Off Limits [DVD]

We certainly know how to miss out on the really good films don't we? I'm amazed at what becomes a blockbuster and what flounders into obscurity.

We pile praises on films like "Titanic" and "The Passion of Jesus Christ" but we ignore the really good quality films that come out, and go for the glitz and the glamour.

Oh the peculiarity of the movie going human race is all I can say!

Off Limits (I saw it under the title of Saigon) was a film that really should have been a hit, it was that good.

Gregory Hines gave a solid performance as a Albaby Perkins a Military Policeman based in Saigon in the late 1960s, along with the smouldering William Defoe as his partner Buck McGriff.

Keeping the peace, having fun and doing their job is part of the game but when Saigon Prostitutes start turning up dead, they find themselves involved in a high ranking scandal that could just get them killed.

This film is not just a thriller, romance, murder mystery, or war movie, it is in my humble opinion a psychological masterpiece and it was done on a budget!

We are treated to a romance that can never be between William Defoe's character McGriff and the beautiful nun Sister Nicole played by the English Rose actress Amanda Pays along with an understated performance by the actor Raymond O'Connor. He portrays to perfection the haunted Sgt. Flowers, a man who would rather risk his life every day in the most dangerous war torn place on earth, because it is far safer than being in Saigon with the knowledge he has of the murders that Defoe and Hines are investigating.

You have a plethora of quality actors in this film, from Fred Ward, to David Keith, to Scott Glenn.

There are some great as well as grotesque moments in this film, such as the mad Colonel who does his prisoner interrogation in a chopper; his tactic to get information from his them is to throw them out of the chopper one by one. There is a shocking conclusion to this scene but I won't give it away and spoil it for you but look out for it, it is quite mind blowing!

Another quality moment is when McGriff finds his partner, playing basketball, all singed and battered after a violent attempt on their lives, we are treated to the fear and tension these men are constantly under, with no one to turn too because they are trying to expose a horrifying secret that just might go right to the top of the military flagpole.

This is an intelligent film; full of the horror of war and what it can do to you psyche as well as your physical being.

It is also a murder mystery with one hell of a twist in the tale and even though I know who "dunnit" I have watched it on several times simply because it is so good!

An underrated, under appreciated film that should stand along side the likes of, "Platoon," and "Full Metal Jacket."

One year after "Platoon", Willem Dafoe and Keith David do it again. This time Dafoe, as McGriff, stars with Gregory Hines ("The Cotton Club", "White Nights") as Perkins, and they investigate about a series of murders targeting young asian prostitutes in Saigon, in the middle of the Viet-nam war. Soon, the suspect n° 1 is to be an American soldier...
The story is quite tough but the viewer can appreciate the very pretty girls of Saigon and the exotic background, despite the war atmosphere. There's also some religion involved: if McGriff and Perkins finally find the murderer, it's thanks to a white nun played by pretty Amanda Pays, who was in touch with some of the victims. The mixing of all this is a minor success, the movie is well written, filmed, photographed and played - there's also Scott Glenn in the cast, perfect and funny as a nut officer, and Fred Ward is impressive. In addition, the soundtrack is excellent and very exciting, with many soul and funky hits from that period. What more can we ask?

Other reviewers have covered the essence of the plots and action quite well and there is little that I can add. However, I will comment on the technical quality of the DVD.

My first experience with this movie outside the theater screening was on laser disc. The quality of the LD was abysmal at best, and so I awaited the arrival of my DVD with some nervousness. I am happy to report that the DVD, while not pristine, is very acceptable and is a quantum leap better than the LD.

The difficulty of the photography can be laid directly at the feet of the subject matter. Most of the early scenes were rainy night shots of the grimy alleys and smokefilled GI bars of Saigon. They were difficult lighting conditions and it is possible that the director was looking for a smokey grimy result.

Anyhow, if anyone has experienced the earlier poor quality transfers this DVD will be quite satisfactory.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that the story line and acting were very good. It appears that Willem Dafoe and Keith David went straight from this movie to the Platoon compound that Oliver Stone constructed for his Vietnam epic.

Off Limits (Christopher Crowe, 1988)

You could put Willem Dafoe in a Jim Carrey movie and I'd watch it. (Okay, I'd consider it. Maybe. There are some things not even Willem Dafoe could fix.) Somehow, though, I'd managed to not cross paths with this one until now, over twenty years after its release. What a discovery it is; not necessarily because it's a great film, though it has its moments, but because Willem Dafoe, as is usually the case in his early films (have you ever seen To Live and Die in LA? Amazing!), heads up a cast that is beyond amazing.

Buck McGriff (Dafoe) and his pal Albaby Perkins (the late, great Gregory Hines) are police officers in Saigon in 1968. Not a plum assignment, to be sure. The two of them are navigating a fine line between their boss Dix (Tremors' Fred Ward), who tries to keep them out of trouble with the top brass, and the local constabulary, as represented by possibly-corrupt cop Lime Green (Brokedown Palace's Kay Tong Lim). The two of them stumble onto what seems to be a serial murderer of prostitutes, and helped by a long string of amusing, insane, and, in some cases, gorgeous interviewees, they come to the hypothesis that the killer may not only be American, but quite high up in the hierarchy...

Let me just say this: Amanda Pays. Richard Brooks. Scott Glenn. Keith David. Thuy an Lu. David Alan Grier. Is that a cast or what? Crowe, normally a screenwriter by trade (Last of the Mohicans, Fear, etc.), rarely got behind the camera himself; his only other feature film was 1992's Whispers in the Dark. I'm not sure why that is, because he did a pretty darned good job with this, a loose adaptation of Anatole Litvak's Night of the Generals. The script, also written by Crowe, is that kind of mystery script where plot twist follows plot twist in quick succession, but they're handled well, and the plot is easy to follow throughout. Dafoe and Hines play off one another well, and everyone else turns in a grade-A performance. It's pretty obvious why so many members of this cast went on to fame and fortune in the nineties.

A lot of fun. Check it out. *** ½

A hard look at the streets of Saigon, Viet Nam, and a serial killer murdering prostitutes going back to Korea several years before the current investigation. It becomes obvious it is a Colonel which means they better be right before making any accusations. Off Limits does a great job showing those areas that were off limits to military but that almost all soldiers visited during the Viet Nam War. Willem Defoe, Gregory Hines, Fred Ward, Rachel Ward, and Scott Glenn turn in fine performances. Defoe and Hines play CID detectives investigating the murders. Their unconventional ways get them into hot water with the locals, Viet Nam military, and even their own Army. Well worth renting at least and most people that enjoy hard edged murder mysteries will want to buy it.