Payback - payday

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Movie
German title Payback - payday
Original title Payback
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1999 (Theatrical Version),
2006 (Director's Cut)
length 101 (Theatrical Version) minutes
90 (Director's Cut) minutes
Age rating FSK 16 (Theatrical Version),
FSK 18 (Director's Cut)
Rod
Director Brian Helgeland
script Brian Helgeland
Terry Hayes
production Stephen McEveety
Bruce Davey
music Chris Boardman
camera Ericson Core
cut Kevin Stitt
occupation

Payback is an American action thriller from 1999 starring Mel Gibson . The film is a remake of Point Blank from 1967 . Like this he is based on the novel Payback (original title: The Hunter ) by Richard Stark (pseudonym of Donald E. Westlake ).

action

In Payback , Mel Gibson plays Porter , a professional robber. Together with his wife Lynn and his partner Val Resnick, he stole 140,000 US dollars from a group of Chinese money launderers. But Val needs 130,000 US dollars of it to buy back into the syndicate (called outfit ). This and a photo that leads his wife to believe that he has cheated on her will be fatal for Porter: Val and Lynn have conspired against him and only used him for the robbery. Lynn shoots him from behind and makes off with Val and the $ 140,000. But Porter is not dead. He seeks revenge - and his share of exactly 70,000 US dollars.

He has the bullets removed from his back by a doctor who does not work because he cannot go to an official hospital with a gunshot wound. After five months, he ventures back into the public eye and steals the wallet of a man who looks like him. He uses his account card to withdraw cash from a bank. He uses his credit card to buy three watches, which he then exchanges for a 44 magnum at a pawnbroker . In his search for Val, Porter first meets his now drug addict wife, who shoots the golden shot that same night , her dealer - and corrupt police officers. He contacts the prostitute Rosie, whose driver he used to be and who thought Porter's wife was the one with whom Porter cheated on her, renews the friendship and makes her his ally.

Val has meanwhile bought himself back into his outfit, but that doesn't stop Porter from paying him a visit and demanding his money. As a result, Val, cornered, puts the Chinese on his neck, who are sorely missing their US $ 140,000. Since Val gave the money to the outfit, Porter has to look for his share there. Of course, the gangsters don't want to give him his money, instead they put a couple of killers on him.

So Porter now has a gang of Chinese criminals, an entire criminal syndicate and two corrupt police officers who have already divided his money between themselves and Lynn's dealer, a sleazy taxi operator, on his neck. Porter fights his way to the top of the syndicate to collect his $ 70,000. Val, who follows him after failing to hand over the money, but narrowly missed him, mistakenly fires his gun at Rosie's watchdog and then abuses Rosie, is killed by Porter, who returns at the right moment. Porter and Rosie flee the apartment and hide in a cheap dump where they think they are safe. Later Porter lays false traces on Val's corpse (the badge of one policeman in Val's hand, the murder weapon with the fingerprints of the other policeman next to it), which lead to the arrest of the two corrupt officers after the dead man is discovered.

As soon as Porter and Rosie have arrived in the hotel room, the phone rings, whose number nobody should know. Porter becomes suspicious, discovers a cable that leads from the phone to an explosive device under the bed, looks out the window and discovers three killers that the Syndicate has set on him. He switches off all three and decides to go next to the politely unscrupulous underboss Carter, who after the knockout of his two bodyguards - in a certain way impressed - finally, at Porter's request, calls the top boss, Mr. Bronson. Porter can order this that he wants his money. In response to his negative attitude, Porter kills Carter to emphasize his demand, which makes Bronson very angry, but does not allow him to give in. Bronson threatens him instead, which leads Porter to the decision to kidnap Bronson's adult son, whose whereabouts he accidentally overheard on the phone, which he does with Rosie's help. Via a second underboss, the comfortably calm Justin Fairfax, he contacts Bronson again and threatens him to kill Johnny, who is being held with Rosie as guard in another hotel, if he fails to pay the amount due. Bronson then has him arrested and tortured when a ransom delivery failed to find out the whereabouts of his offspring. Porter agrees to pretend, but only gives the address of the hotel room in which the Syndicate bomb that was actually intended for Porter is still hidden. Porter, whom Bronson had taken in the trunk, manages to get free, to get through the back seat into the car and to dial the number of the phone in the hotel room from the car phone in good time. Bronson, who picks up the phone and activates the bomb, as well as Fairfax and two other men are killed in the explosion.

