Running Time 102 Min
Format: DVD MOVIE
Amazon.com
Sam Peckinpah's final film has a lot to recommend it, including a complicated story derived from a Robert Ludlum novel but laced with Peckinpah's hard questions about loyalty and the balance between civilization and basic instincts. Rutger Hauer stars as John Tanner, a television host with strong criticisms of America's cold-war conduct. Looking forward to a weekend of socializing with old friends (played by Craig T. Nelson, Dennis Hopper, and Chris Sarandon), Tanner is approached by a CIA agent (John Hurt) who tells him his friends may be Soviet agents. Tanner agrees to let the spy agency set up surveillance in his house; it turns out there is more to the agent's claims than meets the eye and Tanner's weekend eventually erupts into violence. Osterman is not Peckinpah at his best (though, typically, the director was under siege from production politics), but the maestro of montage certainly worked in some extraordinary action sequences. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews:
An underrated masterpiece .......2007-06-20
The Osterman Weekend is usually dismissed as a failed effort of Peckinpah's, as his last, drug-addled attempt to reclaim his fame. Many critics wave it off as uneven or even denounce it as incomprehensible. I take issue with such critics, and will here argue that not only is The Osterman Weekend a great film, but that it is in fact one of Peckinpah's greatest achievements as a filmmaker. In my book it ranks among The Wild Bunch and Straw Dogs. Sam Peckinpah was dying by the time he made Osterman Weekend. He was drug-damaged, delusional, and yes, stark raving mad. What is sometimes overlooked is that his lunacy is in part what made him such a great director. He knew how to get under actors' skins, eliciting performances from them that were genuine psychological reactions to Peckinpah's bizarre on-set mind games. In Straw Dogs, during the infamous rape scene, Peckinpah was on the floor berating and insulting the actor who played the rapist. Throughout the whole scene the director tore the actor down, making him more and more angry and uncomfortable. Is this pointless torture? No, it shows in the scene. Peckinpah used very similar tricks throughout the filming of Osterman Weekend (like telling continuously Nelson his moustache was wrong, or pulling the water plug during a hot tub scene so the actress would have trouble concealing her breasts), and much to the same effect too. It shows.
The performances throughout this film are brilliant. Osterman Weekend is a unique film, to say the least. It builds scenes of extreme tension; one truly cannot call oneself an action connoisseur until one has seen Peckinpah's action scenes. The way they build, and are edited to layer component within component, is like a beautiful ballet of violence. John Woo, who is often praised for his action scenes, is simply mimicking Peckinpah. Many directors, in fact, have tried to mimic Peckinpah's awesome style. Most don't have the talent to even come close. His use of slow motion is absolutely unparalleled in cinema, and many directors seem to miss that Peckinpah's slow motion scenes were actually choreographed to be seen in slow motion, not simply filmed and then slowed down. Never before or since have I ever seen editing so intricate as in "Bloody Sam's" action scenes. The climaxes of Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs, and Osterman Weekend would be on any respectful list of best action scenes of all time. The car chase in Osterman Weekend is more pulse pounding, visceral, and riveting than anything in the Matt Damon Bourne movies, Ronin, or any other modern action extravaganza. Its subtleties in editing leave the viewer dumbfounded.
Now for the film. The Osterman Weekend is, on its face, a film about a CIA agent who has gone insane, and hatches an overly elaborate plan to revenge the death of his wife. This--and I think this is where many viewers are left behind--is not what the film is really about though. What the film is really about is how television has changed who we are and how we live our lives. Peckinpah is obviously disgusted by television, and by what sociologist Stanislav Andreski called "gullible telly-gapers." The Osterman Weekend's main point is that television has turned us all into voyeurs, and that we have in fact become so voyeuristic that we would rather sit in front of a set and watch actors pretend to live scripted pretend lives than actually live our own life. Peckinpah called living rooms "living dead rooms," rooms where people sit down, switch on the TV, and switch their brains off. He said that television programs are called "programs" for a reason: when you watch, YOU are the one being programmed. Another point of the film is that television actually makes us stupider. Why? Because much of what appears on TV, in talk shows, even the news, is nothing but a bunch of BS. (This goes double for the internet. For a treatment of the internet similar to Osterman Weekend's treatment of television read Caleb Carr's brilliant sci fi novel Killing Time.) But we tend to believe what we see on television. Note how in the film Tanner is convinced that his best friends are traitors simply by being shown some random clips of footage shown out of context. It's easy to edit dialogue to create the impression that people are saying things they didn't (eh-hem, Michael Moore), but he believes it even though he should know better. (He's a talk show host himself!) Pay attention to all of the scenes of people watching other people on surveillance cameras, and even of people watching other people watch people in a regression of cameras and monitors. What many probably aren't aware of is that Peckinpah was actually obsessed with surveillance in real life, and would often bug the trailers of actors appearing in his films. Also take special notice of the scene where a foursome of characters tries to escape in an RV. They see on the screen that they need to get out fast or else something bad will happen, but when the screen changes to footage of them, they simply can't peel themselves away. Their inability to stop watching kills them. In the end Tanner tells us that television programs are simply the fillers between attempts to steal our money. He dares us to switch off our sets, stating, "It's done with the hand, and with whatever's left of your freewill." After a dramatic pause he wryly asks, "Am I still on?" and of course he is, because we're still watching! In conclusion, The Osterman Weekend is one of my all-time favorite action/suspense films. Its action scenes are spellbinding, such as the famous fight in the kitchen, the pool scene, Tanner and Osterman trying to escape the dark house as CIA agents stalk around, red lasers searching, to Lalo Schifrin's ominous synthesizer score. The film reaches a level of excitement few thrillers actually attain.
Studio cut vs. Peckinpah's cut: Much has been made of the fact that the film was yanked from Peckinpah's hands. When producers came to meet with him he'd actually leave his hand on a gun resting on his desk, he was that paranoid and protective. In the end, however, the final cut was not his. So does the theatrical cut compare to Peckinpah's unedited, slightly longer cut? Surprising, it holds up well. In fact, the theatrical release's ending is much better. Peckinpah's ending does manage to make it more obvious that Tanner prerecorded his elements of the interview so that he could use that time to find his wife and son, but instead of ending with Tanner's daring us viewers to stop watching, Peckinpah's ends with a hand pulling the plug on a television set. The theatrical release's ending is better, for of course we're not actually going to stop watching. (I wonder if there exists anyone anywhere who actually quit watching television because of this movie!) The main difference between the two cuts is actually the opening scene of Fassett and his wife. In Peckinpah's cut the image onscreen is warbly, which was supposed to convey Fassett's insanity. It doesn't, and I'm glad they removed it. The main difference however is that in the theatrical cut the scene of Fassett's wife masturbating is highly edited. Peckinpah's cut of the film pretty much begins with a prolonged scene of a naked woman lying on her back touching herself. In the theatrical cut we don't see her hand between her legs; in Peckinpah's we do, and the scene is quite long too. At first I though it was good that this was cut, as I found it porny and pretty irrelevant. But then it dawned on me just what Peckinpah was doing. Why begin the film with an overlong, seemingly pointless scene of a naked woman masturbating in bed? The point is that it is not enough to TELL us that television has turned us into a society of voyeurs. Peckinpah wanted to SHOW us; he was saying, "You are watching a naked woman playing with herself. YOU are a voyeur right now and every time you look into the intimate scenes of others in film or on television." Another scene that was cut from the theatrical release reveals that Tanner was cheating on his wife. This scene should have actually been left in the film, as without it Tanner's rocky relationship with his wife really doesn't make any sense. So in the end, it's a tossup. The deleted scenes do actually add to the film, but the theatrical release has a much better and more effective ending. If choosing between which to watch though I would say to definitely go with the theatrical release, as the director's cut is fullscreen and VERY grainy, like watching a VHS tape from the 80s.
Sam Peckinpah's last film gets the royal two disc Anchor Bay treatment!!!.......2007-03-27
Okey,this is far from Sam Peckinpah's greatest film (The Wild Bunch,Straw Dogs and "Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid" are my personal faves!),but still "The Osterman Weekend" is a fine work that's much better than most of the films churned out these days!!! The folks at Anchor Bay gave this film the royal two DVD treatment that includes the Feauture w/audio commentary on DVD one and DVD two has the extra goodies that are definately woth watching!!! So all in all,I'm still giving it five stars!!! A+
Peckinpaw.......2006-05-27
I have to admit that what I liked about this movie was the fight scene in the kitchen. I am really into martial arts and I think that one reason is seeing Sam Peckinpaw's work back in the 1970s and 1980s, while I was growing up. He was the master of the slow-motion action shot, and we now see it in the films of John Woo and other directors. This is I think a pretty mediocre film, directed by one of the great directors, and like I said, that one scene really stuck in my mind over the years. It is a watchable film overall.
Our Friendship is (Probably) OVER!.......2006-05-21
This one works only about half way. So 2.5 stars really. But I round it up to a 3.
There are signs of Pechinpah's filmaking throughout, but the story gets in the way, and that counts for a lot.
As to why these guys are friends, why they meet continually, why some of them are dealing with the KGB, why Burt Lancaster's character sets John Hurt up, why John Hurt follows through with the plan when he knows the truth, etc., etc., remain unanswered. This is the part of the story that doesn't work.
The acting is alright. Rutger Hauer is fine. Steely and equipped with essential hair. Pre-"Coach" Craig T. Nelson stands out, but not only for his stellar moustache and command of martial arts, but for his substantive presence as the eponymous friend. The other friends Dennis Hopper and Chris Sarandon must have had creative conflicts, or more established characters in the novel, because their parts end too neatly, Hopper never gets to shift beyond third, and Sarandon (one could claim here he IS Mark Ruffalo's father) is all venom and vitriol. John Hurt is too good an actor to be bad, and represents an English FBI agent (whose wife's brutal murder opens the movie) bent on torture well. His penchant for being cast as a talking-head-on-a-screen, like he did recently in V for Vendetta also works here. Perhaps it is his ability for seething unabashed cruelty. Burt Lancaster is fine as well, neither here nor there as the shadowy figure of power.
The film does have well paced and suspenseful action sequences, standard Peckinpah slow-motion violence, and an ultimately oppressive use of technology as communicator and omniscient weapon of mass destruction.
Not bad, a decent rental, certainly a dated technological piece, with illuminative hair and style for an actioner....
Acceptable thriller of the "political paranoia" variety.......2006-01-01
In this '80s thriller adapted from a novel by Robert Ludlum (of Bourne series fame), John Hurt plays a CIA operative whose wife is murdered on the orders of a manipulative high ranking CIA official with designs on the Presidency (Burt Lancaster). Himself not adverse to a spot of manipulation, Hurt enlists the help of patriotic gung-ho investigative journalist John Tanner (Rutger Hauer) to help him unmask one or more Russain spies from three likely candidates who just happen to be Tanner's best buddies from college: Craig T. Nelson, Chris Sarandon and Dennis Hopper. Tanner's house is re-wired with hi-tech surveillance gear prior to the friends' annual weekend get-together. But Hurt's intentions are not quite what they seem... This was Sam Pekinpah's last movie, and his name and the A-list cast lend the material a quality it doesn't quite deserve. The plot isn't quite as clever as it thinks it is, or needs to be. Still, the performances are good. Hurt and Hauer are perfect foils for each other, and much of the entertainment comes from Hurt's Machiavellian turn. The film remains interesting today for its exploration of the notions of surveillance, voyeurism, the insidious nature of TV news (especially editing). Peckinpah serves up his usual precision-perfect set-pieces and generally has a lot of fun with firearms and exposed breasts.
![The Osterman Weekend [Region 2]](http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/31K05PY743L.gif)
Average customer rating:
- An underrated masterpiece
- Sam Peckinpah's last film gets the royal two disc Anchor Bay treatment!!!
- Peckinpaw
- Our Friendship is (Probably) OVER!
- Acceptable thriller of the "political paranoia" variety
|
The Osterman Weekend [Region 2]
Starring: Rutger Hauer , John Hurt , Craig T. Nelson , Dennis Hopper , and Chris Sarandon
Director: Sam Peckinpah
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
 Thrillers
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| ( H )
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Similar Items:
- The Killer Elite
- Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
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- Junior Bonner
ASIN: B00004TLK9 |
Amazon.com
Sam Peckinpah's final film has a lot to recommend it, including a complicated story derived from a Robert Ludlum novel but laced with Peckinpah's hard questions about loyalty and the balance between civilization and basic instincts. Rutger Hauer stars as John Tanner, a television host with strong criticisms of America's cold-war conduct. Looking forward to a weekend of socializing with old friends (played by Craig T. Nelson, Dennis Hopper, and Chris Sarandon), Tanner is approached by a CIA agent (John Hurt) who tells him his friends may be Soviet agents. Tanner agrees to let the spy agency set up surveillance in his house; it turns out there is more to the agent's claims than meets the eye and Tanner's weekend eventually erupts into violence. Osterman is not Peckinpah at his best (though, typically, the director was under siege from production politics), but the maestro of montage certainly worked in some extraordinary action sequences. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews:
An underrated masterpiece .......2007-06-20
The Osterman Weekend is usually dismissed as a failed effort of Peckinpah's, as his last, drug-addled attempt to reclaim his fame. Many critics wave it off as uneven or even denounce it as incomprehensible. I take issue with such critics, and will here argue that not only is The Osterman Weekend a great film, but that it is in fact one of Peckinpah's greatest achievements as a filmmaker. In my book it ranks among The Wild Bunch and Straw Dogs. Sam Peckinpah was dying by the time he made Osterman Weekend. He was drug-damaged, delusional, and yes, stark raving mad. What is sometimes overlooked is that his lunacy is in part what made him such a great director. He knew how to get under actors' skins, eliciting performances from them that were genuine psychological reactions to Peckinpah's bizarre on-set mind games. In Straw Dogs, during the infamous rape scene, Peckinpah was on the floor berating and insulting the actor who played the rapist. Throughout the whole scene the director tore the actor down, making him more and more angry and uncomfortable. Is this pointless torture? No, it shows in the scene. Peckinpah used very similar tricks throughout the filming of Osterman Weekend (like telling continuously Nelson his moustache was wrong, or pulling the water plug during a hot tub scene so the actress would have trouble concealing her breasts), and much to the same effect too. It shows.
