MovieChat Forums > The Mosquito Coast (1986) Discussion > How come so many have not yet seen this?

How come so many have not yet seen this?

posted 17 years ago by macdreidle
12 replies | jump to latest

I have never considered Harrison Ford a great ACTOR. He is a great screen performer and always does exactly the same thing EXCEPT HERE!. This is by far , Harrison's best work. He actually plays a dramatic character well without the typical Harrison Ford cliches and completely transforms into a different character. Don't get me wrong, I have always loved him as Indy, Han etc but have never bought him in any drama unless it had some sort of action element to it. But whenever all that I have said in the above post comes to mind, I remind myself of this movie. Amazing how so few have ever heard of it let alone seen it.

[–] tnilfo 17 years ago

I thought he was terrible in this, utterly miscast.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] tommyuk 17 years ago

Yes it's hardly ever shown on TV.I think I remember it being on once a long time ago.

[–] Mixalidis 17 years ago

"...is by far , Harrison's best work. He actually plays a dramatic character well without the typical Harrison Ford cliches and completely transforms into a different character..."

Exactly, in every other movie he is the same character and acts in the a+same way with the same manners etc. I guess Peter Weir gets the best of him, just like in Witness... I'm surprised how this movie is unknown, more people should see it!

[–] moviefiend-1 15 years ago

i think it'll stay pretty much unknown, movie buffs will seek it out but this isn't the kind of the film that the general public would enjoy.

[–] entertainme5 15 years ago

You got that right, the general public only knows mainstream and won't even think outside the box. They are so caught up in fast pace action films that they don't give subtle movies like this a chance!

[–] vanderveldenton 14 years ago

Well, luckily the BBC showed it yesterday night (very late, almost midnight in Holland). I was glad I could record it as it saves me having to buy the DVD.
Always great to see Harrison Ford, in every film he is in, especially drama.
The theme reminded me a lot of last weekend's World Food Day, with a documentary in Holland (Taste the Waste) about how much food is thrown away even before it reaches the consumer and the people doing that finding that quite normal. Tons of food being flown in from Africa, to end up on the garbage belt, when Africans would have needed it so much, and so forth.

[–] landsharkistan 14 years ago

Just saw this film last night for the first time last night. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and Harrison Ford's performance and wondered how I managed to not see this film after all these years. Definitely not your usual Hollywood movie and that is what I like about it. Give me a good story and not the some old movie "formula".

[–] PotassiumMan 13 years ago

Its an extremely offbeat role for Harrison Ford, at his performance is so pronounced that at times you forget that he's the actor playing the role. An utterly unsympathetic character but boy, is the acting memorable.

[–] ghostdog2041 13 years ago

I know. I hate that this movie didn't catch on. Then again, telling your buddy to check out a movie about a scientist making an ice machine and moving to the jungle isn't exactly an easy sell.
I've told all my close friends about, though. I'm going to make them watch it.

Coming Soon... The December Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qj7fRpcXRI

[–] ObservationBlogger 13 years ago

I couldn't agree more with your post. The movie Witness is another superb performance by Ford. I think The Mosquito Coast is one of the most underrated films. I cannot believe it is just 6.6 here. I would think it's at least 7.5

My 120 favorite movies http://www.imdb.com/list/Uvw_F2_GMx8/
What would you add?

[–] econobiker 11 years ago

People haven't seen it because the movie sucked.