Revenant Review

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ˈrevəˌnäN,-nənt/ - noun, one who has returned from the dead.
It was a cold movie, so bring furs to bundle up in whilst you watch. I found my teeth chattering, just from the visuals. Lonely feeling, I struggled along with the characters.
First off, I am so pleased that films and series are embracing this new neo-gore. It is the face of what real violence looks like. None of that red dot old cowboy movies shootings. Nothing to glorify gun shots or broken legs, just show it the way it would look, gruesome. This is what we need to see, not the candy-ass gunfights Hollywood has been giving us for decades. In the vein of History Channel's Vikings Series, HBO's Game of Thrones comes what it really looks like when a bear mauls someone, what it is really like when a bullet exits the head, and what it really looks like when your horse gets shot. This all adds to putting you right aside Leondardo as he sets out on his task in the face of a brutal cruel world.
And, yes, like almost all movies lately, there is pipe smoking in it. Lora turned to me in the middle of the movie and said, "we haven't seen one single new movie in two years that did not have a pipe smoker somewhere in the movie," and it's true. Pipe smoking in movies, even movies set in the time of now has had a huge upsurge in pipesmokers, from hipster meets old school in Ben Stiller's "While We're Young" to the Peterson smoking constant yardsale guy in Tom Hank's "Larry Crowne." Pipes seem to be showing up in everything we watch.
Anyways, if you want realism, Jack London meets Tarantino, but better than either of them, then this should be a treat. Keep a pipe in your vest pocket ready to go, so that you can light up as you exit the theater, trying to warm up on a bone-cold 65F Alabama evening as you try to heat up on your jaunt back to the car.
Go see it, wear furs, and take a rag to wipe the blood spatters off your face.

 

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
45
Sounds pretty good. I've already heard someone make a joke that Leonardo will get stiffed and the bear will get an Oscar for his amazing portrayal of a bear. Thanks for the review; will definitely have to check this one out.

 
You won't even be thinking about the actor's names as you watch it. Leonardo doesn't talk much, but the acting is uncanny. A great actor makes himself dissolve into the background while bringing to life someone else. It has already been racking up awards and nominations, and makes The Force Awakens look like a made for TV pink Disney Channel Reunion movie. If you want something for kids that may be sensitive to reality and real life, go see the new Star Wars. If you want to make your kids tough winners that what the face of success is, then... Ha ha, anyways, yes, may it get the awards it deserves. And, if Star Wars wins anything, it will have been bought and paid for, not earned, IMO.

 

brass

Lifer
Jun 4, 2014
1,840
10
United States
Terrific move. Love the authentic feel of frontier life. Also, appreciated the balance portrayal of human nature. The Indians were just as morally flawed as the white men.
The pipes I noticed looked authentic for the times - simple cobs with reed stems.They could have been purchased straight from Old Dominion Pipe Company.

 
Sep 27, 2012
1,779
0
Upland, CA.
Thanks Cosmic, I for one cannot wait to go see this film... just from the trailer, the Indian attack scene reminds me of the opening Omaha beach scene of Saving Private Ryan.
Seems like there has been a re-surgence of western/frontier movies lately... I like it!

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
35
My review: too much speed metal influence, very creative band, don't know where to take their songs from their peaks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6hfUuh3LgA

 

hiplainsdrifter

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 8, 2012
977
14
trying to warm up on a bone-cold 65F Alabama evening
I walked out of it to a into a 10-degree dark Wyoming night- I half expected to get skewered by an arrow as I walked to my truck.
It was a really good movie. I typically don't like gorey movies, but the gore was really part of the story and was not over-done just to gross people out. It made me appreciated how under all our cultural trappings, humans are just animals trying to survive. I like how I could even identify with the antagonist in the film- and not just because he was the only pipe smoker. The landscapes were hauntingly beautiful, and really gave a feel for how vast the wild was to those trappers.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
35
I had no idea that it was also a musical band.
Any religious terminology, antisocial behavior or virulent disease is a death metal band at this point.
Currently blasting some Asphyx, maybe follow it up with Incantation, then some Carbonized...

