The Nature Boy

I'd heard some decent buzz on this one, and as I saw more of Friedkin's back catalogue, I grew more interested. When Circuit City had their 2 for $11 sale a whlie back, I blind bought this on a whim. And maybe it's a factor of low expectations but this one blew me away. It's not perfect, but it might be perfect in its imperfections. Tremendously authentic in feel and great twists in this one, and very much underrated as far as I can see.

Was this a big deal in the 80s? I'm still in awe of this one, wow!

devilshalo

Can't say enough good things about this movie.

Darkfriend

Very good movie indeed

Mind you, I only saw it once (at the movies) and I still remember

The Nature Boy

Oh man, that was off the charts! Friedkin is just the man for these kinds of things! It was so fresh, but in retrospect its an echo of French Connection and

Mowork

Excellent, excellent movie. I remember being totally blown when it was released. The performances and the direction were uniformly great.

I also picked it up during the CC sale but haven't gotten around to seeing yet. Looking forward to it, though...

wendersfan

Robby Müller.

The Nature Boy

He was great, and check out the making of to see how run and gun this was if you haven't seen it. I know he didn't shoot all of the car chase stuff, but you've got to see this rig they were shooting stuff with. I know LA pushes the OSHA limits, but this thing was ungodly. 2 stories of scaffolding rather precariously placed in a pickup truck and zigging and zagging to get the shots as they move down the road. I don't care how secure it was, it was a crime against physics that this damn thing didn't collapse. To a man, the people commented on Friedkin's guerilla spirit and willingness to push real world laws to get a movie made, but this was ridiculous. It' s in the excellent making of featurette(featuring all principles but Tuttuorro)

marty888

It's great to see a movie that I've always considered to be unfairly ignored finally finding an appreciative audience!

ArchibaldTuttle

Saw this movie for the first time last year, and was also blown away, it's probably somewhere in my top ten favorite movies. The movie had a gritty real feal to it, and at least to me didn't feel as hackneyed as many other similar movies.

jdslater

I love this film, but I like alot of films like this from the eighties.

Also love the Chung!

Hiro11

Excellent movie: even the counterfeiting montage at the beginning is entire realistic and based on an actual working technique.

Geofferson

Fantastic movie. Probably Friedkin's last good movie.

FiveO

Also love this flick.

Finally got around to replacing my old VHS tape with the new DVD recently.

Tarantino

I saw it last year and really liked it.

Troy Stiffler

I loved it. The only problem that I had with it was it's hip, stylin connection to the 80's. Like Manhunter, it doesn't ruin the movie, just takes a bit away. Both were just too hip with 80's mainstream pop culture to stand the test of time. Peterson might as well just drove around a Delorean in both.

For example, say, uhhhh, Fast and the Furious was an acclaimed movie. I know, I know, just imagine... In ten years, young people would slap their forehead and say "did they really listen to that? Did they really dress like that? How silly."

The French Connection hasn't aged a bit. Why? Because Hackman and Schneider didn't have fros and listen to ... whatever it was that was hip in the 70's.

Dr. DVD

This one special anywhere else?

Tarantino

Huh?

OldBoy

is this a good blind buy? my store doesn't have it for rental so wondering as it is fairly cheap, but want to know if i will enjoy it if i really liked "The French Connection"?

Rypro 525

i'd def recommend it as a blind buy if you are a fan of french connection. the car chase is amazing.

Johnny Zhivago

Good film but that Wang Chung mid 80's score just pulls me out... Still, it's definitely worth checking out.

ArchibaldTuttle

Half the reason I like the movie is the 80's flavor it has, which would include the (imo) awesome Wang Chung score.

JumpCutz

This thread is old and at the time it looked like we may have never seen another good Friedkin film, but he has since made two pretty fantastic films in Bug and Killer Joe...and one that is pretty damned interesting (Rampage).


To Live and Die in LA is superb in that it really captures the city and it's different tones, it's grit and texture, it's wide open spaces and confined places and the urban/suburban sprawl that is LA. Love the ending and especially enjoy the Turturro/Dafoe prison visit sequence. Actually, so many great scenes (including two beautifully staged chase sequences) in this film.

Definitely some of Friedkin's best work.

Why So Blu?

Great film.

I also believe it's one of the first films where an older partner of an agent/cop says that he's "too old for this shit" several years before the Lethal Weapon flicks.

The scene in the church during the stakeout is right down the street from my work.

JumpCutz

Yeah, whenever I see that scene it strikes me as the first film using the "I'm getting too old for this shit" line. Jimmy Hart uttered this line perfectly to Chance. It's probably not the first time it was used, but damn if it's not a shopworn cliche and seemingly uttered in some form in every buddy/cop movie ever since.

gmanca

My favorite scene that encapsulate everything great about this movie is the one where Petersen is smashing the briefcase repeatedly as it won't open. All of that scene before the cut is improvised.