugitive still remains a fine thriller and well worth a look. 

And with that, I shall rate The Fugitive:

9 out of 10 

So, that's it for now and I will be back with another post in December at some point.

Until then, its bye for now!

 

Cliffhanger Review (Revisited Part 3!) "Keep your arms and legs in the vehicle at all TIMES!!"

 

 

 

 

OK, so figured its time for another movie review and this is YET another revistation of a revisit of a revisit of a revisit (3 revisits I think!). So, the film in question is 90's action thriller, Cliffhanger, starring Syvlester Stallone. Also since its the film's 30th anniversary this year, I figured why not give it yet another look.

So, with that said let's take once again another look at this Stallone classic...

And the usual is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!

STORY

So the film begins with the main character, Gabriel "Gabe" Walker (Stallone) a mountain rescuer who is sent to pick up his friend and fellow mountain ranger, Hal (Michael Rooker) who is stranded with his girlfriend, Sarah (Michelle Joyner) up on a narrow peak in the Rocky mountains.  Hal manages to transfer himself on a steel cable line over to a rescue helicopter piloted by Jessie (Janine Turner) who is also Gabe's girlfriend.  However after Gabe fixes the harness for Sarah as she transfers over the line, the harness begins to break and she is left dangling on the line.  Gabe goes to rescue her and he grabs just as her harness breaks off but he loses his grip as her glove slips off, Sarah falls to her death 4000 feet below.

After this the story shifts to eight months later and Gabe returns to town since Sarah's funeral, and he is now racked with guilt and no longer climbs.  Gabe asks Jessie if she will come with him but she refuses to leave town as she says this is her home and she is annoyed at Gabe's insistance on feeling guilty over Sarah's death as she feels he did all he could.

Meanwhile the story moves to the US Treasury Department where treasury agent Richard Travers (Rex Linn) is assigned the task of transporting three suitcases of 30 million dollars via plane.  On the plane however Travers turns out to be a turncoat as he kills two of the other agents and wounds an undercover agent, Matheson (Vyto Ruginis) who twigs what Travers is up to.  Travers then get's in contact with another plane which is manned by a team of thieves lead by a former military intelligence member, the ruthless and pyschotic Eric Qualen (John Lithgow).

Travers arranges to transfer the cases by a zip line between the two planes and he goes over himself onto the other plane, however before the cases can be transferred (by Travers pilot who is in on it as well) Matheson shoots the pilot and at the thieves plane.  The agent is soon killed however as Travers has rigged explosives on the plane to blow, however as a result the zip line is broken and the thieves lose the cases which fall among the mountains.  The plane makes a crash landing and three of the group die as a result of the crash.

In the meantime as Gabe is about to leave, Jessie informs him of a distress call, which soon turns out to be from the thieves.  Gabe relucantly agrees to go and help find them and he meets up with Hal while climbing up the mountains, who is still angry at Gabe over Sarah's death for which he blames Gabe, but despite that they move on to the thieves location.

On arriving at the plane crash, Qualen and Travers force Gabe and Hal to help them find the cases which they agree to, however as Gabe helps them find the first one, they attempt to kill him but he manages to escape by cutting the rope he was tied to, just as one of the thieves causes a landslide by using a grenade launcher, one of their party is killed.  Gabe then continues to use his skill and knowledge of the mountain areas to try and keep ahead of them as he rejoins with Jessie they work together to try and find the remaining two cases.

Meanwhile Hal is forced to help Qualen's men and Travers find the remaining two cases, although unbeknownst to them he takes them the long way round to buy Gabe some time.  And from here its up to Gabe and Jessie to try and save Hal and find a way to stop Qualen's men and Travers from getting what they want......

THOUGHTS

After making a string of mediocre films during the late 80s and very early 90s such as "Over the top", "Cobra", "Tango and Cash", and "Stop or my mom will shoot!" not to mention the underrated but nonetheless panned "Rocky V" Sly returned to form here with Cliffhanger, which is still a very entertaining and suspenseful action thriller after 30 years.

It also sees a nice change from the cocky action heroes that Stallone had played previously to this as Gabe is morely an everyday good guy, who has to overcome his own guilt at failing to help save his best friend Hal's girlfriend from dying as well as confront his own fears and get back into climbing.

The setting of the film in the Rocky mountains in Colorado also allows for some spectacular scenery (in reality it was shot in the Dolomites mountain range in Cortina, Italy) and the high altitude sequences also add much suspense to the film and its a nice contrast to the city based action films so overly used today and even of that time.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and strong language!) 

Performance wise things are pretty good in Cliffhanger.

Starting with Sylvester Stallone, who gives a pretty good account of himself in his role as Gabe Walker, the guilt ridden mountaineer who is forced into a situation where he must fight against a group of ruthless thieves.

Stallone also get's some good dialogue in the film and despite his character being less cocky and flashy then what we've seen from Stallone before, he still get's some good quips.  As for a few examples for starters there is the opening scene where Jessie asks Gabe whereabouts he is climbing as they search for Hal and Sarah and Gabe hanging by the rock face says "I'm just hanging out, Jess!".

And in the next scene Gabe teases Hal by revealing how Hal got the bandage on his leg by saying "Oh yeah I remember you twisted it when you got out of that hot tub!" and Sarah surprised says "I thought that was an old war wound from Nam!" and Gabe says sarcastically "Really??!".  Then Gabe says to Sarah "What do you say we take off and leave this clown (i.e. Hal) behind??!" so Hal then grabs Gabe's radio and warns Jessie that Gabe is making advances on his girlfriend and is liable to get his ass kicked off the mountain.  So, Jessie replies "Be informed Gabe makes advances to me only or he'll be climbing down alone and sleeping outside!" and Gabe replies "Baby, he lies!".

Another good scene is when Gabe escapes from Qualen and his men and he climbs up a mountain and reaches the top, however he is only wearing a T-shirt and jeans, so he is frozen and he barges his way into an old shelter, where Jessie already is.  So, Jessie runs over to tend to him and Gabe tells her "They've got Hal!  The distress call was a fake!".  Jessie then asks "Fake?  What do you mean it was a fake?" and Gabe tells her "Before they crashed, they dumped cases of money!" and Jessie asks "Who are they?" and Gabe says "I dunno.  They're using Hal to find it.  When they do, he's dead!".  So, Gabe chittering away says to Jessie "You gotta get on the radio and call Frank...and tell him to call the state police!" and he puts on an old ragged jumper that Jessie gave him.  Gabe soon calms down and get's his breath back and says to Jessie "Let's take everything we need. Let's move. We got to get to that next case before they do!".

Then there is the scene where Gabe and Jessie find a cave and rest at night while Gabe has made a fire and uses some of the suitcase money to keep the fire burning.  So, as Gabe throws on some money to the fire, he says to Jessie "It costs a fortune to heat this place!  Bad humour, I know." and the two of them snuggle up for warmth and he says "We better get some sleep.  We're going to need it".  

Another good scene comes when Gabe is confronted by one of Qualen's group Kynette (Leon Robinson) who asks him where the money is, Gabe replies "I burned it.  Never could save anything!".  And this leads into the next scene where Gabe get's his ass kicked by Leon who asks him where the money is, he weakly replies "Sissy!  You hit like a sissy!" but before Gabe turns the tables on Kynette.

WARNING: THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH REFERS TO THE END OF THE FILM!!!!

And lastly there is the scene where Gabe tells Qualen to meet him at the highest point of the mountain range in the helicopter and Qualen flies up there he sees Gabe and says to him on the radio "I must admit you are a real piece of work" and Gabe says "Yeah and I must admit you're a real piece of shit!".  So, Qualen points his gun at Gabe and says of the bag of money that Gabe has "Throw it up, or I'll kill her!" and Gabe says "You do and the cash is gone!  I want you to put her down!" and he points off to his left "Over there!" which Qualen reluctantly does so.  

And this leads into the climactic fight sequence where the chopper ends up going over the edge but it remains attached to a cable that Gabe fit to a rock ladder.  So as the two men fight, Gabe ultimately get's the better of Qualen and beats him up and shouts "Remember, shithead....to keep your arms and legs in the vehicle at all TIMES!!!" and he kicks Qualen, who falls back into the chopper, which plummets below and blows up taking Qualen with it.  And afterward, Gabe catches his breath and looks up and says to himself "I'm outta here!".        

John Lithgow is excellent in his role as the ruthless Eric Qualen, the leader of the thieves, even though he hams it up and puts on a rather questionable English accent, he is quite effective and creepy as the main villain.

And Lithgow has his share of good moments that include the scene where at the start of the hijack of the FBI treasury plane, Travers slides down a zipline to join Qualen and his team on their plane.  And Qualen annoyed asks him "Why didn't you send the money first???!!" and Travers says "Somehow I didn't think you'd wait for me if I sent it first!".  However as their plan goes awry due to one of the surviving FBI agent's shooting Qualen's plane (just before the agent himself is blown up by the charges set on the FBI plane by Travers) they lose the cases of money, which falls thousands of miles below to the surface.  And Qualen says to Travers "So, this is your idea of a foolproof plan?!  You stupid bastard!". 

