Hart's War

Starring:Bruce Willis, Colin Farrell
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

One of the best action movies ever made, in a cleaned-up print restoring crucial parts of the story. No cavalry ever rode in with more epochal impact than the Wild Bunch in the legendary opening scene. Their steel-eyed leader, Pike (William Holden), and his robbers in stolen army uniforms help an old lady across the street, and then spark a massacre led by Pike's old crony Thornton (Robert Ryan), sprung from jail to hunt down his old gang. In just a few minutes, Sam Peckinpah sets the scene--a dusty Texas town in 1913--sketches a dozen vividly individualized characters, and choreographs one of the most realistic, influential, brilliantly photographed shootouts under the pitiless sun. The cast is superb (even Ernest Borgnine!), the dialog crackling, the bitterly ambiguous moral of the story hard-earned. It's the deeper, dark flip side to 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Consider buying the letterbox Wild Bunch, the review collection Doing It Right, and the Peckinpah bio "If They Move... Kill 'Em!" --Tim Appelo

Description

Outlaws on the Mexican-U.S. frontier face the march of progress, the Mexican army and a gang of bounty hunters led by a former member while they plan a robbery of a U.S. army train. No one is innocent in this gritty tale of of desperation against changing times. Pump shotguns, machine guns and automobiles mix with horses and winchesters in this ultraviolent western.

Customer Reviews:

Bloody eye candy.......2007-07-03

This bloody extravaganza made Sam Peckinpah's reputation. A kind of fantasy of machismo set along the Texas-Mexico border around 1913--yes, very late for a Western--The Wild Bunch has thrilled adolescent boys and twentysomethings for almost four decades. The slowmo shots of horses falling awkwardly, of bodies squirting blood as they fall off of roof tops or cliffs, of tough hombres talking tough while they grab loose women and bottles of booze replete with numerous other bits of acrobatic mayhem amid some fantastic scenery makes this a non-cerebral feast for the eyes. The stars, William Holden (Pike Bishop), Ernest Borgnine (Dutch Engstrom), Robert Ryan (Deke Thornton), Edmund O'Brien (Freddie Sykes), etc. are first rate and on form. The plot is a variant of the old "one last job" story which begins with Pike's not-quite over-the-hill gang doing one last bank robbery.

Needless to say something goes wrong. Interspersed between the opening credits we see Pike's gang ride into town dressed as members of the US Army Calvary. On roof tops are some rascals and scallywags with rifles, missing teeth, and murderous gleams in their eyes. They are led by Deke Thornton, who it turns out is working for the railroad. What follows is a good old fashioned shoot 'em up of rather unlikely proportions as Pike's gang exists the bank with bags of loot, dodging and slinging bullets with abandon.

Turns out...well, no I won't say because I don't want to spoil the surprise. Suffice it to say, they need to do another job, this one a good old-fashioned train robbery with a few tricks and extras, like blowing up a bridge and running a locomotive at full throttle backwards. And then across the border into Mexico and some fun and games with Mexican generals, senoritas, banditos and such.

Been there, done that. But Peckinpah's colorful yarn has a few things you might not have seen before, and some of those things that you have seen, he did first and better. The Mexican color with a lot of authentic-looking extras doing authentic-looking Mexican activities was good. The fact that the Spanish spoken was not translated (and didn't need to be translated) was good. General Mapache (Emilio Fernandez) as the drunken, power-hungry warlord bandito was good. The kids feeding scorpions to the ants and then burning them was good. Edmund O'Brien as a degenerate Gabby Hayes kind of character was a hoot and a holler. But mostly this was about grim-faced men, toughened by long hours in saddle under the hot sun who, after decades of outlawing, finally ride gloriously into that last battle. Next stop: boot hill.

I watched the "original director's cut" that runs 145 minutes. At no time was my brain involved, but my eyes couldn't stop watching.

The Wild Bunch.......2007-07-02

Maverick director Sam Peckinpah released this blood-soaked western ballet in 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War, igniting protests over his graphic depiction of violence. Yet some images, like the opening sequence of children watching a nest of fire ants attack a scorpion, have a cruel poetic force. Boasting a powerhouse veteran cast and virtually non-stop action, this mesmerizing film is not for the squeamish, but fans of pure western action and gunplay should cherish this pounding, hard-edged film.

It's all been done before........2007-05-27

The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969)

I will readily admit that my confusion over the prominence of The Wild Bunch in the annals of film criticism probably stems from my having bought into the hype. When I hear people wax poetic about the movie, one thing always comes to the surface sooner or later--the previously unheard-of level of violence in the movie. Here I was expecting something... different; even the tamest giallo lords it over The Wild Bunch in terms of violence. Mario Bava was doing it years before. What makes Peckinpah's opus so special? Not the violence.

The other thing that seems to come up often is that Peckinpah's version of the west is decidedly different than that which had been offered before, but again I head back to Italy, and this time flog the dead horse of Sergio Leone, whose westerns were riddled with grey areas long before this.

Okay, so Peckinpah was the first guy to do it in America. And it got John Wayne pretty mad. (But, really, he was already mad at Clint Eastwood for the Leone movies.) But from every other standpoint--plot, characters, pacing, cinematography, direction--Peckinpah has done better. (The pinnacle came three years later with Straw Dogs.) It's not bad, but don't go into it expecting one of the greatest films of all time, or you're bound to be disappointed. ***

Not As Advertised-.......2007-04-20

For the third time in 10 years, I have purchased another copy of "The Wild Bunch". And for the third time in 10 years, I have been utterly disappointed. I don't know what all of these other reviewers watched in 1969, but what I watched was a much, much wilder bunch with much more grusome footage at the old Majestic Theater in downtown Dallas. Someone, apparently do gooders, had the film cut back to the bland piece of work that you see in this DVD. Someone should sue Warner Bros. for false advertising. I am still looking for the original film and would pay good money for it, if it even still exists. In the killings in the original film the bodies struck by bullets, immediately went to slow motion as a stream of blood shot from the bullet hole in the beginning murderous scene. There is only one brief shot of this type and the rest, a least a couple of dozen were cut out and are still cut out. Save your money, if you think your getting the original.

