Cross of Iron (Full Screen)

Starring:James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason, David Warner, Klaus LÃ¶witsch, Vadim Glowna, Roger Fritz, Dieter Schidor, Burkhard Driest, Fred Stillkrauth, Michael Nowka, VÃ©ronique Vendell, Arthur Brauss, Senta Berger, Ivica Pajer, Slavko Stimac, Vladan Zivkovic, Nedim Prohic, Igor Galo
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Studio: Henstooth Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

American Indians were a "cool" factor in 1970 cinema, the year A Man Called Horse made its vigorous, feverishly real, and occasionally shocking debut alongside Little Big Man and Soldier Blue. Unlike the latter two films, however, Horse is less an allegory for Vietnam-era America and more of a vision quest for historical identity. In one of his defining roles, Richard Harris plays an English aristocrat captured by Dakota Sioux in 1825. Over time, he adopts their way of life and eventually becomes tribal leader--but not before undergoing savage initiation rituals, the most famous of which involves being suspended by blades inserted beneath Harris's pectoral muscles. Horse looks clunky, quaint, and inadvertently demeaning in some respects today, but the film's Native American milieu is at least defined on its own terms, i.e., whole cloth and apart from familiar Western conventions. The real draw is Harris, whose performance has a soulful integrity. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

History of Native American Life.......2007-01-10

Being a history teacher, I needed a movie that would depict realistic Native American life for a Texas history unit. I remembered this movie
from my youth and what an impact it made on the nation. My students are not exposed to those great epic movies of yesterday. This film is an accurate accounting of everyday village life of the Sioux. It truly is a
historical classic with superb acting from Richard Harris and others. It is a must see and one for our children to view in their studies of Native Americans.

A Learning Experience.......2006-12-01

If people thought Mel Gibson had it tough getting people to watch a movie that was fully in Aramaic, think back to 1970 when A Man Called Horse came out. This movie is almost entirely spoken in Lakota, and there aren't subtitles. This helps you to really get a sense of what it was like to be thrown into a foreign culture and to try to thrive there.

Richard Harris plays John Morgan, a nobleman from England who has gotten bored with life and has been romping around the plans of the American West to find something more interesting. This is back in the 1820s, before the civil war, when there were vast expanses of quiet. Suddenly, Morgan is captured by the Sioux Indians. They treat him like a pack animal, calling him horse. It's not necessarily that the natives were "excessively cruel" to their captured slaves, in an unusual way. They looked down on them just as the southerners looked down on their slaves. They treated them as functional possessions - to be fed and watered, but certainly not paid much concern to. Morgan has to do chores, eat what is given to him, and sleep outside in the cold.

Morgan learns to do what he must to stay alive, including defending his dignity. We get an "I am not a horse!" stand, very much reminding us of "I am not an animal!" from a certain other movie. Every person wants to be respected for their humanity. The chief's sister falls for his good looks and soon the two are making goo-goo eyes at each other. But there's a catch. For Morgan to get the girl, he needs scars on his chest.

In a scene which probably goes down as one of the most memorable in all movies featuring native american cultures, claws are inserted into Morgan's chest muscles and he is suspended by them, spinning in slow circles. It is of course agonizing. But it was also a rite of passage, a way for a boy to prove he had become a man. A tribal "tattoo" if you will. The ceremony was the Sun Dance, to celebrate the strength and power of life.

I give the movie high marks for really striving to keep the situations authentic. We don't get translations of all the Lakota language, nor is the movie "dubbed" in English. Instead, you have to listen to the native language and try to learn as you go what they are saying. There are of course English sections where Morgan is talking to himself or to another captive in the group. The clothing, the homes, the ceremonial lodge are all quite fascinating to see. Many of the actors were from the Sioux reservation and knew how to do these things properly.

That being said, there is also a bit of "English dude saves backwards natives" as well. It's Morgan's skilled tactics that save the day when a battle ensues - even though this tribe has been fighting wars their entire lives, while Morgan has been off lazing in the sun. The chief's daughter could marry whoever she wanted and choose the "best of the best" - and she goes for Morgan. In very little time - and without really learning the language - Morgan goes from looked down on slave to most exulted leader.

I am also a bit embarassed that they had such trouble finding real native americans to play the lead roles. I realize if we watch a movie about the Roman Empire we tend to have Americans, not 100% Romans, playing those parts. They put Americans into all the parts in a Robin Hood movie, too. However, Native Americans *are* Americans and they were right there in the areas that the movies were being filmed. Instead, they took actors who did not look Native American at all, painted them red, and made it seem that it was good enough. I certainly understand that a good actor can submerge himself into the part, but if the movie is about a captured male African slave and his traumas coming to America, it wouldn't do well to have that played by Gwyneth Paltrow and filmed in Siberia. As good as an actress as she is, the visual mismatch would interfere with the story.

Still, in all, it is definitely a movie to watch at least one, and appreciate the parts that were done well. At one point, Morgan's fellow slave crows over a bad thing which has happened to one of the Sioux. Morgan turns and snarls at him, asking him if he has learned nothing in the five years he has been with the tribe. I certainly appreciate that sense that we can all learn from other cultures, if we would just open our ears and listen.

Great movie .......2006-08-30

This movie was great for anyone interested in Indian history. You get a feel for how they lived. If you're not sympothetic to how white men treated them before the movie, you will be afterwards.