Lithgow also get's some other good lines of dialogue such as when he first meets Gabe and Hal who ask what is the suitcases and he says "Suits, socks, 30 million dollars, the usual stuff!".  Then Qualen takes Gabe and Hal into the plane and Travers shows the locations of the three cases transponders and Qualen asks them "Do you recognise these locations?".  However after Gabe and Hal say nothing, Qualen warns them "Let me jar your memory. It you don't recognize them, you're useless. Useless items are usually discarded. Right, Travers?!".  Travers annoyed by this responds "Get off my back, Qualen!" to which Qualen says "Off?  I haven't even got on it...yet!". 

Then there is the scene where the two young skydivers, Brett and Evan encounter Qualen and his men with Hal.  And Qualen says to Hal "Walk over" and as Hal pleads with Qualen to leave them alone Qualen says "We're not animals.  Don't force us to be.  Walk over!".  However after Hal yells at Brett and Evan to run for it, Brett is gunned down and Evan just makes it as he dives off the mountain with his parachute.  Hal afterward angrily says to Qualen "You murdering motherfuck!" to which Qualen responds "Kill a few people they call you a murderer.  Kill a million and you're a conqueror.  Go figure!  Move on, Tucker!  Time is short!".

Then there is the scene where Travers attempts to radio in his own people for a chopper as he is afraid to go over a rather precarious looking foot bridge. So, Qualen grabs him and says "You don't get it, do you?!  We're in bed now, joined at the hip, partners in crime!  You've crossed over, Travers, and there's no turning back" and he moves toward the bridge.  

Lithgow's most potent scenes comes when he actually kills his own girlfriend, one of the thieves, Kristel (Caroline Goodall) in an attempt to force Travers to help them find their money (with the use of a tracking device).  And in the scene he grabs Kristel and whispers in her ear "Do you know what real love is, Kristel?  Sacrifice!" just before he shoots her and he says to a shocked Travers "Now I'm the only one that can fly us out of here!  We're partners again". So Qualen throws the tracking device over Travers and angrily says "Now take your toy and find our money!" and he throws Kristel's body aside and he sits down in the chopper and says "Radio me when you find it.  I'm waiting here!".   

And last of all is the scene near the end when Qualen get's a surprise radio call from Gabe and he says "Walker!  You resilient bastard, so you are still alive!".  And as Qualen holds Jessie hostage in the helicopter he says to Gabe "You get the picture, Walker.  I wan't that money.  Meet me at the highest point from where you are, or else I'll find it this little angel of yours can fly!" to which Gabe agrees.  And afterward, Qualen says to Jessie "Love's a killer, isn't it?".

Michael Rooker is also pretty good as Gabe's good friend, Hal, who at first holds a grudge against him, but he quickly put his differences aside as he tries to help Gabe escape whenever he can, by slowing down the thieves as he guides them to their cases.  And its good to see Rooker, who usually plays the bad guys in his films, play a good guy for once.

And Rooker has his share of good scenes in the film such as the one where at the start of the film, where Hal and his girlfriend, Sarah, are rescued by Gabe as they were stranded up on a mountain (well sort of saved!).  And in the scene Gabe sort of hits on Sarah and Hal grabs his radio and says to Jessie "Please be advised that Ranger Walker is making advances toward my girlfriend...that's liable to get his ass kicked right off this mountain, over!".

Another good moment is when Hal confronts Gabe for the first time since his girlfriend's funeral.  In the scene Gabe angrily says "You didn't love her and you didn't have to explain to her family!" and Gabe says "And you didn't have to look into her eyes when she was falling!  Now drop it!" and Hal grabs him and very nearly pushes him over a cliff edge and he says "NO, BUDDY! It was YOU who dropped it!".  And as Gabe perilously stands over the egde he says to Hal "You wanna do it?  Do it!" but Hal shakes his head and let's go of him and says "No! You live with it!".   

Then there is the scene where Hal deliberately misleads Qualen and Travers by taking them the long way round to the next case.  However, Travers nearly twigs this at one point and says to him "Wait a minute.  It looks like a winding route to me" and Hal says "The fastest way is right up the east face.  Of course there's only about twelve guys in the world who can do it. You wanna try it?!".  

Rooker's best scene in the film comes when he faces off against one Qualen's thugs, Delmar (Craig Fairbrass) who is about to shoot, but when Hal goads him to, Delmar instead kicks his ass and yaks on about soccer.  And in the scene Hal says "Hey Delmar, from me to you, you're an asshole!" and later "In a minute I'll be dead and YOU will always be an asshole!".  And as Delmar is about to kick him off the cliff, Hal manages to surprise Delmar by quickly grabbing a knife he had in his trousers and stabbing it into Delmar's leg and Hal grabs the thug's shotgun and says "SEASON'S OVER ASSHOLE!" just before he blasts him off the cliff.

WARNING: THIS PARAGRAPH REFERS TO THE END OF THE FILM (AGAIN!!)

And lastly there is the final scene of the film where the bad guys are all taken care of (in the Jules Winfield sense of the word! i.e. as Samuel L Jackson's character in Pulp Fiction who once said "taken care of!") and Gabe is helped back up the mountain by Hal and Jessie.  So, Hal teases Gabe and says "Hey, buddy, you couldn't have put a little more effort into that climb?!  I thought you were in shape!" and Gabe weakly says "I'm guess I'm falling apart!".  And as the FBI agents get in touch over the radio frequency (and Hal in the scenes talk to them with a radio he took from Delmar earlier in the film) Hal fills them in.  So, Hal says to the agents "If you're looking for Mr. Qualen... try about 4,000 feet south of here. He'll be the one wearing a helicopter! Over!". 

Rex Linn is also pretty good in his role as the corrupt treasury agent, Travers, who is in cahoots with Qualen albeit somewhat relucantly, as they both despise one another.  Linn also has some good moments in the film such as his opening scene where one of the treasury agents Wright (Paul Winfield) calls treasury agents the most superstitious prompting Travers to says "We should be!  Everyone wants what we have!".

And there is also the scene where Travers transfer between planes to Qualen's plane, but he does it before he sends the money.  So when Travers reaches Qualen's plane and he is taken in, Qualen angrily asks "Why didn't you send the money first?!" and Travers replies "Somehow I didn't think you would wait for me if I sent it first!".

Another good scene is when just after Qualen's plane crashes in the rocky mountains and Qualen demands to Travers "Give me the tracking monitor!" and Travers says "What the hell are you gonna do with it?!" and Kynette warns Travers "Don't make him ask you twice!  Give it to him!".  So, Travers takes the tracking monitor for the cases and hands it over to Qualen "You want it? Here! Take it.  Its only got 50,000 key code variations in it!".  This angers, Delmar who comes at him and shouts "I'm gonna break your fucking neck in a minute!" and Travers angrily says back "Yeah, go ahead and break my fucking neck!" as he lunges for Delmar but he is held back.  So, Travers shouts at them "In case any of you slept through the landing...you're gonna need all the money you can find to buy your way out of this country!  YOU know it and I know it!".   

Then there is the scene Hal, Qualen, Travers and the others are about to encounter Brett and Evan and on their radios, they hear Frank come as he is sweeping the area in his chopper.  So, Qualen says "Looks like we're drawing a crowd" and Travers quips "We're down to a few hours before the whole fucking world shows up!" and he asks Hal of the cases  "Where's the next one?" and Hal replies "On the tower".  Qualen then asks Hal "How far?" but Hal doesn't respond straight away, so Travers impatiently grabs Hal by the throat and yells at him "He asked you how far, goddamnit!! You know what I think?  I think we've been taking the scenic route!  NOW, HOW FAR IS IT???!!" and Hal gasps and responds "Half a day!". 

Another good scene from Linn is where Travers get's a lock in on the last remaining case of money and he says to Delmar "I've got it locked in".  So, Delmar asks him regarding Hal "So, we're finished with him, yeah?" and Travers says "Yeah and do it quietly.  Your insane boss just made enough noise for anyone within 10 miles to hear us" and he walks off and says "Its been fun!".  So after Hal survives his brutal encounter with Delmar and (SPOILER!!!!!) by shooting him off the mountain with Delmar's shotgun, Travers, far off sees the body fall in the distance over the cliff and he says "I said quietly!". 

Last of all is Linn's best scene where Travers finally snaps, as he tries to locate the last case but instead he finds a bunny rabbit has the transponder device on it and he goes bananas with his machine gun and contacts Qualen and berates him on the radio.  And Linn get's some good dialogue in the scene where he says to Qualen "They beat us!  A couple of fuckin mountain rangers beat us!  They beat the man no law agency ever could! And I'm finding that pretty tuckin' hilarious, Qualen!".  Travis then continues his rant to Qualen "It's hard to believe I sold out after 20 years... and this is my payback? To run on a mountain with a fuckin' dirtbag like you!".  Qualen responds angrily "Travis, you've lost your mind!" and Travis says "I lost it?!  Fuckin A', I lost it!  Pure fuckin section eight!".  Qualen then finishes by saying to Qualen "I gotta go.  I'm on my last official manhunt!  Adios motherfucker!" and he signs off and throws away the tracker and sets his sights on hunting down Gabe.
  
Janine Turner next is very good also as Gabe's girlfriend, Jessie, who helps Gabe out in trying to find the cases of money and to try and reach Hal as well as fight off the baddies.  Turner has some good moments in the film, and her funniest line comes when she flies the chopper at the start of the film up the mountains and she sees Gabe climbing and she says "I don't recognise him, but the butt looks familiar!".

