Ravenous – Friß oder stirb (1999)

Ravenous – Friß oder stirb: Directed by Antonia Bird. With Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, David Arquette, Jeremy Davies. In a remote military outpost in the 19th century, Captain John Boyd and his regiment embark on a rescue mission which takes a dark turn when they are ambushed by a sadistic cannibal.

“This is an exceedingly well-made film which, in its portrayal of cannabalism, suggests other themes as well: physical and moral courage and cowardice, exploitation of other people, the evils of carnivorousness…u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTaut-faced, moody Lt. John Boyd (Guy Pearce) turns yellow under fire in the Mexican War, but somehow manages to accidentally capture an enemy command post. He is rewarded with a medal, a promotion to Captain, and a transfer to a lonely outpost in the western Sierra Nevada range in California by a commanding officer who sees the cowardice behind the supposed heroism. There, a disheveled stranger (Robert Carlyle, doing his best Rasputin impersonation) stumbles into the post, telling a horrible tale of snowbound travellers in a wagon train feeding on each other when their food runs out. The affable C.O. (Jeffrey Jones, looking as seedy as you might expect an officer in a California outpost in the 1840u0026#39;s to look) decides to investigate, leading his small band of soldiers to a horrible destiny. Jeremy Davies, who played the nerdy corporal in u0026quot;Saving Private Ryanu0026quot; also appears, playing pretty much the same character.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll the parts in this movie were excellent – all the performances were outstanding, the photography and editing were great, and the score was amazing. However, although I really enjoyed this movie, it didnu0026#39;t add up as be the great film it should have been. Much of the time, I felt as if I should have been really scared and nervous, but I found myself watching with some detachment, almost as if I were watching a ball game between two teams I wasnu0026#39;t really rooting for.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI donu0026#39;t want the reader to think I didnu0026#39;t like this movie, though. It was really good. It just wasnu0026#39;t outstanding, thatu0026#39;s all.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI did like Sheila Tousey as Martha, the Native American woman who lived and worked at the outpost. She was really cute in a sort of Earth Mother kind of way.”