Much more than just a violent film..........2007-04-06

This is one of the greatest Westerns ever made. Most people talk about its violence level. The violence here is incredible, and it's still strong and potent today. It shocked the living hell out of everyone back in 1969. It made some people vomit because it was so intense. However, while I do like the shootouts of this film, it's the depth that the characters have that really make this film stand out for me. Some of the speeches Pike gives are quite good, stressing that you stand by a man, and if you don't, you're like some animal, you're finished. Pike and the Bunch lived by these words, and in the end, they died by these words. They lived in a time where your word and your honor meant something, and you lived by a certain code that you tried to stay true to. Nowadays, this kind of message is seen as old fashioned and made fun of mercilessly. It shouldn't be. Despite the Bunch being criminals, they retain their sense of dignity at the end. Even Robert Ryan, Pike's former friend who is now chasing the Bunch, has a dignity as well, keeping his word to the bastard railroad men. But when he's finished with the posse, he stays in Mexico with the locals instead of returning to the US. You don't hate Ryan for what he's doing, and Pike doesn't hate him either. They each just want to live, and they got a job to do. The ending is one of the more poignant and brutal endings ever filmed. The Bunch got their bounty, and are whooping it up with the local whores. Angel had made a deal with them to keep one case of guns for his village, and they agreed. They told the general Mapache that they lost it on the trail. Mapache didn't believe them and accused Angel of stealing it, so the Bunch let him keep it. While the Bunch are drinking and partying, they stop and realise what they have to do. They go back and rescue Angel, not because they have to, but because they need to. They didn't want to abandon their friend. They probably knew they would be killed, and they didn't give a damn about it. I find this extraordinarily moving and quite powerful. After a decade of smug "irony", things like dignity and honor are punchlines. I don't think they are, and I never will. I really like the message of brotherhood and honor here, and I think this is a masterpiece....

War & Remembrance - Vol. 2, The Final Chapter: Parts 8 - 12

Average customer rating:

Correction to actors/actresses in the series
Epic Mini Series
Worth every penny
THE CONCLUSION OF THE EPIC WORLD WAR TWO SAGA
Great historical data

War & Remembrance - Vol. 2, The Final Chapter: Parts 8 - 12
Starring: Robert Mitchum , Jane Seymour , Hart Bochner , Victoria Tennant , and Polly Bergen
Director: Tommy Groszman , and Dan Curtis
Manufacturer: Mpi Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Miniseries | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

War and Remembrance - Volume 1 - Parts 1-7
The Winds of War
North and South - The Complete Collection
James Clavell's Shogun
Fall of Eagles

ASIN: B0002TW746
Release Date: 2004-08-31

Amazon.com

The second half of this massive miniseries covers events from the last two years of World War II with members of our fictitious family--the Henrys--scattered throughout the world. Pariah "Pug" Henry (Robert Mitchum) visits Russia and England as an advisor--and proposes to his much-younger lover, Pamela (Victoria Tennant)--before retuning to the Pacific theater to join his son Byron (Hart Bochner), a submariner, in battling the Japanese. Meanwhile, Byron's wife, Natalie (Jane Seymour), and her uncle (John Gielgud) continue their harrowing plight, starting in the "Paradise Ghetto" and leading to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

This half--11.5 hours--aired on ABC in May 1989, six months after the first half. Unfortunately there is no kinetic battle sequence like the first half's Midway clash to absorb the viewer. Director Dan Curtis relies more on newsreel footage (and the sometimes heavy-handedness of narrator William Woodson) to cover large events. To compensate, the filmmakers give inordinate screen time to the conspiracy to kill Hitler (Steven Berkoff) by his inner circle. Like in Herman Wouk's novel, Hitler's decision to eliminate the Jews is the backbone of the entire series and the film's steely reenactments of these events--an amazing achievement for network television--is quite harrowing. Authenticity (filming at Auschwitz) plus ace performances (Seymour has been rarely better, Gielgud is outstanding) combine for a powerful statement, although the whole production is sometimes weighed down by the soap-opera elements of the Henrys' lives. The original Winds of War miniseries had a higher caliber cast, which is missed here. However, a few actors shine in their atypical performances, including Barry Bostwick (who tied with Gielgud for the Golden Globe) as a flamboyant submariner and David Dukes as a desk side attaché who reaches new depths in the war. Although admired and very watchable, the series did not impact the industry as much as its predecessor or sweep the award circuit as other miniseries (Roots, Holocaust, etc.) did, although it did take home the Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries.

The 7-DVD set contains an informative booklet, a CD soundtrack, and a disc of extras. Dan Curtis makes comments over 70 select minutes of the series (shown out of context), hitting the highlights of filming, a nice way of letting the filmmaker talk without searching for the commentary throughout the various discs. There's a new 30-minute feature combining new and old footage on the making of this massive production, and a 15-minute featurette on composer Bob Cobert. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

Correction to actors/actresses in the series.......2007-06-09

Jane Seymour was not in the series. It was Ali MacGraw. Also starring was Jan-Michael Vincent, John Houseman, Peter Graves, Polly Bergen, Lisa Eilbacher, David Dukes, Topol, Ben Murphy, Jeremy Kemp, and Ralph Bellamy as FDR, and Introducing Victoria Tennant

This goes for Vol 1 also.

Epic Mini Series.......2007-04-08

This is an epic production. The scale of this production, the quality of the acting and the tragedy and triumph it depicts make it my favourite television series. Many young actors today could learn something from Mitchum's legendary minimalism.

Worth every penny.......2007-03-26

I purchased the whole series, partly because I love it and partly because it goes down as the most tremendous undertaking ever attempt for television.
The last Chapter is both appalling and mesmerizing. Sir John Gielgud's performance as the redeemed Aaron Jastrow is magnificent and worth the price alone. The work of Polly Bergen and Mitchum and Jane Seymour are a bonus.

THE CONCLUSION OF THE EPIC WORLD WAR TWO SAGA.......2007-03-25

This 6-disc set concludes the turbulent story of `War and remembrance' miniseries, based on the successful book by Herman Wouk, whose predecessor, `Winds of war', was shot five year prior to this, in 1983. Made during a 5-year period on location in 10 countries, `War and Remembrance' thusly remains one of the biggest achievements in the history of television. The story comes to an end with this 11 and half hours of footage, covering the period from November 1943 to summer 1945.

The main plot of this last part mostly concerns the final stages of the holocaust. Again, we see it through the characters of Natalie (Jane Seymour), an American Jewess, and her uncle Aaron (John Gielgud), who after many escapades across Europe ended up in Theresienstadt, a Nazi ghetto in occupied Czechoslovakia in summer 1943. The so called `paradise ghetto' turns out to be a monstrous hoax: an overcrowded place filled with sickly and dying Jewish people, many of whom were sent to Auschwitz on the regular train transports. The Theresienstadt scenes (shot in my native Croatia) show some of the most brutal holocaust-related moments: a very disturbing scene where Aaron is beaten in front of Adolf Eichmann (Milton Johns), one of the highest ranking Nazis responsible for the implementation of `the final solution' and the one where Natalie's small son is almost tore in two in front of her. We also get to see the famous Red Cross visit to Theresienstadt in June 1944. The Nazis allowed this visit and tried to deceive the visitors, by implementing `the great beautification': the false stores and cafes; furnished houses and hospitals, putting some of the residents on display, etc. However, all this pales in comparison to the episode where Natalie and her uncle are put on the last train from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz, in October 1944. What follows is one of the most gruesome and most vivid depictions: a long and for some fatal trip to Auschwitz; the arrival and the selection (who goes to the camp and who to the gas chamber); the procession of the able bodied prisoners (that is, Natalie) and the very end of her uncle (undressing and dying in the gas chamber). These exterior scenes were shot on location on the exact spots in the actual Auschwitz-Birkeanau camp (first time to be done so) and are deeply moving and disturbing and because of that are not suitable for the small children. This remains the most detailed TV account of the holocaust until today.

