Customer Reviews

The Emerald Forest [VHS]

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The beauty and power of the rainforest juxtaposed to the beauty and power of "civilization," on of my favorite themes. Who is the true savage? Powers Boothe plays a construction engineer building a dam in the rainforest that is increasingly changing the structure of the most valuable real estate on earth. Not only is it effecting the plants and animals, creating desert where there was once rich vegetation, but it is affecting the indigenous tribes in horrendous ways. Charley Boorman plays the beautiful young son who is kidnapped by the leader of the "Invisible People." His father and mother (played by the beautiful Meg Foster) spent the next ten years searching for the boy as he is being raised in tribal customs.

Meanwhile, as the living space for the tribes grows increasingly smaller, the "Invisible People," who are basically good hearted, land loving indigenous people who keep to themselves and only want to survive, are increasingly threatened by the "Fierce People," a carnivorous, cannibalistic tribe who are desperately seeking space for themselves.

We watch Tomme grow up, learn from his new "father" who loves him dearly and was perhaps initially attracted to the tyke's golden blond hair and his own need for a son. We watch Tomme go through a ritual rite of passage that sends him on a dangerous quest for the special green rock that allows what are now his people to become "Invisible." It is in this quest that Tomme and his father cross paths again, and a lesson is learned about the cost of the damage civilization has brought to what is truly a beautiful and rich country better off left alone.

For a long time I couldn't find this movie anywhere. Not even at amazon.com. I cherish the copy I did finally find. I am thrilled to see that it is now available on DVD, but would like to see a DVD created with educational "special features" about the rain forest and the fight to preserve it. That's really what this movie is all about. See it now, before it gets away again.

I have to give this film five stars for all the reasons that the other fans of this movie discuss. This commentary is on an unusual glitch that I discovered with the DVD. I'm referring to the MGM "Contemporary Classics" edition (in case there's another version out there).

I was surprised to discover that, when the native people were speaking, some of the subtitling was left off. Moments of indigenous dialogue were left un-subtitled in the VHS version (moments when a character appeared to be saying something like "Move" or "Hey, look."). However, with the DVD, there was one scene where a bit of dialogue that was significant to the development of the plot went unsubtited, and we were all left in the dark. It happened in only one significant scene, that I noticed, and eventually it was apparent what the character had said, but it was still frustrating and strange.

However, I still recommend that you get the DVD. When comparing scenes between the DVD and my old VHS copy (in order to see what had been said during the previously mentioned scene), I discovered that the old pan and scan version occasionally cut out almost 50% of the screen! With a film this beautiful, this is intolerable!

If you have this on VHS and are considering upgrading to DVD, I recommend that you do so - the visual pay-off is great! But keep your hands on the old VHS copy, unless you know the dialogue from memory.

Bill Markham (Powers Boothe), an American engineer supervising a development project in the Amazon Rainforest has his young son Tomme (Charley Boorman) abducted by an elusive Indian tribe known as "The Invisible People." Bill spends the next ten years combing the jungles trying to find Tomme and bring him home.

When they are finally reunited Tomme is now a young man and the adopted son of the tribal chief and shaman (Ruy Polanah). He has also chosen a wife and is about to be married. And so the struggle begins, not only between father and son, but between two very foreign cultures in search of mutual understanding and acceptance.

While the two fathers and son work through the implications of their chance meeting danger looms on the horizon. A neighboring tribe of cannibals known as "The Fierce People" will soon attack. The ensuing confrontation will force Bill to join in the battle in an effort to defeat a mutual enemy.

Everything about this film is first rate. Acting (Powers Boothe, Charley Boorman and Ruy Polanah), directing (John Boorman), cinematography, and screenplay. It even has an important message to get across (saving the Rainforest) and does so without preaching to the audience or jeopardizing the integrity of the story.

It has been some twenty years since the release of this film, yet it still remains to be relatively unknown by a vast majority of movie watchers. Why it hasn't received more attention by now is a total mystery to me. This is one of the true undiscovered gems of cinema that everyone should experience. Definitely one of my all-time top ten films!

Haven't seen this movie for at least 15 years, now it is out on DVD. It is a great movie, about an engineer (Powers Boothe) who was building a dam in Amazon rain forest. His son was kidnapped by lost tribe of the amazon. He searched endlessly for his missing son for 10 years. It is based on true story. The acting is very good and the location is beautiful. Too bad the DVD can't displayed it properly as the color is a bit pale and dark. The sound is Dolby 2.0 only and a bit let down, especially after the DVD opens with the high power MGM logo presented in Dolby 5.1 and when it plays the film, you can immediately feel the drop in the sound quality. But overall it is a very entertaining DVD that worth considering.

