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27 out of 34 people found the following review useful: When things go wrong in the swamp, 30 April 2005 Author: Tord S Eriksson from Gothenburg, Sweden
This little gem is a moral story about how things can go wrong, very badly, when someone for a lark opens fire with blanks - those you shoot at have no chance to know that and thus rightfully shoot back, which starts a killing spree from both sides.One side is a troop out of the Loisiana National Guard on exercise in the swamps, the other is the locals, who enjoy their French culture and life out in the swamp.None is more evil than the other, none is more mad than the other, but the soldiers are far from home, and out of their element.Walter Hill, the director and co-writer of Southern Comfort, does a very good job in this tale clearly inspired by the events in Viet Nam. Hill is maybe more known for such diverse films as 48 hours, Brewster's millions and Last Man Standing, and as the producer of Alien and Tales from the Crypt,.Andrew Laszlo, for many known as the cinematographer of films like Rambo: First Blood and the TV-series Shogun, does a fantastic job here - very poetic photography in this grim setting.Many of the actors have never been better, before, or after. This is not least true for Powers Boothe, who plays the only outsider among the soldiers. He has never been better since, Keith Carradine (who some of us remember from 'Hair' on Braodway, or 'Nashville' - which earned him an Oscar for a song!) is the intellectual, Fred Ward (Escape from Alcatraz, Short Cuts) is the cool killer type, Peter Coyote ('Keys' in E.T.) is the staff sergeant lost in the woods, Alan Autry ('Bubba' in 'In the heat of the night') freaks out, completely, Brion James (Bladerunner) excellently plays a one-armed Cajun trapper whose life take a turn for the bad when he is blamed for the first death, and Les Lannon (Silkwood, in which Fred Ward also appeared) is the sergeant that is totally out of his league in the swamp. These are just a few of the excellent cast. Forgot: One of the guys hunting the Guards is Sandy Landham, well known for his excellent acting in Predator. Scary guy - he even had a personal bodyguard during the filming of Predator - to protect those around him from his tantrums!Add to this Ry Cooder's musical genius, in the film he's performing with Jim Dickinson and Milt Holland, the Cajun setting, and ditto music and dancing, and you have a film to remember for ever. The only thing I don't like is the ending - did Hill run out of ideas about how to do it? 9/10
16 out of 17 people found the following review useful: Part war movie, part thriller, part black comedy-Southern Comfort is one of Walter Hill's best films., 13 October 2006 Author: slumlordian from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Southern Comfort captures soldiers in the American army better than any film I've ever seen. I'm not saying the guys that stormed the beach at Normandy or took Pork Chop Hill, but something happened between World War 2 and now that kind of let the air out of American soldiers' sails. I went to Iraq in the army in 1991, and I heard the collective sigh echo through the ranks when we were informed that we were going to war in place of the expected gung-ho cheer. Of course, if you've read Norman Mailer's "the Naked and the Dead", you'd realize that apathy in the American military may have been around for awhile. After all, most people have a survival instinct that takes over in extreme situations that seems pretty self-centered. So start with that instinct and go to war with a bunch of people you're not only unrelated to, but don't even much care for. In the army a lot of beliefs, colors, attitudes etc. collide. That cohesive unit hefting a giant flag and marching up a hill as bombs burst around them looks good in the history books, but in reality it's a little different. Southern Comfort knows that fact well.The plot centers around a squad of Louisiana national guardsmen who go on a weekend training exercise and become real weekend warriors with ammo-less rifles battling a crafty (even spooky) superior enemy of backwoods Cajuns. They start off with a simple mission of navigational training. Get from point A to B using a compass and a map. Point B is important to the squad, because Keith Carradine's character private Boothe has some hookers waiting at a party for them near point B. This is how these army guardsmen operate and it's pretty realistic.Somewhere between A and B the route has been flooded and only a couple of canoes tied to a dock offer the soldiers any hope of showing up to their real jobs on Monday. They could walk around, but that would just suck. In the army you have missions. You also have things that arise that suck, and you try to find ways around them. While paddling across the flooded river, Stuckey (the smart ass of the bunch) fires a volley of blanks from his intimidating looking and sounding M60 at some Cajuns on the opposite bank. The Cajuns hit the deck and then blow one of the soldier's brains out. It's as good a "brain blowing out scene" as any I've ever seen, graphic and shocking. The rag tag team of guardsmen flee in panic to the opposite shore and woods. Luckily, Fred Ward brought along some real ammo, enough that each guy gets two whole bullets. The rest is funny, scary and exciting. The acting is great, especially Les Lannom as the dumb sergeant who really means well and Franklyn Seals as the guy who just wants the nightmare to end. The cinematography is great, with many beautiful shots of trees rising out of the bayou and the shadows they make on the water. Ry Cooder's soundtrack is eerie when it needs to be and just plain cool. It's one of his best. The best part is the script itself. This film is supposedly an allegory to Vietnam, but that is almost immaterial. The writers (Hill included) have fashioned a script with fresh action, great suspense and realistic characterization and dialog. The writers understand that there will be the platoon sergeant that tries to care and follow the mission parameters to the letter, but who will cave if that gets too damned inconvenient. There's the E-5 buck sergeant who ends up in charge and knows he's stupid, even more so than some of the men below him. He also believes strongly that he's the only one who should make decisions because, as he says "I've got the stripes!" There's the private, who may rank at the bottom on the military chain of command, but rises to the leadership position because he actually makes the best leader. The one hardcore corporal who doubles as a football coach in his civilian life and would appear at first glance to be the guy you want next to you when the bullets start whizzing by ends up going plumb loco and being led around on a leash by the others. Thats how things really happen in a war. Everything gets unpredictable and somewhat crazy. Out of the realistic reactions the soldiers display to the war-like situation they get into, Hill finds comedy, drama and thrills. This film should entertain you on every level and I highly recommend it.
