This film has a fantastic atmosphere and masterful cinematography, the location in the Louisiana bayous is perfect to create the eerie ominous tone which this film has so perfectly adopted. Many other reviewers have compared this to deliverance and I would definitely agree on an atmospheric and general plot level. This film feels like it was made in the early 1970s not the 1980s and fits in well with other films such as White Lightning (1973).
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.
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.