I remember seeing this movie when it came out with a friend, who had to say that "the natives all had perfect teeth." If you're looking for a documentary, then this film is going to disappoint you. However, if you're looking for a beautiful, haunting film, one that will stay with you for a very long time, then this is a film for you. There are a number of themes at work here, everything from the destruction of the rain forest to the white man's influence on "primitive" tribes to a man's search for his son to a couple of swipes at Werner Herzog. The visuals are dazzling, your television never looked so good or so green. Rather than the botched widescreen version of Excaliber, the widescreen version of this film does true justice to the movie. The widescreen does allow you to see more and does take your breath away. While not all of it works (the end at the dam scene just doesn't fit the rest of the picture), enough of it does to leave the viewer wanting much more. The acting is very good but it's the vistas that the viewer will remember. Ok, now, Fox, time for the same treatment to Zardoz! Five stars out of five.

I saw this movie in 1985. It must have made an impression on me because I never forgot it, and it has been on my all-time favorite list for almost twenty years. Recently, I ordered the movie to make sure that it was as wonderful as I had remembered. My memory served me correctly; I loved it! The most mesmerizing aspect of the movie is its' theme of innocence. (Charley B. is so angelic; I just want to take him home with me!) The jungles are beautiful and unspoiled and the Invisible People are free from corruption. I guess that's what attracted me to the movie in the first place; innocence is so precious but on the verge of becoming extinct, just like the people of the rainforest. It just makes me want to cry... I do wonder if the story of the lost boy is really true; I can't find anything historical to back it up. As a matter of fact, the revised print (on the back of the video sleeve) coins the movie "a parable." Oh well, either way, it's still a keeper.

I had heard a bit about "The Emerald Forest" when it first came out so I got the video as soon as it was available. This is a terrific movie! It has some faults but I am willing to forgive them for the fun, adventure, and excitement that I got from watching this movie.

For openings, the concept is terrific. It may be the worst nightmare for a parent but we, the audience, are spared that knowing that it won't be much of a movie if the son doesn't reappear. It is from the perspective of the son that the story holds its' magic. Suppose you were captured by obscure Amazonian tribesmen around the age of 5 and swept of into the depth of the vast jungle world they live in. I know...lousy food, no indoor plumbing, no TV, etc. etc. etc.. But let's forget about that (and missing mommy and daddy) and consider the adventure of a lifetime.

The story, of course, involves the reuniting of parents and child. It is something like 7-10 years later and our little boy is now a teenager in his Amazonian society. The family members reunite, solve a crisis of modern man, and the boy, now a man in his new society, faces the choice of which world to live in.

The cinematography is outstanding and the infinite possibilities are well-utilized. Some parts of the story slow the movie down a bit but the impact remains profound. This is a movie to watch with just about the whole family. Some of the corruption of the modern world may cross over a line or two but it does fit into the message of the movie. For some reason this outrstanding movie seemed to have come in under the radar as far as audiences went. So what! Watch it and enjoy it for the good movie that it is.

It was heartening to read so many glowing reviews of EF, and see how many people consider it a "favorite" film. It has been a favorite of mine for many years. It is one of the very best films I know of in the "action/adventure" genre, yet transcends that genre with political smarts and vivid subplots. This kind of story used to be featured in magazines like ARGOSY when I was a kid, but on a much pulpier level.One plotline all the other reviewers seem to have missed is the discovery of the prostition ring by the Powers Boothe character late in the film.There is one brief scene in this film which remains my favorite ten or so seconds of film of all time. It sends shivers up my spine every time I see it: the viewer is suddenly transported high up in the air, flying right alongside some eagle-like bird, on some relentless dreamlike mission conjured up by the rainforest tribe and their rituals. Worth waiting for, even if the movie leaves you cold / A GREAT film, from one of the greatest living directors.

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I saw this movie as a metaphor for my own life. Physically the child in the movie belongs to one place, but mentally the child belongs to a different place. I loved when the tribe attempted to describe their relationship to whites and the child's white parents from within their worldview. I loved the name that they called themselves. So silent and respectful of the ways of the jungle. The views of the jungle are breathtaking. This movie is on my short list of movies everyone should definitely see.

If it hadn't been for "The Emerald Forest" I don't think I would have been familiar with the brilliant actor Powers Boothe. I first saw this movie when I was a little boy, and it's one of those movie-experiences that stays with you, and this one-of-a-kind-movie is a movie that never quite leaves you. Mostly I think because the story is so gripping, and tragic. The boy who is "kidnapped" by some lost tribe -and raised in the deep of the Amazon. The father who never gives up the hope to find him, and it takes him ten years to find his son -only to discover that he has lost him "mentally", and that it is too late. The acting is so brilliant and belieavable. It is also a lecture in what the industrial world is doing with the nature. I find it frightening every time I see the movie when the "chief" of the tribe tells his "son" that every year the "edge of the world" is getting closer. And that they've cut down the trees of the fathers. A grotesque image! "The edge of the world" that means the termination of the forests, the longues of the world! Well, this movie still leaves me thinking every time! A movie about belief, courage -but also loss. And above all; Love!

I highly recommend this!