Ravenous

Starring:Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, David Arquette, Jeremy Davies, Jeffrey Jones, John Spencer, Stephen Spinella, Neal McDonough, Joseph Runningfox, Bill Brochtrup, Sheila Tousey, Fernando Becerril, Gabriel Berthier, Pedro Altamirano, Joseph Boyle (II), DamiÃ¡n Delgado, Fernando Manzano, Alfredo Escobar, Gerardo MartÃnez, David Heyman
Director: Antonia Bird
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

When was the last time you saw a new movie set during the 1840s? The era is the first oddball thing about Ravenous, though by no means the last. This provocatively weird movie is essentially a vampire film crossed with the Donner party, that unfortunate band of hungry pioneers who got stuck in the wilderness with only themselves to eat. The setting here is Fort Spencer, a dismal collection of shacks huddled in the snows of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Mid-winter, a nearly dead Scotsman (Robert Carlyle, from The Full Monty) staggers into camp with a story of desperate cannibalism. The skeleton crew (so to speak) manning the fort sets out to investigate, when... ah, but the twists and turns of this dark yarn should remain shocking. Be assured, however, that the cannibalism has just begun; this movie has cannibalism like Titanic had an iceberg. Director Antonia Bird (Mad Love, Priest) blends some humor into this scenario, especially in the final reels, but otherwise this is a fairly serious gore picture; a confused Twentieth Century Fox tried to market it as a black comedy, and the movie flopped anyway. It deserves a better fate--at the very least, it's not quite like anything else out there. The music, a brilliant collaboration between Michael Nyman (The Piano) and Blur's Damon Albarn, is an offbeat blend of period twang and modern drone. Carlyle and Guy Pearce (of L.A. Confidential) are fascinating in the lead roles--their sunken faces would look at home in Civil War photographs--and the eccentric supporting cast, including Jeremy Davies and David Arquette, adds flavor to the dish. --Robert Horton

Description

It's a recipe for nonstop action and excitement when the inhabitants of an isolated military outpost go up against a marauding band of cannibals in a deadly struggle for survival.

Customer Reviews:

Hilarious feast of a movie.......2007-03-09

Laced with absurd moments and cheap thrills, ravenous is one of the most funny movies of recent times.. Not to be taken too seriously, this story of cannibalism is so very odd.. you can't help but enjoy it..

It's ok, original film story, It just didn't click for me........2007-02-16

The funny thing is that this was listed under drama at the store I got this at, but yes, it is definitley a more horror feel to it. I remember seeing previews to this movie back when it was released, but forgot about it until i was digging around on a shelf at the store and saw it and said what the heck. Based arouond captain Boyd, a lieutenant at the time of the mexican-american war, who was awarded a medel of honor and promotion to captain after capturing a command post on his own. Unfortunately, the secret he had was the fact that he was a coward, and actually got to the enemy camp as a coward. But something changed for him that day. Well, after his commander found out the truth, he was reassigned to a wilderness fort in the Sierra-nevada's of California, essentially a punishment assignment at a horrible, cold, isolated place. While there, a stranger stumbles into camp, saying this wagon train got trapped in the mountain pass and they had to ended up "resorting to the worst possible thing" for food. The fort then sent boyd and a small party to find what was left of the wagon train, and it takes off from their. It was definitely different than I thought it was going to be, i was thinking it was going to be a Donner party movie about survival, but it was more than that. Some decent plot twist and turns. But, it just didn't hold me, in fact I have fallen asleep twice trying to rewatch it. I just thought it was predictable for me. It just seemed long at points, but oh well. I think honestly most people will like this film. I don't think there has been anything quite like the story since, and it was an original Idea. So Horror movie fans, I think you'll like this one, and the ending is different. Check it out.

Better than I'd expected.......2006-12-14

I agree with most of the reviews about this movie: Fresh, Bloody, Violent, Twisted, etc.

I will add one thing, though: Most annoying soundtrack possible. Seriously, it was "Small World" annoying.

The only other flaws in my opinion were that the dialog in the last third of the film strayed from the period dialog in the earlier parts. It kind of morphed from "Deadwood" to any modern slasher film (not that the dialog ever approached the complexity of "Deadwood").

Also, the opening sequence almost seemed comical - down to the light-hearted sound mixing when the "Eat me" quote popped up. It set the wrong pace for the rest of the film.

Finally, David Arquette - who seems miscast in every film in which he appears - was little more than an 1847 Jeff Spicoli. It was a shame that his character outlasts the much better actors.

