Southern Comfort
A squad of National Guards on an isolated weekend exercise in the Louisiana swamp must fight for their lives when they anger local Cajuns by stealing their canoes. Without live ammunition and in a strange country, their experience begins to mirror the Vietnam experience.
Critics Sentiment
Final confrontation at Cajun village pig roast with Spencer and Hardin
Unstable Bowden burns cabin containing TNT destroying vital supplies
The film builds from the cabin destruction low point to the acclaimed final 20 minutes, with critics consistently praising the climactic village confrontation as absolutely fantastic after finding the middle section more predictable.
Critics praised Southern Comfort as an atmospheric survival thriller that builds steady tension through its swamp setting and strong performances, particularly Powers Boothe and Keith Carradine. While some found the middle section's character eliminations predictable and the soldiers' poor decisions frustrating, most reviewers highlighted the exceptional final 20 minutes as masterfully edited and intensely violent. The film earned consistent praise for its cinematography, Ry Cooder's haunting score, and its subtle Vietnam War allegory.
Full cast
Showing 20 of 25
Keith Carradine
Spencer
Powers Boothe
Hardin
Fred Ward
Reece
Franklyn Seales
Simms
T.K. Carter
Cribbs
Lewis Smith
Stuckey
Les Lannom
Casper
Peter Coyote
Poole
Alan Autry
Bowden
Brion James
Trapper
Sonny Landham
Hunter
Allan Graf
Hunter
Ned Dowd
Hunter
Rob Ryder
Hunter
Greg Guirard
Cajun Couple
June Borel
Cajun Couple
Jeanne-Louise Bulliard
Cajun Dancer
Orel Borel
Cajun Dancer
Jeannie Spector
Cajun Dancer
Marc Savoy
Cajun Musician
Crew
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