Customer Reviews

The Medicine Man

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I had a VHS & liked it so well because it has no "bloody' graffic detail;a minimum of swearing and just a good well written adventure story that is quite believable. I like Mr. Connery; he plays a good believable part.

Before Medine Man, I didn't think of director John McTiernan, as someone who would put a "message" into his films. After all Die Hard, Predator, and The Thomas Crown Affair remake, are not exactly known as "thinking people" movies. I am an admirer of his action work very much and like Connery too. I was impressed with the way Medicine Man was able to combine enough action and message without going overboard in either direction.

Totally removing himself from modern society, Dr Robert Campbell (Connery), has become a Medicine Man to the people of the Amazonian village, in which he now calls home. Thanks to an unforeseen mishap, Campbell has discovered that the cure for cancer can be derived from a chemical found in a Brazilian flower. Dr. Rae Crane (Lorraine Bracco), a fellow scientist from the states, tracks down the elusive Campbell in an effort to monitor his progress. The two doctors are practically at odds from the moment they meet. When a villager becomes sick, Campbell wants to use only remaining bit of cancer curing serum, to save the native's life. Rae isn't sure if that's a good idea. As if battling each other, weren't enough, the doctors find themselves having to also deal with a group of loggers who pose a danger to the village and to the cancer cure.

Shot in Mexico and Brazil, director McTiernan delivers the goods and the theme of conservation is delivered but not on a soapbox using a bullhorn. Also gone is the gore from McTiernan's other films, but the action is exciting to watch just the same. The sparks and chemistry between Connery and Bracco are intense. They are evenly matched in the film. Campbell is as memorable a character for Connery to play, as his turn as Malone was, in The Untouchables. Mention must also be made of composer Jerry Goldsmith's very fitting score to the film and how it adds flavor to the mix.

Medicine Man deserves to have a special edition DVD release. The bonus material is, to say the least, lacking. Aside from the forgone theatrical trailer, the disc also has an EPK style, and all too brief production featurette. Unfortunately, the featurette is even less interesting than watching paint dry.

Recommended until a better version comes along.

If you are into anthropology or the environment, then you will definitely love this flick. It's hard to describe the movie without giving away the story, but it has a very interesting twist ending. I must admit that it could be taken as a bit of a propaganda movie for environmentalists...but for me, that just adds to its charm.

The casting, acting, and staging are all very well done. The movie is from 1992 but brings up an issue that is very pertinent in today's world.

As with many older movies that have been switched over to DVD, the special features can be considered weak/non-existent.

If you are going to get this movie in DVD because you liked it on VHS, please keep in mind that the company that released the dvd cut several good parts out of it. I have no idea why, because to me, it is now missing a lot of the good parts.

I too could watch this movie ,every day for the resty of my life and not get tired of it. We recently moved to a community with no T V or video but I still took my video of Medicine Man.
Forget the critics who gave this a bad time . The electricity between the stars is tangible and the shots are inspiring. The message of mans destruction and greed are dealt with as admirably as a two hour movie can when it also has to entertain. What ever happened to Bracco? I've never seen her in any other movie yet she was excellent and kept Sean on his toes . I'd like to imagine there was a certain amount of fireworks between these two on set!

Excellent characters, intelligent story, very well done. I highly recommend it.

It wasn't bad. Good but a lot of bad parts. But the rest was good.

It wasn't bad. Good but a lot of bad parts. But the rest was good.

I do absolutly LOVE this movie. The cast is great, the scenery is great, and the story is great. Most of all, Sean Connery is great. I first saw this movie when I was in High School and I have seen it at least 200 times since. This movie started my (so far) 10 year long obsession with Sean Conery. And I am not usually the type of person who watches a movie over and over. I just LOVE this movie.

Despite the mediocre review given it by Amazon reviewer Tom Keogh, I thought this movie was actually pretty good. It has an interesting premise.

Connery plays an eccentric medical scientist looking for a miracle cure in the Brazilian rainforest, and I can't think of a better person for the part. Despite what Keogh said about the lack of chemistry between Bracco and Connery, I thought it worked out reasonably well, and there are some funny and touching scenes in the movie, such as the duel between Connery and the local witch doctor, who is angry with Connery for upstaging him with his modern, western medical skills. Connery has to fight the doctor, but knows he needs to let the witch doctor win to save face, and also so the witch doctor will show Connery how to obtain the cure which he had once and has lost.

All in all, a pretty good movie, considering it's probably one of Connery's least well-known flicks.