Turner also has another good scene with Stallone near the start of the film where Jessie says to Gabe "Why don't quit hoarding all the guilt!  You held on as long as you could!".  And as Gabe says "I don't think you understand" Jessie says "I think I'm the only one who understands!  You know there were times where I didn't know what to do more, love you or hate you.  But one thing I do know is that I understand you".

Then there is the scene where Jessie senses something is wrong with Hal and Gabe after hearing Hal's responding transmission just after he has been captured by Quanlen's men.  So, Jessie back at the rocky mountain rescue office says to Frank "He said the tower, but he's on Comb Bluff. Frank, fly me to the west valley. The winds are never too strong there. It's only a half-hour climb to the Douglas Shaft. It's the only shelter around. Hal would have to go there!".  Frank however shakes his head and says "That is a bad idea, Jessie.  Hal would have my head!" and Jessie tries to flatter Frank "And its such a handsome head.  Come on, Frank.  I'll buy one of your paintings!".   

And lastly there is the scene where Gabe and Jessie prepare to use the old rope they got to rappel down the mountain.  So Gabe says to Jessie "The ledge is too far. Take this rope and pull it apart and tie it together. We're gonna rappel down!" and Jessie asks "This rope is 60 years old, do you think it will hold?" and Gabe says "Don't think so" and Jessie says "Bad answer!". 

Leon Robertson is also good as the brutal henchman, Kynette who in his best scene where he confronts and later beats up Gabe and demands where the money is.

And at the start of the scene Kynette springs up on Gabe as he pops his head out of the cave he has just climbed up and Kynette says to him "Your life is on sale, Walker!  The price is 30 million!  Where is it?!".  And as Gabe says he burned it Kynette says "Not even a dumb mountain boy like you would burn 30 million dollars!" and then he says "I don't make deals, Walker but I'll make one with you.  Hand over the money and I'll just kill you and not the girl!  Now give me the money!" which prompts Gabe to agree but then he lifts his pick axe out of the snow and slashes Kynette's leg with it as Gabe falls back down into the cave.

And as Kynette beats up Gabe, he shouts at him "I'm gonna ask you just three times....WHERE'S THE MONEY??!!!" and Gabe says "Sissy!  You hit like a sissy!" so Kynette kicks Gabe again and he yells "WRONG ANSWER, MOTHERFUCKER!!".   So, Kynette grabs Gabe and yells "GET UP!  I'm gonna ask you a second time....where is the money?!!" and Gabe replies sharply "Burned it!" and Kynette glares with fury and shouts "WRONG...ANSWER!!" and hits Gabe in the face with his knuckle duster.  So, before Kynette goes in for the kill, he get's the film's best line which is "It amazes me in this day and age that a man would put money before the personal safety of himself and his bitch!  I want you to go to your grave knowing, I'm gonna treat the bitch RIGHT!" but then Gabe turns the tables and kills him instead!

Craig Fairbrass (who was known in Britain for his role in Eastenders) also makes a decent impression as one of Qualen's thugs, Delmar

Fairbrass also has another good moment where Qualen's group loses another of their men and Hal smiles saying "Gravity is a bitch ain't it?" and Delmar shouts "Fuck the money and fuck you!  I wasn't born to die on no fucking mountain!".  And Kynette sarcastically asks "Where were you born to die?  You gotta place picked out?!" and Delmar warns Kynette "I don't need to hear that fucking shit from you, boy!" causing Kynette to angrily grab Kynette by his hair and hold his knife to his throat yelling "Maybe this boy should make your mouth a little bigger!".       

And Craig's best scene comes when Delmar kicks the crap out of Hal and Hal does his best to goad Delmar into beating him up before killing him.  So, as Hal calls Delmar an asshole, Delmar responds "Yeah?  Well, you're a loud mouth, punk slag, who is about to die!".  So, Hal says to him "Maybe.  But in a minute I'll be dead and YOU will always be an asshole.  So go ahead and shoot.  SHOOT!!" so Delmar grabs Hal and says "Who's shooting?" and he headbutts him.

So as Delmar proceeds to kick the shit out of Hal he taunts him saying "Do you like socceer?  Its a great sport!  I was a fucking good striker!" and he stamps on Hal's calf, who screams out "God, Fuck you!!".  So, Delmar says "You're swearing now!  That's a penalty kick!  Unsportsmanlike!" and he kicks Hal a few more times.  Delmar then walks back as he prepares to delivery one final almighty kick and he says to Hal "Striker lines up at the penalty spot. He focuses on the ball. The crowd is on its teet. Striker moves to his lett. He draws back his foot. He comes in....".  Delmar delivers one more brutal kick to Hal, which just about sends him over the edge as Hal desparately tries to hold on, Delmar puts his foot on Hal's hand and laughs sadistically.  Hal however manages to open the switchblade he took earlier from Frank and stabs Delmar in the knee with it, takes his shotgun and yells at a panicked Delmar "SEASON'S OVER, ASSHOLE!!!!" and shoots him off the cliff.

Ralph Waite also puts in a nice performance as the rescue team's search and rescue pilot, Frank, and he has an amusing scene where he does a painting of what appears to be a banana and he says to Hal "This is a banana eating a monkey!  Nature in reverse!".  Hal bemused asks Frank "Where?" and Frank points at the painting "Right there!" and Hal laughs and says "He looks like a normal guy...but he's not, are you, Frank?!" and Frank offended says "Hey, I'm an artist!".  

Waite also has a good moment in the opening scene where he pilots the helicopter while they search for Hal and Sarah and as Jessies teases Gabe when she spots him climbing the mountain and says "I don't recognise the face but the butt does look familiar" Gabe says "Hey careful or you'll embarass old Frank!" and Frank replies "It would take a heap more than that, rock jock!".

But its also worth noting in the opening scene of the film that Waite as Frank appears to have a rather mad looking grin on his face when Sarah falls to her death as its almost like he was enjoying it!  Of course it is more likely just the expression that Waite had on his face in that given scene but even still it makes you think "Frank, what a sick bastard you are grinning at a time like this!".

Caroline Goodall is also good in her role as Kristel, Qualen's girlfriend (although it is actually never explicitly stated in the film that she is) and she, too has some good scenes such as the one near the start of the film where after Qualen's plane crash lands in the rockies and Kristel sends out a fake distress call, which Hal picks up.

So, in the scene as Hal responds on his radio, Kristel fakes an American accent (as she is English) and Kristel says "Oh, thank God! Ah, we're stranded. We were hiking and lost our bearings. We didn't expect the weather to come in this fast!".  And as Hal asks how many people are in their group, Qualen indicates five to Kristel who says to Hal "Five people. I don't know where we are. I-- I see only a cylinder-type rock formation. Over!".  So, as Hal tells her to stay calm and he is on his way, Kristel feigns desparation again as she says to Hal "Please hurry! Billy's going into shock! Please, we need insulin! Please, hurry!".  Qualen then shuts off the radio and looks at Kristel, impressed, he strokes her face gently and says to Travers "We need insulin?"  Would you have thought of that?". 

Then there is the scene where Kristel rigs a mountain bridge with explosives, and as she sets it, she says to Qualen "Its ready".  And after Kristel finishes, Qualen watches her and says "You'll make someone a fine wife some day" and she replies "You should see me bake a cake!" and he smiles.

And last of all there is the scene where Frank lands the chopper nearby as he sees Kristel lie face down in the snow, which is just a ruse so they can get the chopper.  So, as Frank goes to Kristel, he says "Where's the rest of the group?" and Kristel slowly get's up and the suddenly grabs Frank's gun and points it at him and says "Welcome!".  Frank looks surprised and asks "What are you doing?!" and Kristel aggressively says "Now, back off!" and Frank says "I came here to help you!" and Delmar suddenly appears armed with his machine gun, who says "You did.  Don't move".  And at this point, Hal, who was held at gunpoint by Qualen and Travers is let go and rushes toward Frank yelling at him to get the hell out of there only for Delmar to then gun down Frank.  Kristel then furiously get's up and yells at Delmar "YOU STUPID MANIAC!!  No one told you to shoot!" and Delmar says "We've wasted enough time".  

And lastly Paul Winfield makes a good albeit brief appearance in the film as a treasury agent, Walter Wright who later uncovers Qualen's plot to rob the US Treasury.  And Winfield delivers one of the film's most ironic lines near the start when he reassures one of the undercover agents that "Armoured cars can be hijacked, trains derailed but nobody can touch us in flight!".  Travers then says "Haven't lost a bill in 12 years. Don't jinx me now!" and Wright then smiles and says "I swear Treasury agents are the most superstitious people in the government!" and Travers says "We should be! Everbody wants what we have!".   

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

Getting onto the direction, Renny Harlin (who was best known for directing Die Hard 2 up to this point) does a fine job with Cliffhanger and he skillfully shoots the spectacular climbing sequences as well as handling the film's gritty action scenes and suspense very well.  He also creates some interesting visual shots such as the scene where we see a distant shot of the mountain where on the top Hal leads the thieves and thousands of feet below we can see Gabe and Jessie work their way toward finding the remaining cases. Also there is the scene the scene where Qualen's men shoot their guns and grenade launchers, which sets off a landslide and the point of view shot pans from down up the cliff to Gabe and above him, which is pretty good.

The film's music score is also pretty good which was written and composed by Trevor Jones, and it has several tense and dramatic passages which work very well and the film's main theme is also memorable.  The score also has a resemblance to Jones's score for The Last of the Mohicans and it also even echoes part of his score for Mississipi Burning during the night time scenes where Qualen's men chase Gabe.  So as a score it still holds up pretty well to this day.  