The performances throughout this film are brilliant. Osterman Weekend is a unique film, to say the least. It builds scenes of extreme tension; one truly cannot call oneself an action connoisseur until one has seen Peckinpah's action scenes. The way they build, and are edited to layer component within component, is like a beautiful ballet of violence. John Woo, who is often praised for his action scenes, is simply mimicking Peckinpah. Many directors, in fact, have tried to mimic Peckinpah's awesome style. Most don't have the talent to even come close. His use of slow motion is absolutely unparalleled in cinema, and many directors seem to miss that Peckinpah's slow motion scenes were actually choreographed to be seen in slow motion, not simply filmed and then slowed down. Never before or since have I ever seen editing so intricate as in "Bloody Sam's" action scenes. The climaxes of Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs, and Osterman Weekend would be on any respectful list of best action scenes of all time. The car chase in Osterman Weekend is more pulse pounding, visceral, and riveting than anything in the Matt Damon Bourne movies, Ronin, or any other modern action extravaganza. Its subtleties in editing leave the viewer dumbfounded.
Now for the film. The Osterman Weekend is, on its face, a film about a CIA agent who has gone insane, and hatches an overly elaborate plan to revenge the death of his wife. This--and I think this is where many viewers are left behind--is not what the film is really about though. What the film is really about is how television has changed who we are and how we live our lives. Peckinpah is obviously disgusted by television, and by what sociologist Stanislav Andreski called "gullible telly-gapers." The Osterman Weekend's main point is that television has turned us all into voyeurs, and that we have in fact become so voyeuristic that we would rather sit in front of a set and watch actors pretend to live scripted pretend lives than actually live our own life. Peckinpah called living rooms "living dead rooms," rooms where people sit down, switch on the TV, and switch their brains off. He said that television programs are called "programs" for a reason: when you watch, YOU are the one being programmed. Another point of the film is that television actually makes us stupider. Why? Because much of what appears on TV, in talk shows, even the news, is nothing but a bunch of BS. (This goes double for the internet. For a treatment of the internet similar to Osterman Weekend's treatment of television read Caleb Carr's brilliant sci fi novel Killing Time.) But we tend to believe what we see on television. Note how in the film Tanner is convinced that his best friends are traitors simply by being shown some random clips of footage shown out of context. It's easy to edit dialogue to create the impression that people are saying things they didn't (eh-hem, Michael Moore), but he believes it even though he should know better. (He's a talk show host himself!) Pay attention to all of the scenes of people watching other people on surveillance cameras, and even of people watching other people watch people in a regression of cameras and monitors. What many probably aren't aware of is that Peckinpah was actually obsessed with surveillance in real life, and would often bug the trailers of actors appearing in his films. Also take special notice of the scene where a foursome of characters tries to escape in an RV. They see on the screen that they need to get out fast or else something bad will happen, but when the screen changes to footage of them, they simply can't peel themselves away. Their inability to stop watching kills them. In the end Tanner tells us that television programs are simply the fillers between attempts to steal our money. He dares us to switch off our sets, stating, "It's done with the hand, and with whatever's left of your freewill." After a dramatic pause he wryly asks, "Am I still on?" and of course he is, because we're still watching! In conclusion, The Osterman Weekend is one of my all-time favorite action/suspense films. Its action scenes are spellbinding, such as the famous fight in the kitchen, the pool scene, Tanner and Osterman trying to escape the dark house as CIA agents stalk around, red lasers searching, to Lalo Schifrin's ominous synthesizer score. The film reaches a level of excitement few thrillers actually attain.
