Wheels of Terror ( The Misfit Brigade ) Review

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(More customer reviews)When you consider the source material, this adaptation from Sven Hassel's bestseller Wheels Of Terror (one of a series of more than 10 books) about a German Penal Regiment fighting their way through battle after battle on the Russian front, should have been better than it is. Instead of making a gritty war movie with amusing moments in the style of the book, they've turned it into a caper movie trying to get cheap laughs with little substance. The music is straight out of a "Carry-On..." film, and the comedy elements really don't work at all. The C grade cast just about manage to get from A to B in the script without giving any real meat to their characters, and the whole thing goes off like a damp squib. Which is a shame when you think this could have been a late 80's Cross Of Iron instead of the second rate Kelly's Heroes that it turned out. It's hard to believe this film was made *after* Platoon had revised the way war movies are made. The Misfit Brigade is like a throwback to the less-than-serious war movies of the 60's - no bad thing if it's done well, but it's not.
Oliver Reed and David Carradine only appear for a combined screen time of about 5 minutes, so having them at the head of the cast list is stretching things a bit. One bizarre factoid though is that the kid that played the young Russian soldier in Peckinpah's vastly superior Cross Of Iron is all grown up and cast as Sven Hassel, the author, here, although he's reduced to a mere face in the crowd with little or nothing to do for nearly the entire feature.
That's not to say the film's a waste of time. I didn't find it at all funny (although the slapstick score was obviously telling me where and when I should be laughing) but maybe I felt let down by the fact that I was expecting something a little different to what I got. It's certainly not a bad film, it's about 20 years too late for the niche market it was aiming for and as such it'll probably rot on video for the rest of its days.
Don't do what I did and expect a reasonable adaptation of a great rollercoaster ride of a book, if you do you'll be disappointed. It has its moments, but turning a blind eye to Germans fighting WW2 using East European post-1960 tanks is a bit harder to do when the film doesn't give you much in return. It's more of a curio than anything else. If you want to see the Germans at war watch Das Boot, Cross Of Iron, or All Quiet On The Western Front. If you want to see an old fashioned style WW2-set caper movie in the style of Kelly's Heroes or The Dirty Dozen (but nowhere near as good) then The Misfit Brigade might be what you're looking for. At least it's better than the TV movie sequels they made for The Dirty Dozen.

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In the Heat of Passion 2 (1994) Review

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(More customer reviews)Lesley-Anne Down (North and South) was my reason for watching this movie. I had hoped she would be slinky and sexy in this, but all that stuff was left to the younger Teresa Hill. I'm not complaining about Teresa's assets, it's just that the mature Ms. Down could have sent the temperature soaring if she'd been more willing.
This is a movie you feel you've seen before, because the plot is the re-hashed formula of so many B-movie erotic thrillers. One that comes to mind is Inner Sanctum, starring Tanya Roberts. It's almost a carbon copy of that movie. Nonetheless, it delivers the goods you expect from a B-movie: wooden acting, an attempt to be noir with twist upon twist, and a splash of sex and nudity.
Ms. Down is the disabled wife of the forgettable male lead, and he and his nubile young mistress (Teresa Hill) scheme to get rid of her for the insurance. But not all goes according to plan...

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Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988) Review

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(More customer reviews)This film is a great masterpiece. Despite the nominal subject, Klaus Barbie, the "Butcher of Lyons" during the occupation of France by Germany during World War II, it delves deeply into a much broader subject. Master filmmaker Marcel Ophuls, so unpretentiously and with a mastery of English, German, and French, takes us back in time to the days when the Gestapo Headquarters in Paris was at the train station--Hotel Terminus--still standing with its moniker in the 1980s. He follows through interviews with famed French Nazi-hunters the Klarsfelds, to Barbie's bodyguard in South America, to Germans associated with the Germanization of Bolivia...around the globe, the story of the lowly Barbie from childhood to trial as a War Criminal in France in the 1980s is told masterfully--even with an occasional note of sardonic humor. Could it be otherwise?
This is a spellbinding four hour, twenty eight minute documentary, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary film in 1988. Yes, it rings as true 16 years later as it did then, perhaps even more so! It is as timeless a documentary as Leni Riefenstahls "Triumph of the Will" documenting the aspirations of the Third Reich itself. Interlaced with Barbies story, Ophuls hangs out in pool halls with "everyday" Frenchmen, hears their opinions, visits Barbie's childhood home where the high school he attended has no institutional memory of him, to the mountains of Bolivia where even the uniforms of the President and his minions are reminiscent of Hugo Boss's designs of uniforms for the Third Reich...
This is a fascinating trip through the Western World of the 20th century that, in my opinion stands the test of time as one of the best on the personalities of the Third Reich. The legal problems facing Jackson at Nuremberg reappear in the 1980s as Barbie is finally, after many years, extradited back to France although his whereabouts are known. France struggles to deal with its own complicity, the failings of its own legal system...and in the days to come, we will see this drama re-emerge in the post-Iraq War II.
Barbie re-emerges as a brutal man, though ill in late life, and the witnesses bring him to life. The Jewish children, hidden in the countryside, whom he deported to Auschwitz are heard from once again. A deported Jew is but vaguely remembered by an apartment-house neighbor. The stench of Evil remains, even in the prevarications of common bureaucrats.
Although not rated, this film is not appropriate for pre-teens, and should be seen by teenagers and young adults only when the context can be discussed with informed adults.
Had Marcel Ophuls produced no other work, and this one obviously took years, it would have been enough.
Although repeated many times, those who do not learn from history seem bound to repeat it. Globally, we're not doing very well, as it would seem so aptly demonstrated here.

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Playing for Time (1980) Review

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(More customer reviews)THIS IS A STUNNING MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE. IT COULD NOT BE MORE DIFFERENT THAN SCHINDLER'S LIST, AND I FOUND IT MUCH MORE INVOLVING AND CONFRONTING. VANESSA REDGRAVE IS ABSOLUTELY RIVETING IN THE ROLE OF FANIA FENELONG, WHO BECOMES PART OF A BIZARRE ORCHESTRA AT AUSCHWITZ, ALONG WITH SEVERAL OTHER WOMEN. THIS ORCHESTRA IS OF COURSE AT THE MERCY OF THEIR CAPTORS, AND THEY ARE EXPECTED TO PLAY LIKE VIRTUOSOS (LUCKILY, MOST OF THEM ARE), DESPITING THE FACT THAT THAY ARE OFTEN HUNGRY AND SICK. THE WHOLE CAST IS AMAZING AND THERE ARE SEVERAL MOVING AND VERY HUMAN SCENES INVOLVING A FEW OF THE GERMAN CAPTOR'S, ESPECIALLY ONE WOMAN IN PARTICULAR. AS TIME GOES ON, DIVISIONS OCCUR BETWEEN THE (MOSTLY) JEWISH WOMEN MAKING UP THE ORCHESTRA, AND FANIA BECOMES EVERYONE'S MENTOR. (EVEN THOUGH SHE DOESN'T MEAN TO). THE WHOLE FILM IS DARKLY REALISTIC, COMPLETE WITH MOUTH-SORES, SHAVED HEADS, GRIMY FACES AND SUNKEN-LOOKING EYES. A HAUNTING, RIVETING YET (SOMEHOW) UPLIFTING FILM, IT IS STUNNINGLY SHOT, AND SEEMED SO REAL THAT I COULD ALMOST SMELL IT.

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Salon Kitty (1977) Review

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(More customer reviews)First of all, there is no "sexual perversion" or "sexual atrocities" in this film. But it IS brought to you by the director of "Caligula". "Salon Kitty" is a very lush, very raunchy and very graphic sexploitation film set in 1939 Europe about an SS officer who converts a popular brothel into a spy operation staffed with specially trained and selected girls. The madam, Kitty (Ingrid Thulin), doesn't understand why she had to relocate and restaff and is unaware of the covert goings on. It supposedly is being done to blackmail certain officials but this kind've takes a back seat to the nudity and sexual cavorting. The officer (Helmut Berger) is a twisted and tortured soul---incapable of any sort of sexual relations or relationships. The heroine, prostitute Margarita (Teresa Ann Savoy), looks innocent but is capable of handling the most demanding situations imaginable. She ends up cluing Kitty into what's going on and helping bust the whole thing open. Nazi symbols are everywhere (even on garters!) and some scenes are mind-boggling in their silliness. At times I was wondering if the whole thing was a satire. But some non-sexual scenes (like the slaughterhouse) are repellent in the extreme. The costumes are extravagant and beautiful and suited to the decadence of the brothel. Miss Kitty's song numbers (oh yes, she performs, too) are a bit much in their Dietrich-esque sultriness. Thulin resembles an aging drag queen as she carries on in her over-the-top costumes and blonde wigs. Savoy is pretty (and looks disturbingly too young) but cannot act for love nor money. And she has chances at both in this film. Berger is all pomp and starch as the officer. He's believable. You wonder if he's gay at times. He refuses the services of Kitty's girls but tries with Savoy. It's unpleasant because he's too cold and too far gone. The sex in "Salon Kitty" IS rather repulsive but there's ample male and female nudity for voyeurs. The soundtrack is good---with appropriately decadent music and song numbers suited to the period and place. The DVD print is mostly good but ranges from too dark in some scenes to quite vivid in others. Overall, it's watchable with plenty of extras and a second disc all about "Salon Kitty". A collector's item for those with a taste for this sort of thing. Just be careful who you show it to. It's very strange stuff.

