Rating: 
Summary: Patriot or Useful Idiot?
Review: Sam Peckinpah ("The Getaway") delivers his usual blend of action and paranoia in this 1983 sleeper, which stars the underrated Rutger Hauer as a investigative TV reporter out of the Mike Wallace mold, and John Hurt as the CIA operative. Burt Lancaster as the national security chief reprises his role as an overzealous cold warrior type (like he played in "Seven Days in May"). The plot takes off when Lancaster, the frequent target of Hauer's hit pieces for his civil liberties violations, turns Hauer over to Hurt, who reveals that Hauer's business partners (Craig Nelson, cast against his "Coach" type as a ruthless businessman, and the ever-edgy Dennis Hopper) are traitorous subversives selling government secrets to the communists.Soon the plot takes several twists and turns and everyone is mice trapped in a maze with the cat having just been dropped in. "The Osterman Weekend" starts off as a traditional espionage thriller as a red herring just to fool you, but becomes a paranoid psychological manhunt which will leave you wondering who is the good guy and who is the bad guy (which I won't give away here). The acting is top notch, especially Hauer; It is such a shame seeing an actor with such a fine sense of timing and the ability to impart dialogue with intelligence, wit and subtle power, being trapped in made-for-cable and miniseries supporting roles. "The Osterman Weekend" shows off the full power of his dramatic acumen , and is up there with his performances in "Fatherland," "The Hitcher" and "Inside the Third Reich." Lancaster and Hurt are chilling as the tough-guy spook and the manipulative psychological warfare agent, respectively. I still say that *no one* can deliver an impassioned speech better than Lancaster, and he's in top form here. So, treat yourself to a great psychological thriller that's almost as great as "The Manchurian Candidate," with the devastating action and shoot-em-up pyrotechnics you expect from Sam Peckinpah. "The Osterman Weekend" is his worthy validictory entry.
Rating:
Summary: A minor film of a giant film maker!
Review: To talk about Sam Peckinpah is to name one of the most complete and wise North American directors in any age . He is in the elite of the Giants film makers . It is easy for the cultivated and passionate movie fan to distinguish his style ; that special seal he printed his works . the violence aesthetical had in him one of its most highest exponents .
Being this work the last Opus of S.P., and having besides a top cast : John Hurt , Burt Lancaster , Denis Hooper, Rutger Hauger it results more than unexpected the final product .
The film is interesting . Who can deny ? But you leave the film with a bitter taste . There is lot of action , and a credible story but something missed along the film .
It would seem the editing process , the excess of illumination in the night chase sequences ; the obsessive use of the first plane and the abuse of the close up ; the nervous camera and perhaps the fragile nature of the material based on Robert Hudlum made of this thriller just a visible film , indeed but without those ravishing pretensions of his previous films such Stray dogs , Ride the high country , The Wild Bunch , The ballad of Cable Hogue, Cross of iron and the Getaway .
Perhaps the hidden reason remains in a painful reflection . Just a few amount of directors have been able to overcome the pass of the time and its sequels and say farewell with his last opus and sublime work .
The time: that barefoot army demons hidden behind the door of our days .
Rating: 
Summary: (none)
Review: Why is it that the best movies are always on Spanish channels ("Telemundo!") on Sunday nights after 4 AM in the morning? I could never remember the title. Osterman? Hey how bout some Osterware. Lots of good gunfighting at night..too bad theres no ninjas. I bet this was a really good book and the director tried really hard to reproduce that feeling of international intrigue.
No one sees 4 AM these days. We have midnight matinees...but thats as far as we go. Not many people know that at 4 AM the world is remade over by spider webs.
Still-- if I wanted to watch movies at 4 AM this would be one of them. It keeps your attention. And by the time its over youll be so confused by it youll have something to think about, while you lay in bed, eyes closed, breathing deep (in through the nose out through the mouth), stressing and releasing muscles, getting ready for what is already tomorrow.
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