Better than Dances With Wolves.......2006-08-07

An English nobleman, visiting circa-1820 America, is kidnapped by a band of Sioux warriors. Before you can say `Lord Greystoke" John Morgan (Richard Harris) is adapting to the strange and savage savages, and integrating himself into their strange and savage culture. That adaptation, of course, ultimately results in Lord John having a pair of splinters driven deep under his chest muscles and getting hoisted high in the air by a rope attached to those splinters. After this initiation ceremony Horse/Lord John/Harris becomes a respected warrior in the tribe. The scene, gruesomely realistic when A MAN CALLED HORSE was released in 1970, still works pretty well today.

I recommend this movie with, no pun intended, reservations. Director Elliot Silverstein does a good job of presenting the story from Harris's point of view. His initial capture and harsh treatment is appropriately exciting and unsettling. Harris is good in the physically demanding lead role, and conveys well the disorientation Lord John feels and his gradually increasing confidence in the hostile environment. And it's always nice to have a movie pay attention to details when it takes place in a foreign and exotic location - in this case a Sioux tribe in the early decades of the 19th century. The small stuff, as far as I can tell, is accurately related.

On the other hand, the `Tarzan factor' always has to be taken into account. White English nobleman travels to the colony, is kidnapped by the `natives' and, through inherent superiority, rises to a position of power and prestige in the foreign environment. At least A MAN CALLED HORSE treats the Sioux with interest and respect, and even has a few Native Americans, most notably Eddie Little Sky, among the cast. Well, Iron Eyes Cody, the `Crying Indian' some of us may remember from anti-pollution television commercials of the `70s, has a part in it too. But I've just learned, to my surprise, that Iron Eyes Cody was a second-generation, full blooded Italian from Louisiana whose real name was Espera DeCorti. Who'da thunk? Yellow Hand, the chief who claims initial ownership of Horse, is played by Manu Tupou (Fiji Islands.) Running Deer, Horse's eventual love interest, is played by Corinna Tsopei, Miss Greece 1964. Perhaps the most intriguing bit of casting is the actress who plays Yellow Hand's mother and Horse's opening day tormenter, Buffalo Cow Head - beneath the brown grease paint and buckskin robe it's no other than the redoubtable Dame Judith Anderson.

A MAN CALLED HORSE was followed, a half decade or so later, by RETURN OF A MAN CALLED HORSE. I haven't seen the second one but enjoyed the first well enough to bury it deep in a rental queue.

Authentic and brutal rite of passage.......2006-05-15

Richard Harris stars as John Morgan a privileged but bored English nobleman hunting in the Northwest in the 1820's. He is captured and his party slain by a band of Sioux Indians. Brought back to their village he is presented to the aged mother of the chief, Buffalo Cow Head played by Dame Judith Anderson. He is degraded, dehumanized and must serve as the old lady's slave.

"A Man Called Horse" was extensively researched as to the lifestyle among the Sioux at this time and portrayed in beautifully photographed and acted out fashion. Harris gradually embraces the way of the Sioux and is schooled by another prisoner Batiste, a half Indian and half Frenchman who acts as his interpreter.

Harris falls in love with the sister of the chief, Running Deer played by the gorgeous raven haired Corinna Tsopei, a former Miss Universe from Greece. The chief, Yellow Hand played by Manu Tupou will not approve of their marriage until Harris undergoes the Sun Vow, a harsh, hurtful ceremony to prove his bravery.

Filmed in both Mexico and South Dakota with a large native American supporting cast, the movie goes on to effectively portray the tragedy that follows Harris and the Sioux tribe as they struggle for survival in the competitive environment they populated back in those days.

Cross of Iron (Widescreen Special Edition)

Average customer rating:

Peckinpah's antiwar classic - hasn't aged well
Much better than the fullscreen version
NOT ONE OF HIS BEST BUT STILL WORTH A VIEW
Cross of Iron
A Violent Story Situated in the Stumbling Eastern Front.

Cross of Iron (Widescreen Special Edition)
Starring: James Coburn , Maximilian Schell , James Mason , David Warner , and Klaus Löwitsch
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Manufacturer: Henstooth Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000E5N63Y
Release Date: 2006-04-18

Description

Widescreen Special Edition DVD Features include:
Audio Commentary by film scholar Stephen Prince, author of Savage Cinema: Sam Peckinpah and the Rise of Ultraviolent Movies
Original Theatrical Trailer
Photo Gallery of German Lobby Cards
Language Options: English, French
New Widescreen 16:9 Anamorphic Transfer

Customer Reviews:

Peckinpah's antiwar classic - hasn't aged well.......2007-04-04

Sam Peckinpah's attempt to make a graphic, violent antiwar film has not aged well. This is a story of a German recon platoon in the south of Russia in 1943 after the debacle at Stalingrad. The platoon is lead by Cpl (later Sgt) Steiner, played by James Coburn (probably one of the best roles in his illustrious career). After an opening action scene in which Steiner and his men eliminated a Soviet mortar battery, Steiner meets his new company commander, Capt Stransky (played by Maximillian Schell). Stransky is a Prussian aristocrat who requested transfer to the Russian front so that he can earn the Iron Cross, but doesn't really want to risk his neck to earn it. Steiner is the grizzled veteran who has received every award available, is sick of the war and the leadership, but continues to fight nonetheless. In the mid-70s this film may have been considered cutting edge, but I think that to modern audiences, the violence and action seems will seem highly stylized. As a war film, it carries little of the emotional impact of more recent films. The slow motion camera shots really give this film a dated feel. Some of the other reviewers state that this film is made from the `German perspective'. This is not really true in my opinion, I think a better characterization would be to state that it is `not unsympathetic' to the Germans. Steiner and his men are portrayed as soldiers simply doing their duty in a war they don't believe in. This latter point is one of the strengths of the film, the German soldiers are not portrayed as mindless Nazis, but with more sympathy and complexity. A second strength of this film is that it doesn't descend into simplistic rantings about Nazi racial policy in Russia, Nazi war crimes, etc. This would have banished the film to cliched oblivion in my view. There are some great shots of WWII era hardware (like T-34/85), even if everything is not entirely historically accurate. This is a decent (anti)war film, but will, I believe, seem tame and not particularly meaningful to modern viewers.