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Berlin, 1939: At the dawn of World War II, power-mad SS Officer Wallenberg (Helmut Berger of THE DAMNED) is ordered to find and train Germany's most beautiful women to work in the opulent brothel of Madam Kitty (Ingrid Thulin of CRIES AND WHISPERS). Here these Nazi nymphs will submit to the bizarre passions and carnal degradations of the Reich's highest-ranking men and women while Wallenberg secretly records their acts for blackmail. But when an innocent young prostitute (Teresa Ann Savoy of CALIGULA) uncovers the conspiracy, her revenge will ignite a holocaust of pain, pleasure and shocking sexual perversion. The story is true. The depravity is real. The film is SALON KITTY.John Steiner (MANNAJA), Tina Aumont (TORSO) and John Ireland (RED RIVER) co-star in this infamous epic co-written and directed by Tinto Brass and featuring exquisite production design by OscarAE winner Ken Adam (BARRY LYNDON, GOLDFINGER). Released in America as the heavily censored MADAM KITTY, this controversial shocker has been fully restored from the director's own personal vault print and features extended scenes of sexual atrocities now presented for the first time ever.

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Hidden In Silence - Based on a True Story (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)Kellie Martin shines in this fine adaptation of the story of the young Catholic Polish teenager who put her life on the line to save the Jews in her country. Faced with incredible odds, she trusted God to deliver them, and He answered her prayers.
The ensemble cast is magnificent, and what was really nice about the film was the fact that it was not very explicit in the violence against the Jews. You saw a few minor scenes, but it wasn't the point of the movie, anyway. If you want really explicit scenes, there's always Schinder's List, but that was a different story.
This is a really nice teaching tool for your older children, and provides a launching pad for a dialogue on the Holocaust.
Highly recommended!!!

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The Nasty Girl ( Das Schreckliche Mädchen ) Review

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(More customer reviews)German playwright Bertolt Brecht felt that theatre should teach the audience certain moral lessons, and to this end he developed a mode of presentation frequently described as "theatre of alienation"--a type of production in which the audience is never allowed to fully indentify with the characters and their situations and is instead asked to critically observe the material and draw conclusions from it. For the most part, this is a style that works best on the stage--but director Michael Verhoeven uses it as a springboard for THE NASTY GIRL. And the result is one of the few instances in which these Brechtian concepts come successfully to the screen.
The story is wickedly funny. A bright young lass, the daughter of two teachers, wins an essay contest--and when the next contest is announced she again decides to compete, this time with an essay on "My Hometown During The Third Reich," in which she plans to show how her small Bavarian town resisted Nazism. But few, even those regarded by the townfolk as heroes of that era, are willing to discuss it--and those that do provide conflicting information. She eventually gives up the project, but it continues to fester in the back of her mind, and some years later when she resumes her research with the idea of writing a book she discovers that the anti-Nazi heroes were not, perhaps, either anti-Nazi or heroic.
The main thrust of the film centers upon Sonja's relentless battle against the powers that be to obtain access to documents from the Nazi era, and how civic leaders work to frustrate her--both by persistently dodging her demands for the material and by direct terrorism. But their resistance makes Sonja all the more determined, and she becomes willing to pay any personal price. Ultimately, she does arrive at some of the truth, only to discover that she has now been enshrined by civic leaders as a "hero" in an effort to silence her with praise.
Director Michael Verhoeven presents the story in an odd mix of documentary and theatrical and realistic styles that mesh extremely well to create that famous Brechtian effect without ever actually seeming preachy. And leading actress Lena Stolze, as "the nasty girl" who accidentally drifts into the role of advocate for the truth at any price, is equally remarkable: she gives a very likeable, bemused performance that draws the viewer in even while maintaining the necessary degree of detachment the style requires. Not all viewers will appreciate the film--some will find the subject too dark, others may not be able to buy into the style--but this is a brilliant film, and you owe it a chance. Strongly recommended.

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Before the Fall (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)BEFORE THE FALL ('NAPOLA') is a brilliantly made film that addresses the blind hopes of youth in becoming a success as a man, a factor that allowed and allows dictators to entice young men into the realm of warriors under the guise of applauded bravery and the golden promise of achieving glory for a great cause. This story just happens to be about Hitler and his 40 Napola (training camps for the elite German youths in 1942) and the young boys and men who trained in these National Political societies. It could be found in many places and in many times...
Friedrich Weimer (handsome and talented young Max Riemelt) comes from the lower class in Germany (his father is aiming him toward factory work) and is a fine young boxer. His talents are noted by some representatives from the Nazi party and he is asked to report for enrollment in a Napola, an important means of education and training that Friedrich sees as being his way to become something special, someone important. His father is anti-Nazi and refuses to let Friedrich go, but Friedrich is determined and runs into the night to join the Napola. Once there he is admitted, groomed as a boxer for the Napola, and introduced to the Hitler's youth movement. His fellow classmates vary from the very wealthy to other fine Arian lads. They are trained, observed, and brainwashed as to the glory of the Thousand Year Reich. Problems begin to arise when Friedrich gets to know his fellow classmates: Siegfried (Martin Goeres) is a bedwetter and is humiliated publicly for his problem; Albrecht (Tom Schilling) is a poet and writer whose father is one of the governors of the Napola and Albrecht is anti-war; other lads seem on the surface to be obedient yet most have hidden reservations about what they are doing.
Being 1942 some changes are occurring in the Nazi dream and the Senior class is sent out on a mission to fight the enemy. And one night Friedrich's class is called out of bed and sent into the woods to find Russian soldiers who are 'threatening' their security. The boys open fire on the Russians only to find that they have killed a number of unarmed Russian boys. This profoundly disturbs them all, but Albrecht in particular. Friedrich continues to observe the manner in which he and the other boys are used and slowly his best friends find ways to martyr themselves and ultimately Friedrich does the same in his only way - by changing the way he approaches the Napola expectations of his boxing.
Max Riemelt as Friedrich is outstanding: not only does he have the solid extraordinary good looks but he also can act, satisfying every nuance of this challenging role. The remainder of the cast - both young boys and the adults running the Napola - are superb. The cinematography is subtly beautiful, ranging from the tough interiors inside to the vistas of a Germany before it was destroyed by the not too distant fall. Director Dennis Gansel, who co-wrote the script with Maggie Peren, is a young man (the featurette with the DVD has an enlightening conversation between Gansel and Riemelt) knows exactly how to capture both the wide-eyed innocence of youth and the slowly crumbled ideals of young men. This is an outstanding film to see and experience. Its lessons are terrifying and intense. In German with English subtitles. Grady Harp, June 06



