The Conversation (1974) First Time Watching! Full Movie Reaction!!
Added 2025-03-01 18:12:27 +0000 UTCRIP Gene Hackman
Comments
Let's imagine this main character goes on with his life. But decides to live off the grid. Using all his skill and realizing what the government can do as technology advances and a more connected world is oblivious to how vulnerable we are! Welp. If u want to see a newer movie with this in mind, I highly recommend the 1998 action thriller staring Gene Hackman in "Enemy of the State".
Gerald Corona
2025-04-03 03:36:36 +0000 UTCEnjoyable watching this one again with you guys. It’s been a long time, so some of the details felt fresh again. It’s definitely a film that creates its own atmosphere, enough to make a person never want to be Harry Caul. The slow building of scenes and characters didn’t last very long beyond the 70s, and there are a number of great examples that we can cherish forever. I look forward to more in the future.
David Wilkins
2025-03-08 02:59:08 +0000 UTCThis was pre-Star Wars Harrison Ford, during his struggling actor days. He had taken up carpentry in Hollywood to provide a stable income for his family and afford to be more choosy with the roles he tried out. He met Coppola and his producing partner Fred Roos while doing an executice office in a studio. Coppola was producing George Lucas' film American Graffiti and Ford ended up in small but memorable supporting roles in Graffiti, Coppola's The Conversation and Apocalypse Now (release in 1979 but filming was completed before Star Wars was released in 1977). Hackman was one of the greats. French Connection 2 is a worthy sequel to the original and from Ronin director John Frankenheimer. Enemy of the State is from Tony Scott (Top Gun, Crimson Tide, Man on Fire, Déja Vu) and is a solid popcorn movie update (for 1998) of many of the themes/ideas in The Conversation with Hackman in a very Caul-esque role. The Poseidon Adventure is a disaster film classic and Superman is the first true blue superhero film.
ED209
2025-03-04 04:24:00 +0000 UTCHaha, I've definitely done that before.
Jason McQuirns
2025-03-04 00:55:52 +0000 UTCReally hoping they check out Superman! :)
Brent
2025-03-03 04:39:36 +0000 UTCRIP Gene Hackman! One of my all-time favorite movies, with one (actually, two--Robert Duvall is also in this) of my all-time favorite actors. Also, Harrison Ford plays a creepy-ass motherfucker really well..."We'll see." Shivers up my spine. I love how bit by bit this movies peels away the facade of Harry's greatness as a surveillance expert. He goes from the greatest in the business, to a rat in a maze, to just sitting there playing his saxophone while the camera pivots back and forth like a security camera, watching him like more as if he's an animal in a zoo, or a trained monkey. Good fucking shit.
Steve Mercier
2025-03-02 07:39:15 +0000 UTCI often find myself fast-forwarding to the "What'd you think" and Sam saying "That was:...." You kids are really fun to watch together and have very smart commentary.
Mike Miner
2025-03-02 07:34:48 +0000 UTCThe Director was played, in an uncredited cameo by Robert Duvall who, of course, also starred in Coppola's other 70s classics, The Godfather 1 & 2 and Apocalypse Now. Duvall and Hackman were actually roommates together in New York in the early 1960s when they were poor, struggling actors. Dustin Hoffman was also one of their pre-stardom roommates.
Brad P
2025-03-02 06:54:19 +0000 UTCRest in Peace, Gene Hackman. This was my first time watching this flick, and I was completely surprised to see some other familiar faces, including Harrison Ford. The film was very good, just what I would expect from Coppola. If you have never seen the original Superman movie (1978, Christopher Reeve), you really should. Gene Hackman plays a great Lex Luthor.
Lee N.
2025-03-02 01:38:24 +0000 UTCGreat reaction. Great movie--well, a quiet masterpiece, really. RIP Gene. My favorite Hackman movie and performance came the next year in Night Moves, an unforgettable Neo Noir that would garner literally dozens of views!
VivendoBem
2025-03-02 01:20:54 +0000 UTCThe brilliance of the final shot where the POV camera pans back and forth suggests that we are looking through a surveillance camera that Harry missed. Also, is this another rare case where Harrison Ford plays a bad guy?
Michael SCH
2025-03-02 01:16:13 +0000 UTCThis is how I wanted to spend my evening - hoping Harrison Ford is feeling better too! I know he had to cancel his Oscar appearance today.
Jason Dolan
2025-03-02 01:06:24 +0000 UTCA great companion piece to this film is something thats been suggested here for years, Blow Out (1981) with John Travolta and directed by Brian DePalma
Ken Veader
2025-03-02 00:11:31 +0000 UTCRunaway Jury is a good Gene Hackman film
Ed R
2025-03-01 23:44:18 +0000 UTCRIP to Gene Hackman, my favorite actor of all time. He was so real and genuine in everything that I've seen him in and made it seem effortless. You two have already reacted to some of his best films, including this one, but some that come to mind that you still need to react to are Hoosiers (1986), Mississipi Burning (1988), The Quick and the Dead (1995) and Get Shorty (1995).
James Miley
2025-03-01 23:36:43 +0000 UTCParamount was begging Coppola to make a sequel to The Godfather. The conditions he had to make Godfather Part II was that he got $1 million, absolute creative control, and that he got to make The Conversation, which Paramount wouldn't have normally greenlighted. Enemy of the State (1998) with Will Smith and Gene Hackman is a kind of pseudo sequel to The Conversation.
