The Osterman Weekend (DVD)

The Osterman Weekend is a 1983 thriller originally penned by Robert Ludlum, who is also the author of the Bourne saga. The film was released at a time when Cold War conspiracies were the plot for many TV series, film and book. Recent events with Aghanistan had heightened friction between the States and the USSR, and thus this film touched a very nervous point.

This is a lesson in conspiracy gone wrong. John Tanner is the host for a TV show that regularly outs corrupt government officials. He is approached by Laurence Fassett, a CIA agent, and told that 3 of his closest friends with whom he has a reunion every year are in fact KGB operatives. He is convinced when he sees video evidence and experiences a kidnapping attempt. The CIA persuade him to go ahead with the reunion and to try and turn one or all of his friends into double agents. Watch the sparks fly and look out for the brilliant twists and turns throughout the film!

This is a brilliant cast. Tanner is played by Rutger Hauer, in prime having just filmed Blade Runner the year before. His three supposed defector friends are played by Craig T Nelson, Chris Sarandon and Dennis Hopper, and Burt Lancaster plays the CIA director. Were it not for Hauer's wonderful performance as the lead male, John Hurt would have stolen the show as the CIA agent who approaches Tanner. There is good support from the rest of the cast, too, with the pick of the bunch being Meg Foster who plays Tanner's wife.

While all the actors perform very well, they do only what they can with a script which does not explain things very well. Essentially, a bit of understanding of current affairs is necessary, but current affairs of the 1980s Cold War are no longer commonplace in our society. I am lucky with this in that I have read a lot on Cold War, particularly as a student, but even so, I was confused. A lack of explanation and a certain amount of confusion at the end of the film surprises me of a director of Sam Peckinpah's pedigree.

DVD Extras

I have the commemorative 2 disc edition of the film, and if you want to understand the story and the politics, the extras do go some way into answering questions. The first disc is the same as the one disc edition, with the feature film and the commentary version. On the second disc, there is a 78 minute documentary on conspiracies entitled 'ALPHA TO OMEGA', as well as biographies and galleries, but the pick of this disc is 'SAM'S FIRST CUT', taken from a Betamax tape of Peckinpah's that was thought to be lost but now retrieved.

The film is currently available from amazon.co.uk for £10.31 for the 2 disc edition, £2.99 for the single disc edition.