{"id":3825,"date":"2024-09-05T03:23:35","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T03:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=3825"},"modified":"2024-10-13T19:46:46","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T23:46:46","slug":"nomads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/09\/05\/nomads\/","title":{"rendered":"Nomads"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Nomads <\/strong>(1986)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Atlantic\/Horror\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 92 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, violence, brief nudity, suggested sex)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: John McTiernan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: John McTiernan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Bill Conti\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Stephen Ramsey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: March 7, 1986 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Lesley-Anne Down, Pierce Brosnan, Anna Maria Monticelli, Adam Ant, Mary Woronov, Hector Mercado, Josie Cotton, Frank Doubleday, Jeannie Elias, Nina Foch, J.J. Saunders, Alan Autry, Frances Bay.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $2.3M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: *<\/p>\n

\u00a0A \u201cnomad\u201d is defined on Dictionary.com as follows: \u201cA member of a people or tribe that has no permanent abode but moves about from place to place\u201d. See how easy it is to explain what the word means? If only it was that easy to tell you what the movie Nomads <\/strong>is about. I literally just finished watching it. I went directly from my living room sofa to my workspace to write it up. My head is still spinning and not in a good way. It\u2019s the kind of head-spin that comes with trying to piece together the messy plot of a movie where you\u2019re not sure what the hell\u2019s going on most of the time. This lack of understanding inevitably leads to not caring about the plot or characters. The only thing you care about with a movie like Nomads<\/strong> is this: \u201cHow much longer before it\u2019s over?\u201d I asked this repeatedly during the movie\u2019s second half.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Explaining the plot of Nomads<\/strong> presents a real challenge. How can I clearly describe something that doesn\u2019t make sense to begin with? I\u2019ll do my best; don\u2019t say I didn\u2019t warn you. A deranged patient (Brosnan, Remington Steele) is brought into the ER of a Los Angeles hospital where he\u2019s treated by Dr. Eileen Flax (Down, Rough Cut), a recent East Coast transplant. He keeps screaming the same thing, but nobody understands it because he\u2019s speaking French. He attacks Dr. Flax and dies immediately afterwards. Somehow, he managed to transfer his memories to her by biting her in the neck. As a result, she starts reliving the last few days of his life.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The patient\u2019s name is Jean-Charles Pommier, an anthropologist who specializes in nomadic cultures. He and his wife Niki (Monticelli) just moved into a new house with a violent history (people were killed there). They notice a leather-clad gang in a van hanging around outside. Pommier decides to follow them after they paint graffiti on his garage door. They\u2019re a mysterious bunch, always on the move. He snaps several pictures but lo and behold, none of them appear on film. He arrives at the conclusion that they are Innuat. According to Eskimo legend, the Innuat are nomads who spread evil wherever they go. I\u2019m sorry but isn\u2019t L.A. already the Sodom and Gomorrah of the West Coast?<\/p>\n

\u00a0ANYWAY, Dr. Flax sees all of this through her late patient\u2019s eyes….. sometimes, that is. \u00a0Sometimes we see him from the outside which means what? Is Flax supposed to be an omnipresent being of some sort? The movie never bothers to explain. Nomads<\/strong> keeps switching back and forth which is very confusing for the audience. It\u2019s not the only confusing thing about going on either. At one point, Pommier finds himself in an old rundown convent talking to a nun (Bay, Blue Velvet) who might or might not be a ghost. There used to be other nuns until something happened. What, I don\u2019t know. Again, the movie refuses to explain itself. This happens again and again and again.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Nomads<\/strong> is the debut feature of John McTiernan who would go on to direct Predator, Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October and Die Hard with a Vengeance. I would say it\u2019s his worst movie if not for the terrible Rollerball remake in 2002. That one is absolutely unwatchable. Nomads<\/strong>, on the other hand, is slightly watchable which is better than not at all, right? It has style. Since we\u2019re talking about a mid-80s movie, this means it plays like an MTV video at times. It\u2019s also thick with atmosphere. It has a few eerie scenes. If nothing else, it\u2019s a slick-looking production. Aesthetically speaking, Nomads<\/strong> is just fine. It\u2019s nice to look at. It\u2019s the narrative I have issues with.<\/p>\n

Let me be crystal clear on one point. The story Nomads<\/strong> tries to tell isn\u2019t a bad one. The problem lies with the presentation. In short, the screenplay is a convoluted mess. It also moves at too slow a pace. I know McTiernan is attempting to build suspense, but since it\u2019s never clear what\u2019s going on from scene to scene, it just drags.<\/p>\n

On the upside, Bill Conti\u2019s score, which includes guitar work by hard rocker Ted Nugent, is decent. The acting isn\u2019t half-bad either, I guess. It isn\u2019t good either. There\u2019s zero character development beyond Flax being divorced and Pommier slowly losing his mind. It doesn\u2019t really matter though since the characters behave like idiots most of the time. Why does Flax think it\u2019s a good idea to shine a flashlight in the eyes of a crazed patient in restraints? Where did she get her medical degree, Ding Dong School? Why on earth does Pommier think it\u2019s a good idea to follow a group of dangerous types who could easily kill him? In any event, it\u2019s a rather inauspicious movie debut for Brosnan who would find greater success playing James Bond in four movies. Down does little more than act freaked out about inheriting her patient\u2019s memories.<\/p>\n

\u00a0What\u2019s the one thing that makes for a good horror movie? It\u2019s an easy question with an obvious answer. A good horror movie is scary. Nomads<\/strong> isn\u2019t the least bit scary. It has a few eerie moments, but no real jump-scares. Even the final scene fails to shock. This movie is boring! A boring horror movie is as bad as an unfunny comedy in that it seems to go on for an eternity before it\u2019s finally over. I didn\u2019t see this one at the movies; it came and went pretty fast. I rented it on video later that year. The nicest thing I can say is that it was a free rental. It hasn\u2019t improved with age either. It\u2019s still an incomprehensible bore. It\u2019s a good story idea in search of a coherent screenplay and experienced director. I actually wouldn\u2019t mind seeing Nomads<\/strong> be remade as long as it\u2019s made better.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nomads (1986)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Atlantic\/Horror\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 92 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, violence, brief nudity, suggested sex)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: John McTiernan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: John McTiernan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Bill Conti\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Stephen Ramsey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: March 7, 1986 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Lesley-Anne Down, Pierce Brosnan, Anna Maria Monticelli, Adam Ant, Mary Woronov, Hector Mercado, Josie Cotton, Frank Doubleday, Jeannie Elias, Nina Foch, J.J. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-this-sucks-so-bad"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Nomads-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3825"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5145,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3825\/revisions\/5145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}