The Postman (1997)

★ 6.3 2h 58m 1,175 votes IMDb

In 2013, there are no highways, no I-ways, no dreams of a better tomorrow, only scattered survivors across what was once the United States. Into this apocalyptic wasteland comes an enigmatic drifter with a mule, a knack for Shakespeare, and something yet undiscovered: the power to inspire hope.

The Postman

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Cast

Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner as The Postman Age 71 · Lynwood, California, USA Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Award...
Will Patton
Will Patton as Bethlehem Age 71 · Charleston, South Carolina, USA William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor and audiobook narrator. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series Falling Skies. He also appeared in the films...
Larenz Tate
Larenz Tate as Ford Age 50 · Chicago, Illinois, USA Larenz Tate (born September 8, 1975) is an American film and television actor. Tate was born on the west side of Chicago, Illinois. He is the youngest of three siblings whose family moved to Californi...
Olivia Williams
Olivia Williams as Abby Age 57 · Camden Town, London, England, UK Olivia Haigh Williams (born July 26, 1968) is a British actress who has appeared in British and American films and television. Williams studied drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for two year...
James Russo
James Russo as Idaho Age 72 · New York City, New York, USA James Vincent Russo (born April 23, 1953) is an American film and television actor. He has starred in over 90 films in three decades. Description above from the Wikipedia article James Russo, license...
Daniel von Bargen
Daniel von Bargen as Sheriff Briscoe Died 2015 · Cincinnati, Ohio, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Daniel von Bargen (June 5, 1950 – March 1, 2015) was an American character actor of film, stage and television. He was known for his roles as Mr. Kruger on Seinf...

Audience Reviews

Patrick E. Abe 6/10 Nov 06, 2016
Who will be responsible now, for these wayward children?

That's a phrase that's in the book, but not the movie. I liked David Brin's tale of the communities growing up from a near-apocalypse and the conman, "Gordon Krantz."

When I first saw the (overlong) movie, I was disappointed and felt Responsibility had been tossed aside. However, this tale of a traveling Shakepeare-mangler grew on me. David Brin himself defended the film, saying that the resolution of the battle between the Holnist/Survivalists and the postal carriers was good.

Our drifter, accompanied by a mule, visits communities and puts on a "fractured fairy tales" version of Shakespeare for a meal and a night's lodging. Things go South suddenly, when a Survivalist army surrounds the town and drafts men/boys for the "Army of the Eight."

The leader of this gang, prefers that he is the only literate person in the land, and tries to kill "Shakespeare," after turning the traveler's mule into stew. A narrow escape later, the drifter finds a U.S. Postal Service jeep, containing a uniformed skeleton and a bag of mail.

Thus begins his next con job, "delivering the mail," which turns into a Crusade, led by "Ford Lincoln Mercury," his next mail carrier. Romance pops up, when he is asked to father a child for a man who "caught the bad Measles." The Holnists turn up again, and the pair flee the village.

After a long Winter, the drifter and the pregnant woman return to free the village from the Holnists, who have been killing mail carriers. A final showdown with the "impotent ex-copier salesman" leads to "The Restored United States of America" and a legendary statue of The Postman. 7/10, but the book is 10/10!
misubisu 4/10 Nov 21, 2022
This movie fits firmly in the "it's so bad it's good" category.
It's so outrageous, that you just have to see how it's going to end up.

The dialogue/scripts are woeful... but they are delivered with such passion that it almost leaves you breathless.

At the end of the movie, I had no idea what I had just watched, but definitely felt that I had been entertained!
Go figure.

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