Actor/director Dennis Hopper assembled a wild cast for this busted 1990 thriller (116/100 mins., R) which was initially finished by Hopper in a 116-minute “Director’s Cut” – only to have it re-edited a whole bunch of times before being released to tepid reviews and non-existent box-office. This included a shortened Theatrical Cut which still credited Hopper as the director, and then another (?) version dubbed “Catchfire” which apparently listed Alan Smithee instead. Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray brings us Hopper’s original cut, as scored by Michel Colombier, plus the shorter theatrical edition, which boasts a superior orchestral score from Curt Sobel – both versions look great and offer an abundance of weirdo entertainment for buffs.
The barely-released, Dick Clark-produced “Backtrack” is an undeniably compelling, if consistently strange, star vehicle for Hopper, who managed to recruit Jodie Foster inbetween her 1989 and 1992 Best Actress Oscar wins, plus Joe Pesci (uncredited), John Turturro, Dean Stockwell, Fred Ward, singers Bob Dylan and Toni Basil and...yes...even Vincent Price. Oh and Charlie Sheen too – in a cameo filmed in one of Hopper’s homes!
There are a lot of odd elements running about in “Backtrack,” which is little more than a simple chase movie wherein artist Foster – dabbling in LED displays – witnesses a mob killing and scrambles to stay alive. In hot pursuit is Hopper’s hitman, who’s been hired by mob goon Pesci – just a few months shy of relaunching his career full blast with “Goodfellas” – not to mention cop Ward, who seems particularly disconnected from everything that’s going on here. That’s likely to be expected since an uncredited Alex Cox and writer Tod Davies were brought onboard to rewrite this script days before shooting began – the result is a patchwork of curious performances and uneventful cinematic flourishes on behalf of Hopper, who doesn’t bring a particularly distinguished visual flair to the material (at least it’s more fun than “The Hot Spot”).
Yet, I couldn’t stop watching “Backtrack.” There’s not much suspense here or even romance (how could there be when Hopper is basically playing your “friendly neighborhood rapist”), but there is much to keep and maintain a movie buff’s interest. Foster is attractive here and engaged even playing opposite Hopper’s overly mannered performance which occasionally features his anti-hero blasting out a saxophone (hey, it was the era of Kenny G) while Pesci drops f-bomb after f-bomb at Turturro, who comes off like he’s auditioned for the Coen Brothers. Actor after actor – Catherine Keener also appears as a truck driver’s wife – wanders into and out of the film like Hopper was staging a party and kept the camera going...maybe that was the point, since Cox and Davies in their terrific audio commentary offer that much of the film was shot in several of Hopper’s homes.
Kino Lorber’s debut Blu-Ray of this Vestron Pictures release sports Hopper’s original cut (which aired on cable a short time after the film’s release) plus the shorter theatrical edit. Michel Colombier’s jazzy score for Hopper’s edit has its moments but often comes off as shrill and noisy – the Vestron folks had the right idea when they brought in Curt Sobel to rescore the movie. His more melodic and orchestral score fares much better (and is far easier on the ears), though the film did lose some of its edgier parts on the cutting room floor – and rough around the edges is what this ramshackle cinematic affair does best.
The 1080p (1.78) transfers and stereo soundtracks (2.0) are superb on both transfers, with Cox and Davies’ hugely enjoyable commentary providing a unique insight into this obscure outing that’s barely a footnote on the respective CV’s of its hugely talented cast members.
Vestron Video trailer!