The Chaos Factor (2000)

The Chaos Factor (2000)- * *1\2

Directed by: Terry Cunningham

Starring: Antonio Sabato Jr., Fred Ward, Sean Kanan, Susie Park, and R. Lee Ermey

Jack Poynt (Sabato Jr.) is a military man who specializes in ‘demo excavation’, in other words, sweeping mines out of Cambodia and saving the local villagers. Jack Poynt’s life changes forever when he comes across an Army medic’s diary that was written during the Vietnam War. 

It turns out that a fellow soldier named Maxwell Camden (Ward) committed all sorts of wartime atrocities. Now, in the present day, Camden is a big muckty-muck in the government and he will go to great lengths to stop the diary from going public - including sending his goons (one of which is Sean Kanan) out to torture and murder people. Along the way, Jack crosses paths with a ruthless, beautiful female assassin that seems like she belongs in another movie named Kim (Park). But the two will have to team up to defeat Camden and the baddies before a big arms deal goes down between China and Vietnam...and time is running out. Will Jack make his Poynt? Find out...

The Chaos Factor is kind of a middle-of-the-road affair. On the one hand, it’s a PM production, so there are plenty of car chases, explosions, shooting scenes, and a decent amount of action. It’s also not overly junky in the production values department and there is some nice cinematography from Jacques Haitkin. 

On the other hand, it’s supposed to be a serious-minded drama at other times - a governmental thriller with the haunting echoes of the Vietnam conflict infusing it all. Not that that would be a bad thing, of course, but all the drama is undercut somewhat by the odd choice to have footage from Seagal’s Marked For Death (1990) all over the action scenes. Tip to filmmakers: if you’re going for seriousness, don’t resort to Seagal footage spliced into the movie.

Adding insult to injury, the footage doesn’t match very well. You don’t have to be particularly eagle-eyed to know when we’ve whiplashed into suddenly watching a car chase from Marked For Death. Presumably, if you’re watching the Chaos Factor, you’ve already seen Marked For Death - has anyone watched them the other way around? Regardless, this was the directorial debut of Terry Cunningham, so perhaps we should cut him a bit of slack, almost like you would for someone learning on the job. Thankfully, Cunningham had good people around him like Haitkin and Fred Ward who could dress things up significantly. 

We enjoyed most of the scenes with Susie Park, mainly because that’s when the movie becomes out-and-out action. Sean Kanan strongly resembles James Spader, and fan favorite R. Lee Ermey is underutilized...but would you believe he was cast as an Army Colonel? I know, wonders never cease. 

That brings us to Sabato Jr., who is a solid leading man for these types of things...though it should be noted that (in this movie at least) he has a tramp stamp. We don’t believe we’ve ever seen a male action hero with a lower-back tattoo before. Much like how the Seagal footage undercuts the seriousness of the movie, Sabato Jr.’s tramp stamp undercuts our confidence in him as an action hero. It starts off as Sweepers (1998), becomes Broken Arrow (1996), then becomes No Way Out (1987), then becomes Yes, Madam (1985), all with a dusting of a Steven Segal movie from ten years previous. If this sounds like something you're up for, well here it is. The DTV world in 2000 was a confusing place indeed. 

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Southern Comfort (1981)

Southern Comfort (1981)- * * *1\2

Directed by: Walter Hill

Starring: Powers Booth, Keith Carradine, Brion James, T.K. Carter, and Fred Ward









In 1973, a regiment of the Louisiana National Guard travel out to the remote bayou for a routine training mission. The men, including Spencer (Carradine), Hardin (Boothe), Reece (Ward), Poole (Coyote), and Cribbs (Carter) have differing attitudes towards life and their situation. It all seems simple enough, but when they accidentally draw the ire of some local Cajun folk, the crafty Cajuns start killing them off one by one as punishment for their perceived incursion into their territory. 

Not to mention their capture of a local man, simply known as Trapper (James). Now trying to survive with limited resources in a harsh and unfamiliar environment, our National Guardsmen literally have to fight their own war at home. Who will die, who will survive, and who will live to find out the true meaning of SOUTHERN COMFORT?

Only the genius of the great Walter Hill could take elements of the Wilderness Horror subgenre, the war movie, the Western, the suspense thriller, and the Asian-style “Heroic Bloodshed” film, and tie it all together with allegorical and metaphorical themes and undercurrents, all the while on the surface allowing it to appear to be a Deliverance/Most Dangerous Game-style survival outing. 

Strictly speaking, this isn’t a straight-up action movie, though it certainly has those elements, but Hill’s style, especially with this movie, was so imitated and duplicated in the years following this, we just had to include it here for being the benchmark that it is. Just watch any Cirio Santiago-directed jungle slog or any Italian war film shot in the Philippines (i.e. Eye of the Eagle III or Dogtags, respectively) and you’ll see what we mean. The influence of 

Southern Comfort reverberated throughout the video store era of the 80’s/early 90’s and beyond, and it’s easy to see why. There’s a certain disturbing quality to it, especially in the final third. And as much as we enjoyed Hunter’s Blood (1986), that film can’t really compete with the staying power of Southern Comfort, because there’s so much more depth here, despite the surface similarities. Or perhaps it’s the presence of Joey Travolta. One or the other.

The cast is killer, the Louisiana locations are both picturesque and unsettling (captured gorgeously by cinematographer Andrew Laszlo), and the Ry Cooder score is the icing on the cake. The cumulative effect of the clever writing, brilliant direction, the great cast, strange yet pretty locations and the top-notch score is powerfully effective. You can’t ask for much more. If we have one minor quibble, it’s that the 105-minute running time might have been able to be trimmed down a tad. But everything else is in the “win” column for this fine film.

In high school English class, we learned about the four main drivers of narrative conflict. These are: Man against man, man against society, man against nature and man against self. Southern Comfort is one of the few movies that articulately expresses ALL of the four conflicts.

 But one of the other themes - and a constant in the work of Walter Hill - particularly stood out: the nature of masculinity. What does it mean to be “a man”? Is there a type of man that is “best”? One that is more effective? Does losing at a certain conflict make you “less of a man”? All these questions and many more are lurking just beneath the surface.

Hill also shows that not all the Vietnam-era action happened in Vietnam. This provides a point of difference that is worth noting. There’s some un-PC dialogue we all love and enjoy, and much like The Thing (1982), there are almost no women in the entire movie. The Shout Factory DVD/Blu-Ray combo is the package to buy - the movie looks brilliant and there is an insightful documentary included as well.

Southern Comfort is much more than a “man’s movie” - it cleverly explores themes that are damn near primordial in mankind. But it never loses its power to entertain, which is what good storytelling is all about. We strongly recommend it.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, The Video Vacuum!