Always (1989)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers (WGA):

Jerry Belson (screenplay)
Dalton Trumbo (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 December 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Romance | Drama

Tagline:

They couldn't hear him. They couldn't see him. But he was there when they needed him... Even after he was gone.

Plot:

A romantic adventure about a legendary pilot's passion for dare-devil firefighting and his girl.

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | Forest Fire | True Love | Grief | Firefighting

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Richard Dreyfuss	...	Pete Sandich
Holly Hunter	...	Dorinda Durston
Brad Johnson	...	Ted Baker
John Goodman	...	Al Yackey
Audrey Hepburn	...	Hap
Roberts Blossom	...	Dave
Keith David	...	Powerhouse
Ed Van Nuys	...	Nails
Marg Helgenberger	...	Rachel
Dale Dye	...	Don
Brian Haley	...	Alex
James Lashly	...	Charlie
Michael Steve Jones	...	Grey
Kim Robillard	...	Air Traffic Controller
Jim Sparkman	...	Dispatcher

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Spain:T | South Korea:15 | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Iceland:L | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Bull Lake, Montana, USA

Company:

Amblin Entertainment

Trivia:

Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter and John Goodman each received a Mazda Miata as a gift from Steven Spielberg upon completing the film.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the climax of the film, a group of endangered smokejumpers is supposedly making their way to a river and safety. However, they are clearly moving uphill. You move uphill to get to a ridge (a fairly safe place to be in a wildfire); you move downhill to get to a river. Also, the entire notion of using retardant drops to save lives from a running timber fire is bogus. Retardant is dropped to slow down (retard) fires so they can be fought more safely, not to save lives.

Quotes:

[Ted is hearing Pete's words in his head as his own thoughts]
Bartender: What'll it be?
Pete Sandich: Extra dry vodka martini. Don't forget the olive.
Ted Baker: Root beer. Don't forget the olive.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Dawson's Creek: Pilot (#1.1)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

COWBOY MAN

Why I love the film Always...

I'll just be honest here --- when I originally saw Always at the cinema in 1989, it was just a few months after my big brother passed away prematurely at the age of forty, and I'm not at all afraid to say that I cried like a baby. Like so many Americans, I have watched far too many films that i have taken to heart, but you know, Always is probably one of the final American films to ever really explore and display such deep human issues as unconditional love, mortality, and what a hero really is -- and isn't. It may be mushy, romantic, and a bit flawed, but I am proud that Spielberg made this bitter-sweet film -- I just saw it again and, if anything, it comes across as even more humane and honest in today's America of aggression, greed, and "relative" truth. If you've ever really, honestly, been so in love and committed to someone that you were willing to unconditionally put their needs before you own, or if you've ever lost anyone who meant the world to you, check it out. It changed my life when I first saw it because it made consider death in a new light... and it is about to totally change my life again as I have decided to live every moment for the rest of it as honest and decent and true to myself as possible --something that few of us today are willing to admit is lacking in our lives.