Tag Archives: Jean-Baptiste Leonerri

Beyond the Reach

beyondthereachBeyond the Reach is a remake of another TV movie called Savages (1974) starring Any Griffith and Sam Bottoms. Both movies follow the same storyline based on the book Deathwatch by Robb White.

Directed by French filmmaker Jean-Baptiste Leonerri, Michael Douglas plays a wealthy, cocky businessman Madec. Early one morning he drives into a small town in the Mojave Desert. He makes quite an impression with his Mercedes G63 AMG 6×6 asking the sheriff for an expert hunting guide. The sheriff refers him a young, though experienced guide named Ben played by Jeremy Irvine. Ben is poor, and his long term girlfriend just left him to go study in out-of-state college. Ben takes the job, but he is suspicious of Madec and his “big-money” talk. The two men end up in the middle of Mojave Desert, and Madec fatally shoots another man by accident. The incident tests the limits of the two men.

The movie is about survival with Douglas playing a very dark character in a cat-and-mouse game across a barren and brutal desert. If you are a Michael Douglas fan, you know he plays dark, evil characters very well.

The special features include an audio commentary with Michael Douglas, director Jean-Baptiste Leonerri and producer Robert Mitas, and a featurette called “Six Wheeling: Inside and Outside the Ultimate Ride” featuring the Mercedes from the movie.