class=”alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-23726″ title=”dennis hopper” src=”https://www.heyuguys.com/images/2010/05/dennis-hopper-e1275156733364-220×144.jpg” alt=”” width=”220″ height=”144″ />News is breaking across the internet that a legend in the world of film, Dennis Hopper, has died at the age of 74.
There are few forces in the world of film greater than that of Hopper, whose power and prowess as a writer, director and actor was evident in every moment he spent in front of, or behind, the camera.
Easy Rider was a stark love letter to the counter culture of the sixties and the tremors it created in Hollywood lasted for many years. It was perhaps a defining moment in a career which began with Rebel Without a Cause. His work in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet has not lost any of its darkness, and Frank Booth remains one of film’s most iconic villains with his expletive ridden rants and truly terrifying screen presence.
A look at his filmography exposes my pitiful lack of knowledge of his work, and if nothing else this news will result in many people rediscovering his films. Conjuring up memories of seeing Hooper on screen several stellar performances emerge, not least that of Frank Booth, but his role in True Romance (in particular his scene with Christopher Walken) sits alongside his work on Apocalypse Now and the 1957 Gunfight At The OK Corral.
Fuelled by drugs and alcohol Hopper’s career took violent swings and his directing work veers between the likes of the critical failure of 1971’s The Last Movie and his 88 film Colors or the noirish heartbeat of The Hot Spot, which work, along with Easy Rider, to give another dimension to the fierce energy of Hopper.
You mean remember Speed or Waterworld, you may even have seen Super Mario Bros, but his body of work is far greater and more rewarding for those who have the inclination to dig.
Many will miss him, some will grab a Pabst Blue Ribbon and celebrate his life and his work. And that’s exactly as it should be.