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The War Bride (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)Quick Brief Background History - War Brides WWI & WWII
Wartime Britain was host to ten of thousands of allied serviceman lonely and far from home. Many of the young women living around the military camps were swept off their feet by the young visitors romance blossomed and marriages were hastily arranged before the new husbands were posted away to war. More than one hundred thousand British war brides and large numbers of children were given berths on war-time troop transports and sailed the treacherous seas to their new lives their husband's homeland waiting in hope to be together once again. Most were bound for Canada, others to the United States, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Large groups of European women were also transported through Britain and their numbers swell the total departure figures.
Film - The War Bride - London 1941
London, most men were away at war it was the height of the Blitz, things weren't looking so good, spirits needed to be raised high, Lily (Anna Friel) and friends were looking to have fun. There had been a buzz of gossip that allied serviceman were in town, the girls rally, put on their glad rags for dancing to meet some new men. At the war dance Lily meets a Canadian soldier on leave one Charlie Travis (Aden Young) they quickly fall madly in love and with an urgency of being literally under the gun they get married before the week is out, Charlie is soon thereafter called back to the front, Lily now thinks she's also pregnant.
Two Years later, Lily has only seen her husband for thirteen days over the entire course of their marriage. She then receives word from the Canadian Embassy that she and her baby daughter are to live in Canada to wait for her husband's return. Lily's quiet sold on the idea as Charlie had told her about his place the Ranch in Canada, this also means living with her Canadian in-laws.
Remote, rural Spring Hill, Alberta, Canada isn't very welcoming; Lily turns up in her bright red lipstick matching red hat and lots of London cockney spirit, it doesn't sit well with the mother in-law Betty (Brenda Ficker) as she looks in disbelief at what her son has married and is more concerned that she won't be getting Charlie's pay check as this now goes to his new wife. Charlie's crippled sister Sylvia (Molly Parker) finds Lily's brash manner too forward for their simple life. Lily realizes she may have just swapped one horrendous existence for another as she struggles to survive with the in-laws on a dilapidated farm in the bleak wildness, she feels so alone, what has Charlie landed her in and when will he be coming home.
My Overview
This is such a lovely Film to watch. I would like to say at this point the film moves very quickly through London and it's Blitz some may feel this seems a little rushed to begin with, but this film was only done on a small budget and the point of the film is about the new life for this war bride after London, in Canada things are more drawn out which really make up for it.
Wonderful Casting, all the main characters in this film show their own wounds from this war and I mean shown from what's inside their insecurities, resentments, perceived slights or damaged self-esteem and how people in life tread careful around things simmering, restraining themselves, until a sudden point of boiling over, this is so well acted from all the cast. I also loved the many little touches to this film which made it special, like passed down stories you may have heard from your own grandparents, such as huddling together on a dance floor during a Blitz as the party continues in whispers or a wedding dress made from a table cloth due to lack of money or material just the simple touches.
It's funny, happy, sad, endearing, touching, a fascinating smart and involving story, it's a film about Hope. Working this well, Screenwriter Angela Workman loosely based her script on her own mother's life. The wonderful scenery and 1940's costumes, fabulous music from this era all add to make it great. The Cast were all very strong in this, Anna Friel who I have seen growing through the years in great productions on UK TV, this preformance on film I believe is one of her best.
Extra Information - Language Used
Lily and friends are from London's East End, so the accent used by them all would be English Cockney. Only a few London English Cockney slang words are used in passing and explained in this Film.
Great Film Recommended.
Andrea Bowhill


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Winner of the Grand Prize at the Heartland Film Festival, this World War II drama stars Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) as Lily, a vivacious girl in war-torn London. She falls in love with Charlie (Aden Young, The Starter Wife, a Canadian serviceman. Impulsively, they marry, and Lily becomes pregnant before Charlie returns to the conflict. Lily and her infant daughter join the throngs of war brides offered the chance to start new lives in Canada. Lily discovers that the family "ranch" Charlie told her about is actually a weathered, worn-out farm house located 60 miles away from the nearest big city. Charlie's mother (Fricker) and sister (Parker) are hostile to the "big city" newcomer, but Lily is determined not to let them break her spirit.