Studio cut vs. Peckinpah's cut: Much has been made of the fact that the film was yanked from Peckinpah's hands. When producers came to meet with him he'd actually leave his hand on a gun resting on his desk, he was that paranoid and protective. In the end, however, the final cut was not his. So does the theatrical cut compare to Peckinpah's unedited, slightly longer cut? Surprising, it holds up well. In fact, the theatrical release's ending is much better. Peckinpah's ending does manage to make it more obvious that Tanner prerecorded his elements of the interview so that he could use that time to find his wife and son, but instead of ending with Tanner's daring us viewers to stop watching, Peckinpah's ends with a hand pulling the plug on a television set. The theatrical release's ending is better, for of course we're not actually going to stop watching. (I wonder if there exists anyone anywhere who actually quit watching television because of this movie!) The main difference between the two cuts is actually the opening scene of Fassett and his wife. In Peckinpah's cut the image onscreen is warbly, which was supposed to convey Fassett's insanity. It doesn't, and I'm glad they removed it. The main difference however is that in the theatrical cut the scene of Fassett's wife masturbating is highly edited. Peckinpah's cut of the film pretty much begins with a prolonged scene of a naked woman lying on her back touching herself. In the theatrical cut we don't see her hand between her legs; in Peckinpah's we do, and the scene is quite long too. At first I though it was good that this was cut, as I found it porny and pretty irrelevant. But then it dawned on me just what Peckinpah was doing. Why begin the film with an overlong, seemingly pointless scene of a naked woman masturbating in bed? The point is that it is not enough to TELL us that television has turned us into a society of voyeurs. Peckinpah wanted to SHOW us; he was saying, "You are watching a naked woman playing with herself. YOU are a voyeur right now and every time you look into the intimate scenes of others in film or on television." Another scene that was cut from the theatrical release reveals that Tanner was cheating on his wife. This scene should have actually been left in the film, as without it Tanner's rocky relationship with his wife really doesn't make any sense. So in the end, it's a tossup. The deleted scenes do actually add to the film, but the theatrical release has a much better and more effective ending. If choosing between which to watch though I would say to definitely go with the theatrical release, as the director's cut is fullscreen and VERY grainy, like watching a VHS tape from the 80s.
Sam Peckinpah's last film gets the royal two disc Anchor Bay treatment!!!.......2007-03-27
Okey,this is far from Sam Peckinpah's greatest film (The Wild Bunch,Straw Dogs and "Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid" are my personal faves!),but still "The Osterman Weekend" is a fine work that's much better than most of the films churned out these days!!! The folks at Anchor Bay gave this film the royal two DVD treatment that includes the Feauture w/audio commentary on DVD one and DVD two has the extra goodies that are definately woth watching!!! So all in all,I'm still giving it five stars!!! A+
Peckinpaw.......2006-05-27
I have to admit that what I liked about this movie was the fight scene in the kitchen. I am really into martial arts and I think that one reason is seeing Sam Peckinpaw's work back in the 1970s and 1980s, while I was growing up. He was the master of the slow-motion action shot, and we now see it in the films of John Woo and other directors. This is I think a pretty mediocre film, directed by one of the great directors, and like I said, that one scene really stuck in my mind over the years. It is a watchable film overall.
Our Friendship is (Probably) OVER!.......2006-05-21
This one works only about half way. So 2.5 stars really. But I round it up to a 3.
There are signs of Pechinpah's filmaking throughout, but the story gets in the way, and that counts for a lot.
As to why these guys are friends, why they meet continually, why some of them are dealing with the KGB, why Burt Lancaster's character sets John Hurt up, why John Hurt follows through with the plan when he knows the truth, etc., etc., remain unanswered. This is the part of the story that doesn't work.
The acting is alright. Rutger Hauer is fine. Steely and equipped with essential hair. Pre-"Coach" Craig T. Nelson stands out, but not only for his stellar moustache and command of martial arts, but for his substantive presence as the eponymous friend. The other friends Dennis Hopper and Chris Sarandon must have had creative conflicts, or more established characters in the novel, because their parts end too neatly, Hopper never gets to shift beyond third, and Sarandon (one could claim here he IS Mark Ruffalo's father) is all venom and vitriol. John Hurt is too good an actor to be bad, and represents an English FBI agent (whose wife's brutal murder opens the movie) bent on torture well. His penchant for being cast as a talking-head-on-a-screen, like he did recently in V for Vendetta also works here. Perhaps it is his ability for seething unabashed cruelty. Burt Lancaster is fine as well, neither here nor there as the shadowy figure of power.
The film does have well paced and suspenseful action sequences, standard Peckinpah slow-motion violence, and an ultimately oppressive use of technology as communicator and omniscient weapon of mass destruction.
Not bad, a decent rental, certainly a dated technological piece, with illuminative hair and style for an actioner....
