Salvador

April. 23,1986      R
Rating:
7.4
Trailer Synopsis Cast

In 1980, an American journalist covering the Salvadoran Civil War becomes entangled with both the leftist guerrilla groups and the right-wing military dictatorship while trying to rescue his girlfriend and her children.

James Woods as  Richard Boyle
Jim Belushi as  Doctor Rock
Michael Murphy as  Ambassador Thomas Kelly
John Savage as  John Cassady
Tony Plana as  Major Maximilliano Casanova
Colby Chester as  Jack Morgan
Cynthia Gibb as  Cathy Moore
Valerie Wildman as  Pauline Axelrod
José Carlos Ruiz as  Archbishop Romero
Jorge Luke as  COlonel Julio Figueroa

Similar titles

Flightplan
Prime Video
Flightplan
Flying at 40,000 feet in a state-of-the art aircraft that she helped design, Kyle Pratt's 6-year-old daughter Julia vanishes without a trace. Or did she? No one on the plane believes Julia was ever onboard. And now Kyle, desperate and alone, can only count on her own wits to unravel the mystery and save her daughter.
Flightplan 2005
Pulse
Freevee
Pulse
When the dead discover a means to contact the living through electronic devices, cellphones and computers become open gateways to monstrosities and destruction.
Pulse 2006
End Game
Prime Video
End Game
Alex Thomas was the man in charge of protecting the president but, when the time came to fulfill his duties, everything just went wrong. His conscience haunted by a bullet, and his devotion to his country stronger than ever, Alex teams with a seasoned reporter to navigate a treacherous web of lies, unlocking a dangerous conspiracy, and enter a deadly world in which skilled assassins and highly-trained ex-special ops lurk in every shadow.
End Game 2006
Where the Truth Lies
Prime Video
Where the Truth Lies
An ambitious reporter probes the reasons behind the sudden split of a 1950s comedy team.
Where the Truth Lies 2005
Jack Frost
Max
Jack Frost
A father, who can't keep his promises, dies in a car accident. One year later, he returns as a snowman, who has the final chance to put things right with his son before he is gone forever.
Jack Frost 1998
Half Light
Prime Video
Half Light
Rachel Carson, a best-selling crime novelist, is devastated and filled with guilt over the accidental death of her son. Hoping that a change of scenery will help alleviate her suffering, she leaves her home in the city and moves into a vacant country house owned by a friend and begins a relationship with charming local Angus. But, just as her life is taking a turn for the better, Rachel realizes she's being romanced by a ghost, leading her to doubt her own sanity.
Half Light 2006
Mad City
Mad City
A misguided museum guard who loses his job and then tries to get it back at gunpoint is thrown into the fierce world of ratings-driven TV gone mad.
Mad City 1997
Air Force One
Prime Video
Air Force One
When Russian neo-nationalists hijack Air Force One, the world's most secure and extraordinary aircraft, the President is faced with a nearly impossible decision to give in to terrorist demands or sacrifice not only the country's dignity, but the lives of his wife and daughter.
Air Force One 1997
Interlude
Interlude
A young female journalist in London falls in love with a married orchestra conductor.
Interlude 1968
Sahara
Paramount+
Sahara
Seasoned adventurer and treasure hunter Dirk Pitt, a former Navy SEAL, sets out for the African desert with his wisecracking buddy Al in search of a confederate ironclad battleship rumored to have vanished long ago, the main draw being the treasure supposedly hidden within the lost vessel. When the daring duo come across Dr. Eva Rojas, a beautiful scientist who is juggling an escape from a warlord and a mission to stop the spread of a powerful plague, their desert expedition begins to heat up.
Sahara 2005

