Falling Down - The Best Movie You Never Saw
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
- Welcome to The Best Movie You NEVER Saw, a column dedicated to examining films that have flown under the radar or gained traction throughout the years, earning them a place as a cult classic or underrated gem that was either before it’s time and/or has aged like a fine wine.
Based on the column created by Paul Shirey and currently written by Chris Bumbray for JoBlo.com, this video version of the column features narration by Bumbray and editing by Lance Vlcek. For our tenth episode, we take a look at 1993's FALLING DOWN, starring Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey, Rachel Ticotin, Raymond J. Barry and directed by Joel Schumacher! Read the original column HERE!
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#FallingDown #MichaelDouglas #TheBestMovieYouNeverSaw
As a teen I thought: How could someone just snap like this?
As a 40+ I think: I'm surprised more people dont snap like this.
I'm a "teen" now and can relate to the extreme existential dread and rage.
This week: Oh people are snapping like this
I'm at my 20's and I feel like I should watch this. Especially with how I can relate with what he goes through. Especially with how our current society is like.
So, he was the bad guy?
< im 50 - how are more of us not having a '' falling down'' moment - the world is terrible right now
“And now you’re gonna die with that funny little hat on your head..”
This movie is one of the pillars of my elder childhood.
"How does it feel???"
Best line in the movie!
When was this?
100% , it seems like it had a cult feel even from then.
How do you feel?
God I love this movie. "Wait. I'm the bad guy?" You almost feel bad for him.
Everybody's the hero of their own story
"I did everything they wanted" and that was the lesson...go your own road
You DO feel bad for him.
There's Bill Foster in all of us 👓
Everyone in this film is bad, he becomes bad because the whole situation is absolute shit ...
I saw this as a college student. I remember thinking how unrealistic it was to just completely lose it because of your daily life, and then I became an adult and I can totally relate.
"WAAAA I HAVE TO LIVE A LIFE"
Put a cork in it
@@rickrolld1367 You spend your life hating other people for hating their lives. Says a lot about yourself. Let alone your childish demeanor.
@@Jay-or5ex 1. You replied to my comment negatively. This means that my comment really affected you emotionally in a negative way, which means that you most likely complain and moan about life every day, which is why you were angered by my comment
2. You call my demeanor "Childish", which tells me that you are afraid of being a child. The only people who are afraid of being seen as "Childish" are also usually afraid of being seen as "feminine" because of societal pressures, so this means that you have a fragile masculinity which leads you to lashing out at others. In the context of what the movie is (A man lashing out at inconveniences), you are very easy to anger.
3. "You spend your life hating other people for living their lives" is a very interesting quote. The movie you are defending is about a man ruining other people's lives in service of his own needs. He puts himself and his needs over others. This means that you are a narcissist who believes they are better than others and deserves more than others. You place yourself above your peers in a narcissistic and vain effort. The quote "Says a lot about yourself" is telling of this narcissism.
So, thanks for this activity. I have been able to pinpoint what exactly you are; A narcissistic, vain person who is easy to anger and is quite bitter in day to day activities. You probably don't have many friends as a result of your toxic behaviour 🙃
Say it ain't so
@@rickrolld1367 1. Get yourself a medical degree before you go full psychoanalyst, because instead, you went full idiot and got me wrong.
2. Get yourself a therapist and a doctor because clearly your projection and response shows how you're so off the handles.
Edit: Also you can't call me childish nor narcissistic when your last 2 comments have been nothing but immature and inappropriate (disrespectful), let alone your account name and user. You've fallacious used logic to convince your analyst about me as an absolute truth. Very ironic. This suggests that you are indeed in need of some sort of help. You also need to accept criticism and be self-aware on how you conduct yourself. In addition you made the conclusion that I would be as harmful as the guy in the movie because I simply *empathize* with the comment above? That's a big assumption -
I would like to point out that you reacted emotionally and made logical errors into your reasoning. You also somehow made maturity into a sexist societal gender thing. Notice how you proposed numerous heinous inaccurate attributes to my miniscule comment. You've went on this unnecessary and incorrect psychological tangent to mask your childishness and what? You're not a genius nor Sherlock Holmes. You're simply delusional. You can take your analysis of me and apply it to your own comments and it would fit you more than I. You have a lot of pent up anger that you need to fix.
To put the final nail in the coffin: God forbid people being distraught with their lives and expressing their discomfort/having emotions & opinions towards the situations they face in their lives. Not everyone has the same standards as you mighty Rick.
Here's one thing that I will open up: I'm not an a hole nor do I try to be. I'm not narcissistic but I do have PTSD. That is why I can emotionally relate to the character in the movie. Its not because the guy is narcissistic, borderline, etc. If anything he portrays PTSD masterfully. PTSD is trauma caused by circumstances/events/ actions outside of the victims own in which they are forced to adapt to. Its not a matter of choice. Do I agree with how the character reacts, of course not. But I understand why he would be done with standards and expectations of society after loosing valuable things in his life.
As a black male,(23 at the time it was made), I thought this was a much needed movie for the "times". He never initiated any confrontation! He even made a lot of effort to defuse conflict. It's a brilliant example of a man torn down by life. If anything; he only prevented others from victimizing him. Boiling points are usually noticed by others when it's too late! MASTERPIECE!!!
