Taglines: It is 2013. War has crippled the Earth. Technology has been erased. Our only hope is an unlikely hero.
The Postman movie storyline. In 2013, an unnamed nomad enters the Oregon flatlands, trading Shakespearean performances for food and water. In one of the towns, the nomad is forced into the ranks of the predominant militia, known as the Holnists and run by General Bethlehem. When he escapes, the nomad takes refuge in a dead postman’s mail vehicle.
Wearing the postman’s uniform and carrying the mail bag, he arrives in Pineview claiming to be a postman from the newly restored US government. The Postman inspires a teenager named Ford Lincoln Mercury and swears him into the postal service. The Postman also meets Abby. When the Postman leaves for the town of Benning, he carries a pile of mail left at the post office door by the townspeople.
During a raid of Pineview, General Bethlehem learns of the Postman’s tales of a restored government and becomes afraid of losing power if word spreads. He burns the American flag and post office, kills Abby’s husband, kidnaps Abby, and attacks the town of Benning. The Postman surrenders, but Abby saves him from execution, and the two escape into the surrounding mountains. A pregnant Abby and an injured Postman ride out the winter in an abandoned cabin.
When spring arrives, they cross the range and run into a girl, who claims to be a postal carrier. She reveals that Ford Lincoln Mercury organized a postal service based on the Postman’s story. They have established communications with other settlements, creating a quasi-society and inadvertently spreading hope.
Bethlehem is still fighting to suppress the postal carriers, who are mostly teenagers pitted against a better-equipped enemy. In the face of mounting casualties, the Postman orders everyone to disband and writes a surrender letter to Bethlehem. However, Bethlehem learns to his dismay that the Postman’s example has spread farther than he could have anticipated when his men capture a carrier from California, and redoubles his efforts to find the Postman. The Postman, Abby, and a small group of postal carriers travel to Bridge City. When Bethlehem’s scouts catch up, the enclave leader, Tom Petty, helps the Postman to escape on a cable car to find volunteers for another army.
The Postman is a 1997 American epic post-apocalyptic adventure film. It is directed by, produced by, and stars Kevin Costner, with the screenplay written by Eric Roth and Brian Helgeland, based on David Brin’s 1985 book of the same name. The film also features Will Patton, Larenz Tate, Olivia Williams, James Russo, and Tom Petty.
It is set in a post-apocalyptic and neo-Western version of the United States in the then near-future of the year 2013, fifteen years after an unspecified apocalyptic event that left a huge impact on human civilization and erased most technology. Like the book, the film follows the story of an unnamed nomadic drifter (Kevin Costner) who stumbles across the uniform of an old United States Postal Service mail carrier and unwittingly inspires hope through an empty promise of a “Restored United States of America”. Released on Christmas of 1997 from Warner Bros., The Postman was a major critical and commercial failure, grossing a total of $17 million worldwide.
The Postman (1997)
Directed by: Kevin Costner
Starring: Kevin Costner, Will Patton, Larenz Tate, Olivia Williams, James Russo, Daniel von Bargen, Tom Petty, Roberta Maxwell, Scott Bairstow, Peggy Lipton
Screenplay by: Eric Roth, Brian Helgeland
Production Design by: Ida Random
Cinematography by: Stephen F. Windon
Film Editing by: Peter Boyle
Costume Design by: John Bloomfield
Set Decoration by: Ronald R. Reiss
Art Direction by: Derek R. Hill, Scott Ritenour
Music by: James Newton Howard
MPAA Rating: R for violence and some sexuality.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: December 25, 1997
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