Rating: 
Summary: CHARGED HUMAN DRAMA ABOUT THE "NOBILITY OF HUMAN SUFFERING"
Review: What a moving drama full of engaging characters -- sordid, but engaging! While some of the politics may be handled ham-handedly, Woods manages to introduce moments of comedy, a very human comedy, in a story that is wrought with despair. He plays a journalist whose days of glory have long begun to wane, and with his wife having left him, he is now at the end of his tether for that one good project to get him out of his corner. An article about the sordid goings-on in El Salvadore could very well be that project, so he heads out for there. He is not alone though in his journey. Belushi provides much of the movie's comic relief and is a riot as the kvetching drug-and-booze soaked friend Dr. Rock, who unwittingly comes along for Woods' ride from San Francisco to El Salvador (he thinks they're going to Guatamala), and finds himself being brutalized by Salvadoran military, police, infected by the water (and the "professional" women), generally having a rough time of it. The politically charged screenplay is somewhat clumsily delivered -- with the bumbling passion of a college radical a little too full of himself. The action speaks for itself, dead bodies everywhere, the American military hovering nearby constantly. And just in case we don't get it, the characters lecture us with familiar left vs. right themes, crow with indignation, and denounce the military characters, who are one-dimensional and disgusting. U.S. involvement is simplified far too much. As things stand, we have very little idea of what sort of El Salvadore culture was actually at stake, the movie does a lean job of providing a backdrop to all the mishap and political intrigue. When that clarity does come about eventually, the movie leaves you with a great sense of energy, particularly from Woods' character. "Salvador", like JFK or Patton, remains one of my favorite high-octane human dramas of all time. A proud DVD for anyone's collections, if only for the memorably pithy quotes, or the brilliant moments of photo journalism shown (it's not easy shooting mass riots, live) or quite simply the most inspired performance of Woods' career!
Rating:
Summary: Overall a Truthful Account of a Dark and Bloody Time
Review: While Oliver Stone's 60's-style "hipness" intrudes too much into the characters and situations, overall the film is a good and honest portrayal of the Nazi-like terror inflicted on this country by police and military beasts in human form. Having been associated with Amnesty International at this time I'm well aware of the real people who were tortured, mutilated, raped, murdered, and "disappeared" in the name of "Western Values." This film not only portrays the true face of El Salvador's bloody and evil little civil war, but of the moral callousness of the US in funding this descent into hell. The US self-righteousness over Bosnia and Kosovo a decade or so later seems all the more incredible, as one watches American complicity with mass murder here.
Rating: 
Summary: Two thumbs up!
Review: Without a doubt, Oliver Stone's masterpiece, 'Salvador,' is a great piece of film-making. Gritty, raw, and unrelentless, it drags you into a grim miasma of savagery and forces you to face a truly shameful chapter in American foreign policy. 1980, El Salvador. While Carter and Reagan slug it out for the keys to the world's largest 'democracy,' the wealthy elite of this Central American paradise realize their days of exploiting the have-nots are slowly eclipsing. With their CIA-trained advisors and Huey gunships, they embark on an all-out terror campaign to eliminate any opposition to their jack-booted oligarchy. Up in safe El Norte, washed-out photo-journalist Richard Boyle (James Woods) spends his time evading rent, staring at soiled diapers and hungering for renewal, when Salvador comes knocking at his door. With his ravaged Ford Mustang, Boyle persuades his best friend (James Belushi) to accompany him on his grand adventure. Cruising down the verdant spine of Central America, things start to wrong, DESPERATELY WRONG as the tequila-swilling losers cross into El Salvador. Burnt-out cars, charred bodies and straw-hatted thugs block their way. Boyle's easy-living decadence gets a wake-up call. Here, there's no guarantee you have'll a tomorrow, much less a today. Boyle weasels himself out of danger by chumming with the head of the local death squad. Saved. But only momentarily, as Boyle and Co. sink deeper into the murderous quicksand that threatens to swallow them. With the help of his ex-lover, Boyle begins to find the meaning his life has been lacking of late. In fact, he slowly realizes the need for a 'salvation' of sorts, when he reaffirms a childhood faith upon the urgings of his girlfriend. Yet, Boyle's real salvation comes with his engagement in the bigger picture. Forced to take sides, he first tries to stop the mayhem his own government has sanctioned and then slowly learns that in war, everybody's hands are bloody. Knowing that his film rolls are the only hope for change, he ditches his dreams of Pulitzer-glory and escapes north with lover and children in tow. Almost on the verge of death, Boyle scraps through to the land 'where you can do anything you want,' only to be tragically robbed of that which has redeemed him. With 'Salvador,' Stone has crafted an intricate political thriller where there are no easy answers. True to his colors, Stone deals his country an extremely shady hand in this film. With the exception of Boyle and his sidekick, the Americans portrayed in this film are nothing short of caricatures. With their coiffed blonde-hair, Don Ho shirts and cardigans, they scream of arrogant imperialism, blinded by fear, 'if Salvador falls, we'll have tanks on Rio Grande!' and by pure greed. Over-the-top no doubt, but not without grounds, lest we forget Allende's Chile. But Stone is no mere polemicist, he DOES show the murky complexity of things, the often-clouded demarcation between good and evil. For example, Uncle Sam-bashing Boyle gets his fanny saved by the very same US ambassador whom he chides earlier on. And while Stone gives a ridiculously idyllic portrait of the marxist guerillas as gentle Tao-spouting Che Guevara's, he avoids outright idolatry by throwing light on their cruelties as well. 'Salvador' will grip you by the senses and won't let you go. Although the sadism and rhetoric are sometimes hard to digest, we are nonetheless saved from total despair by the odd pop-ups of quirky humour, like Boyle at confession...."does this mean I can still smoke a couple of joints?" And above all, its James Wood's performance that carries this film into the GREAT category. Mesmerizing with his high-pitched whine and ADD-like hyperactivity, Woods IS the archetypal Hunter S. Thompson gonzo-journalist! Belushi provides sterling support as his Sancho Panza sidekick always looking for the pain-less way out. In a way, 'Salvador' IS the modern Don Quixote story. With his lance replaced with a Nikon, Wood's Boyle shows us the noble futility of thinking we alone are enough to save ourselves and others.
