Walker (1987)

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Directed by Alex Cox.

Starring Blanca Guerra, Ed Harris, Richard Masur, Marlee Matlin, Sy Richardson, Keith Szarabajka, Peter Boyle.

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Alex Cox directed this hallucinatory bio-pic starring Ed Harris as 19th-century American adventurer William Walker, who abandoned a series of careers in law, politics, journalism, and medicine to become a soldier of fortune and eventually a Nicaraguan dictator. When his deaf wife (Marlee Matlin) dies of cholera (but not before she utilizes sign language to tell Walker "To Hell with Manifest Destiny"), Walker is backed by multi-millionaire banker Cornelius Vanderbilt (Peter Boyle) to lead a band of mercenaries to Nicaragua in 1855 to make the country safe for Vanderbilt's steamships. When Walker subdues the Nicaraguan opposition, he sets himself up as president and rules the country with unfeeling repression. Finally the Nicaraguans rise up against him, figuring out that "the mad gringo is ripping us off." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Re:Top 5 Completely Over the To ...
by leeroy711 in Top 5

hasn't rated it.

"[quote user="Smooth_J"] In terms of over-the-top anachronisms and strangely disjointed hallucinatory scenes, Walker would be a fine addition to the list. [/quote] Don't forget about Altered States in reference to strangely disjointed hallucinatory scenes. " [More]

Re:Top 5 Completely Over the To ...
by Smooth_J in Top 5

liked it.

"In terms of over-the-top anachronisms and strangely disjointed hallucinatory scenes, Walker would be a fine addition to the list. And, pretty much a given, but Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 are completely over-the-top and completely awesome. I'd say they're sort of poster-children of over-the-top done to near perfection. " [More]

Decently intriguing film
by Smooth_J in Smooth_J Blog

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"I noticed no one has said anything about this movie, so I figured I would be the first to say that it is a pretty good film. It is all in all a commentary on the 1980s Nicaraguan conflict, exploiting the story of a forgotten American "hero" during the time of Manifest Destiny. What it is really trying to say is that the idea of Manifest Destiny and ultra-patriotism still existed in the United States, especially during the 1970s-80s, when we just couldn't seem to keep our noses out of Central American affairs. It succeeds on that level, but not too many others. The acting is at times pretty corny...Ed Harris successfully portrays William Walker and his many undeveloped personality traits, but even he slips up at times as his performance slips into camp. Peter Boyle makes a pretty funny cameo as millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt, the man who funds Walker's campaign in Nicaragua and ultimately sets him up as dictator. Some of the scenes are actually really cool, such a scene where ... " [More]

Tags: bizarre , nicaragua , manifest-destiny , criterion , underrated
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