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Blind Horizon

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This review refers to "Blind Horizon" Widescreen DVD Edition(Lions Gate)...

"Blind Horizon" is not a film you will want to view if you are in the mood to just veg out and be only entertained.I would also say that if you like your films formulized or predictable, again, you should probably skip this one. On the other hand, if you are in the mood for something that sets itself apart from the rest, one that will give you a rewarding mental workout, and leaves you stunned at both the outcome and the visual arts, "Blind Horizon" will fulfill your needs!

A man is found in a small town in New Mexico left for dead. Shot in the head, lying in his own blood and comatose. Finally awakened by the sweet voice of his nurse, and the familiar smell of cigarette smoke. The sheriff and his deputy are on the case. They have questions galore. Who tried to commit murder in their little town and why? Who is the victim? But, they'll have to wait for the answers(as does the viewer), as the victim is an amnesiac.

Bits and pieces start coming back to him. He feels he knows something that is dangerous. A plot to assassinate the President of the United States. He doesn't have all the pieces to the puzzle yet, but he must warn the Secret Service so they may prevent this disaster. His Doctor says, the mind plays tricks after a trauma like this. He is probably remembering some book he read, or movie he saw.What could the President have to do with this little border town? Or maybe he is just plain out of his mind. Only the Sheriff considers the possibility he may be right.

As the Sheriff investigates, he and the audience as well, are met with a slew of twists and turns, unsavory characters and questions to ponder. And like the Sheriff, every time we think we have the answer, we are proved wrong as we weave through the maze of flashbacks and evidence.

The filming of this mystery/thriller is extraordinary. The flashbacks and the present are well separated by the use of colors. Like the amnesia victim, we are only giving bits of flashbacks at a time, each time a little more is added to the puzzle. The cast is amazing in their roles, never giving anything away. It stars Val Kilmer, Neve Campbell, Sam Shepard and Amy Smart. Faye Dunaway also gets top billing, but I felt she wasn't part of the story nearly enough. Noble Willingham, and Giancarlo Esposito add their marvelous talents as well. There was not a frame, where I wanted to pause to get up for a snack or anything. I had many questions during the film, MOST were answered by the final frame, there were a couple I'm still trying to work out. Without giving anything away, I just say it had to do with character motivation. Hmmmm...maybe another view will help!

Lion's Gate as usual has done a wonderful transfer to DVD. The widescreen presentation, lets you take in the entire story. Colors, which are used very well in this film, were excellent, and the sound in 5.1 Dolby(also has a 2.0 Stereo option)was totally surrounding, each noise distinguishable. A feature entitle "Cutting Room - The Inside Perspective", with commentary from the editing crew, was enlightening as to why the film was put together the way it was(faster moving then origianlly planned), but it also made me wonder who was running the show? Someday, I would be interested to see a Director's(Micheal Haussman) cut of this film and compare it to this final cut.

So..if you like film that makes you work a little, say like something along the lines of "Vanilla Sky", and a film that begs to be talked about with others that have viewed it, have a look at "Blind Horizon". Oh Yeah...Remember to pop that popcorn before you get involved with this thriller!

Enjoy....Laurie

Val Kilmer fans may want to have a look at his very early work in:
GORE VIDAL'S BILLY THE KID

"Blind Horizon", an amnesia action/mystery with some 'big name' stars, went straight to DVD without ever being theatrically released, so many have 'written it off' as a lousy film; but if you give it a chance, this is actually a very entertaining little gem!

Directed by Michael Haussman, the distributor, Lion's Gate, dissatisfied with the rambling 'director's cut', brought in ace film editor Alain Jakubowicz to punch up the film, and his re-cut gives the movie an edgy, fast-paced 'look', reminiscent of Christopher Nolan's "Memento", especially in the central portrayal of Val Kilmer's "Frank Kavanaugh". A likable 'lost soul', shot and left to die in the desert, who knows vague details of a plot to assassinate the President, he gradually discovers he is not a 'nice' person, and is, in fact, a key player in the high-level conspiracy. But as with Harrison Ford, in "Regarding Henry", his amnesia offers him an opportunity to 'change' his whole persona...if he can survive the attempts to silence him, and conquer his own instincts as a 'hit man'.

