User reviews

I enjoyed this movie, and had never heard of it before I watched it for a class. I was amazed that I hadn't, given the number of stars in it. Christopher Walken, John Heard and Melanie Griffith before they were big names. What I loved most about the film though, was its ambiguity about the extent of "true" magic in the New Mexican town of Milagro. The very fact that the town is named Milagro, Spanish for miracle, suggests a magical quality about the town. Many things happen that could be explained rationally, but are not clarified or suggest the supernatural. When the water from the local river owned by Devine's Miracle Valley site accidentally flows into the Mondragon bean field, ghosts are at work. When Amarante, the oldest man in the village is talking to saints and angels, other people see a senile old man and never imagine that he truly could be talking to ghosts apparent to his eyes only. When crosses mentioning "El Brazo Onofre," the thieving trickster of local lore, Devine and his men assume that its the work of dissenting townspeople, though no one ever admits to the crime or is implicated in any way. These ordinary forms of magic show a charmingly realistic depiction of the supernatural. Even the music, beautifully scored by the talented Dave Gruisin suggests a mysterious air. The music sounds like carnival music, alternating from major to minor keys suddenly and ethereally, just as the elements of nature and reality contort to suit the needs of the "miracle town."

When I entered Lewis & Clark College in autumn, 2002, I took a sociology-anthropology class. The teacher told us about water distribution systems and recommended "The Milagro Beanfield War" as a look at this topic. Since I had seen a number of Robert Redford's (who turns 71 today) movies during the past year and had thus taken an interest in his work, I decided to watch the movie.

I have to say that it really impressed me. I don't know whether to describe it as mystifying, ethereal, or something else. I could go forever in trying to praise it, though I don't consider it the greatest movie ever. But I definitely extend the recommendation that the teacher gave the class.

Starring Ruben Blades, Daniel Stern, Melanie Griffith, John Heard and Chick Venera.

Growing up in my family it was a birth rite to see this movie. The movie is about my great grand dad Joe Mondragon. i remember seeing this movie in school and everyone asking me about it. I don't remember much about my great grand father cuz i was like 6 what i do remember was that i only got to meet him once. But what i associate with him all comes from this movie i hope that it is at least mostly true.This movie has meant a lot to me and i hope that i continues to mean a lot to every one who sees it. It helps us remember our past and our future and also reminds us to be tolerant of others and that we should try to help keep the little guys way of life.

I watch this movie on VHS every few months just to renew the good feeling it gives me and expect that I'll wear the tape out eventually.

The score won an Oscar for Dave Grusin, yet there is no soundtrack available, which is a real shame. Angel Romero did some great guitar work on this film, and the Milagro Suite is a wonderful piece of music.

The story is funny and poignant, and the movie deserves to be better known than it is, as Robert Redford's direction has produced a film story that is much better than the book. There should be a DVD release of this film.

Highly recommended.

It seems unlikely that anyone could do a better job turning this book into a movie. There is just too much content in the book and too little time in the movie, too much story in the book and too little depth in the movie, etc. This movie is probably as good as it gets, but it damns the book with its mediocrity.

I lived in Santa Fe, NM for 20 years which is only about 20 miles from Truchas, NM where TMBW was filmed. This movie was right on the money in its portrayal of Northern New Mexico, both in its culture and in its politics. The movie itself is one of the most sublime films I've ever seen in the true sense of the word. It has grandeur of thought, emotion and spirit. It has been bashed in this comment area by those raised on Star Wars, Predator, and the Matrix. To enjoy a movie like TMBW, you have to have a sense of awe, wonder and joy...and a good sense of humor. If you don't, you may get bored. If you do, then you'll find two hours well spent. I obviously love this movie. The music alone will transport you to a pleasant part of your mind, and the absolutely gorgeous New Mexico scenery will make you want to go there to see if it's really real. Try it, you'll like it.

Milagro is a small dusty community. Ladd Devine is the land baron planning to build a golf course resort. Mayor Sammy Cantu and Sheriff Bernabe Montoya enforce a water restriction against the farmers. In frustration, José Mondragon starts irrigating his field to grow beans. Local activist Ruby Archuleta recruits progressive cynical reporter Charlie Bloom to write about the conflict. Herbie Platt is from NYU doing sociology research. Joe offers his place in exchange for work. Fixer Kyril Montana comes in to stop Joe without having to arrest him which could cause political troubles.