Porter and Rosie then leave for Canada with the $ 130,000 ransom in Bronson's car, where they can have breakfast and relax after the busy days.

backgrounds

The version of the film made by director Helgeland was considered by the studio to be too uncompromising and wanted a version that was more suitable for the masses. After a new script was available, Brian Helgeland was asked to direct additional recordings, but he did not agree to do so. So the production designer John Myhre was commissioned with the extensive re-shoots. These could only take place about a year later, as Mel Gibson was busy filming Lethal Weapon 4 in the meantime . In the end, ten days were available for re-shooting, in which about 30% of the final film was re-shot, including all scenes with Kris Kristofferson, whose character was not included in the original film version. The end of the film was also completely re-recorded. In contrast to the original version, the story was drastically changed. In the credits, however, Brian Helgeland was named as the sole director.

On October 21, 2006, a director's cut version of the film was presented at the Austin Film Festival , which shows the film in the version originally planned by Brian Helgeland. On April 10, 2007, this version was released under the title Payback: Straight Up - the Director's Cut in the USA on Blu-ray , HD DVD and DVD . On September 25th, 2009 this Director's Cut was also released in Germany. The cinema version is kept in a cool blue-gray for stylistic reasons, but the Director's Cut is not.

The score by Chris Boardman contains clear references to David Shire's classic twelve-tone jazz music for Stop the Ride of the Subway 123 from 1974.

Economic success

The film was a box office hit, grossing approximately $ 160 million worldwide at an estimated $ 90 million production cost.

criticism

The film received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes scored 74 reviews and saw 54% as positive. Manfred Müller called the film in the Spiegel “a staid piece of commercial cinema with a dubious disposition” and saw “the limit to the glorification of violence has been crossed.” He ended his criticism with the conclusion: “A disgusting film.”

Roger Ebert rated Payback 3 out of 4 stars and called it “smart” and “resourceful”. He saw the key to a functioning film in leading actor Mel Gibson.

“An excitingly staged, albeit extremely tough, revenge story that derives its entertainment value from the balance between thriller plot and black comedy. The consistent visual stylization of the Chicago location and the casting of the main role against the actor's usual screen characters offer further appeal. "

Awards

Chris Boardman received a BMI Film Music Award in 2000 , Mel Gibson the Blockbuster Entertainment Award .

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Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Release certificate for Payback - Payday . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , August 2009 (PDF; test number: 81 494 V).
  2. a b c d Documentation Same Story ... Different Movie - Creating Payback The Director's Cut on the DVD Payback - Special Edition , Warner, 2009
  3. a b Blu-ray Review on highdefdigest.com (English), accessed on October 22, 2012
  4. Payback - Payday on schnittberichte.com , accessed on October 22, 2012
  5. Release dates on imdb.com (English), accessed on October 22, 2012
  6. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=payback.htm
  7. ^ Payback (1999) . In: Rotten Tomatoes . Flixster . Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  8. ^ Manfred Müller: Kino: "Payback" - Stylish violence. In: Spiegel Online . Der Spiegel , March 8, 1999, accessed May 7, 2013 .
  9. ^ Roger Ebert : Payback. In: rogerebert.com. February 5, 1999, accessed May 8, 2013 : "There is much cleverness and ingenuity in" Payback, "but Mel Gibson is the key."
  10. Payback - payday. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used