Acceptable thriller of the "political paranoia" variety.......2006-01-01
In this '80s thriller adapted from a novel by Robert Ludlum (of Bourne series fame), John Hurt plays a CIA operative whose wife is murdered on the orders of a manipulative high ranking CIA official with designs on the Presidency (Burt Lancaster). Himself not adverse to a spot of manipulation, Hurt enlists the help of patriotic gung-ho investigative journalist John Tanner (Rutger Hauer) to help him unmask one or more Russain spies from three likely candidates who just happen to be Tanner's best buddies from college: Craig T. Nelson, Chris Sarandon and Dennis Hopper. Tanner's house is re-wired with hi-tech surveillance gear prior to the friends' annual weekend get-together. But Hurt's intentions are not quite what they seem... This was Sam Pekinpah's last movie, and his name and the A-list cast lend the material a quality it doesn't quite deserve. The plot isn't quite as clever as it thinks it is, or needs to be. Still, the performances are good. Hurt and Hauer are perfect foils for each other, and much of the entertainment comes from Hurt's Machiavellian turn. The film remains interesting today for its exploration of the notions of surveillance, voyeurism, the insidious nature of TV news (especially editing). Peckinpah serves up his usual precision-perfect set-pieces and generally has a lot of fun with firearms and exposed breasts.
![The Osterman Weekend [Region 2]](http://www.germanelectronics88.com/noimage.gif)
Average customer rating:
- An underrated masterpiece
- Sam Peckinpah's last film gets the royal two disc Anchor Bay treatment!!!
- Peckinpaw
- Our Friendship is (Probably) OVER!
- Acceptable thriller of the "political paranoia" variety
|
The Osterman Weekend [Region 2]
Starring: Rutger Hauer , John Hurt , Craig T. Nelson , Dennis Hopper , and Chris Sarandon
Director: Sam Peckinpah
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
Thrillers
| Mystery & Suspense
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
Foster, Meg
| ( F )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Haney, Anne
| ( H )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Hauer, Rutger
| ( H )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Hopper, Dennis
| ( H )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Hurt, John
| ( H )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Kamp, Merete Van
| ( K )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Lancaster, Burt
| ( L )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
McPeak, Sandy
| ( M )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Nelson, Craig T
| ( N )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Sarandon, Chris
| ( S )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Shaver, Helen
| ( S )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Yates, Cassie
| ( Y )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Peckinpah, Sam
| ( P )
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ASIN: B0001EYT9S |
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Sam Peckinpah's final film has a lot to recommend it, including a complicated story derived from a Robert Ludlum novel but laced with Peckinpah's hard questions about loyalty and the balance between civilization and basic instincts. Rutger Hauer stars as John Tanner, a television host with strong criticisms of America's cold-war conduct. Looking forward to a weekend of socializing with old friends (played by Craig T. Nelson, Dennis Hopper, and Chris Sarandon), Tanner is approached by a CIA agent (John Hurt) who tells him his friends may be Soviet agents. Tanner agrees to let the spy agency set up surveillance in his house; it turns out there is more to the agent's claims than meets the eye and Tanner's weekend eventually erupts into violence. Osterman is not Peckinpah at his best (though, typically, the director was under siege from production politics), but the maestro of montage certainly worked in some extraordinary action sequences. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews:
An underrated masterpiece .......2007-06-20
The Osterman Weekend is usually dismissed as a failed effort of Peckinpah's, as his last, drug-addled attempt to reclaim his fame. Many critics wave it off as uneven or even denounce it as incomprehensible. I take issue with such critics, and will here argue that not only is The Osterman Weekend a great film, but that it is in fact one of Peckinpah's greatest achievements as a filmmaker. In my book it ranks among The Wild Bunch and Straw Dogs. Sam Peckinpah was dying by the time he made Osterman Weekend. He was drug-damaged, delusional, and yes, stark raving mad. What is sometimes overlooked is that his lunacy is in part what made him such a great director. He knew how to get under actors' skins, eliciting performances from them that were genuine psychological reactions to Peckinpah's bizarre on-set mind games. In Straw Dogs, during the infamous rape scene, Peckinpah was on the floor berating and insulting the actor who played the rapist. Throughout the whole scene the director tore the actor down, making him more and more angry and uncomfortable. Is this pointless torture? No, it shows in the scene. Peckinpah used very similar tricks throughout the filming of Osterman Weekend (like telling continuously Nelson his moustache was wrong, or pulling the water plug during a hot tub scene so the actress would have trouble concealing her breasts), and much to the same effect too. It shows.