Much better than the fullscreen version.......2007-03-18

"Cross of Iron" has always been one of my favorite movies. It was the first Peckinpah movie I ever saw, I was fifteen, and it forever convinced me of the futility of war. So a couple of years ago I bought the Hentooths's fullscreen version of this movie and I was absolutely apalled by the poor quality of the image and soundtrack: the DVD is so bad that you might not even finish watching the movie. Still, this being one of my favorite movies, I decided to run the risk of buying this widescreen special edition when it recently came out, since it promised to be better, and it was. Not great, I should say, but better. So if you're convinced, as I am, that this is the best war (or anti-war) movie ever made, I recommend you buy this DVD despite its technical limitations. If you have never seen this movie, you should see it a couple of times before making your mind of what you think of it. This is because, like all of Peckinpah's movies, it is full of subtleties that you will not get on just one run (I've seen this movie seven times and still find new new things in it), including a brilliant subplot on male camaraderie and (overt and repressed) homosexuality. But this is also the one Pekinpah movie where ultra-violence is handled mastefully: the first time you watch this movie, you will be in shock before long and unable to follow the nuances of the plot. So sleep it off for a couple of days and watch the movie again. In my opinion, in this movie you will also find the best performances ever by both James Coburn and Maximilian Schell.

NOT ONE OF HIS BEST BUT STILL WORTH A VIEW.......2007-03-09

The rest of the reviews on this movie sum it up - you have a director who was spinning downward into addiction while attempting to make an epic war movie. Most likely it is only through the sheer talent of the director, the people around him, and the actors in the movie that this movie is watchable.
You have some strange choices in where the story goes and how it gets there - it lurches from the examination of homosexuality in the military, the horrors of war and the mental health of the survivors of war, into guys on patrol / trying to get home story. The action scenes, as with almost any Peckinpah movie, are exciting and horrifying. A "Ballet of Violence" as John Woo would say. The acting and dialogue is all over the place- but Coburn and Schell love to chew the scenary and do it soooo well. You get Coburn with guns in a war and slow motion Peckinpah violence with an anti-war message to boot = not a bad way to spend a few hours = 3 1/2 stars

Cross of Iron.......2007-01-13

Cross of Iron although it starts out with great action and plot, becomes a bit odd after James Coburn's character suffers shell shock. It has its moments, but over all it seems to be lacking something. It is worth watching, but I was somewhat disappointed after reading its rave reviews.

A Violent Story Situated in the Stumbling Eastern Front. .......2007-01-09

Director Sam Peckinpah was known for creating very violent scenarios, blood filled and corpse filled films.
Well then WWII Eastern Front is an ideal backdrop to suit his abilities.
With "Cross of Iron" (1977) he delivered his, arguably, second best movie. Being "Straw Dogs" (1971) his Number One.
He constructs a very solid & dynamic war movie, even if the budget put at his disposition wasn't ample enough to fully support this kind of product.

The story is as follows. The German army was already in full retreat. Soldiers, NCOs and officers were deranged beyond recover. Each individual cope the situation with whatever resource is at his disposition: liquor, daydreaming, madness, fanaticism, cynicism, unrestrained violence or a combination of them all.
Out of the blue a Prussian officer arrives to the battalion headquarters, at his own request, in search of winning the Iron Cross. But he is not willing to display the necessary skill & heroism to achieve this. He searches a shameful shortcut and tries to force a true hero to backup his phony statement.
A clash of wills with dreadful results is launched.

Around this anecdote, Peckinpah builds a strong parable about the futility of war in terms of suffering and misery.
Play acting is very good. James Coburn impersonates Steiner the hardboiled & rebellious NCO delivering one of his best performances, at par or better than his appearances in "The Magnificent Seven" (1960) and "The Great Escape" (1963).
Maximilian Schell as the arrogant Hauptmann Stransky, David Warner as disenchanted Hauptmann Kiesel and James Mason as Oberst Brandt compose correctly their characters.
Special mention must be done for play acting of the rest of the squad members: Klaus Lowitsch, Fred Stillkrauth and Michael Nowka amongst other.

Original music by Ernest Gold, the unforgettable author "Exodus" (1960) score, delivers an energetic musical background to the film.

This is an outstanding war film, that no real fan should let it pass by unwatched!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

Average customer rating:

The Anti-James Bond Returns
Worth Digging For
Cold war driven Caine classic
funeral in Berlin
Harry Palmer: The Spy Who Went Into the Cold

Funeral in Berlin
Starring: Michael Caine , Paul Hubschmid , Oskar Homolka , Eva Renzi , and Guy Doleman
Director: Guy Hamilton
Manufacturer: Paramount
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ASIN: B00005KHK1
Release Date: 2001-08-14

Customer Reviews:

The Anti-James Bond Returns.......2007-04-21

In 1966's "Funeral in Berlin", his second outing as British anti-hero spy Harry Palmer, Michael Caine is in complete command of both his character and the movie. Len Deighton's novel of the Cold War in Berlin is brought to gritty life in a city newly divided by a wall and fought over by the Russians, the West, and the Germans themselves. The plot twists and turns, the dialogue is crisp, and the acting is understated but very solid.

Harry Palmer is asked to assess the proffered defection of a Russian KBG Colonel named Stok, who regards Palmer as both adversary and comrade-in-arms in the spy business. Their dialogue is a masterpiece of Cold War cynicism. Stok asks Palmer to use a German network with an unusually good record for spiriting people out of East Germany; this choice will have fateful consequences. Palmer also comes into contact with an old friend who owes his freedom to Harry but may have ulterior motives for a deal. Finally, Palmer becomes the object of desire for a beautiful woman who not surprisingly turns out to have an agenda of her own. The whole makes for a complicated plot and a cheerfully cynical but entertaining look at the spy business of the early 1960's.

This movie is highly recommended to fans of Michael Caine, who excells in his role as working class spy Harry Palmer. This movie will also appeal to fans of Len Deighton's novels; this is a better than average adaptation.

Worth Digging For.......2007-01-24

"Funeral in Berlin" is second in a series of movies, made from Len Deighton's books, starring Michael Caine. Like the others, it's produced by Harry Saltsman, playing hookey from his better-known James Bond 007 series. It's directed by Guy Hamilton, also playing hookey from James Bond. The Scottish Sean Connery has said that Hamilton, also a Scot, was his favorite among the 007 directors: they shared that sly sense of humor, and, indeed, it's to be enjoyed in "Funeral in Berlin" as well.

The cold war plot concerns a powerful Russian Colonel, who's signaled London that he wishes to defect, and, has, as a theater of operations, divided, crawling-with-spies Berlin. So there Michael Caine's character, Harry Palmer, is sent, right back to the scene of his World War II crimes, where he had served in the Quartermasters' Corps. Right back to his former associates in those shady enterprises: they have all grown rich, while the British have forced him into spying to stay out of jail. Palmer, naturally, has had previous dealings with Colonel Stok, and does not believe for a moment that the shrewd Russian actually intends to defect; but he can't make London see his point of view. So off he goes, to call again on his former associates. He'll also find himself dealing with Mossad, the Israeli Secret Service; they too are interested in these proceedings. They will set one of their own as Samantha Steel, fashion model, to quickly find Palmer irresistible and then monitor his activities.

"Funeral" is well cast. As "Colonel Stok," Oskar Homulka is reliably Oskar Homulka. Paul Hubschmid does well as "Johnny Vulkan." Guy Doleman ably reprises his role as "Ross" from "Ipcress." Caine, of course, was at the height of his powers, and his looks. Eva Renzi, German-born, is qualified to play "Samantha," Palmer's love interest, although, as is typical of Saltsman's casting of females, she hadn't much of a career otherwise. (Nor did she have a long career, as she recently died, rather young, having been married to one of her co-stars from this movie.)

The movie is quite entertaining, and it moves fast. The plot has lots of surprises, the color photography's excellent, catching the ambiance of an anxious Berlin. Unfortunately, "Funeral" is out of print, and hard to find. If you want it, you'll have to dig for it.

Cold war driven Caine classic.......2007-01-13

Michael Caine playing ex-thief and reluctant operative for British intelligence, the Cockneyed Harry Palmer, once again becomes immersed in a convoluted caper in the 1966 production of "Funeral in Berlin". He's been ordered by his boss Colonel Ross played by Guy Doleman to orchestrate the defection of a high ranking Russian KGB Colonel Stok played by bushy browed Oscar Homolka from East Berlin.

Upon arrival in Berlin, Caine makes contact with an old criminal acquaintance Johnny Vulkan played by Paul Hubschmid. He is supposed to aid in the defection which will be accomplished in the guise of a funeral. Colonel Ross hasn't let on that Vulkan is actually a Nazi war criminal who had absconded with two million dollars stolen from Jews caught up in the Holocaust. Vulkan is being pursued by Israeli agents including an attractive spy Eva Renzi, playing Samantha Steel who seduces Caine as part of the scheme.

Palmer despite being in the dark manages to push all the right buttons in this intricate operation ultimately winning the approval of his demanding and uncompromising boss, Colonel Ross.

Director Guy Hamilton made excellent use of diverse German settings to shoot this fast paced thriller, focusing on the contrast of the chic, newly modernized rebuilt Berlin and sections still devastated by the horrors of the war.

funeral in Berlin.......2005-10-18

This movie is available by Paramount in Italy. It's Region 2 and the price is very reasonable. Euros 24 English language and subtitles. Giuliano Fournier

Harry Palmer: The Spy Who Went Into the Cold .......2005-09-02

Each of these films is a self-contained story but having seen the previous entries does give the central character more depth. "The Ipcress File" introduced Len Deighton's spy with no name as "Harry Palmer" -- a gritty, workaday operative for the British Secret Service -- the polar opposite from James Bond.

(This is even more interesting when you realize the producer of the two series is Harry Saltzman. And the director here is Guy Hamilton who helmed "Goldfinger".)

Michael Caine returns in this excellent second installment of the "Harry Palmer" series. The scene is Berlin in the early 1960s at the height of the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a recent division. The tension between the US and the CCCP caused global anxiety. To see this film is to get something of a feel for the place and the time. The espionage here is thick and the tension is palpable. A series of double crosses lands Palmer in serious trouble. Whereas "Ipcress" had psychological underpinnings, "Funeral" is more personal and more down to earth. A story well told.

And yes, film makers once again take liberties with Deighton's fine books. The author's novel is richer in detail, movement across Europe and character development. Think of this as an abridgement -- a very good abridgement. Otherwise the film would be four hours long.

