WW2 B actioners are usually very good or very bad. This one belongs in every War Movie Buff's collection. One of the soon to be best action directors of his generation making a film with a half dozen of the soon to be best screen and TV actors to come out in the 60s. McQueen is at his classic Lonesome Cool persona best here. James Coburn at his quirky supporting role best. Bobby Darin, Nick Adams, Fess Parker and a new comedian turning actor called Bob Newhart. This movie couldn't miss. Even the small budget and stock footage doesn't tarnish it. Newhart has said they ran out of money and couldn't shoot the original ending so the ending as it is was shot on the fly. It is CLASSIC. This fact alone shows the quality of the people who made this little number. Much better than most of the lumbering big budget WW2 A films of the period like "The Longest Day" and "Bridge on the River Kwi". Both good films but not nearly as exciting and gripping as this gritty little B movie.
Reviews
16 Reviews
Bedazzled
(1967)
Faust-with a Swinging London 1967 twist.
6 March 2005
I saw it years ago when it first arrived on US drive-in screens. Didn't play well here at the time, this was pre-Monty Python days. The Britsh music invasion was on but the Brit comedy rage hadn't yet started. Think Monty Python meets Shakespeare with a touch of Noel Coward dryness and you have the texture and hilarity of this film. A good natured but on target jab at Christianity and religious politics in general and a good lesson in self appreciation. Cook's the smart assed devil who actually has some legitimate beefs towards the Allmighty. Dud's the poor schmuck who's getting devoured by his own timid nature and the world around him in general. They become good friends with only one problem. Ownership of Dud's soul. The one liner gags are terrific and more often than not they are dead on target. This isn't just a funny movie, it's a very smart film. Like the Python films that would come some time later it's a clever film with an edge that cuts into the nature and common fears found within the cultures that have sprung up within the boundaries of Western Christian Civilization. It will no doubt offend some, if not many, and will delight others. This has been one of my own all time favorite films.
First Knight
(1995)
Classic literature turned comic book.
21 February 2005
Bad, very bad. Even with Connery aboard, still bad. The classic story of Arthur is turned into Jello with this one. The whole experience of Arthur relies on the softly focused mystical aura that surrounds him and his supposed time. This film gives us nothing but day-glo colors and Richard Gear prancing around like an idiot dodging hammers and whirly-gigs. What is that? Connery is far too old to pull Arthur off. Arthur is young and idealistic. That fact is much of what makes the legend what it is. He sets a new era in motion then dies before he sees it take hold. Arthurian legend has always suffered at the hands of film makers and this more recent example causes much suffering. Over simplified, over colored, overripe, just plain bad. Looking for the Arthurian legend on film? John Borman's Excalibur is still your best bet. I only give it a two because it has swords.
Hooper
(1978)
The Classic "Burt Reynolds" movie.
3 January 2005
Seems like people either loved or hated old Burt back in the 70s. He was huge. Funny thing about his career was the fact that his early B movies in the 60s were serious little numbers on the whole and he never seemed to get anywhere. Then in a supporting role in Borman's "Deliverance" he exploded on the movie scene like an atomic bomb. Even his longtime fans from his "Gunsmoke" days like myself were stunned. Then, again he seemed to be stalling. Then he did something most of us where not expecting...he went pedal-to-the-metal comedy. Burt Reynolds was funny...very funny. His arrogant demeanor evenly tempered by a twinkle in his eye, he could charm a cornered rattlesnake. His fans were in on the joke the whole time while the others just plain hated him. It was their loss. He would go back to the serious movies after his tenure as the top box office dog, and he would finally get the much deserved respect from the Hollywood Mafia he had earned, but Burt at his best for most of us is still Burt being funny. Hooper, for me is still his best film while at the top. It was his poke in the eye at Hollywood and the crap so many actors have to endure. In a nutshell- Director is an ass, doesn't care about anyone but himself and his movie. Producer has no spine. Writer is treated like hired hand. Certain actors are treated like royalty while the stunt doubles do all the real (and dangerous) work the actors will no doubt get rave reviews for. Hooper's the best because like all the great stuntmen and daredevil types, he's a thrill junkie. Everyone knows he can't turn down a challenge to attempt the next bigger and better stunt. But he's getting old and the pounding his body has taken is catching up. His girlfriend wants him to stop and raise horses with her. Her father was a stuntman and when Hooper was a snot nosed wannabe he hounded the older man until he took him in and became his mentor. Now a new snot nosed wannabe is hounding Hooper. He sees what he's becoming in the old man, now just another Hollywood relic, and he sees what he once was in the new kid, the promise of becoming the best. Brian Kieth as the old man is outstanding. He was an underrated actor his entire career. Jan Michael Vincent is almost as good as the new kid hot on the heels of Hooper's King-of-the-Stuntmen Crown. As with all these Reynolds' comedies in-jokes and silliness abound, and action is top notch. Unlike the others this film also has good dramatic moments. Reynolds was never a great actor, but by the time this film was made he had become a damn good one. Supported by Sally Field and Brian Kieth and Robert Klien and many others, it's one of the best films he has made so far. Ex-NFL great Terry Bradshaw and several other off the wall cameos are peppered throughout. The twinkle never goes away and at the end Burt looks us straight in the eye and throws the final punch just for us. It may not be great "film" but it's great "Movie" making, just plain popcorn munching fun. If you like Burt, this could be the ultimate Burt Reynolds movie. If you like movies about Hollywood or just like to laugh or thrill to fantastic stuntwork this movie is a must.
Megaforce
(1982)
Comic Book Hollywood
29 December 2004
Nothing wrong with comic book movies. Is there? This one is painfully funny if watched with the right attitude. Acting is camp, characters are cardboard camp, plot is Marvel Comics meets 007 camp... and on and on. Anyone who watches this movie and tries to evaluate it as anything but pure camp (Think TVs BATMAN from the 1960s) is in bad need of taste and IQ points. I don't like Hal Needhum films as a rule, but this one hits a popcorn eating mark. I rate this as a rare cult classic right up there with FEARLESS FRANK and XANADU. A real must be seen to be believed. Anyone who enjoys Monster Truck Pulls and exploding outhouses will marvel at the gadgets and tech in this one. Anyone who finds the art of jabbing at live badgers with a dull fork will also be amused. The character of Dallas is the only negative thing in my opinion. I'm a true Southerner...we'd stomp that rebel yell screaming idiot to death in the parking lot if we had to put up with him. Same actor who played Sonny in XANADU...we would've stomped him to death in that one too, roller blades and all. A 7 for pure camp value.
The Long Riders
(1980)
A history buff's feast.
16 November 2004
Some call this film revisionist history...anyone who understands and loves history knows that any retelling of anything is "revisionist" to start with. The James-Younger gang have long been a part of American myth and folklore. Only recently has more serious digging into the facts and evidence taken place. Jessie James in particular has become an American icon, and as with any icon the truth and the legend swing wildly around, swirling like a firestorm. It's easy to understand why the stories keep being retold over and over. I think this is one of the best films ever made on the subject. Call it a "Western" or "Period Piece" or whatever, it's just a damn good movie. I can only count on one hand the inaccuracies I spotted, and for a "Jessie James" movie that fact alone is incredible. The acting is very low keyed and the atmosphere is flawless. These characters are men whose destinies had been forged in Hell's furnace. Some artistic moments are slipped in of course but most of those are perfectly in tune with the film's look and feel. One of the most striking is when the core of the gang ride out of the night mist to confront the Pinkertons who had chucked the bomb (flare?) into the James' home. It probably didn't happen that way, but anyone who knows the story of the James brothers can picture it happening that way and could never doubt that it may have. These characters are neither heroes or villains here, they are what all famous men of history are...victims...of both time and place. It is just as easy to justify their actions as it is to condemn them. A history film can't take a side and still be good history. This one comes damn close...and in Hollywood that's a real rarity in itself.
Excalibur
(1981)
Arthur...Both a film maker's dream and nightmare.
