New Rose Hotel | 
| Director: Abel Ferrara
Actors: Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe, Asia Argento, Annabella Sciorra, John Lurie
Studio: Lions Gate
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.98
Buy New: $4.98
You Save: $25.00 (83%)
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Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 14335
Format: Color, Dolby, Dvd, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 0
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Letterbox
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5 x 0.6
MPN: D7315D
UPC: 658149731523
EAN: 6581497315234
ASIN: B00001YXCD
Theatrical Release Date: 1998
Release Date: December 7, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Abel Ferrara's adaptation of William Gibson's cyberpunk story (from the short-story collection Burning Chrome) is quite faithful to the source, which may explain why it bypassed cinemas almost completely to emerge on video. Gibson's story takes place entirely in flashback as its hero shuffles through the events that brought him to the tiny shoebox of a room in the New Rose Hotel, on the run and out of ideas. Ferrara winds up in the same place, but first plays out his story for us to see... sort of. Industrial headhunters Christopher Walken, limping through the movie with a cane and a rumpled white suit like an emaciated Sydney Greenstreet, and Willem Dafoe, his jaded, tired partner, hatch a plan to lure a genetic-sciences genius from one corporation to another for a $100 million payoff. The key to their plan is seductive bar girl and part-time prostitute Asia Argento, a flirting chanteuse with whom Dafoe falls in love. Set in a grimy technological future of generic cosmopolitan cities, the characters wander fluorescent mazes of bland malls, murky bars, and faceless hotels, a Blade Runner future without the spectacle. Apart from brief, blurry video-camera surveillance, the entire operation occurs offscreen, reported through conversations and phone calls, and even Ferrara fans may find the murky, dawdling narrative and cerebral conclusion disappointing. But the tech-noir conspiracy gives way to Ferrara's real story, the collision of the dreamers and the shadowy world they live in. --Sean Axmaker
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| Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...
 Abel meets his match in Asia Argento January 27, 2008
Richard Ross
New Rose Hotel, based on the short story by William Gibson , is a very confusing yet entertaining film from director Abel Ferrara. You might not be clear on what is actually happening, not at first anyway, but you will be certain of how Abel fell for his leading lady Asia Argento. The two dated for a while after the making of this film. Argento is not only incredibly sexy but she can also act. She's the best thing going for this film which stars Christopher Walken as Fox and Willem Defoe as X. The film takes place sometime in the future and major corporations are stealing top scientists from rival companies. Fox and X are trying to lure a Japanese scientist to their company. They hire a struggling prostitute and dancer named Sandi (Argento) to seduce him. She agrees to do it after they tell her how much they are going to pay her. X starts tutoring her in how to be seductive and the two fall for each other. Several steamy sex scenes follow and Fox gets wind of his partner's new fling. He worries that this will jeopardize their mission but also their friendship. Walken does a good job of showing the fear that Fox has as the older of the two who worries that his young protege is going to leave him. The basic plot is very similar to that of a classic film noir where two guys use a beautiful young woman to get information about a mystery man. One of the guys falls for the girl, the other guy gets suspicious, and someone dies. For the film's first hour it seems like scenes are being cut short and we aren't getting the full story. Abel plays the full scenes during the film's last half hour cluing us in on what he was hiding. This makes that portion of the film the most exciting since we're finally getting the full story and by this time we're invested in what happens to X and Sandi. The acting from the three leads is excellent and there is a lot of humor in the film. Early on there is a scene between Walken and Defoe that starts off scripted and ends on a hilarious rant improvised by both men. It's a nice Abel touch. Many of the people who worked on this film worked on Abel's previous film "The Funeral" including Walken, Gretchen Mol, Annabella Sciorra, and Victor Argo. This film also has a great score by Ferrara regular Schooly D. Definitely worth checking out for Abel fans or for any of the three stars.
Interesting premise and fine performances by Walken, DeFoe & Argento, but ultimately unfulfilling October 8, 2007
Max Zorn (Chicago)
Sometimes making a feature length film from a short story can work, as the director can elaborate and add texture to the story. Most of the time, short stories make bad movies, and New Rose Hotel exemplifies why. About half-way through this interesting (but ultimately empty) film, the story noticeably looses steam and goes into "filler" mode, where we get a bunch of flash-backs on things we've already seen. But I've jumped ahead. Here's the story.
