Seraphim Falls on DVD (2007)

Classic western

A customer from London, England, United Kingdom, Europe, Planet Earth , 27/08/2007

Seraphim Falls is a tough film to categorise. At its heart it's a revenge drama. It's also a taut psychological thriller. And a western. And a chase drama. But most importantly, it's a damn fine movie with a very powerful anti-war message. Here we have a couple of Irishmen playing Americans in the Old West, just after the US Civil War. They're involved in a brutal cat-and-mouse game — Colonel Carver (Liam Neeson) has hired himself a posse (oh man, I love a good posse!) and set out to hunt down and kill Captain Gideon (Pierce Brosnan). They both fought on different sides in the war — Carver the South, Gideon the North — but there's more behind Carver's lust for revenge than that.

The film is sparse on dialogue and big on location — the chase begins in the deep snow of the mountains, and by the end the two men find themselves on the dried-up bed of a salt lake. At first we find ourselves empathising wth the man being hunted; we don't know what he's done, or why Carver is so driven by hate. But as the film progresses and more is revealed (and Gideon ruthlessly despatches the posse one by one), we find our allegiance switched. Neeson and Brosnan put in gripping performances — it's the first western for both — and interest doesn't wane for a second. Overall, a terrific debut film from director David Von Ancken.

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rubbish

A customer from Croydon , 08/02/2008

don't waste your time!

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0 for originality

Projectionista from Etchingham , 04/02/2008

A cliché ridden pastiche of much better westerns with elements of many superior films. A chase for chases sake. Neeson with his gang of disposable deadbeats who provide some pointless gore in place of drama. Brosnan the efficient killer with a a bag of survival tricks that become increasingly silly. The final 30 mins seemed like a student effort at artiness.

A clumsy and a wasted opportunity, truly disappointing.

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Intriguing western

GreenwichPaul [Highly rated reviewer] , 31/01/2008

I wouldn't have been surprised if someone told me that this fascinating but deeply flawed western had been penned in the 70's as it has that slow-burning atmosphere and the portentous symbolism much beloved of that golden age of cinema. The film follows Pierce Brosnan as he is pursued from the snow capped mountains and into the desert by Liam Neeson and his gang of mercenaries. There are some terrific, gritty moments along the way but the film never quite has the atmosphere that the viewer can lose themselves in. I enjoyed the film but think that a more visionary director could have given it a slightly more surreal atmosphere which would have better served the scripts obsessive story.

Still, its worth watching and despite my reservations the director could be one to watch in the future

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rubbish

A customer from Croydon , 08/02/2008

don't waste your time!

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Great Western With A Bit Of A Limp Ending

Baz [Highly rated reviewer] , 29/01/2008

Both Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson have been putting in superb performances in their last few movies, and this is yet again proof that both are class acts - only getting better with age and skill. Brosnan is a revelation in Seraphim Falls (as he was in 'The Matador') and Neeson the perfect foil. In their latter years, each has acquired a grizzly realism that is serving them both well and their choices in movies.

The story is fairly simple - two ex Civil War Sergeants are locked into a Frontier manhunt in 1863 - the manhunt takes them from the snowy mountain ranges, down through freezing rivers and into open pilgrim-filled ranges, through homesteads and finally to a desert area that in many ways resembles both of them - arid, empty drained out and dry. Brosnan is the hunted and Neeson the pursuer, but we only slowly find out as the movie moves on, why Neeson is so obsessed with hunting Gideon - and not just killing him - just making him bleed and hurt. It's essentially a cowboy chase movie, but done with such style and intelligence, that it grips you for the first hour like a Terminator that just won't stop. The support cast are all uniformly excellent, but its the two leads that hold it together.

The cinematography is spectacular and the look and dialogue given to both leads, just right. It's let down though as some reviewers have rightly pointed out by an odd last twenty minutes that in many ways spoil the great journey you just made with these two essentially good men locked into the aftermath of war.

Very old fashioned in ways, but hugely enjoyable. I'm reminded of 'Jeramiah Johnson' from 1971 with Robert Redford. Having sat through some truly appaling films of late, Seraphim Falls was like a breath of fresh air to me - and I wish I'd seen at the movies. Recommended.

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