The Revenant ( spoilers!)


Ouch!

 With all of the internet ballyhoo about DiCaprio latest survivalist movie The Revenant, I thought I would brace myself and go and see the three hour revenge fest.
Armed with a coffee and a smuggled in M&S scotch egg, I thought I was prepared for this epic set in the bleak mid western wilderness of 1823.
I wasn't.
From the stunning and totally visceral Indian attack of the opening few minutes, it was very clear that The Revenant is a very raw and demanding movie. It grabs you with some of the most stunning visuals I have ever seen captured on film, then throttles you with relentless drama, and nailbiting tension . There is no let up for three whole hours
The story is a simple one of revenge.
A large group of fur trappers are massacred by indians searching for a chief's lost daughter. The survivors are led by scout Hugh Glass ( DiCaprio) and his indian son Hawk ( Forrest Goodyear) but
an attack by a bear leaves Glass critically injured and causes upset  in the trappers' ranks as the
men argue whether or not to leave Glass in the wilderness.
One of the most belligerent trappers John Fitzgerald ( Tom Hardy) kills Hawk and abandons Glass and the film chronicles Glass' near impossible struggle against the elements, marauding indians,  stomach churning physical injuries , starvation and grief.
Fucking hell, it was all bloody too much.
The bear attack, alone made me drop my second scotch egg in surprise for it is the most intensely shocking and horrific sequence I have ever seen in my 45 years of regular cinema going.
I could hardly watch the screen it was that " bad"


DiCaprio is impressive as the driven and perpetually suffering Glass, it's a remarkable and physically demanding performance for sure , but , for me , it's Tom Hardy's brutal Fitzgerald that grabbed my attention more. It's a performance of some charm, depth and understandable harshness.

The director, Alejandro Inarritu, has produced an undeniably beautiful movie, as every scene of The Revenant is crafted and framed like a painting but this tale of revenge and survival is, in my opinion, a good hour too long.
It's a case of too much misery for one Welshman to adequately cope with on a rainy Thursday afternoon.
8/10



79 comments:

  1. No, no, no, no, NO! I will not be going to see that.

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  2. I'm debating on whether to see it or not as it was filmed a mere 150kms from me. Canada has such beautiful scenery. Another film that showcases Alberta's landscape is "Unforgiven" with Clint Eastwood.

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    1. It made it look amazing......and somewhat harsh

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  3. I'm debating on whether to see it or not as it was filmed a mere 150kms from me. Canada has such beautiful scenery. Another film that showcases Alberta's landscape is "Unforgiven" with Clint Eastwood.

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  4. We went to see this last weekend. It was too much for me too. My head was most definitely in my hands over and over. The only time LH winced was when Glass on his horse ran off the cliff.

    I just kept thinking 'will you f*cking well die so I can go home and watch Midsomer Murders' .. but no nothing was going to kill him was it!!

    I gave it a 6/10 just because although the cinematography was brilliant it was just too much for me .... and I like horror films!!

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    1. When the pony and Hugh flew over the cliff...i had to let out a little shout of " fucking hell, what next"

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    2. Sue, I love Midsomer Murders too.
      I saw the previews for The Revenant and decided it was not a movie I would ever think of watching, ever.
      The horse off the cliff just did it for me. No No No !
      I assume he will get the Oscar, they love when you gain or lose weight, play ugly or suffer. For me Matt Damon should win for The Martian, but I don't think he will.

      cheers, parsnip

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    3. My nightly tv watching is Midsomer Murders and Poirot.
      AcornTV and ProjectFreeTV.

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  5. Thanks John, I don't think I'll be going to see it. It must have been a shocker if you dropped your second Scotch Egg !!

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  6. Watching Naked and Afraid, I surmise, was not enough to prepare me for a movie like this. Thanks for the warning.

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  7. Interesting, I'm not much into gore and bleeding flesh fests but the real reason I won't be going is that my aboriginal friends are sickened by the premise and are boycotting.

    XO
    WWW

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    1. Thats interesting
      What are they objecting to?

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    2. The native indians come off better than any of the " white men"

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    3. Half of my family are part Native Americans, they would never see a film if they started boycotting movies lol

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    4. Why are they boycotting ? The First Nations people, from the Alberta reserves, that were in the movie thought it was a great opportunity for them and enjoyed doing the movie. And that is straight from the horse's mouth.

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    5. Why are they boycotting ? The First Nations people, from the Alberta reserves, that were in the movie thought it was a great opportunity for them and enjoyed doing the movie. And that is straight from the horse's mouth.

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  8. I have the book on hold at the library. I will make up my own visuals from the writers words.

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  9. Anonymous6:06 pm

    I want to see it,, I'll just close my eyes in the gory bits!!

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    1. You'll have your eyes shut for an hour and a half then

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  10. Lord of the Flies put me off movies like this. And that was more than forty years ago. Another film I won't watch. It would be interesting to keep score among the comments to see who will and who won't be taking it in.