FLAWS 

As for flaws does Cliffhanger have any?????  Yeah its not entirely perfect.

And to begin, I felt that the story in itself is pretty flimsy and there's nothing really new there, as its just another cliched story of bad guys wanting money, and the hero trying to overcome his own demons and adversity.  I also thought some of the sequences in the film were a bit daft such as the scene where Gabe climbs up the mountain face having just escaped Qualen's men in the harsh freezing snowy conditions, wearing only a T-shirt on top, yet somehow he doesn't freeze to death in the process!  And when Gabe finally reaches the top and the shack where Jessie is waiting and she gives him a jumper as soon as he puts it on he almost stops shivering immediately, which marks a pretty quick recovery for a man who almost certainly would have died from hypothermia due to being exposed to such cold temperatures only wearing a T-shirt!

The film's violence is also pretty strong and there are one or two moments that could leave an audience cold (no pun intended) such as the scene where Qualen shoots Kristel or the young skydivers being mercilessly gunned down by Qualen's men.  The censors were also pretty strict on the violence in the film and in America they made several trims to the film's violent scenes and the initial DVD release over here was also heavily censored.  The main cuts to the DVD release in the UK included the scene where Kynette beats up Gabe and where Delmar gives Hal a pretty nasty kicking.

The film also on some levels could also be accused of being a little racist, especially in its depiction of the character of Delmar, who in one scene (which was initially edited in the British DVD release) harbours a grudge toward Leon (who threatened him with a knife earlier on) and he says to Kristel "Good, and blow up that black bastard while you're at it.  Save me the time of doing it meself!".  This scene and all the others cuts were of course restored in the UK Blu-ray release of Cliffhanger which is still uncut and rated as a 15, even though at the time those cuts were made in order for the film to prevent it from receiving an 18.   

The film also features one or two redundant characters such as the two young sky divers Brett and Evan who provide us with some daft dialogue particularly in one scene where the two of them camp for the night.  And in the scene, Brett asks Evan "Where would rather be right now?  Here at tent city or back home playing some righteous air hockey?" and Evan says "Air hockey got my vote" and Brett says "Exactly cheeshead, exactly!" leaving Evan to bemusingly ask "Cheeshead?" and Brett confirms "Cheesehead".  It almost seems like they appeared to have been added as an afterthought for the sake of the MTV generation (well OK maybe not but its just my theory!).

Another problem I had with the film was to do with how Gabe is one minute shown driving away from Jessie's place, intent on heading back to Denver despite Jessie's best attempts to try and persuade him to help out Hal with what turns out to be Qualen's fake distress call.  However in the next scene we suddenly see Gabe up the mountain having decided to help out Hal!  I just think there should have been a transitional scene in there somewhere that showed Gabe changing his mind, even if he drove off so far and then decided to stop and turn the jeep around!  So, I just think Gabe's decision to help out Hal should have been handled better in the film than it actually was.  

UPDATE: Actually further to the last paragraph, there IS a moment where we see Gabe make up his mind to help out Hal with the so called stranded climbers in the scene where she tries to persuade him to help. However, its actually pretty subtle as Jessie pleads with Gabe and says "Go ahead, leave! But if you don't do this now, you'll be stuck up on that ledge for the rest of your life!" and Gabe takes a moment to consider her words and he nods and get's in and drives off and that's where he made the choice but I actually didn't realise until now that Gabe's nod was even there! So, yeah that previous flaw is actually a redeemable one and that's on me for not noticing it! ;-) 

Another scene which I found puzzling is where Kristel sets the explosives over the bridge and while she does it Qualen appears to be holding her at gunpoint!  And you have to ask yourself: if he is then why???  I mean she is on his side after all and its not like she wouldn't be willing to do what he asks of her.  It may of course just be a poor bit of perspective in terms of direction and in a earlier shot in the scene we see that Qualen has his gun held lower down to his side but in the next shot he clearly appears to be holding at Kristel like "Don't you screw this up!".  Its nothing of great significance but its a small but puzzling niggle all the same.  

I also thought the film had a pretty stupid climax with Gabe fighting with Qualen in the mountain rescue helicopter which has crashed and gone over the edge of the cliff and is hanging by the remaining rungs of the ladder (which Gabe wrapped around the helicopter's landing skids, which are steadily coming loose because of the weight of the helicopter.

And the sudden ending (PLOT SPOILER) with Gabe having dealt with Qualen, they receive a call from the Treasury agents who are enroute to save them and Paul Winfield's character says "Just sit tight for now" and the credits role.  So in this regard you wish you kind of saw some sort of aftermath for the characters having made it safely down, rather than, pardon the pun, just leave them hanging!

Anyway that's it for the flaws.  

SUM UP

So to sum up Cliffhanger is still a very entertaining and suspenseful action film which has some spectacular visuals and some good action in it as well.  The film does of course have some cheesy action movie moments and a pretty hammy villain and it also stretches its credibility in quite a few places especially with its over the top climax but if you can forgive that then Cliffhanger is still one of Stallone's most enjoyable action films. And even 30 years on, Cliffhanger is well worth taking a look at and warrants repeated viewing. 

So. I will rate Cliffhanger:

9 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon hopefully yet another post, which could possibly be a review of The Fugitive (which I don't appear to have done on the blog!). 

Until then bye the now!

JFK Review (Revisited Part 4!)

 

 

 

 

 

Well, since today is the 60th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, I thought I would revisit my previous post (or posts) on the Olvier Stone epic drama based on the trial of the assassination of JFK by district attorney of Louisana, Jim Garrison, starring Kevin Costner in the lead role. 

So, this post is already a pretty big one, so I will try and not add too much to expand it even more (in fact I will need to find a way shorten these posts in future lol!) and let's see how this film fairs 32 years on from its release.

And the usual warning is coming up...

SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

So the story starts with pre-credits explaining the events leading up to Kennedy's assassination (narrated by Martin Sheen) from the start of his time in office, to his murder.  On the day of the assassination, in New Orleans, District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) is informed by one of his staff Lou Barnes (Jay Sanders) of the crime.  After Kennedy's death is announced officially on television, the suspected assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) is arrested and taken to the Dallas police station for questioning.

Garrison then plans to investigate any suspects and associates of Lee Harvey Oswald's that might be under his jurisdiction in New Orleans, however before he can do that, Oswald is assassinated live on TV by Dallas mob man Jack Ruby (Brian Doyle Murray).  Regardless of Oswald's shock assassination, Garrison brings in one of Oswald's alleged known associates, David Ferrie (Joe Pesci) who naturally denies he ever knew Oswald.  However Ferrie gives a very shaky account of his activities on the day of the assassination which Garrison doesn't believe and has Ferrie detained for more questioning by the FBI, regardless of this though Ferrie is let go, after which Garrison decides not to continue investigating any further.

Three years later in 1966, after sharing a conversation with a senator, Russell Long (played by  Walter Matthau) on an airplane, Garrison starts to have serious doubts and suspicions about the events of the assassination and that Oswald was the lone gunman.  So, Garrison starts to dig around and he reads the Warren Report which was published by Warren Commission and conducted by chief judge Earl Warren (played by Garrison himself).  However Garrison is far from impressed with the report as he feels it is riddled with inaccuracies and is sloppy and disorganised.  So it is not long before Garrison decides to re-open the investigation of the crime.

Garrison then with his small team, begin to question many different witnesses to the shooting, and potential suspects that may have been connected to the assassination.  As Garrison and his team investigate further, a name that keeps popping up is Clay Bertrand, who is later revealed to be Clay Shaw (played by Tommy Lee Jones) a well respected businessman and entrepeneur.

However on bringing Shaw in for questioning, Shaw categorically denies any knowledge of Oswald, Ferrie or any one else potentially involved in the conspiracy, as well as denying his Clay Bertrand alias.  But soon after their meeting, Garrison's investigation is made public and soon the press and media come down hard on him.  Now forced to operate out in the open, Garrison faces tough choices ahead of him in carrying out his investigation, after receiving various death threats, crank calls, and narrowly escaping frame ups to discredit him.

Eventually after rigorous investigations, including a discussion with an ex-military figure who simply calls himself "X" (Donald Sutherland) who provides him with important background knowledge to the events surrounding the assassination, Garrison decides to arrest Shaw and prosecute him for his possible involvement in the alleged conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy.

And what follows after this is a lengthy trial sequence where Garrison presents his case for the prosecution of Clay Shaw as well as his speculation on the events on the day of the assassination in Dallas. 

THOUGHTS ON THE FILM AND THE CONSPIRACY THEORIES

JFK is without a doubt a great achievement in its own, as Oliver Stone took a controversial subject and turned into a fascinating, gripping and intelligent film.  If you look at the events and evidence that are presented in the film, it certainly does a great job at convincing you that there was a possible conspiracy involved.  Jim Garrison himself showed tremendous moral courage and character in bringing such a trial to the public eye, as he himself faced great danger in enraging the government and endangering his own life in the process.

However Garrison is never potrayed as anything else other than a very decent man who in reality at first was never really keen on Kennedy at the time but during his investigation came to admire him for what he stood for during his time as the president before his untimely tragic death.  Oliver Stone himself based the film on Jim Garrison's book, "On The Trail of the Assassins" (which details Garrison's trial to prosecute Clay Shaw) as well as "Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy" by Jim Marrs.

But whether or not a conspiracy took place in Dallas that day or not, no one really knows, but the film certainly does its best to convince the viewer that there was one.  One of key aspects of the assassination as highlighted in the film was that it seemed highly unlikely that Oswald could have fired 3 shots that from the book depository window, in such a short space of time (5-7 seconds), and do it with such precision from the distance he was at from the motorcade.  And that is where the other riflemen come into the equation and the scenario of a team that would be able to place themselves in fixed positions to ensure the assassination would be carried out precisely.

Another crucial crux of the film and the case was, there had to be more than just 3 shots, as if for no better reason, there were four known wounds, three to Kennedy (in the throat, back and head) and one to Governor Conally (one in the back).  This is where the Warren Commission presented the ridiculous "magic bullet" theory that one bullet accounted for the wounds between Connally and Kennedy. Also based from the facts given from the film, it seems unlikely that if after Oswald committed the crime, that he would be able race down the stairs in about 90 seconds, only to face a police officer who was checking out the building, to ask whom he was, and appear not to be out of breath, which the policeman testified later that Oswald was absolutely not out of breath. There is also the issue of car salesman, James Tague, who was struck by a fragment of one of the bullets on his cheek, who later testified that he believed it to have been the second shot that was fired, causing his wound.

Another theory however that has been stated over the years was the final headshot that killed Kennedy was in fact fired by one of the secret service agents, George Hickey in one of the car's behind Kennedy's parade car in which Hickey accidentally fired off a round from his M16 gun in the confusion which caused the fatal head shot that killed Kennedy.  Then there is the film footage, taken by an onlooker Abraham Zapruder, which shows the assassination itself, and gives possible clues of the direction of where the bullets came from.

Another key point was surely, if Oswald was even the lone gunman, he would not have acted alone, as he must been acting on behalf of powerful people behind the scenes, in this regard Oswald himself could well have been a sleeper cell, who was set in motion at the key moment, but again this is just a bit of speculation, but I personally have never bought into the possibility that Oswald was just as Garrison says in the film "an angry lone nut" who carried out the assassination purely by himself.  However in recent years the theory involving Hickey is considered to be more accurate given that the type of shot fired from his M16 machine gun was far more powerful and destructive than the first two shots fired at Kennedy. 

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and strong language!)

Anyway moving onto the performances, well this is where JFK really excels as a film with a superb cast.

And starting with Kevin Costner who gives a fine performance as the DA Jim Garrison, who takes on the daunting task of bringing the JFK assassination to trial, he also shows Garrison as being a very moral man, as well as being very strong and stubborn in the face of adversity. And Costner delivers some pretty hefty monologues and delivers them very well throughout the film, particularly in his courtroom scenes.

Costner has many highlights in the film that include the scene where Garrison opens up the case off the assassination again as he takes two of his staff, Bill and Lou on a walkabout of New Orleans government locations.

So, Garrison in the scene says to them both "We are standing in the heart...of the US government's intelligence community in New Orleans.That's the FBl. That's the CIA. That's the Secret Service. That's the ONI. Isn't this a strange place for a Communist to spend his spare time?!".  And Lou asks Garrison "What ya drivin at boss?" and Garrison tells him "We're going back into the case, Lou.  The murder of the president".  And as they walk off, Bill sighs and says "Lord wake me up, I must be dreaming!" and Garrison says to him "No, you're awake and I'm deadly serious!".

Then there is the scene as Garrison finishes up his tense meeting with Shaw, Shaw says to him "Regardless of what you may think of me, I am a patriot first and foremost".  However, Garrison then furiously tells Shaw "I've spent half my life in the military...defending my country, Mr Shaw. You're the first person I've met who considered it an act of partriotism to murder his own President!".  Bill then steps and diffuses the tension and ends the meeting and after Shaw walks out, Garrison looks on and quotes from Shakespeare's Hamlet "One may smile and smile and be a villain".  Then he says to his team "Goddamnit, we've got one of them!  You see that?!".

Another highlight of Costner's is when Garrison and his wife argue and as she yells at him "I want my life back!" he shouts back "So do I, goddamnit!  I have a life too you know!  But you can't just bury your head in the sand like some ostrich, Liz!  Its not about our house, our two cars, and our kitchen!  Its about our kids growing up in a shithole of lies and I'm angry about it!  And my life is fucked because of it, and if you can see it that way then you're life is fucked too!".

Costner also has some other good moments such as the scene where he argues with one of his staff, Bill Broussard (Michael Rooker) who argues that the mob could have been behind the assassination and Garrison refutes the idea.  And Garrison says "Could the mob change the parade route, Bill?  Could the mob influence the national media to go to sleep?  I mean could the mob get Oswald into and Russia and get him back???  And when have the mob used anything but 38.s for hits up close???  The mob wouldn't have the guts or power for something of this magnetude!  Assassins need paryolls, schedules, times, orders!  This was a military style ambush!  This was a coupe de'tat with Lyndon Johnson waiting in the wings!".

And as Bill tries to refute what Garrison says, Garrison then asks Bill "You ever read your Shakespare, Bill?" and Bill says "Yeah, I do!".  Garrison then quotes from Julius Caesar "Julius Caesar? "Brutus and Cassius, they too are honorable men." Who killed Caesar? Ten or twelve Senators. All it takes is one Judas, Bill. A few people on the inside. Pentagon, CIA!".  And after Bill angrily storms out, Garrison then has it out with Lou, who gives Garrison his ultimatum that he can't work with Bill anymore as he doesn't trust him.  So, Garrison says to Lou "Well, I won't have any damn ultimatum put to me, Lou.  I'll accept your resignation".  Lou then leaves and we hear Suzie says to Garrison "Boss, aren't you bein a little hard?" and Garrison tells her "No, I don't think I am, Suzie.  Anyone else??". 

Then there is of course Costner's very lengthy court monologue, which features some great moments such as where Garrison discusses the ridiculous nature of the magic bullet theory which he describes as "One of the grossest lies ever forced on the American people!".  And after he explains the supposed wounds created by the bullet he says to the jury "That's some bullet!  But the government says they can prove it with some fancy physics in a nuclear laboratory.  Of course they can.  Pheoretical physics can prove an elephant can hang from a cliff with its tail tied to a daisy!  But use your eyes and your common sense!".

Then there is the scene where Garrison shows the footage of the murder and he says at the moment of the fatal head shot to Kennedy we see Kennedy fall violently back and to the left.  So, Garrison says to the court "This is the key shot. The President going back and to his left...shot from the front and right. Totally inconsistent with the shot from the Depository.  Again. Back, and to the left. Back, and to the left. Back, and to the left" as the footage is repeated just as Kennedy takes the fatal headshot.  And Garrison then says "So what happens then? Pandemonium!".

And last of all there is the part near the end of Costner's epic monologue to the jury and where Garrison becomes emotional and shows the court members a collection of money and cards from the public being sent to his office.  So, Garrison tearfully tells them "These are people who cannot afford to send money but do! People who drive cabs...who nurse in hospitals...who see their kids go to Vietnam!".  Garrison then becomes very emotional and tries to hold back the tears as his voice breaks  "Why?!  Because they care. Because they want to know the truth. Because they want their country back. Because it still belongs to us! As long as the people have the guts to fight for what they believe in!"

And Garrison finally finishes off his emotional speech to the court and says "Do not forget your dying king.  Show this world that this is still a government of the people, for the people and by the people.  Nothing as long as you live will ever be more important.  Its up to you" and he goes back to sit down to await the verdict of his case.    

Joe Pesci also probably gives the film's best performance as Dave Ferrie, the crazed suspect (replete with a ridiculous wig and eyebrows and a rather exagerrated Southern accent!) who later admits to his involvement with Oswald, as he shows a mixture of malice and remorse.

Pesci also has some great moments as the paranoid Ferrie and his first scene is great when Ferrie is taken into Garrison's office for questioning over his whereabouts of the weekend of the assassination, but Ferrie's story is filled with holes, so Garrison detains him for further questioning.  And Ferrie asks why and Garrison replies "Dave I find your story simply not believable!" and Ferrie appears surprised and says "Really?!  What part?".

Another good scene from Pesci is in the flashback scene where Willie O'Keefe recalls a time where Ferrie had a party with Shaw, O'Keefe and some others as Ferrie discusses a potential assassination plot on JFK.  So, Ferrie in the scene angrily says to the others and he holds a knife "I will kill! In the White House! I'll stab him right in his fucking heart!" and throws the knife he was holding down and says "Somebody's gotta get rid of this fucker!".  Ferrie then pitches a potential plan to take out Kennedy and he says "If it's planned right, no problem. Look how close they got to De Gaulle. Eisenhower always rode in open top. We need three mechanics in three different locations. An office building, a high-powered rifle. Triangulation of crossfire, that's the key! That's the key! A diversionary shot gets the Secret Service looking one way. Boom! Get the kill shot! One man has to be sacrificed. In the commotion, the job gets done!". 

