Customer Reviews

Streamers [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The following is my original comment which I posted to im[...] on 20th October 2003. You'll notice that some of my lines have been directly lifted by Amos Lassen for his 7th Nov 2009 Amazon review (I'll take that as a compliment):

There is no other film that deals so confrontingly with homophobia - and with honesty.

It's a deliberately pressured and closed set, but careful editing softens the effect of the confined space. As in Hitchcock's "Rope", the camera never leaves the room, so the viewer feels caged, while the characters can come and go.

The setting is an army barracks in which the men will at any moment be sent overseas for active war duty. The characters have no choice but to negotiate how much they want to know or to accept about each other.

Long before "don't ask - don't tell" became official US Forces policy, society in general had enforced rigid control over how open any homosexual could be - and Service Personnel have always held the worst reputation for homophobia.

So when Richie flaunts his complete disregard for machismo and swishes around the barracks, he's making one hell of bold statement. He teases Billy mercilessly with come ons, and Billy does his best to call Richie's bluff.

"Streamers" is about the truly dramatic consequences of censored communication. It's a gripping, demanding, powerful and very satisfying film that leaves your head spinning and your heart racing.

You practically need a de-briefing session afterwards, but "Streamers" is certainly one of the most memorable of dramatic movie experiences - on par with "A Clockwork Orange".

The performance by the entire cast is impeccable.

On the big screen it was potent and powerful as any film I had seen. The tension created kept me on the edge of my seat. Maybe as a gay man I perceived something of the conflict between myself and this rigid frigid military environment that crept into many a nighmare of mine. It had a live stage feel to it. Many emotions and personal historys were left up to the audience to interject, kind of compressing many diverse backgrounds into a short though volitale interaction. It remains one of my favorite films and I would very much like to see it on dvd.

Ever since I read "Hurlyburly" about five years ago, I have been a fan of David Rabe. When I became aware that "Streamers," possibly his best play, was made into a film, I wasted no time in renting it. I found the it to be true to the original script, with minor additions that do nothing to help or hinder the play's dramatic impact. The plot concerns the interaction of six men in a desolate army barracks. It is only days (weeks?) before the men are to be shipped out to vietnam, where they will, most likely, die. This tentative, chilling circumstance is the impetus for the story's action. The central characters are Billy, a moralizing, confused college graduate, Roger, a street smart black man, Richie, who is an uninhibited homosexual and Carlyle, a lonely and paranoid psychopath. The diverse nature of these individuals makes symbiosis difficult, and their respective tensions and prejudices culminate in a nihilistic and violent explosion that metaphorically represents the conflict in vietnam, and the conflict inherent in mankind. Streamers is an intelligent, claustrophobic and highly disturbing film that I emphatically reccommend to any who appreciate good cinema.

Ever since I read "Hurlyburly" about five years ago, I have been a fan of David Rabe. When I became aware that "Streamers," possibly his best play, was made into a film, I wasted no time in renting it. I found the it to be true to the original script, with minor additions that do nothing to help or hinder the play's dramatic impact. The plot concerns the interaction of six men in a desolate army barracks. It is only days (weeks?) before the men are to be shipped out to vietnam, where they will, most likely, die. This tentative, chilling circumstance is the impetus for the story's action. The central characters are Billy, a moralizing, confused college graduate, Roger, a street smart black man, Richie, who is an uninhibited homosexual and Carlyle, a lonely and paranoid psychopath. The diverse nature of these individuals makes symbiosis difficult, and their respective tensions and prejudices culminate in a nihilistic and violent explosion that metaphorically represents the conflict in vietnam, and the conflict inherent in mankind. Streamers is an intelligent, claustrophobic and highly disturbing film that I emphatically reccommend to any who appreciate good cinema.

I stumbled across this film on a lazy weekend a few years ago while watching the television and have been waiting for the DVD ever since. While those who are inclined will take from this film what they identify most with, I feel like there is something here for even those who do not identify with alternative gender identity's. As a veteran who never went to war I connected with the characters in a way that is inherently subjective. I found the interconnectedness of the situation these characters found themselves to be in to be most interesting, the boredom of military life without all the distractions civilian life has to offer in a training environment, and proverbial melting pot of class, race, gender (not sex), and social status. This was as close to the real (feel) of a military training environment as I have found in film yet. That is not to say there are not big differences, but the social situation is what I am referring to. The acting in this film is superb, and I think it touches on some important socio-political issues of the referenced time period, namely the controversial war and its draft, rampant substance abuse within the U.S. Army during that time including training facilities, acceptance of homosexual identity/behavior (coming to an important pass in the Obama admistration policy as I write this), race relations, class issues (such as upper-middle class from Manhattan enlist while the working class and black were drafted).

Ultimately this film is intentionally left open to interpretation, and I do not feel like it was an open criticism of war or the military, simply commentary. And to those who feel like the sergeants acting like fools was not realistic enough, I encourage you to spend time off with those in the enlisted ranks and I think your in for a surprise.

Somehow it's almost terrible that every cover for Streamers has a picture of Matthew Modine on it. One even features him gray haired, looking like the middle aged guy he presently is. Because this isn't merely his film, or a showcase for his talents, etc. After all, with Robert Altman directing and David Rabe writing from his stage play-no slouches needing the face of a star to sell their works, this needs to be represented in a better, broader, more poetic way.

