Volunteers (1985)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Nicholas Meyer

Writers:

Keith Critchlow (story)
David Isaacs (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

16 August 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Ready or not, here they come

Plot:

Lawrence is a rich kid with a bad accent and a large debt. After his father refuses to help him out...

Plot Keywords:

Bridge | Peace Corps | Southeast Asia | Bookie | Gambler

Cast

Tom Hanks	...	Lawrence Whatley Bourne III
John Candy	...	Tom Tuttle
Rita Wilson	...	Beth Wexler
Tim Thomerson	...	John Reynolds
Gedde Watanabe	...	At Toon
George Plimpton	...	Lawrence Bourne Jr.
Ernest Harada	...	Chung Mee
Allan Arbus	...	Albert Bardenaro
Xander Berkeley	...	Kent Sutcliffe
Ji-Tu Cumbuka	...	Cicero
Guillermo Río	...	Sumo Guard
Jacqueline Evans	...	Aunt Eunice
Pamela Gual	...	Tammy the Stewardess
Philip Guilmant	...	Yale President
Chick Hearn	...	Announcer
Virginia Kiser	...	Evelyn Bourne
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Souvanna
Jude Mussetter	...	Bootsy Winder
Carlos Romano	...	Beatty
Duncan Ross	...	Noble
Shakti	...	Lucille
Professor Toru Tanaka	...	Sumo Guard
Lonnie Wun	...	Sumo Guard
Harry Yorku	...	Al Pe

Directed by
Nicholas Meyer

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Keith Critchlow		story
David Isaacs		writer
Ken Levine		writer

Produced by
Walter F. Parkes	....	producer
Theodore R. Parvin	....	associate producer
Richard Shepherd	....	producer

Original Music by
James Horner

Cinematography by
Ric Waite

Film Editing by
Steven Polivka
Ronald Roose

Casting by
Joyce Agu		(as Joyce Robinson)
Penny Ellers

Production Design by
James L. Schoppe

Art Direction by
José Rodríguez Granada

Makeup Department
Allan A. Apone	....	special makeup designer
Del Armstrong	....	makeup supervisor
Raúl Esquivel	....	wig master
Esperanza Gómez	....	hair stylist
Alberto López	....	makeup artist
Josefina Mendoza	....	hair stylist
Ester Oropeza	....	makeup artist
Dione Taylor	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Efren Flores	....	assistant production manager (as Efren Flores Torres)
Ricardo Frera	....	unit production manager: Mexico
César Armando Jiménez	....	assistant production manager
Carlo Rodríguez Márquez	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Baruch Abuloff	....	second assistant director: Mexico
Elie Cohn	....	first assistant director
BJ Davis	....	second unit director (as B.J. Davis)
Harvey Keith	....	second unit director: Chang Me escape stunts
John Langley	....	second unit director: bridge building sequence
Jesús Marín	....	first assistant director: Mexico
David Burton Morris	....	second unit director: Yale graduation background
Ricker Slaven	....	second assistant director: Mexico

Art Department
Ramón Altirriva	....	production buyer
Ricardo Alvarado	....	props
Roberto Ávila	....	assistant set dresser
Arturo Brito	....	set designer
Gabriel Chavez	....	stand-by painter
Carlos Cortes	....	key propman
Ramón Estrada	....	props
Francisco García	....	construction buyer
Alfonso Godínez	....	props
Fernando Martínez	....	set illustrator
Antonio Mata Jr.	....	props
Ray Mercer Jr.	....	property master (as Ray Mercer)
Francisco Ramirez	....	greensman (as Francisco Ramírez)
Macedonio Ramos	....	set dresser
Joel Romo	....	props
Jorge Sainz	....	assistant art director
Moises Pineda	....	greens assistant (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gary Alexander	....	sound re-recording mixer
Terry Lynn Allen	....	sound editor
Lorna Anderson	....	assistant sound editor
Lon Bender	....	supervising sound editor
Heriberto Cárdenas	....	cable person
Adrianna Cohen	....	assistant sound editor
Joe Gilbert	....	assistant sound editor
Stan Gilbert	....	adr editor
Robert Glass	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Bob Glass)
Claude Hitchcock	....	sound mixer
Chris Jenkins	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Christopher Jenkins)
Randy Kelley	....	sound editor
Elliott Koretz	....	sound editor
Jorge Palomino	....	boom operator: Mexico (as Jorge Palomino Rojas)
Dan M. Rich	....	sound editor
Wylie Stateman	....	supervising sound editor
Mark P. Stoeckinger	....	adr editor
Robert Taylor	....	boom operator
Hugo Weng	....	foley editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Pete Clark	....	special effects: explosives
Daniel Cordero	....	special effects
Laurencio Cordero	....	special effects coordinator (as Laurencio 'Chovy' Cordero)
Margarito Fuentes Gutiérrez	....	special effects (as Margarito Gutiérrez)
Marshall Knight	....	special effects: explosives