Then there is the scene where Ferrie calls Lou from a pay phone just after Garrison's investigation is leaked into the press, which affects him as he sees press hanging around his apartment nearby.  So, Ferrie angrily phones up and Lou and asks him "Did your office plant that garbage in the fuckin paper?!" and Lou asks "Who is this?" and Ferrie shouts "You know exactly who the FUCK this is!!". Lou then realises its Ferrie and Ferrie asks him angrily "Since you're the only straight shoot in that fucking office, I'd like a fucking answer! Did you plant it?!". Lou then explains that is the last thing they wanted and Ferrie continues to angrily rant at Lou "Somebody planted that fuckin story! Somebody tipped off the press! I'm one of fucking Garrison's suspects!". Ferrie then angrily hits the phone receiver against the phone box and shouts "I CAN'T GO HOME!! The fuckin maggots are everywhere! Did you know what they've done to me??!". Lou then tries to calm Ferrie down and tells him not to jump to conclusions but Ferrie insists "From hereon I'm a fucking dead man! A DEAD MAN!!".

And lastly there is Pesci's best scene in the film where Ferrie in a state of panic and paranoia nervously paces a hotel room where Garrison and his men keep him after a newspaper article is released implicating Ferrie.

And in the scene Ferrie babbles saying "But who the fuck pulls who's chain?!  Who the fuck knows?  "Oh what a deadly web we weave and we practice to decieve!".  And Garrison asks him who killed the president which sets off Ferrie into a demented rant "Oh why don't you fuckin stop it?!  This is too fuckin big for you, you know that?!  Who killed Kennedy... fuck man!  Its a mystery, its a riddle wrapped inside an enigma!  The fuckin shooters don't even know it, don't you get it?!  FUCK MAN!!  I can't go on talking like this!  THEY'LL FUCKIN KILL ME!  I'M GONNA FUCKING DIE!".  And Ferrie goes on to lament about how he wanted to become a catholic priest but was defrocked because of his homosexuality and he sits back saying "I'm so fucking exhausted I can't see straight!".   

Tommy Lee Jones gives an excellent performance also as Clay Shaw, and he depicts as a very sly businessman, who is clearly also very manipulative and Jones appears to revel in playing up the transparent villainous qualities of the character.

Jones has some great moment also such as the scene when Willy O'Keefe recalls to Garrison a meeting Willy had with Shaw, Oswald and Ferrie, where Ferrie conspires to kill Kennedy and suggests how they could do it and Shaw dismisses him and says "David!  David!  Always some harebrained scheme or other!".  And Shaw says to Ferrie after he lays down his plot to kill Kennedy "What don't we drop this subject.  Its one thing to engage in banter with these youngsters, but this sort of thing can get so easily misunderstood!" before crushing Ferrie's testicles to shut him up! 

And in his best and main scene Jones as Shaw refutes every accusation that Garrison makes at him as he keeps asking if he met with David Ferrie or Oswald and Shaw is aghast and says "You really have me assorting with a sordid cast of characters!".  Garrison then asks him "Have you ever met Lee Harvey-Oswald?" and Shaw says "Course not!  Such a pity that assassination.  In fact I admired Kennedy.  Man of true panache. Wife of impeccable taste!".

Then as they are about to finish up, Garrison finally asks Shaw "Have you ever been a contractor for the Central Intelligence Agency?".  And Shaw just stares at Garrison for a moment and says "If I were...do you really believe I would sitting here, talking to someone like you???".  Garrison then says "No.  People like you don't have to, I guess!" and Shaw asks "May I go?" and Garrison, riled continues "People like you just walk between the rain drops!" and Shaw again asks "May I go?" and Garrison says "Yes".  So, Shaw puts out his cigarette and stands up and says to Garrison "Regardless of what you may think of me, Mr Garrison, I am a patriot first and foremost...".  And as Garrison accuses Shaw of considering an act of patriotism to murder the president, Shaw angrily says "Now wait a minute, sir you are way out of line!".   

The other smaller character performances in the film are equally impressive, such as Michael Rooker as Bill, one of Garrison's staff, who appears to turn on Garrison near the end.

Rooker also has some good scenes, such as the one where Garrison takes Bill and Lou on a walking tour around the locations of the government intelligence community in New Orleans and setting them up for the news that he is taking on the case of the assassination.  So as Garrisons says to Lou "We're going back into the case, Lou.  The murder of the president" Bill says "Oh, Lord wake me up I must be dreaming!" and Garrison says "No, you're awake, Bill and I'm deadly serious! Let's track down your anonymous source from three years ago. How'd you find out David Ferrie drove to Texas that day?".  And Bill replies "Hell, I can't remember last night let alone three years ago, boss!". 

Let's track down your anonymous source
from three years ago.
How'd you find out David Ferrie drove
to Texas that day?

Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=jfk

Another good scene is when (SPOILER!!) Garrison turns up at the scene of Ferrie's apartment where they find him dead and two unsigned suicide notes, which Bill reads from one of them.  And Lou advises Garrison "The fact is, he's gone, chief and so is our case.  Unless we go for Shaw now".  However, Bill angrily says to Lou "With whose testimony?! O'Keefe, a male prostitute?! Jack Martin, a drunk?! Vernon Bundy, a dope fiend?! Shaw's got respect, Lou! Newspaper editors, American Bar Association...!".  However Lou angrily says to Bill if they keep on waiting then Shaw will also be killed and how many corpses will it take for him to figure it out, So, Bill shouts back "Watch your mouth!  Ferrie did this to himself!".  At this point, Garrison walks off and Bill asks him "Where are you going, boss?" and Garrison says "I don't know, Bill...I just don't know...!".  

Then there is the scene where Bill tries to persuade Garrison that he is taking the wrong route and he rants at Garrison and the team.  So, Bill shouts at them "How the hell can you keep a conspiracy going...between the mob, CIA, FBl, Army intelligence and who knows what else...when you can't keep a secret in this room between 12 people?!!  I mean, we got leaks everywhere. We are going to trial, y'all! What the hell do we really got?! Oswald, Ruby, Banister, and Ferrie are dead!  Maybe Shaw is an agent. I don't know. But as a covert operator, he is wide open for blackmail because of his homosexuality!".

Then as Bill lays down his theory about the mob being behind the assassination, Garrison acknowledges they may have been involved but at a much lower level and he goes on to even implicate the then current president, Lyndon Johnson.  And Bill, who is outraged yells at Garrison "BOSS!! BOSS!! Are you callin the president a murderer!".  Garrison then asks Bill if they aren't so close to the truth why are their offices being bugged and their witnesses being bought off or murdered.  And Bill says "I don't know!  Maybe there is some rogue element in the government or something!" but Garrison then asks if Bill reads his Shakespeare and quotes "Julius Caesar" and how it takes just "One Judas, Bill". 

So, Bill get's fed up and says before storming out of the office "This is Louisiana, chief!  I mean how the hell do you know who your daddy is??!  Because your momma told you so!  You are way out there taking a crap in the wind, boss!  And I am for one not goin along on this one!".

Jay Sanders is also excellent as Lou Barnes, who was in reality one of Garrison's key members of staff although the film depicts Barnes as quitting the investigation, according to Stone in his DVD commentary in reality he didn't.

Sanders also has some good moments such as the scene where Lou and Garrison are at the book despository building with the rifle that Oswald used and he does a demo of firing and reload the empty rifle and he goes over the specifics of the improbabilities of Oswald being able to pull off three precise shots.  And Lou says "Take this Carcano, world's worst shoulder weapon...and try to hit a moving target at 88 yards through heavy foliage. No way!  FBI tried two sets of tests. Not one sharpshooter could match Oswald's performance. Not one! Oswald was at best a medium shot. The scope was defective on it too. This is the whole essence of the case to me. The guy couldn't do the shooting! Nobody could. And they sold this lemon to the American public". 

And when Garrison asks Lou why didn't they just shoot Kennedy as his parade car drove on Houston, which was a more direct line of fire for a single shooter, Lou tells him his theory regarding why they chose the route they did for the kill.  So, Lou says "The only reason to get him on Elm...is you got him in a triangulated crossfire. You put a team there down at the fence. Frontal shot. Flat, low trajectory. Put a third team down in this building on a low floor. When Kennedy gets in the kill zone, it's a turkey shoot!".

And lastly there is the scene where Lou demands to Garrison that he can no longer work with Bill because he doesn't trust he says "I cannot work with Bill Broussard anymore" and when Garrison asks if he is giving him an ultimatum, Lou says "Well if that's what you wanna call it?!  Hell I never thought it would come to this.  I guess I am".  And Garrison says "Well, I won't have any damn ultimatum put to me, Lou.  I'll accept your resignation".  Lou then looks stunned and says "Well you sure got it!" and before he walks out he says to Garrison "You are one stubborn son of a bitch!  And you are making one hell of a mistake". 

Laurie Metcalf as Susie, another staff member, is also very good and she has some good moments in the film, the main one being where Garrison's team meet for lunch and she goes over the file history of Oswald's character and background.

Laurie has some good moments as well such as the scene where Susie meets with Garrison and the other team members for lunch and she reads out all the info she has on Oswald.  And she says to the others "I've got his grammar school records.  Its a study of his pubic hairs!" as well as revealing her anxiety over how a spy aircraft was shot down and maybe someone didn't want the peace conference between the Russians and the Americans.  And Susie says to the others "I can't help but think that someone in our military didn't want the conference to happen.  Maybe Oswald was a part of that!".

And later on Metcalf has another good moment where she says to Bill, who has been gotten to by the Government at this point (unawares to Garrison and the others) "Or a cover up???  Jesus Bill, don't you have enough proof of the FBI's complicity yet?!!".  And after Bill storms out and Lou resigns from the case, Susie asks Garrison "Boss, aren't you being a little hard?" and Garrison replies "No, I don't think I am, Susie.  Anyone else?".   

