The Postman Reviews

Dances with Wolves is a movie that labeled Kevin Costner as one of the most prolific directors and producers of the 1990’s. His filmmaking credibility however disintegrated once his post-apocalyptic science fiction flop The Postman debuted in theaters. An unnamed outlaw (Kevin Costner) escapes from a fascist government concentration camp, dons a uniform from a dead postman and travels into the blockaded city of Pineview, Oregon. There, he plots to reform the U.S. government and fight General Bethlehem (Will Patton) and the Holnists for their country, almost akin to Robin Hood. Part of why this movie failed critically and box office wise was Costner’s tired, self-indulgent plot and message about fighting against authority for the better of the country. Despite the excellent costumes, decent cinematography and entertainingly dated design of 2013, The Postman was not well-written, not well-directed and seemed derivative of other movies such as Mad Max, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Waterworld. Plus, the epic mano e mano was lame, as The Postman and Bethlehem tackled each other, fell off their horses and physically fought on the dusty ground. It visually looks like I’m watching a catfight that might as well involve them aggressively shoving each other’s hands. For that matter, why couldn’t they just order their troops to attack instead of letting them watch on horseback? While it is not a good film by any means, The Postman is the most tonally consistent, unlike the other Razzie winners I’ve seen.

(2 Bronze Costner Statues out of 5)

Even though it was a huge flop, I was still curious about this flick. Unfortunately, I must admit it, it was indeed pretty bad, as a matter of fact, it was even worse than I expected. I mean, even though ‘Dances with Wolves’ was a decent movie, I never thought it was really amazing and I was never convinced by Kevin Costner’s directing skills. This movie made it clear I was right. I mean, it is very very long, it even takes Costner 1 hour to finally became the famous ‘Postman’…. Furthermore, I always had a weak spot for post-apocalyptic features but this one must be the least convincing one I have ever seen. I mean, there wasn’t a single moment when I believed in the time and place portrayed. Even though it was supposed to take place in the future, it looked more like a Western, but not a good one. The tonality was also all over the place. I mean, Costner took the same approach as for ‘Dances with Wolves’, in the sense, that you had the good guys on one side and the bad guys on the other, but even though it was not brilliant in ‘Dances…’, it did work, but here, with this genre, it required a much more subtle approach, at least, that’s my opinion. I could point out many other odd things like how the Postman gave guns to some children who just butcher their opponent or how he makes a woman pregnant and, conveniently, her husband gets killed by the bad guys later on. Awkward, awkward,… and it goes on and on like this for 3 hours. Basically, it is a terrible mess and I’m not surprised it was such a flop. Fortunately, Kevin Costner would redeem himself as a director with ‘Open Range’ which turned out to be his best directing effort and is criminally underrated and barely seen. To conclude, this movie was pretty bad, ‘Dances with Wolves’ seems indeed like a masterpiece compared to it, and it is definitely not worth a look.

I was a bit skeptical in the beginning of this movie that it would be something less than entertaining. Yet, as the movie progressed, it took on a new inspiration for all of us around the world, but mostly here in the United States, reminded of how we can come together as a nation, and what can bring us all down to our knees. This movie tells a story of hope. Hope of something we used to be, and still can be. As a combat and disabled veteran myself, I fully understand that war is nothing more than the greed of those who’s shirt and pants are put on the same as anyone else. The greed of fear, which they hide under their shirt while the majority live with their fear on their sleeves for all to see. It doesn't have to be like that at all as this movie has presented. Being knocked back to the Stone Age does not mean we cannot pick ourselves back up, and become something better than we were before, and without war, fear, or greed. This movie shows the deeper side of humanity, where we came from, and what we ALL can achieve if we would only stop for a moment to see that war is not the answer, it never has been. With that said, I give this five stars for amazing acting, story line, a heartfelt reminder of life, and an all-around wholesome movie for all to see.