Like Coppola, Altman's 1980's were peculiar, a seemingly odd period; HealtH, Popeye, Jimmy Dean, O.C. and Stiggs and Aria come to mind as "those other Altman movies." He also made Secret Honor, another play, Sam Shepard's Fool for Love, the TV series Tanner '88, and Streamers, all interesting, distinct, good fare.

Exclusively held in a barracks of a base near Washington, D.C. Streamers is a difficult story to pinpoint as being about one or two distinct things. Because it's essence winds and twirls within the struggles of the characters to figure out who they are, as isolated Spec. 4's, alone at the end of a half empty barrack, having no duties and left to dangle or fall within the Army's world, purposeless and expendable. Perhaps that is the vision, Rabe being a vet who wrote several searing Vietnam based plays-usually cynical, angry, psychologically tormented, though funny and even when set on the homefront, male stories. But it's success lies in it's open endedness.

Modine is Billy, a white Wisconsiner, straight and direct, the vision of Americana. David Alan Grier is Roger, a black urbanite, who has been able to straddle both white and black worlds, less likely to confront and amiable. Mitchell Lichtenstein's Richie is either an insane white kid trying to get out of going to 'Nam by feigning homosexuality or someone truly coming into his own as a maturing gay man. It is never clear why these three are held together, but Richie's fey behavior is blatant, and the subject which spells them into questioning each other. Carlyle, marvelously played by Michael Wright, comes from another part of the base, maybe a soldier, or a drifter, or a transient, or some angel; a black man, tortured and violent, who's presence propells the action towards a visceral, powerful conclusion.

That's all I can say regarding the story. The first hour plus was often slow, and I was sometimes bored or irritated at the lack of direction. But the last half hour is very strong, all the performances grow with the intensity of the circumstances, inclusing the two Sgt.'s Rooney and Cokes, played by Guy Boyd and George Dzundza, respectively.

I'd recommend this for devout Altman fans. Stage to screen adaptation lovers. Vietnam-era story admirers and fans of quality acting, minus spectacle. There is much strong imagry here and the closing shot is great too.

Very good performances from all actors, especially by Michael Wright as Carlyle. Guy Boyd and George Dzundra are excellent as two drunken old sergeants. The film itself is somewhat stage-bound as it is based on a play, but the acting makes this a worthwhile experience for any fan of strong acting and strong themes including war, death, and repressed (as well as open) homosexuality.

This film revolves around some soldiers in a stateside barracks circa mid-1960s. The soldiers are a mix of black, white, gay, and straight. Their interaction, and the violence that results form the plot of the story. I found the plot line dramatic and compelling, but not necessarily an accurate representation of "how it was back then". Having been a lieutenant and platoon leader in the Army of the 1970's, I can say that a soldier who flaunted his homosexuality in the barrcks (as the character of Ritchie does in the film), would almost certainly risk being assaulted and/or seriously injured by his fellow soldiers. Barracks life does have it's humor and pathos, but the introduction of an openly homosexual soldier would have consequence far more serious than the psycho-drama portayed in the film.
Despite my disagreement with the premise of Streamers, I have a personal connection with this film. I originally saw Steamers on the stage in 1979, right before heading to West Germany as a young US Army MP lieutenant. Several months later, as an officer in the 272nd MP Company in Mannheim, myself and my MPs were called to a barracks. A barracks with blood on the floor, and soldiers stabbed/cut up/beat up. I walked in and said the same line as the MP Lieutenant in Streamers; "What's going on here?". Suddenly I was the MP Lieutenant in this film (not literally)! This movie (perhaps even more than the original stage version) is spot on in showing the sudden violence that used to be a fact of barracks life in the Army into the early 1980's
I also felt I knew the two drunken sergeants. Older combat veteran NCOs were a staple of platoon life into the end of 80's (when almost all retired, voluntarily or not), and were unforgettable (drunk or sober). The scene where the two sergeants sing the song that is the title of the film actually brought a lump to my throat.

Veterans of the Army of the 1960/70's may wish to concentrate, as I did, on the accurate feel of barracks life, and the interaction between older, veteran NCOs and younger soldiers over the themes of homosexuality and race linked to violence.

I rated this as 4 stars out of 5 only because the DVD does not have any features other than the movie and a commentary feature (no close captioning or chapter selection).

Streamers is one of my favorite movies by Robert Altman. This before "don't ask, don't tell" but "open your eyes stupid?" story deals with the contributions, tribulations, and benefits of gays in the military. Friends, enemies, confidants. Intro features famous Texas A&M Aggie Drill Team. Most of the film takes place in typical wood frame barracks of the period. Filmed in Dallas, Texas, studio. See it, you won't be disappointed.

I accidentally saw this movie one night on the IFC channel. At the time my 17year old brother was hanging out with me, and this movie really sparked an interesting conversation. This movie is a shocker, the dialogue is great and the actors are pretty well known. David Allen Greer from In Living Color and Boomerange -he has done more recent films I just cant think of them right now, and Matthew Modine he was pretty popular a few years back, and my favorite of the group Mitchell Lichtenstein who I just think is adorable -he was in the films Wedding Banquet and Flawless (w/Robert DeNiro and Philip Seymour Hoffman). The drama was great and the things that Mitchell was saying to Matthew and Michael Wright (The Five Heartbeats, OZ, and The Wanderers) was a trip. This movie encompases race relations, sexual orientation issues... it covers so much that its just a great movie. All of it takes place in military barracks. This is a film that you have to listen too, listen to the dialogue and you will get something out of this film.