Great, haunting, underrated movie. Amazingly, the story is based on a real man, Hugh Glass. Even more amazing is that the movie actually understates how Glass survives, I'm not sure that I could stomach it! Google him, you'll understand what I mean...
shareIt used the very basic outline of the Glass story but it is based on what happened to Hugh Glass.
shareYou guys are right, and yet somehow, the morally bankrupt Bridger remains comparatively well known. The Hugh Glass story would not have to be embellished at all to be a great movie.
shareI read the story of Hugh Glass many years ago as a teenager and it stayed with me. I lost the book as I lent it to someone and never got it back. It was a harrowing but absorbing story. The film does it a certain amount of justice but could never be as graphic as the book, especially at that time.
shareBridger wasn't (historically) bankrupt - morally - he was a kid. Completely overwhelmed by events.
shareGood movie that could have been much better by excising the ridiculous flashbacks and focusing solely on Bass' ordeal to survive.
Hugh Glass' story is that he narrowly survived his encounter with the bear, only to rejuvenate himself and vengefully trek down those who abandoned him. Still, this works much better as a wilderness survival tale, not as a journey to exact retribution. I wish they had made Huston more of a subplot rather than sharing it with Harris.
"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino
I would have gladly swapped at least some of the flashbacks for more of the real story. But it wouldn't have played to the eras' tastes. If I recall, this was a made for TV movie. I can remember, as a teenager that pleasant raw meat scene...I actually liked Huston's character, but he really needed to fleshed out a bit...Loved the score and photography!
shareI've tinkered with a version of this for years - it is rather tough to stick just to Glass and the bear. The ludicrous Huston character was one way to make it into a .normal. Hollywood story - disregarding that Ashley in real life was an honorable man (in fact, most of them were).
shareThere are other versions? Or do mean that as a mental exercise? I've wondered if the Huston character inspired "Fitzcarraldo"?
My bad - Huston WAS Henry in that first mess - not sure what u mean by Fitzcarraldo --- Fitzgerald - Fitz - was an original real person in the event. Will send.
shareThe Werner Herzog movie about a man obsessed with moving a ship opera house up through mountains, etc. Apparently Herzog go so crazy making the movie that he held up actors and other film making employees at gunpoint, the movie was THAT grueling. If you haven't read about or seen the movie, check out Ebert's review, in the "Great Movies" section. I've wanted to see the movie for thirty years, even have the movie, but I want my wife to watch it with me. At this point I may as well watch the damn thing myself ;)
Fitzcarraldo is also based on a true story.
"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae
I saw that this movie is playing this evening at Tarantino's New Beverly Theater, and when I read the synopsis, I knew IMMEDIATELY that it sounded familiar. And it is indeed based on a true story, the story of Hugh Glass.
And they are - rather HAVE - made another film of it, THE REVENANT which is directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy--th movie Leo is FINALLY going to win an Oscar for!
I haven't seen The Revenant but want to. I know the new film with DiCaprio will make a splash as it will be able to film things you could never have done in Man In The Wilderness in 1971 but I will be comparing Revenant to this film. By the way Man in the Wilderness was not a made for TV movie. I saw it in the theater.
shareAgreed 1000%.
shareThis film deserves more praise.
share Without even watching the movie yet. GTFO.
http://jmoneyyourhoney.filmaf.com/owned
GTFOutta Cleveland lardass! "Lebron"
shareI will watch it soon and I'm probably going to have to watch it on the freaking Internet. I'm just saying from what I've seen in the trailer and the few movie clips that I can find that it seems very interesting and criminally underrated. Especially compared to other films in the western genre and films from the 70s. Geez!🙄
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