Christopher Walken and Willem DeFoe are free-lancers in a sort of dystopia of corporate rule, emotional distance, and meaningless sex. They basically "turn" high-level corporate employees, getting paid for facilitating the "defection" of these "stars" from one company to another - the right people can mean billions to a company's bottom line. Like many movies, we join our "heroes" at a critical point, where they are this/close to either the motherload score or a body bag.
Enter the off-beat, talented and unconventionally gorgeous Asia Argento as the hooker with the heart of gold (or maybe stone), who they task to "turn" a big-time scientist-type genius dud. Needless to say, things start off one way, then twists happen that spin the story in a different direction, all complicated by DeFoe falling for the sexy Argento.
Walken is excellent here, as he's allowed to really go with it, spouting lines only he can deliver, making those faces and even doing a little song and dance. DeFoe is...DeFoe - always solid, but given a character that is not completely realized, and a story that is a little transparent. But Argento is the show - sexy, tattooed and hard-to-take-your-eyes-off in a fairly explicit role (the Euros are so comfortable with their bodies...). Also "stars" Gretchen Mol in what is nothing more than a glorified cameo (I'm guessing some scenes wound up on the cutting room floor). See "much more" of her in the Bettie Page flick inwhich she stars.
Unfortunately, as mentioned, the story runs out of steam, gets very "noire"-ishly conventional, and wraps itself up quickly and unfulfillingly, as if its double-parked. It seems as if its making a statement early on (greed, nations ruled by corporations, etc...), then loses its way.
Would have given this 2 stars if not for the luscious Argento, who brings a raw sexuality to her performance. She makes the first half of this as interesting as the second half (w/o much of her) is as uninspired.
 Horrid mess May 29, 2007
Andres C. Salama (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
An unbelievable mess, this incredibly confusing movie makes Ferrara previous "The Blackout" a model of narrative clarity. This shoddy movie is one of the reasons that Ferrara has become more and more a marginal figure (his films are now barely released in the US). The reason why actors of the caliber of Dafoe and Walken starred and produced this movie is beyond me. The only thing that makes this movie worth a look are a few nude scenes from the beautiful Asia Argento.
 Not enough Will Gibson movies, but this is a good one. December 11, 2006
John Lewis (Dallas, TX USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a very good, intelligent B-movie in the science fiction realm- especially if you have ever enjoyed some of William Gibson's stories. Having Wil Dafoe and Asia Argento in this is a very nice bonus, but not the only things that make this film so good. It is this director's raw talent in directing, as seen in all his gritty thrillers, combined with a great SF author and good job by the screen writer. I do not write reviews about romances or comedies, and I wish some others who do not care for a genre would offer the same courtesy. This is an excellent film. I had no trouble following the story, but had read the short story 10 years prior- so was vaguely familiar. Have also read nearly all William Gibson's novels, so very familiar with the concepts which some might find hard to follow.
 New Rose Hotel sinks into ridiculously silly bore October 26, 2005
Mike Bolts (Superior, Wi)
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
Christopher Walken (Suicide Kings, King Of New York) wants Asia Argento (Scarlet Diva, Land Of The Dead) to seduced brilliant geneticist so that he can switch firms. Willem Dafoe (The Clearing, Shadow of the Vampire) is Walken's partner and is in deep love with Argento and as we go threw the story it gets really boring and eventually in the process of seducing the guy, Argento goes missing, she vanishes, but where does she go? Dafoe ends up flashing back, remembering, thinking, maybe, was it him that Walken and Argento were messing with or whatever...the flashback segment goes on and on and we are rendered bored watching this poor sap try to puzzle the pieces together and when it comes to the end you dont care about any of the characters. The part where I laughed the most was when Walken was through off to his death...I think he yelled "Wow!" really loud and all I saw was him fall and go splat...even when he gets killed, Walken is still the funny man. Also starring Annabella Sciorra (Jungle Fever, Underworld (1997) and Gretchen Mol (The Thirteenth Floor, Forever Mine), both are barely in this movie and are wasted. Probably one of Abel Ferrara's worst. This was released in 1999 but shot in 1997.
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