I wish the producers could have retained John Barry for the score but Konrad Elfers does a fine job and I'm happy to have a CD of his score. The visual framing favored by Sidney J. Furie for "Ipcress" was brilliant. Apparently the producer didn't care for it so Guy Hamilton's "Funeral" lacks those compositions but cinematographer Otto Heller, who worked on "Ipcress" as well, does a very good job here and manages to inject some visual flair now and then that ties the two films together.

The Paramount DVD is worlds better than the previously available VHS. Finally, the original widescreen aspect ratio -- 2:35:1 -- is retained and we no longer have to deal with truncated and/or pan & scan images that result in the dreaded "talking noses syndrome" or distracting cross cuts.

The original release was mono and that's what we have here. Although both "Ipcress" and "Funeral" would benefit from a 5.1 remix the mono sound here is quite good.

Extras? At the premium price Paramount set for this release you would have thought there would be extras. Sorry, no extras. Just be glad we have the film, which brings us to the next topic.

Available once more! Paramount had let this one go out of print ... in the US. This marked up the private seller price ripping off fans trying to find a copy. It was cheaper to buy a region-free player and order a copy from Amazon UK than it was to ferret out a used copy at that popular auction website. But relax, it's back in print.

"Funeral in Berlin" is a keeper.

Michael Caine as Harry Palmer returns in the next installment, Ken Russel's film: "The Billion Dollar Brain".

PS: If you want an even darker, noir-like film set in the same time and place, Richard Burton as "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" is depressing and absolutely brilliant.

PPS: "The Quiller Memorandum", a fine cold war spy film, is now available on DVD.

Average customer rating:

Checking Out The Cracks in Glasnost
The Russia House
wonderful movie
One of the best Le Carre adaptations
Excellent film, actors not at its best

The Russia House
Starring: Sean Connery , Michelle Pfeiffer , Roy Scheider , James Fox , and John Mahoney
Director: Fred Schepisi
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
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ASIN: B00005R5GM
Release Date: 2001-12-26

Amazon.com essential video

Intelligent casting, strong performances, and the persuasive chemistry between Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer prove the virtues in director Fred Schepisi's well-intended but problematic screen realization of this John Le Carré espionage thriller. At its best, The Russia House depicts the bittersweet nuances of the pivotal affair between a weary, alcoholic London publisher (Connery) and the mysterious Russian beauty (Pfeiffer) who sends him a fateful manuscript exposing the weaknesses beneath Soviet defense technology. Connery's Barley is a gritty, all-too-human figure who's palpably revived by his awakening feelings for Pfeiffer's wan, vulnerable Katya, whose own reciprocal emotions are equally convincing. Together, they weave a poignant romantic duet.

The problems, meanwhile, emanate from the story line that brings these opposites together. Le Carré's novels are absorbing but typically internal odysseys that seldom offer the level of straightforward action or simple arcs of plot that the big screen thrives on. For The Russia House, written as glasnost eclipsed the cold war's overt rivalries, Le Carré means to measure how old adversaries must calibrate their battle to a more subtle, subdued match of wits. Barley himself becomes enmeshed in the mystery of the manuscript because British intelligence chooses to use him as cat's paw rather than become directly involved. Such subtlety may be a more realistic take on the spy games of the recent past, but it makes for an often tedious, talky alternative to taut heroics that Connery codified in his most celebrated early espionage role.

If the suspense thus suffers, we're still left with an affecting love story, as well as some convincing sniping between British and U.S. intelligence operatives, beautifully cast with James Fox, Roy Scheider, and John Mahoney. Veteran playwright Tom Stoppard brings considerable style to the dialogue, without solving the problem of giving us more than those verbal exchanges to sustain dramatic interest. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews:

Checking Out The Cracks in Glasnost.......2007-03-05

The movie "Russia House," starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer, is based on the spy novel of the same name, by that master spy-meister, the British John LeCarre. It's a very acute look at Russia, just as their "Glasnost," policy of openness begins to end --but not quite-- the cold war. The talented British playwright Tom Stoppard adapted the script, largely faithful to the novel. The respected director Fred Schepisi helmed. Like most of the movies adapted from LeCarre's oeuvre, it reflects his extraordinary abilities with plotting and dialogue. Though, mind you, the dialogue is quite mannered, as also reflects LeCarre's works, not to mention Stoppard's.

The plot, set in London, Russia, and some other glamorous continental cities, concerns an informant, unknown to the British Secret Service, MI5, who has suddenly popped up, in this period of glasnost, with very valuable, top secret data as to the Russian military's preparedness. The Secret Service doesn't quite know what to make of it, so they press Scott Barley Blair (Sean Connery), an alcoholic publisher specializing in Russian subjects, into service. He's to go to Russsia (several times, it turns out) to locate this most secret of spies. Along the way, he meets and falls in love with Michelle Pfeiffer, never better as an actress, nor more beautiful, as a single mother who works in publishing.

The movie shows us quite a lot of snow, and life as it was lived in Russia at the time. The everyday struggles for the nonprivileged, as Pfeiffer's character, thankfully for us, is. Three generations living cramped in a tiny apartment, the queuing for necessities, the rarity of obtaining new clothes. The privileges of the privileged: the nice cars, the dachas (the greatly-desired country homes), the designer duds. It further deals with the usual suspicions between the British and American secret services. Finally, it gives us an honest, unsensational, non-mawkish view of middle-aged love, though it is burdened with a Hollywood happy ending that you won't find in the book.

Sean Connery shows us a side of him we don't often see in this movie: tenderness. His sax-playing among Russian friends (voiced by Branford Marsalis), is quite moving. Klaus Maria Brandauer is excellent as "Dante," the unusually secret volunteer spy. Pfeiffer does very well, as mentioned above. There was also some money spent on the supporting cast: Americans J.T. Walsh, Roy Scheider, John Mahoney. Brits, Ian McNeice, James Fox, Michael Kitchen, David Threlfall.

"Russia House" was written, and filmed, at the optimum time for its plot, and thereby acquires a resonance it might otherwise not have had. It was a lucky break for author, filmmakers, and us.

The Russia House.......2007-01-31

Great movie. Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer play very convincing parts. It is a very believable story.

wonderful movie.......2007-01-21

I just love this movie. I don't get tired of watching it. I even bought the soundtrack, which is also very good. One of Sean Connery's best. Good plot, good ending. Does he really play the sax? It seems to suit him.

One of the best Le Carre adaptations.......2006-12-16

The Russia House is one of Sean Connery's last really good performances before he realized that they'd still pay him the big bucks even if he was just sleepwalking through a part and refusing to do more than one take. It's also one of the best screen adaptations of a John Le Carre novel, a surprisingly ambitious screenplay by Tom Stoppard that folds chronology, character and plot points in on themselves like origami in the opening and closing scenes making for engaging and occasionally playful viewing. The excellent supporting cast, including an exceptionally good Michelle Pfeiffer, don't hurt either. Only the last minute studio-imposed happy ending grates, but not enough to do any real damage. Jerry Goldsmith provides a fine score, the love theme proving third time lucky after it was dropped from both Wall Street and Alien Nation.

Excellent film, actors not at its best.......2006-06-14

The script is a real spy story that deserves to be seen and maybe more then just once. Well done and very realistic.

The only thing I wasn't amazed is Katia, her russian phrases were with a very bad foreign accent so that she did not seem Russian at all. I think this has brought down the value a bit, otherwise the story seemed original and sceenes were great.

It is certainly not a standard 007 movie, this is far more historical and far less with special effects. In other words 007 movies are pure fiction, this one could have been 100% realistic. Scenery is great.

In any case worth to be seen.

Average customer rating:

Shameless Quest for an Iron Cross.
Interesting, but a lousy soundtrack and a strange ending
Cross of Iron
What price glory?
Great War Movie

Cross of Iron (Full Screen)
Starring: James Coburn , Maximilian Schell , James Mason , David Warner , and Klaus Löwitsch
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Manufacturer: Henstooth Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00003M5FX
Release Date: 2000-02-01

Amazon.com essential video

Sam Peckinpah weighs in on World War II--and from the German point of view. The result is as bleak, if not quite as bloody, as one expects, in part because the 1977 film was cut to ribbons by nervous studio executives. The assorted excerpts that remain don't constitute an exhilarating or even an especially thrilling battle epic. The war is grinding to a close, and veterans like James Coburn's Steiner are grimly aware that it's a lost cause. The battlefield is a death trap of sucking mud and barbed wire, and the German generals (viz., the martinet played by James Mason) seem to pose a bigger threat to the life and limbs of Steiner's men than the inexorable enemy. Not even Peckinpah's famous sensuous exuberance when shooting violence is much in evidence; the picture is a depressive, claustrophobically overcast experience. The bloody high (or low) point isn't a shooting; it's a wince-inducing de-penis-tration during oral sex. For a fun time with the men in (Nazi) uniform, try Das Boot instead. --David Chute

Customer Reviews:

Shameless Quest for an Iron Cross. .......2007-06-04

Director Sam Peckinpah was known for creating very violent scenarios, blood filled and corpse filled films.
Well then WWII Eastern Front is an ideal backdrop to suit his abilities!
With "Cross of Iron" (1977) he delivered his, arguably, second best movie. Being "Straw Dogs" (1971) his Number One.
He constructs a very solid & dynamic war movie, even if the budget put at his disposition wasn't ample enough to fully support this kind of product.

The story is as follows. The German army was already in full retreat. Soldiers, NCOs and officers were deranged beyond recover. Each individual cope the situation with whatever resource is at his disposition: liquor, daydreaming, madness, fanaticism, cynicism, unrestrained violence or a combination of them all.
Out of the blue a Prussian officer arrives to the battalion headquarters, at his own request, in search of winning the Iron Cross. But he is not willing to display the necessary skill & heroism to achieve this. He searches a shameful shortcut and tries to force a true heroic "war dog" to backup his phony statement.
A clash of wills with dreadful results is launched.

Around this anecdote, Peckinpah builds a strong parable about the futility of war in terms of suffering and misery.
Play acting is very good. James Coburn impersonates Steiner the hardboiled & rebellious NCO delivering one of his best performances, at par or better than his appearances in "The Magnificent Seven" (1960) and "The Great Escape" (1963).
Maximilian Schell as the arrogant Hauptmann Stransky, David Warner as disenchanted Hauptmann Kiesel and James Mason as Oberst Brandt compose correctly their characters.
Special mention must be done for play acting of the rest of the squad members: Klaus Lowitsch, Fred Stillkrauth and Michael Nowka amongst other.

Original music by Ernest Gold, the unforgettable author "Exodus" (1960) score, delivers an energetic musical background to the film.