You May Also Like

Memento
Prime Video
Memento
Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating his wife's killer, however, is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of short-term memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.
Memento 2001
Full Metal Jacket
Max
Full Metal Jacket
A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
Full Metal Jacket 1987
Platoon
Prime Video
Platoon
As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.
Platoon 1986
The Deer Hunter
Freevee
The Deer Hunter
A group of working-class friends decide to enlist in the Army during the Vietnam War and finds it to be hellish chaos -- not the noble venture they imagined. Before they left, Steven married his pregnant girlfriend -- and Michael and Nick were in love with the same woman. But all three are different men upon their return.
The Deer Hunter 1978
Dawn of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead
During an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Dawn of the Dead 2022
Sleepless in Seattle
Prime Video
Sleepless in Seattle
When Sam Baldwin's wife dies, he is left to bring up his eight-year-old son Jonah alone, and decides to move to Seattle to make a new start. On Christmas Eve, Jonah rings a radio phone-in with his Christmas wish to find a new wife for his dad. Meanwhile in Baltimore, journalist Annie Reed, who is having doubts about her own relationship, is listening in.
Sleepless in Seattle 1993
Lost in Translation
Prime Video
Lost in Translation
Two lost souls visiting Tokyo -- the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company, away from their lives in America.
Lost in Translation 2003
Starship Troopers
Paramount+
Starship Troopers
Set in the future, the story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry. Rico's military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an arachnoid species known as "the Bugs".
Starship Troopers 1997
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Starz
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
After finding a host body in investigative reporter Eddie Brock, the alien symbiote must face a new enemy, Carnage, the alter ego of serial killer Cletus Kasady.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage 2021
The Grifters
Paramount+
The Grifters
A young short-con grifter suffers both injury and the displeasure of reuniting with his criminal mother, all the while dating an unpredictable young lady.
The Grifters 1990

Reviews

ThedevilChoose
1986/04/23

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

... more
Merolliv
1986/04/24

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

... more
Bob
1986/04/25

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

... more
Billy Ollie
1986/04/26

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

... more
gogoschka-1
1986/04/27

Compelling civil war drama by Oliver Stone with a great James Woods (as well as a great Jim Belushi). Stone's best films have always been his highly political ones, and this is no exception. Brutal, realistic portrayal of the conflict in El Salvador and America's implications. This is one to re-discover by film fans as it seems to have fallen a bit into obscurity over the years. Highly recommended: 8 stars out of 10.In case you're interested in more underrated masterpieces, here's some of my favorites:imdb.com/list/ls070242495

... more
UK Shaun
1986/04/28

I happened to stumble across Salvador while browsing the DVDs in a local charity shop. Instantly I was drawn to the text on the cover which included:'An Oliver Stone Film'"Salvador is sensational." - The ObserverNominated for two Oscars, this gripping, semi-biographical account of photojournalist Richard Boyle's tumultuous experience in war-torn El Salvador has a power you can feel!1 hour, 58 minutes after inserting the DVD into the player, I came away with a mixture of thoughts. In some ways Salvador is good, and some of the scenes work really well. The biggest issue I had was with the two main stars, Jim Belushi and James Woods. Jim Belushi is a good actor, but somehow feels poorly cast for his role, coming across as comical. James Woods just seems dated, and feels the need to act hyper all the time, which got on my nerves. For the most part, both lead actors are out performed by the rest of cast (bar Michael Murphy & the female TV reporter) who act more naturally.Salvador feels dated, at 21 years old, maybe this is to be expected. Maybe it impressed back in the day. The idea is there. While I am not in favour of remakes, Salvador is an ideal candidate, as it would be great to watch actors act in such a way as to reflect the gritty nature of the situation they report on. Sensational or gripping aren't words I'd use to describe Salvador. The subject matter the story covered was of interest.

