Under Fire

1983

Action / Drama / War

18
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 91% · 22 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 70% · 2.5K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.0/10 10 8473 8.5K

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Plot summary

Three U.S. journalists get too close to one another and their work in 1979 Nicaragua.


Uploaded by: OTTO
March 14, 2015 at 04:34 PM

Top cast

Gene Hackman as Alex Grazier
Joanna Cassidy as Claire
Nick Nolte as Russell Price
Ed Harris as Oates
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
871.87 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
2 hr 8 min
Seeds 5
1.95 GB
1920*1080
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
2 hr 8 min
Seeds 5

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by FlatSixMan 7 / 10

A really nice and mostly involving film about civil war and journalism.

Under Fire (1983); Directed by: Roger Spottiswoode; Starring e.a.: Nick Nolte, Joanne Cassidy, Gene Hackman & Ed Harris.

"Under Fire" is a film well worth seeing. The main reason I saw it was because I heard good things about Jerry Goldsmith's score for the film, but the cast and subject matter are also good reasons for checking out this film. Especially Nick Nolte, who delivers a really good performance as Russell Price, the photographer who slowly loses his objectivity and becomes more and more involved with the civil war in Nicaragua. He and Claire (Joanne Cassidy) go on a search for rebel leader Rafael (rumored to be dead) and it's during this search they get more and more involved with the war. Russell is asked to photograph the dead Rafael as if he's alive so that the rebels can continue their revolution with a continuing flow of supplies. This means breaking with his objectivity though, but following his heart and feelings. Later on he also discovers that the photographs he has taken (to show the world what's going on in Nicaragua) are being used against the rebels, whom he chose to help. His journalist friend Alex (played by Hackman) joins in again, because he wants an interview with Rafael, not knowing he's already dead. This part of the story is really good. There are lots of emotions and the feeling is real. You feel for Russell for getting more and more involved and his motivation for the choice he made is well exposed and feels true. Based on what you see, you would've made the same decision. This is greatly due to the fact that you're really placed inside the action, so to speak. You witness what Russell and Claire are witnessing and Russell, being a photographer, has to be right where the action is. We witness all sorts of things (also involving Ed Harris as a mercenary for the government) and through the culmination of these events you get really involved in Russell and Claire's journey and their decisions.

There's another part to the story though. Claire and Alex are partners in the beginning of the film, but Claire breaks up, only to fall in love with Russell during their journey. This part isn't exactly a good addition to the story, since it's distracting from the general story and it's inconsequential to what's going on. Besides that, when Russell tells Alex about him loving his (ex-)girlfriend and her loving him, there's no real tension between them. For this side story to work better, it should have been expanded. That wouldn't have been a good idea either, because then it would have been even more distracting from the central story and the emotional core of the film. The best thing, in my opinion, was to leave it out. In the ending it also leaves us with a bit of a corny moment, which doesn't make it better. Luckily these parts aren't too distracting and they don't disrupt the flow of the film too much.

Another criticism is that I found the first half hour of the film to be quite boring. I think this is mostly due to the fact that nothing really happens and I somehow didn't really care for the few things happening to the main characters in this first half hour. We start to care when the action and the journey begin though. So, the first half hour is short on emotion and thus becomes somewhat boring. The film also has some political things to say, but only in one situation does this become preachy. A nurse tells Claire that 50,000 civilians died, but that the death of one American journalist made the American government give the rebels support. This exchange wasn't really necessary and came a bit out of nowhere, which causes it to come across preachy. Other political exchanges (mostly involving Jean-Louis Trintignant) aren't like this and feel in accordance with the overall film. I already named the score, but I can now judge for myself. It indeed is a really good score by the great Jerry Goldsmith. It brings out the emotions and makes you really involved with the film. Besides that, it adds a great atmosphere and fits the film like a glove. One last remark needs to go to the acting, which was generally good. Nick Nolte stood out as the best, but Joanne Cassidy was quite good besides him. Gene Hackman didn't have much to do to be honest, but he delivered what he had to and he made his character believable.

All in all this is a really nice film to watch. It's mostly involving and the emotional journey Russell and Claire make is really nice to follow. Besides a few down sides, like an unnecessary love story, this film holds up really well. Watch this if you have two hours to spent and want something with some depth to it.

I rate it 7/10.

Reviewed by view_and_review 4 / 10

Love Triangle in Nicaragua

"Popular resistance to a series of unpopular dictators was growing in Nicaragua for over 50 years. By the spring of 1979, Nicaraguans rom all walks of life joined together in a final attempt to overthrow President Anastasio 'Tacho' Somoza."

The movie "Under Fire" is about a photojournalist named Russell (Nick Nolte) who was in Nicaragua trying to capture the fighting via camera. In 1986, a similar movie was released titled, "Salvador," with James Wood and Jim Belushi that was about the civil war in El Salvador. I thought "Salvador" was a lot better. Woods and Belushi were more entertaining characters than an old Nick Nolte and Gene Hackman.

"Under Fire" got a little bit into the politics of the situation and, of course, the depravity of war, but it was never as intense as it could've, or should've, been. Plus, the love triangle between Russell, Alex (Gene Hackman), and Claire (Joanna Cassidy) was nauseating. It was such an unnecessary distraction. Russell was the main character, I know, but it was almost like his life was the main story with a civil war as a back drop.

Reviewed by sledhead535 2 / 10

A To-The-Left-View of what Actually Happened in Nicaragua.

I worked in Nicaragua from February, 1971 to May, 1979. I also owned an Island off the Southeast Coast of Nicaragua near Monkey Point.

The "popular" view by most filmmakers and "news people" of the time, viewed President Somoza as an evil man. What was thought to be a "saving Grace" for Nicaragua was a new Government.

What everyone there GOT was a Socialist/Communist takeover fueled by the Left and (then) President- Jimmy Carter, who even blackmailed Israel into not helping the Contras and President Somoza.

I always fume when I see "stories' of people and places written by people who were NEVER THERE. I WAS THERE. I SAW it FIRST HAND.

President Somoza wasn't perfect. No one IS. But what they got was FAR WORSE.

Nicaragua has been in my Family since 1928, when my Father and the U.S. Marines went there to help prevent Augusto Sandino from taking the country. My Association with my beloved Nicaragua ended in 1995.

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