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Danielle Steel's The Ring: Parts 1 & 2 (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)All cast members are outstanding in this movie. A truely touching movie about family, friendship and survival. The movie is set during the time of the war. Family members are seperated and possessions are left behind, except for a hand painted picture and a mothers ring. The story of how the picture and the Ring reunite family members is very touching.....A gripping story that will keep you at the edge of your seat....

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Miracle at Midnight (1998) Review

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(More customer reviews)I watched this outstanding Disney made-for-tv movie many, many times, and I LOVE it!!
I first saw when it premiered on TV on the "Wonderful World of Disney" show in the spring of 1998. At that time I taped it on a VHS tape off of TV, and I loved it so much that I watched it over and over many, many times.
I should have broken the security tab on the tape, but because there were still several hours of free space left on the tape (it was taped in EP/SLP mode) I thought I would wait until the tape was filled before breaking it.
Unfortunately a couple of years later, I ended up accidentally taping over this great movie with something else, thereby erasing it. I was so upset, and so I am VERY glad to FINALLY have this movie on DVD!!

Since getting this terrific movie on DVD I have watched it so many times I have lost count!! I am also going to buy the soundtrack for it too, because the music is so moving and poignant.
Miracle at Midnight is the touching made-for-TV movie based on true events during World War II. It is set in Denmark during September 1943,(the information in the Amazon.com Editorial Reviews is either a typo or other error)and stars Sam Waterston and Mia Farrow as Dr. Karl (Waterston) and Doris(Farrow) Koster, a Christian couple living in Copenhagen with their two children, 18 year old Hendrik (Justin Whalin) and preteen Elsa (Nicola Mycroft) during the Nazi occupation of Denmark.
When Dr. Koster learns that after three years of occupation, the Nazis are going to start deporting the Jewish people in Denmark, he and his family realize that they can no longer sit by and watch their friends, neighbors and countrymen, be taken, and dragged away to Nazi concentration camps and death camps. They decide to do whatever they can to help those in danger.
While Dr. Koster uses his position of Chief Surgeon to protect a young Resistance fighter who was shot by the Nazis, his 18 year old son Hendrik risks his life working for the same Resistance group, commandeering and seizing shipments of weapons that were sent to the Nazis.
But it all comes to a head on Wednesday, September 29, 1943, when Dr. Koster gets word that the Nazis have planned a mass arrest and deportation of all Jewish people, at Midnight on that Friday, which is the start of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah.
Dr. Koster, his family, and his entire hospital staff, band together with the Resistance, and the Danish people,
realizing that they are going to have to work really fast if they want to save the thousands and thousands of innocent Jewish people in Denmark from being dragged off to Theresienstadt Concentration Camp by the Nazis.
They set up plans to find hiding places for the Jewish people, and get them safely through the initial raids, while they try to convince the Swedish government, to accept them, and find ways to transport them up the Danish coast to Sweden. As a majority of the Danes hate the Nazis, they are all willing to help, opening their homes, providing money and transportation.
While Hendrik works with the Resistance, securing trucks and other means to take Jewish people up the coast of Denmark to Sweden, his father, Dr. Karl Koster uses his position as Chief Surgeon at Christiana Hospital to hide Jews in the hospital, and his mother, Doris, and sister, Elsa, help out by letting their Jewish friends, Rabbi Ben Abrams, his wife, his daughter Hannah, and her fiance Michael hide in their attic.
Eventually the Nazis catch up to them, and the Kosters themselves are forced to flee for their lives. But before escaping, they are, in a matter of a couple of days, able to help save over 7,000 Danish Jews, in a miraculous rescue!
Miracle at Midnight is a TERRIFIC movie! It is just WONDERFUL having it on DVD! Now I can enjoy it for years to come!!

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Item Name: Miracle at Midnight; Studio:Walt Disney Video

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Pin-Up Girl (1944) Review

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(More customer reviews)It is WONDERFUL that FOX is releasing some Betty Grable movies once again...and finally on DVD!! "Pin Up Girl" was primarily a
follow up to the release of millions of copies of her famous pin up picture in 1943. It is a typical Fox Musical...with a large dash of vaudeville (roller skating specialties) and Our Betty playing a secretary (watch her take off her glasses and WOW just about everybody!)...who pretends to be a musical comedy star. There is A BIG NAME BAND and Betty dances with
Hermes Pan! O.K....we watch Betty because she is a great entertainer (and by popular demand, A PIN UP)...her films are
bright and colorful light entertainment. Betty suffers the
embarassment of plots that bring on migraine, but Betty is a
trouper. Bottom line: you will LOVE BETTY...not the movie. We can hope that this will triger the release of some of Betty's
films that have never been on video of any kind. I would really prefer to buy my Betty Grable movies from Fox than from mysterious people on e-Bay and I sincerely hope that this means we will soon be able to do that! Please bring us "Coney Island", "Sweet Rosey O'Grady", "The Dolly Sisters", "Mother Wore Tights"....and everything she made between 1950 and 1955.
Betty Grable was a wildly popular star. Some of her plots are
a little threadbare by now...but BETTY will always be THE WOMAN WE WON THE WAR FOR and a phenomenal popular entertainer. Thanks for bringing her back to us. THREE stars for the movie.
For BETTY: a THOUSAND!!