Visual Effects by
James F. Liles	....	matte painter

Stunts
Denny Arnold	....	stunts
John Barrett	....	stunts (as John Gilbert Barrett)
BJ Davis	....	stunt coordinator (as B.J. Davis)
Rob King	....	stunts
Wayne King	....	stunts
Alan Marcus	....	stunts
Ellie Mite	....	stunts
Paul Staples	....	stunts
Debra Trowt	....	stunts
Dianne L. Wilson	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Antonio Álvarez	....	gaffer: Mexico
Carl Boles	....	gaffer: USA
Salvador de Anda	....	assistant camera
Críspulo de la Torre	....	electrician
Teodoro García	....	assistant camera
Jack N. Green	....	additional photographer
Heriberto Gutiérrez	....	assistant camera
Faustino Hernández	....	grip
Ruben Herta	....	electrician
Antonio Jara	....	assistant dolly grip
Ray Kinzer	....	key grip: USA
Raúl Lara	....	electrician
Louis Mahler	....	video technician
Richard A. Mention III	....	second assistant camera
Enrique Morales	....	key electrician
Leo J. Napolitano	....	camera operator
Jesse Wayne Parker	....	crane operator (as Wayne Parker)
Rafael Pérez	....	electrician
Jesús Ramírez García	....	electrician
Manuel Rosales	....	key grip: Mexico
Jorge de la Rosa Morales	....	grip
Guillermo Rosas	....	assistant camera
Alfredo Ruvalcaba	....	still photographer
León Sánchez	....	camera operator
Salvador 'Apache' Serrano	....	dolly grip (as Salvador Serrano)
Baird Steptoe	....	first assistant camera
Ramiro Valencia	....	electrician
Antonio Vázquez	....	grip

Casting Department
Enrique de Peña	....	casting assistant
Luis Sánchez	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
María Antonieta Esquivel	....	wardrobe
María Luisa Esquivel	....	wardrobe
Ismael Jardon	....	wardrobe
Yvonne Kubis	....	wardrobe head
Adolfo Ramírez	....	key wardrobe
Enrique Villavicencio	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Barry Dresner	....	apprentice film editor
Peck Prior	....	assistant editor
Brian Ralph	....	negative cutter
Clarinda Wong	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Else Blangsted	....	music editor
Jim Weidman	....	music editor
James Horner	....	conductor (uncredited)
Dan Wallin	....	music scoring mixer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Armando Amador	....	assistant transportation captain
Jose Juan de la Garza	....	picture car coordinator
Patrick Knapp	....	driver: honeywagon
Alberto Vazquez	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Gilberto Aguilar	....	craft service
María Luisa Anzaldua	....	studio secretary
Lisa Beach	....	production assistant
Delia Castañeda	....	medic (as Delia Castaneda Millán)
Rafael Delong	....	location manager
Robert Easton	....	dialogue coach
Jim Garner	....	animal handler: elephant
Humberto Garza	....	animal trainer
Miguel Garza	....	animal trainer
Marilyn Green	....	assistant to producers
Humberto Gurza	....	animal wrangler
Miguel Gurza	....	animal wrangler
Carol Juk	....	production secretary
Harvey Keith	....	action consultant
Robert Knoechel	....	location auditor
Alan J. Lam	....	assistant location auditor
Marie Lassen	....	accounting secretary
Francisco Ledesma	....	delegate: actors
Lydia Lipatan-Sarmiento	....	assistant location auditor
Ramón Maciel	....	caterer
Hector Moreno	....	script supervisor: Mexico
Shelley Olsen	....	production coordinator
Mark Andrew Peress	....	unit publicist
Phil Savenick	....	title designer: opening title sequence
Renate Schneuer	....	script supervisor: USA
Sapachai Surongsain	....	technical advisor
Janna Wong Healy	....	assistant: Mr. Meyer
Jerald M. Wurms	....	expert
Federico Ysunza	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Home Box Office (HBO)
• Silver Screen Partners
• TriStar Pictures

Distributors

• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (video)
• TriStar Pictures

Special Effects

• Makeup Effects Laboratories

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Spain:T | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Venezuela

Company:

Home Box Office (HBO)

Trivia:

When John Candy attempts to destroy the bridge he says "What have I done?" This is the same line Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) says before the bridge is destroyed in _Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)_.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: On there flight to Lung Taho there using a Bell 212 (a twin turbine version of the military Bell 202/Huey 1a). Bell did not start manufacturing the Bell 212 (known in Military service as the Huey 1d) until 1967. The first models where not shipped till 1968. The movie is set in 1962.

Quotes:

Chung Mee: Opium is my business. The bridge mean more traffic. More traffic mean more money. More money mean more power.
Lawrence Bourne III: Yeah, well, before I commit any of that to memory, would there be anything in this for me?
Chung Mee: Speed is important in business. Time is money.
Lawrence Bourne III: You said opium was money.
Chung Mee: Money is Money.
Lawrence Bourne III: Well then, what is time again?

Movie Connections:

References Casablanca (1942)

Give it some credit

I was surprised to see Volunteers rate out at just a 5 on a scale of 10. But that rating is pretty consistent across all demographics, so maybe I'm just a sucker for Hanks and Candy. I *know* I'm a sucker for Rita Wilson.

Still, I thought the movie offered several good laughs, solid performances from all the principal characters, and a feel-good ending. If nothing else, it should have taught you the words to Washington State University's fight song!

If you haven't seen it, rent it with an open mind. It REALLY IS better than a 5.