This one's a very good film, I'm happy I found it.
I'm wondering if Kotcheff's made anything else worth watching. Considering how much of a vomit Law and Order is he may have not, or did he?
my vote history:
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur13767631/ratings
Fun with Dick and Jane (the original) is a fun little movie, while The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, North Dallas Forty and Split Image are all actually quite good films. After that he's mostly seemed to have lost his way, tho...
Matthew
How do those four titles you named compare to WIF, are they much worse?
my vote history:
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur13767631/ratings
All four are good films (tho Fun with Dick and Jane is slight), so "much worse" may be too harsh a way to put it, but Wake in Fright is better than any of them. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and especially Split Image are the best of the four. Split Image is definitely the darkest and thus the only one that really at all seems of a piece with Wake in Fright. If you see only one of them, make it Split Image; next choice would be The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, then North Dallas Forty, then Fun with Dick and Jane.
Matthew
I'll try to find Split Image, not sure it's easy.
my vote history:
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur13767631/ratings
Yeah, I don't think it is easy to find. Good luck!
Matthew
You left out First Blood. I know Rambo is frowned upon by the majority of film buffs on imdb, but it's actually a pretty good movie in its own right. Far stronger than a mainstream action vehicle for Sylvester Stallone had any right to be.
...plus I loved it as a kid. Any film with such powerful nostalgic value gets at least an extra point from me.
Anyway, I've only seen these two, but wouldn't mind checking out Split Image.
I left it out on purpose. It's been a looong time since I've seen it, but, from what I can remember, I can't say it's anything more than a competently-made dumb film. Fine if you want to just watch a fun dumb movie, but I'm not necessrily going to include it on a list of works that's supposed to make a case for a director's 'worth' or talent.
Matthew
Well, if nothing else, it makes a case for his versatility.
And I haven't seen it in a long time either, but I don't remember it being all that dumb (definitely not as dumb as its sequels). Maybe a bit silly, but I seem to remember it had a certain emotional core and a desperation that many films of its kind tend to lack. Besides, outright dumb films usually ain't much fun. This one was.
Whatever, I don't mean to overpraise it. It's certainly no masterpiece. I just found it interesting that Kotcheff was responsible for two such wildly contrasting works.
I found First Blood much better than I expected - it´s sort of a dumb movie, of course, but rather well made. And things only got truly preposterous somewhere halfway through, when people started talking nonsense like "I´m worried about the 200 soldiers you´re sending to certain death in the hands of Sly!" etc. The finale´s pretty ferocious action cinema, however. Never seen any of the sequels - they´re allegedly pretty idiotic.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
de, frank,
"Well, if nothing else, it makes a case for his versatility."
That's a good point, true!
It may be better than I'm remembering it to be. Yep, it's been a long time. But, I do doubt that anyone who thinks Wake in Fright is a terrific film will think it anywhere in the same league. Maybe I'll see it again some day, give it a shot.
I haven't seen more than snippets of the sequels. Life is a little to short for that.
Matthew
IMO Wake in Fright was the pinnacle in terms of critical success, of his career.
Nothing else he's done has really stood out.
I didn't mind First Blood either, but it doesn't compare to the originality and daring evident in WIF.
I think he helmed one of the Dirty Harry sequels along the way as well.
In much of his other work he strikes me as a by - the - numbers director...but not with this one.
This stands apart.
North Dallas Forty is an excellent film. Moreover, I think First Blood is pretty underrated.
I've been chasing grace/ But grace ain't easy to find
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