New York trapper Tom Dobb becomes an unwilling participant in the American Revolution after his son Ned is drafted into the Army by the villainous Sergeant Major Peasy. Tom attempts to find...
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Title: Revolution (1985)
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1 win & 4 nominations.
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Edit
Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Al Pacino | ... | ||
| Donald Sutherland | ... |
Sgt. Maj. Peasy
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| Nastassja Kinski | ... |
Daisy McConnahay
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| Joan Plowright | ... |
Mrs. McConnahay
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Dave King | ... |
Mr. McConnahay
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| Steven Berkoff | ... |
Sgt. Jones
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John Wells | ... |
Corty
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| Annie Lennox | ... |
Liberty Woman
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| Dexter Fletcher | ... |
Ned Dobb
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Sid Owen | ... |
Young Ned
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| Richard O'Brien | ... |
Lord Hampton
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| Paul Brooke | ... |
Lord Darling
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Eric Milota | ... |
Merle
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| Felicity Dean | ... |
Betsy
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Jo Anna Lee | ... |
Amy
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Edit
Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
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Storyline
New York trapper Tom Dobb becomes an unwilling participant in the American Revolution after his son Ned is drafted into the Army by the villainous Sergeant Major Peasy. Tom attempts to find his son, and eventually becomes convinced that he must take a stand and fight for the freedom of the Colonies, alongside the aristocratic rebel Daisy McConnahay. As Tom undergoes his change of heart, the events of the war unfold in large-scale grandeur. Written by William Agee <wa0521@broncho.ucok.edu>
Plot Keywords:
american revolution | blood splatter | tragic hero | dark hero | war veteran |Taglines:
A Nation Forged In Blood See more »Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated PG-13 for war violence and related images | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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See more »
See full technical specs »
Details
Language:
EnglishRelease Date:
25 December 1985 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Revolution 1776 See more »Box Office
Budget:
$28,000,000 (estimated)Gross:
$184,570 (USA)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
| (DVD) | (Director's Cut)Color:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
Edit
Offscreen Slave: We want freedom too!
See more »
(uncredited)
Traditional
Lyrics by Alfred Shaughnessy
Arranged by Harry Rabinowitz
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
American war soldier extras and background artists mainly were ex-servicemen from the region of Plymouth, South Devon in the county of Devon, England. See more »Goofs
By the time of Valley Forge, Washington's Continental Army was in such a bad state that most men did not even have shoes or boots, yet no-one in the Valley Forge scenes is barefoot. See more »Quotes
Offscreen Revolutionary: Get out of here, you Negro!Offscreen Slave: We want freedom too!
See more »
Soundtracks
Drummer Boy Lament(uncredited)
Traditional
Lyrics by Alfred Shaughnessy
Arranged by Harry Rabinowitz
See more »
I'm all for the idea of a grand epic of the American Revolutionary War. This ain't it. (And for that matter, neither was the Emmerich/Devlin/Gibson THE PATRIOT. But I digress.)
I saw this film at a publicity screening at the old MGM Studios (now Sony) just before it came out. The audience had high expectations for this expensive period piece, written by veteran Robert Dillon, directed by the esteemed Hugh Hudson (of CHARIOTS OF FIRE fame), and starring Al Pacino.
But it didn't take long for people to start squirming in their seats, whispering derisive comments about Pacino's horribly misconceived accent -- he was supposed to be an American frontiersman of Scottish ancestry(!) -- and that of Nastassja Kinski, who was supposed to be recently emigrated from England(!!). Then the story started and it all went downhill fast.
Motivations were muddled, dialogue was atrocious, events had no historical or political context. What there was of a plot lurched forward on absurd coincidence; by the second or third time that alleged lovers Pacino and Kinski stumbled into each other it had become a bad joke. Donald Sutherland gave an unhinged performance as a British officer/pederast. His accent was all over the map too. I guess there weren't any English actors available.
Lots of people left. Those who stayed tried to stifle giggles, then openly guffawed. I stuck it out -- I figured that at least the battle scenes might be good. I was wrong. Inexplicably, Hudson chose to film them with hand-held cameras, not even Steadicam, the jerkiness giving a misplaced newsreel 'authenticity' which ruined the sense of scale.
There was a semi-famous TV reviewer in the audience a few rows ahead of me: (the late) Gary Franklin of Channel 7 Eyewitness News. I could tell he was peeved by the behavior of the rest of us. And sure enough, on his TV segment the next day he gave the film a '10' on his notorious 'Franklin Scale of 1 to 10', while remarking churlishly about the louts who'd disrupted the screening the night before, who clearly didn't know art when they saw it. What a buffoon.
After this disaster, Pacino didn't star in another film for almost 4 years. Hugh Hudson's career never recovered. You can't say I didn't warn you.