

Local Hero
A BEAUTIFUL COASTLINE... A RICH OIL MAN WANTS TO DEVELOP IT. A POOR BEACH BUM WANTS TO LIVE ON IT. AN ENTIRE TOWN WANTS TO PROFIT BY IT. AND A REAL-LIVE MERMAID WANTS TO SAVE IT... ONLY ONE OF THEM WILL GET THEIR WAY.
An American oil company sends a man to Scotland to buy up an entire village where they want to build a refinery. But things don't go as expected.
TMDB
6.8/10
424 votes
IMDb
Not rated yet
View on IMDb
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $4.2M
- Box office
- $5.9M
- Language
- Russian
- small town
- petrol
- scotland
- village life
- village
- folk music
- houston, texas
- oil
- rabbit
- millionaire
- black gold
- seaside town
Top billed cast
















Behind the camera
Where to watch
All optionsAvailability for United States. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.
Gallery












Videos
Release dates
United StatesUS
- TheatricalPG17 Feb 1983
United KingdomGB
- Theatrical17 Mar 1983
- PhysicalPGVHS1 Oct 1999
- PhysicalPGDVD19 Feb 2001
AustraliaAU
- TheatricalPG28 Apr 1983
BrazilBR
- TVLFox Film mj.gov.br26 Nov 1998
DenmarkDK
- TheatricalA26 Dec 1983
GermanyDE
- Theatrical122 Dec 1983
IrelandIE
- TheatricalPG29 Apr 1983
JapanJP
- TheatricalG19 Apr 1986
NetherlandsNL
- TheatricalAL18 Aug 1983
- PhysicalALDVD14 Mar 2008
PortugalPT
- PremiereM/12TV Premiere30 Dec 1987
SpainES
- TheatricalAPTA20 Jul 1983
Frequently asked questions
Local Hero was released on 17 February 1983.
Audience reviews
3- C7/10
CinemaSerf
6/8/2023
Burt Lancaster is the multi-millionaire oil magnate "Felix Happer" who despatches one of his minions (Peter Riegert) to Scotland to buy up a village to turn it into an oil refinery. Once he arrives, he is taken for a bit of a ride by the canny locals as they try to milk him for as much cash as they can. In the days before cell phones; he has to call his boss from the phone box reporting his lack of progress and some …
- F3/10
Filipe Manuel Neto
6/20/2023
**Slow, with boring characters and dialogues and a disjointed script, this film does not justify the “hype” around it.** This is one of those indie films that has won over a legion of self-confessed admirers. It's a film that everyone speaks highly of, as if it were a solid masterpiece. I didn't know that when I saw it for the first time, so I saw it without a lot of expectations. I'm glad I did it: despite recogn…
- B9/10
badelf
2/5/2026
Bill Forsyth's Local Hero sends an American oil company executive (Peter Riegert) to a remote Scottish coastal village to buy it up for a refinery. What he finds instead is a community that can't quite be bought, locals who negotiate on their own eccentric terms, and a way of life that makes his corporate ambitions seem hollow and absurd. This is gentle, quirky, humanistic filmmaking at its finest. There's no heav…
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