29 August 2004
Arthur is forever. He is obvious but elusive. He's a changeling, never exactly the same thing twice. When covering the story in film it seems we end up with either a cardboard costume programmer or a colorful piece of revisionist tripe. Arthur is a challenge to the writer, the poet, the painter, the musician, and especially the film maker. To make Arthur real, one has to know Arthur. There lies the biggest obstacle to overcome. Nobody knows who Arthur was. The Arthur the general public is aware of is the dream that Merlin refers to in this film. Mallory is the version that most poets and movie makers like to point to as the source. But even his version was written years after Arthur-as-fact existed. He did what film maker's do, he gathered pieces and added some imagination. Arthur-in-flesh will never be caught on film. We will only have the Arthur in our imaginations, an Arthur-of-dreams, in simple terms...The Arthur of legend. And I think Boorman nailed it. I'm a big fan of Arthurian legend and this movie catches the spirit and the mystical quality that is the very blood of the legend. The look, the feel, the passion...all that it should be. Sexy, violent, surreal, eerily personal and yet vaporous and untouchable. I think Excalibur is the best version of the dream caught on film so far. The more recent film "First Knight" without a doubt was one of the worst. Compare the two films and you'll see how Arthur-in-flesh never works on film, even with Sean Connery playing the title role. I think it takes guts to try to tackle Arthur seriously on film, and it takes a talent above the rest to make it work. Boorman did it. I think it will be a long time before anyone pulls it off again.
What I like to call just a "Fun Movie".
29 August 2004
I think everyone has a few old movies stashed away in their brains that for some reason or another are a part of their lives. Our personal soundtrack if you will. This film is one of mine. I know I saw it at a drive-in when it came out but can't recall which one. My older brother still recalls this one fondly also. It was gut busting funny at the time but hasn't aged that well due to the general public's far more sophisticated mindset these days. But it's still funny. Anyone who is a fan of flying or the history of traditional European nationalistic rivalry will still howl at this clever and at times very sharp satire. We see some of the attitudes that would help fuel the violent world wars that would erupt soon after 1910. The vintage aircraft, some authentic, some not, are sure to excite aircraft fans. The footage of the genuine planes actually flying across the English countryside is genuinely MAGNIFICENT. Many running gags through the length of the movie. My favorite is the obvious one...the redhead. I caught this on our PBS station just last night and as always I was hooked again and had to watch till two in the morning. There's something about most English movies from the 60's that is just magical. Even the bad ones like "Casino Royale" are still fascinating to watch. Great international casts, clever scripts, funny situations, sight gags...whole packages. Fun Movies, plain and simple. "Those Magnificent Men..." isn't a great film or even a great comedy. But it's still a genuine Fun Movie and well worth at least a rental fee. Now that I've seen it again for the zillonth time my brother and I will be talking about it and laughing out butts off the next time I see him. For us it's one of those kind of movies.
Full Metal Jacket
(1987)
Just as jarring as the book.
14 August 2004
Should have been so much better than it is. The first half is magnificent. The second half has that plotted meandering feel that Kubrick fans know and love. Not as surreal as a lot of his films, and not quite as good either. The whole sequence of events along the second half seem to move like a parade. I think this is the most clichéd movie Kubrick ever made. It's Stanley saying this is my version of the "Hollywood" Nam film. That's a shame. It is exciting though. Chasing down the sniper in Hue is the best sequence. I have a cousin who rarely comments on his 13 month tour in 1968-69 and even he says that sequence makes his skin crawl. He refers to it as "Been there-done that syndrome." A fairly good war movie for the war movie buffs, others might have a different opinion. The film's only about half the book. I found the book not to be all that satisfying either. Kubrick's best war film is still Paths of Glory. That's just this war movie buff's opinion.
Platoon
(1986)
Maybe a masterpiece.
14 August 2004
Maybe? Well... Vietnam is a personal war, or more to the point, a personal opinion of that particular war. Like the American Civil War a hundred years earlier historians will never be able to stamp a definable image on that conflict. Platoon is a movie about Oliver Stone's Vietnam. He may have hit the nail right on the head or he may be wandering around out in left field somewhere. Only he and the closest few around him would have a better idea of which image is which. The rest of us simply watch the movie and think about it afterward. The combat sequences are without a doubt some of, if not the best ever shot. This aspect of the film is brutally real. So is the interplay between the individuals themselves. Through this fascinating maze of characters and story is woven the moral tale of an everyday All American Boy Next Door who is figuring out that he has made one of the worst mistakes in his life so far. And now he doesn't know if he'll even live long enough to make any more. This thread-morality play-is what makes Platoon a very personal movie. A real masterpiece is for everyone. Platoon is not for everyone. A common soldier is presented in an unmistakable image of the Christ. Gut wrenching? Yes. Moving? Yes. Real? That depends a lot on who is watching and taking it all in. One vet says "There it is!" Another says "What a load of crap." The only thing the rest of us can do is wonder about it and try to piece second hand facts together. Is this a good war movie? Without a doubt, one of the best ever. Is it a good movie in general? Definitely! Is it a masterpiece? I don't know, I wasn't there. I whole heartedly thank all the poor bastards who were there regardless of personal politics at the time, and I thank Mr. Stone for both his services to me when he was young and in uniform and for becoming such a brilliant and personally honest film maker. I love this film even though it is difficult for me to watch at times.
The Beguiled
(1971)
An oddball gem.
10 August 2004
Clint Eastwood in a soap opera? You bet! Gothic melodrama is what a real critic would most likely call it. Wounded Yankee soldier Eastwood is rescued from the field by several southern school girls. He finds himself in an isolated all girls school surrounded by young ladies from about 10 years old up to the middle aged school mistress. Kinky! Crushes and jealousy kick in as Eastwood attempts to get as much mileage out of his situation as he can. He's a nasty man, but these are some nasty girls. I remember when this came out at the drive-in. No one really knew what to make of it. A few months later "Dirty Harry" was released and this out of step Clint Eastwood movie just disappeared. That's a shame. It's something really different. Directed by Eastwood's longtime collaborater Don Segal, the film has a highly stylized look and feel to it. It's just plain creepy and that feeling never lets up. There are no good guys or bad guys, just nasty people trying to take advantage of other nasty people who in turn grow nastier and nastier as the movie progresses. It doesn't cover all the ground the book did. (I read it during a tour of jury duty some years ago.) But it moves at a good pace and it's sometimes complicated plot stays reasonable easy to follow. (The book was very hard to keep straight!) Creepy and nasty and very different. Well worth a look, especially by Eastwood fans.
The Outlaw Josey Wales
(1976)
A movie that cuts close to the bone.
9 August 2004
It's rare when a film made from a book turns out to be better than the book. I couldn't finish "Gone to Texas" I found it so boring and pointless. Then Eastwood made this film from it. I think it's his first masterpiece. Much better than "Unforgiven" which I found to be rather slow in places. I have a colorful family history and this was one of the first, and still one of the best, films ever made about a place and time that I'm very familiar with at a personal level. Apart from that fact it's a classic revenge tale with all the overtones of Classical Greek Tragedy. A wronged and damaged man goes on his quest for personal justice and nearly reaches mythical status. When the vehicle for his quest ends, he chooses to continue on alone. He then finds himself forced by circumstances encountered along the way to try to outrun himself and leave his terrible past behind. But, of course, that past is hot on his heels in a quest for vengeance all it's own. Some may call it just a western. It's much, much more than that. I think it's one of the finest historical character studies ever caught on film. Eastwood has often been called a limited actor. Maybe he is. But when the perfect roll for his ability is there, he not only can scare the daylights out of you, but he can also touch your soul. And he does it here. You don't have to be a Civil War War buff to enjoy this movie. You don't have to be a western nut. This is great movie making by a very talented guy with steely eyes. The touches of detail, historical, psychological, and emotional are all there. This was one of the early films in which Eastwood had all the say so in making. He's not made a bad or so-so film since. It's a great film and should become a classic with the passage of a little more time.
