Johnny Got His Gun (Dalton Trumbo, 1971)

[Napier]

Does anyone know if a suitable DVD edition of this film exists?I have always wanted to see this after seeing the Metallica video! imdb gives it like a 7 out of 10 with about a thousand votes? Would appreciate any feedback.

[Jun-Dai]

I have no advice on getting ahold of the film, but as always, I'm willing to tell you what I think of it.

I've never really understood the appeal of the film. The book, which I found to be profound (I read it in 9th grade), relies so greatly on the experience of an individual with virtually no means of connecting to the outside world. While I detest notion that films should be faithful to their original source (either to the letter, or to the spirit), I'm at a loss as to what about his novel struck Mr. Trumbo as film material. He more or less transposes the basic ideas of the novel onto the film, but he doesn't add much, and he subtracts a great deal. While the book is a powerful antiwar novel (I mean antiwar in the truest sense of the term, which is rare), the film lightens its stance considerably. It could well be that Mr. Trumbo moderated his own views considerably over the time between writing the novel and directing the film, or it could be that he felt compelled to make the film more acceptable for financial reasons.

So the film is more of an exploration into the circumstances of a person living in a sensorial prison, and it is only mildly interesting. The novel, on the other hand, explores the notion that as a person who is essentially dead, the protagonist is best qualified to judge the real cost of war--he knows more than any what it means to lose one's life.

[swingo]

I saw it some years ago (poss. 12 years) and all I can remember is that left me so depressed... I'd love to see it again, haven't read the book though....


Axel.

[kcpuden1]

Here's one place you can get the flick. I can't tell you about the DVD, as I haven't seen nor do I own it. I did read the book, many, many moons ago, but I've never seen the movie.

[Gregory]

I loved the book but have not seen the film in its entirety. Great as it is, it's certainly not a novel that cries out to be adapted into a film. The book can be read in 1 or 2 sittings and has an impact that would be hard for all but the greatest of films to match.

Nevertheless, I'm curious about it so I read some reviews of R2 releases awhile back and decided that none were worth buying. According to the reviews, both the UK and French releases had transfers that were average to poor and were both cropped to around 1.78:1 (from 1.66:1). The only thing giving the UK release an edge (for English speakers) was the lack of forced French subs. Too bad.

[Napier]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!And as always another great post from Jun-Dai!Maybe some day I'll be MOTY!!

[Cash Flagg]

Shout! Factory will be releasing this on 4/28/09, pre-order from Amazon. From here:

It will have new features and footage that is unavailable on prior European releases.

[Antoine Doinel]

I wonder if they'll include Metallica's "One" video.

[Person]

I thought that German had a documentary on Trumbo, but not that it had an audio commentary. Terrific film. The dream sequence where Joe meets his father, played by Jason Robards is amazing. Great cinematography and Donald Sutherland appears as Christ. IMDb lists Luis Buñuel as an uncredited screenwriter and the does indeed have a Buñuelian feel to it at times. Do any of the Buñuel biographies mention this film?

[jesus the mexican boi]

Sure enough, the old man himself writes about it in My Last Sigh:

During this period (early 1960s), I was very interested in doing an adaptation of Lord of the Flies, but we couldn't get the rights. On the other hand, I read Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun, which struck me like a bolt of lightning. In the early 1960s, I was supposed to make this movie; the producer, Gustavo Alatriste was ready to put up the money, and Trumbo, then one of the most famous scriptwriters in Hollywood, worked with me on the screenplay (I talked, and he took notes). Even though he incorporated only a few of my ideas, he insisted that both our names appear in the credits. For a variety of reasons, however, the project was shelved, and it wasn't until ten years later that Trumbo made the film himself. It certainly had something, although it was a bit too long and overintellectualized.

[Gregory]

I wonder if they'll include Metallica's "One" video.

I thought this was an absolutely terrible video. They repay the film's inspiration in the least imaginative and interesting way possible, by throwing the actual film in the cuisinart, ruining its rhythm. The tiny bits of the film are interspersed with standard shots of Metallica "performing," including some blatant advertisements for the record via numerous close-ups of the drummer's torso as he wears the band's own T-shirt bearing the name of the album.
For numerous reasons, though, I'm not surprised if it's included.
The film isn't bad, but from what I remember it failed to measure up to the novel, which is outstanding.

[Antoine Doinel]

The video isn't great, to be sure, but as a young kid it kinda freaked the hell out of me when I first saw it.