Also Kevin Bacon, is excellent as Willie O'Keefe (who in reality was based on one of Garrison's key witnesses, Perry Russo) the gay prostitute who claimed to have known and had sexual relations with Shaw.

And Bacon's main scene is quite impressive where Willie recalls meeting Oswald and his involvement with Shaw and Ferrie.  And as Garrison asks Willie if he will testify and if he does what he says will be attacked by different people and Willie dismisses it and says "Oh bring all those motherfuckers on in here with their college degrees!  I've got nothing to hide!  You know this about the truth coming out!  You goddamn liberal, Mr Garrison, you don't know shit because you never been fucked in the ass!  This is about order!  Who rules!".

Garrison then asks Willie why he is telling them this and Willie says "Cause that motherfucker Kennedy...stole that motherfucking election, that's why. Nixon was going to be a great President until Kennedy wrecked this country. Niggers wanting rights! Why do you think we have all this crime. He promised those motherfuckers too much! Revolution's coming, bullshit! Fascism's coming back! The day that Communist son of a bitch died was a great day!  A GREAT day for this country! I hate to think they blame it on silly, fucking Oswald!  Didn't know shit, anyway, man! People got to know. People got to know why he was killed.  Because he was a Communist".  Willie then finishes by saying "Go ahead, man.  Put me on the stand, man.  I'll tell the same goddamn story!  Don't matter fuck all to me!". 

And Bacon finishes the scene with Garrison saying "Thank you, Willie.  We'll be in touch".  And as Garrison walks off with Bill, Willie shouts out "You know you ain't a bad looking man, Mr Garrison.  Not bad lookin at all!  When I get out, I'll come see you, we can have some fun!".     

Sissy Spacek is also very good in her role as Garrison's with Liz, who has to suffer her husband's obssessions with the JFK case throughout the film.  And Sissy's best scene comes when Liz argues with Garrison after their daughter recieves a crank call from someone saying she has been entered into a beauty contest.  However, Garrison is less interested as he watches the breaking news that Martin Luther King was assassinated on TV.

However, Liz anxiously asks Garrison "Did you enter Virginia in a beauty contest? A man called and asked her height, her weight..." and Garrison simply answers "Its just some crackpot...".  Liz then angrily says "Jim, you're own daughter's life has just been threatened!" but Garrison insists "Its just a crank call.  It happens a dozen times a day at the office!". Liz, however continues "Before this Kennedy thing, your children mattered most. The other night you didn't even notice Jasper. He came to me bawling his eyes out. Is it such a chore?!".  Garrison then angrily responds "GODDAMNIT!  If I said I will spend more time with him I will!  Now, I can't fight you and the whole world too, Liz!" and Liz says "I'm not fighting you, I'm trying to reach you!  You've changed!".

And Garrison says of course he has changed and that what he sees around him is insane and asks her doesn't Martin Luther King's murder have a connection with JFK and he picks up a book at points at the TV and shouts "Can't you see???!!!".  Liz however is exasperated with Garrison and says "I don't wanna see, goddamnit!  I'm tired!  I've had enough!" and then she speaks of Shaw "You're runing this man Shaw's life.  You're attacking him because he's a homosexual!" but Garrison insists "That's not why I'm attacking him!".  Liz then asks Garrison "Did you ever stop to consider his feelings?!" and Garrison looks at her in disbelief and says "You don't believe me?!  All this time and you never believed me!".  And Liz emotionally says "I just want to raise our children and live a normal life. I WANT MY LIFE BACK!". 

Donald Sutherland is similarly great as the mysterious "X" who delivers a very lengthy 17 minute dialogue giving Garrison the background info surrounding the events leading up to the assassination.

And Sutherland's monologue is so lengthy that is hard to pick some examples, but I will mention just a few.

For starters there is the moment where X first introduces himself to Garrison and when Garrison asks his name, X says "I could give you a false name but I won't. Just call me "X".  Garrison then says to X that he has already been warned by the agency and if this is another threat but then X interrupts him and says "I'm not with the agency, Mr Garrison. But I'm not going to give you names of who or what I represent, just to say that you're close. You're closer than you think".  

So in the scene, Garrison is stunned by all the info that X has bombarded him with and Garrison says to X "I can't believe it, they killed him cos they wanted to change things...in our time....in our country?".  And X smiles and says "They've done it throughout history!  Kings are killed, Mr Garrison!  Politics is power, nothing more! Don't take my word for it. Do your own thinking".  Garrison then asks X if he will testify and X smiles and says "No chance in hell! No, I'd be arrested and gagged. Maybe sent to an institution.Maybe worse. You too. I can give you the background. You find the foreground, the little things. Dig, you're the only one to bring a trial in Kennedy's murder. That's important. It's historic!".

And as Garrison says he hasn't much of a case, X says "You don't have a choice anymore.  You've become a significant threat to the national security structure!  They would have killed you already but you've got alot of light on you.  Instead they are trying to destroy your credibility.  Be honest, your only chance is to come up with a case.  Something, anything!  Make arrests, stir the shit storm, hope to reach a point of critical mass that will start a chain reaction of people coming forward then the government will crack.  Remember, fundamentall people are suckers for the truth, and the truth is on your side, Bubba.  I just hope you get a break" and he walks off leaving Garrison to contemplate the overwhelming information he has just learned.

Also there is the superb Jack Lemmon as Jack Martin, an assistant to a private eye detective, Guy Banister, who is great in his role as the down and out drunk, who Garrison approaches earlier on in the film.  And Jack tells Garrison what happened in Guy's office during the summer of 63 and Jack recalls "Hell, Guy's dead, so it don't matter no more. It was all about those...people that was hanging around the office that summer. I was never part of the operation. I just handled their private-eye work as it came in for Guy. Not much did, but that's why I was there. It was a nuthouse. Cubans coming, going. And Christ, they all looked the same to me".  And we cut to seeing Guy's office, which is filled with Cubans as well as David Ferrie being there dressed in commando gear.  Guy then says "David Ferrie...you know him?" and Garrison says "Yeah, we know Dave.  Was he there?" and Jack exclaims "Christ!  He practically lived there!".

Then toward the end of the scene when Garrison asks Jack if there was anyone else at Guy's level that Guy dealt with, so Jack tries to recall Clay Shaw's name as we see a flashback of Shaw being warmly greeted by Guy, who invites him into his office.  So, Jack tries to remember "One guy. I don't know who. Big. White hair. I saw him in the office once. He looked out of place. You know, a society guy. Can't remember his name, but Oswald was with him. He had something to do with money, because Banister never kissed ass but he kissed his!" and he chuckles.  Then as Jack says "Clay...something..." and Garrison offers "Clay Bertrand?" Jack suddenly says "Yeah!" but then suddenly panics as he feels he has said too much and he backtracks and says "Yeah, well I don't know...". 

So, as Jack tries to leave, Garrison asks "Was Kennedy ever discussed, Jack? The assassination?" and Jack anxiously says "No, never! Not with me!". And Garrison stops Jack and asks "What is the problem?" and Jack says "What's the problem?!  Do I have to spell it out for you, Mr Garrison?!".  And as Garrison says "No one knows we're talking about here, Jack" Jack just stares at Garrison in disbelief and says "You are so niave!" and he walks off.

Ed Asner is also good in his brief role as Guy Banister the private eye, who was a former FBI man and was said to be closely linked to behind the scenes of the assassination, but Banister died shortly after in 1964.

Asner has a couple of good scenes, particularly his first scene where he cheers Kennedy's death in a bar and he says "All this blubbing over that no count son of a bitch!  They're balling like they knew the man!".  Guy then cynically says "That's what happens when you let the niggers vote. They get together with the Jews and the Catholics...and elect an Irish bleeding heart!".  Jack then says "Chief, maybe you had too much to drink" and Guy says "Bullshit!" and he raises his glass and says "Here's to the New Frontier. Camelot in smithereens. I'll drink to that!" and he empty his drink on the floor.

And as Guy and Jack walk drunkenly back to Guy's office, Guy accuses Jack of going through his files when he isn't there.  So, Guy says "Who's been going through my files? You've been looking through my files, you little weasel!". Jack then tries to laugh it off and says "You're becoming paranoid, you really are!" but Guy continues "You went through all my files! You're a goddamn spy!".  Jack denies it and says he's already seen enough during the summer to write a book, which really makes Guy paranoid.  So, Guy angrily accuses him "What do you mean, you bastard? You're going to write a book?!".  And as Jack says he's seen alot of strange things and people there, Guy suddenly takes out a pistol and hits Jack with it and yells at him "You didn't see a goddamn thing, you little weasel!  YOU DIDN'T SEE A GODDAMN THING!!!".

John Candy is also great in his role as the sleazy lawyer, Dean Andrews who apparently met with Oswald and spoke with Shaw but he refutes any claims that he knows the identity of Shaw who used the alias of Clay Bertrand.

So, as Garrison pressures Dean to answer his question as to who Clay Bertrand really is, Dean asks Garrison "Are we off the record, Daddio?" and Garrison shrugs to say "yes", so Dean says "Well, let me sum it up for you real quick!".  So, Dean lights a cigarette and anxiously says "If I answer that question you keep asking...if I give you the name of the big enchilada...then it's bon voyage, Deano. Like a bullet in my head, you dig? You're a mouse fighting a gorilla. JFK's dead as that crabmeat. The government's still breathing!  Do you want to line up with a dead man?!". 

