Face it, just about any war movie made in the fifties starring John Wayne is going to be considered a classic.  By default.  1951's Flying Leathernecks is deserving of the title regardless of the main character's name.

The story is a pretty standard war-time fare, about a squadron of Marine fighter pilots in WWII Pacific waters, fighting the Japanese menace.  What makes this picture stand out, though is its hard line take on the reality of war, and the toll it takes on everybody from the newest green horns to the most seasoned and scarred veterans.

Major Dan Kirby (John Wayne) is the gruff but still somewhat understanding commander, who tends to take the sometimes uncomfortable path of playing by the book.  We see this dichotomy early on when he first takes command of the squadron, and overlooks some of the more harmless shenanigans of his men.  When it comes down to it, though, he uses some unfortunate events to drill home the facts to his Marines.

His "counter" is Captain Carl "Griff" Griffin (Robert Ryan) who disagrees with the hardline nature of Kirby, and as such keeps getting passed over for command of this squadron.  In the end he comes to understand why Kirby is the way he his, I think, not that he likes it any better.

The reality of the situation is that Kirby has a job to do, which is to order men into battle and ultimately to their deaths.  He has to struggle with this every day, and the final conversation between Kirby and Griffin bears this out.

There's also a lot of humor from the pilfering Line Chief Sgt. Clancy (Jay C. Flippen), but I'm betting that's just there to keep the tone a bit lighter than it otherwise would have been.  And that is probably a good thing.

Another aspect of this film that shines is the brilliant editing of documentary footage into the action.  A lot of those images were (and still are) pretty harsh reminders of the danger these guys had to deal with.  And there's plenty of airborne dogfighting and ground support action to be had.

Speaking of, part of this film seems to try to document the struggle to get the Marine brass to accept the role of close air support in ground combat operations.  I found that an interesting statement to be making in a film of this era, and seems to echo sentiments that exist about tactics to this very day.

We also see a side of Kirby that puts him down to earth with the rest of us, his connection to his wife and kids back home, and how they deal with his service.

If you're in the mood for a great piece of aviation action that falls somewhere between the flag-waving and the dark-and-dirty then Flying Leathernecks is one to see.

Flying Leathernecks is also available online through Amazon Unbox!

Technorati Tags: flying leathernecks, 1951, john wayne, robert ryan, wwii, world war ii 2, pacific, hellcats, marines, usmc, corsair, aviation

Heh, this is kind of ironic, don't you think?

Germany has barred Bryan Singer and company from shooting at a German military site because the film’s star Tom Cruise is a Scientologist. The German government does not recognize as a church. According to THR, Berlin says Scientology masquerades as a religion to make money, a charge Scientology leaders reject. The movie, Valkyrie is based on true events, and tells the story of a scheme hatched by German Generals to assassinate Adolph Hitler at the height of World War II. Descendants of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg have also been vocal about Tom Cruise being cast for the lead role, fearing that the story will be turned into “propaganda” for the actor’s Scientology beliefs.”

Well so what if it is nothing but a money making scheme?  So is filmmaking, right? For you guys! Let them shoot the damn film already!

It will be interesting to see a more in-depth exploration of the dissention and ultimate assassination attempt, the likes of which you could see something of in The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel.

It's not like they're shooting "Battlefield Earth" or something....

Link: Germany Bans Bryan Singer Film Shoot Due to Tom Cruise’s Scientology | /Film
Link: Valkyrie (2008)

Technorati Tags: war movie news, valkyrie, tom cruise, scientology, xenu, hitler

I'm gonna keep this short and sweet.  What in the hell was that 90 minutes I just watched?

Operation Bikini is on the surface supposed to be about a team of underwater demolition experts who head out on board a submarine to the Japanese held Bikini Atoll, where another sub carrying a prototype radar device was sunk.  Their mission: destroy the sub and the radar device.  Simple enough, right?

Well, you'd think so.  Only somebody decided they'd stick Frankie Avalon in there doing some kind of Sinatra impersonation, not just once either! What? Huh? And this little psychadelic dream sequence is in color where the rest is black and white? WHAT?

