Very disappointing...

Pretty Good

Absolutely Fantastic

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Written (screenplay) and directed by Werner Herzog and starring Michael Shannon and Gael Garcia-Bernal I thought this had all the hallmarks of a great film. However never judge a book or indeed a DVD by its cover. Set somewhere we are not really bothered with we meet international scientists who are on their way to investigate an eco disaster that is man made. On arrival they are sort of kidnapped by a group of black clad and all powerful types led by Shannon.Then Veronica Ferres playing Dr Sommerfield gets taken off to some huge salt flats (actually in Bolivia) where she is abandoned with two blind twins whom she is supposed to look after. I am not sure if this is supposed to signify something deep and quite frankly by this stage of the ordeal I was beyond caring. Along the way there is lots of 'I am shouting therefore I am acting' type scenes, tons of meaningless and, would be, profound soliloquising which is only heightened in annoyance by the most puerile 'ethnic music' being dribbled over the top.Also everyone seems to act irrationally and the whole thing is just a mess. This is a classic of the sum does not equal its parts variety of film. I tried very hard to find some positives from this and I even though about eco messaging etc. In the end if the planet relies on these egocentric thugs to survive then its best off to be left waiting for the sun to burn out. Only watch if you are forced to and then put up a spirited resistance - recommended to be ignored by everyone.

You might enjoy this movie if you like to see molasses flowing down a glacier. You might enjoy this movie if you like pretentious dialog delivered with a strange, foreign rhythm and ponderous translation. You might enjoy this movie if you like a 'save the Earth' message carved into a baseball bat, that is then used to knock you repeatedly over the head. You might enjoy this movie if you like to see endless, boring terrain shots.You might enjoy this movie if you are a cinema masochist looking to severely torture yourself.If you don't adhere to any of the above mentioned criteria, I would strongly suggest passing on this one. Toward the end, I was holding a box cutter to my throat...

I'm surfing Netflix trying to find something good to watch. I run across this movie and lo and behold, Netflix has it rated 5 stars! I check this site, and the first review has it 7 stars and says it's an 'eco thriller'! So, I figure it must be worth a watch. WRONG! This may be the most boring, awful movie I've ever seen! I fought off sleep 4 times hoping that there would be something; anything that could make the movie worthwhile. But alas, nothing! I have no idea what was going on or why? Why were the scientists kidnapped? What's the consortium? What's with the two blind kids? Nothing, and I mean nothing makes sense? Trust me when I say this movie is awful. Don't waste your time. And please; to anyone who rated this mess higher than a 1, please stop. Anything higher than a 1 is a disservice to other readers.

It's hard to believe that the director of a film so profound and well- done as Rescue Dawn would produce such an utterly unwatchable movie as Salt and Fire. I am only giving this 2 stars for the efforts of Michael Shannon. The start was decent and one was wondering "ok what's going to happen now and what's this all about". Then the shoe drops and keeps falling and falling, never hitting ground. This is perhaps the least watchable piece of would-be film art I've ever seen. It's just painful. Spare yourself the wasted time.