And at the end of the scene as Garrison threatens Dean by saying "You're either gonna reveal the true identity of the real Clay Bertrand, or you fat behind is going to the slammer.  Now, you dig me?!".  And Dean suddenly stands up and shouts "You're crazy as your mama!!! Goes to show its in the genes!  You any idea what you're getting yourself into, Daddio?!".  Dean then stands up and puts his hat on as he prepares to leave and he tells Garrison "The government is gonna jump all over your head, Jimbo, and go cocka-doodle-doo!  Good day to your, sir!" and he walks out.     

Brian Doyle Murray is excellent in his role as Jack Ruby, the mobster, who killed Oswald live on television, the following day after the assassination.

And Murray's main scene is when Ruby meets with Chief Judge, Earl Warren (played by Garrison himself) in prison and Ruby tells Warren "Mr. Chief Justice, do you understand that I can't tell the truth in Dallas? There are people here who do not want me to tell the truth".  Warren then asks to Ruby "Why don't you tell us now?" and Ruby angrily responds "My life is in danger!  If you request that I go to Washington... That is, if you want to hear further testimony from me. Can you take me with you?!".  Warren responds by saying "No. It can't be done.  There would be no safe place for you".

Ruby then says "If I'm eliminated...there won't be any way of knowing any bit of truth pertaining to my situation. Consequently, a whole new form of government will take over. Yeah!  And I won't live to see you some other time!".  And then we cut to a scene of a covered up body being wheeled out, suggesting that this is Ruby and Ruby's last words are "You see I want to tell the truth. And then...I wanna leave this world....".

And last but by no means least, there is Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald.  Oldman is great as Oswald, and potrays him as a complex and private man, who remained a mystery even after his death.  Gary Oldman also facially resembles Oswald a fair bit, and does an excellent job at reproducing his unusual American accent, which had a tinge of Russian to it.

And Oldman has his own share of good scenes although alot of them are flashbacks and they do feature quotes of dialogue taken from Oswald's public arrest on TV as he says to the press that "I didn't shoot anyone, no sir.  They have taken me in just because I defected to the Soviet union.  I am just a patsy!".  And later in Oswald's televised press conference at the police station he tells them "I really don't know...what this situation is about. Nobody has told me anything except that I am accused...of murdering a policeman. I know nothing more than that. I do request someone to come forward...to give me legal assistance".

Another good scene is in the flashback where Oswald is shown the cover of the "Life" magazine with Oswald holding the rifle, which is clearly a fake composite image as his head looks superimposed onto the body.  So, Oswald looks angrily at the magazine cover and says "This is not me! I never saw this picture. It's my face but it's superimposed. The rest is not me. I have done alot of photographic work. That picture was made by someone else!".  And one of the police asks Oswald of his alias, Alex Hydell "So, who the hell are you? Alex Hydell or Lee Harvey-Oswald?" and Oswald says "Well, you're the policeman you figure it out!".

And lastly there is the flashback scene where after Oswald supposedly murdered a policeman not long after the assassination, he makes his way into a cinema to evade the police.  However soon after, the police arrive to arrest Oswald and they are lead into the cinema by a shoe store owner, who spotted Oswald.  So, as the police approach Oswald, he says to himself "This is it!" and he suddenly leaps up and punches one of the officers and they pounce on him and cuff him and Oswald shouts "I'm not resisting arrest!  I'm not resisting arrest!".  

I never saw this picture.
It's my face but it's superimposed.
The rest is not me.
I know photographic work.
That picture was made by someone else!

Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=jDIRECTOR AND MUSIC  

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

So finally moving onto the direction, Oliver Stone does a terrific job here and he keeps the viewer engrossed throughout as he presents the film's arguments in a very convincing fashion and he also makes great use of some frantic camera work as he combines a mixture of black and white footage and colour mixed in with the film itself. He also makes good use of high and low quality 8mm and 35mm film (also presumably 16mm film thrown in there too!) as well as real life footage of the assassination and other historical footage.

Stone's screenplay is also a great achievement in itself as it is very intelligent and well researched for the most part although it does create some composite characters based on real life witnesses so there might be the odd bit of licence taken here and there.  Despite all this though it doesn't detract from JFK being one of Stone's highlights from his acclaimed career. 

As for the music, there is a terrific film score by John Williams (who also previously worked with Stone on his Vietnam drama, Born on the 4th of July) and the score is both suspenseful and atmopsheric throughout and features many excellent tracks, particularly the main theme.  Williams himself then struggled to write a full score for the film as he initially composed six tracks and later added further musical cues.  This was due to the fact that he was working on Steven Spielberg's film Hook (starring Robin Williams) at this time.

It also has to be said that Williams score has been mimicked in other film scores as well (such as in Tom Cruise's thriller, The Firm) and it remains as one of his more unique scores, which is well worth a listen even on its own. 

FLAWS (Warning: this section may also contain spoilers!)

So does JFK have any flaws?????  Well JFK does have a few here and there.

And for starters I feel the film bombards you with too much information at times, so it definitely takes a few viewings to get the gist of all the details.  This is especially the case as Stone tries to condense down the details of the trial and Garrison's investigations into three hours which makes taking it all in within that space of time even more difficult in one viewing.   

And another thing I would say about the film that probably lets it down slightly is the melodrama of Garrison's home life, as he argues with his wife Elizabeth (Sissy Spacek) who is frustrated by the amount of time he devotes to the case.  And in the film Spacek pretty much delivers samey lines such as "Before Kennedy nothing mattered more in this world to you than your children!" and "What about your kids, Jim?!!!" and "Jasper was looking for you, bawling his little eyes out!" etc.  It is however key to the film as well I guess, as it is important to show how the events of the investigation impacted on Garrison's personal life, and later in reality, his first wife Elizabeth did divorce him.  Stone later said that the fights between Garrison and his wife Elizabeth were based on rows that he had with his own wife at the time in their strained marriage (not sure if that was to do with his own obssession with this project!).

Another slight problem with the film, and probably the case in general is there is not much evidence that cold links Shaw to knowing Oswald, as it ultimately is just the word of people who have witnessed seeing Shaw and Oswald together in the past with not much if any in the way of photographic evidence or otherwise.  And this seems to largely boil down to the fact the witnesses involved were either murdered or simply discredited or bribed.   

However it was later revealed in 1978, four years after Shaw's death, by the CIA director of the time, Richard Helms, that Shaw did actually work for the CIA as a contractor (this was added in as an insert at the end of the film) which Helms testified to under oath.  And based on the Richard Helms testimony, it proved that Shaw was guilty of perjury.  But people of power and persuasion like Shaw, can as it seems get away with murder (or assassination in this case).

The film also seems to do its damndest to imply the current government's complicity at the time of the trial as well by showing an irate judge who keeps overruling and telling off Garrison at every turn.  It pretty much stops short of saying to the audience "Yeah the government is in on it!" as to back up how Garrison (SPOILER SORRY!!!!) went on to lose the trial in the film (and also in reality) in the face of a seemingly corrupt government hellbent on covering its tracks.

Perhaps also at times due to the film's long running time certain scenes can slow the pace down a bit as there is so much information to sift through.  Also given the amount of leads Garrison had to follow up, the film also throws up a number of leads that really lead to nowhere (especially the showgirl one whom Garrison and Lou meet with) until of course Garrison meets up with the mysterious "X" who tells him key information regarding the background of the events that lay behind the assassination.

I also felt that Oliver Stone's script while largely excellent and well written, still does have some cheesy bits of dialogue. As an example there is of course the line where the news reporter, Walter Kronkite, officially annoucnes that President Kennedy has died and at this point, Garrison is in a bar watching it on the TV. So, after the announcement, Garrison is astonished and he says to himself "God, I'm ashamed to be an American today!". Stone also gives Garrison some fondness for quoting lines from Shakespeare and other literary figures thoughout, which can be a little grating as it goes on, although Costner's delivery of "One may smile and smile and be a villain" is a great moment in his performance.

And last of all another problem with the film comes in the scene when Garrison and Lou go to the book depository where Oswald allegedly shot from.  And in the scene (which features in the director's cut) Garrison refers to Clay Shaw in an incriminatory way but in the next scene one of Garrison's team, Bill, reveals that Clay Shaw's alias is Clay Bertrand and in that scene Garrison reacts with surprise as if he didn't know that Clay Shaw had any alleged involvement in the conspiracy but in the depository scene he does!  So this remains one of the film's rare pieces of poor continuity but when you watch those two scenes it really does stick out.   

Anyway that's it for the flaws.  

SUM UP 

So that is it for my fourth revisitation of JFK, which remains personally one of my favourite films and one of the best films of the 1990s.  The film is lengthy of course, espcially the director's cut which clocks in at 3 hours and 25 minutes and it would be impossible to take in all the info it throws at you in one go but its a film that warrants repeated viewing.  It also has an excellent central performance from Kevin Costner, and a top cast backing him up as well as a great screenplay and music score by John Williams.  And it remains one of the most compelling and engrossing dramas in modern cinema, which is a must see.

So, with that said, I will rate JFK.

10 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon hopefully before the end of the month with another post.

Until then "back and to the left!"