tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post2490211204781742094..comments2024-03-28T14:49:36.133-04:00Comments on John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV: CULT MOVIE REVIEW: Fort Apache: The Bronx (1981)John Kenneth Muirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-34588644184525648912015-09-30T06:56:33.532-04:002015-09-30T06:56:33.532-04:00Powerful comments here, in depth review of the bac...Powerful comments here, in depth review of the back lines this movie offers!<br />The social fabric backdrop is what the story is all about. You could not make a movie like this anywhere else. The ghettos are a world amoungst themselves. Take a stroll through North Philly, most of Detroit, north Baltimore you will find these plot lines everywhere. One spectacular and fabulous story line is the comeback of the South Bronx. 30 years ago on Charlotte street no one would have thought a comeback was possible like Murphy said in the movie " We outta bulldoze the entire Bronx into the East River". They did not people staid and things are quite nice today .<br /><br />Lets see if Detroit could make a comeback.<br /><br />MartyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-55495038387681925432013-09-09T21:51:23.610-04:002013-09-09T21:51:23.610-04:00Anonymous said...
very nice review. i will print t...Anonymous said...<br />very nice review. i will print this and study more. i see you didnt touch on Asner's words to Newman when he resigned something like - do it by the book, the law, to let everyone know that we are running things here and that we affect their lives, its not perfect, do you have a better way? as i read your review i thought it would touch on that but you didnt. <br /><br />i watched this movie years ago and didnt understand it well. just watched it now and gained more insight.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-29214308213577559162010-09-27T14:06:03.681-04:002010-09-27T14:06:03.681-04:00Another excellent, in-depth, thought-provoking rev...Another excellent, in-depth, thought-provoking review, JKM! I'm ashamed to say that I've never seen this film. I've seen it on the TV schedule a million times but alway passed it over but after reading your review I really need to check this one out. It sounds like a very underrated, underappreciated film. One you never hear about or talked about anyone and those films, the ones that seem to slip through the cinematic cracks tend to intrigue me.<br /><br />Good stuff!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08164105442273577128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-10902784981844837502010-09-24T17:16:10.171-04:002010-09-24T17:16:10.171-04:00Thanks John.
Sorry to have to write again, well n...Thanks John.<br /><br />Sorry to have to write again, well not really, but your commentary was worth its weight in and of itself. Amazing what a conversation can spark.<br /><br />I completely agree. I'm fascinated by the period, the pop culture, the culture, the arts. Six Million Dollar Man! <br /><br />Your point is spot on about these protagonists being in the fight for better or worse and the fact these three films seemed essentially like prisons. The culture was on the brink and there was clearly something about the decay and worries of the day for which I was protected, but that I was fascinated by.<br /><br />These films definitely captured the apocallyptic tones that seemed to be building at the time, and despite the fantastical nature of some aspects of at least two of those films, there was a frightening undertone to them all. <br /><br />I really love the film. A terrific write up and commentary and I am placing it back on my must buy list despite being disappointed by the lack of a Blu-Ray. Meet you at the playground. : )SFFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04256589316922398158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-88926705973847785132010-09-24T16:12:00.771-04:002010-09-24T16:12:00.771-04:00Sci-Fi Fanatic: That's a beautiful comment, my...Sci-Fi Fanatic: That's a beautiful comment, my friend. I loved it. Thank you for posting it.<br /><br />ESNY, The Warriors and Fort Apache: The Bronx all on one tape! <br />My goodness, what a view of the "modern" (20th century) city, right? <br /><br />But like your mom's tape of yesteryear, I do place these productions all together. <br /><br />There was this fear in the culture at the time of inevitable, gradual, irreversible urban destruction and decay, and these three movies are prime examples (one fantasy, one sci fi, and one hard, gritty reality) of that fear. If you throw in Wolfen, you've got horror too...<br /><br />Thankfully, our culture somehow backed away from the crime and despair, and New York is not, today, a giant prison. But oddly -- in 1981 -- it didn't seem THAT farfetched.<br /><br />I wonder the same thing you do in your comment: were we separated at birth? :). <br /><br />No, but seriously, I think we are both fascinated by the culture of the 1970s/1980s, and believe strongly that an individual (especially one like Murphy or Connolly) can make a difference. <br /><br />Each of these movies (Warriors, ESNY, and Fort Apache) seems to suggest that in one way or another. Murphy stays in the fight; Snake destroys the corrupt order (destroying the President's tape), and in The Warriors, Swan believes that there's "something better out there" and is willing to fight for it (with Valkenburgh at his side, no less!)<br /><br />I don't really understand why as children we could appreciate the unonventional, loose structure of Fort Apache, but the grown-up critics of the day (who should have known better...) weren't willing to make the same leap. <br /><br />You'd think the opposite would be true, right? That as kids we'd want more action, or more neat wrap-ups. Instead, perhaps, we may have latched onto the underlying apocalyptic mentality of the movie...and somehow it gained a foothold in our imaginations. I don't know for sure, but this movie resonates with me. (And incidentally, my wife, Kathryn, also really, really liked it; and she wasn't expecting that...)<br /><br />Watching it again today, this film really is a classic of the 1970s/1980s cop format, with great performances and a real artistic approach to the material. I'm so glad that you feel the same way...that validates a lot of what I feel and believe about this film.<br /><br />All my best,<br />JohnJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-55653692899112067732010-09-24T15:48:37.164-04:002010-09-24T15:48:37.164-04:00WOW! John. So funny you reviewed this. I had th...WOW! John. So funny you reviewed this. I had this on md DVD watch list because, like Escape From New York, it was a film that thoroughly influenced my childhood years. It was such a formative influence on my love of film. I was so young when I watched it I didn't even know that was the amazing Pam Grier, but she is amazing in her role.<br /><br />I believe I mentioned to you in the past that I had a collection of 3 movies per VHS. My mother had somehow scored someone to make copies of the films being released on VHS. So, with little parental concern, she managed to place a whole slough of amazing films on the those tapes. Escape From New York, The Warriors and Fort Apache comprised one singular VHS tape from my childhood. The Thing, The Fog, Prophecy and several others made up a handful of others. We wore the mother out of those tapes. Before long we were seeing snow. : )<br /><br />Anyway, what a pleasure and welcomed surprise to see one of my classic favorites reviewed here. Thank you. Now for my comments...<br /><br />By the way, I swear you and I probably laid face down with knee scrapes and bike crashes at the same exact time, but it different parts of the country. Funny how lives do mirror one another.<br /><br />Your observations about the film being a loose narrative structure is one of those gritty realities <br />I love about the film. Fantastic! It's one of Paul Newman's finest. I pray that it hits Blu-Ray someday. That would be a treat.<br /><br />Newman is remembered for alot of films. It's surprising this isn't one of them. It should be.<br /><br />I love those closing paragraphs. Boy, ain't that the truth. We are inheritors of all that came before us. Or as the old adage goes, the sins of the father pass on. I would like to thing, as I'm sure you'll agree, we certainly try and make a positive difference in a place where our surroundings may not necessarily be of our making. I'm one of the lucky ones too.<br /><br />So, why is it two young boys like us could appreciate a film of such depth over critics back in the day?SFFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04256589316922398158noreply@blogger.com