Joshua Tree (1993 film)
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''Joshua Tree'' (released under the alternative title ''Army of One'') is a 1993 American
action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed by
Vic Armstrong Victor Monroe Armstrong (born 5 October 1946) is a British film director, stunt coordinator, second unit director, and stunt double—the world's most prolific, according to the ''Guinness Book of Records''. Career The Armstrong doubled for H ...
, written by
Steven Pressfield Steven Pressfield (born September 1, 1943) is an American author of historical fiction, non-fiction, and screenplays, including his 1995 novel ''The Legend of Bagger Vance'' and 2002 non-fiction book '' The War of Art''. Early life Pressfie ...
and starring
Dolph Lundgren Hans Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957), better known as Dolph Lundgren, is a Swedish actor, filmmaker and martial artist. His breakthrough came in 1985, when he starred in ''Rocky IV'' as the imposing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, Lu ...
,
Kristian Alfonso Kristian-Joy Alfonso (born September 5, 1963) is an American actress, former figure skater and fashion model. She is recognized for her portrayal of Hope Williams Brady on the NBC soap opera ''Days of Our Lives''. Early life Alfonso was bo ...
, and
George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as ''Ship o ...
. Much of the film was filmed in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, Lone Pine, Agua Dulce, and
Joshua Tree National Park Joshua Tree National Park is an American national park in southeastern California, east of San Bernardino and Los Angeles and north of Palm Springs, California, Palm Springs. It is named after the Joshua trees (''Yucca brevifolia'') native to t ...
in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
. The climax was shot in the Cottonwood Canyon region of the
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
mountain range.


Plot

Wellman Anthony Santee is a former
race car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organi ...
driver who has turned to a life of crime since the death of his mother. Santee and his friend Eddie Turner bend the law for profit by hauling exotic stolen cars. Santee's latest assignment is to transport such goods across the desert, but a
highway patrol A highway patrol, or state patrol is either a police unit created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways, or a detail within an existing local or regional police agency that is prima ...
officer pulls him over. The officer notices that Turner carries a gun hidden behind his back and prepares to arrest him, when suddenly a pair of cops named Frank Severance and Jack "Rudy" Rudisill arrive. After a brief gun battle, Eddie and the officer are killed, and Santee is left wounded. After recovering in a prison hospital, Santee escapes during transfer to the fictional San Gorgonio Penitentiary after correctly sensing that his guards intend to murder him. Wounded and on the run, Santee abducts Rita Marrick from a nearby gas station, unaware that she is a police officer. Rita's partner Michael Agnos leads the search for Santee and Rita. As Santee eludes capture with the help of Eddie's widow and child, Severance and Rudisill continue their investigation. Rita's attempt to escape, which forces Santee to violently disable nearby police officers (as opposed to kill) causes her to begin to doubt Santee's guilt. Santee releases Rita and invades Severance's home, forcing his wife, Esther, to provide the phone number of former associate Jimmy Shoeshine, from whom he demands payments due to him and Eddie. There Santee is rejoined by Rita, who finds evidence in the house supporting his claims, and they escape, barely evading gun blasts from Esther and a highway patrolman. At Shoeshine's warehouse, Santee handcuffs Rita out of harm's way and in a firefight, he decimates Shoeshine's lethal mechanics. After he coercively retrieves the money from Shoeshine, Showshine is able to escape due to the timely arrival of Severance and Rudisill. It is revealed in a series of flashbacks, that Severance and Rudisill are the leaders of Shoeshine's car smuggling ring and that they killed the patrolman, and Eddie, to safeguard their involvement. Subsequently, the pair murder both Jimmy, who has responded to the firefight and Michael, for knowing too much. Rita, devastated after witnessing Michael's death, joins Santee in a desperate race for life. As Severance and Rudisill close in, a crime scene officer discovers a surveillance tape that recorded Severance killing Michael. Severance and Rudisill, having pursued Santee and Rita, confront the outlaw couple on a cliff face, after a prolonged car chase. Santee kills Rudisill, avenging Eddie, as he points a gun at a wounded Rita, and engages Severance in a hand-to-hand brawl. Just as Santee overpowers and prepares to execute Severance, the police arrive. They separate Santee from Severance and Severance is arrested and taken away. Later, a wounded Santee is vindicated through Rita. After these events, Santee and Rita kiss each other as the police arrest for again, this time for permit for release after his innocence was proven before returning to his life.


