Rating: 
Summary: Very suspensful, dramatic and alot of action...
Review: A great movie, very psycotic and suspensful. Michael Douglas shows one of his great talents for acting, as a crazed defense (or D-FENS) worker. He tours himself around the city finding his home to go to his little girls birthday, but his wife has divorced him and doesnt want him within 100 yards of her home. As we go with him to 'Lee's Party Store' and a gang with a gym bag of guns, Dective Paragonna or whatever tries to track him down, and the only information about him is that hes in his late 30's and is a man in a white shirt and tie. Wembleburgers Burgers is a pit stop, and The Army Surplus Store is a boot-trying crazed-owner place thingy. I wont want to ruin the sad, but good ending, there is one last thing i must say: "Never give a psycotic man a bazooka." This movie definitly deserves 5 stars, and is a good sit-down-and-pay-attetion movie. -Geoff George
Rating: 
Summary: The ugly reality of L.A.
Review: Here's the story of a simple man (played very well by Michael Douglas) who's life is crumbling around him. He's been layed-off for months now from the Defense Industry, a job he loved so much that he had his license plate personalized with the letters "D FENS". His marraige is over. He's been reduced to living with his mother, and is too ashamed to tell anyone that he's unemployed. He's been looking for work elsewhere but is "no longer economically viable", as you'll find out.He snaps and leaves his car sitting in a traffic jam on one of L.A.'s freeways. In the next 8hrs he goes from being a transparent man to a heavily-armed, camoflage-wearing vigilante who deals a heavy hand to anyone who gets in his way. And in the streets of L.A., it's not hard to find someone who wants to get in your way. Robert Duvall plays an L.A. Robbery Detective who just happens to be working his last day before retirement. He's chastised for having taken a desk job after a shooting incident, at the insistence of his wife (the only character in this movie I couldn't stand). And he realizes most of his fellow cops won't miss him for long when he retires. But, he's the only cop who links several violent crimes on that day to the vigilante defense worker. He further redeems himself by tracking down and stopping the vigilante. At the same time, he rescues his boys from his wife's purse and takes a stand for once in his life. You'll find yourself cheering for the vigilante as he leaves death and destruction in his wake. And at the same time, you can't help but feel sorry for him because his life is falling apart, hence the film's appropriately-named title, "Falling Down". I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. 4+ stars. If you liked this Joel Schumacher movie, I recommend one of his newest films, "Phone Booth".
Rating: 
Summary: Not Bad.
Review: 'Falling Down' is movie about a man who finally snaps because he feels his society, family, and friends have cheated him. He goes on a rampage across Los Angeles only to find that it doesn't solve anything. A fascinating idea, but it wasn't executed that well. Might be worth watching though.
Rating:
Summary: RIGHT IDEA, WRONG EXECUTION
Review: As we journey with Michael Douglas in this excellent film, cant' we all identify with his frustration and anger? 85 cents for a can of soda? A store that won't give you change unless you buy something? Panhandlers looking for food, money and making you feel you owe it to them? People who think gays, blacks and other minorities are worthless? A fast food place that won't serve you breakfast even when they have tons of left overs they'll have to throw out? Wealthy old farts who think they own the golf course they pay membership in?
Yes, indeed, one can see why Douglas is so mad...it's just that his way of dealing with it is not one that we all should take.
Joel Schumacher's direction is right on, I think; people tend to like to pan Schumacher, when he has actually given us some vastly entertaining films. He knows what the audience wants and he knows that in FALLING DOWN, there can be no happy endings, so let's just enjoy Douglas getting revenge on people we'll never get a chance to!
Douglas is superb in the role, one of his best performances. Robert Duvall is very good in his role of the almost retired cop; Tuesday Weld is dazzling in her brief role as Duvall's wife; Rachel Ticotin does well in her role as Duvall's partner; John Diehl is very effective in his very brief role as the guy at the pool who offers to go with Douglas in order to protect his wife and child; and Barbara Hershey does wonders as Douglas' ex-wife.