Its much more needed today. (As a person of earth)
As an adult now, I can understand the main character’s frustration.
Have been feeling it the last year and this came out 1/2 a lifetime ago! Would be nice to just snap and get it out of my system! It's the whole consequences of my actions I want no part of!!
@Varuxity who's bum?
John Johnson that’s not normal
@@jasoneaton4520 if you think thats not normal youre just not looking hard enough
Corneliu the groyper Codreanu as a kid or teen you’re supposed to understand him, as an adult in your 40’s or more you’re supposed to be cynical and hate him. Not relate to him.
Michael Douglas was robbed of an Oscar for this film!!!
Randi Parton Oscars only celebrate the same movies on and on, it’s almost like there is a recipe to it. You don’t need an Oscar to be acknowledged of how great your movie was, it just has to become a cult movie (and this one for sure is)
Yes He Was This Is His Best Performance He Should have gotten an Nomination
Randi Parton I’m not the thief here. YOU’RE the thief.
I don't think the Academy would ever acknowledge such a politically incorrect film like "Falling Down." Douglas' character, "D-Fens" blurs the type lines too much for them to be comfortable with it.
@@Woompawoompa In the 1990s, I'm not quite sure I actually agree with that assessment. Films that won Best Actor ranged in tone and in budget, compare Life Is Beautiful to Forrest Gump or Scent of a Woman vs. Silence of the Lambs. The films that took home Best Actor were Reversal of Fortune (Jeremy Irons), The Silence of the Lambs (Anthony Hopkins), Scent of a Woman (Al Pacino), Philadelphia (Tom Hanks), Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), Leaving Las Vegas (Nicolas Cage), Shine (Geoffrey Rush), As Good As It Gets (Jack Nicholson), Life is Beautiful (Roberto Benigni), American Beauty (Kevin Spacey).
I'd say it's more homogeneous NOW, but not necessarily in the 1990s. Although pretty much all of these films would be classified as dramas except The Silence of The Lambs or As Good As It Gets.
I remember being told how violent and sadistic the movie was. It's very tame compared to shit today, but it's a heck of a lot smarter
I agree today action movie just about a guy taking revenge or military guy
"People feel uncomfortable watching this movie"
Yes, the movie shows the real ugly face of society, society is uncomfortable
The ugly SIDE.
shit i didn't. this is still my favorite movie to this day.
Exactly
Both the "never saw" and your quote are actually quite relevant with gen Z'ers and maybe even millennials.
I've met early 30's who have never seen the matrix.
AND gen Z'ers are completely baffled and terrified of people yelling and being rude to each other.
So...
@@BendApparatus Who says i feel that? Im not saying im a weakass that feel scared to take a bus and go to work, im just saying that people are so robotic in modern society, that when they stop to watch a movie like this they think "wait a minute" and that's all
I not talking about me in my commentary, although Falling Down its one of my favorite movies, im talking about people who feel uncomfortable watching this movie
There was one sleepless night I had back when I was like 15 , it was already like 2am and my alarm was set to go off at about 6:30. This movie started to play, and normally I'd just keep the tv on for background purposes, but this character in his suit, with the sick of the world look upon his face, i was immediately drawn in. I spent the rest of the night just fully mesmerized by his performance and the film in general. I absolutely love the pacing and how the story slowly unfolds. This film is truly a hidden gem.
Had a similar experience. With both this and Brazilian favela Gangs film city of god. Just something about that film and falling down held my attention a lot longer than it should have. Many movies play that I haven’t seen and only two have actively FORCED me to watch them. That’s when you know a film is good.
I remember renting this as a kid in the video store and being overwhelmed with lots of feelings about the protagonist. I was young and some of it was "wish fulfillment" mainly the highway construction scene, fast food scene, and def nazi store owner scene but it still rattled me.
I watched it again as a grown man and it hit on a whole other level. Something about middle age, when you realize that most of the dreams you cared about are never coming true, the things you believed in have let you down, and in those moments it's often hard to maintain a meaningful connection with those in your family, and in stressful moments frustration builds and you feel like you might someday explode.
I saw that anger and disillusionment with life isn't quite so foreign anymore. "I'm the bad guy?" Ouch. But he WAS the bad guy bc he didn't process the stress from the world we are all trying to survive in a healthy way. He did explode.
I certainly understand why surface dwelling folks would trip on this film but it's worth watching and has a valuable message.
The real problem is that the world tends to not want to adapt to these peoples needs to make it that they can help them stay in society.
A society tha claims to be civilized but desires endles changes and offers no help to those left behind against their wills, is not one bit civilized.
My problem with DFens is that everything he’s complaining about is worse for the people he attacked, and he doesn’t seem to realize it
Don’t you think people told the Korean store owner that if he moved to America life would be better and he wouldn’t be stuck running a shitty convenience store until he died? Don’t you think the gangsters parents moved to the US thinking they’d be something more than just the thousands of poor Mexicans that live in the ghetto? And who ever dreamed of being a construction worker in the hot sun on the street?
DFens thinks everything is going to shit, but all that’s really happening is his life is becoming more like the people that he’s taking his anger out on. It’s nowhere near the end of society as he thinks it is
@@frankiel3767 oh come on...
