Directed by:
Mark Steven JohnsonScreenplay:
Evan DaughertyCinematography:
Peter Menzies Jr.Composer:
Christopher YoungVOD (1)
Plots(1)
Veteran of the-horrific Bosnian War, reclusive U.S. military operative Colonel Benjamin Ford (Robert De Niro) is escaping the nightmares of his past in a remote cabin retreat. But his past is about to confront him, as former Serbian soldier Emil Kovac (John Travolta) has been staking him out... and is about to strike. Haunted by his country's genocide, Kovac has come to settle a score and nothing will get in the way of his lone-wolf operation. So begins a gory, gripping and explosive game of cat and mouse - that proves for some soldiers, war never ends. (Roadshow Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (4)
As if a Balkan high school student, obsessed with the first Rambo, had fulfilled his dream and cast two Hollywood stars in
his own, ultra-serious interpretation of the shadows of his country’s history. The result is a dramaturgically primitive,
technically impossible and often unwittingly ridiculous film with the original message that war is bad. Pure B-movie
material.
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With Robert De Niro and John Travolta being top-tier actors for me, I didn’t need much convincing to give this film a shot. On paper, it sounds like a classic cat-and-mouse thriller, and it starts with them bonding over a bottle of Jäger before realizing who they really are—then the chase begins. In the second half, they’re hunting each other through the Appalachian Mountains (though it’s clearly Bulgaria), and if an actual Native American (or Bulgarian) saw them, they’d probably just roll their eyes and walk the other way. There’s a fair share of darkness, nonsense, and absurdity, but honestly, I enjoyed watching both actors go at it. I ended up giving it a light three stars, mostly for their enthusiasm.
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A small chamber survival movie like Rambo, Seraphim Falls, or The Hunted. Unfortunately, it also takes the worst the last one, a dumb and unbelievable probe into the war in Bosnia, from which the whole script draws and where the supposed conceptual transcendence should be visible, but simply isn't. If it was purely about raw survival, it would be one better, because both De Niro and Travolta are great.
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A decent film - fast, clear, it says what it wants to say (and the result probably surprises no one), and that's all there is to it. Not that I need more. The most interesting thing for me is that I hadn't liked anything by Mark Steven Johnson, and suddenly there's Killing Season, which had me interested from start to finish. Of course, it's a credit to the two main actors, but the direction also has more than just good moments (De Niro's morning routine accompanied by Johnny Cash, then the scene with the wine or the one with the salted lemon juice), and it all takes place in the beautiful countryside, which is also a bonus. If Travolta's character hadn't acted like a complete jerk at the end, it might have been even better.
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