Michael Cimino's final film "The Sunchaser" bombed but I suppose after "Heaven's Gate" Cimino was lucky to get any kind of gig. Consequently, the film virtually disappeared without trace and is, of course, now ripe for rediscovery. It's no masterpiece, (unlike "Heaven's Gate" which I firmly believe is a masterpiece), but it's no turkey either and is sufficiently 'strange' to be of more than passing interest.It's a kind of road movie/buddy movie in which a 16 year old prisoner, (26 year old Jon Seda, excellent), who happens to be dying of cancer, escapes taking his doctor, (a miscast Woody Harrelson), hostage. It veers wildly between black comedy and some high flautin' philosophizing, bypassing the conventions of the thriller on the way. It's an ambitious picture that makes you wonder what audience Cimino had in mind, (did we really need the dotty Anne Bancroft episode), and you could say it's certainly the work of a maverick director, being closer in tone to the American films of the seventies than what was being turned out in the nineties and for all its faults you can tell it's the work of a major filmmaker, one whose real potential was never fully realized. Seek this one out.

I loved this film. It is a profoundly deep and moving. This is a film that I don't get tired of watching. It touches the cores of your heart. The story involved a dying man (played by Seda) who kidnaps a self absorbed doctor (played by Harrelson)and along the way they both go through this journey of self discovery. I get emotional toward the end of this film and I think that it is beautifully acted and not well filmed, but sometimes you have to look pass that and see the overall message of the film, which the director was able to put forth. I highly recommend this film. I think this is one Harrelson best film that I have seen him in and Jon Seda shows that he has potential to be a great actor due to his fine acting in this film.

The Sunchaser is a standard-fare movie with a plot that's set up to provide a predictable outcome. Woodie Harrelson plays an eminent surgeon who's responsible for the welfare of a terminally-ill half-Indian, half-homey-from-the-hood 16 year-old serving a custodial sentence for murder. The two principal characters couldn't be more diametrically opposed if they tried - they come from opposite sides of the social track. The only thing keeping the young man alive is the dream of a mythical Navajo holy mountain with a sacred healing lake, which sets in motion a sequence of events that leads to Harrelson's kidnap and flight across several states at gunpoint. Harrelson's surgeon is a pragmatist and natural-born scientific sceptic who doesn't share the youth's flights of fancy. There's sufficient tension between the two characters to maintain the plot's momentum. Harrelson plays the predictable sceptic who eventually capitulates after much soul-searching and bonding with the criminal-minded youth, and finally assists the young man to his destination. There are some touching moments and an indisputable magic in the final scene as the young man is escorted by an Indian holy-man to the lake. The movie finishes rather abruptly without filling in what happens to the youth after his submergence into the lake, and only giving us a glimpse of Harrelson in handcuffs being led by FBI agents to his wife and baby daughter as the credits roll. The throughline of the movie is simple: the journey the soul needs to make to embrace hope and faith. It's nothing special as far as movies in general go; however, it stands out as one of the best examples of a road-movie.

The movie was ok, it wasnt boring. i saw it with my friend and she thought the movies was good too. The ending was the big disappointment for me though, it was really confusing. Jon Seda did a really good job in this movie. I recommend this movie to every one:) I give it a ***out of *****