#423: COX, Alex: Walker (1987)

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COX, Alex (United States)
Walker [1987]
Spine #423
DVD


A hallucinatory biopic that breaks all cinematic conventions, Walker, from British director Alex Cox (Repo Man, Sid & Nancy), tells the story of nineteenth-century American adventurer William Walker (Ed Harris), who abandoned a series of careers in law, politics, journalism, and medicine to become a soldier of fortune, and for several years dictator of Nicaragua. Made with mad abandon and political acuity — and the support of the Sandinista army and government during the 1980s contra war — the film uses this true tale to launch a satirical attack on American ultrapatriotism and ideas of "manifest destiny." Featuring a powerful score by the Clash's Joe Strummer and a performance of intense, repressed rage by Harris, Walker remains one of Cox's most daring works.

94 minutes
Color
Monaural
1:85:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2007
Director/Writer


Written by Rudy Wurlitzer.
Alex Cox was 33 when he directed Walker.

Other Cox films in the Collection:

#654: Repo Man (1984)
#20: Sid & Nancy (1986)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Forty-eight page booklet featuring essays by Graham Fuller, Linda Sandoval, and Wurlitzer.

Commentary

By Cox and screenwriter Wurlitzer.

Dispatches from Nicaragua

An original documentary, about the filming of Walker in Nicaragua.
Documentary 1

Documentary 2

Documentary 3

Controversial altered ending

Theatrical trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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