Falling Down (Blu-ray)

Released on 01 June 2009

Featuring: Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall & Barbara Hershey

Format: Blu-ray | Rating: 18 years & over


New from £5.51

Freeways are clogged. Terror stalks our cities. At shops and restaurants, the customer is seldom right. The pressures of big-city life can anger anyone. But Bill Foster is more than angry. He's out to get even.

"I'm going home", Foster says as he abandons his grid-locked car on the hottest day of the year. Instead, he walks straight into an urban nightmare by turns absurdly funny and shatteringly violent. Michael Douglas is Foster, an ordinary guy at war with the frustrations of daily living. Robert Duvall is the savvy cop obsessed with stopping Foster's city-wide rampage. Falling Down is their story, a spellbinding, unconventional thriller that asks: "are we falling apart?"

customer Reviews

 Average rating (9 reviews)

 You're Arresting Me . . Just Because I Shot Up A Golf Cart?

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To start with, "Falling Down" is a powerful and dramatic condemnation of American society, communal corruption, and the deteriorating values of the West. The film is not for everyone and will most certainly cause offence to some people, but if approached with a clear open mind, will provide ample food for thought to all those that reside in the western world.

The story gets us underway as a weary and frustrated man William Foster (Michael Douglas) is driving to see his daughter on her birthday, having recently been laid off from his job, the slow decay of his life spirals downwards as it affects not only him, but all those people around him.

Everyday occurrences which most of us witness, such as traffic jams and grid locked streets, breathing in smoke and exhaust fumes, polluted streets, unwarranted conflict from construction workers and bad tempered motorists, along with stifling temperatures and a general feeling of being at war with the city, add to the frustrations of having an alienated wife and only child with limited visiting rights. An extremely disparaging and unbalanced state of mind, and the aggravation of being redundant with no marketable skills, set against the corrupt backdrop of modern day L.A where if you are "Not economically viable" you are of no use to society, then the outcome is "Falling Down".

Abandoning his car in a deluge of jammed streets, he attempts to walk home, and tries to right the wrongs that have been done to him and in his trudge across a hot stifling and dusty Los Angeles he becomes an anti-hero. This story shows us what happens to one individual when he finally snaps. Along the way, Foster comes face to face with various character types: the out of luck bum who is really just a lowlife looking to squeeze some quick cash by harassing park strollers, an insensitive Korean grocery store owner, a homophobic pro-nazi army surplus retail store owner, a cantankerous country club golf player, weird friendly fast food workers, heavily tattooed Hispanic thugs, and so the list goes on. Confrontation with each one will chip away at what remains of his patience and tolerance, fuelling a storming rampage.

Tracking Foster's path of turmoil through the city is Prendergast (Robert Duvall), a veteran cop who has felt many of the same torments as Foster, but who serves as a sort of foil to him. Foster has lost everything, and while Prendergast also has a life of misgivings, married to a wife who is close to being schizophrenic, his only daughter having died years ago under inexplicable circumstances, he still retains some optimism, composure, and dignity in dealing with his job. As Prendergast, who is on his last day as a police officer, begins to put together the pieces of the mystifying crime spree plaguing the city, he seems to be the only one intelligent enough to recognize it's all the action of one man. Some will see this as the chronicle of a dignified, honest man who modern society has crushed, and who desperately tries to struggle against the tyranny and betrayal. Some will see Foster as an absurd lunatic who needs to be stopped. Very few people I think will find that Foster doesn't warrant some sympathy in his plight.

An intense film with plenty of violence, humour and excellent observation of modern society.

 Brilliant Film

| | See all SuSpEnCe's reviews (4)

Everything about this film is amazing. From the acting to the storyline you will be hooked from minute one.

Some famous quotes in it such as " im going home " or " whats wrong with the street" Michael douglas playes his role brilliant

The blu ray picture and sound quality is crystal clear. deffo reccomend !

 Brilliant film!

| | See all MSLADYTHOMP's reviews (60)

This is film is so hilarious, not really a comedy though, but when the opening scene of a traffic Jam starts you wonder where this film is about to go. He gets out of the car and travels on foot to get to his daughter for her birthday, and on his travels, he comes across some people who aggravates him even more than he already is, so he displays his anger and reacts to al these situations in such a way that no one does but most people probably want to. This is why I love this film so much because there is a lot of examples that happen in every day life where most people probably find certain situations annoying but just bite thier top lip, that is what makes htis film so good in my opinion that D fence (Douglas) actually reacts to these situations rather than biting his top lip. For example even in my area they seem to be doing constant road works and it is true, there was nothing wrong with the road before so why are they digging it up and putting up temporary traffic lights? But in this film Michael Douglas reacts in such am agree able but over the top way, it is just so entertaining. The film is simply about a man who has had enough and just wants to get from one place to another to see his daughter on her birthday. Even what he says in the whammy burger is hilarious but a true annoyance that if you are so many minutes late you can not have anything off the breakfast menu, this has happened to me before, so I really enjoyed that scene. highly recommend, a very entertaining film and as always Michael Douglas plays the character brilliantly.


| | See all danman85's reviews (39)

id heard of this film but never watched it, glad i did an on blue-ray, micheal douglus is great as D-FENS! Never seen him act a part sooo well he realy gets in2 the part, buy buy buy.


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ActorsMichael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey, Tuesday Weld, Rachel Ticotin, Frederic Forrest & Lois Smith
DirectorJoel Schumacher
Certificate18 years and over
ScreenWidescreen 16:9 Anamorphic
LanguagesEnglish - Dolby Digital (2.0)
Duration1 hour and 52 minutes (approx)