Jacob's Ladder [Blu-ray]

No other film has been so misunderstood.Jacob's Ladder is a film about the pain and fear felt by a man coming to terms with his imminent death. In the movie Jacob is stabbed with a bayonette and lie dying in the jungle. That's real. While laying there he struggled to live and that struggle manifested itself in the chaos that went through his mind. The real success of the film is that we the audience participate in his death and the terror of his dying through the flashback sequences with Jezebel, the chiropractor, Sarah and Gabriel. When Jacob fought his death he was always in distress and always with Jezebel. She was a literary construct to torment him. When he would accept his death he was always happy, with the ones he loved such as the chiropractor, his wife Sarah, and of course his son Gabriel. The movie goes back and forth with his struggle to live or die. What makes it so successful is how the film imparts the terror and pain of a dying man onto the viewer. That's what did it for me. No other film in cinematic history has accomplished this task. Although Jacob's death took place in Vietnam the movie is NOT about Vietnam, hallucinogenic drugs, demons or psychotic ex-girlfriends.The character in the movie that explains the movie's plot - and literary mechanisms - is Danny Aiello's character the chiropractor. The chiropractor explains so eloquently that "if you fight your death you'll see demons tearing away at your life. But if you accept your death, the devils are really angels setting you free." Dante. The flashbacks in the movie are deliberately misleading deliberately terrifying. Jacob kept flashing back and forth between Jezebel and Sarah. Live or die. Jezebel was the dark manifestation of his fear tearing him away from the life he loved with Sarah. The metaphor of "The Ladder" is Jacob's ascension to heaven where he is met at the gate by Gabriel his deceased son.It's one of the most beautifully written screenplays of all time but for obvious reasons difficult to follow because of the chaos created by the flashbacks. What you have to understand is that in all likely hood Elizabeth Penas character never existed because he never made it back to New York. He had no life after Vietnam because he died in Vietnam. Jacob died on the table in Vietnam with a smile on his face after finally accepting and making peace with his life. What do the doctors say in the very last scene of the movie? "Put up a hell of a fight. The guy looks kinda peaceful." I hope this helps your understanding of the film. I cherish it.

Jacob's ladder is a great film. It has a lot of atmosphere with a great story.

