During a routine exercise, a team of National Guardsmen are threatened by angry and violent locals.During a routine exercise, a team of National Guardsmen are threatened by angry and violent locals.During a routine exercise, a team of National Guardsmen are threatened by angry and violent locals.
- Bowden
- (as Carlos Brown)
- Cajun Dancer
- (as Jeanne Louise Bulliard)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWriter-director Walter Hill later said he was "always amazed" by the reception to the film: "The American reception was a real kind of nothing. But it was very nicely received around the world."
- GoofsThe M-60 machine gun and the M-16 rifles are repeatedly shown firing blanks on automatic and semi-automatic fire settings, respectively, but without the required blank adapters covering the muzzles. Blank adapters cause a back-up of gas pressure within the barrel, a function normally performed by fired bullets, which allows the weapons to cycle and reload automatically. Blank adapters are clearly visible attachments; without them, the weapons would have to be cycled (i.e. reloaded) manually after each individual blank is fired. These are obviously Hollywood weapons which have had their barrels partially plugged sufficiently to perform the function of blank adapters, while making them appear more like weapons that most viewers are familiar with.
- Quotes
Cajun Trapper: I ain't gonna kill y'all if I don't got ta... you got a bayou over dere... take it... stay to the west side... you're gonna find a road about a mile up dere.
Hardin: Do you mind tellin' us what the Hell this is all about?
Cajun Trapper: It real simple... we live back in here... dis is our home, and nobody don't fuck with us.
Hardin: [pointing at Bowden, who is hanging dead from a tree] What about HIM?
Cajun Trapper: What about 'im?
Hardin: Did he do it to himself or did your friends help him out?
Cajun Trapper: [fires shot at Hardin's feet] Now, if I was you all, I'd quit askin' questions and haul ass... 'cause my buddies... dey not nice like me.
Hardin: Are we supposed to say thanks?
Cajun Trapper: You not supposed to say nuttin'... soldier.
The acting in general is fairly good with the stand out performances being Keith Carradine and Powers Booth, as well as Brian James who some viewers may recognise as Leon from Blade Runner (1982). However some of the characters are a little 2D and could have benefitted from some more development.
This leads to the main issue with this film that is character and story development, the story is fairly predictable, with some notable exceptions and the characters are difficult to care about. Although Walter Hill fervently denied that this film was a metaphor for the Vietnam war I think it is hard to not see parallels which seem somewhat ham-fisted, this may well be by accident but I find that hard to buy and in some instances I think they detract from the film.
To conclude, I really enjoyed this film and is definitely worth a watch, particularly for the cinematography and soundtrack, but it is not without flaw.
- mreid-00151
- Feb 17, 2021
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $5,000,000
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $116,943
- Sep 27, 1981