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Local Hero
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 2
EAN: 9786305558200
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 6305558205
Label: Warner Home Video
Languages: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 MonoEnglish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled),
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
MPN: D11307D
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: September 21, 1999
Running Time: 111 minutes
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: February 17, 1983
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Editorial Review:
When Mac MacIntyre (played with deadpan perfection by Peter Riegert) is sent by his star-gazing, slightly insane Knox Oil and Gas boss (Burt Lancaster) to Scotland's West Coast to buy the rights to a seaside town slated to be the site of an oil refinery, Mac embarks on his journey reluctantly. "Why do I have to go to all the way to Scotland?" Mac complains to a coworker. "I'm really more of a Telex man." But on the way to closing the deal, a funny thing happens: the place takes root in Mac. The town's eccentric inhabitants, eventful night sky, and stunning scenery soak into his psyche and combine to bring a very different Mac to the surface, a Mac who collects seashells, walks on the beach in his jeans instead of his suit, and throws his calendar watch, beeping "meeting time in Houston," into the sea.
Mac eventually vies to switch places with Gordon Urquhart--accountant, bartender, innkeeper, and community representative in the land deal. After an evening spent drinking 42-year-old scotch ("old enough to be out on its own," Mac chirps, and then laughs smugly at his own joke) and negotiating the real estate deal, Mac tries to negotiate a deal for himself--to trade his high-rise Houston apartment, Porsche, and oil-company job for Urquhart's less traditional, but more fulfilling, life.
The plot runs along almost as if behind the scenes, and the characters are intriguing, but the real appeal here is the incisive yet gentle humor. During a visit to a Knox Oil lab, Mac is shown into a room that contains a miniature of the town he has been sent to purchase. The head of the lab says, "Welcome to our little world," and then gives Mac the plastic replica of the town as a souvenir. "Dream large," he intones. The irony's easy to miss and is just one example of the intelligent presence--in the form of writer and director Bill Forsyth--working behind the scenes here.
Mark Knopfler's delicate, haunting soundtrack complements the sometimes melancholy, sometimes hilarious currents of Local Hero to perfection. --Stefanie Durbin
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - It is written in the stars
What do you get when you have an oil tycoon and a young businessman wanting to change a sleepy village into the "petrol capital of the free world?" The 1983 enchanting film, LOCAL HERO, written and directed by Bill Forsyth and produced by David Puttnam who is best known for CHARIOTS OF FIRE. This film is not as epic as the previous, but rather a contemporary and quiet respite from all the extravagance displayed in FIRE.
Burt Lancaster plays the executive of Knox Oil and Gas, Felix ... Read More
Rating: - Scotland The Brave
In my carefree 20's I took my bicycle over to the British Isles and rode all through England, Wales, and Scotland. I spent almost all that summer of '77--Queen Eliz' silver anniversary year--on my red Swallow ten-speed "pushbike", as the Brits called it, slogging it up and down and all around that sceptred isle. Though I saw a ghost in a lonely churchyard above Lynton, hit a sheep outside of Chester, saw authentic gypsies near Malton, and heard a concert in the King's College chapel in Cambridge, my ... Read More
Rating:  - Worth a look...
This little-know bit of surrealist deconstruction remains poignantly relevant. Especially as the debate over the ANWR heats up, here in the US.
Rating: - Terrific Movie
This is an excellent movie, nice simple plot with great music and scenery, which works perfectly. It is a shame it is no longer available for Region 2, still, most of us are lucky enough to have DVD Players which will play any. Whatever, just get a copy of this movie and watch it, totally brilliant.
Rating:  - Local Hero Movie
A fun little movie from the past. Makes us think of what's really important, but doesn't club you with it. Glad I bought it. I'll view it several times and share with friends and family.
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