Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
EAN: 9780792853367
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0792853369
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: September 17, 2002
Running Time: 122 minutes
Sales Rank: 16532
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: 1979
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Editorial Review:
Description:
From a real-life American tragedy, this tale of thoughtless brutality, cold-blooded murder and hard-won justice is 'a prowling, gripping, disturbing movie' (Newsweek). Starring John Savage and James Woods and featuring a stunning attention to detail and an unflinching emotional honesty, The Onion Field is 'intriguing, absorbing, powerful, well-acted' (Film Journal) – and riveting from beginning to end. On March 9, 1963, LAPD officers Karl Hettinger (Savage) and Ian Campbell (Ted Danson) pull over a vehicle for making an illegal U-turn – and find themselves held at gunpoint by two seasoned armed robbers. Forced to give up their guns and drive to a deserted road, both officers face the horror of becoming victims in a mob-style execution...but only one is able to escape into the bleak darkness of an onion field.
Amazon.com:
One night in 1963, two plainclothes LAPD officers were abducted by armed small-time criminals after a routine traffic stop, then driven to a remote area where one was brutally executed. The other officer managed to escape and the perpetrators were captured and brought to trial. Despite overwhelming evidence, the slayers managed to drag the justice process on for years through appeals and delaying tactics, one of them making use of the prison law library to become a 'jailhouse lawyer.' Taken from the Joseph Wambaugh book, The Onion Field is a true story about a case that changed LAPD policies forever. More than a simple police procedural, though, the film is a character study that follows the aftermath of the murder for all involved. John Savage, as the surviving officer, is called on over and over to reenact the event in court, chided by his superiors and eventually fired from the force, with redemption a long way off. He does a great job in a harrowing role as frustration, guilt, and depression cause his life and career to disintegrate over time. There are impressive early performances by Ted Danson and James Woods (setting the tone for countless raw-nerve, psycho-lowlife roles that Woods would take on in the future). The compelling script, written by ex-cop Wambaugh (with no studio interference), is a reminder of why he's one of novelist James Ellroy's favorite writers. It's a story of tragedy and hope, dignity and pain, with a potent emotional payoff. --Jerry Renshaw
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Outstanding acting, great directing.
I had never seen this film but I thought it might be worthwhile because of the writer, director and cast. I have to say that this is one of the best law enforcement movies I've ever seen. I highly recommend this film to anyone interested in true life police / crime dramas.
Rating: - Book worm/Movie addict
I was very interested to learn about this true story it was very informative I was so interested i purchased the book also
Rating: - A marvelous account of a true tragedy
I've never read a book from Joseph Wambaugh, the ex-cop turned author who wrote the source material for this movie, but I sort of feel like diving into his works after seeing how great this cinematic translation of a true event worked out. "The Onion Field" the movie went on receive good reviews. I think the success of the film comes from the fact that Wambaugh retained complete control over every aspect of the film's production. According to an extra on the DVD, director Harold Becker, Wambaugh himself, and some of the author's friends put up the money to make the movie. That's a smart move if you can swing it. Keeping the Hollywood suits out of the filmmaking process cuts down significantly on pesky interruptions and annoying demands for all sorts of post-production changes. A typical studio might well have turned "The Onion Field" into a different creature entirely, and we the audience would be all the poorer for it. This is a masterful movie, a film that examines the heinousness of murder, the myriad failings of the criminal justice system, and the psychological problems that everyone involved in such a gruesome crime experiences afterwards.
"The Onion Field" introduces us to two Los Angeles cops, Ian Campbell (Ted Danson) and Karl Hettinger (John Savage). The two have just become partners, and they couldn't be more unalike. Campbell loves playing bagpipes and is a friendly, talkative sort of fellow. Hettinger is quiet and somewhat awkward. We get the feeling they'll make a good ... Read More
Rating:  - Unsatifying
When the movie finally ended, I felt let down and unsatisfied. The story lacked thematic focus--it tried to be a cop thriller, a legal thriller, and even, to some extent, a psyhological thriller and ended up being none of these. Because of this lack of focus, the story was devoid of ongoing escalating suspense leading to a power-punch ending. The ending left me flat, and even worse, we're never told who actually fired the four all-important gun shots, as both suspects accused the other.
James Woods, a truly great actor, is not as great as he was in later movies (Indictment, True Believer). During the first half of the movie, he portrays a fascinating psychopathic killer; but in the second half, when he decides to become his own lawyer, his character change to a pseudo-intellectual attorney was too vast and thus somewhat unbelievable to me. Sure, he was playacting for the jury and spectators, but we still should have been able to see a bit of the killer bubbling under the false personna he was displaying. This would have layered the characterization and kept it believable.
The prison shower scene, leading to oral sex from Smith to Powell was completely gratuitous and unbelievable. It made no sense and was unnecessary. There was absolutely no motivation given for Smith to become so sorrowful, humble, and submissive to Powell. If anything, he seemed hostile and enraged enough to want to kill him, not apologize to a person who had obviously manipulated him.
The ... Read More
Rating: - Smart, Well Crafted, Real - Truly Excellent
Released in 1979, The Onion Field never seems dated, (apart from seeing a VW bug swerve to avoid a Corvair). It moves with cold, clear-eyed deliberation, fueled by great writing, acting, and directing. Ex-cop Joseph Wambaugh, who wrote the book and screenplay, had been burned by the Hollywood studio system's adaptation of The Choirboys. Wisely, he and director Harold Becker funded much of The Onion Field themselves in exchange for total creative control. The result is a rich, textured masterpiece that looks far beneath the flash at the end of a barrel. From cop to criminal to collateral damage, the people in this film are so real you might easily pass them on the street.
Today's batch of filmmakers would be well served to revisit The Onion Field. One person is shot in this movie, that is the sum total of on-screen violence. Despite this, there is a tension and dread pervading every frame arising from the many levels of cruelty and injustice; it is simply impossible to turn away. Slaughtering one hundred cartoon characters with a sword registers zero on the emotional Richter scale, (it's a cheap device for a lazy and unimaginative slacker), but when one person dies and we care desperately, not just for him, but for those touched by the loss, now you are in the realm of art.
Gregory Ulas Powell, one of the most unsettling bad guys in all cinema, is the prototypical James Woods role. This is his masterpiece performance; in some ways it doomed him to a life of playing ... Read More
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