The Salton Sea

List Price: $14.97 Buy For: $9.99
Usually ships in 24 hours


Add to Cart


Compare New & Used Prices From All Available Merchants:

Starring: Val Kilmer
Rated: R (Restricted)
Type: DVD
Directed By: D.J. Caruso
Studio: Warner Home Video
Release Date: 2002-09-10
Running Time: 103 minutes
In the Imperial Valley of Southern California there is a little known body of water 226 feet below sea level, one of the lowest points in the United States. As there is no outlet from this sea, water is being removed only by evaporation, which results in a salinity level more than 25 percent higher than the Pacific Ocean. There is an eerie stillness to this vast sea, and a peculiar density to the water. This lake is the Salton Sea. Set against this remote and mysterious landscape, an unexpected and brutal crime leaves an innocent woman, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, dead at the hands of masked gunmen. Her husband's life is left in ruins, his every waking moment haunted by the recurring imagery of the murder he witnessed, but was powerless to prevent. "The Salton Sea" is a character-driven crime thriller about an unlikely hero entangled in a web of deceit and treachery. Full of unexpected twists and turns, this is a compelling and emotionally-charged story about loss and recovery set to the lonely resonant tones of jazz great Miles Davis' horn. Danny Parker (VAL KILMER) is a man in search of redemption, consumed by a sense of loneliness and alienation. Following the death of his wife (CHANDRA WEST), he is set adrift in a seedy underworld inhabited by an eclectic, and often comical, cast of characters united principally by their choice of drug: crystal methamphetamine. An accomplished jazz musician, Danny is now a low-life "tweaker" in Los Angeles who leads us through a frenzied maze, one from which he must emerge before his tenuous grip on reality snaps for good. In a bold attempt Danny secretly hatches a plan to serve as middle-man in a lucrative drug deal. With the help of his friend Jimmy "The Finn" (PETER SARSGAARD), Danny is introduced to Pooh-Bear (VINCENT D'ONOFRIO), a methamphetamine baron with a penchant for sadistic recreational games, who seals the deal. But in this mad world, nothing - most of all Danny - is what it seems.

3.5 stars out of 4
The Bottom Line:

Artfully constructed, splendidly acted (especially in a career-best turn by D'Onofrio as the inimitable "Pooh Bear") and consistently engaging, The Salton Sea is a neo-noir that might have made the originals proud.

The Salton Sea
If you like movies that are not the norm and kind of trippy, like "Another Day in Paradise", you'll love The Salton Sea. It's a trippy, druggy movie with a little twist. It's got some comedy, nice visuals, some action and it's just good.

Good
Recently I watched DVDs of 2 of the latest films in the Kilmer canon- his portrayal of a man on a mission in The Salton Sea & his portrayal of porno king Johnny `Wadd' Holmes in Wonderland. Both films attempt to be modern noir films, & in both films Kilmer plays a character that has 2 sides to his persona. In The Salton Sea he portrays a dual character Danny Parker/Tom Van Allen. The former is a crystal meth dealer & the latter a jazzman. The film is a stylistic masterpiece that is every bit the equal of the far more lauded Memento- a similar story about a troubled man searching for himself & the truth to his wife's death. Kilmer sinks into the role of Tom, as an avenging husband whose wife was brutally killed by 2 gunmen near the Salton Sea. Tom decides to become Danny, & work with 2 crooked undercover cops (Doug Hutchison and Anthony LaPaglia) to expose the drug cartel he believes is responsible for his wife. Along the way he encounters 1 of the great modern onscreen personifications of evil- a drug dealer named Pooh-Bear (Vincent D'Onofrio) who wears a fake nosepiece because his real nose was burnt off by cocaine use. Along with Daniel Day Lewis's Bill the Butcher in Gangs Of New York, Pooh-Bear is one of those cartoony villains that nevertheless seems to be just real enough to lift the whole of the story beyond standard noir. The real forces Tom contends against in the film are almost surreal as the cinematography & Danny's hallucinations. Pooh-Bear's idea of fun is eating brains, staging the JFK assassination with pigeons and a mini-car set, & threatening Danny with having his gonads eaten by a badger.
Director D.J. Caruso and screenwriter Tony Gayton do a fine job of creating a world that Kilmer's dual personae feel right at home with. He seems to die several times, only to wake up back in his hell. The film is shot surreally, with low angles, frames just off-center, & flashbacks & dreams that happen in odd places- even in the barrel of a pistol. But what lifts this film to true greatness, like Memento, is Kilmer's performance. His blend of fear, weariness, & bravado echoes back to his work in The Doors, yet surpasses it because this character is his total creation, not a recitation of a real figure.

Great Movie with realistic hidden twists
This is a great movie with several great twists that are unexpected but realistic. It is very hard to have both, but this movie pulls it off. I am a great fan of Val Kilmer, that's why I wrote a bio about him, he is a great actor that is not after the money - so he ends up in underrated movies that no one has heard of, instead of overrated movies that everyone hs heard of.Blessed, Life and Films of Val Kilmer

Salton Sea
Great movie, the copy we got was in good condition upon arrival. If you have not seen this movie don't be surprised if at the end you are saying "WOW!".