Those were the bad things. The rest was really a fun watch. Jeffrey Jones gave a fine performance (clearly basing his later "Deadwood" character on this one). Neal McDonough was great, but got too little face-time. This movie is as brutally violent as "Wolf Creek" without having to wait 75 minutes for the good parts. Definitely worth a watch!

Best Horror Movie Never Seen.......2006-10-10

Bloody, funny, smart, artistic, and wonderfully acted. Robert Carlyle heads a flawless cast in a film that is so surprisingly good it puts most horror movies to shame. This is something so unique it has to be seen to be believed. There is depth here among the gallons of blood; Every character is constructed nicely, and each has their moment; The locations and snow add a nice visual layer, and the cinematography captures the drab, depressing, grim overtones nicely. Hard to beat that whole cave scene, not to mention two(yes, two...) genuine, shocking surprises in this one. But this movie is about going all out with it's premise; It's crazy and outlandish, but it runs with it...all the way. But it's also refreshing. How many countless crappy serial killer/japanese ghost kids/70's horror remakes do we have to sit through before we get something like 'Ravenous'? Way too many. I'm surprised this movie even got made. But thank God it did.

"It's tough being a cannibal. Tough making friends.".......2006-10-05

What is the title of the best-selling cannibal book?
"How To Serve Your Fellow Man."

Two cannibals were eating a clown. One said to the other: "Does this taste funny to you?"

Did you hear about the cannibal who passed his uncle in the woods?

All right, maybe those jokes aren't of the highest caliber but I needed some way to start my review...written by Ted Griffin (Matchstick Men) and directed by Antonia Bird (Mad Love), Ravenous (1999) stars Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential, Memento) and Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, The Full Monty). Also appearing is Jeffrey Jones (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Beetle Juice), John Spencer ("The West Wing"), Neal McDonough (Minority Report), Jeremy Davies (Saving Private Ryan), Stephen Spinella (Great Expectations), Joseph Runningfox (Seems Like Old Times), Sheila Tousey (Lord of Illusions), and David Arquette (Eight Legged Freaks).

The film, set around the time of the Mexican-American War (about 1847) begins as we see U.S. army man John Boyd (Pearce) being promoted to the rank of captain, to which afterwards he's sent off to a remote outpost in mountains of California. Sort of an odd reward for a military hero, but given the circumstances to which Boyd received his promotion, those in charge didn't want him around (seems an act of cowardice on Boyd's part led to him single-handedly capturing some Mexican military leaders...for the rest of the story you'll have to see the film). Anyway, the outpost, known as Fort Spencer, is somewhat of a dump, populated by a handful of interesting types, is basically a stopping point for westward travelers headed towards the Sierra Nevadas. Shortly after Boyd's arrival a half frozen/half starved man named Colqhoun (Carlyle) wanders into the camp and relates a fantastically disgusting tale about how he and his party of settlers, heading west, got caught in the mountains and resorted to eating each other after all other viable (and not so viable) foodstuffs ran out. Seems Colqhoun himself participated in the cannibalism, but then fled out of fear of becoming the next one to be consumed, which elicits a myth from one of the local Native Americans about a creature known as `Weendigo', a beast that thrives on human flesh, gaining the strength, the essence, of those it eats. The downside, apparently, is cannibalistic activity results in an ever-growing desire to feast on even more flesh. Anyway, a small detachment heads out to where Colqhoun and his group ended up in search of anyone who might be left, but once they arrive they learn some interesting, and important, details conveniently omitted in Colqhoun's original story...and this is where the plot synopsis ends specifically because to go any further would reveal some of the twists that should only be revealed during the viewing of the film. I will say this, though...things get really messy...