Besides this, the story also wraps up the subplots concerning the fictional characters from the Henry family (the love between Pugh and Pamela, for example). The historical events are covered, albeit with less live footage and space (D day; the atom bomb, whose implications of use are strangely left untouched and the whole thing is only mentioned). Considerable space has been given to the July plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944. Sky Dumont (who had a cameo in `Winds of war' as the Italian foreign minister Ciano) is excellent in his portrayal as Count Stauffenberg, the tragic and dignified leader of this failed attempt.

Most of the cast continues their persuasive job (Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen, Jane Seymour, John Gielgud, Ralph Bellamy...). However, the same problem from the first DVD set is painfully obvious, that is, the character of Hitler. In `Winds of war' Hitler was played by the late German actor Günter Meisner, who played this role a few times during his career. Although a bit too old for the role, he managed to keep things under control, so despite the fact his Führer was stiffed and not altogether perfect, he gave a hint of the evil personage Hitler was. Here, however, the role is taken by the British actor Steven Berkoff and he did an awful job out of it. According to the interview on the extra disc, the director Dan Curtis wanted Hitler to be overplayed. The reasons remain unknown, although one can guess that he wanted to downgrade the character more by doing this. Berkoff's Hitler is a mixture of a buffoon and a yelling maniac. He portrays these sides in such an overacted manner that the result is anything but believable. This makes the Hitler scenes really uninteresting to watch and the way he behaves with his inner circle has no trustworthiness at all. Therefore it is hard to believe such a person could put a spell on the entire nation, let alone be listened by his generals, most of whom are shown here as the observers who put up with him. The role of Hitler is a hard and yet manageable task for an actor who can make a character, as shown by Bruno Ganz in the recent movie `Downfall'. The same difficulty is evident in case of Robert Stephens, who plays Karl Rahm, the SS commandant of Theresienstadt, in the manner of a cartoon villain.

In the same way, the same slip ups from the first disc set are also present here. The most noticeable concern is the narrow scope used in reference to the holocaust, i.e. by showing it to be solely and exclusively a Jewish matter. There is no doubt that the Jews suffered far worse than any other nation, but the subject matter cannot be understood without mentioning all the other groups that suffered under the Nazis. Here there is no reference whatsoever as to all the others that perished in Auschwitz and other places: Slavs, Jehovah's witnesses, Gypsies, homosexuals, etc. This is something that should not have been done in the series of such importance and scale. The book and the movie `Sophie's choice' (where, incidentally, the same actor played Rudolf Höß, the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp) recognize this problem by showing a Polish woman caught in the tragedy that is holocaust. Another evident thing is the fact that the authors tend to be too biased: the subtle message is all Americans are totally honest and good in each step of the way, while all the Germans are bad and vicious. Some of the scenes and lines are quite unnecessary. For example, the Germans on the train to Auschwitz are shown in the stereotypical form as a bunch of beer-gobbling goons. At the same time, the exhausted Natalie says in her boxcar: "I am an American and I will survive.", like one has something to do with the other. The same thing can be said about her line in the last episode, when she is describing a dead friend to her husband (who is a gentile himself), by saying: "His heart was in the right place for a gentile." A bit more of objectivity would be more than welcome.

One of the DVD-related problems is the fact that some of the spelling is incorrect, especially German names and phrases. Thusly Morrell became Müller and Roon is subtitled as Rohem. The German phrase `Zu Befehl', which means `As you ordered', is wrongly subtitled as `To be fair'.

Despite all this, the series remain more than plausible for anyone interested in World War II fiction. The bonus DVD includes another behind the scenes documentary with the cast and the crew (the difficulties of getting permission to shoot at Auschwitz, a homage to the actors and crew people who died since filming...); director Dan Curtis' comment of the selected important scenes and an interview with Bob Cobert, the composer who wrote the memorable score for the series.

If you enjoyed `Winds of war' DVD set, be sure not to miss this.

Great historical data.......2007-03-08

I give this a five star....becuase of the story content with the Historical data...given

It was very interesting.

War and Remembrance - Volume 1 - Parts 1-7

Average customer rating:

Imperfect - but compelling
War & Remembrance
Sequels
THE SAGA CONTINUES
Sequel, please....

War and Remembrance - Volume 1 - Parts 1-7
Starring: Robert Mitchum , Jane Seymour , Hart Bochner , Victoria Tennant , and Polly Bergen
Director: Tommy Groszman , and Dan Curtis
Manufacturer: Mpi Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Miniseries | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

War & Remembrance - Vol. 2, The Final Chapter: Parts 8 - 12
The Winds of War
North and South - The Complete Collection
James Clavell's Shogun
Fall of Eagles

ASIN: B0002TW73W
Release Date: 2004-08-31

Amazon.com

The ambitious TV event War and Remembrance was the final opus in the golden age of the maxi-miniseries. This six-disc set offers the first half (seven episodes) of ABC's mammoth 30-hour production of Herman Wouk's bestseller--itself a sequel to the landmark Winds of War--mixing fictional and real characters around the events of World War II. It starts a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor and abruptly stops in July 1943 with the fall of Mussolini. Only half of the first series' lead actors return, including Robert Mitchum as the patriarch Captain "Pug" Henry. Although Mitchum is too old and less dashing than he should be, his presence is exactly what the series needs as it wavers between pop entertainment and a graphic look at the atrocities of war. The series' multiple storylines branch from the Henry family tree, from his sons' naval battles to his daughter-in-law's (Jane Seymour) harrowing flight through Europe with her famous father (John Gielgud), witnessing firsthand the collapse of European Jewish life in the grip of Nazi power.

Director Dan Curtis said that after The Winds of War, the opportunity to show the Jews' plight led him to take on another daunting production. He takes the viewer into Auschwitz with unflinching realism (producer and former internee Branko Lustig returned to the subject a decade later with Schindler's List) and is just as deft with a few massive battle sequences combining models with colorized footage. Sometimes the soap opera of the characters' affairs seems pretty sappy, especially with some uneven acting. The DVD set also contains two featurettes from 1988 and 2002. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

Imperfect - but compelling.......2007-06-25

All the massive reviews here that point out bits of weak acting, regard the series as too long, bemoan the over-dramatization of Hitler (although honestly I have no idea - he obviously wasn't sane), cliched plot twists and some improbable plot elements are right. But they miss the point.

