One of Nicolas Cage's best performances. Extremely impressive. Didn't know this movie existed until it showed up on Encore and was it ever worth watching. Herzog and Cage give us a character that I both identified with and hated. The script is brilliant and has no correlation with the earlier movie which starred Harvey Keitel. It is an original which stands on its own. The plot is complex. Cage's character, Seargant Terence McDonagh, is established immediately as capable of heroic acts and is promoted to lieutenant. We learn that McDonagh is not all good guy in stages. First we learn about the drug addictions and later about the gambling addiction. This is one of those movies which will be recognized for its true brilliance about 30 years from now, like Scarface is now.