Manipulative thought it may be, FALLING DOWN makes a statement, and makes one wonder what we would do if we snapped like Douglas!!!
Rating:
Summary: "I'm the Bad Guy!?"
Review: Arguably Michael Douglas's best acting performance in this gritty, urban "everyman's" tale of reaching the breaking point...and then some. Compelling direction told in near "real time," with one of the best, most diverse and talented supporting casts ever assembled.
The big disappointment with this DVD is the non existence of any special features! That is the only reason I didn't give it a 5 Star Review. Douglas, Hershey, Duvall...Writer, Director, Casting Director...all would have been compelling commentators!
Rating:
Summary: A great social criticism and a great flick.
Review: Sure, Joel Schumacher is billed for his well-established reputation for sensationalism. However, this movie, if anything, comes across as unusually subtle. For anyone who's watched it, I will need to carefully qualify this term. I call it subtle because it is NOT the rampage some reviewers have called it; the "bloody swath" Bill Foster (Michael Douglas) cuts across L.A. is not so much a bloody swath as a directed and thematically-appropriate, if a bit incongruous, set of discrete encounters with various "problem areas" in society. The movie is NOT gorey. Stereotypes do abound, but they are poignant and intentional. A viewer less prone to contemplation may perhaps view this as a man standing up for "right" and "good" in America, and as such, the movie manifests some undesirable, unjustifiable stereotypes. However, upon further reflection, a clear implication on behalf of the screenwriter is that in many cases, the problem is as much with Bill Foster as it is with the person he encounters. All sorts of fundamental social problems America faces are torn wide open here; all of the violence and all of the stereotypes presented are all there to serve a purpose.
That having been said, understand that this movie isn't completely plausible. It is not meant to be. You wonder if Bill Foster is going absolutely insane, or if he's the only sane person he encounters. There are moments when he appears to manifest an outrageous sanity that flies in the face of established social norms. The kinds of issues confronted throughout the movie couldn't be treated so cleverly in a movie any more "reality-based" or any more sensationalistic.
Lastly, the lead acting - Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall - is phenomenal, virtually legendary. The supporting cast is less remarkable. Luckily, we spend about 90% of our time with these two lead actors. They act with sincerity and conviction, and, in reality, make the movie GOOD. With any lesser of a performance in these two lead roles (Bill Foster / Officer Prendergast), the movie may have been flat. It is instead an engaging, meaning-laden powerhouse.
I must encourage everyone to watch this movie, to FACE it, to pay attention, to acknowledge it, and where something seems flagrant, unnecessary, or out of place, read deeper!
Rating:
Summary: Too bad to be... true?
Review: If you are a follower, who would rather not think for yourself but instead follow others just to ensure you fit into society, you may subconsciously reject this movie.
Because you don't want to believe it.
Unfortunately, for the few of us who not only live reality, but also fully experience the things this movie portrays, understand it, and wish it was completely different...
This movie will hit you where it counts.
All I can say is, they knew EXACTLY what they were doing when they made this film. They knew exactly what, exactly how, and exactly why.
That's all that matters. Watch it.
Rating:
Summary: SNAP
Review: Great performance from Michael Douglas in this film. For some reason, this movie has been forgotten. If you have not seen it yet, you are in for a treat. An urban tale of a man pushed beyond the limit, with disasterous consequences. Great film.
Rating:
Summary: It Happens
Review: "Falling Down" shows you what happens when someone loses all he fought for all his life and people still keep being hostile toward him until he literally fires back.
The DVD could have more features to it but it's a good watch over and over again.
Hey, someone edit out the very beginning of the scene where Bill Foster fires that bazooka and we see the cameraman's tennis shoe for 1/8th of a second.
Rating:
Summary: Not Bad.
Review: 'Falling Down' is movie about a man who finally snaps because he feels his society, family, and friends have cheated him. He goes on a rampage across Los Angeles only to find that it doesn't solve anything. A fascinating idea, but it wasn't executed that well. Might be worth watching though.
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