Le Dernier Combat

Le Dernier Combat
by Luc Besson

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Movie Reviews of Le Dernier Combat

Movie Review: French Director Luc Besson's Definitive Sci-fi Cult Classic
Summary: 5 Stars

'Le Dernier Combat' presents a believably dead world where a few humans struggle to survive and even fewer retain a sense of humanity. The director fills the movie with striking imagery that grabs your attention and doesn't ever let go. At one point during a rainstorm it begins to downpour fish; later during another rainstorm two of the film's characters get caught in a hailstorm of rocks! Scenes such as the very unusual opening shot, Jolivet drowning his sorrows with several bottles of liquor, his escape on a makeshift glider and many others never leave the memory once viewed. My personal favorite: two of the characters share a bottle of wine at dinner and, as is the civilized custom, each takes a sip from their glass and nod approvingly; cut immediately to an empty wine bottle balanced on a pedestal that someone is using as a target to hone their skills with a sword. It provides a brilliant parallel between the two types of people struggling against each other here.

What sets 'Le Dernier Combat' apart from others in the post-apocalyptic film genre is the fact that there is no dialogue spoken at all. Contrary to the criticism that it is a novelty, instead the absence of dialogue draws you into the movie, helping you become intimately connected to the survivors and sharing their experiences as if they were your own. Moments of suspense, despair, isolation, melancholy, elation, defeat and great joy are all conveyed superbly by the cast without the benefit of speaking. There is a singular moment where two of the characters say "Hello" to one another with the aid of what I believe is helium, but beyond that you won't hear a word spoken in this film.

Most deserving of it's cult status, the movie is best seen on the big screen due to it's being filmed in CineScope. The DVD release from Columbia Tristar is presented in widescreen and it is an absolutely clean and error free copy that will please any fan of 'Le Dernier Combat'. Though Luc Besson has had many other film successes since this was released in 1983 this one gets my vote for his best.