Kevin Costner's The Postman

[thwerst]

One of the worst movies of the 90's but it is funny to watch once.  Seen it?

[Zapranoth]

What makes it particularly tragic is that the book it butchered was very well written.   

[Torgo]

The book was pretty good actually but they absolutely botched the movie from every angle.

[Andrew]

Welcome aboard, thwerst.

This film drove me nuts, because it was amazingly long (one of the few movies that challenges "The Trial of Billy Jack").  Amusingly, I realize that I have never sat through the entire thing and have watched it in pieces on numerous occasions.  It has been too long since I watched it, but I still remember the entire exchange between Costner and the one young man who wanted to be a heroic postman too.

[Snivelly]

The book is excellent, I agree with Torgo.  I didn't care for the movie at all, but to be fair, the book was so long and drawn-out that I don't think they could have really condensed it into any type of coherent script. 

[Ash]

I don't think I've ever sat all the way through this one either.
It's been years since I last tried.

Didn't it have Tom Petty playing himself?

[rebel_1812]

Kevin's acting is what really distracted me.  Just horrible.

[soylentgreen]

Ok...I'll play the forum THE POSTMAN apologist. 

I actually saw it in the theatre(me and my friends made up the entire 3 people seeing it that showing!).  It is long.  And what makes it feel longer is the structure of the story.  It has stretches that take place over variously long periods of time that are very difficult to convey while simultaneously cramming in the many episodes they were aiming for. 

It also has a very elegiac tone.  A film with all the trappings of an action film(more even a western) yet it's core soul is a reverence for community and healing of wounds...decidely 'slow' concepts.  I see it kind of like how WYATT EARP seems interminable when compared to TOMBSTONE.  I like both a bit, yet TOMBSTONE tells essentially the same story and burns along with a perfect subtle efficiency(Thanks George P Cosmatos & Kurt Russell). 

Totally taken for granted nowadays, I liked Costner's reluctance to see just how important that damned mail is when it's all you've got.  His frustration at the naive humanism of the young people who want be postal riders was well done.  Call me a sissy, but I find that scene after his stay in the mail truck when he buries the skeleton and thanks him for saving his life pretty moving.

I should point out that I'm a huge Will Patton fan and it was nice to see him tangle with Costner again after NO WAY OUT.  But they both have some great little moments.  Oh yeah, I really dig character actor Daniel Von Bargen too.  His scenes with Costner are keyed just right.

The photography is quite lush and takes full advantage of the environment...even the quarry has a glorious quality to it.  James Newton Howard's score is a handsome blend of his usual pastoral sensibilities and contemporary action elements.

I think the glaring scene which most people use when criticizing the film is the "snag-the-mail-out-of-the-kids-hand" scene.  The monument at the end is nice, but the scene itself is too hamfisted. 

I would recommend for people (if they care enough) to check out what David Brin himself thought of the film.  I, for one, was somewhat surprised.  The same surprise I had reading what Harry Harrison thought of SOYLENT GREEN.