 

iamn8

Lifer
Sep 8, 2014
4,248
16
Moody, AL
That opening sequence is one of the most brutal I've ever seen. So crazy realistic. Not that I've actually fought Indians or a bear, but that's what I imagine it'd look like. While living in Montana I did have a near deadly encounter with a moose, made even more scary by the fact I was tripping.

 

markus

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 18, 2014
770
489
Bloomfield, IN
I just saw this movie and all I can say is WOW... spectacular... worth the wait! It was a really good story and the movie was really well done, good characterizations and acting all around. The violence was definitely there, but not just mindless gore. It was well integrated into the story and it gave the movie a realistic quality. It portrayed pretty much what you could probably expect a grizzly bear attack to be like. Leonardo said in an interview that the conditions for making this movie were horrible, and it was the hardest thing he had ever done. After seeing this movie, I believe it. I am so impressed with this movie, I just went on Amazon and bought the book (link below).
Revenant book link

 

okiescout

Lifer
Jan 27, 2013
1,530
7
Sorry guys, I gotta go south on this one.

They had the right name and he was mauled by a bear. The rest is bad drugs. :crazy:
He did a good job, but I would have given DeCaprio an Oscar far sooner for his role in Blood Diamonds. At least it had a realistic script, and his South African dialect and acting was great.

 

iamn8

Lifer
Sep 8, 2014
4,248
16
Moody, AL
Wow Okie... You really let us all down by not loving this film. We expected more from you :(
Nothing brings a trip down like a bull moose. I swear to god that moose knew I was trippin and was messing with me. In all seriousness, more people are killed by moose than grizzly bears, not a fact you want to be aware of in that situation.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,211
60,637
Sounds like a solid movie. People forget that this continent was settled, early by Native Americans and later by Europeans and others, with no EMR nor 911. You lived or died, and many good strong brave people died very young anyway, no disparagement to them. The late poet James Dickey who loved hunting and the outdoors said if he could choose, he wanted to die being eaten by a bear. I'm not sure how much self-honesty that was, but Dickey was one wild customer. I say, wear your bear bells -- jingle bells that velcro to your pack. Bears don't want to engage people, so if they hear you coming, they will avoid you, the bear experts insist. Though some of the young males out foraging for territory might just eat us for lunch. Protein on two feet, bells and all.

 

okiescout

Lifer
Jan 27, 2013
1,530
7
Other than that it is spooky how far from reality they went with it. Flintlock pistols that shoot twice without reloading (better than all day six guns), filmed in a rain forest with fluffy ruffle ferns - never seen one outside of a florist shop anywhere on the upper Missouri. Guy talked about his dad in earlier days dealing with Texas Rangers. Bridger was a kid at the time(so we are looking at 1840'ish) 30 or so years prior I am not sure there were Texas Rangers in the 1820's, maybe there were. I am not up on Texas history. Never read anything about Glass having a son, let alone a Native American son that was killed in the incident. Then we have the rape and savaging of native women by the French. Not saying that could not happen, just that the French Voyeurs were noted for their getting along with Native Americans men and women:O) I could go on but you get my drift.
If memory serves, one of the main reasons, Glass even lived was because in a relatively dry environment flies blew his wounds and maggots ate out the bad tissues. The fact that the man literally crawled, shredded by a bear, 200 hundred miles to be taken care of, and searched 1500 miles to seek revenge on his enemies was what made it a legend and him a hero to his peers. Great stuff there. He actually let Bridger live because he was just a kid at the time.
I do not have a problem with a producer making a movie for entertainment, but if you bill it as about a true life event you need to do some research about the Native People, geography, and weapons, etc., you are making it about.
Someone said DeCaprio talked about how difficult it was to shoot in the conditions. Hmmmmm how about doing it on the upper Missouri where it occurred.
I would also ad that the Plains Native People were known for their beautiful accoutrements and the Ree's in particular for their handsome looks, with visibly appealing men and women. Not filthy dirty. You can find that in some tribes but not many of this area and not these. This was the Plains Horse Culture at its highest level. Sad to see that point missed if you are going to pad it up. :lol: Just sayin.

 
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