15 out of 20 people found the following review useful: An unexpected surprise that surpasses even my expectations., 16 December 2002 Author: mhasheider from Sauk City, Wisconsin
A bizarre yet excellent paranoia thriller that takes place in a swamp in the Louisana where eight National Guard members who are on a routine reconnaissance excerise, unwillingly and intentionally start an exhausting battle of wills and survival with some Cajuns who know the swamps like if their own backyard.Director Walter Hill ("48 Hours", "Undisputed") and his screen-writers (David Giler and Michael Kane) have unveiled an expected surprise that surpasses even my expectations of a top-notch thriller. The trio have borrowed the backdrop from one of those not-so-smart slasher movies like "Friday the 13th", then change the location of the story to the Louisana Bayou, and give the viewer characters that we may like. As for the cast, Keith Carradine and Powers Boothe emerge here to give the best performances. Boothe is good as Hardin, who came to the unit as a transfer from Texas while Carradine is the relatively easy-going Spencer. Fred Ward and Alan Autry also deliver here as two members who are both troublesome in two different ways. Ward is the bully who doesn't need much to provoke a fight with anyone and Autry is the emotionally shell-shocked soldier whose fragile feelings are rocked when the unit's leader, Sargeant Poole (Peter Coyote) is unexpectedly shot and killed.Some of the locals that the team run into are either harmless or polite instead of being stereotyped. However, the Cajuns that are seeking revenge are about as hard to find as the shark in the first half of "Jaws".Even a few of the Hill regulars: musician Ry Cooder, photographer Andrew Laszlo, and production designer John Vallone add another key element to the movie. The look, the feel, and especially - the music fit the atmosphere like it should be and I was satisfied with that.Plus, the movie ads for "Southern Comfort" don't lie here and what happens in the film shows very clearly why.
16 out of 22 people found the following review useful: One of the great films about Viet Nam, 8 January 1999 Author: Mark Brasler (minofed@hotmail.com)
It's ironic that one of the best films ever made about Viet Nam is set in the Louisiana Bayou. "Southern Comfort," a story about National Guardsmen who tick off some Cajuns and are then picked off one by one, creates great tension by balancing the themes of "stranger in a strange land" and "who can you trust?" It's not until the final frame of the film that you find out how things turn out for the two protagonists, well played by Powers Boothe and Keith Carradine.
11 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Violent and exciting survival thriller., 16 December 2005 Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby, Poland
A group of National Guardsmen led by Hardin(Powers Boothe)and Spencer(Keith Carradine)get on the bad side of swamp-dwelling Cajuns while conducting maneuvers in the bayou.Bloodshed ensues.Hardin and Spencer must then go on the run through the Louisiana swamps if they're to survive.This violent and exciting survival thriller owes a lot to John Boorman's fantastic "Deliverance".Walter Hill does a fine job of showing how an area as large as a bayou can be claustrophobic and the ultra-intense finale shows some top-notch editing.The acting is great and the script raises some serious questions about the behaviour of man."Southern Comfort" can also be seen as an allegorical treatment of the Vietnam conflict.8 out of 10.A must-see!
16 out of 23 people found the following review useful: A closer look., 16 July 2001 Author: Dan Hill (hostile101uk-1) from Birmingham, England
Upon first viewing this film seems to just be another above average entry to the bayou sub-genre.Added to the likes of Deliverance and the first Rambo.However look closely and this tale of unexperienced guardsmen fighting off psychotic cajuns takes on another meaning. The whole film can be taken as a sly metaphor for the Vietnam war which took place almost a decade and a half before the film was made.On one side you have the inexperienced and overequipped guardsmen, perfectly representing the technology and youth of the American forces.On the other side is the cajuns.Small in number but still very effective utilising there knowledge of the area and using nature itself to lay traps. So what at first sight seems an action packed thriller is also a gritty metaphor for one of the horrors of the last century.The film is well directed and paced.Right from the start the pace doesn't flag.The fact that the cast are mostly unknowns only adds to the tension,the audience not knowing who will bite it next.All in all an exciting thriller and well worth watching.
