The Survivors

Director: Michael Ritchie Michael Ritchie

Overview

"Robin Williams and Walter Matthau team up in the Michael Ritchie comedy The Survivors, which comes to DVD with a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. English and French soundtracks are rendered in Dolby Digital Stereo. English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, and Thai subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include the original theatrical trailer. This is a solid, if unspectacular release from ColumbiaTriStar."

Product Details

Release Date:	04/23/2002
UPC:	0043396032989
Original Release:	1983
Rating:	R
Source:	SONY PICTURES
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:42:00

Special Features

Digitally mastered audio & video; Widescreen presentation; Audio: English, French; Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai; Theatrical trailers; Interactive menus; Scene selections

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Walter Matthau	Sonny Paluso
Robin Williams	Donald Quinelle
Jerry Reed	Jack Locke
James Wainwright	Wes Huntley
Kristen Vigard	Candice Paluso
Annie McEnroe	Doreen
Anne Pitoniak	Betty
Bernard Barrow	TV Manager
Marian Hailey	Jack's Wife
Joseph Carberry	Det. Matt Burke
Skipp Lynch	Wiley
Marilyn Cooper	Waitress
Meg Mundy	Mace Lover
Sanford Seeger	Knife Wielding Old Man
Yudie Bank	Accosted Old Lady
Michael P. Moran	Gun Salesman
Norma Pratt	Armed Little Lady
John DeBallo	Salesman
Del Hinkley	Wes Man No.1
Morgan Upton	Cost-Conscious Survivalist
John Goodman	Commando
Regina David	Nose Biter
Francisco Prado	Illegal Alien
J.B. Waters	Interviewer
Indira Manjrekar	Indian Woman
Tiffany Clark	Herself
Marc Stevens	Himself,Himself
John De Bello	Salesman
Paul Chihara	Composer

Technical Credits

Michael Leeson

Jonathan Reynolds

Howard Pine	Executive Producer
Michael Ritchie	Director
William Sackheim	Producer
Michael Leeson	Screenwriter
Monroe Sachson	Producer
Jonathan Reynolds	Screenwriter
Kay Rose	Sound Editor
Steve Maslow	Sound/Sound Designer
Dennis L. Maitland	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Smile and Bad News Bears helmer Michael Ritchie and sitcom scribe Michael Leeson (Rhoda, Taxi, Happy Days) pooled their talents for this overlooked 1983 buddy comedy. The picture details the unlikely camaraderie of service-station owner Sonny (Walter Matthau), who loses his business in an explosive mishap, and New York executive Donald (Robin Williams), fired in the most humiliating manner by a ruthless boss and a gun-toting secretary. Winding up next to each other at a diner counter, these two strangers inadvertently foil a gunman's (Jerry Reed) stick-up of the restaurant and become local heroes and friends, but the incident sends Donald completely around the bend. Confronted with his own fear in the face of Reed's gun, Donald accumulates an outrageous stockpile of assault weapons and hightails it to the wilderness for survivalist training at a paramilitary camp; Sonny heads out to rescue him, adolescent daughter (Kristen Vigard) in-tow. The picture benefits from its inspired, lunatic premise and from Williams's comic performance. Some critics accused Ritchie of shooing the wisdom that George Roy Hill displayed on the set of The World According to Garp (when he clamped down on Williams's desire to improvise), arguing that Ritchie allows Williams to destroy scenes with his ad-libbing. But (as in the Good Morning, Vietnam) the free association here serves Williams's character brilliantly. He doesn't begin his shtick until Donald has a breakdown, and from that point the insanity of the character and the ever-present comic buzz of the actor mesh with something close to perfection. (And, moreover, Williams is funny.) More difficult to swallow are the undercurrents of cynicism, pain, and anger from which Leeson pulls humor in the first half of the film. One example has Donald asking politely to cut in front of a woman in an employment line -- she promptly offers to bite his nose off and shove it sideways. A subsequent scene has an unemployment officer dumping a can of mace into Sonny's eyes when he refuses to move. These are indicative of the early overtones in the picture, and its acid level of pessimism about the sourness of human nature and the rotten state of the world leave a bitter aftertaste. (It feels wholly credible, all right, but -- like Scorsese's The King of Comedy -- the rage and cynicism become almost too paralyzing for a comedy.) Despite this, we can be glad that the picture cools down slightly after its first half-hour or so; it continues to bite but lightens up a bit, and its nuttiness turns surprisingly breezy and enjoyable to sit through. (Williams's one-ended telephone call to Reed in the final act is undoubtedly the film's comic highlight; it recalls Newhart, but substitutes anger and raw insult humor for the passivity and helplessness of the button-down mind.) This much-underrated picture also features an early appearance by John Goodman and a lovely turn by the fetching redhead Vigard.