criterionforum.org

Walker



A hallucinatory biopic that breaks all cinematic conventions, Walker, from British director Alex Cox, tells the story of nineteenth-century American adventurer William Walker (Ed Harris), who abandoned a series of careers in law, politics, journalism, and medicine to become a soldier of fortune and, for many months, the dictator of Nicaragua. Made with mad abandon and political acuity—and the support of the Sandinista army and government during the contra war—the film uses this true tale as a satirical attack on American ultrapatriotism and a freewheeling condemnation of "manifest destiny." Featuring a powerful score by Joe Strummer and a performance of intense, repressed rage by Harris, Walker remains one of Cox's most daring works.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• Restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Alex Cox, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Audio commentary by Cox and screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer
• Dispatches from Nicaragua, a documentary about the filming of Walker
• On Moviemaking and the Revolution, reminiscences about the production twenty years later from an extra on the film
• Walker 2008 and On the Origins of "Walker" (2016), two short films by Cox (Blu-ray only)
• Behind-the-scenes photos
• Trailer (Blu-ray only)
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: Essays by film critic Graham Fuller, Wurlitzer, and Linda Sandoval

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

Feature currently disabled

bruce holecheck wrote:An article interviewing yet another Criterion cover designer, confirming the release of Alex Cox's WALKER.

And this one is out of left field. For me anyways.

I hope we get repo man soon.

blindside8zao wrote:I hope we get repo man soon.

The R1 Universal Collector's Edition is more than fine: it would be an utter waste for Criterion to release it (Paris, Texas being another pointless-for-them-to-release title that comes to mind).

Trailer

So Universal must have thought that this would sell best as an 1800s imperialist Scarface, given the music used.

EDIT- I didn't have to log in to see it when I watched it...I don't know what gives with the link. My apologies. Try this site.Still not at all ideal (commercial preamble, choppy) but I couldn't find it anywhere else I looked.

Not to sound naive, but what is it about being gay and politically radical that brings out the genius? I'm thinking of Cox and Jarman here.

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:Not to sound naive, but what is it about being gay and politically radical that brings out the genius? I'm thinking of Cox and Jarman here.

err, Cox's creative and life partner Tod Davies is a woman.

beamish13 wrote:

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:Not to sound naive, but what is it about being gay and politically radical that brings out the genius? I'm thinking of Cox and Jarman here.

err, Cox's creative and life partner Tod Davies is a woman.

Great first post! Welcome beamish13!

Well, I was told he was gay. The question still stands, though, but now in regard to Jarman I guess.

Sundance ran Walker last night and I watched it. I don't really know what to think of it right now and I'm going to have to watch it again. Ed Harris is great as always, but Peter Boyle is really out of place in his part. But what I really hated is that it seems like Cox wants this to be both a bio pic about William Walker's time in Nicaragua and a political satire about what was going on in the 80's. Whats bad is that he can't make up his mind which way the film wants to go.

My feelings on the film are pretty similar, Cox never quite decides what he's trying to do with the film (something that's plagued pretty much everything he's done since). However, I'd like to throw in a mention for Joe Strummer's wonderful score - too bad he's not around to comment on it for the DVD, I think it was one of the (relatively few) high points of his post-Clash career.

specs up in first post

Looks a little thin, features-wise, but I'll likely bite (as the supplements look to be of quality over quantity and the movie looks intriguing, though perhaps only in a slightly campy way, which is okay by me).

Can any Cox-boosters support the direction his career has gone in since Repo Man and Sid and Nancy? I don't necessarily support the viewpoint that it was all downhill from there (as I have limited exposure with his other films), but given the degree to which he's fallen off the general radar, I'm curious as to what those more well-versed in his work think.

I don't recall being too impressed by this film when it came out, but I daresay the making of story is pretty interesting, so I'm cautiously looking forward to this.

zedz wrote:I don't recall being too impressed by this film when it came out, but I daresay the making of story is pretty interesting, so I'm cautiously looking forward to this.

Do you recall what in particular was lacking in the film in your opinion? It certainly looks like a love it or hate it affair, but I'd be interested to know your thoughts, zedz.

The making-of does sound interesting, and I hope that the doc is pretty in-depth, as hearing about the movie's making has me about as excited as, if not more so than, the film itself.

Cronenfly wrote:Do you recall what in particular was lacking in the film in your opinion?

It seemed to be more a collection of interesting ideas (the allegorical edge of a historical story, revisionist western tics, pointed anachronisms) than a coherent whole, but the same could be said for Repo Man, I suppose. Although the film was bristling with potential, it just seemed to lie there on the screen. I remember Harris being good, but the film itself somewhat enervated.

This is based on a single viewing about twenty years ago, however, so you shouldn't put too much stock in this!

zedz wrote:

Cronenfly wrote:Do you recall what in particular was lacking in the film in your opinion?

It seemed to be more a collection of interesting ideas (the allegorical edge of a historical story, revisionist western tics, pointed anachronisms) than a coherent whole, but the same could be said for Repo Man, I suppose. Although the film was bristling with potential, it just seemed to lie there on the screen. I remember Harris being good, but the film itself somewhat enervated.

This is based on a single viewing about twenty years ago, however, so you shouldn't put too much stock in this!

Thanks, zedz: even with your viewing having been so far in the past, you hit on a lot of the preliminary impressions I have of the film (given all I've read, the trailer, etc). I'll still give it shot, and it sounds like a film that one's better to go into with low expectations of anyways.

Cronenfly wrote:The R1 Universal Collector's Edition is more than fine: it would be an utter waste for Criterion to release it (Paris, Texas being another pointless-for-them-to-release title that comes to mind).

I may be wrong, but I remember Paris, Texas having gone out of print.

Cronenfly wrote:Can any Cox-boosters support the direction his career has gone in since Repo Man and Sid and Nancy? I don't necessarily support the viewpoint that it was all downhill from there (as I have limited exposure with his other films), but given the degree to which he's fallen off the general radar, I'm curious as to what those more well-versed in his work think.

Highway Patrolman is one of his very best films - think the Mexican scenes from Traffic but even better with the title character moving from naive young trainee to corrupt cop and plagued with nightmares and hallucinations. I have not seen Walker at all so this release is a must buy, especially with the addition of the commentary and making of documentary.

neal wrote:

Cronenfly wrote:The R1 Universal Collector's Edition is more than fine: it would be an utter waste for Criterion to release it (Paris, Texas being another pointless-for-them-to-release title that comes to mind).

I may be wrong, but I remember Paris, Texas having gone out of print.

True, but there are plenty of copies around, I believe, and a CC would be utterly superfluous in every way given the excellence of the Fox disc (not to mention the significant price hike over the old edition CC would entail). If you want it, I'd recommend getting the Fox disc now, cause even if a CC comes along, it'll only be worth it for the absolute hugest of fans (if even them).

Trailer for Walker

domino harvey wrote:Trailer for Walker

woah, that's really 80's.

I'm not sure there's been a Criterion release as widely panned as this one.

GringoTex wrote:I'm not sure there's been a Criterion release as widely panned as this one.

Jubilee or the Night Porter maybe?

GringoTex wrote:I'm not sure there's been a Criterion release as widely panned as this one.

I was going to say Armageddon, but then I read our thread for that and it was full of love and sunshine.

There's always KOKO (wasn't that interlaced to boot?)