The Brave (1997) - Depp's directorial train wreck

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+ 2nd Worst Movie of the Year

+ Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.16 times the cost 

 

Johnny Depp's massive face and a scene of passion (involving himself) makes up this dark poster for Johnny Depp's own The Brave

A formerly imprisoned native American with a drinking problem heads to a job interview, and he mysteriously obtains the very strange and well-paid job ...

 

The Brave is written Paul McCudden (In the Name of the Father (1992, short)), D.P. Depp and co-writer/director/co-star, debuting Johnny Depp (The Every Cake, Neil (1988, short)). It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1991 novel by Gregory Mcdonald (Safekeeping (1985)).

The strange job that Depp's character in the film obtains is to be the person killed in a snuff film 7 days after taking it on; a fact that is informed on the DVD backside if not very clearly in the actual film itself.

The Brave moves so slowly that it feels as if it has stalled or is in fact moving backwards. Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront (1954)) is the wheelchair-bound 'employer', who rambles about death in a single scene. Depp seems despondent and walks around in torment as a useless layabout in a vacuum-like corner of the US, which never feels like a real place. His wife, - yes, he has a wife, (and children, too!), - is furious.

Initial interest soon drops to zero with The Brave, and the attraction of the project is unclear. It is a catastrophic directorial attempt from Depp.

 

Related posts:

 

Johnny Depp: Murder on the Orient Express (2017) - Branagh's star-studded Christie match is auspicious (co-star)

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) - Bobin, Woolverton and Disney's poorly constructed sequel (co-star) 

Mortdecai (2015) - Comedic wonder Depp creates mirth in divisive Koepp adaptation (co-star)

Tusk (2014) - Smith goes all-out wack (actor)

Dark Shadows (2012) - Fun, flamboyant vampire romp is a celebration of culture (star) 

For No Good Reason (2012, documentary) or, Ralph Steadman, Artist (interview co-star)

Rango (2011) - Verbinski's amusing family western animation (voice star) 

The Rum Diary (2011) or, The Puerto Rican Adventure of Mr. Kemp (star)

Alice in Wonderland (2010) - Wasikowska is the perfect lead for Burton's visual wonderland (co-star)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) or, Tim Burton's Bloody Theatrics (star)

Corpse Bride (2005) - Impressive, loud, hollow, dark doll fairytale (voice co-star)

Finding Neverland (2004) - Forster and an inspired cast strike gold with story of Peter Pan's creation (co-star)

The Libertine (2004) - Just your old-fashioned wigs-and-cunts drama (star) 

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) - Verbinski's sprawling Disney swashbuckler is a prime summer spectacle (co-star)

Blow (2001) or, Cocaine Comes to America (co-star)

From Hell (2001) - The Hughes Brothers' persuasive up-tempo Ripper slasher (co-star)

Chocolat (2000) - Delicious pairing in spite of Hallström's ghastly taste (co-star)

The Man Who Cried (2000) - Potter's forlorn war drama is a clonker for the ages (co-star) 

The Ninth Gate (1999) - Class and atmosphere galore in underrated Polanski thriller (star)

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) - Depp's Thompson lives and breathes in Gilliam's outrageous, drug-fueled masterpiece (co-star) 

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Donnie Brasco (1997) - Newell's fantastic, authentic gangster tale (co-star)

Dead Man (1995) - Jarmusch's bold, poetic, rich Americana masterpiece (star)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) or, Don't Fall Asleep! (actor, debut)

 

 

Watch a 2-minute clip from the film here

Cost: Reportedly 5-7 mil. $

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain but likely a box office disaster (projected return of 0.16 times its cost)

[The Brave premiered 10 May (Cannes Film Festival, in competition) and runs 123 minutes. Touchstone Pictures were meaning to start production in 1994, when the project's then director Aziz Ghazal murdered his wife and daughter and committed suicide. The Disney-owned company withdrew, but McCudden and producer Charles Evans worked on and got the script to Depp, who reportedly disliked it, - but not so much that he didn't pick it up for his directorial debut, after a re-write with his brother. Brando reportedly signed on for no salary, bonding with Depp over their shared strong sympathy for native Americans. - Especially in light of this, it is hard to understand how the cost of the film could have run as high as 5-7 mil. $, which is nevertheless what is reported. Shooting took place in California, including in Los Angeles. Depp reportedly promised backers that he'd personally pay, if the budget went over its reported allotment of 5 mil. $, and it is reported that he injected upwards of 2 mil. $ of his own money into it. Upset at US critics' lampooning it at its Cannes premiere, Depp decided against releasing it theatrically or on video in North America. There are no numbers out on its performance in the 7 international markets where it was released, but it is most likely that it made no more than perhaps 1 mil. $ or less theatrically, making it a box office disaster. Depp only returned as director with music videos, mainly for his then-wife Vanessa Paradis. On screen he returned in Cannes Man (1997). 10k+ IMDb users have given The Brave a 6.1/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of The Brave? 

