When murder is your business, you'd better not fall in love with your work.
Director: Dennis Hopper
Producer: Dan Paulson, Dick Clark
A witness to a mob assassination flees for her life from town to town, switching identities, but cannot seem to elude Milo, the chief killer out to get her.
116 min
Rating: 5.362/10
Released
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Top Cast
Dennis Hopper
Milo
Jodie Foster
Anne Benton
Dean Stockwell
John Luponi
Vincent Price
Mr. Avoca
John Turturro
Pinella
Fred Ward
Pauling
Movie Info
Director: Dennis Hopper
Producer: Dan Paulson, Dick Clark
Production Companies: Vestron Pictures, Precision Films, Mack-Taylor Productions, Dick Clark Productions
Countries: United States of America
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What Others Said
JPV852:
Pretty weird and quirky action-thriller-romance-comedy that features over-the-top acting from both Hopper and Foster. Kind of awkward scenes and parts are on the slow side, however while Hopper isn't as insane compared with in other roles, there were a few weird moments like playing the saxophone. Not bad and from what I read, an improvement over the theatrical version that Vestron heavily edited without Hopper's knowledge (and was credited as Alan Smithee). I think this would play great in a group setting as there are some good-bad scenes. **2.75/5**
Wuchak:
**_Amusing crime thriller road trip with Dennis Hopper and Jodie Foster_**
A hitman for the mob in Western America (Hopper) falls for his prey (Foster) and they find themselves running from both the mob and law enforcement.
“Backtrack” was shot in 1988 and originally released in Europe as “Catchfire” in 1990, but the director/star disowned it and credited the film to Alan Smithee. So, he did a Director’s Cut that was released to cable in 1991, retitled “Backtrack.” It was influenced by Eastwood’s “The Gauntlet” from a dozen years earlier. While it’s superior to Hopper’s contemporaneous “The Hot Spot,” it’s not as effective as his “Chasers” (1994).
Yet it’s worthwhile for the great cast (also including Vincent Price, Joe Pesci, Charlie Sheen, Dean Stockwell and several other recognizable faces), not to mention Jodie in her physical prime. In other words, she never looked better.
The version I saw runs 1 hour, 39 minutes, but there’s a version that runs 1 hour, 56 minutes (the Director’s Cut) and, supposedly, a 3-hour version. It was shot in the Los Angeles area, Seattle and New Mexico (Albuquerque, Lindrith, Lamy, Taos, Rio Grande Gorge Bridge and Ranchos de Taos).
GRADE: B/B-