Blessed with a first-rate cast, "Blind Horizon" offers many intriguing supporting portrayals, from a likable local sheriff (Sam Shepard), and his politically ambitious deputy (Noble Willingham), to the mysterious 'fiance' (Neve Campbell) Kavanaugh can't seem to remember, and the beautiful nurse (Amy Smart), he'd LIKE to know better, to a mysterious 'contact' (Faye Dunaway), who drifts in and out of his dreams, with missing pieces of the puzzle. Kilmer is, as always, eminently watchable, capturing both the innocent and unsavory sides of Kavanaugh very effectively, and making his climactic actions worth waiting for.

Of special note is the film score, written by the collective group of composers, Machine Head. Working with non-traditional instruments, the 'sound' is both musical and mysterious, and ideally suits the film's ambiguity.

"Blind Horizon" certainly deserves a look, as a film far better than it's ill-fated history would indicate. I enjoyed it, and I think you will, too!

Choice. In the end, that is what this film comes down to. It is the ultimate moment in the climax when the choice is made... and... well, you'll have to watch it yourself to discover the 'next' part.
Val Kilmer play a great role, weaving in out from amnesia as well as sounding a bit slow on the uptake. When he becomes insistant that his attack has something to do with an upcomming presidential assination attempt, pieces of the puzzle begin to drop. Enter Neve Cambell, his fiancee although he does not remember her. She tries various things from pictures to talking to coax herself back into his memory but nothing seems to work. Not when he is focused on conspiracy.
Or the beatiful nurse... Amy Smart, who has taken a liking to him.
With several people involved in this smart thriller, the stakes are high. Yet, the suspense is what makes this movie the keeper. There isn't any real explosive action or violence. This film is more plot driven and relies on some character development to propel the action.
When the end approaches, it becomes clear who is who, and who everybody thought everyone else was is not as predicatable. With a stunning performance by Cambell, this film offers up really good jobs put in by an A and B list of actors.
While not so Blind to the viewer, Blind Horizon offers some thrilling insights into the confusion of the human mind.

I hunted this movie down for my own personal Kilmerfest, but it really grew on me. The characters are interesting, sometimes novel, and the writing and acting is strong enough to support rewatches to spend time with them. Decent popcorn movie.

This thriller has a great line up of stars from Val Kilmer, Sam Shepard, Neve Campbell, and Amy Smart.
The fine direction from Michael Haussman compliments things nicely. This movie is like a film noir.
It is dark and smoky, and this reflects the cloudy vision of Val Kilmer's character who has amnesia and is trying to figure out who he is and what has happened to him. He remembers something vaguely about this place, a border town, which seems to be in the middle of nowhere, and the President of the United States. Some things seem predictable, but then it takes a turn here and a turn there.
What struck me too was the soundtrack which is rich with textures.
Good stuff.

Blind Horizon is an average low budget thriller starring Val Kilmer who plays a man named Frank who is found in the desert in New Mexico and seems to have suffered from amnesia after being shot in the head, when he wakes up from a coma several days in a hospital he does not know who he is or why he's there in the first place. He keeps having flashbacks and old memories of his life and former ocupation and soon realises that there might be an attempt on the president's life. What I noticed with this film is that the cover was very misleading and I thought that it might be more like a political thriller or a conspiracy type of film like murder at 1600 but it has more of a noir type of atmosphere since most of the story takes place in this small desert town and some characters like the sherif played by Sam Shepard were were a bit boring or unnintresting and I had no idea what Faye Dunaway's charcter's purpose was in the film since shes not in the film that much. Other characters included in the film that were more intresting was Neve Campball who claims to be Frank's fiance but was a bit predictable and Amy Smart as a nurse who might be intrested in Frank and his background. I thought that the film was O.K. and was realy shot and directed well but it was not that memroble, it could have been better if it had a bigger budget and a better script.