The Godfather (1972) - Coppola and Co.'s epic cinema magic

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Proud of its cast and creators, in stark black and white, with the only graphical adornment the puppeteer's hand over the title, the iconic poster for Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather

Michael Corleone is the heir to Don Corleone's powerful mafia family in New York, and following an assassination attempt on the old man's life, Michael reluctantly returns home to definitively enter into the criminal family business.

"I believe in America" is said at the beginning of The Godfather, which, as the statement suggests, grows to something much greater than a mere gangster tale. It is an epic national drama. It was written by Mario Puzo (Earthquake (1974)), based on his own-same-titled 1969 best-selling novel, and Michigander master filmmaker, co-writer/director Francis Ford Coppola (The Bellboy and the Playgirls (1962)), whose 8th feature it was.
The wedding party at the outset of the film is a completely magical piece of cinema and worth the prize of admission or three hours running time in itself. The faces, atmospheres, music (Nino Rota's (Amarcord (1973)) authentic, soulful score), the characters and all the way out to the extras, this sequence is formidable.
Marlon Brando (Guys and Dolls (1955)) is awe-inspiring as the Don, and the film continues to the very end with tremendous scenes that once seen can somehow never be forgotten. The Godfather is an epic milestone.

Related posts:

Francis Ford Coppola: Twixt (2011) - Coppola's dreamlike Gothic is a late-night gem 

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - Coppola goes for the jugular with unsubtle, overlong adaptation

Top 10: The best adaptations reviewed by Film Excess to date

Apocalypse Now (1979) redux version - The horror of war  
Dementia 13/The Haunted and the Hunted (1963) - Coppola's gothic AIP castle horror 

Watch an original trailer for the film here

Cost: 6-7.2 mil. $ (different accounts)
Box office: 246-287 mil. $ (different accounts)
= Blockbuster (returned at least 34.16 times its cost)
[The Godfather premiered 14 March (New York) and runs 177 minutes. Puzo's novel was the best-selling book for several years after selling 9 mil. copies in two years. Paramount optioned the novel before its publication for 80k $, which Puzo took to pay off gambling debts. Coppola was hired after 12 other prestige directors had rejected the offer to helm the film, and Coppola did it despite reluctance to Puzo's novel to pay off his own debts. He was reportedly paid 125k $ and 6% of the gross rentals; a likely eventually enormous amount due to the film's success, though his initial take is uncertain. Puzo was paid 100k $ to work on the screenplay along with an undisclosed percentage of the film's profits. Coppola and Puzo's final script was 163 pages long, about 40 pages longer than what Paramount had asked for. Brando was cast over Paramount's preferred star, Ernest Borgnine; Brando's pay deal resulted in a tall 1.6 mil. final salary. Coppola also got his way with several other key actors in the film, namely Al Pacino (The Irishman, VOD (2019)), whom he fought to have portray Michael. The budget was reportedly raised from 1 mil. $ to 2.5 mil. $ to more than double that, as Coppola was allowed extensive location shooting and schedule time, boosted by the novel's enormous popularity. The Italian-American Civil Rights League succeeded in getting the word 'mafia' removed from the screenplay. Shooting took place in Sicily, Italy, the Dominican Republic, Las Vegas, Nevada, California, including Los Angeles, New Jersey and New York from March - August. Coppola fired his editor and assistant director, who he felt were angling to get him fired from the film. Brando in turn threatened to leave the film, if Coppola was fired. The film had built up tremendous anticipation before its release and had already made 15 mil. $ in rentals before its release. It opened #1 to shatter records for a first week gross of 10 mil. $, earning a total 81.7 mil. $ in rentals in North America during its first release. It was the highest-grossing film of 1972 and beat Gone with the Wind's (1939) record as highest rental earner of all time, until Jaws (1975). The domestic gross grew to 134.9 mil. $ (47-54.8 % of the total gross depending on the correct number) after several re-releases. Its domestic success was such that it currently sits as the 25th highest-grossing film ever, adjusted for inflation. The film was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning 3; for Best Picture, Actor (Brando, - who refused to receive it and sent a native American representative to take it for him as a protest of the portrayal of native Americans in Hollywood culture) and Adapted Screenplay. It lost Supporting Actor (triple nomination for Pacino, - who also refused to attend the Oscars, because he had more screen time than Brando in the movie, - Robert Duvall and James Caan) to Joel Grey for Cabaret, Costume Design to Travels with My Aunt, Director to Bob Fosse for Cabaret, Editing also to Cabaret and Sound also to Cabaret. Rota was initially nominated for his score, but it was then found to be similar to a score he had made about 15 years earlier and the Academy withdrew the nomination. It also won 5/7 Golden Globe nominations, 1/5 BAFTA noms, 2 David di Donatello awards, 1/2 Grammy noms, 2 National Board of Review awards an many other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, in line with this one. NBC paid 10 mil. $ for the TV rights to first show the film on TV in 1974 over the course of two evenings, which was a ratings smash, increasing the anticipation for Coppola's 1974 sequel in the Godfather trilogy. The film spurred countless imitations and a wealth of portrayals of Italian-American gangsters in film and TV. IMDb's users have voted The Godfather in at #2 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and The Godfather: Part II (1974). Coppola first returned with The Conversation (1974). Brando returned in Last Tango in Paris (1972). The Godfather is certified fresh at 98 % with a 9.27/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Godfather?

Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992) - The ill-fated but entertaining ensemble adventure

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Majestic German poster for John Glen's Christopher Columbus: The Discovery

QUICK REVIEW:

The film tells the story of Christopher Columbus' apparently troublesome process of raising support for his voyage of discovery to seek out China or India, but instead falling upon an entirely 'new' continent.

How much of the plot of Columbus is historically substantiated is hard to say, (at least for us who aren't experts on the history). But the idea to make the sailors horrified and everyone exceedingly God-fearing is basically sound and well thought up by screenwriters Mario Puzo (The Godfather (1972)), Cary Bates (RoboCop: Alpha Commando (1998-99)) and John Briley (Gandhi (1982)). Although the pervasive fear cannot be conveyed very detailed due to the quick-edited swashbuckler style chosen here.
Italian lead Georges Corraface (La Pasión Turca (1994)) does well, and so do Robert Davi (Showgirls (1995)) and Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront (1954)).
Christopher Columbus: The Discovery is directed by 5-times James Bond director John Glen (A View to a Kill (1985)). It's a historical romantic drama epic adventure. Not visually sumptuous, but exciting nonetheless.

Related review:

John Glen: A View to a Kill (1985) or, Once a Gentleman, Always a Gentleman!

Marlon Brando and George Corraface in John Glen's Christopher Columbus: The Discovery

Watch the American trailer for the film here

Cost: 45 mil. $
Box office: 8.2 mil. $ (US only)
= Huge flop
[The film was a financial mess for its producers, father-son producer-team Alexander and Ilya Salkind, who had previously made the successful Superman movies. They broke up over the film, and Alexander Salkind is quoted saying, "I know, after this, that I'll never make movies again." The UK-US-Spanish co-production was derided and laughed at by the showbusiness community at large, and it even won Tom Selleck a Golden Raspberry Award as Worst Supporting Actor. Brando reportedly got 5 mil. $ for appearing in the film in a supporting part, which he also was Raspberry nominated for. It was also nominated as Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenwriter and Worst New Star. - And yet, it isn't bad at all!]

What do you think of Christopher Columbus: The Discovery?
Any insight stories about the production are welcomed
Other films that received undeserved mocking response?

Apocalypse Now (1979, redux version) - Coppola's dizzying whirlpool epic of the horror of war

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An all-time great in poster art; this evocative, dark work full of depth and atmosphere by Bob Peak and Tom Jung for Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now

Vietnam War-traumatized US Captain Willard receives a new mission: Sail up a Vietnamese river into Cambodia during the flaming grandeur of the Vietnam War and terminate an insane, rogue US colonel by the name of Kurtz. With "extreme prejudice."

