Streamers (1983)

Director:

Robert Altman

Writers:

David Rabe (play)
David Rabe (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 April 1984 (France)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Four young recruits about to be sent to Vietnam confront thier prejudicial feelings toward one another when it's learned one of them is homosexual.

Plot Keywords:

Undressing Scene | Bare Butt | Male Nudity | Shower Scene | Male Rape

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Matthew Modine	...	Billy
Michael Wright	...	Carlyle
Mitchell Lichtenstein	...	Richie
David Alan Grier	...	Roger
Guy Boyd	...	Rooney
George Dzundza	...	Cokes
Albert Macklin	...	Martin
B.J. Cleveland	...	Pfc. Bush
Bill Allen	...	Lt. Townsend
Paul Lazar	...	MP Lieutenant
Phil Ward	...	MP Sgt. Kilick
Terry McIlvain	...	Orderly
Todd Savell	...	MP Sgt. Savio
Mark Fickert	...	Dr. Banes
Dustye Winniford	...	Staff Sergeant

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

France:-12 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Building One, Studios at Las Colinas - 6301 North O'Connor Road, Irving, Texas, USA

Company:

Streamers International

Trivia:

The title refers to parachutes that fail to open.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Robert Altman: Art and Soul (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

What A Guy

False Advertising

I thought this movie would be about the nervousness of 4 recruits waiting to be sent to Vietnam. I thought there would be some actual drill sergeant yelling, training, and reality shown, to make us feel what it would be like to be one of these boys. I thought it would be like Full Metal Jacket (in which Modine starred in as well), only different.

What I got was a rambling, Tennessee Williams-type stage play where everyone just talks and talks. The whole movie was basically filmed at night inside this dimly lit "barracks" and we are introduced to the characters on a "weekend" where they get to be themselves, with absolutely no real army drilling going on. It's always dark, and everyone is either drunk or getting drunk. The 2 sergeants in the movie are fall-down drunk the whole time. The movie takes place over a period of only 2 days, I think, and nobody really leaves the barracks. You are stuck watching a few guys whine at each other for almost 2 hours. Therefore, it's deceptive to call this a "war" movie, or even a "military" movie. The only military thing about this movie is that it takes place in a barracks. It could have just as well taken place inside a prison, or a hunting lodge. It's really a movie about racism, homophobia, and the American culture in the late 60's. The characters' dialog seemed forced and over-dramatized, much like a Tennessee Williams play where nothing really happens, but people talk each other to death.

If you like that sort of thing, and do not desire action, suspense, plausibility, or variety of scenery in your movies, then this is the movie for you. For what it was, a zero-budget morality play about social issues in the 60's, it was pretty good. But it's false advertising to say it's a movie about war or the army.