Director Robert Redford tries to deliver something serious with whimsy. The problem is that the whimsy isn't whimsy enough and the serious is undercut by the lighter tone. The two sides don't mix with ease. José is too angry to root for completely. It would be great to have a more appealing lead like an old quiet farmer. The old man who talks to the invisible spirit would be a great option. That's also another problem. There are too many main characters. Some of them need to be combined. It's still an interesting watch but it does have some problems.

This started off so well, with some absolutely beautiful New Mexico scenery, I had high hopes. Unfortunately, they were dashed the rest of the way as director Robert Redford had to shout his Left Wing politics loud and clear in our face.

So what we wind up with is a low-down, dishonest greedy Right Wing big businessman running the poor little guys out of town and only those good-guy liberal activist minorities saving the day. We even get a dose of Christian bigotry here where those poor picked-on-pagan gods are run out by Christians! Well, you just know what side is going to win: yes, those wonderful left wingers, adored by the film industry.

This VHS went into a garbage can where it belonged. Adios!!

I agree with "Dawg!" that someone who was not from NM might not get this movie.

I like the Fiddler On The Roof guy, the foothills scenery, my first introduction to Sonja Braga.

The movie does the best job I've ever seen of capturing the essence of small town Northern New Mexico culture - regular folks with regular problems addressing them the best they can. Every culture has its quirky way of addressing life, and this movie depicts this one pretty accurately.

I love it, except for one thing: no DVD.

Released in 1988, "The Milagro Beanfield War" is a whimsical drama about a Hispanic town in Northern New Mexico that's being invaded by land developers who want to turn the town into a resort and drive out the Chicano villagers. Chick Vennera plays the owner of the beanfield, Sonia Braga the champion of his cause, John Heard an aging ex-hippie lawyer who supports them and Daniel Stern a New York college student who takes up living on the beanfield property; Christopher Walken and Richard Bradford play the villains while Melanie Griffith has a cameo.

This was Robert Redford's second movie in the director chair after the successful "Ordinary People" (1980). It failed at the box office perhaps because, while "Milagro" isn't bad at all, it's not great either; it's somewhere in between. It's professionally made with a great cast and locations, but it's only mildly engrossing. The problem is that there are so many characters, Braga's being the best, none of them are portrayed with much depth. It would've been a better movie if they cut out the fat and focused on a few of the characters, throwing in a dramatic hook, like Jack & Rose in "Titanic." A good example of something that could've been cut is Daniel Stern's character. Although Stern does fine in the role it's really an unnecessary character since the story already features a gringo who sides with the villagers. Despite this negative, I enjoyed the film and it leaves you with a good feeling. It's reminiscent of 1984's "The River" in tone and quality, albeit chipper and quirkier.

The film runs 117 minutes and was shot in Espanola, Los Alamos, Truchas and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

GRADE: B-

Milagro Bean Field War is a truly great film, one of the must see list. Terrific casting and well filmed. It may have been neglected by viewers and critics because it is about a class of people and time and place we often do not take seriously, but it is a sincere and genuine story, well told. The use of the ghost and the pig as foils are delightful, and it is remarkable what a good movie can be like without gratuitous violence, nudity or foul language. However, it should not be assumed that is intended to say this is a bland movie, far from it. It is tasty and spiced well with action, language, and phrasing, not to mention filming. And it is funny, good fun all around. Enjoy!

