comment #1

mizerock says ...

Didn't Al Gore list this as his favorite movie back in 2000? I think that's when I bought a VHS copy (still unseen by me).

comment #2

Brian Linse says ...

Agree 100%, Jeffrey. Local Hero is one of my top five favorite films of all time. A proper transfer would be wonderful, as would some extras, but I wouldn't hold my breath. They took their time getting around to even releasing it on DVD as I recall. It likely doesn't have a large enough fan base, which has always surprised me since it is such a gem. Everyone I've ever turned on to it has loved it.

comment #3

The Hoyk says ...

LOCAL HERO is one of my absolute desert island films. In fact, it's sense of wonder and kindness inspired me to make watching it my Christmas Eve tradition, though the story has no ties to the holiday whatsoever. Maybe it's the idea of friendship and home that provide solace on the 24th for me.

If I'm not mistaken, this is the 25th anniversary of the movie this year. WB should be doing something - a new print, an arthouse reissue. At the very least, an upgraded DVD with commentary from Forsyth and others.

I'll never forget a late-'80's Premiere magazine article on Joel Silver, describing him meeting Peter Riegert at a party and telling him he had appeared in one of his most favorite movies. Riegert asked if it was ANIMAL HOUSE, and Silver replied that it was LOCAL HERO. It caught him and me off guard, and reinforced what a true piece of magic this film is.

comment #4

Undercover Brother says ...

I saw this long ago and just can't remember it much. The only bit I really recall is the anger therapist that keeps antagonizing Burt Lancaster. Doesn't he hang a sign outside his office saying something like "HAPPER IS A COCKSUCKER!" Anyone remember this?

comment #5

Joe Leydon says ...

Local Hero is a masterwork, no doubt. But, then again, I'm also a fan of Comfort and Joy, Housekeeping, Breaking In... dammit, why isn't Bill Forsyth making movies these days?

comment #6

Edward says ...

I have to concur with the favorable comments. This and Amelie are two of my desert island films.

comment #7

LauraReeling says ...

I watch "Local Hero" every time I return home from a wonderful trip.

And yes, this one's ripe for special treatment.

comment #8

T. S. Idiot says ...

Common and Joy is almost as good but has never been on region 1 DVD.

comment #9

T. S. Idiot says ...

Comfort and Joy is almost as good but has never been on region 1 DVD.

comment #10

berg says ...

along with Rushmore, I think Local Hero is the best film ever shot (partially anyway) in Houston ... produced by David Putnam; as for Forsyth don't forget Gregory's Girl

comment #11

CinemaPhreek says ...

"This 1982 film is too classic, too amusing, too character-rich, too quietly special, too "other" and too mystical to just be a rote bare-bones DVD."

Which is why it could be argued that it should REMAIN a straightforward DVD. I love the fact that I know nothing of the development and production of this gem. For me, lone among the films that I count as my favorites, it retains that special aura of only knowing it as art and not the artifice of behind-the-scenes minutia.

I can still remember the night I walked out of Columbia, SC's sole tiny (77 seats) art house theater - The Nickelodeon - with that warm glow the film leaves you with.

comment #12

KristiC says ...

I'd love to see Local Hero get special DVD treatment--but first I'd like to see Housekeeping available in region 1 DVD, period. (Actually I'm not sure it's been released on DVD in any region.) I can think of few films that hold Housekeeping's note of melancholy without becoming totally lugubrious and humorless.

comment #13

va says ...

Local Hero had a great score by Mark Knopfler too!

comment #14

le corbeau says ...

Everyone who loves Local Hero needs to see Powell & Pressburger's I Know Where I'm Going. It's clearly the inspiration for Local Hero (not in a he-ripped-it-off sense, they have the same basic premise but get there in their own ways, but you can tell from Local Hero that Forsyth grew up loving IKWIG).

comment #15

lipranzer says ...

I need to see I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING again (saw it years ago). That comparison never occurred to me.

And I like LOCAL HERO a lot. Possibly my favorite Peter Riegert performance (challenged by BARBARIANS AT THE GATE and UTZ), and certainly one of my favorites from Burt Lancaster. As far as what happened to Bill Forsyth:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article3312819.ece

comment #16

Walter Sobchak says ...

"How many 'L's' in bugger off!?"

comment #17

T. S. Idiot says ...

"I can still remember the night I walked out of Columbia, SC's sole tiny (77 seats) art house theater - The Nickelodeon - with that warm glow the film leaves you with."

CinemaPhreek: I installed the original seats in 1978 or 79.

comment #18

Mr. Buckles says ...

Happer would say, "Get me Criterion, Mac, I have a wonderful feeling about this."

I always felt Wes Anderson was largely influenced by Forsyth and this one in particular, but Wes being Wes preferred to talk French New Wave and the peculiar tailoring of his suits. In fact, I think that Wes WOrld is one very similar to that of the Scottish fishing town in Local Hero.

comment #19

George Prager says ...

I rented a LOCAL HERO DVD a couple of years ago. Didn't work in my machine. All scratched up.

And yes, everything Wes Anderson has ever done is GREGORY'S GIRL-lite.

comment #20

CinemaPhreek says ...

T. S. Idiot: then I have bittersweet news for you, they are moving in the future. They purchased the old Fox theater (the one that's been a beauty supply place since '87) and will have a double screen complex when it is restored.

BTW - my Columbia theater experience was on the other end of Main St: I was the relief manager for the old grand dame of Columbia cinemas, Jefferson Square.

comment #21

Jenna says ...

I especially love the performance of Denis Lawson in this (real life uncle of Ewan McGregor).

Too bad he's probably only remembered as Wedge Antilles in the three original Star Wars movies.

comment #22

le corbeau says ...

Check out the recent BBC/Masterpiece Theater version of Bleak House. He's good in that (though you may be shocked at first to see him in late middle age), and it's very good all in all.