Walker (film)

Walker
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alex Cox
Produced by	Lorenzo O'Brien Angel Flores Marini
Written by	Rudy Wurlitzer
Starring	Ed Harris Richard Masur Rene Auberjonois Keith Szarabajka Sy Richardson Xander Berkeley Peter Boyle Marlee Matlin Alfonso Arau Pedro Armendáriz, Jr. Gerrit Graham William O'Leary Blanca Guerra Miguel Sandoval
Music by	Joe Strummer
Cinematography	David Bridges
Edited by	Alex Cox Carlos Puente
Production company	In-Cine Compañía Industrial Cinematográfica Northern Walker Films Limited
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	December 4, 1987
Running time	95 min.
Country	United States Mexico Spain
Language	English
Budget	$6,000,000
Box office	$257,043 (US)

Walker is a 1987 American-Mexican Acid Western film directed by Alex Cox and starring Ed Harris, Richard Masur, Rene Auberjonois, Peter Boyle, Sy Richardson, Xander Berkeley, Alfonso Arau, Marlee Matlin and Miguel Sandoval. The film is based on the life story of William Walker (1824–1860), the American filibuster who invaded Mexico in the 1850s and made himself President of Nicaragua shortly thereafter. It was written by Rudy Wurlitzer and scored by Joe Strummer, who also plays a small role as a member of Walker's army.

The film is intentionally full of anachronisms such as helicopters, Zippo lighters, automatic rifles and a car passing a horse carriage. It was filmed in Nicaragua during the Contra War.

In 1853, soldier-of-fortune William Walker (Ed Harris) flees Mexico after a failed attempt to incite an armed insurrection. He is placed on trial by US officials, but wins acquittal on breaking the Neutrality Act. Walker believes in Manifest Destiny and has plans to marry and start a newspaper until his fianceé Ellen Martin (Marlee Matlin) dies of cholera. Financed by American multimillionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt (Peter Boyle), Walker and 60 mercenaries embark on a mission to overthrow the Government of Nicaragua, to secure Vanderbilt's rights over an overland shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific.