Catchfire

Watch: Catchfire

4/3/19901h 56m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ When murder is your business, you'd better not fall in love with your work. ~

Overview:

A witness to a mob assassination flees for her life from town to town, switching identities, but cannot seem to elude Milo, the chief killer out to get her.

Director:

Dennis Hopper

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

mafia

Cast

Dennis Hopper

~ as ~

Milo

Jodie Foster

~ as ~

Anne Benton

Dean Stockwell

~ as ~

John Luponi

Vincent Price

~ as ~

Mr. Avoca

John Turturro

~ as ~

Pinella

Fred Ward

~ as ~

Pauling

Julie Adams

~ as ~

Martha

Tony Sirico

~ as ~

Greek

Charlie Sheen

~ as ~

Bob

Catherine Keener

~ as ~

Trucker's Girl

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

JPV852
Written 2 year(s) ago
5
Pretty weird and quirky action-thriller-romance-comedy that features over-the-top acting from both Hopper and Foster. Kind of awkward scenes and parts are on the slow side, however while Hopper isn't as insane compared with in other roles, there were a few weird moments like playing the saxophone. Not bad and from what I read, an improvement over the theatrical version that Vestron heavily edited without Hopper's knowledge (and was credited as Alan Smithee). I think this would play great in a group setting as there are some good-bad scenes. 2.75/5
Wuchak
Written 11 month(s) ago
7
Amusing crime thriller road trip with Dennis Hopper and Jodie Foster

A hitman for the mob in Western America (Hopper) falls for his prey (Foster) and they find themselves running from both the mob and law enforcement.

“Backtrack” was shot in 1988 and originally released in Europe as “Catchfire” in 1990, but the director/star disowned it and credited the film to Alan Smithee. So, he did a Director’s Cut that was released to cable in 1991, retitled “Backtrack.” It was influenced by Eastwood’s “The Gauntlet” from a dozen years earlier. While it’s superior to Hopper’s contemporaneous “The Hot Spot,” it’s not as effective as his “Chasers” (1994).

Yet it’s worthwhile for the great cast (also including Vincent Price, Joe Pesci, Charlie Sheen, Dean Stockwell and several other recognizable faces), not to mention Jodie in her physical prime. In other words, she never looked better.

The version I saw runs 1 hour, 39 minutes, but there’s a version that runs 1 hour, 56 minutes (the Director’s Cut) and, supposedly, a 3-hour version. It was shot in the Los Angeles area, Seattle and New Mexico (Albuquerque, Lindrith, Lamy, Taos, Rio Grande Gorge Bridge and Ranchos de Taos).

GRADE: B/B-