Under Fire (1983 film)
Under Fire | |
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Directed by | Roger Spottiswoode |
Screenplay by |
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Story by | Clayton Frohman |
Produced by | Jonathan Taplin |
Starring | |
Cinematography | John Alcott |
Edited by |
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Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
Distributed by | Orion Pictures (original) Paramount Pictures (DVD, 2001 and TV) MGM (actual rights) |
Release date | October 21, 1983 |
Running time | 128 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | English, Spanish |
Budget | $9.5 million |
Box office | $5,696,391 |
Under Fire is a 1983 American political thriller film set during the last days of the Nicaraguan Revolution that ended the Somoza regime in 1979. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode, it stars Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman and Joanna Cassidy. The musical score by Jerry Goldsmith, which featured well-known jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Score. The editing by Mark Conte and John Bloom was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Editing. The film was shot in the Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca.
Cast
- Nick Nolte as Russell Price
- Gene Hackman as Alex Grazier
- Joanna Cassidy as Claire
- Ed Harris as Oates
- Jean-Louis Trintignant as Marcel Jazy
- Richard Masur as Hub Kittle
- René Enríquez as Anastasio Somoza Debayle
- Hamilton Camp as Regis
- Alma Martínez as Isela
- Eloy Casados as Pedro
- Jenny Gago as Miss Panama
- Jorge Zepeda as Rafael
Historical basis
Though the film is largely fictional, it was inspired by the murder of ABC reporter Bill Stewart and his translator Juan Espinoza by Nicaraguan National Guard troops on June 20, 1979.[1] ABC cameraman Jack Clark was shooting "incidental" footage, and caught the entire episode on tape. The footage was shown on national television in the United States and became a major international incident, undermining what remained of dictator Anastasio Somoza's support. The incident was the final straw for the Carter Administration's relationship with Somoza,[2] whose regime fell on July 19.
Reception
Box office
Under Fire opened October 21, 1983 in 816 theaters, earning $1,837,768 ($2,252 average per theater) its opening weekend. The film went on to gross a total of $5,696,391 in North America.[3]
Critical response
Under Fire received a positive response from critics and holds a 90% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes from 20 reviews.[4]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film three and a half out of four stars, praising the performances and declaring it one of the year's best films, saying, "The actors in Under Fire never step wrong. Nolte is great to watch as the seedy photographer with the beer gut. Hackman never really convinced me that he could be an anchorman, but he did a better thing. He convinced me that he thought he could be one. Joanna Cassidy takes a role that could have been dismissed as 'the girl' and fills it out as a fascinating, textured adult. Under Fire surrounds these performances with a vivid sense of place and becomes, somewhat surprisingly, one of the year's best films."[5] Geoff Andrew of Time Out praised the film as "tak[ing] an honourable place alongside classic war-torn romance pictures like Casablanca and To Have and Have Not" and concluded by calling it "a thrilling film, with a head, a heart, and muscle."[6]
Vincent Canby of The New York Times, however, viewed the film less favorably, saying "Under Fire, which was written by Ron Shelton and Clayton Frohman, from a story by Mr. Frohman, means well but it is fatally confused. It's silly enough to use a real, bloody war as the backdrop - the excuse, really - for the raising of the consciousnesses of a couple of mini-characters."[7]
Cultural references
For the 2012 film Django Unchained, director Quentin Tarantino used the musical cue "Nicaragua" from Jerry Goldsmith's score during the arrival scene at the Candie Plantation known as Candyland.
See also
References
- ^ Charlton, Linda (June 21, 1979). "ABC Reporter and Aide Killed By Soldier in Nicaraguan Capital; Carter Calls Killings Barbaric". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-09-23.
- ^ Jimmy Carter (June 21, 1979). "Bill Stewart Statement on the Death of the ABC News Correspondent". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved 2012-09-23.
- ^ "Box Office Information for Under Fire". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ^ "Under Fire". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (October 21, 1983). "Under Fire". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ^ Andrew, Geoff (1983). "Under Fire". Time Out. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (October 21, 1983). "Under Fire (1983)". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
External links
- 1983 films
- 1980s political thriller films
- Cold War films
- English-language films
- Films about journalists
- Films about Latin American military dictatorships
- Films about war correspondents
- Films set in Nicaragua
- Orion Pictures films
- American political thriller films
- American films
- Films directed by Roger Spottiswoode
- Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith
- Nicaraguan Revolution
- Films shot in Mexico
- Spanish-language films
- Films set in 1979