Yes, they might be victims of society as well, but when you are an overcharging store owner or a gang member it's hard to complain that you are not fairly treated. DFens however tried to play by the rules, be the good guy, be productive part of the society and he is still fucked because every step of the way he is getting blocked. He can't rest on a damn concrete, he can't have his money changed so he can make a phone call, etc. That's what triggered him eventually. He had a "live and let live" approach towards everyone up until the point they started to mess with him.
@Jason Durgan
Not really the point I was trying to make :)
This is a movie and a caricature of a situation we can all relate to. I don't think this movie was about immigration for example, see the golfers or the nazi guy. Anyways... the lesson is, be nice to the guy next to you, who knows what's in his bag :)
@Poly Bun can't you just read a comment and move on like everyone else, you have the right to disagree but people like you are the real problem. Fucking moron.
Michael Douglas says Falling Down is the best film he ever made
Ghosts of girlfriends past 😂
Of course a wHiTe MaLe would say that!
Damn Straight.
th-cam.com/video/q8IlXA4ArPg/w-d-xo.html
@Iron Man I get the feeling you don't internets enough
"Never Saw" - pretty sure this movie is a classic and very well known
psykowz well I never saw it
@@zacharylund6926 cool, you totally should. Doesn't stop it being a classic and very well known though
Ikr? In fact, all the comment sections of "Joker" movie vids usually mention this as a comparison, so it is pretty well known
horrible movie, don't waste your time
Lots of people I asked didn’t know about this movie
The point of this film is always missed. It wasn't just Defens falling down, it was Prendergast too who was equally psychologically damaged but just in a different way.
Prendergast's nagging wife was even more damaged.
prendergast and d-fens had a lot incomming.
I thought it’s the falling down of society
@@larrymac6529 it’s all 3 cuz the London bridge is falling down Prendergast sings to his wife XD
@@shadowling77777 Roll credits!!
Even though he’s the villain and the victim, lets be honest
We all cheered him on
Except at the end. It would've been a family murder suicide if it wasn't for the cops.
No
I did until he decided he didn't want breakfast after all
@Stix N' Stones the man wasn't going to stop being snapped.
@Stix N' Stones nah. Wouldn't happen.
The older I get the more I feel his pain
AMEN TO THAT. 💯
Me at the moment cause I lost my job today. Sucks but I feel the pain
The more i want to do what he did and then blow my brains out so i dont go to jail
@Murican Ignorance Well by that logic, no one, NO ONE, is right! NOt cops. Not LAwyers, Not Judges, NOt council men/women, Not government officials. The idea that one group represents good and its ok to kill people and get rewarded for it and call any victims collateral damage, But if a blue or white collard working man kills a gangbanger, scares a rich man into a heart attack, kills a homophobic racist nazi who was more than likely would have killed him, then somehow he is the enemy of the state when in fact he isnt trying to kill anyone else except those who are fucking with him. So of course cops think hes the bad guy but to the people he would be a modern day hero/anti hero. I am sure there is a line drawn at some point when that person has had enough and knows something is wrong. But he is not the same as a person who loses it and bombs a whole building with innocent people in it because he/she had a bad day. People live by experience but only some people actually acknowledge it and try not to get in between people who are volatile.
I agree. This film is more of a representation he we all feel after losing a job, trying to forge a bad homelife while and not really caring because it's all going downhill. But still tried your best. He never hurt anybody really if you watch the film pulling out water pistol was his way of saying "they're better off without me" sad and wrong. PS also the cop learnt to have balls to speak up to his wife for being controlling.
The whole movie is legendary, but that restaurant scene takes the trophy.
Jason Sicotte you call McDonald's a restaurant? I feel sorry for you
"Now, look at this sorry, miserable, squashed, thing."
"I've worked for my boss for seven and a half years, I still call him mister. Here I am, calling you Rick and Sheila like we're in some kind of AA meeting. I don't want to be your buddy, Rick. I just want a little breakfast."
@@StoutProper, why? Because he's not to pretentious to use words correctly? It might be a bad restuarant, it might be a fast food restuarant, but it is still by definition a restaurant.
Richard Beau Dangles too. If you're going to try to talk about using words correctly, make sure you're not too pretentious to do so. I expect you tell girls you're taking them to a restaurant and take them to macdonald's do you? It might be a restaurant in America, where language and food standards are somewhat lacking, but nowhere else.
"We're having a territorial dispute, hm? I mean, um, I've wandered into your pissing ground or whatever the damn thing is and you've taken offence at my presence and I can understand that. I mean, I wouldn't want you people in my back yard either."
LMFAO Great movie!
centuryrox He ‘you peopled’ and NIMBYED in on line - 👍
Ok , gotta go roll back some prices ...
@@quad5186 85 cents!!
@@migangelmart that doesn't leave me enough for the phone call.
He handled the two gangsters perfectly
Life broke him. He lost his job, then his wife left and took the kid. Think of how it feels not being able to see your kid and not having the resources to support her or provide for her. My heart breaks for him and so many men just like him. I pray I'll never be in his shoes.
He definitely was the victim in this classic
@Aldair Sandoval he was definitely and asshole and bad person but still a sad situation
@Aldair Sandoval he's both the victim and the villain. It's what makes this movie so great
The wife said he never touched her or did anything. Just she felt like he could. We are shown he had a anger issue in the home movies but it was also cast in a negative light also.
