The Revenant

Finally saw this movie (yes 4 years late) and I understand why Leonardo won the Oscar, along with the many academy awards the movie and director won. It is a cinematic masterpiece. The cinematography is amazing, the whole cast (Tom Hardy is great here) is great. The costumes and weapons used (early 1800s) look so damn good. The story is very simple and not complicated. It is about revenge and surviving in the cold and icy wilderness of 1823. The action scenes are brutal and gritty, like they should be for that time period. Officially in my top 10 movies of all time. If you've never seen this film, do yourself a favor and rent it or buy it. It definitely deserves to be in your collection. Some people might not like all the spiritual stuff or reading subtitles (lots of Native American language here) but it is needed since there a lot of interaction with Native American tribes here. FINAL REVIEW 10/10

Since the first trailers of this movie came out I knew it would be an experience. Following the incredible Birdman, director Alejandro G. Iñárritu had the public anxiously awaiting his interpretation of this bleak survival story, and much like Birdman, Iñárritu is also the star of this film. The Revenant has some of the most beautiful cinematography I've ever seen. It's cold, visceral, and almost entirely authentic from the use of natural lighting to the barebones yet powerful storytelling. You can tell Iñárritu poured his heart into this project and it pays off tremendously. This is not to discount the incredible performances of DiCaprio and Hardy (DiCaprio finally getting his well-overdue Oscar), but it's hard to imagine the movie being so impactful had another director been at the helm.

The story is as simple as it gets. In the 1800s, a group of settlers escape an ambush by an indigenous tribe, and during their travels one man gets separated from the group and gets brutally attacked by a wild bear and subsequently left for dead by his team. It's a revenge story more than anything. What it also highlights is human perseverance and the will to live. The things that happen to this man are truly horrific and difficult to watch. I'm not sure what parts of the story were embellished or Hollywoodized, but this film sucks you into this world and puts you right alongside this fatally wounded man desperate to survive. Leonardo DiCaprio gives a heart-wrenching performance as Hugh Glass, expressing a wide range of emotions despite the limited dialogue. Tom Hardy is also phenomenal as one of the most vile, wretched human beings on the planet. This guy is despicable to the core, and you forget you're watching Tom Hardy at times because he's completely absorbed in the role. The supporting cast is great as well despite their small time on screen. As far as performances and cinematography goes, The Revenant is flawless.

What prevents this from getting a perfect 10 is one particular storyline that I didn't think was needed, and it involves the wife of Hugh Glass. She's never developed as a character but she appears intermittently in visions and dreams and it almost sucks you out of the movie for a second because of how intense the main narrative is. But this is a very small gripe. From beginning to end this movie had me on the edge of my seat, my jaw on the floor and my eyes glued to the screen. The Revenant is definitely not for everyone, but it's impossible not to appreciate it for the breathtaking cinematic achievement that it is.

Minimal Speaking. Visuals tell the story. Hardy is just as good as DiCaprio in this.

The natural landscape and some of the scenes are overwhelming and spectacular! The camera-work is so immersive, you believe are a part of Hugh Glass' journey through the wilderness and back to civilization. Also with great performances not only by DiCaprio, but also Hardy, as the unsympathetic fellow fur trapper leaving Glass behind.

Story-wise, it is a bit thin for a 156 min picture. Glass' quest for vengeance is sometimes lost as he utters few words about his drive and is being more or less, chased himself. The story arc of the Indians quest for their daughter felt a bit out of place and strange. We also get to see the fur trappers p.o.v. that left Glass behind and the Captain way ahead of them. Which in my opinion takes a little bit of the magic of Glass' total perilous journey.

All my stars goes to the beauty, production value and performances alone! Regardless, this is one of those overlong movies one like, but would not sit out for another viewing!

A favorite era of mine for film stories has always been the mountain man era in the American west. No white people in great numbers, just single shot weapons, they were the ones outnumbered so survival against the Indians was far more an even struggle than in the post Civil War west. The Revenant by dint of its many nominations has laid claim to being the greatest film about that era ever made. It goes up against such items as Across The Wide Missouri, The Big Sky, and Mountain Men, Jeremiah Johnson all pretty good films.

It would have been hard to deny Leonardo DiCaprio a Best Actor Oscar this time around. He's on screen for most of the time and with minimal dialog DiCaprio has to use facial expressions and body language to convey his emotions. He does it well and should share his Oscar with the cameraman who did all those closeups of him.

The plot is best compared to another mountain man picture A Man Called Horse that starred Richard Harris. DiCaprio who was guide to the expedition of fur trappers is badly mauled by a grizzly bear and is after being toted for quite a distance is abandoned by Tom Hardy who claims he died. DiCaprio just wants to settle the score. Unlike Richard Harris he does not find a friendly tribe of Indians to take him in. His survival is his personal story.

The Revenant also won the Cinematography Oscar for the shooting of the rugged winter country these men are in. It's so good the landscape, cold and forbidding, becomes almost a character in the film.

Like The Old Man And The Sea was for Spencer Tracy The Revenant is a personal film for Leonardo DiCaprio. Unlike Tracy who had that magnificent speaking voice for the narration, no narration here. Just anguished expressions convey what DiCaprio is feeling.

Leo got his Oscar and it was a deserved one for The Revenant. It's a great film, but very brutal at times.