The performances throughout this film are brilliant. Osterman Weekend is a unique film, to say the least. It builds scenes of extreme tension; one truly cannot call oneself an action connoisseur until one has seen Peckinpah's action scenes. The way they build, and are edited to layer component within component, is like a beautiful ballet of violence. John Woo, who is often praised for his action scenes, is simply mimicking Peckinpah. Many directors, in fact, have tried to mimic Peckinpah's awesome style. Most don't have the talent to even come close. His use of slow motion is absolutely unparalleled in cinema, and many directors seem to miss that Peckinpah's slow motion scenes were actually choreographed to be seen in slow motion, not simply filmed and then slowed down. Never before or since have I ever seen editing so intricate as in "Bloody Sam's" action scenes. The climaxes of Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs, and Osterman Weekend would be on any respectful list of best action scenes of all time. The car chase in Osterman Weekend is more pulse pounding, visceral, and riveting than anything in the Matt Damon Bourne movies, Ronin, or any other modern action extravaganza. Its subtleties in editing leave the viewer dumbfounded.
Now for the film. The Osterman Weekend is, on its face, a film about a CIA agent who has gone insane, and hatches an overly elaborate plan to revenge the death of his wife. This--and I think this is where many viewers are left behind--is not what the film is really about though. What the film is really about is how television has changed who we are and how we live our lives. Peckinpah is obviously disgusted by television, and by what sociologist Stanislav Andreski called "gullible telly-gapers." The Osterman Weekend's main point is that television has turned us all into voyeurs, and that we have in fact become so voyeuristic that we would rather sit in front of a set and watch actors pretend to live scripted pretend lives than actually live our own life. Peckinpah called living rooms "living dead rooms," rooms where people sit down, switch on the TV, and switch their brains off. He said that television programs are called "programs" for a reason: when you watch, YOU are the one being programmed. Another point of the film is that television actually makes us stupider. Why? Because much of what appears on TV, in talk shows, even the news, is nothing but a bunch of BS. (This goes double for the internet. For a treatment of the internet similar to Osterman Weekend's treatment of television read Caleb Carr's brilliant sci fi novel Killing Time.) But we tend to believe what we see on television. Note how in the film Tanner is convinced that his best friends are traitors simply by being shown some random clips of footage shown out of context. It's easy to edit dialogue to create the impression that people are saying things they didn't (eh-hem, Michael Moore), but he believes it even though he should know better. (He's a talk show host himself!) Pay attention to all of the scenes of people watching other people on surveillance cameras, and even of people watching other people watch people in a regression of cameras and monitors. What many probably aren't aware of is that Peckinpah was actually obsessed with surveillance in real life, and would often bug the trailers of actors appearing in his films. Also take special notice of the scene where a foursome of characters tries to escape in an RV. They see on the screen that they need to get out fast or else something bad will happen, but when the screen changes to footage of them, they simply can't peel themselves away. Their inability to stop watching kills them. In the end Tanner tells us that television programs are simply the fillers between attempts to steal our money. He dares us to switch off our sets, stating, "It's done with the hand, and with whatever's left of your freewill." After a dramatic pause he wryly asks, "Am I still on?" and of course he is, because we're still watching! In conclusion, The Osterman Weekend is one of my all-time favorite action/suspense films. Its action scenes are spellbinding, such as the famous fight in the kitchen, the pool scene, Tanner and Osterman trying to escape the dark house as CIA agents stalk around, red lasers searching, to Lalo Schifrin's ominous synthesizer score. The film reaches a level of excitement few thrillers actually attain.
Studio cut vs. Peckinpah's cut: Much has been made of the fact that the film was yanked from Peckinpah's hands. When producers came to meet with him he'd actually leave his hand on a gun resting on his desk, he was that paranoid and protective. In the end, however, the final cut was not his. So does the theatrical cut compare to Peckinpah's unedited, slightly longer cut? Surprising, it holds up well. In fact, the theatrical release's ending is much better. Peckinpah's ending does manage to make it more obvious that Tanner prerecorded his elements of the interview so that he could use that time to find his wife and son, but instead of ending with Tanner's daring us viewers to stop watching, Peckinpah's ends with a hand pulling the plug on a television set. The theatrical release's ending is better, for of course we're not actually going to stop watching. (I wonder if there exists anyone anywhere who actually quit watching television because of this movie!) The main difference between the two cuts is actually the opening scene of Fassett and his wife. In Peckinpah's cut the image onscreen is warbly, which was supposed to convey Fassett's insanity. It doesn't, and I'm glad they removed it. The main difference however is that in the theatrical cut the scene of Fassett's wife masturbating is highly edited. Peckinpah's cut of the film pretty much begins with a prolonged scene of a naked woman lying on her back touching herself. In the theatrical cut we don't see her hand between her legs; in Peckinpah's we do, and the scene is quite long too. At first I though it was good that this was cut, as I found it porny and pretty irrelevant. But then it dawned on me just what Peckinpah was doing. Why begin the film with an overlong, seemingly pointless scene of a naked woman masturbating in bed? The point is that it is not enough to TELL us that television has turned us into a society of voyeurs. Peckinpah wanted to SHOW us; he was saying, "You are watching a naked woman playing with herself. YOU are a voyeur right now and every time you look into the intimate scenes of others in film or on television." Another scene that was cut from the theatrical release reveals that Tanner was cheating on his wife. This scene should have actually been left in the film, as without it Tanner's rocky relationship with his wife really doesn't make any sense. So in the end, it's a tossup. The deleted scenes do actually add to the film, but the theatrical release has a much better and more effective ending. If choosing between which to watch though I would say to definitely go with the theatrical release, as the director's cut is fullscreen and VERY grainy, like watching a VHS tape from the 80s.