... more
Theo Robertson
1986/04/29

This is considered to be Oliver Stone's best film but I disagree , PLATOON is the best film helmed by Stone but SALVADOR is probably a fair way behind it . Unlike PLATOON which was a heartfelt movie mirroring the director's own experiences in Vietnam it's slightly difficult to connect with the characters . They're cynical and hedonistic to start with but improve as people as the film continues making the movie a slightly too obvious redemption plot , not helped with some Catholic imagery James Woods plays journalist Richard Boyle . Perfect casting by Stone which got Woods his first and last Oscar nomination for Best Actor . Woods has always been superb at playing intense , manic dangerous characters and excels at playing someone who suffers from a borderline narcissistic personality disorder who continually tells the world that whilst Sydney Schanberg was picking up his Purlitzer Prize ( See THE KILLING FIELDS ) he was the last journalist out of Cambodia . It's also interesting that Boyle's main motive for going to El Salvador is that it costs a mere $50 a month to live there whilst whores and drugs are easy to come by . Of course all this changes when Boyle gets caught up in events and becomes a crusader against human rights abuses by the right wing government The one main problem can be accused off from a moral viewpoint is one of moral equivalence . Alex Cox criticised the film where Boyle sees left wing guerrillas executing captured troops and cries that one side is as bad as the other according to Cox . I can't recall Boyle saying that but my own problem with moral equivalence is at the start of the film where Boyle self righteously proclaims he broke a story about " IRA suspects getting tortured by the Brits in Belfast " Is there any connection between the Irish troubles and what goes on in central America ? To be fair to Stone he does point out the American establishment's fear of El Salvador coming under the Soviet sphere of influence . And if Stone didn't have a deserved or otherwise reputation as a Hollywood liberal would people nitpick the film so much ?One thing about Stone's direction is how restrained it is in relation to his later work . There's a directorial technique called " Intensified continuity " which in laymans terms is MTV style film making . Stone took this to new heights ( Or possibly depths depending on your view ) with JFK and NATURAL BORN KILLERS . Here however the camera work is disciplined with no OTT flourish and Stone thankfully lets the performances , plotting and dialogue carry the film which whilst an effective political drama doesn't carry the emotional wallop of PLATOON

... more
michaelhennessy8
1986/04/30

As jobbing photojournalist Richard Boyle (James Woods) and his friend Dr. Rock (James Belushi) guzzle booze and drugs in a red convertible on their journey south of the border, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were watching a sort of Fear and Loathing in El Salvador. But where Hunter S. Thompson journeys into the heart of the American Dream, Oliver Stone's semi-biographical thriller explores its outward reach as franchiser to the Third World. What emerges is an exposé of the superpower's influence in creating a late-twentieth-century Heart of Darkness.No sooner do Boyle and Dr. Rock settle into the roles of the partying gringos than they find rifles pointed at them at a military roadblock. 'Whatever you do Doc', warns Boyle, 'don't get on the ground.' The first in a series of tense, sweaty set-pieces, Boyle must defuse the situation, armed only with a couple of knock-off watches and his oily charm. It is in these scenes of forced laughter with grave locals that the self-confessed 'weasel' Boyle excels; his defining characteristic appears to be his knack for self-preservation. It is a role perfectly suited to its star: no one balances sleaze with intensity quite like James Woods.Leeching and lying his way through encounters with acquaintances and enemies, Boyle is a strange, flawed protagonist. He lacks the maverick talent traditionally bestowed on the anti-hero, which is here embodied in old friend John Cassady (John Savage), a photojournalist fiercely committed to the ideal of the world-changing shot. But as Boyle bears witness to the atrocities committed and hypocrisies inherent in the country's Civil War, he becomes more impassioned with every picture he takes. Where he is initially concerned with staying off of the dreaded ground, he grows to stand up for those who are stuck there.Stone shoots the movie much like a war-photographer, capturing the atrocities as an outsider, and wisely reigns in the visual excess that would come to define much of his nineties work. 'Gotta get close to get the truth', Cassady intones as he climbs over a mound of corpses, 'You get too close, you die'. Stone's camera stays eye-level with his protagonist, casting from above the American gaze over a people who live on their knees, or else are strewn lifelessly across the landscape.Behind the brutal military regime that tries to suppress the (equally brutal) peasant guerrillas sits the U.S. government. Their presence as 'advisors' lends a sense of futility to the battle-scenes: no matter how bravely or well each side fights, Stone suggests, the outcome will ultimately be decided amongst Americans in an office far removed from the battlefield. Boyle professes his patriotism in a climactic speech that fails to convince, in spite of Woods' best efforts; channelling the outspoken Stone himself, he reserves his most damning accusations for the government of his homeland.Despite slipping into the preachy and manipulative at times- a distressing scene involving a group of nuns is particularly heavy-handed, regardless of whether it is based in fact- this is an effective, tense thriller, with some interesting contemplations of journalistic and political responsibility. As much character piece as polemic, Salvador is highly recommended, for Woods' wired performance in particular.

... more