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List Price: $19.98 | | Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Salesrank: 31389
Released: September 16, 2003 |
| Our Price: $2.29 |
| Used Price: $2.29 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Acclaimed filmmaker Nicolas Roeg (The Man Who Fell to Earth) directs an all-star cast in this mystical and visually stunning mystery about love and obsession that delivers "visions of horror, visions of ecstasy" (LA Weekly) and a stunning performance from two-time OscarÂ(r) winner* Gene Hackman! Hackman stars as Jack McCann, a gold prospector who strikes it rich beyond his wildest dreams. But having achieved his goal, Jack now finds his passion for life drained; there is no longer anything to drive him. Arrogant and abusive, he becomes obsessed with the motives of those around him, suspicious that even his own family, in their jealousy over his wealth, could make him pay the ultimate price. *1992: Supporting Actor, Unforgiven; 1971: Actor, The French Connection
Description of Eureka:
Anyone expecting conventional storytelling from director Nicolas Roeg will be disappointed by this tale of fate, wealth, greed, and obsession, but if you're familiar with Roeg's work, you'll know that Eureka deserves a place among such equally puzzling Roeg films as Walkabout, The Man Who Fell to Earth, and Insignificance. Indeed, with its esteemed cast, international locations, and enough thematic ambition to keep things vitally intriguing, Eureka qualifies as Roeg's last grand effort; after this, Roeg settled for more workmanlike projects, abandoning the kind of daring (if not altogether successful) filmmaking that Eureka represents.
This is ostensibly the story of a Klondike prospector (Gene Hackman) who strikes it rich, only to fear that his daughter (played by Roeg's wife, Theresa Russell) and son-in-law (Rutger Hauer) are scheming not only for his wealth but his very soul. Greedy investors (Joe Pesci, Mickey Rourke) are also swooping down for Hackman's fortune, but this is no overblown episode of Dallas or Dynasty. In Roeg's hands--and through the lens of Roeg's mesmerizing camera--Eureka explores Hackman's connection to unexplained supernatural forces, to nature itself, and perhaps even to the continuum of the universe. Which is to say, this is a confounding and convoluted film by any "normal" standard, and by any measure it can hardly be considered a masterpiece. And yet, those mysterious forces are oddly compelling, and Roeg focuses their energy in this strange but beautiful film, reminding us why respected actors would readily contribute to his vision. --Jeff Shannon
Eureka Reviews:
Hackman Does Roeg 
2009-02-01 - Inspired by the sensational, unsolved Sir Harry Oakes murder case, this tantalizing film from director Nicholas Roeg stars Gene Hackman as one of the world's richest men. He found his fortune in gold in the wilds of Canada during the 1920s and now (during WW2) resides on a private island in the Bahamas.
Passion has gone out of Hackman's life. His only interest these days is daughter Theresa Russell, but he's disappointed that she has married fortune hunter Rutger Hauer.
Hackman is also under pressure from Miami mobsters Joe Pesci and Mickey Rourke to sell them his island, so that they can build a casino.
Visually stunning, if somewhat confusing, Roeg's film is filled with fine performances and mystical elements that will compel viewers to return for a second and third look.
© Michael B. Druxman
Not quite vintage Roeg 
2004-04-17 - It's taken a long time to be released, but at last 'Eureka' is available on DVD. There are no extras, except for the trailer, which is a shame.
To my knowledge, this 1983 film has been screened only very rarely on terrestrial TV -- just once in the UK, for example, in the late 1980s on BBC2. At the time, viewers were given a great intro to the film -- i.e. how it was loosely based on true story, and how it had existed in several versions etc etc. Because of that, I've always felt this was a British film -- with people like Roeg, Jeremy Thomas, Lapotaire and many British actors in minor roles. But most of the major roles are taken by US actors -- e.g. Gene Hackman, Mickey Rourke, Joe Pesci etc.
This is the same version as shown on TV -- i.e. with all the gore, nudity and voodoo -- if you prefer to stay away from that sort of thing. Although Theresa Russell has done many good things, I'm not convinced by her acting in this one. But at the time, she was one of the most beautiful women in the world, and it is surprising that Roeg is prepared to share so many views of his wife with the cinema-goer.
As a plot and an atmospheric experience, I don't think this works as well as say, DON'T LOOK NOW. Once Hackman has been killed, it becomes too much of a courtroom drama. In other words, the climax comes too early in the film. Much is made of women with black hair -- McCann's wife, daughter and the hooker who guides him to the gold. And we have a literal and several figurative gold-diggers. In the end, I don't feel this movie has any grand message for the world, except perhaps the pointlessness of having so much wealth if you don't do anything with it. (Maybe Bill Gates has already seen this.)
