BusterBuster
Pop legend Phil Collins “makes an impressive acting debut” (LA Herald-Examiner) in this “endearing” (Los Angeles Times), award-winning* comedy about love, life and family on the lam. “Tinged with scruffy, good-natured charm” (Boxoffice) and the Collins hits “Two Hearts” and “Groovy Kind of Love,” Buster will steal your heart! Based on actual events surrounding the Great Train Robbery of 1963, Buster follows the exploits of a lovable husband and father who provides for his family by stealing! Wanted for his involvement in one of the most daring robberies ofall time, Buster (Collins) must pack up his clan and hightail it to Mexico. But when his wife growstired of sunshine and margaritas and moves back to England, Buster faces a tough choice: remain a free man in Mexico or face the music in London so he can one day be with his family again! *1989: Golden GlobeÂ(r), Original SongMotion Picture; 1988: GrammyÂ(r), Original SongMotion PictureHelped considerably by a relatively high budget for a 1988 British film, Buster perfectly remade the 1960s caper-film experience. Rock star Phil Collins plays Buster Edwards, who’s only one of a gang who all seem doomed to be captured after their £2.5 million train heist. The caper is over within 30 minutes. However, the film is really about the love story between Buster and his doting yet long-suffering wife June (an excellent Julie Walters). When the action switches to sun-drenched Mexico, you just know her loyalty is going to be tested to extremes because that’s when Collins’s award-winning songs kick in! “Two Hearts” and “Groovy Kind of Love” may not be ’60s-styled, but the message is that love always conquers time and place. –Paul Tonks
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(out of 8 reviews)
Review by Ben Riddle for Buster
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I’m so glad this video is being reissued, not only because I’m a Phil Collins fan, but because it’s a great movie in general.Phil plays Buster Edwards, who may be a thief by profession but whose real reason for living is the love of his wife June (Julie Walters) and his daughter Nicky. After pulling off the biggest train robbery in British history, Buster flees with his family to Mexico, along with the ringleader (Larry Lamb), and his wife.What starts out as a vacation in paradise turns into tensions boiled over when an argument between June and Buster gets physical (he slaps her face) and she retaliates by taking Nicky and flying home. That’s when Buster realizes that living in exile is pointless if it means alienating his family.All in all, this is a very moving, heartwarming film (which includes one of the best robbery sequences I’ve ever seen); it gets the R rating for some of the more violent scenes, brief nudity, and the occasional British curse word. The score by Anne Dudley is as beautiful as some of the film’s most tender moments, and the songs in the soundtrack include two of Phil’s biggest hits: “Two Hearts”, and “A Groovy Kind of Love”; as well as such classic tunes as: “I Got You Babe” by Sonny & Cher, “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself” by Dusty Springfield,” “Keep On Running” by the Spencer Davis Group (with lead vocals by a then-relatively unknown singer and keyboard player named Steve Winwood), and “How Do You Do It?” by Gerry & the Pacemakers
Review by The JuRK for Buster
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I remember when BUSTER came out and I was always surprised at how Hollywood enjoyed proclaiming that it was a bomb. Especially after it turned into a pretty nifty film. The soundtrack was cool, the story was based on a real life robbery (there’s actually a film that plays the same robbery as gritty heist film, so that would be interesting to see as far as cinematic styles go), and everyone was very good in it. The Sixties feel looked authentic–are there parts of London that will be forever locked in the 1960s?
But I also knew that Phil had a bumpy ride in Hollywood.
When his awesome song, “Against All Odds,” was up for an Academy Award, Phil planned his entire tour around making himself available for the Oscars that spring…only to be told by the Academy that only “movie people” would be doing the songs. Like Stevie Wonder.
Apparently, Little Stevie hopping around in the BEACH PARTY movies in the 60′s qualified him as a “movie person” and he was allowed to sing his monotonous “I Just Called To Say I Love You” from THE WOMAN IN RED. Phil got to watch Ann Reinking butcher his song in an overblown production number while squirming in his seat. (The letter telling him he wasn’t needed was even addressed to “Phil Cooper,” to add insult to injury).
“I Just Called to Say I Love You” ended up winning, and Stevie then said he didn’t write the song for the film (effectively disqualifying it for the Oscars), he wrote it for Nelson Mandela.
When Phil told Rolling Stone, “He’s blind, he’s black, he lives in L.A. Of course, he was going to win,” you would’ve thought Phil flew down to South Africa and did a MIDNIGHT EXPRESS-styled beating on Mandela.
So I kind of wondered if Hollywood was posioning BUSTER’s reception in the States.
I liked it. While so many movies allow audiences to fantasize about how they can make a big score through robbery and then be rich, BUSTER pops that balloon by showing that, even when the robbery is a success, the aftermath is still wrought with uncertainty and danger.
So all’s well that ends well, I guess. Phil’s won an Oscar for the Tarzan song. He may have won another one, for all I know. I just saw him on tour last year and he still has a funny sense of humor I first saw back in 1985.
And BUSTER is on DVD. Give it a shot.
Review by William A. Hill for Buster
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DVD was purchased as a present for a good friend who was unable to obtain a favourite movie in Australia.Well written, directed and acted.Added bonus was sound track during movie heard for the first time on DVD quality.
Thoroughly recommend looking through amazon catalogue to obtain forgotten favourites
Review by Deborah Pugsley for Buster
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Fantastic dvd !!!
Taking you back to the 60′s in England. The Great Train Robbery was major headline news and Phil Collins is not just a GREAT singer/musician he is an awesome actor too !!
Review by Lurke for Buster
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I JUST GOT DONE WATCHING THE MOVIE AND IT IS A GREAT MOVIE
Phil Collins is great in this movie. It is just too sad this is based on a real story about Buster Edwards!