Revenge

Revenge
DVD cover
Directed by	Tony Scott
Produced by	Stanley Rubin Hunt Lowry
Written by	Jim Harrison (novel) Jeffrey Alan Fiskin
Starring	Kevin Costner Anthony Quinn Madeleine Stowe Miguel Ferrer John Leguizamo
Music by	Jack Nitzsche
Cinematography	Jeffrey L. Kimball
Editing by	Chris Lebenzon Michael Tronick
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures New World Pictures
Release date(s)	February 16, 1990
Running time	Theatrical cut 124 min. Director's Cut 104 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$10 million
Gross revenue	$15.65 million

Revenge is a 1990 crime-drama-thriller directed by Tony Scott, starring Kevin Costner, Anthony Quinn, Madeleine Stowe, Miguel Ferrer and Sally Kirkland. Some scenes were filmed in Mexico. The movie is a production of New World Pictures and Rastar Films and released by Columbia Pictures. Revenge also features one of John Leguizamo's earliest movie roles.

Plot

Michael J. "Jay" Cochran is a retiring U.S. Navy aviator who, after 12 years in the service, wants to relax and live one day at a time. He goes to Mexico, accepting a matched pair of Beretta shotguns and an invitation from his wealthy friend Tiburon "Tibby" Mendez to spend time at his estate. Tibby is a powerful crime boss, surrounded by bodyguards.

While trying to find the hacienda, Cochran meets Tibby's wife, a beautiful young woman named Miryea. She accompanies them on a hunting trip, where Tibby is interrupted by business. Miryea is unhappy because her much-older husband does not want children, saying pregnancy would spoil her looks.

Jay is a welcome guest and presents his friend with a Navy G-1 leather flight jacket. But he rubs Tibby's suspicious right-hand man Cesar the wrong way, behaving independently and not acting like an employee.

After a dinner Tibby conducts a private meeting with business associates while Miryea gets acquainted with Jay. She becomes attracted to him and the next day they share a private walk on the beach. During a party, with Tibby and his men nearby, they secretly make love.

Tension grows, Jay worried that Tibby will become aware of the situation. Miryea begs Jay not to leave. They arrange a secret rendezvous, Miryea pretending that she will be visiting a friend in Miami when she actually is going to accompany Jay to a remote cabin he owns.

Cesar overhears a conversation in which Miryea asks her Miami friend to lie for her. Tibby pays a visit to Jay and invites him on a trip, but Jay declines. Tibby tells his friend goodbye. At the airport, Tibby also gives Miryea one last kiss. Jay is secretly waiting to drive her to the cabin.

At their hideaway, they are surprised by Tibby and his men. Jay's beloved dog is killed. Mireya, called a "faithless whore," is struck by Tibby and her face is cut by a knife. Tibby's henchmen viciously beat and kick Jay. They set fire to the cabin, dump Jay in the desert and leave him to die.

Miryea is placed in a whorehouse, where she is drugged, abused and relegated to "common use." A young man who drugs her has a communicable illness. Miryea no longer wants to live like this. She persuades him to share a needle with her, thus infecting her.

Jay's unconscious body is discovered by a Mexican man and slowly nursed back to health. He returns to the burnt cabin and retrieves some money he had stashed away. Jay is driven to town and given a knife to "cut the balls off your enemy." He runs into a Texan delivering a horse who offers Jay a ride in his car. Inside a cantina, Jay notices one of Tibby's henchmen who beat him. In the men's room, Jay cuts his throat.

After a day on the road, the clearly ill Texan trades his horse to a wealthy man who recognizes Jay from an afternoon at Tibby's estate. The friendly Texan dies in the car.

At a motel, Jay comes across Amador, the cousin of the Mexican good samaritan who saved his life. Amador and his quiet friend, Ignacio, have their own issues with Tiburon Mendez and are willing to help. They capture another of the henchmen. He tells them where Miryea can be found. Jay barges into the brothel to rescue her, only to find that she has been moved. No one but Tibby knows where she is.

Jay, Amador, and Ignacio stage an ambush of Tibby and his bodyguard on a trail. Jay is here for revenge, but first Tibby requests that Jay ask forgiveness for having stolen his wife.

Miryea is in a convent. By the time Jay arrives, it is too late. Miryea is barely hanging on to life. He carries her outside, where she dies in his arms.

Cast

• Kevin Costner as Michael J. "Jay" Cochran
• Anthony Quinn as Tiburon "Tibby" Mendez
• Madeleine Stowe as Miryea
• Miguel Ferrer as Amador
• John Leguizamo as Ignacio
• Tomas Milian as Cesar
• James Gammon as The Texan
• Jesse Corti as Medero
• Sally Kirkland as The Rock Star

Alternate versions

The version included on the 2007 DVD and Blu-ray releases is Tony Scott's shorter director's cut, running 104 minutes. The original 124-minute version is due to Kevin Costner and Ray Stark.

The director's cut includes several re-edits, and in general deletes many scenes in the original cut:

• During the scene where Jay is beaten, the main henchmen stomps on one of his hands, crushing several fingers; in the new cut, that scene is missing, replaced by that same thug kicking Jay a few times while he is on the floor.
• The Jeep-ride sequence is shown in a more explicit way; also we see Miryea and Jay stopping at a nearby lake to drink some beer and have sex. The original soundtrack sequence has been changed.
• The role of Sally K. is shortened.
• In the opening flying sequence, while Jay's jet is in the sky, a beaten man can be seen crawling in the desert, as a premonition of future events.
• After Tibby's revenge, we can see him selecting a new young wife, but as if it was something more protocol-related.
• All the scenes that showed Jay's doubts and hesitations relating to the affair are gone in the new cut.

External links

• Revenge at the Internet Movie Database