Always puzzled about this.
The final drop was supposed to be made back on Alcatraz but when the camera pulls up at the end we see far off in the distance another island that looks like Alcatraz. Are there two islands?
They weren't on an island. They were at Fort Point which is underneath the entrance of the Golden Gate Bridge.
shareOK, but I thought Brewster said the drop was still on Alcatraz?
shareme too. i was confused about the same thing.
you should read my post of questions i just made. i pointed out some things there...
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behold, sublime genius: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLPe0fHuZsc
Maybe it wasn't on Alcatraz. Carol O'Conner says to Walker "The drops changed but the run is still the same." Maybe that means that the money is the same they now drop it a different location. That's what I reckoned out years ago.
"What rotten sins I've got working for me. I suppose it's the wages." -Bedazzled (1967)
lot of great info in the director commentary.it WAS alcatraz. why would it be weird for the final shot to be back at alcatraz?
The way to have what we want
Is to share what we have.
Is that commentary you watched on a region 2 DVD?
sharedude, i confess i don't know what an area 2 dvd is. i am in boston area, usa. this is from my local library.
The way to have what we want
Is to share what we have.
Region 2 is what we get in europe and some other places - US dvds are region 1. Regions are how the distributers can set different prices for the same product in different countries. Unless you have a region free player you can only play one region.
Region 2 releases tend to be a bit crappy compared to region 1's, poorer extras, poorer quality etc (UK reg 2 blood simple, for example, is pan and scan with horrendous picture and sound, though now you can get it as part of a boxed set), or we don't get the film at all, as in this case. We have to look for imports - mine is german reg 2 with no extras. There's another reg 2 import available which may or may not have a commentary so I was wondering if this is the one you had, but obviously not.
Would like to see that commentary sometime.
dud,e(btw, did you know that only americans can be 'dudes'?) :-}
i think i may watch it again and i could make some notes about it here if there are particular aspects that interest you(plot, character, actors,director etc).
The way to have what we want
Is to share what we have.
dud,e(btw, did you know that only americans can be 'dudes'?) :-}
Well I drink white russians and occasioanlly bowl so I assumed that qualified me on some level. Am I wrong?
i think i may watch it again and i could make some notes about it here if there are particular aspects that interest you(plot, character, actors,director etc).
Well that would be cool. Its an enigmatic film, the commentary should be pretty interesting. It would really tie the film together.
dude,it's a long commentary- the length of the film obviously- so i'm asking if there are partic things you want to know about. can't repeat the whole thing you know!
The way to have what we want
Is to share what we have.
OK :-) I thought you were just going to write down anything you thought was interesting.
So, do you remember if he explains about the scene after he finds his wife dead, when he returns from lookingout of the window and the body is suddenly gone and the main room seems devoid of furniture....?
Or the opening title shots, where walker appears to be escaping in a rather leasurely way?
Cheers.
<So, do you remember if he explains about the scene after he finds his wife dead, when he returns from lookingout of the window and the body is suddenly gone and the main room seems devoid of furniture....? >
yes that was his clever/innovative way of showing time passing.he said he was very influenced by french new wave directors and antonioni, ' as were all of us american film directors at that time'- rough quote. he was ther because he was waiting for the regular monthly drop off- so he could begin tracking his guy.
<Or the opening title shots, where walker appears to be escaping in a rather leasurely way? >
i'll let you know this later; i'll pull it up on the dvd tonight.
The way to have what we want
Is to share what we have.
Time passing? Really? The furniture disappearing, then coming back? Or just the body disapearing?
shareo.k. dude, i just rewatched the first half hour.
1)yes, you are right, when he grabs/slugs the courrier, the furniture is back in the room. so either the empty room was in his head (as you suggested) or it was a sequencing gaffe on boorman's part.
2) the whole titles sequence includes marvin being shot in the cell, waking, and wandering down the halls(shot and holding his arm), sitting on top of a tall chainlink fence, and wading out into the ocean- to swim away i presume.
he's not escaping from alcatraz because it is no longer being used as a prison when his and Reeves' heist takes place, remember? he's left behind for dead, and is alive and on his way out of the building and off the island.
plse let me know you saw this post!
The way to have what we want
Is to share what we have.
I was confused about that too and thought they were on Alcatraz until the camera pulls up for the end credits. I think they don't state the drop will be on Alcatraz, they always talk about the "Alcatraz route". But I thought the final scene was set on Alcatraz too.
shareThe location wasn't supposed to be Alcatraz, at the end. Although it was referred to as the "Alcatraz Run," recall that Brewster (Carroll O'Connor) told Walker something like "the drop's changed, but the run is still the same," meaning that the location for the money drop had changed but it was still the same money run.
Most of exterior shooting was Alcatraz.
The rest of the interior was a soundstage
Bad films are a crime against humanity.
The final scene was shot at Fort Scott, also known as Fort Point, a Mid 19th Century "Third System" coastal fortification guarding the entrance to San Francisco Bay. Note the 4 levels of gun positions; three levels in the arched casemates and a fourth atop the fort on the terreplein.
This is the same fort at which Madelaine jumped into the bay in "Vertigo".