Based on The Hunter:
Payback (theatrical version)
Movie: 
Depiction of Parker:
Parker's name in film: Porter
Played by: Mel Gibson
In Payback, Stark's New York of 1963 becomes a nameless and dreary metropolis with a date one cannot put a finger on. It's the perfect setting for a Parker film, and Payback falls just one ego short of being the perfect Parker film.
As most of you are probably aware, Mel Gibson forced dramatic changes to Brian Helgeland's version of the film. He inserted several scenes, deleted others, and generally changed the whole tone of the film to a very sadistic action-comedy.
These changes caused several problems with the film. Certain things don't make sense--how did the Outfit rig a bomb in the hotel room that Parker and Rosie check into before they've even checked in? Why is Parker so schizophrenic, beating the living hell out of somebody in one scene and smiling and treating Rosie well in another? Other elements are obviously inserted, most notably every scene after the point where Parker leaves Fairfax's house.
Despite the changes, Payback is a success, something I am loathe to say but forced to admit. Some of the inserted scenes were very funny. Most of them were well done. The ending got a little ridiculous, but I still enjoyed the film. The cast is terrific, the film is very well done visually, and it is fast moving despite being rather long. Overall, a highly enjoyable and fun movie.
However, Payback was not supposed to be fun. For a great amount of detail on what we almost saw, check out the section on the bootleg version.
Availability: Payback is available on VHS and DVD. The DVD looks and sounds very good, but doesn't offer any extras of substance. (A director's commentary would have been hilarious: "Here's the scene Mel forced me to put in where the cute dog magically comes back to life! Here's where Bronson reveals the location of his son, something a real mob boss would never be stupid enough to do--Mel put this one in too! Screw you, Mel!")
Other Opinions:
Click here to hear Roger Ebert's review from the Siskel and Ebert TV show and site. Sadly, Gene Siskel was unable to review the film, as he was on leave from the show with the health problems that would end his life a couple of weeks later.
From the Austin Chronicle:
...Based on the Donald Westlake (writing as Richard Stark) novel The Hunter (which was also made into the 1967 film Point Blank), Payback mines the gritty, flinty conventions of heist-and-vendetta flicks like a streamlined pro, all rough edges and washed out images. Gibson reverts almost to his primeval Mad Max days as the unstoppable, amoral Porter, a wandering Ronin intent only on getting his cut. With his junkyard-dog good looks and scrappy leather jacket hanging off-kilter on his frame, Porter looks like the gutter come to nasty life. That he's Payback's protagonist says less about his Homeric qualities than it does about the rest of the film's morally bankrupt cast, which includes Porter's junkie wife (Bello), weaselly cab Mafia honcho Stegman (Paymer, excellent as always), Porter's trick-turning ex-flame Lynn (Unger), and assorted other roughhousers. Screenwriter Helgeland, coming off the critical success of L.A. Confidential and the commercial wreck of Costner's The Postman, makes his directing debut this time out and does an alarmingly bang-up job. Payback has a slight story; there's really not much going on here except for this dog-tired, three-time-loser trying desperately to get his money back, but Helgeland whips it up into a monumental battle of wills: Porter vs. The City. What city? We're never told, but this steaming, befouled metropolitan slag heap bears more than a passing resemblance to the Dark Knight's fabled Gotham (you get the idea, though, that even superheroes might want to steer clear of this Porter guy). Production designer Richard Hoover deserves particular praise for creating the look and feel of a giant, post-industrialized hellhole for Porter to chase around in. It's not exactly the Detroit of Robocop or Carpenter's New York escape, but Payback's milieu is as formidable a character as anyone sporting an exit wound onscreen. Helgeland's film positively seethes with bad vibrations; it's kicky, nasty urban sangfroid with pointy little teeth and a serious case of the angries, an existential hand grenade disguised as a heist film. (2/5/99)
(out of five) (M.S.)To Point Blank, the other movie based on The Hunter
Back to The Violent World of Parker
To Paramount's Payback website. You can download and view the trailer from here.
For those of you who can't get enough of Mel's studly face, click here to see a couple of foreign movie posters