Cubussoli
Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
ManiakJiggy
This is How Movies Should Be Made
Izzy Adkins
The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.
FTP
I think there are lot of reviews of people who never saw past the first 15 minutes of the film. This is not a "Danish Western", and all subtitling and Danish completely ends after the first 15 minutes. This is a solid, simple western through and through. It doesn't dwell on evil, it dwells on good people dealing with evil. The Salvation reaches back to a better time in film-making. It's a lesson on how a western is supposed to make you feel and what you're supposed to learn. The main protagonist is a metaphor for what a western is: a European going on with his life in a wild land, that gets hollowed out by it, and yet is the only mechanism keeping a fickle world together with the remaining good in his character. Nevermind the setting, nevermind the accents, a western is an exploration the elemental aspects of human nature, add some gun play, then it's all wrapped up with an "into the sunset" ending. That's what's going to happen here. Virtually everyone in this cast is a revelation. Jeffrey Dean Morgan would have been in a hundred cowboy movies in another time. Mads Mikkelsen is the perfect fit for the subdued killing machine he'll transform into, and Eva Green is the lady that does more with her eyes then all the men do with their mouths. This film, to me, is the quintessential example of how to build a modern western, from the ground up, without looking like you're trying to be clever. Just tell a solid story of great lose, and have the audience climb out with some semblance of redemption. Then you get on your horse, ride into the sunset, credits roll.
Paynebyname
Bought this DVD as I fancied a decent western, especially one that had been labelled as gritty. Unfortunately the reviews failed to mention that the script only extended to about 5 pages, the accompanying music was handled with the subtlety of a deaf child and the whole look of this borefest was that of a TV movie with it's woefully cheap CGI rendered fire and patched in monument Valley backgrounds. I'm all for moody films but spend a little coin on some originality rather than assuming that decent actors on the billing can make a good film just by their very presence. It really couldn't have been more clichéd, more predictable or more tedious than had it been on the True Movies channel. What a literal waste of a couple of hours on an afternoon.
grantss
The American West in the 1870s. A European settler, Jon Jensen (Mads Mikkelsen), has just welcomed his wife and son to the country when they are kidnapped and murdered. He takes revenge on the murderers, only to discover that one was the brother of a local land baron, Henry Delarue. Delarue runs the local town with a brutal hand. Now he wants vengeance on the man who killed his brother and the local townspeople are too scared of him to stand up to him. Jon is fighting more than just the local thugs, he is facing the entire town...Pretty good, though had the potential to be great. Started very well, with a grittiness not always found in westerns. Jon Jensen's predicament was very intriguing and seemed hopeless, making it very engaging. The feeling of powerlessness and injustice added to this.Some good action scenes too, especially towards the end.However, from a point the plot becomes rather one-dimensional. The end result is far too neat, predictable and easy. There's no twists, no real dilemmas, no development, things just happen without much impediment or anything unexpected occurring.Ultimately, still reasonably good, but a bit disappointing in that it was set up for something even better.
mike3386
If you are suffering from not having seen a good (new) Western movie since "Open Range", maybe even "Unforgiven", here's a bottle of elixir currently being served up - late at night - by your friendly cable provider. Very late at night - it's violent.Obviously this 2014 (2015, depending upon release dates) movie once played at theaters somewhere . . . but it got by me. It's interesting for several reasons, mostly the unusual lead actors . . . or maybe it's weird enough to just say it's a Danish production filmed in South Africa, reminiscent of another very violent Western filmed in Australia with an Australian cast and production crew, "The Proposition". Sorry to digress.Two of the main cast members were plucked from another fine movie, "Casino Royale", Mads Mikkelsen, the blood-teared bad guy, Le Chiffre, and Eva Green, the dark-eyed vixen, Vesper Lynd . . . she is no less dark-eyed or ravishing in this Western. It was interesting to see Mikkelsen, a high-cheek-boned Chuck Connors look alike, play the ultimate good guy role in this movie, albeit with all the vengeance of a grieving father and husband.Photography, sets, and action are riveting . . . well, some of the CGI-vistas are a bit too-perfect. There are other fine performances, Jonathan Pryce as a creepy undertaker/businessman, and Douglas Henshall (new to me) as an equally creepy sheriff/preacher (be quiet Clint).The movie falters (for me) with the ultimate bad guy, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Oh, he walks the walk and talks the talk, and from his hat to his spurs looks every bit the part . . . but when you set out to brutally terrorize an entire town, you better not turn your back quite so often on even the mousey of mouses. In other words, it's a little over the top.All in all, it's a Western. Fair enuff.
