feakes The Executioner's song is based on the Gary Gilmore case. Gary Gilmore murdered two innocent men in cold blood and when the courts found him guilty he was sentenced to death. When the chance of a appeal comes up giving Gilmore only 30 years. He decides to fight against it and accept his Execution in front of a Utah firing squad. Gilmore Wanted his freedom but if he could not have that then he wanted to die.Gary Gilmore was on 35 when he was paroled from prison after doing a 12 year sentence. By then Gilmore had spent more then half his life behind bars . When is released into his cousin Brenda's custody Gilmore finds Life on the outside to be different and difficult. Gilmore finds himself in a hurry . He wants money he wants love and he wants it NOW ! Gary only understands the way things work in prison. To him life on the outside is harder. When he meets Nicole a flighty blonde with kids and a woman who decides Gary is worth fighting for only then does his life start to turn around. But Gary has a issue of violence and of fear of losing the only sane thing in his life.When things don't start going right for them only then does Gary fall back on old habits and he adds a new weapon to his arsenal. Gary murders two men in cold blood after Nicole leaves him in terror fearing for her life. When Gary is arrested. He goes to court where he is found guilty .and sentenced to die the method is chosen by Gary and he chooses firing squad .When the lawyers file a appeal Gary becomes famous arguing that he wants to die. despite the people who argue that want him to live. Gary Gilmore finally gets his wish and pays for his crimes in Jan 1977 .by the Utah firing squad.Tommy Lee Jones always excellent in every role he takes Shines as Gary Gilmore. bring Gilmore's Jekyall and Hyde persona to life. Eli Wallach does a wonderful turn as Uncle Vern who at first wants to give Gary a chance then realizes Gary is nothing more then a rabid dog. Rosanna Arquette does such a god job here its hard to believe she was never a major star this movie shows her potential If you are a fan of the true crime genre . This one is a must watch classic and for very good reason. Its compelling and stays with you long after its over .

fargotennis I was in Utah when they filmed this movie. I remember seeing the flurry of video trucks situated around the filming sites. More than once I was accidentally captured in some of the scenes but, of course, they were cut from the final draft. I thought Tommy Lee Jones did an excellent job acting. It was really brilliant. In fact all the actors were great. I happen to know that neither of the widows got any money from the making of this movie. Norman Mailer's excuse: the movie did not make enough money at the box office here is North America or in Europe. nor on video sales. Maybe so. Mr. Mailer did not show that he was too concerned, though. I knew Ben Bushnell and especially his wife, Debbie. Before she met Ben, she use to send me Green pancakes on my LDS mission in Minnesota (personal joke). We were friends from the LDS Institute of Religion across from Pasadena City College for years. Ben was a 6'5" gentle Ben. He was one of the "good guys" and showed great dedication to his God, family, and church. The funeral in South Pasadena was closed casket for a reason. Debbie didn't notice me at the funeral. She didn't notice anyone there. She was still in great shock. She didn't show any emotions until I approached her at the graveside services. She looked at me and then broke down sobbing. It was too much for me, also. Debbie is a courageous survivor and mother. Gary Gilmore was a low-life who did care who he killed & did not deserve recognition.

tom-456 A DVD that is represented as a director's cut should be exactly that. This DVD is not a director's cut. I remember watching this movie when it first aired on TV. There was one scene in particularly where despite the dim lighting, you could tell that Rosanna was partially nude. In this DVD, it is obvious that they have censored this scene by covering her up with dark blotches. It is the strangest sort of censoring that I've ever seen. They tried to make it look like she is wearing some sort of leotard, but it is obviously faked because it jumps around all over the place from one frame to the next, and anyone who saw this when it originally aired on TV will probably recall that Rosanna was not wearing any sort of leotard in this scene.I bought the "Director's Cut" because that was what I wanted. This amounts to false advertising. It is unethical, and it should not even be legal to do this. I hate when I buy a DVD and find this sort of thing. I encourage everyone to boycott this DVD.

entval I first saw The Executioner's Song on a premium cable channel sometime in the mid-80s, and I loved the story which is close to what I remembered from less than a decade earlier when news of Gary Gilmore's pending execution and his fight for his sentence to go through, and I watch this movie every time I have a chance. Also I love Tommy Lee Jones in ever role he has ever played, as he is an excellent actor.I have one peeve, however. The real Gary Gilmore (at least according to the photographs and the footage I ever saw of him), had medium brown hair and very bright blue eyes. I think that a different actor should have played him at least to be true to how he really looked like. I could think of actors, such as Robert Redford, Harrison Ford, Jeff or Beau Bridges or (right at the top of my head) could have been actors that could have done just as much of a superb job as Tommy Lee Jones did, as they also did have the brown hair and the blue eyes, while Tommy Lee Jones had dark hair and brown eyes.Other than that, the movie was great that I seldom miss a chance when it airs on TV.