@Aldair Sandoval How? He never hit them, the wife even said so herself. She was only afraid of his anger and that’s completely normal as no family is perfect and goes without minor conflicts. Everyone is going to have an argument at some point…
I don't think of Michael Douglas' character as 'crazy'. It is a slow accumulation of frustration and rage. Like in the scene with the two Hispanic men, he offers to 'take his problems elsewhere' and leave their hilltop, but the men insist he pay a toll. Many people can relate to how he reacted when these same men attempt to shoot him down. By the end of the movie, he has fully melted down.
"the best movie you never saw"? I thought it was a classic that everyone watched at least ones
Guess if you were born in 1996....
I'm 20 and I watched it for the first time yesterday, after watching Dr. Strangelove for the first time as well... what a depressing day
Soy la jugador épico de los juegos I watched it for the first time tonight and just decided to look it up.
Sadly i never watched it...
Watched for the first time today. I was born in 93!!
Actually, it's one of my all-time favorites. Love the scenes from him leaving his car to busting up the Korean guy's store. The heat is palpable. Great acting and cinematography.
Megan A. It was the only unrealistic part of the movie...what kinda LA Korean doesn’t stay strapped?
@@realAlexChoi Roof Korea is best Korea.
Great review, Megan. You were spot on.
I also love how an affair is implied between Duvall and his partner but never acknowledged, and how they explain why his wife's looney only later on in the film (deceased child); like he doesn't really want to retire and live a seditary life but
I'm not convinced. Yes, his partner was attracted to him, on an intellectually side and maybe as father figure, but he is portrayed as straight as an arrow, not capable of an affair. The cop and D-FENSE had allot in common. The difference is that D-FENSE snaps and became the villan and the victim.
Many people use their work as an escape from dysfunctional family lives and relationships. I have come across very few people who can balance work and home life effectively and the very high performers sometimes have bad home lives. The cops wife reminds me of my mother who resented and hated when my father had to work long hours to put bread on the table. He was often accused of having affairs or doing something when he was putting in extra hours at work. While he recognised the need to compromise and be realistic regarding pay negotiations she was always egging him on to demand more, even at the risk of being terminated. Because she only worked a few years, common for women at that time, her grasp of economics was not great. On the otherhand, my father was exploited because of his lack of confidence and education, something that was also common at that time, and still is.
@@jgdooley2003 I'm sorry to hear that situation is so close to home. I too notice that I am a high performer at work and sometimes my home life was not ideal. I am lucky to be young and not in a family situation, but I watched a video that talked about high performers and how people often look up to them in the working world, but if you saw the sacrifices they made at their own expense, most people wouldn't want to be in their shows. Sad really.
The cop also snapped and punched another cop in the face and told his captain fuck you.
I thought the point was that Duvall's character had every opportunity and excuse to do the wrong thing, but he didn't. He was meant to contrast with Douglas' character.
Considering I once had a mental breakdown which led me to do some pretty regrettable things I find myself sympathizing with the main character of this film more than most would. Foster was in a rough spot in his life, and he failed to handle it in a mature and reasonable fashion.
He had traditional family values and a belief in the American dream, when he realized society lied to him and things were more complicated than that he lashed out violently largely due to unresolved anger issues.
I can't help but feel bad for William by the end of the movie because he had the potential to be a fairly upstanding person had he been given the proper guidance, and he even somewhat comes to his senses by the end of the film, but he knew he was at the point of no return where his sins could never be forgiven and his chances of ever achieving a fulfilling life were long gone. It's depressing.
A better statement honestly is to say: "He was sick but then again so is the system he's a product of."
Here is my problem with why Foster being called a villain doesn't make sense. He doesn't proactively try to do evil, all of his reactions are exactly that REACTIONS. If the Korean store owner made the change, there would have been no incident, if the gangbangers just left him alone, no incident. If the burger store made the burgers as advertized, NO INCIDENT.
The whole point was that society is presenting itself as it operating by a set of rules or guidelines, that it expects everyone to follow, which then it turns right around and doesn't follow it's own rules. THAT'S when Foster reacts, pointing out the blatant hypocrisy of a system that expects him to follow rules it has no intention of following on its own.
Foster is at best an Anti-hero, purely from the fact that a lot of what he did was reactive rather then proactive. Where the film has him veer into villain territory is regards to his wife, because now he's not following his own standards of decency. Which cements him as a product of the system that birthed him and that he's currently fighting again. He is both a victim of the system and a product of the system contending with one another. He's a sick man, in need of help and the system would rather dispose of him than actually help him. But he is in NO way like the Nazi store owner. Foster is judging the system and people in by the rules THEY have set and fail to follow. and the Nazi judges people by characteristics people have no control over, IE Race, Gender, Sexual Orientation. More over the Nazi proactively wants to seek out people, regardless of guilt and kill them. Foster simply just wants people to follow the rules and treat people fairly.