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  11. I don't like watching violence and wickedness so it's not for me. Regarding bears; If you are faced with a bear you are supposed to wave your arms in the air to make yourself look taller and make as much as noise a possible. Don't do this if faced with a lion though or you will be eaten alive!!!

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    1. I'll remember your advice next time i see a bear x

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    2. But remember, you might be able to outrun a bear but not out climb him. snicker.

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  12. I saw 21 grams and Amoros Perros ... he is a brilliant filmmaker but not a pretty film maker, that is for sure !
    These days I avoid films like this - I am not ready for too much harsh reality yet. But he is definitely brilliant and having DiCaprio in it iced that cake :)

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  13. After that revue - lost Scotch egg and all - this is definitely a film I do not wish to see John.

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  14. This would haunt me for years, no exaggeration. I still remember a movie almost forty years ago that had a 5 second gory part, for god's sake. I will not be going either! Thank you for the review. It's good to be warned.

    Did you pick up your Scotch egg and eat it anyway?

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  15. Heavens! I'm another who will be watching a rerun of The Sound of Music!!!

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  16. No tap dancing? Shan't bother then.

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  17. I know the men were tough back in those days but this was a bit too much to take, really... would he have survived all of that?
    I thought the film was okay and did watch it all through but apart from the gore the story line wasn't as good as it could have been.
    But if you like a lot of blood and guts so see it.
    Briony
    x

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    1. Not a chance that ANYONE could have survived everything depicted in the movie, Briony.

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  18. I also saw the film with a beaker of coffee in my hand and when the film ended I suddenly realised I was still holding the beaker two and a half hours later. It had been so absorbing.

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  19. I imagine a dropped M&S scotch egg would warrant 3 hours of misery!

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  20. You know, the bear attack would not bother me as much as the idea that they killed his son.
    Yorkshire Pudding, I can imagine that happening :)

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  21. Bears. Let's just say not for me and leave it at that................

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  22. Saw it. Hated it. The bear attack? I actually laughed. I have big dogs who do the same thing to their stuffed toys. I actually leaned over and said to my friend Pat, "you watch, they're going to roll down the hill together," and... well, you saw the movie.

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  24. It sounds like a film that I need to wait to watch it on TV at home. I always get food in the kitchen or something during the most suspenseful parts. Not especially fond of bears ...

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  25. My granddaughter (aged 21) is out watching it now. I can't wait for her to come home and tell me what she thinks !

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  26. Richard Harris in Man in the Wilderness. That was the film that I was remembering that had everyone upset .. he is attacked by a massive bear in that film.

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  27. I was thinking that this wasn't my type of movie and now I know that for sure. I think I'll skip this one.

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  28. Too gory for me. I like comedies and cartoons!

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    1. Yeah, me too. Though I still have nightmares about Bambi's mother....

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    2. Yep as a child I howled at the death of Bambi's mother.

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    3. My mother wouldn't take me to see Bambi. She knew how I would react. I've never seen it...and don't intend to. I prefer reading the books to watching the movies. I can absorb the violence, etc at my own pace instead of having it slammed in my face.

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  29. Anonymous8:55 pm

    Doesn't sound like something I'd want to see...there's enough stress and tension in real life without paying to experience it.

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  30. I loved it. I don't like gore, but I didn't think this was very gory. Yes there was plenty of blood from wounds etc (and the horse bit, bleugh) but it was all believable stuff, not buckets of it thrown around for the hell of it. I was totally engrossed, and Tom Hardy and Leo were amazing.

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  31. I have been wondering what this was all about and now you have shared it, I don't think I can cope with all of that! I do love your reviews - heck, I love most everything you post as it is either hilarious or insightful and well worth a daily read. Thanks x

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  32. Glad you enjoyed it. I couldn't see Tom Hardy's face and he is the reason I went to see it. I thought I was going to get blood clots in my legs. I gave it a 4 out of 10. I also like Innaritu films, another reason I wanted to see it.

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  33. My retired man went to see it last week. I chose not to join him as three hours of violence and brutality is not fun for me. I can't understand why it is for others. For the past few years, DiCaprio seems to be making only these kind of movies. He really needs to lighten up.

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  34. No way in the world ..... I watched the documentary about Timothy Treadwell the bear activitist who was killed with his girlfriend by a bear. At the time of his death he had been filming and the recorder was left on with audio recording of his and his girlfriends death. It was deeply traumatic just watching the documentary . After that I was so appreciative of the fact that there are no bears in Australia. Apart from the koala bear that is not a bear ..

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  35. I can live without this one, John but I do appreciate your review analysis which was as usual very well done.

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  36. I want to see it thanks for reminding me, my sis saw it and she loved it...it is based on a true event!

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  37. And this is from a hardened veteran of the Walking Dead. Nope. Give me a brainless RomCom any day.

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  39. John...SPOILERS?

    This is a Western Legend, so you are not quite spoiling it. Although here in Montana we do have more Bridger things named after Jim Bridger i.e. Mountains, highways etc. , than Hugh Glass...

