36 Hours takes the typical concept of a war movie and tosses it out the window, instead giving us a cynical, suspenseful, psycho-thriller that will make you smirk, think, and it will surprise you.

James Garner plays US Army Major Jeff Pike, who's dispatched to Portugal on a mission just before D-Day. He's privy to the details of operation Overlord, and the Germans know it. Through their nasty network of Nazi spies they manage to kidnap him, and then the real fun begins.

1969's Battle of Britain is a pretty academic and mechanical look at the escalation of German bombing attacks in 1940 which we all know as "the blitz."  An all-star cast consisting of such names as Christopher Plummer, Michael Caine, Curt Jurgens, Laurence Olivier, Nigel Patrick, Robert Shaw, and more round it out.

But the real stars of this movie aren't flesh and blood at all, but the staggering number of aircraft (both real and F/X.)  Matter of fact while watching this you come to realize that the people are just kind of a sideshow to the absolutely amazing dogfight and air battle scenes.

Spitfires, Hurricanes, Me-109s, Stukas, Heinkels... the list goes on, and there are lots of them.  Lots of them seem to meet untimely demises as well, and I hope(!) they were replicas or prop pieces!  The F/X here are really quite good for '69, as you can believe it when you're shown 100's of Luftwaffe bombers coming after London.

Like I said, the air battle scenes are where this movie shines.  From the sound effects, to the incredible camera angles and views, to the pilot chatter, it's all good.

Especially interesting is the final battle scene, where the sound effects were removed and all you hear is the (albeit overly "pompous") musical soundtrack.  It comes out as a magical "airplane" ballet of sorts.

To be honest the non-aircraft parts of the film are rather mechanical in nature.  Even with such greats as Plummer, Caine, and Olivier, its obvious these scenes are just kind of "filler" for in between the raging sky conflicts.

There's also a lot of subtitled German, as we're shown the Nazi POV of things.  I mean a lot of subtitles (which I didn't pick up on at first since I had the TV "zoomed" in to fill the letterbox across the screen!)  And they're even more mechanical and academic than the Brits!

Overall, I doubt you'll see a more impressive assemblage of German and British WWII aircraft anywhere than this film.  If you're a dogfight fan, or a fan of the more "methodical" war movies, this is a must see.

Technorati Tags: war movies, film, dvd, battle of britain, 1969, spitfire, hurricane, me109, stuka, blitz

I went into Battle of the Bulge thinking, "Alright! A nearly three-hour long epic docu-drama on the battle!"

And, unfortunately, I couldn't have been more wrong. I'm not really sure what this movie was supposed to be. When I think of the real Battle of the Bulge, I don't think of the things that were portrayed in this movie. I think of the poor slobs stuck out in the forest freezing their you-know-whats off, practically starving, and being pounded by German artillery.

I don't think of huge, and largely unbelievable tank battles that look like something out of the Revolutionary war. Funny, not until I started writing this did I find that my opinion matched some of the others out there....

After World War II, as you are probably quite aware by now, the official state of Israel was formed in Palestine.  And then all hell broke loose.

Cast a Giant Shadow attempts to tell a bit of that story, as former American officer Mickey Marcus (Kirk Douglas) goes to Israel to help establish their military, fend off those who would oppose them, and legitimize the newly formed government.

Now, I don't want to get into an argument about the politics of the Middle East, so I won't touch on any of that.  Sure this is based on a true story, and the American bias is obvious, but really this is an excellent war movie from the "docu-drama" category.  With plenty of artistic license thrown in.

Yeah, you've got to contend with the tacked-on love story bit, where Marcus gets estranged from his wife, and falls for the hot Israeli chick.  But its all good.

Basically the plot follows Marcus as he's thrust into the battle early on his arrival to the region, and has to figure out how to unify about four different "militias" under the flag of the provisional, still unrecognized government.  Once this is accomplished, he's lauded as a hero, both there and at home.  Unfortunately he meets his doom quite by accident, and that's where the movie ends.

What strikes me most odd about this is the near upstaging of Douglas by the "special guest" cast, who only get billed at the end of the cast list in the credits.  You've got the US Army General Randolph whom Marcus flaunted (and still does) during the war played by none other than John Wayne.  Then there's the commander of one of the Israeli factions, Asher Gonen, played by Yul Brynner.  Wait for it, there's more.  Toward the end, Frank Sinatra of all folks shows up as a (should I say *the*) pilot for the Israeli "Air Force" (once you've seen it you'll understand the quotes...)