Despite its moments of dated narration, War and Remembrance really does transport you back to the 1940s. The length of the series precludes you from watching much else, so in a way you do participate in the war as an observer of the Henry clan. The main problem with history, in general, is that it happened to people we don't know. Through immersion, this film starts to erode that barrier. I.e., as Aaron and Natalie slip down the slope of Nazi persecution, you can't help but care about what happens. Ditto for the Henry men fighting in the Pacific - you want them to come home safe, because you've spent enough time with them to have felt like they were your siblings or children.

With regard to acting, Mitchum continues to be Pug Henry. I don't know how anyone else could have played that role. He's stoic, but in Wouk's books Pug isn't exactly a bubbly kind of guy. Jane Seymour is a much less obnoxious Natalie - I believe Ali McGraw would have been a distraction in this role, whereas Seymour conveys true fear and anxiety. John Gielgud, as others have mentioned, is riveting - just superb. Peter Graves looks out of date - somehow he has just always looked 1970s, and he doesn't quite fit here. You could argue that Polly Bergen (as Rhoda Henry) is superficial and that her romantic swings are trivial against the backdrop of world events. But Wouk probably knew this, and the truth is that even in desperate times a lot of us are more focused on our own heartbreak and loves, so even that soap opera -- poorly acted, in my opinion -- fits here.

Others have commented about how this series omits or glosses over the internment of Japanese Americans, the huge casualties in China and other aspects of the war. Honestly, I think this is ridiculous critique. What is amazing is how Wouk was able develop such a vast scope for his work and cover as much as he did -- Russian front, Pacific Theatre/Pearl Harbor, Italy, Poland, Turkey, the UK, the Desert War -- I mean, it's staggering. Someone will doubtless complain there wasn't enough emphasis on womens' role in the armed forces, and you could probably make that argument. But in the context of War and Remembrance it's a piffling complaint.

So now that I've written another massive review, and probably not as good as the others, I would set forth War and Remembrance as one of those films that everyone should see. With all its flaws, it succeeds brilliantly at animating an era slipping from out collective memories, in a way that has value as a history lesson and nonetheless pulls you in emotionally. Five stars, not because it's perfect, but because it's unrivalled in its effect.

War & Remembrance.......2007-06-08

This is one of my favorite mini series. I love Robert Mitchum in the series. People who don't believe that the Holocaust happened should watch this.

Sequels.......2007-06-08

As with most sequels, this as well as parts 8 - 12 are not nearly as good as was the Winds of War. At the same time, if you like continuity in a story and want to see the heroes and the heroines as they make it through the hard times they were left in at the commencement of the war, you will want to see this too. There are character changes. Jane Seymour replaces Ali McGraw (Natalie), Hart Bochner replaces Jan Michael Vincent (Byron). Ben Murphy is replaced by Michael Woods (Warren). Lisa Eilbacher was replaced by Leslie Hope (Madeline Henry). John Gilgood replaced John Houseman (Aaron). Sharon Stone also replace Deborah Winters (Janice), Robert Morley replaced Michael Logan (Alistair Tudsbury) and the Hitler character became far more dramatic by Steven Berkoff replacing Günter Meisner. These replacements did not detract from the movie and perhaps helped in most instances but I did miss Lisa Eilbacher as Madeline and I preferred Deborah Winters in her role as Janice Henry.

THE SAGA CONTINUES.......2007-03-12

War and Remembrance' is the sequel to the highly successful book and the miniseries `Winds of war', by the bestselling American author Herman Wouk. The 1988 adaptation of the book picks up the story where its predecessor has left it off. Made during the 5-year period on location in 10 countries, `War and Remembrance' thusly remains one of the biggest achievements in the history of television. This 6-disc set encompasses the first part of the series; about 13 and a half out of 30 hours of film.

The basic plot continues with the aftermath after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Again we follow the American naval family Henry and their involvement in the various parts and phases of the war. The war story is roughly divided into two levels: Europe and the Pacific. The male part of the Henry family (the patriarch Victor Pug Henry and his sons Warren and Byron) are part of the great battles in the Pacific (Midway, Guadalcanal...), while the major focus has been put on the European stage and the tragedy of the holocaust, as seen and experienced through the eyes of Natalie (Byron's wife) and her uncle Aaron, who are both Jewish. This main plot has various personal subplots between the characters (the love between Pug and Pamela, the daughter of an old friend, for example) and just like in `Winds of war'; we see things from the perspective of the major historical characters (Hitler, Roosevelt, Churchill...). This part of the series ends in the ghetto Theresienstadt in Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, where Natalie, Aaron and her small son, after escapades across the Europe, end up, with an uncertain future.

The impeccable attention to period details make this DVDs a delight to watch. The casting for the most part also deserves praise. Robert Mitchum (Pug), Polly Bergen (his wife Rhoda) and Victoria Tennat (Pamela) reprise their role in best of ways. Despite the fact Mitchum was a bit too old at that time; he still has the power and charisma his character is made of. There are also some changes in the cast, some better than other. Jane Seymour replaced Ali McGraw as Natalie here and she gave more than a satisfying performance She is not as headstrong as McGraw was, but a more subtle incarnation of the character. Handsome-looking Hart Bochner replaced Jan-Michel Vincent as her husband Byron and he give a bit of an arrogant performance, without the boyish charm the character has in the book. John Houseman, who was too ill to reprise his role as professor Aaron Jastrow, was replaced by one of the greatest British actors of the last century, sir John Gielgud, who gave his usual outstanding and dignifying rendition.

But the greatest disappointment, as some of the other reviewers noted here, comes from the character of Hitler. In `Winds of war' Hitler was played by the late German actor Günter Meisner, who played this role a few times during his career. Although a bit too old for the role, he managed to keep things under control, so despite the fact his Führer was stiffed and not altogether perfect, he gave a hint of the evil personage Hitler was. Here, however, the role is taken by the British actor Steven Berkoff and he did an awful job out of it. According to the interview on the extra disc, the director Dan Curtis wanted Hitler to be overplayed. The reasons remain unknown, although one can guess that he wanted to downgrade the character more by doing this. Berkoff's Hitler is a mixture of a buffoon and a yelling maniac. He portrays these sides in such an overacted manner that the result is anything but believable. This makes the Hitler scenes really uninteresting to watch and the way he behaves with his inner circle has no trustworthiness at all. Therefore it is hard to believe such a person could put a spell on the entire nation, let alone be listened by his generals, most of whom are shown here as the observers who put up with him. The role of Hitler is a hard and yet manageable task for an actor who can make a character, as shown by Bruno Ganz in the recent movie `Downfall'.

It becomes obvious after watching the DVDs that the main task the authors put before them here was to show the holocaust in its most brutal and vivid form. And the way they do it remains unmatched in the TV history to this day. The story includes all the main points of `the final solution': the life in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp (this is the first TV crew that got the chance to shoot in the original camp); the extremely graphic and violent scene of gassing during Heinrich Himmler's visit there in 1942; `Aktion 1005', where the Nazis cover the tracks of mass killing by firing squads (so called 'Einsatzgruppen') by digging up the graves and burning the bodies and in the last episode of this part, Babi-Yar massacre, where the Kiev Jews were brought outside the town like cattle and shot by machineguns. All this is very disturbing to watch, so it is not suitable for small children. The most tragic scenes in this respect will, however follow, in the last part of the saga.

Having said all this, one has to mention the obvious slip ups. The most noticeable concern is the narrow scope used in reference to the holocaust, i.e. by showing it to be solely and exclusively a Jewish matter. There is no doubt that the Jews suffered far worse than any other nation, but the subject matter cannot be understood without mentioning all the other groups that suffered under the Nazis. Here there is no reference whatsoever as to all the others that perished in Auschwitz and other places: Slavs, Jehovah's witnesses, Gypsies, homosexuals, etc. This is something that should not have been done in the series of such importance and scale. The book and the movie `Sophie's choice' (where, incidentally, the same actor played Rudolf Höß, the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp) recognizes this problem by showing a Polish woman caught in the tragedy that is holocaust. Another evident thing is the fact that the authors tend to be too biased: the subtle message is all Americans are totally honest and good in each step of the way, while all the Germans are bad and vicious. A bit more of objectivity would be more than welcome.

Despite all this, the series remain more than plausible for anyone interested in World War II fiction. The bonus DVD includes two behind of scenes documentaries that show the way this epic was written, made and cast, through the interviews with the director/producer Dan Curtis, the author Herman Wouk and the cast. If you enjoyed `Winds of war' DVD set, be sure not to miss this.

Sequel, please...........2007-01-20

I've seen both Winds of War and War and Remembrance, and loved them both for different reasons, none of which I'm going to go into right now.

Nobody on this review page has mentioned a sequel to War and Remembrance, so I will. I'd love to see a sequel called "Beyond War and Remembrance". The stories would concentrate on the Henrys after WWII. Most intriguing to me would be a storyline that took up with Byron and Natalie and that brought Avram Rabinowitz back into the picture....What love he and Natalie felt for each other! It was so strong and pure....

Then I'd like to follow Pug and Pamela. Will he EVER give up running around for the President? Will he and Pam stay together?

Ah, love!

Mrs. Henderson Presents (Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Dame Judy Doesn't Dissapoint
Rather entertaining.
Laura Henderson: "We've had some good shows, but they're not daring enough. Let's get rid of the clothes."
DVD does tremendous justice to this magnificent film
Very witty

Mrs. Henderson Presents (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Judi Dench , Bob Hoskins , Will Young , Christopher Guest , and Kelly Reilly
Director: Stephen Frears
Manufacturer: Weinstein Company
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Ladies in Lavender
Capote
Good Night, and Good Luck (Widescreen Edition)
Match Point
Memoirs of a Geisha (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: B000ETRCN0
Release Date: 2006-04-18

Amazon.com

The blitz-bombing of London in World War II provides the serious backdrop for the uplifting entertainment of Mrs. Henderson Presents, a delightful British comedy anchored by the flawless performances of Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins. After losing a son in World War I, and becoming a widow in 1937, the wealthy and respectable Mrs. Henderson (Dench) decides that the best way to support soldiers going off to battle is to give them a wartime send-off they'll never forget. Thus, she buys and renovates the Windmill Theater in London's Soho district, hires Mr. Vivian Van Damm (Hoskins) as the impresario of an all-day musical variety show called "Revudeville," and secures permission from the censorious Lord Cromer (Christopher Guest) to include naked women in the stage show - on the condition that the ladies remain still onstage to qualify as "art," like nude portraits in a gallery, with the "foliage" of their "midlands" discreetly obscured. "Revudeville" is an instant hit, British propriety remains tastefully intact, and as The Windmill's fortunes rise, fall, and rise again, Mrs. Henderson Presents develops an emotional depth and good-natured nobility that's perfectly matched to the comedy of tweaking British manners. Working from an eloquently witty, fact-based screenplay by Martin Sherman, director Stephen Frears (High Fidelity) brings out the best in a well-chosen cast, and Andrew Dunn's cinematography (enhanced by judicious use of digital effects to show the London blitz in progress) casts a warm, inviting glow over this winning tale of show-biz tenacity in the best and worst of times. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Academy Award winner1 Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love) received her fifth Oscar® nomination for her saucy, hilarious performance in Mrs. Henderson Presents. Laura Henderson (Dench) may be a widow in London but she is certainly not going to spend the rest of her days playing bridge. In a time when England is brought to its knees by war, she brings a nation to its feet in applause—with a live show featuring nude girls! Dench and Academy Award nominee2 Bob Hoskins have won critics' hearts in this stylish gem that Joe Morgenstern from The Wall Street Journal calls "one of the wittiest comedies to come our way in a very long time!" "Two hours of relentless, heart-pounding pleasure." - Rex Reed, The New York Observer 1Best Supporting Actress, Shakespeare in Love 2Best Actor, Mona Lisa

Customer Reviews:

Dame Judy Doesn't Dissapoint.......2007-07-03

I love Judy Dench. She is one of the best actors of this time. If you want a good entertaining film and are not uptight about nudity then this is a must see movie! Wish I could give it more than 5 stars.

Rather entertaining........2007-06-07

I have to say that movie was rather entertaining with dance numbers, singing, and even a tragedy. Kelly Reilly is stunning as Maureen. She does a terrific job; I hope to see her more.

Laura Henderson: "We've had some good shows, but they're not daring enough. Let's get rid of the clothes.".......2007-04-28

A wealthy widow, Mrs. Laura Henderson (Judi Dench) buys an old London theater and comes up with the brilliant idea to turn it in a performance hall with the non-stop shows featuring nude girls during World War II. Bob Hoskins plays Vivian Van Damm, her business partner, who is as stubborn and opinionated as she is but somehow they manage to stay friends and to maintain the respect and admiration for each other. I liked this little movie very much. It's a well crafted dramedy with nice musical numbers, nudity, touching story, and it is based on the real events. Dench and Hoskins are marvelous together.

DVD does tremendous justice to this magnificent film.......2007-03-23

I loved this film in the theatre and must say that the DVD Widescreen transfer with all of the extras(including the ORIGINAL Windmill girls!-and a very good commentary by the director) is a must have in your library.What a shame that this wonderfully clever and extremely well acted and directed (Stephen Frears,THE QUEEN) had such a limited release in the arthouses.The musical stage numbers are outstanding and every bit as good as any of the recent musicals since CHICAGO.This film assembles absolutely the creme dela creme of British stage,cinema(Dench and Hoskins) and even Pop star Will Young and American "nut" Christopher Guest, to bring to life a VERY interesting piece of theatre history in London.For the price of this DVD you simply can't go wrong!!!

Very witty.......2007-03-04

A sassy widow flounders to fill her time soon after her husband's funeral. She has plenty of money, so she goes way out on a limb and purchases an old theatre in London in need of restoration and a radical manager with brilliant ideas. Mrs. Henderson and Mr. Van Dam (her manager) try risky productions to keep the theatre fresh and popular. Based on true events, this film is a one of a kind story with unforgettable performances by extremely gifted actors. Well done!

Chrissy K. McVay - Author

Average customer rating:

Obsessive obsession
Excellent Service
"Goodness has so little fictional value"
A Woman of Her Word
Great acting!

The End of the Affair
Starring: Ralph Fiennes , Stephen Rea , Julianne Moore , Heather-Jay Jones , and James Bolam
Director: Neil Jordan
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Period Piece | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Religion | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Art House & International | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Drama | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( E ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Onegin
The English Patient (Miramax Collector's Edition)
Oscar & Lucinda
Sunshine
Wuthering Heights (1992)

ASIN: 0767847415
Release Date: 2000-05-16

Amazon.com essential video

"This is a diary of hate," pounds out novelist Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes) on his typewriter as he recounts the lost love of his life in this spiritual memoir (based on Graham Greene's novel) with a startling twist. It's London 1946, and Maurice runs into his achingly dull school friend Henry (Stephen Rea with a perpetually gloomy hangdog expression). Their meeting is brittle, all small talk and chilly, mannered civility beautifully captured by director-screenwriter Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), and it only barely thaws when Henry suggests that his wife, Sarah (the luminous Julianne Moore), may be having an affair. Maurice's mind reels back to his passionate affair with Sarah during the war years, which she abruptly broke off two years ago. Gripped with a jealousy that hasn't abated, he hires a private detective (a mousy, marvelous Ian Hart) to shadow her movements. He prepares himself for the revelation of a rival but instead finds a deeper, more profound secret: "I tempted fate," she writes in her diary, "and fate accepted."

Jordan's cool remove captures the unease beneath formal manners but never warms into intimacy during the scenes between the lovers, even while Fiennes and Moore almost explode in repressed emotions, their faces cracking under their masks of civility and their resolve shaking through jittery body language. There's more thought than feeling behind this collision of passion and spirituality, but it's a sincere, richly realized portrait of ennui and rage against God energized by brief moments of shattering drama. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Obsessive obsession.......2007-03-09

To love that deeply that you constantly obsess about every aspect of your lover's life is maddening, literally. This couple appears to have a bond way beyond this earth. The heat generated by them almost melts the screen. This is a wonderful torrid love story.

Excellent Service.......2007-01-12

Item was shipped as soon as i placed order. I was updated often. Excellent service!

"Goodness has so little fictional value".......2006-09-15

I love films which unfold complexities slowly, that use color with deep intention, and don't rely on words to say everything that must be said.

The End of the Affair is a lovingly and carefully adapted film. To fit into time, I feel that you must allow a film like this to stand on its own. Many adjustments were made to the story, and what eventually emmerges is, to me, even more cohesive and personal.

One thing I particularly love about The End of the Affair, is the color pallette and sharp attention to clothing. I love Sarah's red suits, her green jacket, her hair (carefully suited to the time), and the way the colors stand out, but with subtlety, from every scene that she stands in until her character begins to fade.

This movie permanently affected my aesthetic sensibilities.

The *most* affecting aspect of the movie for me however, was being able to deeply relate to the character of Sarah, as I think many people can. Most of us have our superstitions, even when we work to keep them subdued, and certainly a seemingly "miraculous experience," or great trauma (they usually go together don't they?) can bring those things to the surface.

I thought that the Bendrix and Henry dynamic that played out in the film was fascinating. It created a contrast between two ways of living really: One figure, content to live on a straight line, climbing little by little with bits of satisfaction but no passion, and the other all passion and anger and intensity. Henry, in a way, created the passion Sarah felt for Maurice. He bottled her up and placed her on a shelf where she simmered, and I think the "vulgar sex scenes" as some called them, are extraordinarily necessary if you want to understand the emotions going on.

Then again, Sarah's religious devotion followed her commitment to Henry, which before the vow she seemed to have no intention of lessening, so you also see that she was more than the sensual person that she was with Maurice, she was also the practical wife. Neither was a role she was playing.

Every central character in this film, is a dichotomy, and more than that, they are wonderfully and spectacularly flawed, which certainly is the core of Graham Greene's insightful and philosophic writing.

This is a labrynth of a film, rich in unanswerable questions, and contains the most brilliant use of perspective that I have ever seen. If you, like me, like to watch a good film several times, I recommend listening to Neil Jordan's commentary along with at least one viewing, then watching it again.

-Stephanie

A Woman of Her Word.......2006-01-15

While this film did not hit me as hard (emotionally) as THE ENGLISH PATIENT, it sure gave me plenty to think about.

The cast and direction are first-rate. The story is well-told. It made me buy the novel and read it--and then wonder how much of the story really happened!

If you enjoy intelligent, challenging love stories told against historical backdrops, then check this movie out.
And be very careful what you ask God for.

Great acting!.......2005-09-24

After the film ended, I imagined viewing it again without the vulgar sex scenes and I thought that it could've been a great film. I am very impressed with Ralph Fiennes and Stephen Rea's performances. Brilliant!

The Wild Bunch - The Original Director's Cut

Average customer rating:

Bloody eye candy
The Wild Bunch
It's all been done before.
Not As Advertised-
Much more than just a violent film...

The Wild Bunch - The Original Director's Cut
Starring: William Holden , Ernest Borgnine , Robert Ryan , Edmond O'Brien , and Warren Oates
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Action & Adventure | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Outlaws | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Magnificent Seven (Special Edition)
Once Upon a Time in the West
Shane
The Searchers (Two-Disc Anniversary Edition)
The Professionals (Special Edition)

ASIN: 0790731037
Release Date: 1997-05-21

Amazon.com essential video

Here's how director Sam Peckinpah described his motivation behind The Wild Bunch at the time of the film's 1969 release: "I was trying to tell a simple story about bad men in changing times. The Wild Bunch is simply what happens when killers go to Mexico. The strange thing is you feel a great sense of loss when these killers reach the end of the line." All of these statements are true, but they don't begin to cover the impact that Peckinpah's film had on the evolution of American movies. Now the film is most widely recognized as a milestone event in the escalation of screen violence, but that's a label of limited perspective. Of course, Peckinpah's bloody climactic gunfight became a masterfully directed, photographed, and edited ballet of graphic violence that transcended the conventional Western and moved into a slow-motion realm of pure cinematic intensity. But the film--surely one of the greatest Westerns ever made--is also a richly thematic tale of, as Peckinpah said, "bad men in changing times." The year is 1913 and the fading band of thieves known as the Wild Bunch (led by William Holden as Pike) decide to pull one last job before retirement. But an ambush foils their plans, and Peckinpah's film becomes an epic yet intimate tale of betrayed loyalties, tenacious rivalry, and the bunch's dogged determination to maintain their fading code of honor among thieves. The 144-minute director's cut enhances the theme of male bonding that recurs in many of Peckinpah's films, restoring deleted scenes to deepen the viewer's understanding of the friendship turned rivalry between Pike and his former friend Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan), who now leads a posse in pursuit of the bunch, a dimension that adds resonance to an already classic American film. The Wild Bunch is a masterpiece that should not be defined strictly in terms of its violence, but as a story of mythic proportion, brimming with rich characters and dialogue and the bittersweet irony of outlaw traditions on the wane. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Bloody eye candy.......2007-07-03