Rating:
Summary: Two thumbs up!
Review: Without a doubt, Oliver Stone's masterpiece, 'Salvador,' is a great piece of film-making. Gritty, raw, and unrelentless, it drags you into a grim miasma of savagery and forces you to face a truly shameful chapter in American foreign policy. 1980, El Salvador. While Carter and Reagan slug it out for the keys to the world's largest 'democracy,' the wealthy elite of this Central American paradise realize their days of exploiting the have-nots are slowly eclipsing. With their CIA-trained advisors and Huey gunships, they embark on an all-out terror campaign to eliminate any opposition to their jack-booted oligarchy. Up in safe El Norte, washed-out photo-journalist Richard Boyle (James Woods) spends his time evading rent, staring at soiled diapers and hungering for renewal, when Salvador comes knocking at his door. With his ravaged Ford Mustang, Boyle persuades his best friend (James Belushi) to accompany him on his grand adventure. Cruising down the verdant spine of Central America, things start to wrong, DESPERATELY WRONG as the tequila-swilling losers cross into El Salvador. Burnt-out cars, charred bodies and straw-hatted thugs block their way. Boyle's easy-living decadence gets a wake-up call. Here, there's no guarantee you have'll a tomorrow, much less a today. Boyle weasels himself out of danger by chumming with the head of the local death squad. Saved. But only momentarily, as Boyle and Co. sink deeper into the murderous quicksand that threatens to swallow them. With the help of his ex-lover, Boyle begins to find the meaning his life has been lacking of late. In fact, he slowly realizes the need for a 'salvation' of sorts, when he reaffirms a childhood faith upon the urgings of his girlfriend. Yet, Boyle's real salvation comes with his engagement in the bigger picture. Forced to take sides, he first tries to stop the mayhem his own government has sanctioned and then slowly learns that in war, everybody's hands are bloody. Knowing that his film rolls are the only hope for change, he ditches his dreams of Pulitzer-glory and escapes north with lover and children in tow. Almost on the verge of death, Boyle scraps through to the land 'where you can do anything you want,' only to be tragically robbed of that which has redeemed him. With 'Salvador,' Stone has crafted an intricate political thriller where there are no easy answers. True to his colors, Stone deals his country an extremely shady hand in this film. With the exception of Boyle and his sidekick, the Americans portrayed in this film are nothing short of caricatures. With their coiffed blonde-hair, Don Ho shirts and cardigans, they scream of arrogant imperialism, blinded by fear, 'if Salvador falls, we'll have tanks on Rio Grande!' and by pure greed. Over-the-top no doubt, but not without grounds, lest we forget Allende's Chile. But Stone is no mere polemicist, he DOES show the murky complexity of things, the often-clouded demarcation between good and evil. For example, Uncle Sam-bashing Boyle gets his fanny saved by the very same US ambassador whom he chides earlier on. And while Stone gives a ridiculously idyllic portrait of the marxist guerillas as gentle Tao-spouting Che Guevara's, he avoids outright idolatry by throwing light on their cruelties as well. 'Salvador' will grip you by the senses and won't let you go. Although the sadism and rhetoric are sometimes hard to digest, we are nonetheless saved from total despair by the odd pop-ups of quirky humour, like Boyle at confession...."does this mean I can still smoke a couple of joints?" And above all, its James Wood's performance that carries this film into the GREAT category. Mesmerizing with his high-pitched whine and ADD-like hyperactivity, Woods IS the archetypal Hunter S. Thompson gonzo-journalist! Belushi provides sterling support as his Sancho Panza sidekick always looking for the pain-less way out. In a way, 'Salvador' IS the modern Don Quixote story. With his lance replaced with a Nikon, Wood's Boyle shows us the noble futility of thinking we alone are enough to save ourselves and others.
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