This is an outstanding war film, that no real fan should let it pass by unwatched!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

Interesting, but a lousy soundtrack and a strange ending.......2007-03-20

This is one of the strangest war movies I've ever seen. Peckinpaugh was famous for depicting violence in slow motion, with much blood and realism, and he does that here, in spades. Strangely, as has been commented elsewhere, this is the only war movie he made. It's an odd choice: Willi Heinrich's depressing World War II novel about German soldiers on the Eastern Front wasn't exactly a bestseller in the States. There's also the issue of whether American audiences would even know what that part of the war was about, or how hopeless the situation the characters are in is...the setting of the movie is the Taman peninsula, just to the east of the Crimean peninsula, and Crimea was about to fall, also. The soldiers in the movie are probably all doomed, trapped regardless of what they do.

The supporting characters in the movie are all portrayed by Germans, but the main actors are an international cast. Coburn of course was American, Mason and Warner English, and Schell is the lone German among the principal players. The equipment and uniforms look entirely appropriate and authentic. There's a particularly chilling scene where the German soldiers have to fight off a Soviet attack and the Soviets are led by several tanks, which are clearly T-34s.

No one's ever been able to explain the ending to me coherently. I'm not going to give it away here, but trust me, it's very very strange, and seems anti-climactic. There's an interesting side-note to this: a friend of mine, many years ago, went to the premiere or to a sneak preview in Hollywood, and he swears that the ending was different. Perhaps they had debates about how anti-war they wanted the movie to be, and couldn't agree, or even tested it with different endings before deciding on this one.

Nonetheless, I am glad I own the movie. I can't say I enjoyed watching it exactly (it's very bloody) but it was interesting to watch. Peckinpaugh has this strange habit of cutting between several different sequences, jumping from one point of view to another and then back after a second or two, and it's very interesting, if a bit unsettling until you get used to it. I do agree with the one reviewer though: the soundtrack is more than a little annoying: especially the opening title sequence (which is used for the ending too) has a musical number that's particularly annoying. All in all a good movie though.

Cross of Iron.......2007-03-16

I had orginally seen this movie years ago and always wanted to add it to my video collection. Viewing this movie again reminded me just how tragic, futile, senseless and dehumanizing war can be. James Coburn plays a powerful and very convincing lead in this movie as a German noncommissioned officer in the already lost cause for Germany on the Eastern Front during World War II. James Mason plays an excellent role as the seasoned and philosophical senior officer who is also caught up in the futility of Germany's strategic situation, while Maximilian Schell plays the role of an arrogant Prussian aristocrat whose nefarious ambition for the undeserving glory of an Iron Cross is naked and disgusting to the point of selfishly disregarding the lives of his own men in his command. The visual effects of the battle scenes are almost surreal at times, with soldiers being blow apart in slow motion, as Sam Peckinpah works his magic. This is a movie for anyone who believes that war is glorious and accomplishes anything worth while or for those who already know that war is futile, needs to watch.

What price glory?.......2006-11-22

James Coburn and Maximilian Schell star as two German soldiers from diversely contrasting backgrounds in Sam Peckinpah's brutally graphic WWII drama "Cross of Iron". Filmed in Yugoslavia, the movie depicts the 1943 Nazi retreat from the Soviet Taman peninsula during Hitler's disastrous strategic blunder, the invasion of Russia.

Coburn playing corporal and later sergeant Steiner is a disillusioned war weary veteran, highly respected by his reconnaissance platoon. Schell is a newly transfered captain who is both inexperienced and cowardly. He comes from a wealthy, aristocratic Prussian family for whom he must attain his rite of passage, the iron cross for valor. During a skirmish in which Coburn was wounded and Schell's brave underling lieutenant Meyer was killed, Schell unjustly tries to take credit for the manuever which would bestow the prized iron cross on him. Schell needs corroboration from Coburn to attain the honor. When he refuses, he is forced to explain to their superior officer colonel Brandt played by James Mason.

The fierce fighting goes on and Coburn and his platoon get stuck behind enemy lines and fail to be notified of a general retreat by the actions of Schell. Hoping to get them killed, Schell is shocked when he learns that Coburn and his platoon are attempting to work their way back across enemy lines. He orders junior officer lieutenant Triebig played by Roger Fritz to shoot Coburn and his men to preserve the secret of his devious machinations to win the undeserved medal.

Peckinpah's penchant for gory portrayals of violence is never more apparent than in "Cross of Iron". He also accurately displays the divergent mindset of the German people to the policies of Nazism in his two main characters. Also appearing in a rare English speaking role is the sensuous flame haired German actress Senta Berger, who plays a nurse and Coburn love interest as he recuperates from his wounds.

Great War Movie.......2006-11-05

This is a great war movie. Great battle scenes. Very realistic all around. The ending is a little bizarre but a great movie anyway. It takes place on the Eastern Front after Stalingrad. I saw it on VHS so I can't speak for the quality of this DVD.

Average customer rating:

China in the Eighties
Martial Arts and China
Amazing Martial Arts film
Great Novel
Love and adversity in a foriegn land

Iron and Silk
Starring: Dong Hangcheng , Vivian Wu , To Funglin , Sun Xudong , and Jiang Xihong
Director: Shirley Sun
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0006FFRSY
Release Date: 2005-01-18

Product Description

"What you learned is garbage," Mark Franklin's martial arts instructor tells him. "You have to relearn everything." So Mark practices hours on end, trying to master the skills that will give him the look and power of a tiger crashing down a mountainside. But that's not the only learning he'll experience during his two years in China. Each day brings a new clash between Mark's western ways and the age-old traditions of the Orient. Mark Salzman portrays Franklin in this exciting film based on his autobiographical book. "I really enjoyed 'Iron & Silk,' said Gene Siskel. "Salzman is one of the most engaging presences in a long time."

System Requirements:

Running Time 94 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

China in the Eighties.......2007-05-14

I've seen this movie some 15 years ago and very much enjoyed to see it again.