8 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Southern Greetings., 29 November 2008 Author: lost-in-limbo from the Mad Hatter's tea party.
Now this is a atmospheric survival action film and Walter Hill at his peak. Love it! It's so simple (although streaming through it is a biting allegory about the Vietnam War), but nonetheless exhilarating, tense and raw film-making. Sure the acting and dialogues aren't master-class, but however they're commendably pulled off. In which case Powers Boothe (whose booming voice takes charge) and Keith Carradine (excellently pitched as the guy of reasoning) are terrific leads, and the support Fred Ward (a memorably hot-head and tooting turn), T.K Carter, Lewis Smith, Franklyn Seales, Peter Coyote and Brion James are also quite compelling. Tough, authentic and a real sense of claustrophobic tension stems from the actor's rapport and cynical script. This blends well with the brutal bloody violence (like the barnstorming climax with the powerful freeze frame closing) and the dank, devouring swamp terrain that ultimately swallows them up. But where I think it's at its most effective is during the interludes of Ry Cooder's fascinatingly folksy music score. Each time it creeps in, it demonstrates the right illustrations to the striking visuals and harrowing moods. Cooder's handling is multi-layered and truly echoing. From a relaxing southern flavour, to a haunting stillness and a punishing sting. It's cohesively perfect in it's random shifts. Hill's bravura direction holds up tautly, as the well-used slow motion is suitably done and the highly measured suspense piercingly infused. I liked how the hunters are kept as void-like background figures, because towards the end it makes the whole paranoid feeling and unease thrillingly justified.
9 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Very impressed, 2 June 2004 Author: MagicPowers from West Palm Beach, Florida
I just saw this film for the first time recently and I keep watching it over and over before I have to return it. I wasn't expecting such a great film. I agree with the Vietnam metaphor, but it was lighter fare being set in the Louisiana Bayou. There was never a dull moment and there was just the right amount of humor between the tension. The cast was great, most of the acting was very believable. It was surely one of Powers Boothe's best performances. One reason I enjoy it so much is because there isn't a lot of high-tech special effects. The bear-traps are quite effective. Also in the very tense last 20 minutes, there's blood & guts and it's real blood & guts. I was very creeped out when Hardin looks out a window and sees hangmen nooses being strung up. I'm affected every time. He can say more with his eyes than most people can with their mouth. His brooding intensity playing off of Carradine's lightness was perfect. Fred Ward was great too. I have not one bad thing to say about this movie and it's incorrect to say it is anti-Cajun. It's message was respect the natives. Sometimes we don't do that. I lived near quite a few National Guardsmen in Oregon, and, yes, the movie was believable in relation to them.
12 out of 16 people found the following review useful: One of Hill's Finest., 18 November 2005 Author: Kieran Greene from Ireland(originally Scotland)
Southern Comfort Is an excellent drama, suspense about a rag- tag group of National Guardsman who are out in the Louisiana bayous practicing maneuvers in the swamps, which is inhabited by Cajun's, All is routine Until the guardsman display their macho side to the locals, The locals Don't take too kindly to these redneck outsider's when they Appropriate some of the local's canoes, unfortunately one of the men Stupidly makes the mistake of firing 'blanks at the Cajun's Who naturally return fire, killing their Captain, The guardsman find Themselves at odds in this strange visceral, almost Vietnam like environment with their pursuers Who are relentless in stalking The 8 men who are all ill equipped, are put to the ultimate test with Their survival skills, Southern Comfort boasts a superb ensemble cast, And an equally superb Ry Cooder score which makes good use of Cajun instruments.
8 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Nice little backwoods brutality picture. Don't expect "Deliverance", but still better than most of its ilk., 19 February 2007 Author: TimothyFarrell from Worcester, MA
I hope that if my life's ever in danger, these guys won't come to my rescue! Honestly, some have complained about the negative Cajun stereotypes in this movie, but the National Guard are depicted as the biggest bunch of incompetents imaginable. The trailers for this film compared it to "Deliverance" and "Apocalypse Now". While "Southern Comfort" is nowhere near the level of those classics, its still a nice little thriller. It goes to prove that Walter Hill is one of the most underrated filmmakers ever. With "The Driver", "The Warriors", and this to his credit, its a shame the man isn't more than just a cult figure.The film itself is pretty good. This may just be a grade-b "Deliverance" but its one of the better backwoods brutality films from the time (not to mention one of the last). The acting all around is good, especially the underrated Powers Boothe and Fred Ward. The direction by Hill is tight, taut, and quickly paced as usual. There is only one major complaint I have. First off, the screenplay by Michael Kane is better than most of his but still pretty poor. The dialog is lame, the situations largely implausible on closer inspection, and the story isn't really involving until the end. Fortunately, Hill is such a good action director that this film still remains a good way to kill two hours. Special mention must go to the fantastic score by Ry Cooder, possibly his best work. (7/10)
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