MrETrain

I had been hunting this one down for a while until I managed to get my hands on a copy. Luckily it was the original director's cut and not the edited American version. I went into this movie with extremely high expectations and I was not disappointed in the least. The performances were uniformly excellent. I was drawn in by Mario's unfailing tenacity as much as I was repulsed by his willingness to commit a reprehensible act in his drive to accomplish the mission (see the movie to see what I mean). I sympathized with Jo, who, although a whiner and coward, was the wisest of the bunch.

The cinematography is alternately beautiful and bleak, capturing the graveness of the situation wonderfully. The oil slick scene is amazing. The tension builds to almost agonizing levels, and then goes a bit further. I'm a Hitchcock fan, but I don't think Hitch ever directed anything that reaches the level of suspense of The Wages of Fear.

People have said that they thought the introduction went on too long, but I'd have to disagree. The long introduction serves to firmly establish the characters and give weight to their actions. The full 148-minute version is the one to see if you enjoy strong character development, but the 131-minute version is available for those with less patience.

And yes, there is not a happy ending. Some might say it was a letdown. I admit to feeling that way for a minute or two until I started replaying the movie in my mind (and this is a movie that stays with you, guaranteed). I came to appreciate the bleak ending, and in fact, relish it. I found it to be--and I believe that this was the director's intention-- just desserts.

To start off with, this is not a bad movie at all considering how little it cost to make ($6000? $3000? Something like that.) and was edited on a desktop computer. But, it's still pretty cheesy. The low-budget documentary format is clever, but doesn't really lend itself to being scary. The Blair Witch project is much, much better...much, MUCH scarier, and much more convincingly performed. The Last Broadcast is going to start making some dough now that it's riding on the Blair Witch's coattails, and unbelievably, some people are saying that it's better than TBWP. NO...FRIGGIN...WAY... The Last Broadcast is interesting and original, and it holds your attention well-- I'll admit that I was surprised by the ending and had to view it several times for it to sink in-- it was quite cool. Overall, though, the movie was a disappointment.

I personally enjoy very much period adventures such as this that try to recapture the fun and innocence and pulse-pounding action of the old 30's and 40's serials. "The Rocketeer" makes a better stab than most. It really is a lot of fun. I especially liked Alan Arkin, who was perfectly cast. Jennifer Connelly is gorgeous, perfectly capturing the 40's look, the time when it seemed that all women were beautiful. I did notice Melora Hardin in a small role as the singer in the South Seas Club. I've had a small crush on her since she was on the 70's Saturday morning kids' show, "Thunder, the Super Horse". I figure she tried out for Connelly's role but didn't get it. She would have been great in the lead female role though.