Rent Southern Comfort (1981)

Nicely ironic title - there's no comfort here... - Southern Comfort review by RP

A nicely ironic title for a film that is a cross between a chase thriller and 'Deliverance'.

The story goes like this: part-time soldiers (National Guard, something like our TA) are on a weekend training exercise in the bayous and swamps of Louisiana, their guns loaded with blanks. They 'borrow' canoes they find and manage to upset (well, a bit more than just 'upset') the Cajun locals when one of the platoon fires - blanks of course - at them. Locals don't see the funny side of this and proceed to track and kill them off one by one. There aren't many survivors.

Some regard this film as a metaphor for Vietnam - a depiction of poorly trained, ill equipped, aggressive Americans in a land where they are unwanted, don't understand the people and don't speak the language. I don't buy this metaphor/allegory thing - director Walter Hill is not renowned for being that subtle. Just enjoy it for what it is. If anything, it is similar to Walter Hill's 1979 film 'The Warriors' where gang members have to fight their way home...

There's a nice (if ambiguous) finale and with evocative guitar theme music by Ry Cooder plus some excellent Cajun music this is a rather good film of its type. I enjoyed it and it's worth 4/5 stars from me, although that does seem generous.

[Aside: the copy that I received is in 4:3 aspect ratio and the print quality is quite grainy, but that doesn't detract too much]

Gripping Survival Thriller - Southern Comfort review by GI

From the late 70s to the mid 80s Walter Hill made some really entertaining films, full of action and violence, the sort of B movie style that are great fun and exciting without being over pretentious. Strongly influenced by Sam Peckinpah, although without his poetic edge, Hill's films are usually about people struggling in a wild environment so they often have a survivalist theme. Southern Comfort is one of very best, and whilst he denied it, it's a blatant allegory of the Vietnam war and a sharp condemnation of American militarism and bigotry. Set in Louisiana where a squad of National Guardsmen (weekend soldiers!) are sent on an exercise into the swamps. What should be a simple task soon goes awry when one of them pulls a stupid trick on some local cajun hunters. The squad soon find themselves lost, leaderless and being hunted by the cajuns. It's gripping stuff and utilises the presence of a section of American society that live a separatist lifestyle away from mainstream society so in the sense this is narratively similar to Deliverance (1972). There's no romance or male bonding going on in this film it's a story of a real struggle for survival against nature and a very hostile enemy. With a great cast of Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward and a wonderful soundtrack by Ry Cooder this is a fantastic gem of a film and if you've never seen it then you're in for a real treat.

Brilliantly Directed and Acted - Southern Comfort review by CD

This is the third time I have seen this film over the past 20 years and I have taken different things from each viewing. It is often compared with the film "Deliverance" (which is also well worth watching if you like films around a battle for survival in a hostile environment), but for me this film is superior. The performance of the two lead actors Keith Carradine and Powers Boothe is excellent, and there is a good cast of misfits around them. The plot, camera work and music are very good and the Cajun culture and environment adds a whole dimension of extra interest, particularly towards the end of the film. It is tempting to see the parallels with Vietnam, and the sense of abandonment and isolation that some US soldiers experienced there. Powers Boothe's character raises the suspicion that the luckless reservists have been set up to be lost and hunted down as part of the mission. Whatever the intended context, this is a survival film par excellence which keeps its momentum to the very end.