There was a CSI episode that punctuates my point, where a man on board a flight is killed after apparently "going nuts", At first they think it's a murder, and this is normal "catch a murder" type story, but it quickly turns around where the dead man was the one that seemingly precipitated his dimise and you think this is a twist "the victim is the villain" type story but it again twists around and you ultimately find out, that the man had an undiagnosed condition that was triggered by high altitudes and Grissom's closing line in the episode punctuates my whole point "If someone, anyone would have taken a minute and asked what was wrong and tried to help him rather then assume he was just being rude, none of this would have happened." And so the episode closes on a tragic note, pointing out that there was no villain, no criminal but a sick man who needed help and no one had the decency to think outside of themselves and their assumptions to save his life.
Agent Exeider This is a far better analysis of the movie and Bill Foster than what the narrator in the video is trying to tell us. The narrator tried to tell us that Bill and the Nazi had more in common than Bill realized? Not even close.
@@ToddLloyd Thank you very much for your reply. Falling Down is one of my favorite movies and I love movies in general. I've always wanted to do a review blog or podcast or something.
Indeed this is a very good analysis, I had similar thoughts about this whole "he is just like the nazi guy" idea... Which is crazy.
(Even his behavioural issues are only mostly assumptions based on what his ex-wife says).
I think when you pull a gun when you dont get to order the burger you want pretty much alone makes you a villain. If you react to someone mildly annoying you with that kind of exessive force you are a villain. also he points the gun at bystanders when he knows the trigger is sensitive and just seconds after fires into the ceiling. What he has in common with the nazi is they are both facists or at least very authoritarian assholes that use voilence to get thier way.
I love your analysis and agree with you mostly about Foster but I don't think he could have ever been helped. You see towards the end that he's very short with his wife and daughter from the tapes, you can tell there's a lot of darkness inside of him. But the movie redeems him at the end with the true hero of the story, Prenderghast, who reminds him and everyone else that the system is rigged as well, with that memorable line, "They lie to everyone. They even lie to the fish."
Watch "Falling Down"
And "Fight Club"- same theme, different approaches due to time and age.
@@jimmyboots2096 you dont think? Different ages and reactions; both are about alienation and the line of civility being crossed. In FC its done in a much longer period facilitated by the 'club' but that is a necessity due to his schitziphrenia.
Not identical, fo sho.
But theres a strong similarity if you look at what they have gone through and their reaction. The breaking point. The final straw.
some guy that looks like me fight club is more similar to v for vendetta
@@StoutProper really, yes. But idk. Its a similar feeling of breaking down. If he had just randomly fought strangers in FC Falling Down is a better match. But lee the story line i mean the whole alienation to societal norms and patterns.
Damn. Too much. . .
Yah! And Stuff!!
some guy that looks like me yeah I guess it is similar in that, thematically. Personally I despise society's norms.
@@StoutProper entirely. Society will alwaws reap as it sows. And Im of the same opinion.
This movie should definitely be seen
One of my favorite movies. The more time goes on, you would think that it would become dated... eerily, it’s becoming more relevant.
I was thinking the exact same thing just the other day
Scary right? Especially after a few recent crisis.
I remember watching this in like 7th grade and really liking it.... now that I'm 40 I can totally relate and I feel his pain and struggle... hahahaha. I just wanna go home!!
Yeah, and if you have a full Day Job. You are villain. Like him.
@@MikkoSimila nobody wants to work anymore
@@Boss3Nate only worker with full time job with average pay check understands when D-fens say: "I'm the bad guy? How did this happen? I did everything they told me to."
Fun Fact: Where I live there was civil war between worker and elite 1918. Elite and Rich people before civil war usually went into a market where was auctions from workers. Whoever was willing to pay less form a worker won the auction. Back then middle class were less than nothing. They were consider lower than pig and they lived In barn. Skin Color meant nothing, though In this country had some rasicm. So In 1918 middle class started to rebel and civil war happen. Power Elite of the time won civil war, because they made a deal with uprising nazis. And even In 2021 middle class is still considered to be a big baddies, and their biggest crime was that they wanted to be equal against the Elite people.
"I'm just disagreeing with you! In America, we have freedom of speech, the right to disagree!"
Not anymore it seems.
No we do, but you're too much of a pussy to take flack for it
What? No one is prevented from making an ass of themselves on twitter and reaping the consequences after.
I don't think you know what Freedom of Speech actually means.
@@basedjulius4565 I wasn't referring to my self. That is why I said "it seems" referring to the people who give up as you refer to as "pussies" and those idiot's who scream" you can't say that!" I never stated I hold my tongue because I'm afraid of flak. You can take that flak and stick where the sun don't shine.
@@OberynTheRedViper ok Martell do tell what you mean
@@ericcalm9924 the government isn't preventing any of your expression of speech - freedom of speech doesnt mean freedom from the consequences of what you say.
I've known about this movie all my life. My old man and I use to watch it all the time.
@@martinregular5003 Really?
Are you 12 years old?
I was 13 when this came out. I watched it then and somehow related to him or felt empathy for him. I'm well into my 30s now and I still feel the same about this character. Great acting and a huge snub at the academy.
This movie is probably the most accurate pychogical template for every person that went "postal".
Before “Pulp Fiction” there was “Falling Down”.
I accidentally saw this movie in 1993, because the movie we wre going to see was sold out. WOW, what a happy accident. This is one of the best low budget movies and certainly *the* best Michael Douglas movie of all time. "It sure was hot today, wasn't it?"
Me and my dad really liked this movie when I was a kid and still do. Fyi, I am half Thai and Mexican and didn't find this movie racist.
this movie today would only be seen racist by sensitive guilty white and the people who listen to them and parrot their opinions. thats just my opinion as a cis white male
As a Latin American, Legal, Homosexual, immigrant who values the American Spirit.... you are 100% correct....
All these chubby, white people who’s only hobby is to watch movies share the same opinion.... any movie with a white guy killing some ethnic bad guy is racist.... i’ve Seen people make that case on killing monsters like Aliens or The Creature from The Black Lagoon.... on those PBS TH-cam videos!!!!!
DeathPrevails 713 this movie is about one man confronted with different groups of dickheads and scumbags and his extreme way of dealing with him not really about race
@@mikemoscato2995 society
No one seems to have noticed that the protagonist lost his job, wife, daughter, house and finally his life while his ex wife kept her job, their house, their daughter, gets to live and will receive insurence after his death. He lost everything. She kept everything. Evil patriarchy my ass
Egon Jensen Well, he was also a psycho. So there's that.
@@therealgaragegirls He never hit her, as she admitted to the police. He was short-tempered? Women behave like psychos & expose men to their rants every day over trifles. PLUS he lost his house, daughter and got a restraining order BEFORE the events of the film so nice try but that's BS
the lying bitch falsely accused him and cut him off from his daughter
@@egonjensen2364 Emotional abuse is still abuse, that home video HE HIMSELF is ashamed of shows that he accepted he wasn't the best husband. And the restraining order was from stalking her.
I saw it and it is fantastic. I don't want lunch I want breakfast!!
Actually I think Ill take lunch
I still have it on VHS
I tend to see this film for it's duality.
I see it as a man who feels he has been victimized by society, and is absolutely right,
but who in the process lost his ability to see the same in others, and the ability to deal with the fact that he is falling down.
Panhandler: I'm a vet. MD: You're an animal doctor? Panhandler: No man! Vietnam! MD: What were you? A drummer boy?
IMHO, this is one of the best movies of the '90s and in the Top 100 of all time.
One of the best movies ever done. And soooooo underrated.
Great Movie -
"IM. . the bad guy?"
I'll be the black guy they carried off to jail that said don't forget me.
Many commentators here on TH-cam have called this movie near perfection. I have to agree. The movie is absolutely flawless. The script is brillant, the acting is superb. The older you get, the more you can relate.
i didn't think he was a lunatic, i thought he was a guy who felt betrayed by a changing world who just wanted his old life back, sure he had a temper as we learned when he watches his home movies, but he also has a vision of how he wanted his perfect life to be. obviously he's a character that needed to check his temper and let things not go his way sometimes without freaking out about it, but i never thought that he was a full blown lunatic, just an angry, bitter, resentful guy who feels like the world doesn't care about him anymore
Great movie indeed!Michael Douglas said that this is his favorite movie and role he ever played.Still keep my VHS copy from back in the day on my shelf.
I've got a blue ray but would like a VHS as well.
I've passed the point of no return. Do you know what that is, JoBlo? That's the point in a journey where it's longer to go back to the beginning. It's like when those astronauts got in trouble. I don't know, somebody messed up, and they had to get them back to Earth. But they had passed the point of no return. They were on the other side of the moon and were out of contact for like hours. Everybody waited to see if a bunch of dead guys in a can would pop out the other side. Well, that's me. I'm on the other side of the moon now and everybody is going to have to wait until I pop out.
I've seen this movie at least 30 times. Even as a teen, it was then (and in a way, still is) one of my favorite movies. I'm thankful that I completely missed that it was controversial--but probably wouldn't have cared. Defense!!!!
So, because Kirk Douglas died today I believe, I've seen searching for any movie with him or his family in it. Never knew the actor of this movie was Micheal Douglas, thank you for telling me.
Quick plot summary: Unstable man encounters massive assholes and exploitative society, and snaps.
Some people watch this movie and think, "That man is insane and dangerous." Others see the film and think, "That man has been beaten down by the evils of society, I can see some of myself in him." BOTH ARE RIGHT.
"You forgot your briefcase!"
Jeremy B Yo homie. Is that my briefcase?
- Vincent - Collateral.
A masterpiece does not age. I remember how my girlfriend was confused and hated the movie whereas I loved it. This relationship ship didn't age ;-)
Okay, I must admit, this is the first "Nazi Santa" I can ever remember seeing (4:40).
I saw "Falling Down" in the theater. My favorite scene is when the black guy who gets arrested for protesting in front of a savings and loan tells Foster, "Don't forget me."
He nods.
I'd love to see a movie about the "economically viable" guy.
yeah man, he nods. loved that scene too, d-fens can relate to him.
Falling Down, Taxi Driver and Rampage are my three favorite anti-hero films. The guys are absolutely psychotic, but their messages ring true, unfortunately a select few are willing to hear them.
You should watch drive.
Joker was a great movie too.
I look at DFENS as an anti-hero. He’s nutty. I also really like how Duvall’s character finally sprouts a pair at the end! Love this film...
Remember, EVERY situation he's in is TOTALLY Justified, Also he doesn't even kill anyone. Except for the Neo Nazi, which was TOTAL SELF DEFENSE.
@@Tornado1994 Not exactly. He terrifies innocent people at a burger bar, smashes up an immigrant's business, blows up part of a road, almost killing a few people, and was very likely to kill his wife and daughter. His frustrations with modern society are justified, but he responds with senseless violence and aggression that just ruin more people's lives, and being just another sympathiser of the society he hates so much.
I watched this movie when I was a kid, most people have seen "Falling Down"
This is one of my favourite movies of all time. Saw it as a child in the 90s and absolutely loved it 👌🏾
Watched this for the first time today and i'm so surprised that you're the first person to compare this movie with Joker. People talked about taxi driver but nobody mentions this movie. It's a hidden gem.
The main character in Falling Down reminds me so much of Duckman. He's sort of a bad guy, but his rants are completely spot on. He sees how awful everything is and he can't help but lash out.
One of my favourite films ever and I think Douglas' performance was incredible
I found "Falling Down" a delightful romp.
Michael Douglas: D-Fens is not a viligante... he's a guy who has lost his mind
Lee Johnstone or someone
who has finally found it and is just fed up with it all.
Luke Holman No, Luke 😘
I think this movie is the ultimate evidence of how we live in a drone society.
For me, a suffering, yes, suffering, of Borderline Personality Disorder(Aka feeling everything, not able to just hide things like they never happened) it really made me aware of how 'normal' people just tend to have this ability to, well, hide feelings and push through because it is too uncomfortable to think or feel in public. So they just continue on like drones.
The key scene for this thesis is in the opening scene where he slowly just breaks down from all the sensory inputs of a crazed, yet dazed, ever ongoing society. People just don't care, all they do is push on like robots.
And it hurts to see. D-Fence is the result of not letting things happen naturally, the result of turning down basic human emotions and behaviour until the pressure simply gets to high.
A testament to what happens when we just keep sweeping things under the rug instead of facing the problems head on. One can only wonder if he was always sick or if this is the product of trying to conform to a society where you are expected to just stay in your lane and never complain.
It is also a great reminder of what can happen if you keep on moving through life as a person who doesn't react to other individuals with respect. Most of the time you will get away with it, but eventually, someone will snap and the effects can be horrible. You should have respect for other individuals, talk to them like they are just as much worth as yourself, not only blankly stare right through them and keep living in your own little bubble.
Most importantly, with all this said, D-Fence went way too far, way, way too far and we should always strive to treat other people like valuable humans.
I though Dfens already had some problems up there but I don't know if it added to the weight or if he snapped a long time ago. They said he's been fired for a month and I don't think they ever explained what he's been doing all this time.
The brutal fact is that people are not valuable humans given the fact the planet has 8 billion people and can only support around 14 billion. The bottom line is we are all being dehumanized.
Not many people know this, but Falling Down was inspired by the book, Taunting the Beast by Christina Triks.
And remember wwf attitude days where Ivory and Bull Buchanan wore white shirt black tie, and black pants just like falling down movie. They took inspiration from that and formed a faction. Please tell me if you ever remember something like that. Thanks for reading.
@@o2ksumbody Egg, ham & mayo? Why?
"These here are the top of the line, scientifically engineered and all that crap, guaranteed by some Sierra Club asshole not to hurt a chipmunk IF you step on it." - Nazi Army Surplus store owner
Cyclon-B. This was used, man! This stuff was actually used!!
I love that movie I especially think about it when I'm in rush hour traffic and its standstill after I get out of work.
I remember seeing the movie a long time ago. It's pretty good. Definately one of my favorite Michael Douglas movies.
This movie is a work of art! I saw it in the theater when it first came out and I have watched it at least once a year since then,along with Pulp Fiction,A Clockwork Orange,The Good,The Bad and The Ugly, Scarface and a few others!
I saw this movie on television late at night towards the end of the 90s. I remember being completely exhausted but completely engrossed in the film. It was so good, that even though I wanted to go to bed, I had to see what happens next.
If you have never watched this movie, do yourself a favor and watch it.
I remember seeing this in the theaters with my grandmother lol good times
• _Falling Down_ was a great movie and came at the right time; I'm not sure it would work these days, but then again, they made _Assault on Wallstreet_ and a _Death Wish_ remake just a few years ago… 🤔 But like you said, _Joker_ is getting flack.
• 7:13 - **cough*szechuan sauch*cough** 25 years later and people are no better. 🤦
• He wasn't a psycho, he was a normal guy who snapped. He was doing his normal stuff, but a confluence of events lead him to break down and go nuts, and once that seal is broken, once that first illegal act is done, there's no turning back, so the only way forward is through. It's like with many things where people figure "welp, it's too late now, I'm already in it, so I may as well go all the way now". Like you said, past the point of no return, there's nowhere to go but down, but that point of no return can be crossed more easily than you think (sort like boiling-frog syndrome). The point was to make us realize that it could happen to any of us under the right, or wrong, circumstances, that you _don't_ have to be a psycho to go off the rails like a crazy train. Moreover, it could happen to _other people_ as well. You could be going about your business, minding your own business when someone suddenly snaps and goes off. Look at what happened to poor Tim McLean. :-\
But hey, that's just my two cen.
- I agree with everything you wrote, although I’d like to point out that his wife at one point told a police officer that although he had never hit her or has been violent, she always felt he could be. The point being that there had always been something lingering under the surface that never manifested itself, and it only took the right confluence of elements to bring it out. Whether that means he was “psycho”, or not, I’m not sure. I feel that the dialogue with the wife implied it.
