Introduction

Revolution is a 1985 British historical drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Robert Dillon, and starring Al Pacino, Donald Sutherland and Nastassja Kinski. Pacino stars as a frontiersman in the colony of New York who involuntarily becomes involved in the Revolutionary cause during the American Revolutionary War.

Outline

On 4 July 1776, fur trapper Tom Dobb and his young son Ned sail to New York City. They witness a riotous mob tearing down a statue of the King of England while declaring their independence from English rule. The mob seizes Dobb’s boat and cargo to sell for funds, compensating him with a “note” for future reimbursement. Dobb is unable to get his wares returned, while Ned enlists to the Continental Army as a drummer boy against his father’s wishes. Dobb reluctantly enlists to stay with his son and protect him.

Daisy McConnahay, an idealistic aristocrat, volunteers as a nurse and cook for the Patriots’ cause. While looking for soldiers to feed, she discovers Dobb and Ned lying in a field, who describe to her the chaos of fighting the British at Brooklyn Heights. Daisy pleads with her merchant father back home in New York to support the patriots but is largely ignored and admonished for her views.

Dobb and Ned participate in another battle, where they encounter the arrogant British Sergeant Major Peasy. The Americans are swiftly defeated and forced to retreat. Dobb and Ned become disillusioned and desert the Army. Returning to New York, they discover that it is now under British occupation. Daisy unintentionally exposes Dobb as a former Continental when she admonishes him for cowardice, resulting in his arrest. She later spoils a party at her parents’ home after stabbing a British officer who behaves inappropriately. Her mother forces her to choose between her family or the Patriots.

Dobb and a fellow prisoner are forced to participate in a “fox hunt” by sadistic British soldiers, dragging an effigy of George Washington through the wilderness. Dobb manages to escape the British while the other man is mauled to death. Ned, now running with a gang of homeless young men, is impressed into British service by Peasy, along with his friend Merle. When Ned refuses to obey orders, he is whipped on the soles of his feet and tied up outside in the cold.

Dobb sneaks into the encampment and rescues his son and Merle. He ambushes and kills two Iroquois warriors sent by Peasy to track them. The trio is given food, shelter and time to heal from their wounds in a village of Huron natives sympathetic to their cause. Dobb and Ned reenlist in the Army six months later, after Ned’s feet have fully healed, and are pardoned for their previous desertion.

Dobb and an older Ned run into Daisy, who is now a hardened Patriot camp follower, at Valley Forge. Ned becomes friends with Bella, the daughter of a gunner in the fort. Dobb and Daisy confess their love for each other, dreaming of sailing away together one day. Daisy joins a wagon train that is leaving with wounded volunteers; to Dodd’s horror, the convoy is attacked and torched by armed Loyalists. Ned and Bella are married before he and his father march away again with the Continental Army.

Three years later, the two men participate in the overrunning of British defences during the Battle of Yorktown. Despite having a wounded Peasy at their mercy, they choose to let him live with his failure. The war soon ends with the Americans victorious. Returning to New York City, Dobb learns that his note has become worthless, and decides to start over in New York. Ned and Bella, who is pregnant, head upriver to start a farm and raise a family. Dobb eventually finds Daisy, who survived the attack in Valley Forge, and the two embrace.

Cast

• Al Pacino as Tom Dobb
• Donald Sutherland as Sergeant Major Peasy
• Nastassja Kinski as Daisy McConnahay
• Dexter Fletcher as Ned Dobb
• Sid Owen as Young Ned Dobb
• Joan Plowright as Mrs. Daisy McConnahay
• Dave King as Mr. McConnahay
• Steven Berkoff as Sergeant Jones
• John Wells as Corty
• Annie Lennox as Liberty Woman
• Richard O’Brien as Lord Hampton
• Paul Brooke as Lord Darling
• Frank Windsor as General Washington
• Jesse Birdsall as Corporal/Sergeant Peasy
• Larry Sellers as Honchwah
• Graham Greene as Ongwata
• Robbie Coltrane as New York Burgher

Development

The film was the idea of producer Irwin Winkler, who felt that the American Revolution would make an ideal subject for a film. After having recently made The Right Stuff, based on a true story, Winkler decided to focus on a fictional father and son. Winkler had a development deal at Warner Bros., and the studio agreed to finance a script by Robert Dillon. Warners did not like the script and didn’t agree to finance it, so Winkler bought it back, attached Hugh Hudson as director, and took the project to other studios to see if they were interested. He showed the script to Sandy Lieberson of Goldcrest, who was enthusiastic.

Goldcrest agreed to finance, provided that a US studio could be brought in to co-produce. Warner Bros. agreed.

Production

The movie was largely filmed in the old dock area of the English port town of King’s Lynn, Norfolk. The main battle scenes were filmed at Burrator Reservoir on Dartmoor in Devon and on the coastal cliff top near Challaborough Bay, South Devon, where a wooden fort was built. Military extras were recruited from ex-servicemen mainly in the Plymouth area. Many other scenes were filmed in the battle training area near Thetford, Norfolk, and extras were recruited from the King’s Lynn area. Melton Constable Hall in Norfolk was used for some scenes.

Music

The score is composed by John Corigliano, who promised Hudson that he would be available for the job after a scheduling conflict that prevented him from scoring Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. Corigliano created three main themes for the film – a love theme for Tom and Daisy, a “children’s theme” conveying innocence and purity, and a theme of lament for the war itself. The score features James Galway performing the “children’s theme” on flute and tin whistle.

Corigliano was unhappy with how the score was ultimately mixed and dubbed in the final cut. He returned to composing strictly concert works shortly thereafter and would not compose the score for another film until The Red Violin (1999).

A soundtrack recording release was initially planned by RCA Records, but it was cancelled after the film’s critical and commercial failure. The masters, originally thought to have been lost, were discovered mislabelled in a vault in 2007. A CD was subsequently released by Varèse Sarabande in 2009.

Release

Box Office

Revolution cost $28 million to make, and was a box-office bomb, grossing $346,761 in the United States.

Goldcrest Films invested £15,603,000 in the film and received £5,987,000, losing £9,616,000.

Reception

Revolution received negative reviews on its release, and was a financial disappointment; its official release was delayed in Pacino’s native New York City. Under withering criticism, Pacino took a four-year hiatus from films until 1989, when he made a successful comeback with Sea of Love.

Director’s cut
Revolution was rush-released in December 1985 for the Christmas market and for Academy Award consideration. Dissatisfied with the version of the film released to theatres, Hugh Hudson released Revolution: Revisited on DVD in 2009. This new cut added narration by Pacino (recorded for this release), and numerous scenes were trimmed or deleted outright (running at 115 minutes, the Director’s Cut is approximately 10 minutes shorter than the theatrical version). Also included is a conversation with Pacino and Hudson, who discussed the film being rushed for a US release during Christmas, being trashed by the critics, and having other issues related to the making and release of the film. Reviewing the new version of the film for Variety, Jay Weissberg wrote, “The results generally improve the movie, now titled Revolution Revisited, but numerous problems are insurmountable.”

The film was re-released in the UK in 2012 by the British Film Institute in a Blu-ray/DVD combo. This edition came with both cuts of the film, as well as a booklet with essays written by Nick Redman, Michael Brooke and critic Philip French, who argues that the film was a victim of bad publicity and cultural misunderstandings, and regards the Revisited cut as a “masterpiece”.

Trivia

• Al Pacino was ill with pneumonia during much of principal photography.
• Director Hugh Hudson hired acclaimed war photographer and photojournalist Don McCullin to work on this movie as a stills photographer and as an extra. McCullin described it as a miserable and depressing experience that he never wanted to repeat.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s):
  • Hugh Hudson
• Producer(s):
  • Chris Burt … executive producer
  • Irwin Winkler … producer
• Writer(s):
  • Robert Dillon … (written by)
• Music:
  • John Corigliano
• Cinematography:
  • Bernard Lutic
• Editor(s):
  • Stuart Baird
• Production:
  • Goldcrest Films International
  • Viking Films
• Distributor(s):
  • Warner Bros. (United States, 1985)(theatrical)
  • Columbia-EMI-Warner (United Kingdom, 1985)(theatrical)
  • Warner-Columbia Film (France, 1986)(theatrical)
  • Concorde Film (Netherlands, 1986)(theatrical)
  • Movierama International (Philippines, 1987)(theatrical)
  • Roadshow Films (Australia, 1986)(theatrical)
  • Sandrew Film & Teater (Sweden, 1986)(theatrical)
  • Titanus (Italy, 1986)(theatrical)
  • Toei Classic (Japan, 1988)(theatrical)
  • Warner Bros. (Canada, 1985)(theatrical)
  • Aquarius TV (Greece, 2001)(TV)
  • BFI Video (United Kingdom, 2012)(director’s cut, Blu-ray, DVD)
  • BFI Video (United Kingdom, 2012)(director’s cut, DVD)
  • Canal+ (France, 1989)(dubbed version, TV)
  • Disney Channel (United States, 1993)(The Disney Channel, TV)
  • EuroVideo (Germany, 1999)(DVD)
  • EuroVideo (Germany, 2017)(Blu-ray, DVD)
  • Great Movies Distribution (Brazil, 2020)(SVOD, video)
  • Home Video Hellas (HVH) (Greece, 1988)(VHS)
  • Karelia Food (Finland, 1994)(VHS)
  • Kinowelt Home Entertainment (Germany, 2006)(DVD)
  • Nordisk Film (Finland, 2009)(DVD)
  • Nordisk Film (Sweden, 2001)(DVD)
  • Obshchestvennoe Rossiyskoe Televidenie (ORT) (Russia)(VHS)
  • Umbrella Entertainment (Australia, 2009)(VOD, video)
  • Umbrella Entertainment (Australia, 2011)(DVD)
  • VCL Communications (West Germany)(VHS)
  • VTC-Video (Finland)(VHS)
  • Warner Home Video (video)
• Release Date: 25 December 1985.
• Running Time: 126 minutes.
• Rating: PG-13/16.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

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