Southern Comfort

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Southern Comfort

R

1981

1h 46m

Action

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

78%

Tomatometer

23 Reviews

75%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

During the Vietnam War, a squad of National Guardsmen -- including Hardin (Powers Boothe), a no-nonsense Texan; Reece (Fred Ward), a hunter; and Spencer (Keith Carradine), a sensible private -- take part in a military training exercise in the swamps of Louisiana. After attempting to steal several canoes and firing blanks at a Cajun, the group members find themselves being hunted by the locals. Scared and unfamiliar with the territory, the men must scramble to escape.

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Noel Murray

The Dissolve

07/07/2014

4/5

Beyond its genre roots and its deeper meanings, Southern Comfort is a well-honed study of characters and setting.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

10/23/2004

3/4

The strength of the movie is in its look, in its superb use of its locations, and in Hill's mastery of action sequences that could have been repetitive.

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Michelle Kisner

The Movie Sleuth

05/09/2024

Southern Comfort is about how a single weak link can bring down an entire operation and that even good people can be pressed to do terrible things when backed into a corner.

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Mitchell Beaupre

Paste Magazine

09/29/2023

10/10

It’s a film which exemplifies Hill’s skills as an action director, with masterful cross-cutting to keep the tension at a fever pitch, slowly burning as the situation starts dire and somehow keeps getting worse.

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

12/01/2022

A

Walter Hill stages some outstanding shoot-outs (as usual) and provides a compelling edge-of-your-seat coda.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

06/18/2022

2/4

...a slow-going endeavor that doesn’t, at the outset, contain too many elements worth wholeheartedly embracing or getting excited about...

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Scott L

@MrLeRay Jan 6

Watched on Prime, I really enjoyed this film especially because it was filmed in my home state. It was very violent and dark. I can confirm that the Cajun accents were real and the life of these Cajuns was authentic. There was a scene where the Cajun says let the good times roll or Laissez les bon temps rouler. This phrase is used a lot now in Louisiana. I wonder if this is where it became popular? Also sad to see one of my favorite beers Dixie in the movie. Someone decided to change the name of it recently, and after that they went out of business. Overall a really good older movie that still holds up today.

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Dallas H

@FozzieMcFly Dec 15

It is crazy to be watching a movie drenched in the unsettling bad vibes of a tense war movie that seems like it takes place in an Asian island jungle, such as Vietnam, Malaysia, or the Philippines. Nope, this movie features the National Guard parading through the American swamplands of good ole Louisiana.

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Steve W

Aug 31

This is one of my favorite films. The bayou is an interesting and creepy place. This movie gives you a really good bayou experience.

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Mario B

Jul 7

Came across this movie by chance, thoroughly enjoyed it although at times it seemed to drag on, stellae cast and realistic

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Robin S

Apr 11

One of the worst movies I have ever seen. As soon as I thought that one of the guard characters was going to be a "good guy," that person did something stupid and violent in the next scene. I had a hard time believing that a troupe would be so unorganized and flout the rules of common decency. The only main character who seemed consistent was the Cajun hunter who was captured by them.

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Kris C. J

Feb 15

This film plays like an inverse version of John Boorman's DELIVERANCE, with the locals massed in revenge mode. Well-paced with engaging performances, once this film gets going it never lets up to the end. A real jewel of Walter Hill's career.

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Walter Hill

Director

Keith Carradine

Spencer

Powers Boothe

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Fred Ward

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Synopsis

During the Vietnam War, a squad of National Guardsmen -- including Hardin (Powers Boothe), a no-nonsense Texan; Reece (Fred Ward), a hunter; and Spencer (Keith Carradine), a sensible private -- take part in a military training exercise in the swamps of Louisiana. After attempting to steal several canoes and firing blanks at a Cajun, the group members find themselves being hunted by the locals. Scared and unfamiliar with the territory, the men must scramble to escape.

Director: Walter Hill
Producer: David Giler
Screenwriter: Walter Hill
Production Co: Cinema Group Ventures, Phoenix Films (II)
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 20, 2018
Runtime: 1h 46m

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