Revenge

I'd avoided this film for years, despite being a huge Costner fan, because people had described it as nearly unwatchable. On the advice of someone on the internet, I gave it a shot, and what a surprise! Although it'll never be one of my favorite films, it's certainly worthwhile, a highly engrossing (albeit graphically gory) trip through a wide and shifting range of emotions. Quinn gives his best performance since "Zorba," and Costner and Stowe are extremely good. The photography is extraordinary, and Mexican music has seldom been used so effectively. I'd recommend it to anyone with a strong stomach. The love scenes, by the way, are romantic AND sexy, a rare combination.

'Revenge' has a recently retired fighter pilot (Kevin Costner) who goes to the coastal city of Puerto Vallarta, to enjoy the hospitality of an old friend he saves once his life on a hunting trip...

The possessive longtime friend has a wonderful-but-unhappy wife... Mireya (Madeleine Stowe) is an exotic young brunette, with great magnetism, who truly blew Costner's mind... Mireya embarks on a passionate affair, that naturally drives her husband 'Tibby' (Anthony Quinn) out of his mind...

Sexual tension is an integral part of Tony Scott's character's conflict... It rises off like heat emanating from the sand when the two lovers head in a jeep toward a nearby cute cabin... Costner and Stowe are attracted to one another, and naturally, the more they fight the attraction, the more they are thrown together...

Stowe's body comes alive at that brief caress, quickening her pulse, making her breath catch in anticipation... She experiences the heat in the slow slide of Costner's fingers, a passionate demand she couldn't help but respond to...

The plot is really predictable, and there's real high tension in the first part, but multiple stabbings, shootings, and beatings in the second, as the husband enters a storm of insane fury against the lovers...

'Revenge' is certainly a realm of brutality and pain, of love gone wrong and vengeance gone mad...

Costner is Jay Cochran, a freshly retired Navy jet pilot who ventures down to Mexico for a long holiday with old friend, and ruthless kingpin, Tibby Mendez (Anthony Quinn). In no time at all, Cochran becomes enamored of Tibby's gorgeous young wife, Mireya (Madeleine Stowe). Sparks fly between the two, and a steamy love affair ensues. Tibby discovers his wife's illicit activities, and moves to exact revenge for his friend's betrayal. Cochran is beaten to within an inch of his life and left for dead on the side of the road. Mireya, physically marred, is sentenced to life in a brothel to live out her days in a heroin-induced haze. Cochran survives and mounts his own campaign of vengeance.

Now in all honesty, I don't think anyone watches this movie without shaking their head at Cochran. Until he takes up arms and swears revenge, he's your basic facepalm of a character. He knows she's taken, and he knows his old amigo has a vicious temper. She's a well-kept trophy wife surrounded by gun-toting henchmen. Tibby's not going to let this go with a slap on the hand. But it's Tibby's sheer brutality that's so shocking. The film takes a sudden and savage turn when Cochran is beaten to a bloody pulp, bones crushed, consciousness fleeting. And the payback Tibby has in store for his adulterous wife is off the charts; sold into a life of prostitution in a semi-conscious state.

But the common sense of the main characters is not what's important in the long run. This film lives and breathes through the undeniable chemistry between Costner and Stowe. They really do bring 110% to their roles. Their love scenes only add to the horror we (and they) experience when they're punished. Both find genuine (albeit short-lived) happiness only to be sentenced to their respective hells.

The Director's Cut actually excises 30 minutes from the original version, and it serves to quicken the pace and add a visceral punch to an already brutal (and morbid) love story. In a time when such revised cuts are used merely as gimmicks, this film truly benefits from Scott's revisions.

7/10

It has been nearly ten years since I last saw Revenge but I always have this fond memory of how much it had an impact on me as it was a very courageous project for Kevin Costner at that time. It started off like this Top Gun rip off then turned into this beautiful tale of love, passion and betrayal. Never have a seen a love story with so much chemistry and have an ending which Hollywood would never dream of now compared to back then.

Kevin Costner is an air pilot leaving the Navy to visit a very old friend Anthony Quinn. I can't remember why they were both such good friends to start off with, I think it was something to do with them both being in a war together or something along those lines. In the time they have been apart Quinn has married a beautiful women played by Madeline Stowe and he takes no time in getting them both acquainted. And in no time Costner and Stowe become a little to friendly and start to fall for each other but fight their best to avoid this.

What works perfectly is how Quinn knows how beautiful his wife is and how much he really knows without saying how much Costner wants her. This adds to the tension as he always makes Costner feel uncomfortable by asking him questions about how beautiful she is. It all erupts to you know what and I think most of the end is more like a western than anything. This is what turned the film around for me as they are some truly brutal scenes in this film and that's when the story really begins and the revenge from both sides of the story begin to take turn.

By the end of the film I was just surprised at how rare a film like this was back in the day when films weren't completely apart of Hollywood and followed there own path into making a decent film which is what Revenge delivers. Anthony Quinn didn't make many more films after this so this was a rare gem as his Quinn goes and this is a movie which you wouldn't expect Costner to be taking the lead.

Fantastic

This is a movie that I always enjoy watching, no matter how many times I've seen it previously. Kevin Costner stars in what is one of his better roles as the veteran pilot J. Cochran who retires from his job in the navy and goes to Mexico to visit his old friend Tiburon "Tibey" Mendez, played excellently by Anthony Quinn in what is one of his last powerful performances. Madeleine Stowe plays Mendez' much younger wife who catches Cochran's eye from the first moment. A passionate love affair ensues, but with tragic consequences.

The theme of love, forbidden love, vs friendship/loyalty is worked out here in a striking way and it makes this a powerful and highly emotional film. Here we see the effect a betrayal can have on a man like Tiburon Mendez. Once the bridge is burned, there is no way back to his grace. Despite the fact that Cochran saved his life, he shows no mercy for him. When you break that old Mexican code, nothing else matters.

This film has a great photography with some visually stunning scenes, specially sunsets and sunrises and Costner and Stowe never looked better. That, together with the even performances and the suspenseful twists makes this a very enjoyable and for most a recommendable movie.7/10