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Salt and Fire

Play trailer 1:35 Poster for Salt and Fire Released Apr 7, 2017 1h 38m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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33% Tomatometer 39 Reviews 15% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
A shady businessman abducts a scientist in Bolivia and leaves her stranded in the middle of gigantic salt flats with two blind boys.
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Salt and Fire

Salt and Fire

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Critics Consensus

Salt and Fire crowds together some impressive talent on both sides of the camera, precious little of which is put to compelling use.

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Critics Reviews

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Elena Lazic Little White Lies ... sure enough Herzog's continued thematic exploration of the often fraught cohabitation between man and nature comes through. Sep 14, 2017 Full Review Nick Allen RogerEbert.com Looking just like a dressed-up Neil Breen joint, Salt and Fire becomes, at its best, Herzog's version of camp; at its worst, unwitting self-parody. Rated: 1/4 Apr 7, 2017 Full Review Robert Abele Los Angeles Times Like something you peer at rather than absorb, "Salt and Fire" is both awful and a tad fascinating. Apr 6, 2017 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review If the film is a failure, it fails in the most fascinating, admirable, and lyrical ways. Rated: 3/4 Apr 4, 2022 Full Review Leigh Monson Substream Magazine The title has it backwards. The proper treatment of Salt and Fire is to burn it to nothing and salt the ashes. Rated: 1/5 Sep 24, 2020 Full Review Nathanael Hood Audiences Everywhere Though his documentaries remain as vital as any in his career, Salt and Fire signals the further deterioration of Werner Herzog as a narrative filmmaker. Rated: D+ Dec 27, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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peter r Certainly not your typical Hollywood thriller, but what a fantastic cinematic ride! Herzog delivers once again with Salt & Fire, a film that is far removed from the Hollywood formula yet still immensely entertaining. It’s obscure yet feels natural, drawing you in with its unique style. See it for yourself. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/25/24 Full Review Dani G I don't know if there are many movies more boring than this Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 08/01/24 Full Review John A I'd wager it is the least Herzogian motion picture that was conceived by the man himself. Salt And Fire isn't a bad movie if I'm being perfectly honest yet it is quite boring especially in the later half even though the film begins to show noble and grandiose intentions. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/12/23 Full Review r 9 Oof. As I always say when I give films such a bad rating/review (though, tbf, only the ninth time I've rated ½*...), it is nothing personal and I respect everyone who worked on this film and, of course, understand it isn't easy to make films. I never enjoy slating one, but this... deary me. I'm not sure where to begin. The dialogue. The dialogue! I genuinely do not believe I've seen a movie with such truly awful dialogue, the amount of times I was holding my head out of cringe was immeasurable. You just know the writer, presumably one Werner Herzog, thought he was prime William Shakespeare when he put it all together. It's not just terrible in itself, it also simply isn't written for the actors - none of it sounds natural out of them whatsoever. Talking of the actors, they merit some iffiness too. Listen, they are severely hampered by those behind the scenes but more was needed - especially from Michael Shannon, who I am a big fan of but his performance is... questionable, at best. Again, the ill-fitting dialogue did not help. Elsewhere, Veronica Ferres tries and is likeable but... yeah, not good. At least the Arancibia kids add some charm to things. Those children are put into the film around the middle and somehow (nothing bad on them, just their characters) stay until the very end. Those scenes with them, and Ferres' Laura, are sweet in isolation (pardon the pun), but wow do they feel entirely out of place and disconnected (pardon the p...) to everything that proceeds - to the point that the sweetness drains away. ½* always feels harsh to me, yet this is very much deserving of that rating in my opinion. Dire stuff, even at just around 90 minutes. The kids and the neat locations are all I've got by way of positives. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review stephen k Literally unwatchable. Herzog should be ashamed of himself for stooping so low Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review william k Despite an interesting cast (including physicist Lawrence Krauss!) and admittedly great landscape cinematography this Werner Herzog adventure disappoints with lame performances and a pretentious, uninspired plot with a failed message. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Salt and Fire

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Movie Info

Synopsis A shady businessman abducts a scientist in Bolivia and leaves her stranded in the middle of gigantic salt flats with two blind boys.
Director
Werner Herzog
Producer
Veronica Ferres, Michael Benaroya, Pablo Cruz, Werner Herzog, Nina Maag
Screenwriter
Werner Herzog, Tom Bissell
Distributor
XLrator Media
Production Co
Canana Films, Benaroya Pictures, Construction Film, Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Arte
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 7, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 10, 2017
Runtime
1h 38m
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