    In fact, I can't think of one thing named in Montana after Hugh Glass.

    But Hugh Glass did travel by my homestead - Powder River - back in 1824. I guess I could call one of the hills on our place "Hugh Glass Butte"...

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  40. Hmmm…maybe a new movie rating system: number of Scotch eggs dropped...

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  41. Don't think I'll be seeing that one!

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  42. Oooh la .. Tom Hardy :)
    I would see movies like this with my husband and hide my face on his arm when the scary/gory/icky bits came on .. Now I will have to hold a cat lol .. can you see it .. woman with cat held across her eyes like a furry little mask .. I need to go to bed, I am getting giddy.

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  43. Thanks for your review, I am skipping this one, sounds too intense and too much gore.

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  44. The stories about the man and all he went through are harrowing enough, adding visuals to it would be like volunteering for a lemon juice enema.

    Glad for the warning, though.

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  46. Sounds like a great movie, I'll watch out for it arriving in our cinemas.

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  47. If you hadn't eaten it already you could have eased the boredom of the last hour with a faux nutscape using your scotch egg. After all you didn't eat it after it had been dropped did you????!!!!

    http://lovelygreyday.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/nutscaping-for-girls.html

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  48. I do so NOT want to see this. You've given the reasons why. At my age, brutally visceral cinema experiences have rather too much to take, especially when classed as 'entertainment'. However....however....duty calls (ho hum!) and it's been inked into my diary for 10 days hence, so no escape now.
    Even the advance knowledge that the bear is CGI'd does little to assuage my trepidation. I think I may well be looking away from the screen longer than actually at it!

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    1. I find that too! The older I get the less I like gore, horror, bad language, explicit sex scenes.... I've turned into Mary Whitehouse!...

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    2. I think, W., that as some of us get ever more conscious of the limited time we have left, we do start wondering if spending some of it in needlessly torturing ourselves is, frankly, not the best use to make of this diminishing commodity.

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    3. I agree ! It is sort of like asking yourself .. are these the sights you want to see ? Are these the sounds you want to hear ? And those visuals stick in your mind ..

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  49. Oh. Sounds like one of those films I will admire from afar. Wish I could watch the no doubt amazing film but my heart couldn't take it.

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  50. We're planning to go and see this on Pensioner's Cheapy Day next week. It sounds good (though gut-churning!)

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  51. I agree the bear scene was too horrible to watch. The your right, the movie just kept coming with anger grief, survival, revenge...all the way to the end. What was really interesting and for me thought provoking was the very end when DeCaprio looks straight at you, almost challenging you... asking the question, What would you have done? Good movie, like I said a bit brutal for my taste. Hade to cover my eyes a lot.

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  52. I saw it because I had to as I'm a SAG awards voter. I agree that it was wonderfully crafted, but too long and too brutal for my taste. It's a shame that Dicaprio, who has such a fine body of work, might finally get his Oscar for this saga of grunting and suffering. I might end up voting for him just because of the physical punishment of the role. But he really should have received the Oscar the first time he was nominated -- for his stunning performance as a developmentally disabled, autistic teenager in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape". My only consolation in watching this movie was that I was watching it at home, on an award screeners site, so I could just get up and walk away when the action was a bit too much for me. If I had been in a theater, like Theresa, I would have covered my eyes a lot!

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    1. Oh, I so so agree with you about "Gilbert"!

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  53. We just saw this last night and enjoyed it although I agree -- they could easily have cut an hour out of it without any damage to the story. And I will just patriotically point out that it was largely filmed here in Alberta, in the mountains of Kananaskis (near Calgary) and the badlands of Drumheller. Also, British Columbia got some scenes as well -- probably the forest ones with all the big trees.

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  54. Well, I'm on my annual quest to see all of the movies nominated for Best Picture Oscar, and I saw this two days ago. Besides the cinematography, I just didn't enjoy it. In fact, I considered leaving before the end - I got bored and tired! The story and characters just didn't engage me. Nevertheless, I look for it to win best director, and possibly best picture and actor. I thought it was a long miserable slog, actually almost rdiculous with it's relentless gore, and I was just not engaged. On the other hand, I LOVED Room and Spotlight, and really enjoyed The Danish Girl and The Martian. Even liked Mad Max better. Still have to see Brooklyn, The Big Short and Bridge of Spies. Also, (not nominated) Carol was excellent and engrossing...

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  55. Very cool review. (I hope you don't mind, I added you to my Blogroll.)

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  57. I mostly agree with your review, John. I think the film was too long as well, but perhaps by only 30 minutes. And, some of it is pretentious and overwrought. However, the scenery is undeniably spectacular, the cinematography is superb (the scene in which DiCaprio is crossing the frozen lake is surreal), and I literally gasped when DiCaprio and his horse plunged over the cliff when they were pursued by Indians. There is no way that any finale could ever make up for DiCaprio's unceasing torment throughout the rest of the movie, but the director did his best to milk the revenge for all it was worth; enough already--just kill the guy!

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