Whether you get much out of this or not depends on what you're looking for. It's John Milius' film and he leaves his imprint on it. He's a weapons enthusiast. On some of his films he had it written into his contract that he would be allowed to hunt all the wild animals that were to be killed during the production. He's appeared on "Tales of the Gun" and displayed his expertise.
I appreciate that. I don't mean it critically because I'm curious about weapons technology too, and I'm happy to see that the U. S. troops in the Spanish-American war don't use Winchester carbines but dysfunctional Krag-Jorgensens, compared to the superior Spanish Mausers.
Yet the rendering of the battles in Cuba that featured Colonel Theodore Roosevelt are overdone to a turn. BANG. BOOM! The troopers do one of two things: fight or linger over someone's dying body during an exchange of manly sentiments. Tom Berenger's Theodor Roosevelt is outlandishly exaggerated. The dialog runs unchallengingly alone lines like, "By God, Sir, you are a cad!" At the height of a pitched battle, someone grabs a heavy machine gun and while mowing down the enemy he shouts out lines from Shakespeare's Henry V -- "Once more unto the breach!", and so forth.
I couldn't stand it. It reminded me of the comic books I'd read as a child.
Yet, I applaud it for its informative value. After all, who knows anything about the Spanish-American War, which has justly disappeared down the memory hole along with other mistakes like the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War. And it is nice to see a movie directed by someone who cares a little about the historical accuracy of the technological details.
I appreciate that. I don't mean it critically because I'm curious about weapons technology too, and I'm happy to see that the U. S. troops in the Spanish-American war don't use Winchester carbines but dysfunctional Krag-Jorgensens, compared to the superior Spanish Mausers.
Yet the rendering of the battles in Cuba that featured Colonel Theodore Roosevelt are overdone to a turn. BANG. BOOM! The troopers do one of two things: fight or linger over someone's dying body during an exchange of manly sentiments. Tom Berenger's Theodor Roosevelt is outlandishly exaggerated. The dialog runs unchallengingly alone lines like, "By God, Sir, you are a cad!" At the height of a pitched battle, someone grabs a heavy machine gun and while mowing down the enemy he shouts out lines from Shakespeare's Henry V -- "Once more unto the breach!", and so forth.
I couldn't stand it. It reminded me of the comic books I'd read as a child.
Yet, I applaud it for its informative value. After all, who knows anything about the Spanish-American War, which has justly disappeared down the memory hole along with other mistakes like the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War. And it is nice to see a movie directed by someone who cares a little about the historical accuracy of the technological details.