Ellie Miller
2025-03-01 23:27:43 +0000 UTCIncredible coincidence that you watched this and the Season 3 finale of Better Call Saul this week.
Ellie Miller
2025-03-01 22:51:02 +0000 UTCMan, what timing.
Julian San
2025-03-01 20:58:29 +0000 UTCYou mention Chuck tearing his house apart in "Better Call Saul" as similar to this. I had never considered it as one of the show's many film references, but it makes perfect sense. I forgot to mention it back when you watched the episode, I think, but it would be the second homage to one of Gene Hackman's '70s classics: when Mike tears his car apart looking for the transponder only to later find it inside the gas cap, that struck me as a clear tribute to the scene in The French Connection where they're looking for the drugs.
Tyler Foster
2025-03-01 20:33:22 +0000 UTCOne of those movies I had recommended to me 1000 times but never got around to it. I sat down and watched it a couple years ago and now I recommend it to everyone lol. RIP Gene
f hf
2025-03-01 20:29:46 +0000 UTCI commented this on US Marshals by mistake, but: "Sound?" "Not yet." A fitting intro. In addition to being a Gene Hackman tribute, this could also be a tribute to a couple other stars who passed within the last couple of years. First, there's Teri Garr, who played Harry's girlfriend who just wants to know something personal about him. She's been on the channel a few times, in Young Frankenstein (as the beautiful assistant Inga); in Close Encounters as Roy's suffering, disbelieving wife; and in Dumb and Dumber, as someone in the rich family who are being shaken down for ransom money. Some other movies you'll likely see her in someday are Martin Scorsese's After Hours, another Francis Ford Coppola movie called One From the Heart, and in her Oscar-nominated supporting performance in Sydney Pollack's comedy Tootsie. Secondly, there's Frederic Forrest, who plays the man in the surveilled couple. He worked with Coppola several times, in Apocalypse Now, the aforementioned One From the Heart, and Tucker: The Man and His Dream. You also saw him in Falling Down as the Nazi owner of the military surplus store. Some other potential reaction movies he appeared in include Valley Girl and the Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes. The first time Harry turns the tape in, he has indeed cleaned it up. I think what happened is, when he returns to the office after refusing to give the tapes to Harrison Ford, he listens to them again and catches that there's one line he simply missed the first time around because it's so quiet and takes so much to clean it up to make it audible. So it's not that he didn't clean it up, he just missed it the first time around. Harrison Ford made up a backstory for his character, which is that he was gay. Doesn't really make much difference in the movie although I always think about it when he says he made the Christmas cookies he offers Harry himself. I think the thing about the woman in the green dress that lead to the split between you two is probably that the woman just took the job at face value. Get the recording and give it to Harrison Ford's character. So, in the other interactions they have, she is probably being sincere to him, even if she knows she's got a job. When he shares a little bit of his private thoughts with her (that Allen Garfield's character records), I think she really had sympathy for him as well, so it's not black-and-white. The Conversation was the first major editing job for Walter Murch, a very famous editor and sound designer. After working on The Conversation, he wrote an incredibly important book on screen editing, "In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Screen Editing," and he cited Hackman's acting as one of the keys to unlocking his understanding of how to edit films and which led to the book. You can read a tribute by Murch to Hackman here: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/feb/28/i-spent-12-hours-a-day-for-16-months-with-gene-hackman-but-never-met-him-the-conversations-walter-murch-pays-tribute Also, I think there's a very tiny glitch in this video. Could easily be an issue with Amazon Prime's version of it, but around the time where another tenant or maybe his landlord verbally wishes him "happy birthday," there a few seconds missing. Nothing too serious. After I corrected for that little jump, the movie went back into sync for the rest of the running time. Last but not least: if you liked this, I highly highly recommend you follow it up with Brian De Palma's Blow Out (1981).
Tyler Foster
2025-03-01 20:26:28 +0000 UTCThere's so many of his classics to get to eventually. I know there'll be multiple before you get to Enemy of The State, but it's such a great movie that's underrated. Gene and Will Smith star in it. Lost a poll on here before, but it's a definite must watch eventually 😊
Lee Brennan
2025-03-01 18:50:44 +0000 UTCYes!!! So excited to watch along with y'all on this. One of the greatest actors of all time. What a career and legacy. RIP Gene ❤️
Lee Brennan
2025-03-01 18:49:01 +0000 UTCWhat an amazing surprise in my inbox ! You guys rock ! Eyes Wide Shut, Blue Velvet and this. You’re on fire keep it up.
robert haynes
2025-03-01 18:33:24 +0000 UTCR.I.P. Gene !!! One of the Best of All Time !! Every Film with him was good !!! The Conversation is another Classic with Him !! Guys maybe you can do a Gene Hackman Poll in the next Time ? My Personal Favorite is always His Role Popeye Doyle in French Connection ... What a Actor
Florian Meier
2025-03-01 18:27:31 +0000 UTCRIP Gene Hackman. One of the greatest to ever do it! Love this movie!
Michael Robayo
2025-03-01 18:20:41 +0000 UTCRIP gene hackman. We lost one of the last great actors of all time. Hoosiers, Mississippi Burning, Night Moves and The Poseidon Adventure. Must Watch
James
2025-03-01 18:15:12 +0000 UTC
