People are voting emotionally.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Blistering performances.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It is one of my personal favorite best war movies of all time and favorite from been a hunted to become a hunter. I love, love this movie to death. I love the setting that it was filmed in the forest and in the swamps. The soldiers got lost and are now hunted from Cajuns. Because they stole their canoes and a soldier for a joke fired at them with blank bullets, but Cajuns returned fire and kill on of the soldiers. The other eight soldiers are now hunted on enemy turf, without live animation, compass, and the map they lost they must fight for survival. Walter Hill directed perfectly this film. "The thrill of the hunt is the ultimate drug" - the line is from Hard Target it is still a thrill film an edge on your seat. This is my childhood movie, I grew up watching it today I still love this movie today and I have purchased the Blu-ray disc and I watch it so many times on VHS tape. I think the acting performance from all the actors was decent. I love the music score by Ry Cooder I think it is very beautiful. What can I say? I love this movie to death I always enjoy watching this movie. I watched in Thursday this movie with my dad and even he enjoyed this movie just like I did. He said he loves this movie just like me. Squad of nine Louisiana National Guard soldiers are Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward, Franklyn Seales, T. K. Carter, Lewis Smith , Les Lannom, Peter Coyote and Alan Autry and they are believable. Powers Boothe and Franklyn Seales both really died in real life and are sadly no longer with us anymore. I am written this cause I love this movie to death and no one talks about it. Like this movie doesn't exit. I am a huge fan of this film. I have been an enthusiastic fan of Walter Hill's 1981 film, Southern Comfort, since childhood, and I believe that it is one of the most perfect movies of that decade in terms of its ability to maintain intensity to a nail-biting conclusion. A lot has been written about this film as an allegory for the war in Vietnam, but I prefer simply to take Southern Comfort at face value as a brilliant horror story. When a squad of nine National Guardsmen antagonize some reclusive Cajuns in the bayous of Louisiana, they find themselves fighting for their lives in drab swamp setting that is presented as a villain in its own right. They are on enemy territory crossing through swamps without any real ammunition, their compass and the map they lost in the swamp alone and tired the hunt is on in this game for survival. Unlike contemporary survival horror movies where one never gets the impression that the characters are actually outdoors at any point in the film, Southern Comfort is rugged to an extreme, with the actors constantly wading ankle-deep through swamp lands in the middle of winter, since filmmakers quickly determined that the filming location would be too hazardous during the summer season. For most of the film, the Cajun hunters are depicted as terrifyingly wraith like figures that are only seen in split-second glimpses through the trees. This movie has some of the most harrowing death scenes that I have ever witnessed on screen, by way of gunshots to the head, horrific booby traps, and, most notably, an unset ting sequence where a character disappears in quicksand that is subsequently shown in a serene shot as though nothing happened. A beautifully atmospheric Ry Cooder soundtrack works wonders to bring the viewer into the bayou. Just when the viewer thinks that the most tense moments of Southern Comfort have come to pass, the film ratchets up the unnerving horror with a conclusion that feeds on paranoia in a crowded setting. A few key visuals, namely two rope nooses being thrown over a support beam and a pig slaughter, are strikingly effective in a way that recalls the best of Universal Horror films or German expressionism, while the faces of strangers gets under the skin in a way that recalls movies like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Through it all, Southern Comfort presents us with memorable characters by way of convincing "lived-in" dialogue and tough guy archetypes that may or may not snap in the face of danger. It's easy to buy the notion that the nine Guardsmen are real people who have known one another for a long time, but simply tolerate one another's company during monthly weekend training exercises. The authenticity of these interactions is the strength that sold the premise to me when I first saw this movie on a cable channel almost 30 years ago. R.I.P. Franklyn Seales (1952-1990) and Powers Boothe (1948-2017) you are both really missed. Southern Comfort is a 1981 American action/thriller film directed by Walter Hill and written by Michael Kane, and Hill and his longtime collaborator David Giler. It stars Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward, T. K. Carter, Franklyn Seales, and Peter Coyote. 10/10 Bad Ass Seal Of Approval my favorite childhood movie from Walter Hill of all time a really masterpiece classic they don't make movie like this anymore.

