Fuga senza scampo

A few days before Sylvester Stallone's latest movie The Expendables came out, I was at the used video store called Grand Cinema Station and stumbled upon this VHS case from Paragon Video Productions that had him on the cover and had the title of Rebel. I bought it right away but I have just now gotten through watching it. In a nutshell, Stallone plays Jerry Savage who is part of an underground terrorist group that's planning to blow up a building in Manhatten. It's interesting watching a film from this time in the late '60s-early '70s and seeing and hearing various news footage of the riots of the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968 (where and when I was just a few months old), the speeches of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., and various hit songs of the time. Also interesting is seeing someone later known as more of a conservative figure playing a left-wing radical. Not to mention his reactions when a woman in his group recounts her abortion or another lady from the country he likes argues with him about his bombing methods vs. her more peaceful tranquility living. This is not a great movie but it's certainly a fascinating document of such a turbulent time in U.S. history and of Sylvester Stallone's early contribution to that era.

An incredibly sexy handsome young Sly thrown in the political turmoil of the ending sixties, the Vietnam war protests, the anti multi national firms activism. A must see, Stallone on screen from the first to the last second of the movie embodies the disarray of an entire generation, which at some point contemplated terrorism against its own institutions public or private. Sly's performance is brilliant conveying the confusion of the times, as in the wake of 1969 America was on the verge of civil war. Beautiful soundtrack of protest songs. Classic direction by Robert Schnitzer. Look for the fully remastered version of 2006.

Sly plays a sixties radical who must choose between his love for a beautiful country girl and his loyalties to a terrorist group planning to bomb a Manhattan skyscraper. Stallone's performance is to be admired as he delivers lines such as "a bohhmb." Also you can just let the tears fly as Sly or shall I say Jerry Savage takes that final liberating run through a field of green. This could be the greatest movie ever made. Definitely misunderstood.

I recall the filming of this film in my upstate NY town of Livingston Manor in 1972. So the making date is inaccurate. The scene of them driving up to the country is on Route 17 which is now Interstate 86 at the exit near Parksville,NY. The old boarding house is actually a bed and breakfast now and they make no claims to this pretty awful film. It was definitely a period piece and fun to see how Sly started in this industry. He was a looker even then before all the excesses. Does anyone else remember this film from the Catskills of Sullivan County? The Bed and Breakfast is located on Debruce Road in Livingston Manor and is known as the Debruce Inn. It has been restored but still the structure looks like it did in the film. As I watched this film I realized how much of our area in the country is timeless and other than trees being bigger the road is unchanged. I still would like to know how many people actually paid to see this one?

REBEL" (aka "NO PLACE TO HIDE") is mostly like an independent film that when it came out had little to no interest, but as decades passed it somewhat caught the eye of a ''few'' for the casting of its upcoming star. Still I wouldn't bother with it, unless you're a fan of Sylvester Stallone and want to see everything he's done. Outside of that, there's not much to recommend. The story follows a college dropout Jerry Savage, turned homegrown terrorist involved in an underground movement wanting to take down the corporate war machine while the FBI closes in.

This clunky low-budgeter is very much a product of its era. The movement of the late 1960s shines through and the backdrop of New York City is authentically brought across. Be it through stock footage, or gritty location shooting with its documentary-like style. Being made during the Vietnam era the political tailoring is at the forefront, yet the narrative is pretty long on its build-up consisting of numerous exchanges (capitalism, propaganda, spiritualism & etc) and tactical scheming of what needs to be done for this group to get their point across. Also the FBI is in the same boat in trying to weed out these organized bombers. Editing between scenes can be ragged and the script is more talk and ideas, than anything of action. So tension, or its attempts of it stems mainly from the character interactions. In spite of one or two minor visual moments towards the end. Even so there's a lot of sitting around and trivial waxing, causing it drag at times. Strangely though, the presence of Stallone keeps you watching. It's a raw, yet affecting performance of confliction that you can see why he went onto bigger, better things.