Josh Brolin is pretty short as well to be fair.
Josh Brolin is pretty short as well to be fair.
I forget the film, one of the Hollywood classics, but there is a scene where the lead actress walks alongside the leading man and they actually dug a trench for her to walk in so as to maintain the illusion he was taller!
I believe that was Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart & Ingrid Bergman
Can someone please get Lionsgate to release The Way of the Gun on blu/4K? It's one of the most perfectly pitch black comedy thrillers in decades and perfectly captures the spirit of latter period Peckinpah. The scene in the sperm back in classic McQuarrie. And that final act shoot out is epic. Jumping from gun fire only to land in a pile of broken glass is still the most wince-inducing gag I've seen in a film.
Ray Stevenson would have been my choice as Reacher, but Cruise did alright. Got the iTunes version, so hope the audio is upgraded to 7.1 Dolby Digital plus.
It's been out for a few years now. Lionsgate Region A locked US Blu-ray.
You can pick it up from Amazon US through Amazon UK for £7 plus a hefty £5 postage; but at least it's Amazon UK, and £12 is nothing for this masterpiece.
Amazon UK link
Given how long it took them to put it on BD, I think it's safe to say there will never be a 4K release. At least not while there are films like National Lampoon for Lionsgate to release.
Way of the Gun is one of the greatest underrated gems in existence and one of my all-time favourite films.
I might knock up a review to coincide with Fallout if I get the chance; McQuarrie has never been better than in this debut, and what a debut!
What's frustrating is the snobbery associated with this film. Jaws was very different to the novel, The Shining was equally at odds with the original text.
So what if Cruise isn't over 6 foot? It's a good film, can't we judge it as that?
Incidentally, I'm not suggesting this is as good as the classics I mentioned in the first paragraph!
Oh God! Please NO!Maybe Dolph Lundgren should have played Jack Reacher would have been more intimidating.
At the time of watching the first film I not read any of the Jack Reacher books and thoroughly enjoyed it and still do after reading a couple of the series, but I'm with you on your point that the character is not fully what in the books. It's a bit like taking Batman out if the comics for the first time and not having a bat costume and only wearing normal clothes and just having a mask over the eyes. You may get the story and action right but not the essence of a major characteristic of the character.I feel that "snobbery" is a bit off the Mark. We aren't talking about the plot, & we aren't talking about an adaptation of a stand-alone Novel. Here we have THE Central Character of a series of 23 Books whose Build is totally different from Tom Cruise. One of the key points of Reacher in the Novels is that his sheer size intimidates people, & on the other side sometimes provokes characters who fancy they can beat him to take him on. That whole part is gone as soon as you have ANY Actor who isn't built like a Brick .... House playing Reacher.
I enjoyed the first film a lot as it is, but I have to watch it as a Film that happens to use a Similar plot as a Jack Reacher Novel, rather than a Film version of that Novel.
Just my way of watching it; doesn't mean I am right!
I feel that "snobbery" is a bit off the Mark. We aren't talking about the plot, & we aren't talking about an adaptation of a stand-alone Novel. Here we have THE Central Character of a series of 23 Books whose Build is totally different from Tom Cruise. One of the key points of Reacher in the Novels is that his sheer size intimidates people, & on the other side sometimes provokes characters who fancy they can beat him to take him on. That whole part is gone as soon as you have ANY Actor who isn't built like a Brick .... House playing Reacher.
I enjoyed the first film a lot as it is, but I have to watch it as a Film that happens to use a Similar plot as a Jack Reacher Novel, rather than a Film version of that Novel.
Just my way of watching it; doesn't mean I am right!
Agreed. And it is not just the build, which plays a defining role in the novels, it is the character himself. Enjoy the film, and I did, enjoy some of the novels, and I did, but they are not the same. If memory serves, the first film is cobbled together from several of the novels.
Memory doesn't serve you well really.
The first film is based on 'One Shot'. What's interesting about the book is that its probably the weakest of all the Reacher books (yes I have read them all). The film is actually better than the book. Unlike Never Go Back where the book is better than the film which isn't great unfortunately.
Look at it another way though - no Cruise would mean this film would never have been made. And Im still struggling to think of an actor who can match up physically to the Reacher of the books but also have everything else - which Cruise did supply to be fair.