Under Fire (1983)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Roger Spottiswoode

Writers:

Clayton Frohman (screenplay)
Clayton Frohman (story)

Release Date:

21 October 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

This wasn't their war but it was their story...and they wouldn't let it go!

Plot:

Three journalists in a romantic triangle are involved in political intrigue during the last days of the corrupt Somozoa regime in Nicaragua before it falls to a popular revolution in 1979.

Plot Keywords:

Nicaragua | Journalist | Photographer | Revolution | Civil War

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Nick Nolte	...	Russell Price
Ed Harris	...	Oates
Gene Hackman	...	Alex Grazier
Joanna Cassidy	...	Claire
Alma Martinez	...	Isela (as Alma Martínez)
Holly Palance	...	Journalist
Ella Laboriel	...	Nightclub Singer
Samuel Zarzosa	...	Jazz Combo: drums
Jonathan Zarzosa	...	Jazz Combo: piano
Raul Picasso	...	Jazz Combo: bass
Oswaldo Doria	...	Boy Photographer
Fernando Elizondo	...	Businessman
Hamilton Camp	...	Regis Seydor
Jean-Louis Trintignant	...	Marcel Jazy
Richard Masur	...	Hub Kittle

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Norway:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Chiapas, Mexico

Company:

Lions Gate Films

Trivia:

WILHELM SCREAM: when a man is thrown off an elephant in the beginning of the film

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: At the beginning, when Price is given a lift from the soldiers (Oates is among them), the shadow of the whole crew is cast on the scene.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Russell Price: Can I get a ride?

Soundtrack:

The Sandinista hymn

Fantastic, yet slightly fictionalized account

As a Nicaraguan-American who lived there during the opening thunderclaps of the full scale Sandinista revolt, I must say I was extremely impressed with this movie as a whole. Although it takes a slight turn to the political left, it manages to keep the story on an even keel and not embelish so.

It is interesting that by far the truest insight is delivered by the cynical French opportunist. Tyranny and oppression lay on both sides of the political fence. If the right hand doesn't get you, the left one will. When the FSLN took power in 1979, they immediately announced their communist regime much to the chagrin of the populace (personally, I believe in this crazy little thing called "freedom").

The people who were just liberated from 40 years of right wing (US supported) tyranny, now had it from the (Soviet supported) left, and then some. Proof of this was the mass exodus of Nicas to other places, and the (US backed, of course) "Contra" rebels, made up of former Sandinistas who immediately took up arms against their former comrades, and fought for a proper democracy, which was finally achieved when the USSR folded its cards in the late 80s.

Nicaragua was then free.