Cast


Production


Title change

When the film was released on VHS and
laserdisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...
in the United States (last territory worldwide) in the fall 1994, the distributor
Live Entertainment Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until ...
changed the title to ''Army of One'' to prevent confusion with
The Joshua Tree ''The Joshua Tree'' is the fifth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 9 March 1987 on Island Records. In contrast to the ambient experimentation of their 1984 release, ''T ...
, the 1987 album by U2. Until February 2013, with the release of the
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
from Shout Factory the film had never been released in the US under its original title or in the correct aspect ratio, a delay of nearly 20 years.


Widescreen availability

''Joshua Tree'' was filmed in Super 35 with a printed aspect ratio of 2.39:1 (a.k.a., 2.35). Naturally VHS releases of the time only showed the film in a pan and scan (European markets) and open matte release. Until recently, the film had not been released in the United States in its original aspect ratio, though it was available on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
in anamorphic widescreen in France (where it had been released theatrically). That version was dubbed in French, however, with no original language audio track.
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
acquired the U.S. home video rights and set a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack release for February 26, 2013.


A bow to Raoul Walsh, Sam Peckinpah and John Woo

When resting in a sleazy motel, Santee watches
Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. He w ...
's '' High Sierra'' on TV. Rita notices him watching with interest and draws parallels between Santee and
Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...
's character as the 'hero who goes down with all guns blazing'. ''Joshua Tree'' was also filmed around many of the same locations as ''High Sierra'', such as the
Alabama Hills The Alabama Hills are a range of hills and rock formations near the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada in the Owens Valley, west of Lone Pine in Inyo County, California. Though geographically separate from the Sierra Nevada, they are part of ...
near
Lone Pine, California Lone Pine is a census-designated place (CDP) in Inyo County, California, United States. Lone Pine is located south-southeast of Independence, at an elevation of . The population was 2,035 at the 2010 census, up from 1,655 at the 2000 census. T ...
. ''Joshua Tree'' also contains clear references and homages to
Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic ''The Wild Bunch'' received an Academy Award nomination and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institute ...
's '' The Getaway'' starring
Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...
and
Ali MacGraw Elizabeth Alice MacGraw (born April 1, 1939) is an American actress and activist. She gained attention with her role in the film ''Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She gained an ...
(the shoot at the grocery store and the cop cars at the bus station), as well
John Woo John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (; born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong filmmaker, known as a highly-influential figure in the action film genre. He was a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films (a crime action film genre involving Chinese triads) and the gun fu ...
's ''
A Better Tomorrow ''A Better Tomorrow'' () is a 1986 Hong Kong crime action film directed and co-written by John Woo, and starring Ti Lung, Leslie Cheung and Chow Yun-fat. The film had a profound influence on Hong Kong action cinema, and has been recognised a ...
'', '' The Killer'' (and possibly '' Hard Boiled'' but it had not been officially released when the movie was in production) (the garage shoot out). When director Vic Armstrong apologized to Woo for copying him the Hong Kong director replied "Don't worry Vic, I've been stealing your ideas for years!"Jérémie Damoiseau
''Joshua Tree''
2001
Another film reference is the 1973 cult classic ''Electra Glide in Blue'' directed by James William Guercio.


Music


Soundtrack

Of particular note is the atmospheric and highly melodic musical score for ''Joshua Tree'' was composed by
Joel Goldsmith Joel King Goldsmith (November 19, 1957 – April 29, 2012) was an American composer of film, television, and video game music. Biography Joel Goldsmith was born on November 19, 1957, in Los Angeles, California, the third of four children o ...
and is widely regarded as one of the film's best features. To date, the score has not been released on CD.


Release


Censorship

Although not listed as cut by the
BBFC The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...
, the 1994 UK VHS release was missing a large amount of violence from the film. Despite still being given the 18-rating, almost every blood squib, entrance wound, exit wound, moments of excessive gunfire, mutilations and graphic death had been removed or edited from the film. This is especially evident in the scene where Santee is involved in a chop shop warehouse gun battle with dozens of
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
mafioso as the music jumps all over the place and characters seemingly warp from one side of the set to the other. The UK VHS has been out of print for a number of years and there is no
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
release there. The French Region 2 DVD runs two minutes shorter than the uncut theatrical release and VHS; two scenes in which Rita lights a cigarette are cut and the love scene between her and Santee is shortened. This edition is believed to be mistakenly made from a master originally made and edited for French TV channel TF1.


