Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6740 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-06-01
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish
• Dubbed in: Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 108 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Falling Down, about a downsized engineer (Michael Douglas) who goes ballistic, triggered a media avalanche of stories in the USA about middle-class white rage when it was released in 1993. In fact, it's nothing more than a manipulative, violent melodrama about one geek's meltdown. Douglas, complete with pocket protector, nerd glasses, crewcut and short-sleeved white shirt, gets stuck in traffic one day near downtown LA and proceeds to just walk away from his car--and then lose it emotionally. Everyone he encounters rubs him the wrong way--and a fine lot of stereotypes they are, from threatening ghetto punks to rude convenience store owners to a creepy white supremacist--and he reacts violently in every case. As he walks across LA (now there's a concept), cutting a bloody swath, he's being tracked by a cop on the verge of retirement (Robert Duvall). He also spends time on the phone with his frightened ex-wife (Barbara Hershey). Though Douglas and Duvall give stellar performances, they can't disguise the fact that, as usual, this is another film from director Joel Schumacher that is about surface and sensation, rather than actual substance. --Marshall Fine

Amazon.co.uk Review
This film, about a downsized engineer (Michael Douglas) who goes ballistic, triggered a media avalanche of stories about middle-class white rage when it was released in 1993. In fact, it's nothing more than a manipulative, violent melodrama about one geek's meltdown. Douglas, complete with pocket protector, nerd glasses, crewcut and short-sleeved white shirt, gets stuck in traffic one day near downtown LA and proceeds to just walk away from his car--and then lose it emotionally. Everyone he encounters rubs him the wrong way--and a fine lot of stereotypes they are, from threatening ghetto punks to rude convenience store owners to a creepy white supremacist--and he reacts violently in every case. As he walks across LA (now there's a concept), cutting a bloody swath, he's being tracked by a cop on the verge of retirement (Robert Duvall). He also spends time on the phone with his frightened ex-wife (Barbara Hershey). Though Douglas and Duvall give stellar performances, they can't disguise the fact that, as usual, this is another film from director Joel Schumacher that is about surface and sensation, rather than actual substance. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com --This text refers to the VHS edition of this video

Special Features
2.35 Wide Screen
French\Italian
English\Italian
English
Region 2
Dolby Surround English French Italian
Dolby Surround
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Arabic\Bulgarian\Dutch\English\French\German\Italian\Portuguese\Romanian\Spanish

Customer Reviews

Absolutely brilliant, a classic and 'must have' for any film collector
Take the hottest day of the year, a traffic gridlock, cracked pavements, dirty streets, unwarranted hostility and a general feeling of being short changed. Then add the frustrations of having an estranged wife and child, an extremely jaded and unbalanced mindset, and the frustration of being obsolete with no marketable skills. Set them against the decadent back drop of modern day LA where if you are 'Not economically viable,' you are of no use, and the result is Falling Down.

The tag line 'The Adventures of an Ordinary man at War with the Everyday World,' makes Joel Schumacher's masterpiece sound like the benign story of a working stiff with issues. However Falling Down is a dark and engrossing urban fable, a study into the mind of the disenfranchised and reminder to all that the removal of comfort is a lot closer than we care to believe.

Full of clichés, like the cop on his last day before retiring, Falling Down bravely meets all expectations of stereotypes, rather than challenging them, making for a realistic reflection of a failing society. Here, a man in extremis, without the feral cunning or killer instinct required for a life in the street, makes his way on anger and luck alone, somehow surviving to leave a paper chase of violence and destruction behind.

Relying heavily on symbolism, illustrating a flip side of America running parallel to the hunky dory world occupied by the successful, the over all message of 'No Matter, Never Mind,' is clear in this world where children play next to vagrants dying from AIDS and Korean grocers can legally steal from the public with their overpriced goods.

