Cheap Onion Field (Video) (John Savage, James Woods) (Harold Becker) Price

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Customer Reviews of Onion Field

Enlightening Movie of a true crime story
The Onion Field is a true story by Joseph Wambaugh, a former policeman who knows of what he writes. The actors, especially James Woods actually looks like the killer he plays. Ted Danson is seen in his first major movie role, for only a short time, but an important character in the movie, which caused the LA Police Department to change it's rules about never "giving up your weapon" to anyone. It has a somewhat surprising ending, when you find out who is "remembering" the ordeal which is the basis of the theme of the movie, and how it affects his life. Joseph Wambaugh is at his best when he writes TRUE CRIME stories, such as this as well as "The Blooding", about the first time DNA was used to solve a case, which took place in England. He can hold you spell-bound.

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Cop Drama That Made Cop Figures Human
"The Onion Field" is another one of those gripping cop dramas that makes it puzzling that the film didn't receive a single Academy Award nomination. Based on the true story and scripted by former cop Joseph Wambaugh (who also wrote the book), "The Onion Field" describes the mental breakdown of a cop (portrayed with excellence by John Savage) who witnesses his partner's murder in an onion field in California, the frustrating nature of the justice system and the loopholes it contains. The chilling contrast between Savage's fragile cop and James Woods' disturbing killer is highly intriguing. But most importantly, "The Onion Field" is a film that gives big screen cop figures a human, emotional quality, all filtered here by the high calliber acting and well written script.

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"Have you ever heard of the 'Little Lindbergh' Law?"
Those are the bone-chilling words spoken by kidnapper and soon-to-be killer Gregory Powell (brilliantly portrayed by James Woods) just seconds before fatally shooting Sgt. Ian Campbell (sensitively portrayed by a pre-"Cheers" Ted Danson) near an abandoned onion field in the disturbing, psychologically intense film THE ONION FIELD (1979). This film, directed in an appropriate brooding, deliberate style by Harold Becker, recounts the events that took place on March 2, 1963, as well as the aftermath of subsequent trials that took their mental toll on Sgt. Karl Hettinger (brilliantly portrayed by the underrated Method actor John Savage).

Brilliant police novelist Joseph Wambaugh, whose earlier work "The Choirboys" became warped in the screenplay adaptation process and, as a result, got turned into an occasionally funny but ultimately unsatisfying movie in 1977 (in which James Woods, not coincidentally, had appeared), made sure this time that he had complete control over the screenplay for THE ONION FIELD. In doing so, the film version remains faithful to the events described in the book, as it recounts the slow build-up to the terrible crime in parallel scenes; one showing the criminals, and the other showing the police officers before their fateful meeting. It also shows the slow psychological breakdown that is suffered afterwards by the surviving officer, who is tortured by a seemingly endless cycle of trials as well as the derision of his police superiors who felt that he could have done more to prevent the tragedy.

The only major fault that I find in the film is its irregular chronology of the aftermath; it provides no dates for each scene, which is bad because a scene that takes place days after the previous one will be followed by a sudden jump of ten or more years into the future. This gets confusing to the viewer, who will suddenly--an unexpectantly--find a longhaired 1970's Gregory Powell spouting out prison law to a fellow inmate following a scene where the crewcut '60's Powell is defending himself in court. Also, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that (temporarily) outlawed capital punishment, thereby instantly commuting Powell and Jimmy Smith's death sentences to that of life imprisonment, is barely even mentioned, despite its obvious significance. Nevertheless, THE ONION FIELD is a compelling, and faithful, dramatization of one of the most shocking murder cases of the 1960's. It is just another small piece of American history, and is recommended for anyone who wants more insight into the development of our modern legal and law enforcement systems. Of course, I also recommend it for everyone who considers themselves to be film buffs. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED