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Walker
R2 - United Kingdom - Fabulous Films Review written by and copyright: Matthew Crossman (8th December 2015). |
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The Film
 In 1853 William Walker (Ed Harris) stands in Mexico surround by his band of mercenary soldiers. His mission was to bring democracy to the country and rid it the people of the dictator in charge. Unfortunately for Walker and his men things have gone badly. They are surrounded by the Mexican army and are out of food, water and nearly out of ammunition. Walker tells his men that only God can save them now. As his words are barely out of his mouth a vicious sandstorm is whipped up allowing Walker and his men to make their escape back to The United States of America. Back on home soil Walker is tried for breaching the Neutrality Act but is found not guilty after giving a rousing speech on patriotism. Walker returns home to his deaf Wife Ellen (wonderfully portrayed by Marlee Matlin) who chastises Walker for leaving her so often and consequently he promises not to anymore. Walker is then summoned away to a meeting with Cornelius Vanderbilt (Peter Boyle). Vanderbilt is an enormously powerful man and has built up his empire based on shipping and is a millionaire. Vanderbilt wants Walker to go to Nicaragua and basically take over the country allowing Vanderbilt a route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Walker remembers his promise to Ellen and refuses. Upon arriving home Walker discovers that his beloved Ellen has died of Cholera whilst he was away. With nothing to hold him now he takes up Vanderbilt’s offer. Walker and his men sail to Nicaragua and their first encounter in the country is a disaster with Walker losing many men to the home forces. Still, Walker is not to be put off and stages a successful coup when he and his men manage to take the Capital. He allows the President to stay on but takes the President’s Wife as his mistress. A Walker becomes more and more unhinged he orders the President shot and installs himself as the new President. Between 1855 to 1857 Walker reigns as President but the forces of Nicaragua and it’s neighbouring countries are gathering with the view to disposing the despot that Walker had become. ‘Walker’ is an interesting film on many levels. It was filmed, for the most part, in Granada, Nicaragua lending the film much authenticity. It was filmed during the Contra War and the film starts off as a natural juxtaposition to that conflict but as the movie progresses the lines between the two conflicts, taking place 100 years apart, becomes blurred. Helping with this process are many deliberate anachronisms. They are slipped into the film subtly at first (a Zippo lighter, and the an automatic rifle) but by the time we come to the films climax the two lines have blurred completely as Walker’s men are rescued by a military helicopter and modern day soldiers. The was, and was meant to be, overtly political but this stance does not become clear until same way into the movie. Clues are dropped in to the film’s original intention but this does not become completely clear until the final few minutes. Alex Cox’s direction is assured throughout and he makes excellent use of the Nicaraguan scenery. The script by Rudy Wurlitzer is often extremely witty and it strikes me that this film is a good companion piece to ‘Apocalypse Now’, as many of the images and themes used in Walker are shared in Coppola’s masterpiece. Whilst the film does not succeed on every level I do think that ‘Walker’ is an undiscovered gem waiting to be unearthed by new viewers.
Video
The picture is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic. When I first booted up this DVD my heart sank as the menu crawled with ugly artefacts. Thankfully the feature presentation is nowhere near as bad as the menu. My only real complaints are that the image is a tad soft and the colours are faded and not as bright as perhaps they should be. However, having seen Criterion’s presentation of the film (released by that company in 2008, spine #423) I can only be disappointed by the image on this DVD. If you have never seen ‘Walker’ then this DVD from Fabulous Films will be inexpensive enough but if you are already a fan of the film then I suggest you go for the Criterion version assuming your DVD / Blu-ray player can play Region 1 discs. On this Region 2 disc there are one or two instances of damage to the film but they are fleeting. Note the film is cut by six seconds for horsefalls.
Audio
The audio menu on the disc does give the viewer two choices of how to listen to the soundtrack. It offers Emglish Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 and English Dolby Digital 5.1. It appears to me that whilst my Blu Ray player was telling me that the 5.1 encoded sound was playing my ears were telling me it was identical to the 2.0 mix. That is to say that the sub woofer and the rear speakers never come alive even once during the film. The 2.0 mix is decent enough with no real issues. The music, composed by Joe Strummer, formerly of The Clash, is excellent and the mix does not let it down. The finale when the town is burning and the music, and only the music, plays over the destruction is a tour de force of filmmaking. Subtitles are available and these are in the following languages; English, French, Italian and Spanish Castellano.
Extras
Sadly there are no extras, not even a trailer, on the disc. Again when compared to the Criterion version, which contains a commentary by Cox and Wurlitzer, an original documentary about the making of the film, reminiscences twenty years later from an extra on the film, some behind the scenes photos and a booklet, one can help but feel disappointed at what is on offer on this disc.
Overall
I definitely feel that this is a cult film that deserves a much wider audience. One of the themes Director Cox explores is how history repeats itself and this stance is just as valid today as it was in 1987 when ‘Walker’ was released. As the powers that be of the United Kingdom, and it’s allies, prepare, once again, to bomb the crap out of a middle eastern country one wonders if we are always destined, like Walker, to go striding off into battle with little forethought for the implications and the destined madness that will inevitably follow. Recommended.
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