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Ride With The Devil on DVD (1999)

Ride With The Devil cover art
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Average rating: 67%
1313620171827
3.0
from 412 members
 
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich, Jeffrey Wright, Jewel
Director: Ang Lee
Studio: ENTERTAINMENT IN VIDEO
Run time: 135 mins
Certificate: 15
User collections: Great Modern Westerns, LIttle-seen must-sees..., Slow Charmers
Genres: Action/Adventure
Languages: English
Released: 15/05/2000

Brief synopsis of Ride With The Devil

Director Ang Lee follows up the critically acclaimed THE ICE STORM with this look at the bloody, intense conflict between the pro-Confederate Bushwackers and the pro-Union Jayhawkers in Missouri during the Civil War. Pitting neighbor against neighbor, the war in the frontier state tested personal loyalties and often created strange alliances. The film, based on Daniel Woodrell's book WOE TO LIVE ON, follows the conflict through the eyes of two outsiders: a German immigrant's son (Tobey Maguire) and a free black man (Jeffrey Wright), both of whom fight for the Bushwhackers even though they are looked down upon by their fellow guerrillas. The acting is strong all around, the setting realistically grim and absorbing, and Frederick Elmes's photography is, as always, top-notch. Pop singer Jewel appears onscreen for the first time, playing a plucky Southern woman. A nuanced examination of the bonds of obligation, RIDE WITH THE DEVIL anticipates Lee's high-flying CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, both in theme and in pulse-pounding action. The film contains many standout action sequences, including a historically accurate re-creation of William Quantrill's infamous raid on Lawrence, Kansas.

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Critics Reviews

Rating of 5 stars out of 5 Radio Times

Director Ang Lee turns in another handsome, moving and unmissable piece of cinema, this time set against the backdrop of the American Civil War. Jack Bull (Skeet Ulrich) and Jake (Tobey Maguire) are two members of the “bushwhackers” — southern guerrillas who secretly ambush Yankee platoons along the Missouri backroads. When they have to hide out for the winter, the pair and two fellow irregulars — one an ex-slave — hole up in a cave cut out of a hill, where they are sent food and water by a beautiful young widow (singer Jewel). It's an epic yet intimate portrait of relationships and war, boasting superb performances from the almost completely male cast and a compelling script by writer/producer James Schamus.

Rating of 2 stars out of 4 Halliwell's Film Guide

Dour, beautifully photographed semi-western, a harsh drama of idealism corrupted and redeemed; it ably shows the futility of war, as both sides commit atrocities and betrayals, but might have benefitted from a maturer point of view than that of its youthf

Premiere

"...[A] striking, brave picture....Maguire is thrilling as Roedel, whose passage to manhood is faithfully chronicled by Schamus and Lee..."

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Members Reviews

Reviews Voted Most Helpful

Rated - 5 starsCINEMA ON A GRAND SCALE

Derek Pearson from SADDLEWORTH , 08/06/2005

A TALE OF THE DISAPPEARENCE OF A WAY OF LIFE. TOLD WITH BRILLIANTLY SWEEPING VISUALS, A HAUNTING SOUNDTRACK AND INTELLIGENT (IF SOMEWHAT QUIETLY DELIVERED SCRIPT). A 'SLOW BURNER' IN PARTS, REFLECTING THE PACE OF LIFE AT THE TIME PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR BUT THE VIEWER IS SHOOK OUT OF THEIR REVERIE BY THE EXPLOSIVE AND GORY BATTLE SCENES. GOOD ACTING ALL ROUND, A GREAT 'OLD FASHIONED' FILM.

  6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 2 starsStunning

A customer from uk , 17/09/2004

wonderfully sweeping cinematography captures a period just before the american civil war where loyalties are divided by family & friends, not politics. If you're interested in this period, good acting from a strong cast a storyline with both action and attention to detail and lovely score then you will enjoy this bitter sweet tale.

  2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 5 stars

Andy#34 from BURY , 28/01/2004

A dam good film. No swearing - who'd have thought possible in a movie these days. Great performance by Toby Macguire. Tells a USA civil war story set in Missouri, there's realistic battle scenes of blood and gore, showing man's inhumanity to man at its worst at times. The ending . . .well that would spoilt it. Well worth watching. The dialogue at times was low in volume and someone hard of hearing would find it difficult to hear all that was said at times.

  1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
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Rated - 5 starsCivil War Renegades Run Wild

Charles Brickley from Andover, Hampshire England [Highly rated reviewer] , 11/03/2008

I thought that this was an excellent rendition about a much misrepresented period of the Ameican Civil War.

Firstly the photography was excellent and well up the standard now expected of Ang Lee.

The cast worked their socks off to put in a memorable performance that was authentic and dignified.

The production and sets were very good and well thought out despite the fact that I don't believe that american children had Teddy Bears during the Civil War, as Theodore Roosevelt was 3 years old when the war started.

There was a very real feeling to the film and it portrayed atrocities and courage on both sides. This resulted in a film that was both moving and shocking which kept going at a respectable pace.

Well worth the money and I may even buy a copy as it was very, very good.

  1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
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Most Recent Reviews

Rated - 5 starsCivil War Renegades Run Wild

Charles Brickley from Andover, Hampshire England [Highly rated reviewer] , 11/03/2008

I thought that this was an excellent rendition about a much misrepresented period of the Ameican Civil War.

Firstly the photography was excellent and well up the standard now expected of Ang Lee.

The cast worked their socks off to put in a memorable performance that was authentic and dignified.

The production and sets were very good and well thought out despite the fact that I don't believe that american children had Teddy Bears during the Civil War, as Theodore Roosevelt was 3 years old when the war started.

There was a very real feeling to the film and it portrayed atrocities and courage on both sides. This resulted in a film that was both moving and shocking which kept going at a respectable pace.

Well worth the money and I may even buy a copy as it was very, very good.

  1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
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Rated - 4 starsBrokeback Fans Should Check Out

Peter from Oxford , 18/04/2006

This may attract attention after Ang Lee's success with Brokeback Mountain, and not unjustly. Though it may not match that film's subtle mastery, it nonetheless displays a similarly sensitive portrayal of a traumatic phase of American history. God forbid, this was actually educational and enlightening as well as diverting.

Unlike Brokeback though, it does sag in parts and could probably have done with a bit of a crop. Tobey Maguire may get on people's nerves, though not for his (and other) character's slightly unusual colloquial style, which actually works in my view.

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