Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

HeadlinesExotic Boring

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

chaswe-28402 Would someone tell me what the hell is going on ? Peckinpah's films tend to improve with age. They also get better the more often you watch them. For these reasons I'm reluctant to award this film fewer than 8 stars, but I don't think I can manage more than six. Those initial jump-cuts have me guessing.Critics such as Ebert, Kehr and Canby wrote that it "made no sense whatever"; "the structure is a mess"; "incomprehensible" and "hallucinatory". First time through, without prior preparation, I could hardly understand any of it. However, Wikipedia came to the rescue with a painstaking explanation of what was going on, and I now see that there may have been some deeply submerged pattern to the story's narrative. The surface explanation is that this is Fassett's extremely complicated way of getting his own back on his boss, for killing his wife, a seemingly pointless exercise in the first place, the motivation for which was not clear to me at all. The boss, Burt Lancaster, didn't seem to be aware of having committed the murder, and even if he was, he didn't appear to link Fassett, John Hurt, with her in any case. Not according to his subsequent dealings with Hurt, anyhow.I'm already confused. The confusion is not simplified by the multiple closed circuit television set-ups spying all over the place, some of which didn't seem to be off any public radar, and were being publicly broadcast nationwide. Anyway, after murdering some of his friends and their girlfriends, and crowing "then there were two", the perpetrator, Fassett/Hurt, finally gets shot by Rutger Hauer, who rescues his kidnapped wife, his son and his dog, whose death had previously been faked. It is difficult to understand why Fassett aimed to murder Hauer/Tanner's friends, including Tanner himself, and his family. What happened to Lancaster/Danforth, after he was exposed on television ? We should have been told. I'll just have to watch this film again, a number of times. I believe the book is good: there just doesn't seem to be a close or adequate marriage between the visuals and the script. Having now watched it twice, it becomes distinctly better. In fact, it is positively good. Terminally professional. Two more stars.One thing: like many of Peckinpah's films, it is prophetic, in view of recent political events in the USA. It points out how we are increasingly manipulated by the programmes on television, which is truer today than 40 years ago. Switch off, if you can. You can do it, if you try. 40 years ago ! Remarkable.

Leofwine_draca Sam Peckinpah's swan song is a muddled, confusing work with flashes of greatness that remind us of the director in his prime. Considering the amount of trash that was released during the '80s, I was actually pretty pleased with this film, which kept me gripped throughout. The reason is twofold: first off, the twisty, turny plot line, taken from a Robert Ludlum novel, always keeps you guessing as to the true identities of the characters and what's going on behind the scenes. The second reason is the cast: this film has assembled a list of greats from old-time winners to then-new talent.The film marks pretty familiar territory for the director: taut conspiracy tension combines with a home-under-siege scenario reminiscent of the climax of STRAW DOGS. Along the way there's time for the kind of biting television satire that was also prevalent in the likes of Cronenberg's VIDEODROME from the same period. The action is handled very well indeed and there's just the right amount without the film being too over the top; time is always taken to build the characters and storyline first, unlike in today's Hollywood blockbusters. I find action always more effective when you care about those involved. Peckinpah can't resist shooting some slow motion and I love the bow and arrows/crossbow scenes, expertly done.Yes, the film's editing is poor, and Lalo Schifrin's score is one of his deservedly lesser known compositions. The muddled storyline takes some working out but despite all these negatives, I had fun watching this movie. The twist is spot on and the actors handle it very well. John Hurt is creepy and weird, while Rutger Hauer is the best I've ever seen him, making for a charismatic hero who's believable as well as being an action man. Burt Lancaster lends some old-time gravitas to the role while '80s starlets Helen Shaver and Meg Foster also make good, early impressions in their careers. Some of the best casting is saved for the trio of friends who visit Hauer; Nelson, Hopper and Sarandon take some beating. Hopper achieves a fine balance between friendliness and sinister; Chris Sarandon is a pretty frightening, volatile character and I'm sure his part here paved the way for his vampire role in FRIGHT NIGHT. Best of all is POLTERGEIST's Craig T. Nelson, absolutely superb as the buddy with shady intentions; he plays it just right. What a cast!

