Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Cortechba Overrated

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

SteveResin Tedious, by-the-numbers thriller that sees Michael Douglas play an entitled multi-millionaire businessman out in the desert paying off the locals so he can fill his trophy cabinet and bag himself a Longhorn. Of course, this being Hollywood he hires the "BEST TRACKER IN THE STATE!" even though the guy looks half asleep from the word go and barely out of short trousers. Jeremy Irvine is lacking personality and it's hard to care for his character and the predicament he finds himself in.The predicament itself is mildly interesting but spoiled by absurd moments. Douglas accidentally shoots some old eccentric living out in the desert and frames Irvine for it, making him wander the wasteland until he hopefully dehydrates or burns into a crisp. But our personality free but plucky hero has other plans! Which seem to involve heading to the eccentric's home, which hilariously in inside an abandoned mine but furnished with vinyl records and old school dynamite, and just... hide there. Douglas finds him and the chase is on again, culminating in Irvine following some lame Treasure Island style map to uncover a chest buried by the eccentric, which contains water and finally a weapon. Unbelievably, the weapon turns out to be an old school slingshot with marbles for ammunition! And in true Biblical style David slays Goliath. Except he can't even do that right and instead ties him up and takes him back to the local police station.More thrilling twists and turns unravel as Douglas escapes through the toilet window into a waiting helicopter (he's a millionaire, they have 'copters waiting at the drop of a hat) and the chase is on again. The end is just dreadful and there's not much point recapping it here because like a Longhorn with a good snout you'll see it coming from a mile away.The only thing this movie has going for it is the scenery, the story is wafer thin and stretched to fill 90 minutes when 30 would have sufficed, Irvine is like a plank of wood and Douglas' false teeth were too distracting. Avoid.

ARTaylor I read the book Deathwatch by Robb White back in middle school. I always thought it was a good story that deserved a movie. It wasn't until I saw the trailer for this that I learned this was actually the second adaptation of the book.Beyond the Reach follows Ben, a down-on-his-luck young man who wants to go to college with his girlfriend but can't afford it. He is hired by ruthless businessman Madec who weaseled his way into a bighorn hunting permit. When Madec accidentally shoots a drifter he attempts to cover it up and begins hunting Ben through the desert.The movie is largely faithful to the book. Of course, the book focuses on the inner dialogue of Ben as he struggles to stay alive which is hard to translate to film. The movie at least maintains the psychological part of the story with a few brief moments of "action," wisely keeping it a thriller.Michael Douglas does a terrific job playing the villain. There isn't really much for him to do in the story but he makes every moment he's in much more interesting. Jeremy Irvine also does a great job given that he spends most of the time alone in the desert running around.My only real problem is the ending. (Only paragraph with SPOILERS) The book ends with Ben taking Madec back to town and both are arrested. Both are questioned and the authorities believe Madec's story since Ben's sounds crazier. But then they examine the dead body and find Ben's story is true. The movie tacks on a jail escape scene, that makes little sense, and a scene with Madec breaking into Ben's girlfriend's home ending in a big shootout. The whole movie before then was a psychological thriller and this scene goes against that. Keeping the original ending would have maintained the battle of wits between these two characters.For the most part, I enjoyed the movie. I liked how the book was adapted. I just wish it ended about five minutes earlier than it did.

juanmuscle I mean Michael plays some dark angel of death in the latter half and in the beginning he plays a business savvy sociopath with zero feelings, not much of a stretch but really parallels the dichotomy very well. I guess you really have to be an insensitive jerk to really enjoy having either one of those characteristics define your persona. Personally, I thought Mr. Douglas really enjoyed acting like he was acting like a jerk, so makes me wonder, lol, jk... (What a really cool thespian!) But man was this a cool premise, makes me think what would I have done. I mean here is a guy with all the wherewithal in the world do do almost whatever he likes yet entrammelled somewhither wholly out of his element with his nemesis, a really sweet angel who can't be bought out, (save the cash advance in the beginning), but we all fall, then later sees the error of his ways and begins his penitent journey back to reconcile with his good true nature. If Michael's character was ever any good and just simply sold out or are some people just born "not all there" as he refers to Charlie, who knows... You kind of get an impression that if Charlie accidentally shot someone he would make amends within the boundaries of the law without skipping a humdrum beat. The theme really hits home when it comes to never really being able to truly give yourself wholly to the nonce such that we might make a start to enjoy what we have, whether copious or a miserly dearth.

Vivekmaru45 Having watched The Naked Prey(1966), this film is a welcome edition to the genre. The film is about a shooting accident, that results in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse between two very different men.Businessman and game hunter John Madec(Michael Douglas), hires a young but experienced hunting guide Ben(Jeremy Irvine) out to a field trip beyond the reaches of the Mojave Desert to hunt game.When Madec accidentally shoots an old prospector, Ben insists that they must report it as an accident. Madec, on the other hand, puts another bullet from Ben's gun into the corpse, and after explaining how he can now blackmail Ben with the new evidence, offers Ben a deal: Madec will put him through college and give him a $300k/year job in return for his complicity in covering up the crime. But when Ben picks up his emergency transponder, Madec destroys it and berates Ben for breaking the deal. Madec then threatens Ben with his high-powered rifle, and orders him to strip all of his gear including his clothes, then leaves him in the desert to die of dehydration and exposure.Watch the film to find out what happens next...Everything in this film is top-notch, from the acting, photography, background sound-effects and direction. This is a polished script and well executed by French director Jean-Baptiste Léonetti who has directed the acclaimed French drama Carré blanc (2011). Beyond The Reach is based on the 1972 novel Deathwatch by Robb White. The film is produced by Michael Douglas, showing that he has faith in the film doing well at the Box-Office.Verdict: 10/10. I got my money's worth and more. More survival films: Dawn Of The Dead(1978), Friday the 13th (1980), The Evil Dead(1981), The Thing (1982), Aliens(1986), Predator(1987), A Cry in the Wild(1990), Tremors(1990), The Edge(1997), Cast Away(2000).Thanks for reading, may you live long and prosper.