[Person]

Sure enough, the old man himself writes about it in My Last Sigh:

During this period (early 1960s), I was very interested in doing an adaptation of Lord of the Flies, but we couldn't get the rights. On the other hand, I read Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun, which struck me like a bolt of lightning. In the early 1960s, I was supposed to make this movie; the producer, Gustavo Alatriste was ready to put up the money, and Trumbo, then one of the most famous scriptwriters in Hollywood, worked with me on the screenplay (I talked, and he took notes). Even though he incorporated only a few of my ideas, he insisted that both our names appear in the credits. For a variety of reasons, however, the project was shelved, and it wasn't until ten years later that Trumbo made the film himself. It certainly had something, although it was a bit too long and overintellectualized.

Thanks for locating this information, Jesus. A Bunuel film of Johnny would have been very different, less solemn and "intellectualized" as he himself says, I imagine. It's still a good film, a really odd film, even for early 70s American Cinema.

[Buttery Jeb]

Bonus features, from Home Media Magazine.com:

The DVD includes a recent documentary on Trumbo made for the German release of the film on DVD; a new interview with star Timothy Bottoms, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for his lead performance; behind-the-scenes footage; a 1940 radio adaptation starring James Cagney; the music video for Metallica’s “One”, which famously featured clips of the film; a replica of the original poster; and the original theatrical trailer, which Fields said “is more like a statement about war,” with imagery of World War I and narration by star Jason Robards.

-BJ

[Person]

Good extras - glad to see they managed to get the German DVD doc, too. A commentary by a Trumbo biographer or by Bottoms would have been the icing on the cake, but this sounds good. I also love trailers that don't use footage from the film it promotes and the trailer narrated by Robards sounds interesting. Cheers, Jeb!

[Lemmy Caution]

In the Trumbo documentary, his son who worked on the film, mentions that the image of Jesus driving the death train was conceived by Bunuel.
Nothing else specific is mentioned, making it sound as though that was the extent of Bunuel's contribution to the final script/film. Of course, Trumbo's son might not know the full details and/or might be naturally biased in favor of his father's talents. It's not surprising that the Jesus fantasy sequences would have attracted Bunuel.

[Antoine Doinel]

Watched this today and thought it was largely pretty bad. The horror of a man who has lost nearly everything is deadened by sentimental (and often pointless) flashbacks and dream sequences. For example, I'm not sure why in the middle of the film we need a detailed flashback of how Joe loses his Dad's fishing pole. Say what you will, but Metallica's video is an effective summation of the film's themes that are dragged out interminably in the actual film. Bunuel's influence on the film is definitely felt, particularly in the carnival fantasy sequence and in another dream sequence with Karine where there is a unicorn prancing around in the background.

The transfer of the film is also particularly poor with lots of specks, dirt, print damage and reel change markers present throughout the film. The color sequences are often faded and even during the opening credits there are some noticeably wobbly frames (at one moment it looks like a film coming loose from a projector reel). It looks like something that would've been released in the nascent days of DVD when studios were dumping material just to create product.

[Lemmy Caution]

The past and the sedative-inspired fantasies are all that the disfigured soldier has to fall back on. It all helps to flesh him out -- to remove his bandaged anonymity.

The fishing pole is meant to symbolize all that the father had to define him as worthy, as a man. But when that is taken away, he is able to forgive and realize that family is more important. In contrast, our soldier has his humanity taken away in such brutal fashion that he can wish for no more than death. He's not willing to even divulge his identity and trouble his family. I guess the contrast was intended to show how awful the stakes are in war and how dehumanizing the costs.

It's an odd film, and I enjoyed the contrasts between the b&w hospital scenes, the colorful fantasy sequences and the washed out flashbacks.
The flashbacks did have a sentimental quality, an air of innocence, which reminded me of William Saroyan's writings (though it's been quite some time since I read him). But loss of innocence, faith, and family -- on both a personal and national level -- are what the film is about.

I was more troubled by the rushed and didactic ending, which seemed like it came from a stilted stageplay. The head military doctor is confronted with his mistake (of years ago, and for all they know was the correct diagnosis at the time), so he exits with head down in disgrace. The priest confronts the military officer instead of comforting the soldier. It all seemed forced, overly dramatic and unnatural. As though Trumbo wanted to make sure his message was as explicit as possible.

I thought Metallica's use of JGHG clips was fine. But the song itself was pretty woeful.

[jbeall]

JGHG = Good book, bad movie.

[Mr Sausage]

Discussion from the DVD and Bluray subforum has been moved to this thread (thanks for the heads-up, Domino).

[med]

I saw this recently for the first time as well, and I didn't like it. The film worked in parts—Donald Sutherland was very funny as Jesus and I thought the closing sequence was filled with the kind of dread that almost the entire film leading up to it lacked. Timothy Bottoms' voice-over narration was mostly distracting and occasionally hokey; perhaps the narration read better on page (I have not read the novel), but hearing it out loud was at times cringe-inducing. Timothy Bottoms' reading of the v.o. lines didn't help—he's either very flat or resorting to histrionics—but I think even a seasoned actor would've had trouble making such dialogue sound convincing.