But I'm glad it's now available, and we come close to having nearly all Roeg's significant work out on DVD.
"I once had it all. Now, I just have everything." 
2002-08-22 - By owning tons of books of film criticism, the reviews I've read about EUREKA are so sundry and varied. The validities that critics have brought up about the film (both positive and negative) are justified, which had given me an unsure opinion on the EUREKA's true value. I have watched the film several times and examining the fact that it has never ceased to amaze me, EUREKA has engraved a place in the list of my favorite films. The cinematography (specifically the imagery in the cold of the Yukon) have haunted me whenever I talk to people about great photography in films. What amazes me more is that great actors such as Gene Hackman, Rutger Hauer, Mickey Rourke and Joe Pesci put such faith in the arthouse movement in order to star in what some consider a Nicolas Roeg relic in a realm of such diverse arthouse efforts by major studios (United Artists reportedly put up "mucho dinero" for this film to be made).
The film follows Jack McCann (Gene Hackman) throughout his life and legacy. It begins in the Yukon and his crusade to find the summit of all dreams and fantasies...the quest to find gold. Exclaiming "I never earned a nickel from another man's sweat", McCann sets foot throughout the ravaged Canadian wilderness, through towns which are developing into ghost towns as well as the acquired warmth of whorehouses ("Gold smells stronger than a woman"). When McCann finds the gold (in a wonderfully wrought orgasmic sequence when gold flows out like a million waterfalls as McCann roars in ecstasy. We then juxtapose from the iciness of the Yukon to the glow of the Caribbean with wife (Jane Lapontier) puttin' it on the sauce and turning Tarot cards and daughter (Roeg's wife Theresa Russell) woefully throwing herself at a handsome but devious Dutch playboy (Rutger Hauer). Meanwhile, McCann's island paradise is almost literally going to the gods as both Miami gangster (Pesci) and lawyer sidekick (Mickey Rourke) conspire to overthrow his island empire appropriately named "Eureka".
The "courtroom histrionics" that Maltin so much complained about in the film's final third are essential to character metamorphasis as the ambience of Hackman's McCann character flows into free-spirited Hauer, who he once scorned in hatefulness. It is important to realize that this character transmographication explains the nuances throughout the film, with its numerous allusions to voodoo and tokens of character's fortune. Nicolas Roeg, who gave audience such stylish and surreal tales like DON'T LOOK NOW and PERFORMANCE, is in fine form and his complete respect for technique is what ultimately makes the film unforgettable.
Hackman's McCann character, in a scene with Lapontiere, is in bed looking around at all he has, dissatisfied with what he and his environment has evolved into, retorts "I used to have it all...now I just have everything." A perfect line to express the film's convictions. EUREKA is, in my opinion, the best film of the three years it was distributed over. The film's epic offbeat structure only adds to its message. Some of the scenes illustrating Roeg's technique will make you shout "Eureka!"
GREAT MOMENTS.....MANY FLAWS
2002-08-14 - Nicolas Roeg was once one of the GREAT directors of the 1970's. With "Performance", "Walkabout", "Don't Look Now", "The Man Who Fell To Earth" and "Bad Timing" he built a reputation for being a man who didn't compromise his vision to just pander to mere entertainment. Indeed these 5 movies are his most rewarding and challenging works. With "Eureka" Roeg begins to slip. There are some great Roegian moments in the film and the first half with Gene Hackman is compelling at times but as the film goes on it loses steam and just simply turns into a courtroom drama. From what I've read of Roeg, he likes this film very much and while it is very good in places as a whole it just doesn't have that vision that his previous work had. After this film his choices of material did not match his odd style and seem mostly like vehicles for Theresa Russell(it seems he was a better director BEFORE she came into the scene).
Eureka.....A masterwork...
2002-05-27 - Nic Roeg has made a number of great films, aka 'Bad Timing', 'Don't Look Now' etc but 'Eureka' is a masterwork, a work of true genius. And it stems, like all great films, from a great script.....this time from Paul Mayersberg.
The subject deals with the problem of success. What do you do when you find what you've always been after ?
A fantastic cast headed by the trio of Gene Hackman, Theressa Russell, and Rutger Hauer weave their way through a complex plot based on the book 'Who Killed Sir Harry Oats' by Marshall Houts.
If you like film, structure and complex characterisation then this is a must see. Watch it before you die.
