Jodie Foster Movie:

Editorial Review:
Dennis Hopper directed, as well as acted in, this moody mess from 1989, which was barely seen for a couple of years until getting a boost from the rising fame of its star, Jodie Foster. Looking startlingly young, Foster plays a conceptual artist who witnesses a mob hit, thus becoming a target herself for an assassin (Hopper). But instead of killing her, Hopper's killer falls in love, demonstrating his passion by stalking her at a distance, "owning" her every move and keeping her in exile from ordinary life. The resulting isolation squeezes Foster's creative spirit, forcing her to confront doubt and self-loathing--everything that artists suffer as the price for self-expression. Deeply self-conscious, with a calculatingly meditative tone that becomes inseparable from Hopper's tenacious voyeurism (the film's most obvious commercial hook--Foster's nude scene--is almost prayerful in its pathology), Backtrack wants to be a confessional fable about the artistic process. Instead, it's a muted yet rambling confession about the sinner inside a filmmaker, which would be great if Backtrack were, say, Rear Window. But it surely isn't. --Tom Keogh

Catchfire [Region 2] Reviews:
Well acted but flawed
2009-01-11 - Backtrack was directed by Dennis Hopper, who also stars. The movie was then recut and Hopper wanted to take his name off it. He later made a director's cut that runs at 116 minutes instead of the approximately 98 minutes.
Jodie Foster plays an artist who happens to witness a mob killing. She manages to escape but the mob fins out where she lives and kills no her but, by accident, her boyfriend (Charlie Sheen). She is offered to be taken into a witness protection program but instead goes into hiding on her own. Hopper plays the hitman that is hired to kill her. But he likes her and offers her her life in return for her company and obedience. Afer a while she starts to actually like the man. And here's the movie's main flaw. The relationship between Hopper and Foster develop from hostile to friendly much too quickly to feel realistic. I haven't seen the director's cut but maybe the character development feels more believable in that version. On the plus side, it's well acted. The cast also includes an uncredited Joe Pesci and one of the last performances of Vincent Price. Despite the flaw mentioned the movie is still watchabl and a decent way to spend an hour and a half, although I wouldn't spend too much money on it.

More than it seems: violent, disturbing... and oddly poetic
2008-03-04 - Do not be put-off by the Editorial Review, which missed the point: this movie is about kindred spirits, the artist inside a contract killer (Hopper) recognizing the potential killer inside a conceptual artist (Foster).

Having reached the pinnacle of his profession, he is at a dead end; having witnessed a mob killing, she's dead meat. At the risk of his, he saves her life in exchange for her absolute obedience. Now they must trust each other to survive: to out-run, out-fight and out-wit both the mob and the Feds. A pre-Tarentino attempt to explore a killer's humanity.

I'm waiting for a good version Director's Cut to come out on DVD.

This DVD is NOT Dennis Hopper's Director's Cut!!! Avoid this DVD and keep your old VHS of the Directors Cut!!!
2007-10-07 - I usually love DVD's of old films,but this time it's not the case!!! The DVD is a butchered shorter version with a new score,YUCK!!! If you have the old director's cut on VHS tape,I advise you keep it until a Director's Cut version on DVD come out!!! I kept mine thank God!!! Great film,Bad DVD,I'm glad I did not buy it!!! THIS IS NOT DENNIS HOPPERS DIRECTOR'S CUT!!! Nuff said!!!

WHAT ?!?! Average three star!?!??!
2006-06-23 - This movie might be the equivalant of cinemagraphic vomit. I can't believe that the average rating is three stars. The soundtrack consisted of horrible whiney 80's saxaphone music that made my ears bleed. I was 13 when I saw it and 15 years later, the horrible images are still emblazened in my mind as the worst 2 hours I have deliberately spent in my life. Please turn back now before you waste your time and money.

Butchered movie
2005-07-20 - Don't buy this DVD. Buy the VHS director's cut. The movie has been wrecked by haphazard edits. The DVD doesn't even make sense. This is not a bad film. Buy the VHS, but run as far as you can from this DVD. It's a rip-off.