The Hero (1970) User Reviews

MY MIXED OPINION !

[jefadlm-1 · 4/10 · 5 August 2020]

This began fairly well and cinematically uniquely different , due also to the locations, their desolation, which then whisks off to modern styled row of arttracrive cottages, mediteanean style. Some well crafted kids punch ups and decisions discussed and argued over by the young blonde 10 year old hero of the movie, Nimrod ! ( interesting historic name choice ! ) Progressing rapidly with more artsy flowing camera shots and off he goes seeking his hero in the big smoke ! Hero is a delight with well timed humor and agonising disagreements ensue , seemingly from all and sundry ? From this poin on the truth about humanity , strengths, doubts and indecisiveness all mixed in a fairly simplistic narrative . I had a real interest at how this would play out and the sometimes webs of intrigue were not too complicated to follow. Not too simplistic , whilst also weaving something akin to a web , occasionally of minor intrigue and normal daily human upsets ! All that said, i thoght some of this, as it moved on, over dramatic and a wee bit frustrating , even a little annoying ? One paricular camera angle was really badly executed when the boy was talking to his hero who was driving ? Possibly a studio scene which could have looked better than it did ? Prior to this movie i did not recall Richard Harris as a rebel who avoided conformity at all costs throughout his illustrious career ? As the previos reviewer said, this part suited his real life character very comfortably ! All in all, for me, this movie is enjoyable , at least partly due to my Anglo/Israel history and life . Many locations recalled , sights, sounds, only item missing is the memory of the unique food aroma , music and world class singers, albeit there is a rather delightful Sephardi dance sequence also worth a look ?

another football film worth watching warts and all.

[fostrhod · 7/10 · 27 July 2023]

Bloomfield 1970 aka Guts aka The Hero , Richard Harris plays Eitan an aging footballer (think George Best, wasting his talent )who has nothing to look forward to, girlfriend is a blossoming sculptress on the verge of a big career brake. Eitan needs a brake to live in her world to keep the girl or lose the girl, does he throw the match or not, can his body take another pounding etc etc etc . Throw in a 10 year old Nimrod obsessed with Football, who helps him see how important football is to the fans.

I'm amazed that little gem of a movie should surface on Netflix, it's grainy and looks like it's been mastered from an old VHS videotape, well done Netflix for this.

Back to the movie , Its a strange film, filmed in Israel that hotbed of football in 1970. Harris spends the film shouting in an over the top dramatic way , he likes acting obviously. Directed by Harris so he must have felt a great affection for the film. Scored by Johnny Harris (no relation) who under pins each and every scene with queasy strings and orchestration along with cheesy ballads, one of which is co written by Maurice Gibbs. What of the film, its all pretty obvious and cliched but given that its badly acted, poor continuity its actually very enjoyable for all those reason, if you like football films its a 7/10.

Richard Harris at his best

[Aujouret · 10/10 · 16 November 2002]

If you have enjoyed Richard Harris' work over his long career, this film is definitely worth seeing. Richard was a born rebel and this film is a natural vehicle for him. Filmed in Israel amid a stark landscape, it is firstly unusual looking. The story is of a 12 year old soccer fan who is obsessed with Eitan, the legendary football star of Isreal. He runs away from to find his hero. Arriving at Bloomfield stadium , he sees Eitan practicing with the team, unaware that the Football club have fallen through on their promise to Eitan. The boy and Eitan strike up a friendship because of their shared love of the game. They go on a journey together and Nimrod gets a real life view of his hero, who nearly sells out for money to throw the big game and be set up financially for the rest of his life. In the end, the hero has pride and honor but sadly looses the game , the boy and his sensible girlfriend, the late lovely Romy Schneider. But as we see in the final frame of the film, Eitan will go on living his own life anyway. Which is really the story about the actor himself. Richard Harris made his own rules in life and followed his own course. Unfortunately this is Harris' only directing effort. The film was not critically praised nor did it do well at the box office. This film has only been released on VHS as of this writing and is difficult to find. Try "IOffer" and eBay. I love it, but then I do admit to bias as I am a big fan of Richards' and I dearly miss him.

I have never seen it, but the soundtrack contains some great music

[barrymn1 · 8/10 · 16 November 2006]

One of the best, and least remembered "supergroups" from England (in the 1970's) was Heads, Hands and Feet. They started out as Poet And the One Man Band and had one LP issued in 1969 on UK Verve and US Paramount. They were fronted by Tony Colton and Ray Smith and this LP had the legendary Albert Lee on guitar. Their rhythm section changed and they became Heads, Hands and Feet. Unbelievably, they recorded an entire album in 1970 ("Home From Home") that was not released anywhere until 1995, when it was issued first the time time on UK See for Miles.

They signed to US Capitol and US Island in 1971 and the promptly issued a 2-LP set in the US, but the UK release was only a single LP. They recorded "Tracks" in 1972 and a couple of songs for this film.

Finally, they signed to US and UK Atlantic and recorded "Old Soldiers Never Die" in 1973 and promptly broke up.

The three tracks from this film were issued on a US Capitol and now the soundtrack for this film is available on UK Castle as "Bloomfield", the original title.

I'd love to see the film....the soundtrack is swell.