In 1973, a regiment of the Louisiana National Guard travel out to the remote bayou for a routine training mission. The men, including Spencer (Carradine), Hardin (Boothe), Reece (Ward), Poole (Coyote), and Cribbs (Carter) have differing attitudes towards life and their situation. It all seems simple enough, but when they accidentally draw the ire of some local Cajun folk, the crafty Cajuns start killing them off one by one as punishment for their perceived incursion into their territory. Not to mention their capture of a local man, simply known as Trapper (James). Now trying to survive with limited resources in a harsh and unfamiliar environment, our National Guardsmen literally have to fight their own war at home. Who will die, who will survive, and who will live to find out the true meaning of SOUTHERN COMFORT? Only the genius of the great Walter Hill could take elements of the Wilderness Horror subgenre, the war movie, the Western, the suspense thriller, and the Asian-style "Heroic Bloodshed" film, and tie it all together with allegorical and metaphorical themes and undercurrents, all the while on the surface allowing it to appear to be a Deliverance/Most Dangerous Game-style survival outing. Strictly speaking, this isn't a straight-up action movie, though it certainly has those elements, but Hill's style, especially with this movie, was so imitated and duplicated in the years following this, we just had to include it here for being the benchmark that it is. Just watch any Cirio Santiago-directed jungle slog or any Italian war film shot in the Philippines (i.e. Eye of the Eagle III or Dogtags, respectively) and you'll see what we mean. The influence of Southern Comfort reverberated throughout the video store era of the 80's/early 90's and beyond, and it's easy to see why. There's a certain disturbing quality to it, especially in the final third. And as much as we enjoyed Hunter's Blood (1986), that film can't really compete with the staying power of Southern Comfort, because there's so much more depth here, despite the surface similarities. Or perhaps it's the presence of Joey Travolta. One or the other.The cast is killer, the Louisiana locations are both picturesque and unsettling (captured gorgeously by cinematographer Andrew Laszlo), and the Ry Cooder score is the icing on the cake. The cumulative effect of the clever writing, brilliant direction, the great cast, strange yet pretty locations and the top-notch score is powerfully effective. You can't ask for much more. If we have one minor quibble, it's that the 105-minute running time might have been able to be trimmed down a tad. But everything else is in the "win" column for this fine film.In high school English class, we learned about the four main drivers of narrative conflict. These are: Man against man, man against society, man against nature and man against self. Southern Comfort is one of the few movies that articulately expresses ALL of the four conflicts. But one of the other themes - and a constant in the work of Walter Hill - particularly stood out: the nature of masculinity. What does it mean to be "a man"? Is there a type of man that is "best"? One that is more effective? Does losing at a certain conflict make you "less of a man"? All these questions and many more are lurking just beneath the surface.Hill also shows that not all the Vietnam-era action happened in Vietnam. This provides a point of difference that is worth noting. There's some un-PC dialogue we all love and enjoy, and much like The Thing (1982), there are almost no women in the entire movie. The Shout Factory DVD/Blu-Ray combo is the package to buy - the movie looks brilliant and there is an insightful documentary included as well.Southern Comfort is much more than a "man's movie" - it cleverly explores themes that are damn near primordial in mankind. But it never loses its power to entertain, which is what good storytelling is all about. We strongly recommend it.

This is a 'great movie' that shows how a pseudo-tough-guy-idiot acts in an instant and without thought, and, in a completely unfamiliar and 'foreign' neighborhood; and, suffers for it. Unfortunately, the 'nice-guys' who are with him also suffer as well.*NOTE - This movie should be shown in schools as a tool to 'Watch-Out' and 'Beware' of where exactly you want to start a fight. Some people are 'very serious' about protecting their territory and their home. Others, like "THESE PEOPLE," are 'DEADLY SERIOUS' about protecting their territory and their home...and will kill anyone and everyone in order to protect it.When I first saw this movie at the theater in 1981 when I was 15, at the start of the movie, I felt so badly for the National Guardsmen who became hunted by the Cajuns in the Bayous of Louisiana. THEN, after little and obvious thought, I WISED UP! It was THEM...the National Guardsmen, 'one National Guardsman,' who started this fight and placed the other Guardsmen in jeopardy.Then...it became a mistake on both sides.This is a great movie for teaching children as to what 'REALLY' happens when you're in a group, and, one 'jerk' does something stupid; but, for that stupid act, the entire group pays for it.This is an excellent and intriguing movie...but, it's also inspiring! It's a blueprint for not pissing in someone's pool! A blueprint for not creating a problem in someone else's neighborhood, territory, or, county...especially if they are proud of their neighborhood, territory, or, county; and, they're armed and proficient with their arms and willing to protect it violently.If people saw this movie and actually "LEARNED" from it...the world may be a better place.MESSAGE - Stay off of my property unless you mean well! :)

Extremely well directed, atmospheric thriller from dependable veteran Walter Hill. It gets a lot of mileage from its forbidding environment: the Louisiana swamps, which are very hard to navigate for those that aren't locals. And it's into these swamps that a bunch of city slickers, a macho team of National Guardsmen, must flee when they make the mistake of antagonizing some Cajun hunters in the area.The Guardsmen soon realize that they're lost, and appropriate some canoes belonging to the hunters. What makes matters worse is when team member Stuckey (Lewis Smith) fires his blanks at the approaching Cajuns, who relentlessly pursue the Guardsmen and set up all matter of traps for them. Unfortunately, our protagonists don't just have the Cajuns to worry about when they start fighting among themselves.As can be expected, Hill does an expert job of assembling an incredible male ensemble, full of rock solid actors. Powers Boothe plays Hardin, the odd man out in the main group because he's from Texas and doesn't particularly care for "redneck" characters. He's also one of the few characters on hand who has more than half a brain in his head, as far too many of the group are clearly unbalanced, and the second in command, Casper (Les Lannom), just isn't that effective in the leadership position. Also starring are a charismatic Keith Carradine, an intense Fred Ward, Franklyn Seales of "The Onion Field", T.K. Carter of John Carpenter's "The Thing", Alan Autry ('In the Heat of the Night'), and Brion James ("Blade Runner") in a great role as a grizzled, one armed Cajun trapper.Ry Cooders' flavourful music is wonderful, and the tension is undeniable, especially in the final scenes where one thinks that Carradine and Boothe may have found sanctuary in a nearby community but Boothe worries that their adversaries haven't given up and may show up any second. The production design by John Vallone and cinematography by Andrew Laszlo are also well worth mentioning.Look for Sonny Landham ("48 Hrs.", "Predator") in a bit part near the end as one of the hunters.Eight out of 10.