Search - The Postman on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations Movie Release: 1997 DVD Release: 06/09/1998 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 58 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Members Wishing: 1 Genres: Science Fiction, Sci-Fi Action, Sci-Fi Disaster Film See Also: The Postman [Blu-ray], Postman

Kevin Costner directed and stars in this adaptation of David Brin's science fiction novel The Postman (1985), first published in 1982 issues of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Costner's return to directing after his Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves(1990) is a futuristic epic depicting the aftermath of a destructive war. Some 16 years from the present day, America has been turned into a wasteland of separated communities minus a national government. A vagabond (Costner) who travels through these little villages performing Shakespeare is captured by marauders known as the Holnists, and thrown into a totalitarian labor camp run by a Hitler-like dictator, General Bethlehem (Will Patton).

Making an escape, the drifter, known to some as "Shakespeare," stumbles across an abandoned U.S. Postal Service jeep and dons the dead postal-worker's uniform. With a scheme simply to get food, he sets out to deliver 15-year-old mail, proclaiming himself The Postman, and discovers that residents accept his lies about a restored United States government because they desperately need something to believe in. This hope leads to the thought that perhaps the United States of America could indeed be restored, so an unusually inspired young man, Ford (Laren Tate) is deputized with the "Neither snow, nor rain..." oath to become the country's second Postman. At the town of Pineview, the attractive Abby (Olivia Williams), who has an impotent husband, asks The Postman to impregnate her. After Abby's husband is killed during a raid by Bethlehem, she is taken prisoner but injures Bethlehem and makes an escape. Pregnant, she spends the winter nursing the wounded Postman in a snowbound cabin. When spring comes, they emerge to discover that Ford has organized an entire squad of mail deliverers who regard The Postman as a mythical hero. The Postman reluctantly accepts his messianic role in the rebirth of the country, even as it becomes clear that the rebel force must ultimately battle and defeat the Holnist army in order to regain the American Dream. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Kevin Costner - The Postman
Will Patton - Bethlehem
Larenz Tate - Ford
Olivia Williams - Abby
James Russo - Idaho

This widescreen Dolby Surround Sound edition of the critically pummeled 1997 film is far from elaborately packaged; in fact, it comes with only a thin, uninformative jacket, the original trailer, a few words about the post-apocalyptic genre, and the "Postman's CGI Route," a 15-minute featurette with commentary by the special effects crew. The film is directed by star Kevin Costner, who borrowed from the David Brin novel without sticking to its plot. Costner's performance, amusing in places, alternates between egotism and silliness, while the supporting cast (which includes members of his family) shines by comparison, decked out though they are in Mad Max-ish attire throughout 178 long minutes. For some reason the subtitles are on by default until turned off, and the score stirs the blood but sounds too loud in comparison to patches of soft dialogue. ~ Craig Chalquist, All Movie Guide