I think Raising Arizona is one of the greatest movies ever made.

http://nymag.com/movies/features/49902/index1.html

From the June 10, 1985 issue of New York Magazine.

Emilio Estevez is the unofficial president of the Brat Pack. (He is also the unofficial treasurer; other members seem to forget their wallets when they go out together, and Estevez usually picks up the check.) He may get his best notices yet, for his role in St. Elmo’s Fire.

“I’ll bet if you asked everyone in the cast who their best friend is,” says Joel Schumacher, who directed and co-wrote St. Elmo’s Fire, “they’d all say Emilio. He’s that kind of guy.”

Here are the rest:

The Hottest of Them All—Tom Cruise, 23. He first made his mark in Taps, then went on to star in the youth-movie classic Risky Business. The huge success of that movie (it made $30.3-million) gave Cruise the leverage to get over $1 million per movie.

The Most Beautiful Face—Rob Lowe, 21. He first showed it to moviegoers in The Outsiders, then starred in Class and The Hotel New Hampshire. He stars in St. Elmo’s Fire.

The Overrated One—Judd Nelson, 25. He made his reputation as a hood in Making the Grade and The Breakfast Club. And now, in St. Elmo’s Fire, he shows—with his role as a congressional assistant—that he was better off when typecast.

The Only One With an Oscar—Timothy Hutton, 24. He got started ahead of the others as a troubled teen in Ordinary People, then joined the Brat Pack in Taps. Fellow Brats whisper that he’s made one too many flop (Turk 182! was its name) and now must revive his career or risk being forgotten.

The One Least Likely to Replace Marlon Brando—Matt Dillon, 21. Everyone thought he would do it back when he made Tex and The Outsiders, but he eased into a lower gear with The Flamingo Kid, a comedy that did well at the box office.

The Ethnic Chair—Nicholas Cage, 21. A nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, he changed his famous surname—and took out an eyetooth to play a leading role. Birdy, which made his reputation as an actor. His ethnic looks usually land him the part of brother or best friend.

The Most Gifted of Them All—Sean Penn, 24. He is the natural heir to Robert De Niro’s throne; like his mentor, Penn will transform himself for any role he takes. The results have been awesome: from the surfer Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High to the drug dealer Daulton Lee in The Falcon & the Snowman.

Not Quite There: the Two Matthews—Broderick, 23, and Modine, 24. Both are fine actors—Broderick in WarGames and on Broadway, and Modine in Birdy—but both live in New York. The Brat Pack likes them but doesn’t know them. The same goes for Kevin Bacon, 26, the star of Footloose and Diner.

 

It's my favorite Randall 'Tex' Cobb movie.

 

I think I'd have to go with Uncommon Valor for that one. Dad took us to a lot of crime and action films growing up, but Cobb pulling the grenade off his dog-tag at the end still haunts me 25-30 years later, very dark.

 

Well, that turned out wonderfully for Hall.... didn't it...?


Has his career recovered yet...?

 

Not unless round's funny.

seriously in my top three movies of all time. It's set to "never delete" on the dvr.

rep for starting a thread showing it some appreciation.

 

Necrobump in honor of the smack I just sent our beloved Tha_Dude -- TBL is cool, but the sun rises and sets on Raising Arizona!

Love,
a butthurt H.I. McDunnough fanboy

 

Like Cage, and I was very young, but I didn't even finish watching Raising Arizona. Maybe I should give it a second look now.

 

Rocket River

 

Raising Arizona is an amazing movie now. It was even more amazing when it first came out. It was different than anything else before. Great editing, shots, writing, and acting. They had some experience and now were able put that experience into a well executed version to show that their style of film making could work.

Cage can be hit or miss with his acting. But I do respect him. He's often a hit with his acting (not role) choices. If someone thought of the characters Cage plays almost nobody would make the same choices with those characters that Cage has made. They were original and frequently good in a way that nobody else would ever do. That's why I have such respect for him as an actor.

 

One of my top 5 of all time. Have it saved on the DVR and watch it often and quote it even more. When I single and friends would have a baby as a baby gift I would give a package of huggies, baloons, a 6 pack of bud, a copy of the movie and Dr. Spock's book.

Ed: You mean you busted out of jail.
Evelle: No, ma’am. We released ourselves on our own recognizance.
Gale: What Evelle here is trying to say is that we felt that the institution no longer had anything to offer us.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's right and there's right and never the t'wain shall meet.

 

The entire intro up until where the opening title pops up is amazing.

Agreed, this is a great movie.

 

It's a good flick...nothing special for me.

 

Good movie, not a top 3 Coen Bros movie...

 

Son....you got a panty on your head

 

I have to disagree. To me, it's the number 1 movie of theirs.

 

You're both wrong. It is number 3.
1.TBL
2.Fargo
3.Raising Arizona

 

The Big Lebowski may actually be number 1. I'll say it's tied with Rasing Arizona. It actually wouldn't be a tie if Raising Arizona had come later in their career. But it gets extra points for being kind of ground breaking for when it was made.

 

Just drive fast.