- Content: “Brutal, Obscene and Profane”
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| Violence | ||||
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| Nudity |
What You Need To Know:
The contest in THE LONG WALK doesn’t make much sense. For instance, how it benefits the government’s tyranny and oppression is unclear. Also, the movie seems to be pushing an under-developed Marxist humanist worldview where the young men are all poor or lower class. There are, however, some moments of brotherhood, compassion and sacrifice. Despite that, THE LONG WALK has constant foul language, brutal scenes of bloody violence and some gross, distasteful bathroom incidents.
Content:
Strong apparent Marxist humanist worldview about poor and lower class young men being subjugated by a brutal military dictatorship, mitigated by some moral, redemptive elements of brotherhood, empathy, compassion, family, and sacrifice;
At least 294 obscenities (including at least 234 “f” words), two strong profanities mentioning the name of Jesus Christ, nine GD profanities, 12 light profanities, movie depicts a man having diarrhea in the road, another man urinates himself, another man pauses to urinate, a man walks on the side of his ankle after breaking his foot, a man falls down and has a fit with foam coming out of his mouth before being shot;
Very strong violence with blood spray includes soldiers shooting young men in the head and other places multiple times, one young man turns guns on a few soldiers, man sacrifices his life for another man by stopping and letting himself be shot instead, another man is shot dead by a young man;
Brief lewd dialogue;
No nudity;
No alcohol use;
No smoking or drugs; and,
Military government oppresses people, and some bullying.
More Detail:
The movie opens with young Ray Garraty leaving his mother to join the Long Walk contest. The odds are against Ray surviving, but the economy is so bad that he can see no other way to provide for his mother.
The Long Walk competition is run by an authoritarian soldier known only as “The Major.” He’s the figurehead and creator of the contest. He rides in a large open jeep or Humvee truck and barks orders and slogans to motivate and scare the young men. As he explains to them, they must keep a pace of three miles per hour. They get only three warnings for any breaks or stops. Then, they are sot in cold blood by one or more of the soldiers.
Ray learns about some of the contestants. He befriends a young black man named Peter. His grit, empathy and confidence inspire Ray and the other men as the gruesome intensity of the Long Walk magnifies. Ray and Peter bond with two other young men, a street-smart youth and a gentle, spiritual, determined young man.
As the walk continues and most of the men are brutally killed, Ray reveals to Peter that The Major murdered his father. So, Ray is out to avenge his dad by asking for a gun as his one wish.
THE LONG WALK is based on a 1979 pseudonymous novel by Steven King. Apparently, the authoritarian militaristic government in the movie is vaguely some kind of fascist regime. In contrast, all the male contestants seem to be working class or lower class. In the story, the movie stresses the growing sense of brotherhood and camaraderie developed among the contestants. So, THE LONG WALK seems to be pushing some vague kind of Marxist humanist ideology. That said, the contest in the movie doesn’t make much sense. How do the the filmmakers think the contest benefits the military dictatorship in THE LONG WALK. Sadly, the movie also has constant foul language (one of the highest counts in the last 10 years), plus brutal scenes of bloody violence and some gross, distasteful bathroom incidents. Finally, the ending advocates political violence against “The Man,” as represented by The Major. Sounds like a call for Marxist revolution to MOVIEGUIDE®.
By the way, Mark Hamill of STAR WARS fame is virtually unrecognizable in THE LONG WALK.
