Reviews

I've seen this film more than 50 times and it ranks as my all-time favorite war movie. Another viewer wanted to know if the scene in which Sergeant Dohun really pulled a pistol on a doctor who had refused to look at his apparently dead captain was real or just "Hollywood." The answer is easily obtainable if one reads Cornelius Ryan's epic account of the battle, from which the movie derives its title. Not only was that scene true, but eh characters portrayed by James Caan, Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery, Ryan O'Neal and Robert Redford all served as consultants to the making of ABTF.

It may seem unfair for one to review this movie without having seen it but the typical Hollywood hype has caused virtually all of us to have "experienced" this trashy film before it was even released. As an historian, I admit to being a harsh critic when it comes to making a movie about a real historic event. Tora Tora Tora was an excellent re-creation of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, but this movie is grossly inaccurate. I find it amusing to read reviews of this movie. It was loved by younger viewers (aka the MTV/Brittney Spears generation)for its special effects but older viewers have trashed it for its silly dialogues and predictable love triangle. But what turned me off months before the movie was released to general audiences was the fact that Ben Affleck plays an American fighter pilot who gets into the air that day to take on hundreds of Japanese planes. How absurd!!!!!!! It is a well-documented fact that only two American fighter pilots, lieutenants Welsh and Taylor, managed to get into the air on December 7 and in their outclassed P-40s, managed to combine to shoot down seven Japanese planes. Taylor was wounded in his arm by .30mm slugs from a Zero. It is sacreligious to have any actor portray a fictional fighter pilot in such a well-documented event. Garbage as usual.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this a solid seven. The film has a well-developed plot and outstanding acting by the principal leads. My only problems with it were: (1)it appears to be filmed with a tinted lens. Italy is a "sunny" country, yet even the outdoor scenes are dark and gloomy (2)Emily Watson's character appears to fall in love with the highly eccentric Luzhin after only a brief chance encounter. I find this quite far-fetched. My wife disagrees with me, feeling that the character Natalia was actually "fleeing" from over-bearing parents and thus at first wasn't in love with Luzhin at all. My impressions of that part of the movie may be attributed to (3)choppiness; it seems that a good bit of The Luzhin Defence stayed on the cutting room floor. These are small problems. What was excellent about the movie was a total lack of car crashes, unnecessary sex scenes or vulgarity, and a finely written and well-acted story. Thumbs up!

I saw this movie last night. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 5. The set of the city was awesomely designed and some (not all) of the combat scenes were believable. The script, though, left a lot to be desired. I won't reiterate what other viewers have said but I would like to add two comments on the script. In one scene, Joseph Fiennes says "Whatever " which wasn't even used as a stand alone sentence even ten years ago, much less in WWII. In that same scene, Fiennes or Law one calls the Germans "Krauts." How absurd! Russians never called them that. Nor did any soldiers of Allied nations except the United States. Russians eat sauerkraut and cabbage with equal gusto to the German people. Why then would a Russian call a German a "Kraut?" I'm glad I saw the movie but the special effects were pitiful. I don't know what the hoopla is about computer imagery. The Stuka dive-bombers don't look any more realistic than does Godzilla in Japanese films of the 1960s.

I first saw this production in 1961 when I was six years old. Now I have it on video and my little three year old daughter watches it, the Disney original cartoon version, and the newer one with Cathy Rigby, all over and over again. Since I view them quite often with my daughter, I've begun to notice that Mary Martin often pauses several seconds before saying lines. She genuinely looks as if she has forgotten them. I find that hard to believe, considering she performed Peter Pan many times. I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this phenomenon.

I was a grade schooler during the years that Combat showed on Tuesday nights. My father was wounded and captured in the Battle of the Bulge and served four months as a POW, before being liberated on April 14, 1945. He always said the show was very realistic and now that I am in my mid-forties and a WWII buff virtually my entire life, I fully agree with him. The men in the squad are very similar to those in Saving Private Ryan. They are scared, weary, and somewhat disillusioned, but nevertheless determined to carry out their roles in the great World War II. Uniforms, equipment, and the sets all look authentic. I have a question for those who enjoyed this series. Where does it show on television these days? I have access to many tv channels but cannot find Combat anywhere. Please advise.

The animals in the Hundred Acre Wood have been my favorite characters to read stories of to my little girl. My wife and I told her all about movie theaters, popcorn, etc., and we bought her the Tigger Movie book to prepare her for this great event, her first movie at a theater. We were not disappointed. The animation was outstanding, the story meaningful and insightful, and I particularly enjoyed the songs, especially the end title song, which was performed by Kenny Loggins. My little girl screamed with delight and shouted often to the characters and our little eight month old, who also accompanied us, tried several times to reach out and grab Tigger and friends off the screen. A great movie and a truly fun day for us. Tiggerificent!!!

As a big fan of Jimmy Stewart, I was prepared for a great movie but was sorely disappointed. Mr. Stewart's superb acting is all that holds this flimsy work together. Doris Day is terribly miscast and I wonder if she was put into the film just so she could sing Que Sera repeatedly. No assassin would use a pistol to fire at someone thirty yards away and no assassin would keep to his mission once he knew he had been discovered. I'm also curious as to how the British authorities knew, upon the arrival of Dr. and Mrs Ben to London, of the kidnapping of Dr. Ben's son, considering that the good doctor and his wife decided to keep it a secret. This film also is too dated. There are too many scenes of them in a car or a wagon with a screen behind them. Screens are used as backdrops in some scenes, even though some of the movie was filmed in Marrakesh. I do not understand why film on location, then use a screen, unless this would be necessary for sound quality. All in all, a disappointing film and a very so so conclusion.

Two of my buddies went with me to see this three hour drivel. We all agreed it stank. We laughed uproariously at many of the scenes. First of all, John Travolta, George Clooney, and Woody Harrelson COMBINED are in this movie no more than ten minutes, Clooney for less than a minute. If The Thin Red Line is so great, why are these currently "hot" actors even in the film? Can't it stand on its own merits? In Saving Private Ryan the actress who plays the Ryan brothers's mother is an obscure actress, as is the actor who portrays General George Marshall, the most powerful American in uniform in all of WWII. The Thin Red Line could not stand on its own. Why do the voice-over narrations sound like hillbillies from the Ozarks? Were all the men who fought at Guadalcanal hayseeds from the South? The combat veterans of D-Day said Saving Private Ryan was very accurate but the vets of Guadalcanal laugh at The Thin Red Line. My own father was wounded and captured in the European Theater. He was a POW for four months and weighed under 100 pounds when he was liberated. He tells me that at no time did he wonder why he was shooting at Germans and would he meet them in the hereafter. The soldiers in The Thin Red Line (as well as the very overrated director) must have never heard of Pearl Harbor or the Bataan Death March. If the soldiers in our armed forces all acted like those in this incredibly stupid movie, the United States wouldn't be able to defeat Ethiopia. A terrible movie!!!!