I will have to say that Val Kilmer has done it again. His choice of movies recently have been nothing short of spectacular and all of them have been thoroughly enjoyable. Following up on Wonderland and Spartan, Kilmer portrays a man fallen victim to his own mind as he tries to piece together a memory fragmented by violence that will eventually lead him to a seemingly unthinkable crossroads. If you enjoyed Wonderland and Spartan and that "who is doing what to whom" type of movie, than Blind Horizon is for you. You won't be disappointed.

BLIND HORIZON starts out remarkably well, establishing a deep sense of mystery and foreboding. Val Kilmer stars as a man found half dead in the desert, and who has amnesia and can't remember his past. However, he has flashes of memory that intimate the President of the US is going to be assassinated. Michael Haussman uses flashback scenes effectively, but after a while, the movie falls in on itself in its lack of substantiation for its actions. It's not hard to figure out why Kilmer must know this information, and it's also plain to see noirish Neve Campbell is not all she appears to be. The subplot of Noble Willingham (as Deputy Cash) and his illegal activities does little to enhance the plot and perennial Sheriff Sam Shepard tries hard to bring some life to his role, but the movie become simply ludicrous once the assassination plot's secrets are revealed. Just who is Faye Dunaway and what does she have to do with anything. So as not to spoil the movie's climactic moments, I can't go into the details as to why the movie fails, but up until that point, it's a tidy thriller...it just doesn't end up being a good one.

Blind Horizon
I bought "Blind Horizon" on DVD because Val Kilmer is one of my favorite actors.
Val Kilmer gives a great performance, as Frank, who suffers from amnesia after being shot. Not knowing anymore who you are must be really frightening. But the character he is playing is not the most likeable, so I couldn't really be sympathetic. There are no scenes that touch on human emotions, like in "Heat" or "Thunderheart", my two favorite Val Kilmer movies.

What makes the movie interesting and entertaining is its complicated plot, the many flash backs, twists and turns, the many questions it raises from the beginning on. I have to admit I needed a second viewing to finally understand most of it, to figure out all the connections between the different groups of people and the parts they are playing. Some questions may still be left open. This movie will keep you busy trying to put the puzzle together until the end.

There is also included the obligatory love story between Frank and Liz, the nurse, which is nice but for my taste this connection was not developed in a natural way, which makes it look a bit unbelievable. There is not a single scene where the two get closer, have some serious talk before she flings her arms around his neck and asks him to come with her.
There are a few more scenes that are quite unbelievable and strange. Like when Frank gets shot at the beginning of the movie he jumps from a fairly high cliff. Nobody can survive such a fall without any broken bones.
For my taste there is also too much smoking in this movie, quite inappropriate smoking, like when the nurse (Liz) smokes next to the patient (Frank), who is connected to oxygen and then barely puts out her cigarette in the chamber pot and leaves it there smoldering.
Later Frank tries to drink and smoke back his memory.
Anyway I recommend this movie to anybody who likes a complicated plot and do some serious thinking.
Another interesting movie with a quite complicated plot is "Mindhunters", which I enjoyed watching a lot.

Another thriller about the killing of the president of the USA somewhere nowhere in New Mexico. In the well named city of Blackpoint. With such a subject you have to be slightly more subtle and contorted and contorted they were. Three killers. One is attacked by some unknown or at least dubious people and he loses his memory but not his life. The unidentified shady assailants can come back to the front as some kind of girlfriend or fiancée. He does not remember and he is ready to do his duty, though he remains dubious. Little by little he recovers his memory and he finally gets to the very heart of the matter. His acolytes want to get rid of him not so simple. But the fiancée comes back and that makes things tricky and very sick indeed. And what's more he likes the nurse who managed to bring him back to life out of his coma and she is waiting for him somewhere with a good surprise that is not only fiery blonde sex. So he cleans up the dirty plate of the assassination by doing his duty and he then can disappear with the blonde. But what was the fashion picture on the back cover of a flashy magazine of that poor solitary cowboy and the blonde nurse doing or representing? They must have met before in a trendier situation and in more glamorous circumstances. But well all is well that ends well, It is well known, and you can assassinate the president and yet run away with a few million dollars to enjoy the sightseeing of some distant country.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID