Directed by Oliver Stone (1985).
Written by Oliver Stone and Richard Boyle.
Starring James Woods, Jim Belushi, Michael Murphy, John Savage, Elpedia Carrillo, Cindy Gibb.

Set against the backdrop of a bloody civil war in the early 80's, Salvador was the first film directed by Oliver Stone. It's a semi-autobiographical story of sleazy photo-journalist Richard Boyle, played by James Woods in an Oscar nominated and career-best performance.

Boyle travels to El Salvador with Dr.Rock (Jim Belushi), hoping to make some money in an attempt to capture atrocious-but-valuable images of pain and suffering. What starts off as a sort of buddy-road-movie quickly changes as Boyle realises that beneath the mercenary facade of the worn-out photo-journalist lies a real compassion for the plight of the people around him and that a kind of salvation could even be possible for one as cynical and war-weary as he.

Woods is excellent in a role he seems born to play as the weasly conniving Boyle and is well supported by Belushi as the DJ Dr.Rock who didn't want to go to El Salvador in the first place and then can't wait to leave but ends up with some life-altering changes of his own.