Kelly's Heroes
(1970)
A war movie buff's guilty pleasure.
9 August 2004
I'm the first one to rant at ridiculous war movies. The history has to be right, the uniforms, and so on and so on. Plots have to be creditable or I'm the first one to cry foul. But then there comes along movies like Kelly's Heroes. It's violent and meaningless really...but funny and very exciting. The gear is accurate for the most part, which is far more than I can say about the bulk of so called serious war films. Even with the infamous Tiger tank the film makers attempted to at least make the Russian built Yugoslav T53s they were using look like Tigers. I think they were T53s, they did such a good job of making them look like Tigers it's hard to tell. The whole film is a 1960s anti-establishment slant thrown on a pretty standard WWII story about GIs on a mission behind the German lines. In this parallel universe John Wayne type mission, these guys are out for number one. It's their mission, not the US Army's or the Allies. With a headlines crazy General chasing behind them with his photographer looking to pin medals on "his boys" for piercing the German lines and apparently leading his "charge", they're heading for a town full of Germans guarding a bank with three Tiger tanks. Clint Eastwood has to pick up the means to complete this personal mission along the way without the secret leaking out. We even have 1960s Hippies in this silly war torn 1940s world. Donald Sutherland is a riot as a stoned Sherman tank commander who seems to have stepped into a timewarp and emerged in 1944 and found himself at the helm of an armored unit. Several then unknowns are in the film, including Harry Dean Stanton and Gavin Mcleod. Beautiful scenery and photography shot in what was then Yugoslavia. Excellent attention to equipment detail. Good, if over the top, performances all around. Suspense and excitement. Very funny. And possibly the silliest pothole laden plot to ever pass itself off as a war movie. If you're a war movie buff with a sense of humor you'll love it.
Hamburger Hill
(1987)
A rare "Real" one.
8 August 2004
No stars, no over the top heroics, no secret missions. Brutally realistic and historical accurate Nam film. One of the very few so far. One can nit-pick over the dialogue interludes throughout the film, but as with any story there has to be a set backdrop for characters to develop from. You have to know a little about these guys before you can really feel for them. It's a plot device but it works and takes nothing away from the film. Well done war films are a rarity, especially Vietnam era ones. This particular film is truly a good one. I would even consider it an excellent film for history students of the war and it's times. The last scene screams out in silence what every combat vet knows and feels.
Xanadu
(1980)
Root canal anyone?
8 August 2004
I love bad movies, and it's rare when a movie can be so bad that I can't even find some kind of perverse enjoyment in it. I took my soon to be wife to see this travesty when it was first released well over twenty years ago. She married me anyway. The girl has guts. She even snickers when this movie's mentioned. Our grown daughter couldn't believe a film could be this bad so we rented it one night before she left for college and enlightened her. She wasn't amused. The disco-roller boogie score puts the date in dated. That crappy music was already all but dead when this thing was made. Gene Kelly is fun to watch gracefully whizzing about showing up the clumsy and untalented "kids". I know it was an attempt at whimsical fantasy. When these types of film hit the mark they're magical. When they miss, you get junk like this. This movie is one of the worst of its kind. The worst of any kind really.
The Green Berets
(1968)
Will John Wayne ever grow up?
8 August 2004
This movie was pure old school Hollywood garbage. Just a another John Wayne B movie type piece of propaganda. The clichés are all in place. The comedy relief appears virtually on cue, as does the various good IL' boy deaths and heroics. The bad guys are cardboard and are annihilated by the hundreds to one ratio so often found in these grenade pins pulled with your teeth type war movies. Clip the opening scenes off and the first half of the film is exciting though. The rest is just rehashed grade B adventure war movie plot. The first few times I saw it, including at the drive-in when it was released, it was just "another John Wayne" movie. Then as I learned more about the war and life itself, it got funny. Now I'm middle aged and a little wiser, and I find history bending, reality free, propaganda pushing tripe like this offensive and to some extent dangerous. I think the Green Berets is one of the best examples of the worst kind of war movie.
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