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Raggedy Man (1981) Review

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(More customer reviews)I remember going to the theatre to see this film about a year after "Coal Miner's Daughter". I knew anything with Sissy Spacek in it had to be good. This film is not only good, its sensational with Sissy giving one of her finest performances. (When has she ever been anything but excellent in anything??) I can't add much to what the majority of the reviewers have said about this film. The DVD audio and video are high quality and the film is beautifully remastered. The musical score is top-notch and the forties background cannot be bettered. The supporting cast is excellent as well with Eric Roberts the standout as the kind hearted sailor, Teddy, who assumes the role of the man of the house....at least temporarily. A young Henry Thomas (before E.T.) makes his film debut here, I believe as Sissy's older son Harry. Sissy has great interaction with the children. The film is Sissy's all the way and I believe she should have been nominated for another academy award for this performance. There are many dimensions to Nina. My favorite scene in this movie may be minor but it never fails to make me feel good.....Sissy is sweeping her kitchen and turns the radio on and the Andrew's Sisters come on singing "Rum and Coca Cola" and Sissy carefree and lightheartedly gets into singing along with the music, dancing with the broom. I just love this scene!! The ending packs a wallop and I always get teary eyed. If you haven't seen this film it is worth your time and money to get it. The DVD unfortunately has no extras, no scene selection, no subtitles and is not in widescreen.

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Man Hunt (1941) Review

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(More customer reviews)"Man Hunt" is an excellent thriller that doesn't look like it is almost seventy years old, and is one of my favorite Fritz Lang films. Ahead of its time in the complexity of its characters, it is about a British hunter (Walter Pidgeon) who contemplates assassinating Hitler when he gets him in his gun sight and gets caught doing so. Left for dead at the bottom of a cliff by the authorities, he lives and makes his way to a boat on its way to London. However, on the ship there is someone all too interested in his story. Soon he realizes he is being followed. Back in London he turns to Joan Bennett for help. If I'm getting the details wrong, it's because it's been about ten years since I've seen this one anywhere. Lang manages to do a very good job of portraying the Nazis in a more complex and articulate manner than other films of this time period (it was made in 1941). The following is the list of extras:
Commentary by Author Patrick McGilligan
Rogue Male: The Making of Man Hunt
Restoration Comparison
Trailer
Interactive Pressbook
Still Gallery
I have heard this is being released to coincide with the DVD release of Tom Cruise's Valkyries. Even though that movie is not as good as this one, I'll take it any way I can get it. This is somewhat like the release of the Dracula - The Legacy Collection (Dracula / Dracula (1931 Spanish Version) / Dracula's Daughter / Son of Dracula / House of Dracula) as a publicity stunt for the laughable CGI-fest Van Helsing (Widescreen Edition). Sometimes great films from the past emerge on DVD as a result of publicizing the films of the present.


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Genre: DramaRating: NRRelease Date: 19-MAY-2009Media Type: DVD

