The Osterman Weekend (Two-Disc)
|
List Price: Our Price: $13.49 You Save: $1.49 (10%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $5.90 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Canada
Movie Reviews of The Osterman Weekend (Two-Disc)
Movie Review: Sam's Cut Falls Short
Summary: 3 Stars
If you are mainly going to purchase this movie to see Sam Pekinpah's original cut you will most likely be disappointed. The film quality of the original cut is about equal with a bootleg VHS tape (it's also full-screen). Extremely disappointing and painful to sit through.Movie Review: Just OK
Summary: 3 Stars
It wasn't at all like the book, which was quite good. Some good suspense at times but the whole was a bit of a letdown. I think John Hurt's character had a legitimate axe to grind, but lost my support through insanity.Movie Review: Very disappointing
Summary: 1 Stars
I read the book and enjoyed it back when it first came out, but I never saw the film in its theatrical release. I read the reviews here and figured it would be worth a try. Big mistake!I usually enjoy films based on thrillers, even if they are not totally faithful to the book. But in this case, the film failed on a much more profound basis than simply taking some liberties with the plot. A thriller, whether it's a book or film, should at the very least provide some thrills, and it's here that the film falls far short of the mark.
Even though the movie was made in 1983, it is one of the most dated films I've ever seen. I'm not just talking about the outdated room decor and fashions, I mean the whole look and feel of the film. It looks as if it were shot in the early '70's. This sense of being very dated and amateur-ish is underscored by the music, a strange concoction of seedy pseudo-techno and cheesy jazz that would be more at home in a porno film.
The screenplay is painfully dull, with none of the suspense of the novel. Production values are tacky and below the standards that one would expect even in a TV-movie of the same era. Some tight editing could have improved the situation significantly, but instead we repeatedly end up gazing at someone's face far longer than is necessary. It's almost as if the director wanted to go for a sort of retro-Euro look for the film, but he didn't come close.
The various "high tech" devices, mostly video cameras and monitors throughout the house where the action takes place, look ridiculously outdated. This wouldn't be so annoying if the director had not insisted on zooming in for a close-up almost every time someone touches a push-button, as if to tell the audience, "See, I'm all up-to-date with the latest new gizmos". The movie is filled with shots of people pushing old-style backlit clear plastic pushbuttons that used to adorn those boxy desk phones and were also used on some of the very first VCRs. Some of this stuff would have looked dated even in 1983.
Peckinpah is apparently best remembered for his penchant for violence and his use of slow motion in depicting violent scenes. There are admittedly several excellent sequences where he uses slow motion very effectively: a car/truck collision early in the film (totally unnecessary to the plot, but well done nonetheless) and several other scenes at various moments, but not enough to salvage the film.
What is so unfortunate is that the cast was made up of very capable actors, many of whom have given much better performances with other directors. If you compare this movie to "Marathon Man" and "Three Days of the Condor", both made in the mid-1970's, they have aged much better than "The Osterman Weekend". They move more quickly, they keep you in suspense, and you actually care about the characters. By the time people started getting killed in this movie, I couldn't have cared less. Another fatal flaw is that this movie is totally lacking in humor of any kind. There are some nasty sarcastic comments, but they are not funny, or even particularly intelligent.
Anchor Bay does an outstanding job of providing a quality video transfer for this turkey. Even more impressive is the remastered 5.1 soundtrack, which is surprisingly realistic and is one of the few things that makes the film watchable. The second DVD contains the director's cut of the movie, presented in full screen and without the remastering of the theatrical release. I could not bring myself to watch it (this is definitely not a film to be viewed more than once), but at least the die-hard fan will have both versions to view. There is a nicely done booklet with more information about Peckinpah and his films than I needed to know, but again, credit is due to Anchor Bay for giving the movie a much better presentation than it deserved.
Movie Review: "Just Because I Don't Care Doesn't Mean I Don't Understand"
Summary: 1 Stars
While some critics attacked `The Osterman Weekend' as not making any sense and having an incoherent plot, I understood it just fine. I just didn't like it.
With an impressive cast and intriguing premise `The Osterman Weekend' seems like a sure hit. However I was unable to find a single redeeming element of the film.
The plot: Rutger Hauer stars as an expose' talk show journalist planning for annual college reunion with Berkeley alumni at his estate. Enter CIA agent John Hurt whom confronts Hauer with evidence that his three best friends, Craig T Nelson, Dennis Hopper, and Chris Sarandon are KGB agents planning to kill him.
Hauer is skeptical but after Hurt stages a kidnapping of Mrs. Hauer and son and blames it on the KGB, Hauer is compelled to allow Hurt to place elaborate surveillance video and armed guards at his weekend vacation. Hurt hopes through a series of mind games to expose the Hauer's "friends" as the traitors they are.
Hence the weekend vacation becomes a soap opera from hell with the four men each suspecting and accusing while their trophy spouses bicker.
Hurt's true motives are finally revealed on Hauer's TV show as an elaborate plot to destroy CIA director Burt Lancaster whom Hurt blames for his wife's death.
None of this is interesting and the good acting cannot save the fact the 25% of the film is voyeuristic characters watching spouses make love in surprisingly graphic sex scenes. No it's not sexy if it was at least that would be something.
The music score is also horrible as it sounds like bad lounge music. An odd score for a thriller.
The director even acknowledged embarrassment in the final product putting the blame on the studio's last minute edits. I put the blame on the novel's author Robert Ludlum. Whoever is to blame for making `The Osterman Weekend' you have only yourself to blame if you see it. You have been forewarned. It has no redeeming value.