Sam Peckinpah's last film gets the royal two disc Anchor Bay treatment!!!.......2007-03-27
Okey,this is far from Sam Peckinpah's greatest film (The Wild Bunch,Straw Dogs and "Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid" are my personal faves!),but still "The Osterman Weekend" is a fine work that's much better than most of the films churned out these days!!! The folks at Anchor Bay gave this film the royal two DVD treatment that includes the Feauture w/audio commentary on DVD one and DVD two has the extra goodies that are definately woth watching!!! So all in all,I'm still giving it five stars!!! A+
Peckinpaw.......2006-05-27
I have to admit that what I liked about this movie was the fight scene in the kitchen. I am really into martial arts and I think that one reason is seeing Sam Peckinpaw's work back in the 1970s and 1980s, while I was growing up. He was the master of the slow-motion action shot, and we now see it in the films of John Woo and other directors. This is I think a pretty mediocre film, directed by one of the great directors, and like I said, that one scene really stuck in my mind over the years. It is a watchable film overall.
Our Friendship is (Probably) OVER!.......2006-05-21
This one works only about half way. So 2.5 stars really. But I round it up to a 3.
There are signs of Pechinpah's filmaking throughout, but the story gets in the way, and that counts for a lot.
As to why these guys are friends, why they meet continually, why some of them are dealing with the KGB, why Burt Lancaster's character sets John Hurt up, why John Hurt follows through with the plan when he knows the truth, etc., etc., remain unanswered. This is the part of the story that doesn't work.
The acting is alright. Rutger Hauer is fine. Steely and equipped with essential hair. Pre-"Coach" Craig T. Nelson stands out, but not only for his stellar moustache and command of martial arts, but for his substantive presence as the eponymous friend. The other friends Dennis Hopper and Chris Sarandon must have had creative conflicts, or more established characters in the novel, because their parts end too neatly, Hopper never gets to shift beyond third, and Sarandon (one could claim here he IS Mark Ruffalo's father) is all venom and vitriol. John Hurt is too good an actor to be bad, and represents an English FBI agent (whose wife's brutal murder opens the movie) bent on torture well. His penchant for being cast as a talking-head-on-a-screen, like he did recently in V for Vendetta also works here. Perhaps it is his ability for seething unabashed cruelty. Burt Lancaster is fine as well, neither here nor there as the shadowy figure of power.
The film does have well paced and suspenseful action sequences, standard Peckinpah slow-motion violence, and an ultimately oppressive use of technology as communicator and omniscient weapon of mass destruction.
Not bad, a decent rental, certainly a dated technological piece, with illuminative hair and style for an actioner....
Acceptable thriller of the "political paranoia" variety.......2006-01-01
In this '80s thriller adapted from a novel by Robert Ludlum (of Bourne series fame), John Hurt plays a CIA operative whose wife is murdered on the orders of a manipulative high ranking CIA official with designs on the Presidency (Burt Lancaster). Himself not adverse to a spot of manipulation, Hurt enlists the help of patriotic gung-ho investigative journalist John Tanner (Rutger Hauer) to help him unmask one or more Russain spies from three likely candidates who just happen to be Tanner's best buddies from college: Craig T. Nelson, Chris Sarandon and Dennis Hopper. Tanner's house is re-wired with hi-tech surveillance gear prior to the friends' annual weekend get-together. But Hurt's intentions are not quite what they seem... This was Sam Pekinpah's last movie, and his name and the A-list cast lend the material a quality it doesn't quite deserve. The plot isn't quite as clever as it thinks it is, or needs to be. Still, the performances are good. Hurt and Hauer are perfect foils for each other, and much of the entertainment comes from Hurt's Machiavellian turn. The film remains interesting today for its exploration of the notions of surveillance, voyeurism, the insidious nature of TV news (especially editing). Peckinpah serves up his usual precision-perfect set-pieces and generally has a lot of fun with firearms and exposed breasts.
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