Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)

A young FBI agent disappears while investigating a murder miles from Twin Peaks that may be related to the future murder of Laura Palmer; the last week of the life of Laura Palmer is chronicled.

Director:

David Lynch

Writers:

David Lynch, Robert Engels

Stars:

Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise, Mädchen Amick

4 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sheryl Lee	...	Laura Palmer
Ray Wise	...	Leland Palmer
Mädchen Amick	...	Shelly Johnson
Dana Ashbrook	...	Bobby Briggs
Phoebe Augustine	...	Ronette Pulaski
David Bowie	...	Phillip Jeffries
Eric DaRe	...	Leo Johnson
Miguel Ferrer	...	Albert Rosenfeld
Pamela Gidley	...	Teresa Banks
Heather Graham	...	Annie Blackburn
Chris Isaak	...	Special Agent Chester Desmond
Moira Kelly	...	Donna Hayward
Peggy Lipton	...	Norma Jennings
David Lynch	...	Gordon Cole
James Marshall	...	James Hurley

Storyline

Essentially a prequel to David Lynch and Mark Frost's earlier TV series "Twin Peaks". The first half-hour or so concerns the investigation by FBI Agent Chet Desmond (Chris Isaak) and his partner Sam Stanley (Kiefer Sutherland) into the murder of night-shift waitress Teresa Banks in the small Washington state town of Deer Meadow. When Desmond finds a mysterious clue to the murder, he inexplicably disappears. The film then cuts to one year later in the nearby town of Twin Peaks and follows the events during the last week in the life of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) a troubled teenage girl with two boyfriends; the hot-tempered rebel Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook) and quiet biker James Hurley (James Marshall), her drug addiction, and her relationship with her difficult (and possible schizophrenic) father Leland (Ray Wise), a story in which her violent murder was later to motivate much of the TV series. Contains a considerable amount of sex, drugs, violence, very loud music and inexplicable ...

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Plot Keywords:

surrealism | double life | incest | tragic female character | nonlinear timeline | 

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Taglines:

These are the last seven days of Laura Palmer

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, sex, and drug content, and for language

Details

Country:

USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Teresa Banks and the Last Seven Days of Laura Palmer

Filming Locations:

708 33rd St, Everett, Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,813,559, 28 August 1992, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$4,160,851

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, CiBy 2000, Twin Peaks Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby DTS (DVD version) Dolby Digital (DVD version)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In most versions of the film certain sequences are sub-titled - at the nightclub where the music drowns out the dialogue and when characters speak backwards - but not in the British version. Apparently, director David Lynch changed his mind so often as to whether they should be included or not, by the time he came to a final decision, the British distributors had already made all their prints (without subtitles) and couldn't afford to make any more.

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Goofs

Norma's hair is noticeably shorter than it was in the series, which takes place only a few days after the events of the film.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Gordon: [shouting very loud] GET ME SPECIAL AGENT CHESTER DESMOND OUT IN FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA!

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Alternate Versions

The scenes that David Lynch deleted from Fire Walk With Me's theatrical release include:

• Harry Truman singing to Josie Packard
• A phone call from Doctor Jacoby to Laura Palmer
• Johnny Horne's birthday party
• A fight between Agent Chet Desmond and Sheriff Cable
• A conversation between Ed and Norma inside a truck
• Bobby's parents reading from the bible
• A conversation between Agent Cooper and Sam Stanley in Stanley's apartment
• Phillip Jeffries in Buenos Aires
• An additional dinner at the Palmer house where Leland sings happily
• Lucy in the sheriff station discussing racoons with Sheriff Truman And some scenes from the theatrical version were extended, with more dialogues.

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Connections

References Sunset Boulevard (1950)

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Soundtracks

Best Friends
Written by David Lynch and David Slusser

User Reviews

The most underrated movie of the 90's

This was one of the most critically panned movies of the decade, but only because the world's film critics are too full of their own self-importance to bother watching a masterful TV series like Twin Peaks. All Twin Peaks fans know that this movie is monumental enough to transcend criticism, sure it makes no sense to those who have never seen the TV series, but those people have never lived anyway. Twin Peaks: FWWM, brings a genuine sense of tragic martyrdom to the death of Laura Palmer, as well as being one of the scariest, most surreal and atmospheric movies ever made. Never seen Twin Peaks? Watch the TV series on video first, and then see this incredible prequel.