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Morituri Review

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(More customer reviews)It's thought by many that Marlon Brando was probably one of the greatest actors to grace the silver screen, if not one of the weirdest (at least later in his life). Based on that alone (his acting, not his weirdness), I purchased Morituri (1965), having heard little to nothing about the film. The fact it also stars Yul Brynner didn't hurt either. Regardless, I am glad I picked this one up, as it's really quite good.
The title, as far as I can tell, is Latin meaning `for those about to die', which seems apt after watching the film. Directed by Bernhard Wicki, someone I've never heard of, probably because he was an Austrian who mainly directed German films, the film stars Marlon Brando and Yul Brynner. Also appearing are Janet Margolin (Nevada Smith), Trevor Howard (The Third Man), and a German actor I've never heard of named Martin Benrath who I thought was quite good.
The film, set during WWII, begins with German Captain Rolf Mueller being given charge of a cargo ship, leaving Japan and destined for occupied France, one that contains critical raw materials, mainly rubber, important for Germany's war effort. He's none too happy with his assignment, as some of the crew is made up of undesirables and political prisoners destined to be tried upon arrival (I would guess they wouldn't be to eager to reach their destination). The Allied forces, on learning of the contents of the ship, approach Robert Crain, a German demolitions expert and ex-patriot hiding in English ruled India, for the purpose of getting him on the ship, not to blow up the ship, but to disarm the scuttle charges (apparently German ships contained explosives so that if they were to get captured, the captain was to detonate the explosives and `scuttle', or sink, the vessel to keep it out of enemy hands). The Allies want the contents of the ship, not only to hinder Germany's war efforts, but also to assist their own. With assistance, Crain does get aboard the ship, under the guise of an SS security officer named Hans Kyle. Members of the SS, it seems, were not entirely popular by any one's account, especially not by other Germans (think the police and their dislike for their own internal affairs division). This creates complications for Crain/Kyle, as he must secretly search the ship for an unknown number of explosive charges, disarm them, within a certain amount of time, all while keeping the captain and the crew `in the dark'. Not only that, but the ship is forced to take on a group of American prisoners for transport. Things are getting hairier by the minute...
Most of the film takes place on a cargo ship, providing for a very claustrophobic, tense atmosphere throughout. Brando plays his role in a very subdued manner, but it works well. I thought his German accent a bit odd, not entirely bad, just odd, but I got used to it, especially since the movie runs about two hours. Not only did Brando have the acting chops to pull off his character, but he also had the physique, as he had to run, climb, swing and crawl to get around the ship to disable the explosive charges. He seemed very within character, especially the parts when his character discussed his feelings against against war in general. Brynner was also very good as a non-party German, who, while maybe not believing in his leaders political motives, wasn't a traitor either. I really liked the diverse complexity, including compassion and kindness, of his character, the sailor committed to his duties, forced to captain this particular ship with a questionable crew.There was a great deal of character development throughout, which served well to really display the differences among the German people in general with regards to their feelings and loyalties towards their leadership and/or their country. I thought the direction of the film to be really good, as the camera always seemed position in such a way to capture the best possible point of view for that particular scene. The story moved along well, although some will say it was too slow, but I didn't think so...I found myself pretty much glued to the screen, enjoying all aspects of the movie. One of my favorite scenes was when Crain/Kyle is confronted in closed quarters by two German officers from the submarine, which delivered the American prisoners. His ability to play on their own sense of paranoia as they questioned him about his reason for being on the ship was very intelligent and interesting to watch. The plot is complicated, but if you can watch with no distractions, you should be able to follow it along well.
The anamorphic wide screen picture on this DVD looks pretty good, but I did feel it could have been cleaned up a little. There were some very minor flaws visible every once in awhile, but the main thing I noticed was the `softness' in the black parts when scenes were heavily shadowed. It's kind of hard to explain, but a bit more noticeable than the other flaws. As far as special features go, there's a teaser trailer for the film (I'm unsure who made this, but after watching the movie, I felt the person who did make it had no idea or even a sense of what the film was about, as it presented something other than what the movie was, at least I felt), and original theatrical trailer, and trailers for some other, older Fox war films like Crash Dive (1943), The Hunters (1958), and What Price Glory (1952). All in all, I thought Morituri was very decent, well made film rich with characters and a complex plot that rewards those with the patience to enjoy the more sophisticated side of films (I'm not trying to be snobby here, but I do feel this film hasn't gotten the attention it deserves, unduly so).
Cookieman108


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Suspenseful action highlights this film in which Marlon Brando and Yul Brynner team up to defuse a Nazi freighter, poised to explode upon capture.

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Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) Review

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(More customer reviews)Blu ray 2011 digital copy review. This is Guy Ritchies classic Lock stock and two smoking barrels. The transfer is what it is. You wont get better high def experience that can beat this quality. Looks great throughout all the movie. Also comes with DVD version, so great masterpiece all together. Diffinately worth the price if you like to get both versions. This is also just the theatrical release not the unrated release. Both version really dont differ much. Great movie, great cast great dialogue! FIVE STARS blu ray + DVD + digital copy version!!!!