Martial Arts and China.......2007-04-12

If you're interested in martial arts or planning a trip to China, this book will give you a great perspective. Comical and true-to-life, this is a story about perfecting an art form.

Amazing Martial Arts film.......2007-03-09

I was looking for this movie so long, and finally I found it. It talks about Kungfu, China in a different way from the other kungfu films. I read also the book by which the film is based on. try it.

Great Novel.......2007-03-08

This book is great for Americans to read before going to China. It tells us of the author's experience in a comical way that makes it easy to understand him. It also talks a lot about martial arts-- enough to get you interested, but not too much that it's all he talks about. I highly recommend reading this book!

Love and adversity in a foriegn land.......2007-02-07

This was such a great movie. Very down to earth. Based on the author's own real life, his performance as the staring role is actually quite good for being an unknown actor. The whole movie is very low budget, but with such a great story and such intriguing, real characters that it blows away many bigger films that try to do more.

As a young 20-some year old that wants to visit the orient with many of the same expectations, I related very well to the main character and so this movie touched me more than most, but still a movie I would recommend to everyone.

Average customer rating:

Cross of Iron - Widescreen (uncut)

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000BBGVLU

Product Description

PLOT SUMMARY: The film opens with a squad of seasoned German soldiers, led by a disillusioned but skilled sergeant, on a patrol on the Russian front in WWII. They return to base to find a new commander, a traditional Prussian officer who wants only one thing from his command - An Iron Cross to maintain his family honour. The scene is set for a graphic portrayal of the horrors of war and of the conflict between two men of differing backgrounds. [IMDB - Michael Lawn} ++++ DVD FEATURES: Officially licensed South Korean release is in color with Widescreen (LetterBox) 16:9 format. This NTSC 0 All-Region DVD will play world-wide and is in ENGLISH (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono) with optional (removable) English and Korean subtitles.

Average customer rating:

Fighting Caravans
Starring: Irving Bacon , May Boley , Frank Campeau , Chief John Big Tree , and Iron Eyes Cody
Manufacturer: Genius Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00067ZS72
Release Date: 2004-01-01

Product Description

This movie based on a Zane Grey novel features Gary Cooper as a young frontiersman who convinces a french maiden named Felice (Damita)to pose as his wife and help him avoid arrest. They travel west through dangerous countryside encounter villians, Native Americans and all the while battling their rocky relationship.

Average customer rating:

Gary Cooper saves his Wagon "Caravan" from Indian attack
Low-rent version of "The Big Trail"...

Fighting Caravans
Starring: Gary Cooper , Lili Damita , Ernest Torrence , Tully Marshall , and Fred Kohler
Director: Otto Brower , and David Burton
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000A6T24O
Release Date: 2005-09-06

Description

Gary Cooper stars in this action packed Zane Grey classic! Welcome to the Civil War where fighting caravans of freight wagons struggle to make their way west, fighting enemies at every turn. A young frontier scout helps guide a freight wagon train across the country, fighting off Indians and evil traders. Meanwhile, his two crusty companions try and save him from falling in love with the hot-tempered French maiden Lili Damita who is determined to make her way West alone.

Customer Reviews:

Gary Cooper saves his Wagon "Caravan" from Indian attack.......2001-08-02

Although this was Gary Cooper's next film after "Morocco" and despite its title, "Fighting Caravans" is not another film about the French Foreign Legion, but rather a Western. Cooper plays Clint Belmet, who is arrested for disturbing the peace right before he was to leave Missouri to be the guide for a caravan of wagons heading west. His partners, Bill Jackson (Ernest Torrence) and Jim Bridger (Tully Marshall), talk Felice (Lily Damita), an orphaned French girl who wagon has just joined the caravan, to pretend to be Clint's wife to get him out of jail. Once free, Clint is more than willing to play the bridegroom, but apologizes where it is clear Felice is angry. The two become friends worrying Bill and Jim that Clint is going to want to marry and settle down. Meanwhile, another member of the caravan, Lee Murdock (Fred Kohler), plays to betray them to the Indians who attack in the final real. This 1931 film, based on the 1929 novel by Zane Grey, was directed by Otto Brown and David Burton. Cooper's performance is okay, although the script does not require him to do much along the way except look handsome. "Fighting Caravans" was such a big production that the two directors shot enough footage that the extra was used as background for the 1934 film "Wagon Wheels" starring Randolph Scott. Finally, to make things really interesting, this film, which is an above-average Western from the early days of talking pictures, has been shown on television as "Blazing Arrows."

Low-rent version of "The Big Trail"..........2001-06-11

A semi-clone of "The Big Trail", Cooper takes over the spot DUKE played, as a frontiersman/guide for a wagon train.

While "Fighting Caravans" is not as expansive as "The Big Trail", and while the young Gary Cooper is no young John Wayne, this early western is pretty entertaining.

In the story, Cooper helps the wagon train fend off Indians and evil traders, while his two crusty companions try and save him from falling in love.

There's plenty of action, and there's even a hint of pre-code Hollywood, as Cooper's character practically attempts to blackmail his new sweetheart into fooling around with him.

Laserlight/Delta found a pretty fair print, but there are several missing frames. The image will occasionally "black out", but while annoying, does not interfere with viewing. Originally 92 minutes, this print seems to be more or less intact, missing perhaps two or three minutes.

The story moves along well, and the opening credits alone are pretty snazzy for 1931.

The film has much to recommend it, and while "The Big Trail" is superior, this early Cooper vehicle is worth adding to your western DVD collection. Especially for the low price the disc is being offered at, you should definitely pick this one up.