I'm Going Back One Day, Come What May...

The TV was showing Man on Fire this evening, a mutilated version of course, so I decided to watch the full movie again. I've already seen the movie 3 or 4 times, but man, that is one good film. First of all, I'm a fan of Tony Scott. From Top Gun, to Crimson Tide, to Spy Game, to Domino, I've liked all the films I've seen from him. I even quite enjoyed Beat the Devil, although I enjoyed all of the BMW Short Films. Anyway, I quite like the style he has adopted in his past couple of movies that I have seen. The camera work, the laconic characters with smart one-liners, the unusual sound tracks, I like them all. Man on Fire is his best, in my opinion, along with Top Gun. The performances by Denzel Washington and even Dakota Fanning are brilliant. Add to them Mickey Rourke and Christopher Walken, and the cast becomes ideal. Among all these good performances though, Denzel's stand out. He is so cool as the lone cowboy, the "maverick", who has lost the will to live. Added to all this goodness, the sound track is amazing, and I mean it. I have already heard "Blue Bayou" by Linda Ronstadt (discovered through the film's script, which I read way before I saw the movie, but after I saw it's super-electrifying trailer,) and "Una Palabra" (A Word) by Carlos Valera (I heard it on Powder Keg.) You don't get to hear the complete Blue Bayou in the movie, that's why I strongly suggest anyone interested to get their hands on it. It's fabulous. While you're at it, get Una Palabra too. Both are very sad, but totally worth it. I haven't seen the original 198x Man on Fire film so I cannot say which one is better, but if it's any better than this, it must be among the 10 best movies of all time or something.