Overall this star studded cast along with Angie Dickinson as Marcus' wife, and Senta Berger as Magda, the other woman, makes Cast a Giant Shadow a movie worthy of its name.

Really I wasn't expecting to like this one very much, I figured it'd just be a "let's just hash some history" type of story, but its done really well.  Yeah there are some stereotypes portrayed, most notably on the Arab side of things, but you just have to run with it.

Regardless of your opinions of the middle east situation, I'd recommend
Cast a Giant Shadow, if nothing else to learn about a bit of history you probably weren't aware of (I know I wasn't at all) and to watch a cast of great actors click together.

Technorati Tags: war movie reviews, cast a giant shadow, 1966, israel, middle east, united nations, kirk douglas, senta berger, angie dickinson, yul brynner, john wayne, frank sinatra

If you think living in today's terrified "war on terror" world is, well, terrifying.  I can only imagine what it must've been like to live in the shadow of constant fear of impending nuclear doom.  And really the world was closer to total obliteration then than any single terrorist event that could happen now.

1964's Fail Safe is based on the Burdick-Wheeler Novel of the same name, and explores that terror in great detail.  Really this is a story about the fallibility of both man and machine, that if left unchecked can have disastrous consequences.  Additionally its a great example of 60's experimental film making.

What can you say about Father Goose? A light-hearted comedy starring Cary Grant and Leslie Caron, about a drunken slob forced into a position as a coastal spotter in the South Pacific during WWII. He manages to pick up a French schoolteacher and her wards, a pack of well-off young girls. And of course, hilarity ensues.

This movie is just funny, it was funny then, and its funny now. It's proof that you don't need immense amounts of swearing and bathroom humor to be funny. Sure there are plenty of chauvinist jokes in there, but hey, its '64! Run with it!

I've seen this movie numerous times, and it's one of those that's just funny every single time. And there's actually some war-movie action to speak of! What with Zero's strafing their grass hut, and subs taking out Japanese patrol boats....

What's not to like? Not that much I'm afraid. I just can't find anything to gripe about!

Aw heck, just watch it. With your whole family. You can actually do that with this one.



Technorati Tags: movies, reviews, father goose, cary grant, leslie caron, dvd

Good war movies don't necessarily have to develop out of a major war.  Sometimes all it takes is a little political maneuver to provide the catalyst, even if its purely fictional.  Guns at Batasi gives us a glimpse into the collapse of the worldwide British Empire, as control is handed over, somewhat awkwardly, from the British to the local government of an unnamed African nation.

Actually the movie is based on the 1962 novel, The Siege of Battersea, by Robert (or is it John?) Hollis (or Holles? Wikipedia and Amazon conflict here!)

Regardless, the story mainly follows a group of British sergeants, who have been trapped by chance in their mess hall during the messy takeover of the camp by an overzealous Lieutenant Boniface (Errol John).  Meanwhile they're hosting a member of parliament (Flora Robson) while the former camp CO (Jack Hawkins) is away.

They've got to hold their ground in the most English of ways against this new tyrant, and the men have to deal with their "by the book" Sgt. Major Lauderdale (Richard Attenborough), and a rogue Private Wilkes (John Leyton) and his wayward companion and interest, the UN secretary Ms. Wise (Mia Farrow).

In the process of harboring the interim camp commander, Capt. Abraham (Earl Cameron) they're given an ultimatum, deliver the Capt. to be "tried" for treason or face destruction.  They choose to fight back, and do so successfully.

Unfortunately for Lauderdale his actions bring shame to his career and his family tradition, and himself, as he's forced to leave the country immediately or face the government for his "crimes."

Ultimately its a sobering look into the politics and helplessness of situations like this.  Really I can't describe any more than that.  It may sound like a boring exercise, but really it works quite well.  There really isn't a lot of military action to speak of, except for the very end, but the tension and chemistry between all the characters, along with the superb acting and writing really make for an excellent film.  After all that's more of what this is about, the plight of the trapped sergeants and their company.  The rest of it is window dressing.

Guns at Batasi might on the surface seem like just another ho-hum British war movie (believe me I've seen a few of 'em) but I recommend checking it out, you'll probably be as surprised as I was.

Technorati Tags: war movie reviews, guns at batasi, 1964, the seige of battersea, richard attenborough, mia farrow, earl cameron, errol john, jack hawkins, flora robson, british empire, africa