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Uprising (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)"Uprising" is a story of the Holocaust that really could not be told until NBC showed this two-part made-for-television movie in 2001. The story of the Warsaw ghetto uprising has been told before. In the 1978 mini-series "Holocaust," a major subplot had to do with Moses Weiss (Sam Wanamker), who becomes active in the uprising before being caught and shot by the Nazis at the end. Other movies dealing with the Holocaust have touched on this heroic but futile act of resistance against Hitler's army. This time, however, the point is to cast the uprising in terms that count for more than a moral victory.
When Poland fell to Nazi Germany the city's Jewish population was put into a walled in section of the city, thereby creating the ghetto. In the summer of 1942, after 300,000 Jews were deported from Warsaw to Treblinka the first reports of mass murder were heard in the Warsaw ghetto. Mordecai Anielewicz, then 23-years-old, and other young Jews formed the Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa (Jewish Fighting Organization), issuing proclamations calling for the Jewish people to resist being sent away in railroad cars to the death caps, and firing upon German troops trying to round by Jews for deportation.
The "Uprising" began on April 19, 1943, when German troops and police entered the ghetto and were repulsed by the fighters. It is believed that less than a thousand such fighters held off the heavily armed and better trained Germans for almost a month, using mostly pistols and Molotov cocktails, but on May 16 the revolt was finally crushed. Seven thousand of the 56,000 Jews captured were shot, and the rest were deported to either killing centers or concentration camps to be exterminated by the Nazis. At one point the Warsaw ghetto consisted of 450,000 human beings.
The point of "Uprising" is not only that for the first time somebody stood up against German occupation, but that some of the fighters did indeed survive. Mordechai Anielewicz (Hank Azaria), Yitzhak Zuckerman (David Schwimmer), Tosia Altman (Leelee Sobieski), and many others depicted in "Uprising" are historic figures. Azaria and Schwimmer obviously stand out, not because of the roles they play in the narrative but also because the actors are going to great pains to remind fans they are not just comic actors. Also standing out are Sadie Frost as Zuckerman's wife, Zivia, and Stephen Moyer as freedom fighter Kazik Rodem, who wrestle with the hard questions of not only knowing what to do, but how to do it. Director and executive producer Jon Avnet has recreated the ghetto in great detail and makes full use of cinematographer Denis Lenoir and composer Maurice Jarre to make sure this television movie looks and sounds like a theatrical film.
"Uprising" repeatedly asks the question of how a moral person can sustain a moral code in an immoral world, and the uprising serves as the obvious answer. Where "Uprising" is different from its predecessors is how Avnet recasts history to emphasize a sense of how the Jews "win" here. Even though the Nazis will kill 99% of the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto, they did not get them all and they did not get them fast enough to please Himmler and Hitler. Nazi General Jurgen Stroop has to endure being out thought and out fought by a bunch of rabble, all the way having his failure filmed by documentarian Fritz Hippler, who is working on "The Eternal Jew" because for some reason the Nazis do not find the German people to be anti-Semitic enough. The Nazis continue to commit atrocities throughout this movie, but the emphasis is clearly on what the other side is doing.
"The Grey Zone," which also came out in 2001, is of a similar mind in terms of presenting Jews fighting back, and depicts the October 7, 1944 uprising when members of the 12th sonder-kommando succeeded in blowing up two of the four crematoria at Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The sonder-kommandos were the ones who escorted their fellow Jews to die in the gas chambers, then took the bodies to the crematoriums, and disposed of the ashes. For four months the sonder-kommandos carried out their duties, and enjoyed certain privileges (compared to the other inmates), and then were executed. This group of Jews also decided to fight back and like those who resisted the Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto, deserve to be remembered. But only once we have accepted the total horror and scope of the Holocaust can we tell stories such as these, ever mindful that they represent a minority report. How many of you were stunned with a train full of Jews left Auschwitz in "Schindler's List"? The incident was true, but it becomes difficult for us to accept that other side of the story given the overwhelming death count of the Final Solution.
The two commentary tracks are a mixed bag. Avnet spends too much time commenting on the historical accuracy of the action and not enough talking about his decisions as a director, particularly with regards to what changes he had to make when his planned theatrical film was downgraded to a television movie. Azaria, Schwimmer, and Voight recorded their commentary two weeks about September 11th, and engage each other to talk about the production and their performances. Sobieski's comments were recorded separately and edited in, and like Avent, she has a hard time going it alone. There are two documentaries accompanying "Uprising." "Resistance" is a too brief look at the history of the resistance movement in the Warsaw ghetto, although it does provide background on the characters and interviews with some of the surviving fighters. "Breaking Down the Walls: The Road to Recreating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising," is a behind the scenes featurette with clips and interviews. However, anyone inspired to find out more about the history of the events dramatized here will find plenty of resources easily accessible on the Internet.

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After Germany invades Poland in 1939, the Nazis decree that 350,000 Warsaw Jews be forcibly moved into a cordoned area known as the Warsaw Ghetto. Idealistic teacher Mordechai Anielewicz (Hank Azaria) decides the Jews must rise up against the Nazis and creates the Jewish Fighting Organization (JFO).He tries to secure the support of Adam Czerniakow (Donald Sutherland), the morally conflicted head of the Warsaw Ghetto's Jewish Council, but Adam declines because he knows that any act of resistance will provoke the Germans to retaliate by killing innocent Jews.Determined to mobilize a resistance alone if he has to, Mordechai recruits his friends and covert couriers whose ability to pass as Aryan helps them smuggle in arms and explosives from the Aryan side of the city, building up an arsenal to fight the Nazis. When the Germans begin deporting 300,000 Jews to the Treblinka death camp, the JFO begins acts of resistance that culminate with ghetto fighters firing their first gunshots against the Nazis.When it becomes clear that the JFO is a force to be reckoned with, the German High Command sends in General Stroop (Jon Voight), who is determined to end the uprising in two or three days. Capturing the horror that unfolds is Fritz Hippler (Cary Elwes), a filmmaker assigned by Hitler's chief propagandist to promote anti-Semitism with a film about Jewish life in the ghetto. When the Nazis continue to suffer more casualties in their battle with the ghetto fighters, General Stroop decides to raze the ghetto.But even that can't stop the JFO.Forced to go underground into bunkers but energized by their success, the resisters fight on, ultimately holding off the Nazi army longer than the entire country of Poland.They're determined to live with honor--and if need be, die with honor--while lighting the torch for resistance in the occupied territories.

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