OK so if you try and pretend you didn't just see Frankie's little dance numbers you can swallow it down as a mediocre adventure flick.  Taken in that respect its not too bad.  Except for a couple of racy moments that must've been gasped at in theatres in '63.

Then there's the ending.  Blow up the sub and we all go home, right?  Not exactly.  Then there's a very serious narration about how the Bikini Atoll will be remebered, and its connection to the nuclear age, and...and...

...and what it'll be remembered most for is a swimsuit! And then the credits roll with these two bikini-clad hotties (I suppose for '63) frolicking on the beach (in color again no less) doing freeze frames in various suggestive (again for '63) poses.

WHAT?  Errr, uhhhh.  Sure! Why not! Nothing like closing out a action packed war movie with a little skin, right?!  Ugh. 

Technorati Tags: operation bikini, 1963, war movie review, frankie avalon, jim backus, tab hunter, submarine, demolition, what the hell

I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when they pitched this movie.  "What? A cast of *two*? With very little dialog? And only one of them speaks English and we won't subtitle the other? What?!"

I'm really shocked this film made it out the door at all.  But I'm oh-so glad it did.  1968's Hell In The Pacific is a brilliant masterpiece of drama, and a statement about war that cuts right to the core of it all, the pure duality of human nature.

The film stars the venerable Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune.  And that's it.  Marvin's character (who is never outright named) becomes marooned on a remote Pacific island, which just happens to be occupied by an equally marooned Japanese soldier.

Marvin torments his foe, until he finally winds up captured.  He's taunted and belittled until he manages to escape, and turns the table on Mifune.   He soon grows tired of the charade and lets him free.

They eventually team up together and build a raft, and escape their tiny island, to wind up on another one.  This one is an equally deserted bombed out Japanese village, that has obviously been overrun by American forces.

The ending is, well, somewhat in following with late 60's apocalyptic fashion, but serves its point.  Just before the finale, the two appear to become mortal enemies again, after Mifune gets a glimpse of captured and killed Japanese soldiers in an issue of LIFE Magazine.

The chemistry between Marvin and Mifune is 80% of what makes this film so wonderful.  I doubt it could have been done with two other actors.  Mifune's presence and Marvin's bravado just complement each other in an amazing fashion.

Equally amazing is the combination of the cinematography, and Lalo Schifrin's soundtrack (who also did the soundtrack to '71s THX 1138).  If you listen closely and carefully you can follow the soundtrack as it goes from a wild chaos of strange and spooky sounds as the two stranded soldiers fight each other, to a more carefully arranged baroque church organ, to a typically upbeat and hopeful classical piece as they help each other off the island.  One scene in particular stands out as an example of this combination, where Mifune is sitting underneath a strange yet beautiful carved out rock at the water's edge, and the baroque organ piece plays loudly....

Is it a particularly exciting bit of film?  Eh, not really.  But its definitely a masterpiece of its own making.

Technorati Tags: hell in the pacific, 1968, lee marvin, toshiro mifune, lalo schifrin, world war ii 2

Two words.  Skip it!  Wait for the 1951 version of this starring Audie Murphy and Bill Mauldin to come around on the tube, or something.  Just avoid this at all costs.

Stephen Crane's classic novel, "The Red Badge of Courage", about a boy who becomes a man through the trials of his experience in the Civil War is turned into a glossy Cliff Notes version here.

Starring Richard "John Boy Walton" Thomas, his less-than-stellar performance is the highlight of the hour.  Which is about all the longer this made-for-TV fiasco is (thank goodness!)

The production is mediocre, and I quickly grew weary of the strings-and-harmonica "country" soundtrack they plastered on here.

Better yet, sit down and just read the book.  I'm sure most of us had to read it at one point in our schooled past, but it might warrant a second look....

Technorati Tags: red badge of courage, richard thomas, stephen crane, 1974, civil war, classics, simply awful, dreadful

From Reuters:

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Three months after his notorious blackout farewell from "The Sopranos," actor James Gandolfini will return to HBO with a documentary about wounded U.S. veterans of the Iraq war, the network said on Monday.

"Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq" will debut on the pay-cable TV channel on September 9, featuring Gandolfini's interviews with 10 American GIs recounting their experiences in surviving close brushes with death on the battlefield.

The documentary, for which the "Sopranos" star was the executive producer, marks the first project from his Attaboy Films production company, HBO said.

The title of the film comes from a phrase adopted by many wounded Iraq war veterans referring to the day they narrowly survived a combat injury, often with horrific wounds that leave them permanently disabled.

Gandolfini, 45, who has visited U.S. troops in Iraq on behalf of the USO, produced the film from a series of in-studio interviews with Iraq war vets earlier this year, discussing "their feelings on their future, their severe disabilities and their devotion to America," HBO said.

The burly actor is best known for his award-winning portrayal of Tony Soprano, a conflicted New Jersey mob boss and family man, on HBO's acclaimed gangster drama "The Sopranos."

The show concluded its eight-year, six-season run last week with a final episode that strongly suggested Tony was about to be murdered before abruptly ending mid-scene, cutting from a shot of Gandolfini's face to a blank screen.

The unorthodox, fill-in-the-blank finale left many viewers convinced something had gone wrong with their cable TV reception and triggered a torrent of debate by fans and critics.

Gandolfini's next acting role is expected to be a feature film portrait as Ernest Hemingway in a story centered on the writer's tempestuous romance with war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, who became the novelist's third wife.

Last year, he appeared in a remake of "All the King's Men" that bombed with critics and the box office.

Link: Sopranos star returns to HBO with Iraq war film | Entertainment | Reuters

Technorati Tags: james gandolfini, alive day memories, home from iraq, war movies, news, hbo

It's not often that you see one of the highest ranking officers of a despicable and evil empire celebrated in such a overwhelmingly positive light.  The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel does just that.  It highlights the last days of German (but questionably Nazi) Field Marhsal Erwin Rommel, who is widely thought of as one of the more brilliant strategists and commanders of his era, and probably even today.

British actor James Mason stars as the troubled Rommel, and does an excellent job of it.  However, his stellar performance is hampered somewhat by the rest of his players, and the overall tone of the picture.

The film starts with a British commando raid on a complex where Rommel is assumed to be staying, they fail miserably of course.  From there we jump to North Africa, where Rommel is about to be defeated due to his lack of support from Berlin, and where he blatantly defies orders he believes to be incorrect.  The tone of the picture starts to develop here, where he puts the lives of his men over the orders from der Fuerher.

Once back on the mainland, he battles a recurring illness, as he and a growing contingent of high-ranking German officers are becoming disillusioned with Hitler's increasing megalomania, and they ultimately plot to overthrow him.

We get one of the few film glimpses of the assassination attempt by satchel charge on Hitler in his remote bunker, which only failed due to a bit of bad luck.

In the end he's found out, and taken away to (we can only assume) commit suicide-by-black-capsule rather than risk Nazi retribution on his family.

I'm sorry but I guess I have a big problem with celebrating the life and career of such a man so positively.  History proves his brilliance as a strategist and commander, no doubt.  I don't think anyone will dispute this.  Whether or not he was such a noble character as he's portrayed here is my main point of contention, and there are few who know, or ever knew for that matter, the full truth.

Was there this much dissention and rebellion within the ranks of the German military?  Absolutely, history also proves this to be true, but again, the "nobility" and true intentions of it all seem overplayed.  It's no secret that nobody liked Hitler and his cronies, but really.

The British accents of the Germans were somewhat of a distraction throughout the picture as well.  It was hard to take seriously high-ranking officers sporting Scottish and educated-English accents.

Apparently there are other historical inaccuracies throughout the picture, but I don't think this detracts too much from the film.  I'd give this one a watch just to get a little insight into one of the legends of World War II, but I wouldn't put too much stock into the truth of it all.

The final blow to the picture comes at the end, with a direct snippet of audio from Churchill himself, praising the man in no uncertain terms.  Western military honor at work? Quite possibly, but I have a hard time believing that this message would have gone over very well only a few short years after the war was over.