Two different endings

According to the December 1993 issue of ''
Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Impac ...
'', "The producers felt that the final showdown in Vic Armstrong's directorial debut didn't live up to the stunts that had preceded it, and do asked for a reshoot." The original ending has Santee shoot Rudy with the
Uzi The Uzi (; he, עוזי, Ūzi; officially cased as UZI) is a family of Israeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns and machine pistols first designed by Major Uziel "Uzi" Gal in the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of the ...
from the top of the ridge many times. Severance grabs Rita and tells him to give it up. Santee appears and says "I'm here, Severence. Let her go!" before stumbling down the ridge. But Severance overpowers him and kicks him off the edge of a cliff by stomping on his bloodied hands. As Severance is about to kill Rita he and Santee fight over a
revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...
. Rudy is still alive and they both shoot him before Santee pulverizes Severance with his fists. Just as he is about to crush his head with a boulder Santee says "This is for Eddie", which is followed by a brief black and white flashback. Severance says "Go ahead, kid. I'd do it to you" before Santee is interrupted by the
police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
. Severance is then arrested by Sheriff Cepeda (
Geoffrey Lewis Geoffrey Lewis may refer to: * Geoffrey Lewis (actor) (1935–2015), American character actor * Geoffrey Lewis (scholar) (1920–2008), British professor of Turkish * Geoffrey Lewis (philatelist), Australian philatelist * Geoffrey W. Lewis (died ...
) who claims he has seen the
CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...
footage of him murdering Deputy Agnos back at Jimmy Shoeshine's (
Michael Paul Chan Michael Paul Chan (born June 26, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Lieutenant Michael Tao on the TNT series ''The Closer'' and '' Major Crimes''. He also acted in '' U.S. Marshals'', playing an assassin. Biography Ch ...
) warehouse. There is a
denouement Dramatic structure (also known as dramaturgical structure) is the structure of a dramatic work such as a book, play, or film. There are different kinds of dramatic structures worldwide which have been hypothesized by critics, writers and schola ...
in which Santee is back at his father's ranch with Rita (now wearing her police uniform). He mentions the fate of Eddie's wife and son before kissing Rita goodbye. The second ending, released theatrically in France and available on the unrated
Artisan Entertainment Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until ...
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and the French region 2
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
has an extra fight scene between Santee, Severance and Rudy. Santee only shoots Rudy from the ridge once and Rudy is knocked out as he hits his head on a
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
. Santee's descent from the ridge is shorter. His fight with Severance is exactly the same but as he kicks Santee of the cliff his hand does not have as much blood on it as it did before. Immediately after landing on a ledge Santee starts climbing back up the cliff. Severance teases Rita about killing her but is interrupted by Santee, who is then interrupted by Rudy holding an
AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...
to his head. Santee gives up and is beaten down by Rudy and Severance. Just as they are about to kill him Rita intervenes and claims that if they do, they will never get the money he took from Jimmy Shoeshine. Even though the suitcase is hidden under a low
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
bridge elsewhere, Santee pretends it is hidden nearby. This gives him a chance to get the upper-hand over Severance and Rudy and bushwhacks them. All three of them fight but Severance is the first to run off as it is clear he is losing. Rita then beats him with a stick. Santee and Rudy are still fighting but he gets Rudy in a headlock. Rudy's last words before Santee breaks his neck are "Eddie was just a nigger." With Rudy dead Santee rushes back to Severance to stop him from hurting Rita. He pulverizes him and is about to finish him off with a boulder but there is no flashback and no mention of Eddie. The cops arrive and Severance is cuffed by Cepeda.


Reception


Critical response

''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' stated in its average 2/4 star review: "Brimming with muscular martial artistry, energetically staged pursuit sequences, and a full quota of bullet barrages, ARMY OF ONE suffers mainly from over-length. Still, action aficionados will be too busy body-counting the bad guys to notice any of this proficient revenge drama's deficiencies... carries a lot more dramatic resonance than less thoughtfully-scripted fugitive movies."''Army of One – Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings''
TV Guide


References


External links

* *

at Dolph-the ultimate guide {{DEFAULTSORT:Joshua Tree (1993 Film) 1993 films 1993 action films 1993 independent films American action films 1990s chase films 1993 directorial debut films Films scored by Joel Goldsmith Films directed by Vic Armstrong Films set in California Films shot in California Films shot in Los Angeles Gun fu films American independent films Films with screenplays by Steven Pressfield 1990s English-language films 1990s American films