The Wild Bunch.......2007-07-02

It's all been done before........2007-05-27

Not As Advertised-.......2007-04-20

Much more than just a violent film..........2007-04-06

Mrs. Henderson Presents (Full Screen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Dame Judy Doesn't Dissapoint
Rather entertaining.
Laura Henderson: "We've had some good shows, but they're not daring enough. Let's get rid of the clothes."
DVD does tremendous justice to this magnificent film
Very witty

Mrs. Henderson Presents (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Judi Dench , Bob Hoskins , Will Young , Christopher Guest , and Kelly Reilly
Director: Stephen Frears
Manufacturer: Weinstein Company
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Ladies in Lavender
Capote
Good Night, and Good Luck (Widescreen Edition)
Match Point
Memoirs of a Geisha (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: B000ETRCNA
Release Date: 2006-04-18

Amazon.com

Description

Academy Award winner1 Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love) received her fifth Oscar® nomination for her saucy, hilarious performance in Mrs. Henderson Presents. Laura Henderson (Dench) may be a widow in London but she is certainly not going to spend the rest of her days playing bridge. In a time when England is brought to its knees by war, she brings a nation to its feet in applause—with a live show featuring nude girls! Dench and Academy Award nominee2 Bob Hoskins have won critics' hearts in this stylish gem that Joe Morgenstern from The Wall Street Journal calls "one of the wittiest comedies to come our way in a very long time!" "Judi Dench in the performance of her life." - Rex Reed, The New York Observer

Customer Reviews:

Dame Judy Doesn't Dissapoint.......2007-07-03

Rather entertaining........2007-06-07

I have to say that movie was rather entertaining with dance numbers, singing, and even a tragedy. Kelly Reilly is stunning as Maureen. She does a terrific job; I hope to see her more.

Laura Henderson: "We've had some good shows, but they're not daring enough. Let's get rid of the clothes.".......2007-04-28

DVD does tremendous justice to this magnificent film.......2007-03-23

Very witty.......2007-03-04

War Gods of the Deep/At the Earth's Core

Average customer rating:

Subterranean hokum at it's finest!
Price, Cushing and McClure!

War Gods of the Deep/At the Earth's Core
Starring: Doug McClure , Peter Cushing , Caroline Munro , Cy Grant , and Godfrey James
Director: Kevin Connor , and Jacques Tourneur
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Land That Time Forgot/The People That Time Forgot
Panic in the Year Zero/The Last Man on Earth
Voodoo Island/The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (Midnite Movies Double Feature)
Tales of Terror/Twice Told Tales (Midnite Movies Double Feature)
Empire of the Ants/Tentacles

ASIN: B000787YR2
Release Date: 2005-09-20

Customer Reviews:

Subterranean hokum at it's finest!.......2007-02-12

War-Gods of the Deep aka The City Under the Sea scared the heck out of me me as a very small kid, but then I did live in a coastal town that was rumored to have it's own sunken town... Vincent Price and his immortal band of smugglers living in a somewhat mislocated Babylonian city under the Cornish stretch of the English Channel didn't have the same effect this time, but Jacques Tourneur's vaguely Poe-inspired subterranean/underwater adventure is still a fun romp thanks to superb production design which makes the film look ten times more expensive than it probably was and great Scope photography with a good use of color from Zulu's Stephen Dade. It's not a masterpiece, but it's a brisk and enjoyable period adventure with more than a passing nod to both Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Plus it has David Tomlinson sharing a diving suit with a chicken while pursued by gill men, and not many films can say that.

Aside from a couple of moments of negative damage the 2.35:1 widescreen transfer is surprisingly good. The only extra is the US theatrical trailer.

At the Earth's Core is an inspired companion piece, catching just the right tone for the appropriately named Burroughs' pulp adventure about Victorian inventor Peter Cushing and the inevitable Doug McClure ending up in the underground world of Pelucidar and battling its evil telepathic fighting dinosaurs. It's men in monster suits time, which is a lot more fun than stop-motion or CGI if you're willing to suspend your disbelief, and if you're not there's always Caroline Munro's cleavage to look at. Aside from what may well be Peter Cushing's worst performance, an irritating but dottier rehash of his movie Dr Who ("You can't mesmerize me, I'm British!"), it's easily the best of the John Dark-Kevin Connor-Doug McClure fantasy adventures, surprisingly well directed and boasting an atmospheric use of color. Never especially good at exterior scenes, Alan Hume's photography gains immensely from the control a studio set gives him (the film was shot entirely on soundstages) to paint a luridly vivid world worthy of a pulp novel cover. Not high art but definitely great Saturday matinee fun.

The only extra is the US trailer - which sells it as a horror film! - but the film has a very good widescreen transfer, although there is briefly a slight tramline in one scene at the end.

Price, Cushing and McClure!.......2005-11-12

This Beneath-The-Surface themed double feature from MGM is pretty mediocre. Neither film is really bad, but neither are anything to write home about either. War Gods Of The Deep starts things off. Basically Tab Hunter(who looks like an early prototype for Casper Van Dien) and David Tomlinson(with a pet chicken in a picnic basket) go searching for Susan Hart, who has vanished from her bedroom. Finding that old reliable secret passage behind the bookshelf they find themselves going deeper and deeper into a cave til they end up in a city beneath the sea ruled by Vincent Price. Price kidnapped the girl coz she looks like his late wife(how's that for original?) and I'm assuming he wants to get jiggy with her. He's also stressed coz an underwater volcano is a ticking timebomb that will destroy his beloved city. Price sees our heroes as meddling pains in the ass, so he decides to execute them though he doesn't keep them very well guarded coz they seem to just venture out whenever they want to. The first hour's a bunch of scenes of Price talking about his civilization and such. Finally are heroes are let out into the ocean with scuba gear and are hunted by Price's soldiers as well as the gill men that lurk around the city. These horrifying gill men are nothing more than guys in torn clothes and obvious rubber masks. The Creature From The Black Lagoon is much more believable. Price does alright with what he's given. He's always a decent villian even if the movie isn't all that decent. Hunter is typical tough guy and Tomlinson and his rooster are the comic relief characters. Not bad but far from good. Actually, kinda boring. The second feature, At The Earth's Core, is the better of the two, but that's not saying much. It's another collaboration between director Kevin Connor and star Doug McClure(The first being The Land That Time Forgot). McClure and Peter Cushing have one of those neato machines with the giant drill on the front that allows you to burrow through the earth. Well, somewhere in the middle, they get stuck and find themselves in a prehistoric kind of world very similar to the "Before Time" films. The center of the earth is pretty much a jungle with a red/pink sky and a cave. Lots of red lighting and lots of lava in this film. The primitive humans(that speak english) are slaves to evil pterodactyl men who control an army of neanderthal type goons(who have a bizarre way of speaking. You know the sound it makes when you are listening to a cd and you hit the FF button?). The visuals and monsters in this movie are at about Godzilla level. The arrival of the badazz McClure sparks a slave revolt and soon everyone's had it up to here with these pterodactyl schmucks. It may sound like cheesy B movie fun, and it is, but it's also a bit more boring than it should be. Cushing is the comic relief this time as an absent minded english scientist. He's got that "Oh, My!", "Oh, Dear!" reaction to everything. A very far cry from his Frankenstein portrayal for sure. Caroline Munro is there just to look hot like she always does. Not bad if you're a fan of rubber monsters and lava. Though I'm sure Edgar Rice Burroughs would want the negatives burned if he saw it. Both films are 2 and a half stars at the very best, but they both beat watching infomercials at 4am.

