SOUTHERN COMFORT: BAYOU BATTLE

I've been a fan of Walter Hill for as long as I can remember. While some of the movies of his I've loved never became the hits they should have (STREETS OF FIRE) others have shown that he is quite the bankable director (48 HOURS). His movies often depicted a world where men were men and weren't afraid to be what they were in a world where people seemed to want to soften them instead. It made his films ones that guys loved and revere to this day. A testosterone fueled battle was at the core of his film SOUTHERN COMFORT.

The movie revolves around a weekend training exercise for the Louisiana National Guard. This gathering of weekend warriors is set to travel from point A to point B over that weekend. The problems come from the combination of characters in the group. Their leader is Poole (Peter Coyote), a no nonsense ex-military man destined to be a leader. His second in command is Casper (Les Lannom), a man who follows orders. While this pair seems to understand the need for their group to follow commands it is the rest of the crew that forms a band of misfits and screwballs that will lead to nothing but problems.

Reece and Stuckey (Fred Ward and Lewis Smith) are two stereotypical rednecks with little desire to rise above the life they've chosen. Simms and Cribbs (Franklyn Seals and T.K. Carter) are two black soldiers in the group with completely different personalities, the first always on edge and the latter far too laid back. Bowden (Alan Autry) offers that intensely gung ho attitude up front but crumbles in a clinch. Spencer (Keith Carradine) is the calm and collected guy who knows the best path to take but since he seems a smooth operator rarely is listened to. And at the end is Hardin (Powers Boothe), a transfer from Texas who just wants to get his time in the Guard over with so he can move on with his life.

As this rag tag group sets out they discover their map is out of date and the waters have risen where they need to cross. Finding a set of boats and trapped animals they decide to borrow the boats from the Cajun trappers and leave a note explaining this. As they cross the trappers return and while watching them Stuckey fires his machine gun, loaded with blanks, in their direction thinking how funny it is. In return, the Cajuns shoot and kill Poole. Bowden tips all the boats and the group is left with a few less needed items (like the map), a dead body and a fear that the men will be tracking them down now.

What follows is a combination of stories, one being the Cajuns trying to get to the men and take them all down for what they consider an opening salvo in their direction. The second story is the bigger one as we watch the group implode with some characters trying to become the dominant male, the alpha dog, the leader of the pack while the actual men who have that ability to lead lay back and don't show that skill until push comes to shove. Not only do these men have to worry about the trappers following them, they have to worry about what one of their own might do to jeopardize their lives as well.

As the group gets picked off one at a time you begin to wonder if any of them will survive this weekend. With no way to contact their home base and several days before anyone will find them missing, they trek through the dangerous bayou that's unfamiliar terrain for them but home for the trappers. Their attempt to physically find their way out to civilization is one harrowing journey but it's the search for being civilized that makes for a more interesting story.

Shout Factory has done a fantastic job of offering a great print of this movie that is sure to please those waiting for a blu-ray edition of this film. While many were angered by Fox's treatment of PREDATOR for making the film appear too clean filled with altered images, this film offers the graininess of film from that time in parts while offering as sharp an image as one would have expected from those days. Eighties film fans will rejoice.

There are no bad performances in this film and stand outs are offered from Carradine and Boothe in the main leads. The rest of the cast is up to the standards set by these two and make their characters believable as well. Perhaps the only noticeable flaw in the film is that at times the characters seem a bit dated but then again as I've told people before, you must always try and place yourself in the time period when a movie was made rather than watch it from through the eyes of the time period you live in. It may only be 30 odd years since the film came out but that's a lot of change.

In the end what you have here is a dynamite action film with more meat surrounding the bone in terms of story that these films are used to. It's a Walter Hill film at its best and isn't one that you will want to just watch but will probably want to add to your collection.

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