Michael Douglas displays some hitherto unseen talent as the unbalanced D-FENS, as he casually totes gang weapons (complete with rubber bands on the grips) in his formal shirt and tie, does battle with store owners and comes up against fast food restaurants, homeless people, gangsters and Nazis. Robert Duval is equally brilliant as the desk jockey on his final day, determined to stop anyone else from being hurt, including the perp.

There is, of course, a small amount of Hollywood sentimentality thrown in for good measure, however the dynamics of such a strong narrative make this completely forgivable and it's possible to overlook this as a flaw given the film's overall strengths.

Praise surely has to go to Ebbe Roe Smith for writing one of the finest scripts ever to grace celluloid. Known for bit parts and cameos, who the hell knows who Ebbe really is? Look on IMDb to find out (if you're a geek like me) or release him into the ether if you don't care. The truth is, he's out there. The question is: Where's the next script?

On the whole, Falling Down is a powerful and dramatic indictment of American culture, societal decadence, and the failing values of the West. It's not for everyone and will most certainly offend some, but if approached with an open mind, will provide plenty of fuel for thought. It's a shame though that the DVD doesn't come with any extras (mine didn't, anyway) because there's so much to this film that you just want to know more and more.

Thought provoking and darkly humourous
There is something greatly amusing about Michael Douglas walking into 'The Whammy Burger' to ask for breakfast, and then shooting the place up when he is told he is too late. Fabulously, that is only one of those kind of moments in this film.

The premise is that one day, under the stress and strain of modern life, Douglas character, known only as 'D-fens' just snaps, and proceeds to right some of society's apparent wrongs. Thus, we have D-fens terrorising two knife-happy gang members, D-fens teaching a nazi skinhead a valuable lesson and D-fens smashing up a shop because it's prices are too high, all whilst trying to get across town to see his daughter, who, thanks to his violent temper, he has been prevented from seeing.

The film is gritty, compelling, and rich with dark humour. As viewers, we probably shouldn't be laughing or cheering acts of vigilante violence, but there is that element in all of us; that little part of us which would dearly love to teach the obnoxious bus driver a lesson, or ask the staff in McDonalds why the Big Mac never looks like it does in the pictures. Thus, this film also superbly taps into human nature. My personal favourite scene is the one in which D-fens marches across a golf course, then, when confronted by the verbal abuse of one of it's users, decides to pull a shotgun on the idiotic old fool. The sight of the arrogant, rich and greedy old man squirming on the ground, in the throes of a heart attack is richly sick, yet satisfying. This scene, one of the film's most nihilistic, is one in which Douglas shines, as he quite rightly points out the immorality of a selfish, self-important old man having acres of golf course to himself, when children or animals should be there instead. As a viewer, I have to confess to a certain amount of satisfaction and glee at this scene, culminating in the scathing line: "And now you're gonna die here, wearing that silly little hat!" The script in this film is vicious - but pretty darn enjoyable just the same!

Needless to say, this is a film which cannot ever be regarded as dull. It's vigilante theme is riveting from start to finish, and if you're anything like me, also deeply funny.

Douglas on top form
This is easily Michael Douglas's best ever acting performance. In Falling Down he is a man on the very edge of a complete breakdown. The problem is that anybody who upsets him is likely to come off badly.

At the start of the film we see 'D-Fens' (Douglas) in his car in a non-moving traffic jam. Its a boiling hot day, his air-conditionaing has packed up and everything is annoying him. Eventually he just walks away and leaves the car saying hes going home. Home it turns out is where his estranged wife and daughter live. To get there he has to walk miles and its his journey home that the core of the film revolves around. The set-pieces in this film are very well done. In particular his visit to a store to buy a pair of hiking boots is brilliantly done. Robert Duvall plays the Policeman (who is retiring that day) who realises that De-Fens is very dangerous indeed. Duvall as always is excellent and in an under-stated way matches Douglas's very edgy performance.

The film isn't without its faults. The message that D-Fens is cracking up is hammered home over and over, uneccessarily in my view. We can see this from D-Fens actions, so the frequent shots of people carrying placards emphasing this point weren't needed. However overall this is a well directed and very well written film.