I'm an avid horror fan. I love the classics like Halloween, the trashy ones like the Saw franchise, but my favorites are the "elevated horrors" like the ones from A24. Jacob's Ladder was my first experience with this type of film. While it may seem tame compared to what we can watch today, it remains with me as an emotional and somber experience that blew my mind in high school. I hadn't seen many movies that try and make the view experience a complex emotion. I wasn't ready for it and found myself crying at the end of the movie. Maybe it could be chopped up to my lack of expectations for these types movie or younger age at the time, but with the emotions it made me feel, the film immediately jumped up to the top of my favorite movies ever and never really left. I don't watch the film often. I want it to keep its emotional weight, and constant reviewing would lessen it considerably. I still like to watch it every few years when I want an emotion gut punch.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔.Jacob's Ladder is a 1990 American psychological horror film directed by Adrian Lyne.The film stars Tim Robbins as Jacob Singer, an American infantryman whose experiences before and during his service in Vietnam result in strange, fragmentary visions and bizarre hallucinations that continue to haunt him. As his ordeal worsens, Jacob desperately attempts to figure out the truth.The conception of 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒐𝒃'𝒔 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓 is rooted in screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin’s connection with the metaphysical, his initial interest in this subject predating its release by over thirty years; prompted by an experience with LSD in 1967, Ruben spent a fair amount of time perusing through Europe and Asia in which he took refuge in a number of monasteries and temples, though not fully committed to any spiritual related studies until an eventual return to New York City under the guidance of a professor he met named Rudi.With its screenplay inspired by a dream in which Rubin was stuck in a subway with no escape, 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒐𝒃'𝒔 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓 builds on a concept similar to nature that shares the same name and appears in text relevant to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: The ladder in question signifies a bridge between Heaven and Earth, lending to debates as to how one properly ascends from the latter to the former when they eventually pass away. This concern with circumventing what is a theoretical representation of Purgatory is not obvious, owing to changes made and enforced by Lynn namely in the designs of the creatures that haunt their titular character: originally designed with blatantly Biblical designs, the monsters Jacob contends with are otherwise human (sans deformities): Skulking about like literal interpretations of existential dread, their extinction seemingly tied to their targets ability to reconcile with his own mortality and grief.Initially slated to be produced by Paramount Pictures, their support was rescinded (And replaced by Carolco Pictures) after unsuccessfully convincing Lynn and Ruben to change the conclusion of 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒐𝒃'𝒔 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓, amongst other impending issues; all it implied proved controversial in regards to the Vietnam War,with concerns amplified with its illusions to substance use that drive the disposition of both Jacob and those he serves with as in-house bookends in this already bizarre universe.Lynne has stated that what this production suggests in regards to these combined topics is predicated in what can be found in a novel entitled 𝑨𝒄𝒊𝒅 𝑫𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 (1985), which documents a social history spanning approximately forty years specific to the use of LSD in both recreational and professional settings: specifically relevant is the fact that as far back as the 1950s LSD (and related substances) had been marveled as an “experimental truth drug” that might prove useful in the context of interrogations, which increased curiosity about the impact of low doses of chemical agents on military personnel. One of the more notorious collection of related tests spanned from 1948 to 1975 (IE, a pivotal year reference to in 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒐𝒃'𝒔 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓, which I am convinced is far from a coincidence) is known as the Edgewood Arsenal Human Experiments, and involved the participation of approximately seven-thousand soldiers being exposed to more than two-hundred fifty chemicals.These experiments were abruptly terminated on the basis of its subjects being poorly informed about the risks associated with their involvement: relevant to Singer’s plight is interest in methods that could be used to disable soldiers while actively engaged in combat and measures taken to prevent disclosure about said studies to the public (Which was eventually the subject of a lawsuit in 2009) after the fact.Perhaps needless to say, 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒐𝒃'𝒔 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓 is empathetic by all means to a population that for a long period of time was denied clinical services related to these studies, and then some: the diagnostic criteria for Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has since been made broadly applicable to address different sources of trauma, however, the earliest understanding of how this condition affects people in their daily lives was connected to military service completed in Vietnam, culminating in its addition to the DSM as a mental-health diagnosis in the year 1980. In Jacob’s case, what transpires and can be extrapolated as PTSD is a continuous loop of visions that can otherwise be representative of flashbacks to action which leave him emotionally isolated from the friends and peers of his that are unable to comprehend the horrors he has seen and continue to do so: not to mention treated with temporary fixes in lieu of anything comprehensive.All things said and done, it isn't entirely clear what 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒐𝒃'𝒔 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓 really hopes to achieve; that is, except to say, it rises above the #DeadAllAlong cliche with a contorted and enduring hand. Between its writer’s engrossment with spiritual prowess and its director’s incorporation of contentious material their efforts are centered on the themes of closure: one that is perhaps acquired when one surrenders to forces outside of their control with or without clear resolve or a true sense of vindication. Ironically, and yet appropriately, the nature of their differing approaches and interests are extreme and combined with a kind-of adequate cohesiveness, leaving viewers somewhere in the middle of deep nonsense and rational reservations.

I really had the air taken out of my sails when his son was introduced. NOT MY Choice ever!!

No te la puedes perder...

Jacob's Ladder war wegweisend in der Entwicklung des "Body-Horror", auch wenn er aus heutiger Sicht für die meisten wohl einen Großteil seines ehemaligen Schreckens eingebüßt hat.Diese ganz persönliche Hölle, die dort in den Alltag des Protagonisten einbricht und deren Grenzen zur Realität fließend sind, bildete die maßgebliche Grundlage der "Silent Hill"-Reihe, in der dieses Konzept noch weiter ausbaugebaut wurde.Fazit:Für die Komplexität des Films und die revolutionäre Idee eines ganz persönlichen Horrors, der plötzlich in den Alltag einbricht, war das Publikum Anfang der Neunziger offensichtlich noch nicht bereit - aber zum Glück galt dies nicht für die Macher von "Silent Hill".Umso schöner ist es, dass die Grundidee nicht nur eine ganze Generation an Horrorspielen mitbeeinflusst hat, sondern man mittlerweile den Kult-Charakter dieses Filmes wertschätzen kann.

Genial

A classic psychological film,with truth woven into the storyline.A must watch film