Southern Comfort (1981)
Starring: Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward, T. K.
Carter, Franklyn Seales
Plot: Nine National Guardsmen enter the Louisiana swamp for
routine training, but an error in judgment by one of the team incites an
all-out war with some angry Cajuns who know the territory like the backs of
their hands. Armed with a precious few bullets, and confused by the dimly lit,
moss-covered maze into which they’ve stumbled, the guardsmen know they’ll be
picked off one by one, until they come up with a solution using the only
resources they have left...their wits.
My Review and Thoughts:
I have often wanted to see this film. I really don't know
why I never have but now that Shout! Factory released this on a beautiful
Blu-ray I thought I would give it a chance. This is a perfect cast of
characters and a wild unrelenting fear style of film-making. Yes this goes up
there with the likes of Deliverance but I feel this is on another level for the
simple fact it's more of an action film mixed with a psychological reality of
survival and basically has a social commentary to it, even if it is not meant
to be. Not just a few men trying to live but a whole group trained in the
warrior style of survival.
Each one of these characters have their flaws and
also the jerk attitude of ignorance when it comes to messing with certain
things. I live in the south and know for a fact you don't mess with locals, especially
small town and back woods folk. There's a lot of unexplored land and many
filled holes across many valleys, and I will leave it at that.
I feel this is an amazing drama and a true adventure
thriller set up for the viewer. I think ultimately it’s the psychological drama
which makes this film stand out as something very bright and something brutal
in the idea of people messing with a way of life and then that messing around
leads to a destructive reckoning. The survival scenario in a sense plays with
your mind and also the will to further yourself through the bad ordeal. I think
the viewer can relate to this more than Deliverance because with Deliverance, I
would never be in that situation in the first place. The reality of these
warriors out training is different, in that its a part of the training idea. The men
in Deliverance choose to be in the backwoods, rape you in the butt reality.
Don't get me wrong I love Deliverance it’s an amazing movie and awesome book.
It's a classic. Southern Comfort I think is a deeper subject because I feel
there is a statement being made in the idea and remarks throughout about America’s
military force and actions. I feel there is an underlining statement about
Vietnam War and also the bringing up of the National Guard and police force
with tear gas and marches on campuses.
Southern Comfort is a believable scary reality. Being hunted
is something when you think about it, it is a frightening idea. I do feel the film
is way too long and that is one of its down falls. It could have easily been
cut by 20 minutes. There was a lot of running around and the same shot of them
doing that too much. The inner fighting was continues and seemed overdone, yes
we know certain characters are pricks, let’s move on. Another reality the viewer
contemplates, what are our characters? Are they good, bad or what?
I think what they are is what we teach, and are the parts of
the social commentary of the film. Basically you have the leader Poole, who is
out of the picture therefore the structure falls. You have the second in
command, Casper trying to fix the wrong but not achieving or getting anywhere.
You have the young dumb trigger happy jerk Stucky that basically takes nothing
serious. You have the bigger brother type bully, Reece, which the young dumb
trigger happy jerk looks up to. You have Cribbs, the, “I am a brother this isn’t
my war”. You have the city folk brother Simms who hides behind a tough persona
but is nothing but a frightened tool. You have the big brute religious not
right in the head, Bowden. Then you have the two main characters. Spencer the
one who avoids the path or knows something is wrong but doesn’t want to step up
and then you have Hardin the one that can lead and knows and could fix what is wrong but
basically doesn’t want the responsibility or has to have the order of the structure from the leader who is not in the picture anymore. Hardin is the persona of being
forced there, a.k.a. the draft. Each one of these characters resembles people’s
persona and the actions that happen during war; majorly during the Vietnam War
which no matter how much you overlook it, this is what the social commentary of
this movie is.
Thankfully Southern Comfort is shown the respect it
deserves. Shout! Factory has released this very interesting film on a two disc
Special Edition Blu-ray for this generation. It’s a beautiful restoration and
an amazing refreshed look to this film.
This stars an all-star cast of actors. Brilliant stables in
film from the amazing bad ass Powers Boothe to the other awesome bad ass Fred
Ward. The extraordinary underrated Keith Carradine and Peter Coyote. Starring
Alan Autry who I will always know as Bubba from growing up watching one of my
favorite TV series, In the Heat of the Night. Now what needs to be mentioned is
the bad guy, villain and movie icon that sadly passed away at the very young
age of 54, the one and only horror movie beauty Brion James. He starred in so
many awesome low budget, Drive-In b-movie horror films and action films from my
childhood. Starring in over 160 acting roles, he was a character that you
always would remember no matter what type of role from TV or film to Direct to
Video or mainstream films.