This movie was very powerful in the sense that it showed how much as Americans we value real estate. The Devine plan for Milagro was to put up a resort, a lake, and a golf course; and by doing so it had no regards for the native population of Milagro. They had been there for hundreds of years, but the town had changed during that time. In the past years, poverty had become noticeable in their personalities. It had always been their style of life, but now it dictated how people acted. This is a classic example of rich people wanting to buy up all the land, so they offer money to all the land owners to buy them out. As far as who held the key to the plot of the story, it was Sheriff Montoya. Although he was dealing with Ladd Devine, he ended up staying true to his native people by defending them. Twice, he stepped in during life/death situations and prevented total chaos from breaking out. Also, as far as playing their role very well, Christopher Walken did a great job playing Kryil Montana, the loose cannon, stop at nothing, wild-west vigilante out to get Mondragon. It was interesting to see how much pride Montana took in finally arresting Mondragon, but how he still had a level of respect for him when he let him go. Ruby Archuleta was the activist who made this all happen. She took a stand to defend her native people, even when at times, they didn't understand what was happening to them. She got the injustice into the hands of the right man, Charlie Bloom, an ex-lawyer and civil rights activist. He stood up for the town that wasn't even his own and printed the news about everything that was going on. It was interesting to see that some people in the town were willing to let the development happen. The US Forest Service rangers, whose families had been in Milagro all their life, were willing to turn their backs on their people and got paid off by Devine. This created most of the conflict in the movie because the first scene in which people actually pointed their guns at each other involved the rangers. They had taken Joe's cow onto national land, so they could detain it, therefore costing him $100 to retrieve it. Well everyone knew that this was by design, and the old men in Milagro were there to defend Joe all the way. Luckily Sheriff Montoya stepped in, or we would be looking at a whole different plot line. The other incident which made the movie into what it was involved Montana buying up all of Bloom's local papers and trying to burn them. But while this was going on, a gust of wind picked up all the newspapers and spread them all over town for everyone to read. As far as social justice movies go, this would go somewhere at the top of the list. It was a little different than I would have expected, in that I expected Devine to just buy Mondragon out of his property. All Joe was looking for was a decent job to pay off his bills and feed his family, so if Devine was willing to just offer Mondragon a lucrative settlement, then this wouldn't have happened. The only thing that would have made this movie better would to have been to see Bloom go to court as a civil attorney and make the whole state of New Mexico aware of the injustices that were occurring.

I loved the book "The Milagro Beanfield War," but I read it a long time ago and don't remember details very well. I can't speak to how faithful an adaptation Robert Redford's movie is, but I also don't really care because I think that's usually a boring conversation. Taken as its own thing, the movie "The Milagro Beanfield War" is in some ways actually poorly made, but it manages to be winning anyway.

I'm a sucker, as many people are, for an underdog-against-greedy-corporate-interests story, so that went a along way toward making me like this. It's also got a leisurely, meandering, lightly whimsical quality that I was in the mood for.

But it's also a terribly edited movie. There are a lot of characters and storylines to account for, and the film cuts frequently between them all, to disorienting effect. We will be watching two people have a conversation, and then the film cuts abruptly to two different people in the middle of a conversation somewhere else about a different topic, with little in the way of transition between. It makes for a choppy movie where no one actor really gets a chance to shine.

But I'm rounding up because I liked this movie anyway and I'm in a good mood today.

Dave Grusin won the Oscar for Best Original Score.

Grade: B.

Robert Redford has accomplished much in his lifetime. To his credit is a long list of proud achievements, such as Movie Star, Producer, director, he can now add social activist. Take this film for instance, it's called " The Milagro Beanfield War. " It arises from the John Nichols's novel and involves a small rural town in New Mexico. Having read the novel, I was much taken by the fact, it nearly mirrors the book throughly. The book itself tells the story of how a little New Mexican village is haunted by the spirit of an aging former resident with hopes of revitalizing it's inhabitants into saving their town. The Old man begins by influencing a dispirited farmer named Joe Mondragon (Chick Vennera) to take advantage of an accidental flooding of his family's bean field by a water control system belonging to a rich land developer. The town Sheriff, Bernabe Montoya (Ruben Blades), learns as do all the town's residents of the illegal irrigation, but are curious as to see what Ladd Devine (Richard Bradford) the powerful land baron will do in response. What follows is a escalating collection of serious missteps, comical responses and official repercussions. All in all the cast which includes John Heard, Daniel Stern and Christopher Walker do well to lift this incredible film effort to the shelf of notable Classics. In point of fact, Mr. Redford can add this entertaining movie to his monumental collection of social achievements . Well done! ****

The Milagro Beanfield War is a work of art. It has a premise upon which the story flows so engagingly for the viewer.

Unlike all of the action adventure films of today, relying on superfluous violence and car crash scenes, the film develops the intricacies of characters, including poor migrant workers, old men, small town people, ex-hippies, et al.

Everything works: theme, music, plot, characters, setting, photography, actors. Redford shows he is a highly competent director meshing all into an engaging and enjoyable experience.

Without the old men in this film, it would have failed. They symbolize all that we have lost of our ancestors: simple values; simple lives; honor; social consciousness; enjoyment of life; appreciation of just being alive.

Great cast,great film. I watch it every time it comes on the air, mesmerized by the world into which it lulls you with its other worldly music.

Thank you, Robert Redford, for making this film. Please do some more like it.

