Salvador [Blu-ray]

Director: Oliver Stone Oliver Stone

Overview

While Salvador wasn't Oliver Stone's first film (a pair of offbeat horror stories preceded it), it defined his style of fiercely dramatic, politically oriented filmmaking, staked out his territory as one of the major directors of the 1980s and 1990s, and remains one of his strongest works to date. Veteran photojournalist Richard Boyle (James Woods) has been taking his camera to the world's trouble spots for over 20 years; while he does good work, Boyle's fondness for booze and drugs, and his colossal arrogance, have given him a reputation that's left him practically unemployable. Broke and with no immediate prospects, Boyle and his buddy Doctor Rock (Jim Belushi), an out-of-work disc jockey, head to El Salvador, where Boyle is convinced that he can scare up some lucrative freelance work amidst the nation's political turmoil. However, when Boyle and Rock witness the execution of a student by government troops just as they enter the country, it becomes clear that this war is more serious than they were expecting. Increasingly convinced that El Salvador is a disaster starting to happen, Boyle eventually decides that it's time to get out; but he has fallen in love with a woman named Maria (Elpidia Carrillo), and he doesn't want to leave her behind. James Woods gives one of his best performances as Boyle; and the passion of Stone's message, aided by the power of its truth (the film is based on actual events), propels the film forward.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/31/2022
UPC:	0850035985809
Original Release:	1986
Rating:	R
Source:	Sandpiper Pictures
Language:	English
Time:	2:02:00
Sales rank:	12,803

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

James Woods	Richard Boyle
James Belushi	Doctor Rock
John Savage	John Cassady
Elpidia Carrillo	Maria
Tony Plana	Maj. Max
Colby Chester	Jack Morgan
Cynthia Gibb	Cathy Moore,Cathy Moore
Will MacMillan	Col. Hyde
Valerie Wildman	Pauline Axelrod
Jorge Luke	Col. Julio Figueroa
Juan Fernandez	Army Lieutenant
Salvador Sanchez	Human Rights Leader,Maria's Grandmother
Martin Fuentes	Maria's Brother
Gary Farr	Australian Reporter
Gilles Milinaire	French Reporter
Ramon Menendez	Maj. Max's Assistant
Leticia Valenzuela	Woman Rebel
Roberto Sosa	Rebel Youth
Daria Okugawa	Dog Attendant
Sue Ann McKean	Cop in San Francisco
Joshua Gallegos	Immigration Officer on Bus
Maria Rubell	Boyle's Baby
Tyrone Jones	Landlord, San Francisco
Sean Stone	Boyle's Baby
Danna Hansen	Sister Stan
Sigridur Gudmunds	Sister Burkit
Erika Carlson	Sister Wagner
Karla Glover	Kelly Assistant,Kelly
Jule Conn	WAC at Party
Arturo Bonilla	Romero Assassin
'Chiquilin' Zepeda	Death Squad
Nicholas Jasso	Death Squad
Jose Trowe	Jail Guard,Jail Guard
Hector Tellez	Mayor at Nun's Burial
Jorge Reynoso	Jefe at Customs Shed
Jorge Pol	Customs Officer
Cesar Sobrevals	Customs Officer
Bruno Rubeo	Customs Officer
Bob Morones	Customs Officer
Juliana Urquisa	Wilma
Queta Carrasco	Bruja
Ma. De Los Angeles Urquiza	Mamma Moncha at Panama Club
Tomas Leal	Rapist
Rene Perevra	Rapist
Arturo R. Doring	Young Student Killed
Yair De Rubin	Maria's Son
Humberto Elizondo	Road Block Thug
Mario Arevalo	Road Block Thug
Gerardo Quiroz	Carlos' Friend
Israel Leon	Carlos' Friend
Mauricio Martinez	Executed Lieutenant
Xochitl Del Rosario	Messenger on Horse
Augustin Bernal	Bodyguard to Major Max,Bodyguard to Major Max
John MacDevitt	GI in Salvador
Waldeir DeSouza	US Customs Official
Angel Vargas	Tic Tac Monster in Cafe
Miguel Ehrenberg	Capt. Marti
José Carlos Ruiz	Archbishop Romero
Rosario Zúñiga	Human Rights Assistant
Will MacMillian	Col. Hyde
Claudia Hernandez	Maria's Daughter
Bill Hoag	2nd Immigration Officer
Ann Sue McKean	Cop in San Francisco
René Pereyra	Rapist
Yair Rubin De	Maria's Son
Carmen Del Ma. Sanchez	Maria's Grandmother
Angeles Los De Ma. Urquiza	Mamma Moncha at Panama Club
John Doe	Roberto, Restaurant Owner
Michael Murphy	Actor
Georges Delerue	Composer

Technical Credits

Oliver Stone

Richard Boyle

Oliver Stone	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
John Daly	Executive Producer,Producer
Yves De Bono	Special Effects
Derek Gibson	Executive Producer,Producer
Gerald Green	Producer
Richard Boyle	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Salvador may be Oliver Stone's best film, even if it is one of his least known and commercially disappointing. Released in the same year as Stone's more acclaimed Platoon, Salvador takes a rare, politically volatile subject: the U.S.-backed war in El Salvador and gives audiences a thrill-a-minute ride through the eyes of its unlikely protagonist, photographer Richard Boyle (James Woods). The reliable Woods is terrific, given room to roam by Stone in a complex and unforgiving role, and James Belushi as his friend is a dramatic surprise. The film is compelling both as a semi-autobiographical account of a risk-taking, globe-trotting photojournalist (Stone wrote the screenplay with Boyle) and as a mesmerizing political horror story. It's comparable in some ways toMissing, as one of a few mainstream American films to examine the United States's Latin American foreign policy and its impact on peoples' lives. Salvador marked Stone as a political maverick with a dazzling directorial style, as kinetic and frenetic as it would be in his later work. Michael Betzold

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