Title: Revenge (1990)
Director: Tony Scott
Cast: Kevin Costner, Madeleine Stowe, Anthony Quinn, Miguel Ferrer, John Leguizamo
If you asked me which one I prefer over the two Scott brothers (Ridley Scott and Tony Scott) I’d quickly tell you that I lean more towards Ridley Scott’s style of filmmaking. It’s not that I hate Tony Scott’s films, it’s just that I enjoy Ridley Scott’s films a whole lot more because they are more cerebral and artsy, and I love artsy. Ridley’s films satisfy my brain as well as my thirst for art and spectacle. Tony Scott is the complete opposite; he focuses more on making commercial films that play by Hollywood ’s rules and I enjoy Tony Scott’s films for entirely different reasons, they are crowd pleasers, they are fun and fast paced, they are action packed. Where Ridley’s films make money as a by product of the quality of his art, Tony’s films are the other way around, money making comes into the equation first. And that’s exactly what he is best at: making profitable action films. Tony is the director behind such box office hits as Top Gun (1986), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and Days of Thunder (1990), all big Hollywood productions with big stars and wide appeal. Sometimes, he branches out and does more experimental films; the results have been films like The Hunger (1983) and Domino (2005). And finally, if you ask me, Tony Scott is at his worst when making simplistic, vapid films like Unstopabble (2010). But most of the time, his films are entertaining and highly watchable.
Ridley Scott Directs
Tony Scott has also ventured into the revenge film territory. He has made two films of this variety, both of which are excellent within the revenge film genre. The first one he made is the film I will be reviewing today: Revenge (1990). His second entry into the revenge film sub-genre was the Quentin Tarantino scripted: True Romance (1993), a film I have revisited on more than one occasion. The reason why Tarantino got Tony Scott to direct True Romance was that Tarantino saw and loved Scott’s Revenge (1990). Tarantino has been quoted as saying “I’m a huge fan of that movie. In fact, that was the reason I was supportive and really tried to make it happen that Tony directed ‘True Romance’. I was like I want the man who directed ‘Revenge’ to do my movie” In fact, the dvd cover for the unrated director’s cut of the film has a Tarantino quote that says “I consider ‘Revenge’ to be Tony Scott’s masterpiece”, so hey, Tarantino backs the hell out of this movie. And when you watch it, you actually feel like your watching a Tarantino film in many ways.
The story is all about fighter pilot Michal Jay Cochran (Kevin Costner), who’s just retired and is ready to just kick back and relax. His friend Tiburon ‘Tibey’ Mendez (Anthony Quinn) a Mexican ‘business man’ whom Jay once flew to Alaska for a hunting trip, invites Jay over to his mansion in Mexico to enjoy a couple of days of relaxation. Problem comes when Jay meets Tibey’s wife Mireya, who is a stunning beyond belief beauty (Madeline Stowe). Jay and Mireya are immediately attracted to each other. They develop the kind of attraction that you just can’t stop. The kind of love that’s going to happen no matter what; the kind of love that can get people killed. And so the question arises, will Jay and Mireya go through with it? I mean, if you knew the object of your affections was married to a stone cold gangster, who is also your friend, would you even think about going through with it? Well, all I can say is that if you saw Madeline Stowe in this movie, you’d understand why Jay decides to screw it all and go for her, which of course get’s him into massive amounts of trouble.
Friends or Foes?
Revenge was a film that had was a hot property at one point in Hollywood, way back in 1979. You see, it took the film little more then ten years to get to the silver screen. Before it was turned into a film, it was a novella by author Jim Harrison. Once it was printed on Esquire magazine in 1979, many a Hollywood director wanted to produce and direct this project. Amongst the actors and directors who were actively seeking to direct this film were: Jack Nicholson, Kevin Costner, John Houston, Sydney Pollack, Jonathan Demme and even Francis Ford Copolla himself, but it was Tony Scott who ended up directing and he did a great job with it as far as Im concerned. It might get a little too light for a revenge film at times (especially during it's third half) but it does get pretty intense, it has some really gripping and cringe inducing moments and it’s a bit different than other revenge films because of its marked sensuality. Highly recommend this underrated Tony Scott film.
Rating: 4 out of 5
4 comments:
Excellent review! I haven't seen this film in ages but I do remember Scott directing the hell out of it. I also appreciated all of the background info you supplied. I had heard that Tarantino loved this film but didn't know the link between REVENGE and TRUE ROMANCE. Nice!
Yeah, it's definetly a Tony Scott film, we get lots of streaks of light (something he loves to do in a lot of his films) and we even some left over Top Gun action, the movie starts out with Costner flying a jet across the dessert, Top Gun style.
Glad you enjoyed the review J.D., thanks for commenting!
I just got done watching my copy of REVENGE, after coming across an old Siskel and Ebert review of it. They really did not like the excessive violence, and if I remember correctly, that the was the knock at the time.
So I find it interesting that Scott found it not violent enough, not sexy enough. I liked the film at the time, and I still do. I may check out the D.Cut if given the chance, but removing 34 minutes of a film I already liked before? Not sure if I'm up for that quite yet.
A solid film, just a simple story well told, well acted, and gorgeously shot.
I recently checked out the directors cut, I've never seen the original theatrical version, but there is definetly a lot sexiness and violence crammed into the directors cut, so it might be worth your while.
Thanks for commenting!
Post a Comment