Southern Comfort (1981)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Walter Hill

Writers:

Michael Kane (written by) and
Walter Hill (written by) ...

Release Date:

22 January 1982 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | War

Tagline:

The bayou has its own law... and they just broke it.

Plot:

A squad of National Guards on an isolated weekend exercise in the Louisiana swamp must fight for their...

Plot Keywords:

Cajun | Swamp | National Guard | Louisiana | Blank Bullet

Cast

Keith Carradine	...	Pfc. Spencer
Powers Boothe	...	Cpl. Charles Hardin
Fred Ward	...	Cpl. Lonnie Reece
Franklyn Seales	...	Pfc. Simms
T.K. Carter	...	Pfc. Tyrone Cribbs
Lewis Smith	...	Pfc. Stuckey
Les Lannom	...	Sgt. Casper
Peter Coyote	...	Staff Sgt. Crawford Poole
Alan Autry	...	Cpl. 'Coach' Bowden (as Carlos Brown)
Brion James	...	Cajun Trapper
Sonny Landham	...	Hunter
Allan Graf	...	Hunter
Ned Dowd	...	Hunter
Rob Ryder	...	Hunter
Greg Guirard	...	Cajun Couple

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA | Switzerland | UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Denmark:15 | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2007) | Australia:R | New Zealand:R16 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:15 (2000) | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Caddo Lake, Texas, USA

Company:

Cinema Group Ventures

Trivia:

Brion James worked with an actual Louisiana Cajun to develop his accent.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The rifle used by the National Guard squad is the M16A1 rifle. Mixing blank rounds with live ball ammunition is possible, but the weapon would lose its semi-automatic capabilities (being able to fire a round with every squeeze of the trigger). The rifle can fire blank rounds in automatic or semi-automatic settings, but must use a blank adapter (a plug in the muzzle).

Quotes:

Staff Sgt. Crawford Poole: [when they first meet] So, Hardin, how do you like being in the Louisiana Guard?
Hardin: [flat] I don't. But then I didn't much like being in the Texas Guard, either.
Staff Sgt. Crawford Poole: ...Well, not liking the Texas Guard makes sense. Not liking the LOUISIANA Guard can get you in trouble with me. You got that?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Leech Woman (#9.2)" (1997)

Cajun Hell

I'd say if DELIVERANCE would be the ultimate survival-movie, then SOUTHERN COMFORT would come in as a close second. A friend of mine gave me this movie and even though I had already seen some movies by director Walter Hill (which I liked) I hadn't heard of SOUTHERN COMFORT yet. Strange, since I always dig a good survival-movie. And when I read that Powers Boothe was in it, I couldn't help smiling a bit, because I've seen good ol' Boothieboy in some stinkers before, like MUTANT SPECIES (aka BIO-FORCE 1) and that Rutger Hauer-flick A BREED APART. A pleasant surprise it was when I saw that Powers Boothe actually was cool as hell in SOUTHERN COMFORT, giving a dead-serious performance and acting really tough when it's called for.

Now, compared to DELIVERANCE, the main characters in SOUTHERN COMFORT have a little less background, so it's a bit harder to like them. In fact some of them aren't really likable at all. The good thing about all this is that the movie wastes no time. Here we have a platoon of National Guardsmen going on a training mission into the Louisiana swamps. Powers Boothe is the new guy in the platoon and the only one we know who's got a wife somewhere. Most of the other members are just a bunch of trigger-happy weekend-soldiers. Being a bit lost in the swamps, they (at some point) thoughtlessly antagonise some native Cajun people. Those Cajuns indeed do take this the wrong way and seek revenge in a brutal and murderous game of hide-and-seek in the eerie, mist-laden swamplands.

The cinematography is excellent. The desolate swamps are beautifully captured on film, with nice camera angles. You immediately feel that the soldiers are in a big disadvantage not knowing the environment (while the Cajuns do). Then there's the superb soundtrack by Ry Cooder. I was so happy with that soundtrack. It sets the right mood. And I believe this is actually the first movie I've seen that doesn't have that cliché snare-drum roll on the soundtrack every time we see some military folks on screen. Thank you, Ry Cooder! I won't spend many further words on the story, 'cause you all know the drill. They go down one by one, and it's just a matter of who will survive. And I loved the feeling I got when two survivors (I won't mention their names) got rescued by that truck. You just know that it's not gonna end there. I knew it and Boothieboy knew it too (oops, I mentioned a name... Oh well, he's got a wife, remember? So you just know he will at least make it through half of the movie). It was also great fun seeing Brion James as a French speaking swamp-redneck.

There's not much gore in it, but at some point we do get to see some real living pigs being shot in the head and their throats slit (and their guts being spilled afterwards). So beware, the more fragile viewers amongst you (but then they probably won't see a survival-movie to begin with).

And then there's the ending... It's very abrupt and I think you can interpret it in two ways, because the movie doesn't go on long enough to know for sure. I'm betting, based on the rather dramatic undertone that the final slow-motion shots were carrying, that it's not a happy end at all.

Anyway, enough said, this is a must-see when it comes to survival-movies. And if you like that genre, then you might want to seek out a lesser known film that's well worth a watch, called HUNTER'S BLOOD (1987). Happy hunting!