An adaptation of Joseph Conrad's (Victory (1915)) classic masterpiece novella, Heart of Darkness (1899) written by John Millius (Red Dawn (1984)), Michael Herr (Full Metal Jacket (1987)) writing narration and Michigander master filmmaker and in this case co-writer/producer/director/co-composer Francis Ford Coppola (Tonight for Sure (1962)) changed a lot of Conrad's dark story to fit it into their current Vietnam perspective, (it originally takes place on a river in the Congo.) This is a review of the 2001-released 49-minute extended Redux-version of Apocalypse Now.
From being a story more exclusively about the darkness in the human soul, it grows in their hands into a horrifying Vietnam-tale, and a forecast of the apocalypse of the entire American system, its way of thought, or of the war effort in Vietnam at the very least, depending on the interpreter. A moral and human apocalypse of endless proportions.
Most of all, though, it still concerns itself with the savage, the uncontrollable, and the evil; the indefinable and incurable darkness in man.
Right from the first shot of helicopters rising in a cloud of napalm to the doomed sounds of The Doors' The End, the movie spellbinds its viewer in visual and sheer scope-of-production awe, fascination, and transformative despair.
Martin Sheen (The 3 Wise Men (2003, voice)) and Marlon Brando (The Formula (1980)) are majestic, and we have the sense all through the film that we so deserve this apocalypse that we are witnessing the journey towards.
The incredible near 300 day-shooting of the film in the civil war-plagued Philippines at the time with Sheen suffering a heart attack, choppers loaned directly from war there, Brando's troubling obesity, mumbling and refusal to prepare, tropical, disastrous storms, deaths, near-insanity and everything in between are portrayed by Coppola's wife Eleanor Coppola (Paris Can Wait (2016)), in her Heart of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991), a great and very recommendable documentary on extreme filmmaking.
Apocalypse Now may be the best war movie ever made, and it is arguably one of the greatest 10 or 20 films of all time. An incredible achievement and experience that is never forgotten.

Related posts:

Francis Ford Coppola: Twixt (2011) - Coppola's dreamlike Gothic is a late-night gem

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - Coppola goes for the jugular with unsubtle, overlong adaptation

Top 10: The best adaptations reviewed by Film Excess to date

Dementia 13/The Haunted and the Hunted (1963) - Coppola's gothic AIP castle horror 
 

Watch a teaser for the film here

Budget: 31.5 mil. $
Box office: 150 mil. $ + 12.5 mil. $ (Redux)
= Big hit (returned 5.15 times the cost)
[Apocalypse Now premiered 19 May (Cannes Film Festival, France, in competition) and runs 153 minutes/202 minutes (Redux version). Coppola paid Milius 15k $ to write the screenplay, which he finished a first draft for in '69. He eventually reportedly wrote10 drafts, more than 1,000 pages. George Lucas was engaged to direct for a period, and had in mind a low-budget approach, but was overtaken by work on Star Wars. Instead Coppola himself took the helm with a budget of 12-14 mil. $. He personally dined with the dictator of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos to arrange the use of his country's military in the long Philippine shoot. Several stars turned down offers to play Willard due to the long jungle shoot. Brando was contracted for 1 months shooting for outrageous 3.5 mil. $. Harvey Keitel started out playing Willard, but Coppola was unhappy with him and replaced him with Sheen. Shooting took place in the Philippines and in California from March 1976 - May 1977. The budget ballooned during the enormously long production, which suffered countless problems. Editing took 2 years. The film won the Palm d'Or in Cannes together with Volker Schlöndorff's The Tin Drum. It was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning for Best Cinematogrpahy (Vittorio Storaro (Caravaggio (2007, TV movie))) and Best Sound, losing Best Supporting Actor (Duvall) to Melvyn Douglas in Being There, Art/Set Decoration to All That Jazz, Director to Robert Benton for Kramer vs. Kramer, Editing to All That Jazz, Picture and Adapted Screenplay to Kramer vs. Kramer. It won 3/4 Golden Globe nominations, 2/9 BAFTA noms, a César award nomination, won a David di Donatello award, a Grammy nomination, a National Board of Review award and other honors. It grossed 78 mil. $ domestically (52 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert has called it the finest war film ever made and given it a 4/4 star review, equal to its rating here. It was nominated for  The 2001 Redux release added 12.5 mil. $ to the total gross. It currently sits at #49 on IMDb's user-generated Top 250, between The Prestige (2006) and Memento (2000). Coppola returned with One from the Heart (1981). Sheen returned in Blind Ambition (1979, miniseries) and theatrically in Eagle's Wing (1979), Duvall in The Great Santini (1979), and Brando in The Formula (1980). Apocalypse Now is certified fresh at 93 % with a 7.8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

Share your personal experience with Apocalypse Now here