Backtrack

Rating:
Summary: BUYERS BEWARE
Review: READ ALL REVIEWS BEFORE YOU BUY. If I had taken the time to read the warning about the cut DVD version, I never would have bought this DVD. Too late schmart. It's a hatchet job. Very sad and SO maddening that an intriguing film in which one could luxuriate has been turned into a goofy trivialization. And I can't return it because I've opened it.

Rating:
Summary: a thrilling old-fashioned adventure
Review: the running time on the VHS version that i've got says 102 minutes, approximate. it's on Vestron and on the back of the cover is two rows of three pictures: John Turturro, Jodie Foster, Dean Stockwell, Fred Ward, Dennis Hopper, and Vincent Price. Charlie Sheen makes an appearance as does Joe Pesci in a major role, yet he's not credited...but this movie is a good one. frankly, i could care less about the technical stuff behind the scenes about which version is which and all that...the VHS i have is just perfect and that's fine with me. the story is about a woman {Foster} who sees a mob hit and the Mafia {Avoca, played by legend Vincent Price} sends a hit-man {Hopper} out to kill Foster's character {Anne Benton}. hit-man Milo falls for Benton instead and soon the police get involved {Fred Ward is hilarious even though he's not suppose to be!}. Milo and Anne find themselves running from the police AND the mafia {Dean Stockwell appears as Avoca's mouthpiece throughout the whole film since Vincent only has three very brief scenes}. yes, Bob Dylan appears in the movie too! the film was made in 1989, according to some Vincent Price items i've read over the years. THEN, the film was re-released in 1991 on Showtime as "Catchfire"...then in 1992 it was called "Backtrack" again for the VHS i'm reviewing!

Rating:
Summary: Shorter and less sexy than the VHS
Review: The Widescreen simply cuts off the the top and bottom of the full screen VHS. Left out some of the Jodie Foster Shower scene and cut some the touchy feely between Hopper and Foster.

Rating:
Summary: Not as bad as everyone says!
Review: This film has gotten much bad press. For example an offish interviewer in US magazine in 1994 asked Jodie "can you tell us how Backtrack" (the 1990 bomb) happened" as if the film were some sort of dark secret Ms. Foster should be ashamed of. Nonsense. This was a good film with a great cast and an interesting plot. A hard-boiled hitman (Hopper) is sent to track down and kill a reluctant mob witness (Foster) after finding her he falls in love and can't kill her but can't really love her either. The films greatest line Hopper: "I gave up my career for you". The cinematography and lush location filming make it a treat to watch. Jodie has never looked better, especially in a wonderful scene where she rescues a lamb, a noisy lamb, and cradles it in her arms against an Arizona sunrise, beautiful. There are two things however that make this film not so good. One is a contrived, TV cop show, style ending, the other is the criminally stupid scene in which Hopper points a gun at Jodie and forces her to strip and come to bed with him. It is the most agonizing scene ever filmed. Ever. Hopper should have talked to any of Ms. Fosters fans who would have told him that she simply does not take her clothes off on film. Ever. He should have known that. Nonetheless, the scenes of her LED box art projects, which sell for $20,000 and up, have messages like "Murder has it's sexual side" are fascinating. The film is worth owning and watching, it is well crafted if misguided. Sadly I have never heard of Dennis Hopper ever directing a big budget film ever again. It's a shame.

Rating:
Summary: Odd, but intriguing
Review: This film starts off a bit slowly and wastes undue time on characters not terribly important to the overall story. Once you get to the things between Foster and Hopper's characters then this gets interesting. To see how obsession and a covert admiration gets turned into a romantic [one-sided] affair for Hopper's 'Milo' reminds me a little of 'The Professional' with Jean Reno and Natalie Portman. Seeing how a very mature man who essentially operates alone deals with, then adores the new woman in his life and will do anything to protect her is a lure to watch in itself.

This movie is not fully in league with 'The Professional' but, flaws aside, it has its own charms. Kudos as well for filming part of it in New Mexico instead of some other big-name places. The budget might not have allowed extravagance but it might have ruined this particular film. Anyone who has been to New Mexico will likely know how I feel.
Ultimately, you can spend your money on a far worse film than this one.

Rating:
Summary: unorthodox not just a shootem up
Review: This is a fun and unusual film. The hitman is an intellegent professional and the development of his relationship with the target is really well done.

Rating:
Summary: A Weird but Good Movie!
Review: We rented this video of the movie Backtrack starring Dennis Hopper (who also directed) and Jodie Foster. It was a very strange movie and I don't always like movies that are strange but I liked this movie a lot and highly recommend it! Jodie Foster plays a woman named Anne who is a conceptual artist who saw a mob hit and becomes the target of a hit man named Milo played by Dennis Hopper, Milo has been hired to kill her and he stalks Anne and kidnaps her but winds up falling in love with her. It is a very interesting movie but it isn't for everyones taste but I think if you give it a chance you might like it and personally this is one of my favorite Jodie Foster movies!I am disappointed to hear that the DVD is crummy, I hope they make a better wide-screen DVD that is not edited.btw: If you are a fan of Bob Dylan you might be interested to know that he has a small roll in this movie, he plays an artist friend of Jodie Foster's character.

Rating:
Summary: It's Strange But It's Very Good!
Review: We rented this video of the movie Backtrack starring Dennis Hopper who also directed and Jodie Foster. It was a very strange movie and I don't always like movies that are strange but I liked this movie a lot and highly recommend it! Jodie Foster plays a woman named Anne who is a conceptual artist who saw a mob hit and becomes the target of a hit man named Milo played by Dennis Hopper, Milo has been hired to kill her and he stalks Anne and kidnaps her but winds up falling in love with her. It is a very interesting movie but it isn't for everyones taste but I think if you give it a chance you might like it and I think the critics are too hard on this movie!

I am disappointed to hear that the DVD is crummy, I hope they make a better wide-screen DVD that is not edited and has real wide-screen and not fake wide-screen.

If you are a fan of Bob Dylan you might be interested to know that he has a small roll in this movie, he plays an artist friend of Jodie Foster's character.