An interesting thing occurred to me while watching this film, that being this is the first feature I've watched in awhile that was directed by a woman, namely Antonia Bird. As it turns out Bird actually replaced the individual originally intended to direct, a person by the name of Milcho Manchevski, who I'm not familiar with...seeing how most of the film was shot in Eastern Europe (Slovakia, I believe), I'm guessing the producers had originally chosen a local director (Manchevski is Macedonian by birth) before settling on Bird for whatever reasons. Anyway, I've seen this film twice now and I'll admit the first time it didn't appeal as much to me as it did the second time around. Why? That's not entirely certain, but I guess maybe it has something to do with the bizarre, non-traditional soundtrack. I've since come to appreciate the soundtrack, and while it may not entirely fit within the period or tone of the story, it does add some unexpected whimsy amidst the buckets of blood. Generally I prefer a score to fit with the film and to be unobtrusive as not to draw excessive attention to itself, but I'm willing to acquiesce on occasion. As far as the performances, I thought Robert Carlyle did pretty well and most of the rest well enough. I did have a problem with one or two of the characters, though, the main being the one played by Guy Pearce. Seeing how he was initially depicted as a coward in the beginning of the film (who later finds strength in an unusual place), I had a difficult time developing any sympathies for him or his predicament that develops after he's shipped off to Fort Spencer, which presented a bit of a problem for me given he was the main protagonist within the story. Maybe this was the intent, I don't know, but it's difficult for me to get behind a character with such fundamental flaw, albeit one that does figure heavily into the actual story. As far as the production I thought the direction was handled very well, obviously by someone who knew what they were doing, and the overall production values (the sets, the costumes, etc.) looked authentic for the time, to me at least, but then again I'm no expert on period design (at the very least there seems to be no one running around the film wearing sneakers or a Casio watch). There are some fairly distasteful sequences (along with gallons of blood), but given the story involves cannibalism it would have been difficult to not show someone actually consuming the flesh of another. All in all if you can get past the gorier bits you may find this an interesting film, one that doesn't often take itself very seriously (especially given the soundtrack), and features a definite `man vs. himself' theme with a few twists.

This film's been released to DVD twice so far, once in 1999 and again in 2005. I have the earlier version, the one with a prominent headshot of Guy Pearce (the 2005 release has a headshot of an indistinct face with its mouth wide open) so I'm unsure if the features available on the 1999 version are the same as on the 2005 release. Anyway, the picture, presented in widescreen (2.35:1) looks very good and the audio, available in both English 5.1 Stereo Surround and Dolby Digital Surround comes across well. As far as extras there's three, separate commentary tracks, one with director Antonia Bird and composer Damon Albarn, a 2nd with actor Robert Carlyle, and the third with writer Ted Griffin and actor Jeffrey Jones. Also included are photo galleries, deleted scenes with optional commentaries, the original theatrical trailer, a TV spot, and subtitles in English and Spanish.

Cookieman108

Average customer rating:

Hilarious feast of a movie
It's ok, original film story, It just didn't click for me.
Better than I'd expected
Best Horror Movie Never Seen
"It's tough being a cannibal. Tough making friends."

Ravenous
Starring: Guy Pearce , Robert Carlyle , David Arquette , Jeremy Davies , and Jeffrey Jones
Director: Antonia Bird
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Ravenous: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
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The Thing (Collector's Edition)

ASIN: B00000JSJB
Release Date: 1999-09-21

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Hilarious feast of a movie.......2007-03-09

It's ok, original film story, It just didn't click for me........2007-02-16

Better than I'd expected.......2006-12-14

Best Horror Movie Never Seen.......2006-10-10

"It's tough being a cannibal. Tough making friends.".......2006-10-05

Ravenous (Voraz) [NTSC/REGION 4 DVD. Import-Latin America]

Average customer rating:

Ravenous (Voraz) [NTSC/REGION 4 DVD. Import-Latin America]
Director: Antonia Bird
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
ASIN: B000RSQEKU

Average customer rating:

UPCs and Cases heavily destroyed

From Hell/Ravenous
Starring: Johnny Depp , Heather Graham , Ian Holm , Robbie Coltrane , and Ian Richardson
Director: Allen Hughes , Albert Hughes , and Antonia Bird
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000CR76JO
Release Date: 2005-12-08

Customer Reviews:

UPCs and Cases heavily destroyed.......2006-03-17

Don't buy this item from amazon.com. They are not brand new. The UPC bar code region (the plastic wrapping of the DVD case, the cover of the case, and the case itself) of BOTH DVDs are heavily destroyed by an inch long deep cut. Amazon.com is nice to send me a replacement by 1-day delivery, however the replacement still has the same problem. I wonder perhaps all Amazon.com's stock of this 2-disc package are like that.

Average customer rating:

Hilarious feast of a movie
It's ok, original film story, It just didn't click for me.
Better than I'd expected
Best Horror Movie Never Seen
"It's tough being a cannibal. Tough making friends."

Ravenous [Region 2]
Starring: Guy Pearce , Robert Carlyle , David Arquette , Jeremy Davies , and Jeffrey Jones
Director: Antonia Bird
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video