Salvador Movie

Salvador
Rating:
Run Time: 123 min
MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1986
Directors: Oliver Stone
Genre/Type: Drama
Political Thriller
Producers: John Daly
Derek Gibson
Gerald Green
Oliver Stone
Plot Synopsis by Mark Deming
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.

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Mauricio Funes was inaugurated on June 1st as El Salvador's president, promising to work for the nation's poor and disadvantaged.
El Salvador is situated between Guatemala and Honduras along the Pacific Ocean lying between tropical landscapes and an endless stretch of beach
"Salvador Dali was born in Figueres, Spain, located in the Catalonia district, on May 11, 1904
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Cast

Actors Character Born
James Woods Richard Boyle Apr 18, 1947 in Vernal, UT
James Belushi Dr. Rock Jun 15, 1954 in Chicago, IL
Michael Murphy Ambassador Thomas Kelly May 5, 1938 in Los Angeles, CA
John Savage John Cassady Aug 25, 1949 in Old Bethpage, Long Island, NY
Elpidia Carrillo Maria
Cynthia Gibb Cathy Moore Dec 14, 1963 in Bennington, VT
Colby Chester Jack Morgan
Tony Plana Maj. Max
Will MacMillian Col. Hyde
Valerie Wildman Pauline Axelrod
José Carlos Ruiz Archbishop Romero
Jorge Luke Col. Julio Figueroa
Juan Fernandez Army Lieutenant
Kara Glover Kelly
John Doe Roberto, Restaurant Owner
Agustin Bernal Bodyguard to Major Max
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Back to the topReview

Review by Michael Betzold
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 to Missing, 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.
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