ma-cortes Action movie in Peckinpah style with tension , intrigue , thrills , gushing blood and violence . The one weekend of the year you won't want to miss. The host of an investigative news spectacle (Rutger Hauer,first major character in a Hollywood movie played by Dutch actor) is assigned a dangerous mission As TV show hosted by television journalist John Tanner is called "Face to Face" and he is convinced by a CIA operative (John Hurt was second billed) that the friends (Chris Sarandon , Dennis Hooper , Craig T Nelson) and wives (Helen Shaver ,Cassie Yates) he has invited to a weekend party are Russian spies from a secret organization . The name of the Soviet spy network was "Omega".This actioner and suspenseful movie tells a convoluted and complicated tale of vendetta , espionage and treason . Interesting but slightly boring spy film , including an overly complex and confusing script , even though at times it is admittedly engrossing . The picture was made and released about eleven years after its source novel of the same name by Robert Ludlum had been first published in 1972 . Sam Peckinpah was fired as director during post-production. Others were Convoy and Ride the High County . When he refused to re-edit Osterman weekend after it was screened for a test audience and met with a confused and extremely mixed reaction. Producers took over the editing with the assistance of the editor , drastically altering opening and ending sequences. Mediocre and dark cinematography by John Coquillon , in fact , the picture involved a considerable amount of filming at night. It was filmed at a 1950s ranch located in upper Mandeville Canyon in the Hollywood Hills , it was a property once owned by Robert Taylor and has been frequently been known by the names the "Taylor Estate" . Anti-climatic soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin composed by means by synthesizer . Director Don Siegel, long time friend and mentor to Sam Peckinpah, recommended Lalo Schifrin as the film's composer. Schifrin had scored five of Siegel's movies ; composer Lalo Schifrin had to sit by Sam Peckinpah's sick bed in order to spot the film and decide which scenes did or did not need music. Final film of director Sam Peckinpah. The picture was also Peckinpah's big "comeback movie", it was his first in five years, his last film having been at the time Convoy back in 1978 . The movie is also Peckinpah's only feature film of the 1980s decade . The production shoot for this film ran for fifty-four days . Director Sam Peckinpah was in ill-health throughout the shoot as the long-term toll of his drug and alcohol abuse suggested to many in the production that he was dying. Peckinpah after beginning as a writer , was soon involved in TV Westerns at the peak of his popularity ; shooting series just like ¨¨The Westener¨, ¨Gunsmoke¨and most popular ¨Rifleman¨, moving into films by 1961 when he made nice impression with ¨The deadly companions¨, ¨Ride the High Country¨ , Major Dundee¨ and his best picture ,Wild Bunch¨ . After that , he concentrated on nail-biting and tougher-than-tough action films just like ¨The getaway¨, ¨Convoy¨, ¨the ¨killer elite¨ and this last movie ¨Osterman weekend¨ . The final title as violent and nice as anyone the Western or wartime genre has given us .

Bjorn (ODDBear) The poster reads; "What would you do if a total stranger proved to you that your three closest friends were Soviet agents?" Then you see that this is based on a Robert Ludlum bestseller. Then you see a to-die-for cast and the director of all this is Sam Peckinpah. Still, "The Osterman Weekend" doesn't gel all that well.It's very confusing all the way. Stylistically, this flick is all over the place, with some trademark Peckinpah visuals that really feel out of place. The characters are total bores, each and every one and when the audience doesn't care for them it's hard to empathize with their plight.The actors are pretty solid though. John Hurt is appropriately crazy as the villain, Craig T. Nelson pretty effective as the no-nonsense leader of the pack (Osterman himself) and Helen Shaver is good as a drug addicted nymph. Others are OK but sadly Hauer is miscast as the hero, he's simply so much better at playing villains.Ironcially, the story behind "The Osterman Weekend" is a lot more interesting than the film itself. This was Peckinpah's last feature and he went through a lot to finish it, only to have his version somewhat altered by studio execs. Peckinpah's version can be seen by way of a horrible VHS transfered copy but the difference isn't all that huge.Still, there's something about the flick that begs repeat viewings. Everyone has a few guilty favorites and "The Osterman Weekend" is one of mine. There's something about the isolated setting, the cat and mouse game (although not played to it's full potential) between Hauer and Hurt and the pool scene is just terrific. Also, the scene where Hurt pretends to be a weatherman is simply hilarious.Plus the sight of Meg Foster with that crossbow is the coolest poster I've ever seen.