The Fury (1978)

[trekgeezer]

The Fury (1978) - Kirk Douglas plays Peter, a secret agent for some unnamed agency, who has a psychic son named Robin (Andrew Stevens). At the beginning of the movie the father and son are bonding on the beach in some middle eastern country with Peter's associate Childress (John Cassavetes) when an apparent terrorist attack takes place. Childress and Robin had gone back to the hotel leaving Peter alone when the attack happens. There is a lot of automatic weapons fire. Peter takes off in the attackers boat and is apparently blown up trying to escape.

Childress leaves Robin to talk with one of the gunmen on a rooftop. Peter swims back to shore and sees Childress with the guy who just tried to blow him up in the boat. He picks up a gun and wounds Childress and then escapes again. Seems the whole attack was setup to get Peter out of the way so Childress could take Robin back for experimentation into using his psychic abilities as a weapon.

After a year has gone by Peter shows up in Chicago looking for Robin. His only hope to find him in rests in a teenage girl named Gillian (Amy Irving) who seems to have a psychic link to Robin. She is also dangerous, when having a vision people around her that she touches start bleeding (especially from any old wounds. Will Peter be able to save Robin from the fate Childress has planned for him?

I know most folks here have probably seen this movie, but I need to weigh in. This movie is weird, and I'm not talking subject matter weird. Instead of being a straight forward thriller, it tends to veer off into the downright comedic at times.

 The scenes in the apartment with Gordon Jump and then later with Dennis Franz and his new Cadillac (which has the optional police spotlights) look like they belong in another movie altogether. Why did he kick them out of the car and then drive it into Lake Michigan after they had polished off the bad guys? I think either DePalma or the writer were smoking something when they included this stuff.

The cool telekinesis stuff ( of which there is very little) all comes toward the end. Not to offend, but the scene where Robin sends the Arab's car from the carnival ride flying into the restaurant right on top of their friends would probably get applause these days. What he does to Fiona Lewis is sorta old hat stuff now.

If you haven't seen this movie, look out for another comedic moment,  the 70's video game.

[The Burgomaster]

I saw this during its original theatrical run and I wasn't a big fan of it.  But years later I bought the videotape anyway.  I don't have the DVD . . . yet.

[Alan Smithee]

Somehow, I felt compelled to rent a copy from Netflix. Interesting concept poorly executed. The ending scenes almost had satanic overtones. Also, I barely noticed a skinnier Dennis Franz. Brian DePalma is an uneven director. When he's not trying to be the next Hitchcock, he'll do  something great like 'Scarface'.

[LH-C]

Having seen the movie, then read the book last year, I seriously think that Kirk Douglas was horribly miscast as the dad. And what is very inexplicable is the fact that the author of the book, John Farris, also wrote the screenplay, and some changes for the movie, for whatever reason, I don't know.

[onionhead]

John Cassavetes go BOOM.
The film was worth it for the final frames alone, that and the throbbing vein in Andrew Stevens' forehead.

[Neville]

Andrew Stevens... If he had died back in those days, the world would have been spared hundreds of hours of bad movies.

About the movie itself, I find it a misfire, as many of other De Palma early works, although it has its moments, like the opening action scenes.

[LH-C]

Neville Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Andrew Stevens... If he had died back in those
> days, the world would have been spared hundreds of
> hours of bad movies.

Strangely, he's transformed himself into an A-List Hollywood producer! First starting off producing the kind of B-movie stuff he was acting in then progressing to more prestigious fare. What's more strange is that he still acts once in awhile. Andrew Stevens' filmography

[Neville]

It's amazing what producing "Battlefield earth" can do to your career. Of course, "disturbing" is more accurate.