While we’re taking about it, have you ever thought about the notion that D-Fens and Prendergast are mirror images of each other- the Everyman? D-fens of course being the personification of pure id Prendergast being the super ego. Their wives are even polar opposites of each other. One is level headed and the other is insane.
@@Davesky19 Actually we ALL have the propensity for violence, it's whether or not we can control it. Lots of people will make excuses like they couldn't help themselves when they still had a choice.
MegaMagicdog - Of course. Some of us more than others. I was just mentioning that the script, which was very tightly written and deliberate, made a point to include it to give some background into his psyche, and how he would likely eventually cross the line from vigilante-like justice to rampage. Before he dies he even says something along the lines of, “I’m the bad guy? When did that happen?”
He was not a racist just pissed at the world. As he said in that basement with the Nazi guy he said "I am not a Nazi, "I am an American who believes in free speech"
when I saw the joker movie it kinda reminded me of this. you follow the main character as a protagonist and it’s not until the end when you fully grasp that he’s been the “bad guy” all along
I read this film differently from the narrator.
The message I took away was stand up for yourself before it gets too far down a bad road.
D-fens has been pushed around and screwed over to the point of snapping and the only option he can see left is lashing out at any and all injustices.
Where Prettigas has one day left before it all slips away, his wife, boss and colleagues all push him around and he's about to lose his identity and take early retirement. Its only at the end of the movie where he fights back.
Once the bridge is falling down its already too late.
Just my outlook on it but its better to come to your own conclusions I think
I went to see this movie at the time and thought it was brilliant, it really did tell a tale of the times and that unfortunately that hasn’t changed that much.
This movie was great. He did some things we all wished we could do
I think Joel Schumacher's *"A Time To Kill"* and *"8mm"* are both really unfairly dismissed too. *Tigerland* was strong as well.
don't tell me what i haven't seen buddy - always loved this movie
You don't agree with D-Fens you're supposed to understand "Yeah shit's fucked up, I can see how someone can snap like that."
''Never Saw'' - you must have a very low opinion of your subscribers
It's a generic term to engage viewers, don't take it personally. I don't believe he actually thought, 'why haven't all these dumbasses seen this film yet, well I'll shame them into it.'
The phrase is a common term just to reference an interaction context, like, 'We need to talk about ...' It doesn't actually mean we need to all sit down and talk about some random social personality, it just means, hey, I've got something I think is interesting to say about this person, if you want to know, come check it my video out.
He's using it as a general term. I'm betting if you were to go up to ten people on the street most wouldn't have heard of this film.
1.21 Gigawatts you are a dick.
Yeah, I haven't seen one on there that I haven't seen yet.
@@1.21gigawatts2 Outside of the top 20-40 grossing movies of all time, I think that is a safe assumption about any and all movies.
"Or so he thinks"
Umm in 2020? No.. no its 100% spot on!
I've been seeing clips of this in my recommended and I watched them. Oml this movie is brilliant.
Some people just can't wrap their heads around the fact that life is not a Disney movie. A person can be a villain and a victim. In fact, to some degree, we all are from time to time. We try to do good things, and we do bad things. If you think you're a hero then you will miss the times you are being a villain, as the main character did. Understanding that right and wrong is not always black and white is part of growing up.
This man is no hero and not a villain, just a guy who got pushed to the edge. How people thought this was racist is beyond me.
Well I've got the DVD for at least 10 years.
I've had it for almost 20 years.lol
Wondering if it’s ever getting a Criterion treatment , seems overdue.
the crazy ones are the sane ones in a crazy world
"The normal people are the ones you do t know very well." I have a magnet that states this.
This movie has aged beautifully
I saw it when it came out and loved it. Is way more relevant today.
Watched many times as a teen now as an adult realise that being "not economically viable" can change a man. Parallels with Breaking Bad.
This was my favorite movie growing up. I was a fan of all them unheard of movies. DO FREEWAY NEXT!!
I've watched this movie many times.
I seen the film when I was 9 and boy I loved it so much
"This is the best Movie ever made, because it speaks to all of you out there in America Today 2024Ad, Mr. Michael Douglas deserves more than an Oscar" R.I.P.🤨🤔
Probably one of the best social commentary movies ever.
I saw this movie enough times to make up for the ones that didn't...lol
This is one of my favorite movies, it’s a stressful film and I love it.
The Gangland scene and the golf course scene or my 2 favorites, he just got tired of everybody's shit.
People didn't like this movie because it's so real and exposes what society truly can be for anyone who broke mentally, but of course people with their sensitive takes think the movie is bad when it was extremely good.
I think he means most haven't seen it because it's from the time of vhs which most people have never seen unless they have been to a garage sale.
A high school friend had the life of "William Foster," and suffered through the high tech downturn in California, but had a family to support. After selling the house, the family left for the "Silicon Prairie" in Texas. The last I heard, he was working at Home Depot, "keeping his sunny side up." As for "the cop near retirement going into a dangerous situation," have you looked at Dabney Coleman in "Short Time," where switched documents turn a "by the book/careful" police detective into a "shoot me, I dare ya!" loose cannon?