LastingAware The greatest movie ever!

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Bryan Kluger This 1985 action/adventure film is fairly heavy handed and tends to shy away from the ultra violent action movies of the 80s that starred the Stallones, the Schwarzeneggers, or the Lundgrens at the height of their career. Instead, this is more of an episodic film, based on a true story that is more melodramatic in nature with elaborate character development and a big glaring message about industry vs nature. Director John Boorman ('Deliverance', 'Hope and Glory', 'The Exorcist II') chose to film 'The Emerald Forest' on location in the Amazon rainforest, which gives us a beautiful glimpse at the native people, the wildlife, and its surroundings. This is one of Boorman's more direct stories he has put on film and the result is a satisfying look at what parents would do for their children.The first segment of 'The Emerald Forest' has us meeting a chief engineer named Bill (Powers Boothe), who is in the Amazon rainforest with his wife Jean (Meg Foster) and their two very young children. Bill is in charge of overseeing the construction of a giant dam that will restrict the flow of water to parts of the rainforest, which will flatten the land for future industrial and commercial buildings to be constructed. Boorman clearly shows which side he is on as he delicately shows us the beauty and wonder of the trees and animals, whereas the big bad city people are using their big tractors and fire to destroy the beautiful land.Bill and Jean's young son is stolen by an indigenous tribe located in the heart of the forest known as 'The Invisible People', which causes despair for the family. We cut to ten years later where Bill and Jean are still living in Brazil where the dam is almost fully built. They are still trying to repair their broken lives without their son through work and charity. Bill walks with a journalist through the forest and comes across his now grown boy (Charley Boorman) after ten years. and is a contributing member of this new tribe and about to go through some big rituals into full fledged manhood. Bill soon realizes that what was once his son, now belongs to this primitive tribe.The film switches gears and puts this reconnection on the back burner and focuses on another tribe, which is a much more violent people with more advanced weapons than the usual spears and rocks, known as the 'Fierce People', who are about to wage war on the peaceful 'Invisible People'. Meanwhile, the damn construction is nearing completion and the entire group of tribes have to keep moving further deep into the forest to avoid being killed or taken by authorities. And now Bill must make a big decision. Does he help his lost son and his tribe stand up and fight the bad guys and stop the dam, or does he move on, keeping his life's work in tact. It's a pretty powerful story.But Boorman doesn't focus very much on the reconnection or kidnapping of Bill's son, which in my opinion was a very vital and integral part of the story. Not much time is given to the initial kidnapping and quickly fast forwards ten years into the future. And when the reconnection happens between father and son, it should have been a bigger moment, but Boorman focuses on the nature vs industry aspect right away with the construction of the dam and the rival tribes. Then, the last climactic few scenes of the film is a straight up revenge flick where Bill and his son come to respect each other's decision to move on with their separate lives.Both Boothe and Foster turn in great performances as parents who are coping with the lost of one of their kids. Their anger and depression truly shows in their faces and body language throughout. 'The Emerald Forest' is a solid entry into the 80s action adventure category that stands on its own with its originality, despite the lack of hardcore action.

Ed-Shullivan WARNING: This review may include spoilers Although this film may have been based on a true story, the actual is not as the movie producers have chosen to depict their story line. I enjoyed the film simply because the beginning of the story, as well as the end of the story are factual, and the flow of the movies storyline will keep the audience's attention. A 10 year old boy named Tommy was taken away from his family at the edge of the forest where his father was working and raised by an Amazon tribe. Ten years would past before father and son are eventually re-united and the young innocent child is now a fully grown man and an experienced tribesman of the Amazon forest.What I enjoyed about the film was how the young child named Tommy was transformed in to tribesman and hunter Tomm"e" (after a ten year elapsed time is noted) grew in to a man and accepted his new life by the Amazon tribe who abducted him. When Tomme's father continues to build a bridge over the next several years so that heavy industrial equipment can cross the river and strip away the rain forest trees, the story takes on a different message. It is now a fight between the Amazon tribesman who are witnessing their land being stripped away by the white man and his heavy machinery to build this monster bridge, and a father's perseverance to find his lost son Tommy and bring him home to his mother.Excellent performances are noted as the actors playing the adult Tomme (Charley Boorman), Tomme's father Bill Markham (Powers Boothe), Jean Markham (Meg Foster) and Tomes' love interest tribeswoman Kachiri (Dira Paes). I found the scenery and interaction amongst the various Amazon tribes provided the audience with some insight as to how the Amazon tribes fought, protected, lived and even forged for food. John Boorman is an accomplished film maker both as a producer and director whose body of work also includes other highly acclaimed films such as Deliverance (1972) and the Tailor of Panama (2001).The Emerald Forest is an action/adventure story based on some real events which I mentioned earlier. If you can accept the film as nothing more than an opportunity to escape reality for two hours and vision yourself trying to survive in the dense Amazon forest than I believe you will enjoy director John Boorman's visionary story. Get yourself a good drink and some snacks, sit back and escape to The Emerald Forest. I give the film a strong 8 out of 10 rating.

Claudio Carvalho The American engineer Bill Markham (Powers Boothe) moves with his wife Jean Markham (Meg Foster) and children to Amazonas to work in the construction of a dam. When he brings his son Tommy to the site forest, the boy is abducted by the tribe of the Invisible People and brought to rain forest. Bill spends ten years seeking out Tommy in the forest. When he finally meets Tommy, he is an Indian and does not want to leave his tribe and return to the civilization. But when Tommy's mate Kachiri (Dira Paes) and the women of his tribe are kidnapped by a gang of white slaves to work in a brothel in the forest, Tommy searches Bill in the big city to help his tribe to rescue the female Indians. "The Emerald Forest" is a fictional ecological adventure by John Boorman. The plot is entertaining and it is laughable to read absurd such as "based on a true story". The Brazilian Indians have been burying their dead for centuries as part of the work of the missionaries. The habit of burning and eating the ashes is before the arrival of the missionaries. The destruction of the forest is a reality provoked by farmers and overseas companies with economical interest in our wood. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "A Floresta das Esmeraldas" ("The Emerald Forest")

tedg I like to watch in pairs, and this was paired with Herzog's "Green Ants Dream."The central character here is a teen, played by the director's son, who is kidnapped by Amazonian Indians at six and raised in nature. There are threats, adventures, encounters with "civilization." They provide the focus of the energy in this thing. Its all about that energy which we take from the juice of adolescence, perceive as the energy of an action movie and conflate (as we are intended to) with the natural richness of the rainforest.Its a simple trick, but by gosh it works. Why is not a mystery: the teen drive is transformed into something pure here, done so by the actresses who play the teen Indian girls, lovely, and effectively nude. In order to underscore the point, the plot has them (importantly, as a group) kidnapped into civilization as a the complement of the original kidnapping. But the purpose here is prostitution. When someone knows what they are doing and delivers the goods, its always a remarkable thing. The narrative engineering conveys the lack of engineering, and makes us desire the purity of encountering things without artifice.Conveying this notion is then mixed with a completely unrelated message about the destruction of the rainforest and its central importance to the global ecology. Its rather dishonest, this, but because its such a noble cause we let it slip. But its a shame. In their defense, the acknowledge that just being native doesn't endow goodness: there is an "evil" tribe. Part of the tragedy is not shown: natives everywhere in the world aggressively damage the environment as much as their capabilities allow.The perfect delicacy of this puts "Apocalypto" to shame. Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.