He graced the acting world and mastered many
wonderful personas to remember. I first got knowledge of him in the classic
must see Mini-series Roots playing a slaver. Roots would be showed once a year
in my Middle School that I went to. Most will always remember him as Leon in
the sci-fi masterpiece Blade Runner. From 1982's 48 Hours to the ultimate
B-movie series The Dukes of Hazard and A-Team. He was a true character actor
that owned the parts he played and crafted moments in cinema that lingers still
today. From 85's brilliant sci-fi film Enemy Mine to 87's Cherry 2000 to 89's
Horror serial killer The Horror Show. He was someone I loved to watch and
perform true villain and mastered the bad guy evil role. He was wonderful in this small part as The
Trapper in Southern Comfort.
That leads me to bring the subject of the so called bad guys
in Southern Comfort. You never really see them up close until the very end. I
think this is another social commentary statement because in war you never
really see your enemy, they are there, but are hidden. Plus the main focus is
your weekend warriors and their personality traits. The fighting amongst
themselves and the inner demons plaguing them. They act all bad ass behind the
gun and bad ass behind the green gear but when faced with a real situation the
boiling over of emotions and the powerful reality of fear takes over. So many
of our boys and girls are stuck in war with not enough training or enough
proper screening and so that leads to a lot of mayhem. The Vietnam war and it's
horror stories of villages and innocent persons being raped and slaughtered and
so on plays around with the social commentary and bully like persona that the
movie is basically stating; no matter if it wants to say it is or not.
This also stars in a small part the one and only Sonny
Landham. Many will always know him from the awesome action pack sci-fi film
Predator or even in the iconic film The Warriors. But what most people don't realize
is he started out in porn films of the 70's. He is another classic character
actor from films such as 48 Hours, Poltergeist, Firewalker, Action Jackson.
Now this is directed by an action master in my viewpoint. He
brings pure popcorn action films to the screen. He is a master at building
characters and creating scenarios on screen that the viewer can become a part
of and enter into the storyline taking place. Now as in Southern Comfort,
Walter Hill uses many of his actors over and over again throughout his films
such as Sonny Landham and Brion James. Hill directed many wonderful action,
suspense and cult like films from this one I am reviewing to The Warriors, 48
Hours, The Long Riders, and Red Heat to one of my personal childhood favorites
1992's Trespass. Most recently I loved his 2012's Bullet in the Head. I like
his style he brings those popcorn action films to the lovers of this style of
film. Most of these films are on the line of a Direct to video nature but he
adds just enough to make it seem more than just forgettable entertainment. I
think that is his brilliance. Now what truly wins me over is he also writes
most of his films. He co-wrote Southern Comfort and that to me is also the
reality of his brilliance from creating these characters on page and then
filming them in all there twisted glory. He wrote The Warriors, 48 Hours, The
Street of Fire, and Red Heat. Now something that most don't know about him he
co-wrote the story for the sci-fi classic Aliens and also co-wrote the script
for Aliens 3. He also produced Alien, Aliens and Alien 3. He also produced one
of my favorite television series of all time the long running Tales from the
Crypt. He would also produce my least favorites of the series of Alien films, Aliens
Resurrection, and AVP: Alien vs. Predator and Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. Now
he produced one of my favorite modern day films that explored the Alien back
story Prometheus. Many of Hills old
school films have gained cult followings. Many of them failed at the box office
but it’s through fans, that they have gained the popularity they deserve.
I think what must be spoken about is the very haunting and
atmospheric music throughout which is created also by someone who has been a
part of many Hill's films Ry Cooder. The music gives another tone to the film
and becomes a style of its own and flows right along with the drama, tension
and action.
Sadly Southern Comfort failed at the box office and
basically was a dud and that’s a true shame because I feel the movie stands
strong in its darkened reality of survival, action and the will to fight and overcome
the obstacles at hand. It is a little too long and repeats a lot of the
situations but I think it builds a personal character study of each person.
Each of the main players have a role, an attitude or a story. I think people
can relate to these characters as knowing someone like them or are them.
The
moody reality filmed is something that is realistic. The filming locations are
amazing. The wet, dirty, grey toned atmosphere bleeds upon the mind of the
viewer as a nightmare reality come to life.