A noble attempt by Robert Redford to make an environmental comedy/drama, and it darn near succeeds. I like the relaxed, jaunty tone of the film, a nice departure from this director's usual terminally serious mood. I also like the performances of many in the large cast, particularly Daniel Stern as an earnest NYU student adrift in New Mexican culture, Sonia Braga as the mother of all activists, Ruben Blades as a laid back sheriff, James Gammon as a sardonic ranch hand, and Carlos Riquelme as the doddering patriarch of Milagro.

Two things ultimately deprive the film of greatness, however. One is excessive length along with its faithful companion, slow pacing. The other, more serious flaw is a pervasive feeling that the film makers, which include not only Redford but scenarists David Ward and John Nichols, seem to be guiding us through the Museum of Colorful, Cuddly Chicanos. And the fact that said film makers are Anglos only makes it more patronizingly off putting. Give it a B minus.

PS...What I wrote above goes double for Dave Grusin's Nino Rota wannabe by way of Elmer Bernstein score and Robby Greenberg's "New Mexico shore is purty" cinematography.

The word milagro means miracle, but don't expect any from this artificial staging of author John Nichols' comic Southwestern fable about a poor farmer in a sleepy mountain village who challenges a network of greedy real estate tycoons hoping to plunder the pristine New Mexican countryside. It's ironic that such an outspoken champion of independent filmmaking would produce and direct such a trite and simplistic movie, affecting a fanciful, light-hearted tone even while it falls victim to emotional and dramatic overkill. The issues are presented in a transparent conflict between noble, good-natured small town folk and evil ecological rapists, carrying an idealistic message wielded with all the grace and subtlety of a giant rubber mallet. The northern New Mexico scenery is postcard perfect, but everything in the foreground (characters, dialogue, and plot) is coated with enough sugary sentiment to make even the most dedicated liberal feel queasy.

The biggest name associated with The Milagro Beanfield War is its director Robert Redford. He does not step in front of the camera at any time during this film. Instead Redford assembled and directed a capable cast of players in a colorful and quaint tale about fighting city hall.

But it's not municipal, but the state government itself in Milagro, New Mexico's struggle with developer Richard Bradford. Their tiny little town has been selected by him with the backing of New Mexico's governor M. Emmet Walsh for a resort development. The first part of said development is the construction of a small dam that stops water from getting to the beanfields of the Chicano farmers who have lived there and scratched a living from the soil for many generations. Bradford's plans will result in a kind of rural gentrification as these farmers will not be able to live on property that will increase in value as the taxes go up on it as well.

But when Chick Vennera punches a hole in the dam and irrigates his beanfield that starts a populist type war in Milagro. Vennera becomes a symbol and rallying point for the Chicano farmers against the Anglo developers. Caught in the middle of all this is the town magistrate Ruben Blades who sympathizes with Vennera's struggle.

Vennera has some other allies in community activists John Heard and Sonia Braga and visiting sociology student Daniel Stern. But Bradford sends his ace troubleshooter Christopher Walken in and he plays kind of rough.

Redford directed The Milagro Beanfield War with a light touch, but still made his points well. Robert Redford's reputation as one who has devoted himself to conservation issues is well known and this film gives him quite the venue.

The Milagro Beanfield War won an Oscar in the only category it was nominated in for Best Original Music Score. The score utilized some traditional Mexican folk themes and the arrangements are quite nice.

So is the cinematography done completely on location in New Mexico, in the west that Robert Redford would like to see more of preserved and ordinary people just given a chance to make a living.

When I first read about this film I thought I would enjoy, It looked offbeat and has an excellent cast. I was wrong, what I got was a boring, pointless mess of a movie. I think the problem was actually Redford's directing, everything seemed so boring and out of place. The only unique thing about this film was the casting, not to say that most of the actors werent miscast, because they were but Redford put unknown actors in the lead, and "name" actors in smaller supporting roles, I thought that was an interesting touch. Overall a very lame movie. *1/2 out of *****.

If you enjoyed this film, you will enjoy the book more.

A simple tale of the sruggle of the weak against the strong. Yet a salient example of how the weak only become strong when they stick together. The film lacks the menace that is in the book, the way that the people turn against devine is somewhat sanitised for the film. Perhaps the message in the book is a little too scary for Hollywood.

This is potentilly a highly charged political film, made in to a heart warming whimisical comedy by RR - but don't see that as a criticism, as it is a good work in it's own right.

One of my favourite films and in my top ten for books.