Average customer rating:

Wet Willis' for everyone!
Good performances, interesting plot!
Compelling Drama sabotaged by Marketing Campaign that tried to make it an Action movie!
Awful!
A twist on WW II!

Hart's War [Blu-ray]
Starring: Karel Belohradsky , Jonathan Brandis , Rory Cochrane , Ruaidhri Conroy , and Colin Farrell
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: Blu-ray

Action & Adventure | Blu-ray | Formats | DVD | Video

General | Blu-ray | Formats | DVD | Video

Drama | Blu-ray | Formats | DVD | Video

Military & War | Blu-ray | Formats | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Windtalkers
Tears of the Sun (Special Edition)
Flyboys [Blu-Ray]
Behind Enemy Lines
Phone Booth

ASIN: B00000F2UF
Release Date: 2007-01-30

Amazon.com

Anyone who appreciates subtle tension will enjoy this World War II prison-camp drama, based on John Katzenbach's novel, in which honor, courage, and sacrifice are revealed in unexpected ways. Bruce Willis plays the ranking U.S. prisoner in a Nazi POW camp, joined in December 1944 by a law-student lieutenant (up-and-coming star Colin Farrell) who'd been captured despite his father's powerful military connections. When a black pilot (Terrence Dashon Howard) from the famous Tuskeegee airmen is falsely accused of murdering a fellow prisoner, Farrell tries his case and discovers the real motivation behind Willis's kangaroo court. While combining elements of Stalag 17 and The Great Escape, director Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear, Frequency) spices this moral dilemma with well-crafted suspense and a rousing dogfight sequence, but the human drama remains muted despite fine, understated performances by Willis, Farrell, and Howard. An escape thriller with an ethical twist, Hart's War works best as a study of heroism under extraordinary circumstances. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Bruce Willis stars as an imprisoned officer who refuses to give up his fight to defeat the Nazis inthis "absorbing" (Roger Ebert) WWII adventure. Co-starring Colin Farrell (Minority Report) and packed with "crisp action sequences" (Los Angeles Times), Hart's War is a powerful and "stirring tribute to soldierly courage and honor" (L.A. Daily News). When Col. William McNamara (Willis) is stripped of his freedom in a German POW camp, he's determined to keep onfightingeven from behind enemy lines. Enlisting the help of a young lieutenant (Farrell) in a brilliant plot against his captors, McNamara risks everything on a mission to free his men and change the outcome of the war.

Customer Reviews:

Wet Willis' for everyone!.......2007-03-08

Welcome to a new style of reviews. For those of you who have been following my career, my comments on the films that I have seen have been lengthy, verbose, and at times, just plain boring. Today marks a day of change. I am finding myself with less time, energy, and dedication to the cause, so I am changing. Perhaps I will fall to the wayside, or pick up new fans - but for me, it is still all about the cinema.

War, really people, what is it good for?

Apparently, to those involved with the creation of the film "Hart's War", absolutely nothing - do you need me to say it again? To be short and sweet, pretty-boy Farrell gets caught by Nazi's, tells a dirty secret, and somehow gets put in the posh-of-the-posh POW containment camps this side of Germany. No brutality, no murder, no starvation - just simple catered meals and a freedom like no other. Willis plays a Colonel that somehow was captured and has named this base as his "luxury" suite. He is best friends with the Nazi commander, while all the time planning the big escape.

Did I hint towards "The Great Escape" - please don't think the same thoughts with this film. What makes "Hart's War" a bit more random than you typical war film is that the bigotry, hatred, and racism comes from not the Nazis, but the American soldiers. It comes in the form of Terrance Howard. One time racism turns its dirty head, people look the other way - but the second time, it takes us into a melodramatic, off-the-beaten-path courtroom drama that can be viewed in an assortment of regular films. It sparks nothing new, nor anything of interest. Continually, we wait for Howard, or Willis, to shout that cult-like phrase, "You can't handle the truth", and it nearly happens, when Willis reveals his wild card and changes the course of the war forever.

How bland.

"Hart's War" fails because it involves too many elements and not enough time, or maybe, too many elements and too long of time. Instead of sticking with a war story, we are bludgeoned with another story of racism, another story of respect, another story of lies, and jumbled between it all a story about escape. It is too much for one film to handle, and as our characters become less and less dimensional, as does the film. Willis is Willis. If you have seen any of his work this decade, you have seen his character in this film. Farrell remains shaved and pretty-boy throughout the film, continually denouncing the authenticity, which was already faulted by the fact that it seemed like nobody was against anyone in this camp. I think that is what struck me as odd, the layout of the camp. Why were the Russians treated worse than the Americans? Did they not have a Bruce Willis of their own?

Questions upon questions continue to pile until we think we have had enough then another world opens in the final act giving us another reason to yell, "oh brother!". The ending lacks consistency, as we are left with no resolutions, no finale, and no moment of Zen. It is perfect for you Willis nay-slayers out there, but for the rest of us, we are left with a symbolic ending that will bring a tear to the women, and the rest of us demanding our money back.

This film contained very little action, very little suspense, and very little answers to bigger underlining questions. It was a hastily put together film that boasted big names, but bigger downfalls. For two hours I was plummeted into everything Hollywood could think of to throw into a film. While I believe it had potential, what happened in the end is that the director could not control the momentum. This is strange, because I loved "Fallen" so very much. "Hart's War" did start strong, in my eyes, with some decent cinematography (I enjoyed the opening snow scene), but fell of the face of the Earth by the end of the first hour.

So, again my friends, I must ask - what is war good for?

To my reply ... absolutely nothing.

I cannot suggest this film to friends or family. Poor acting, too many plot points, and an unresolved ending makes me give "Hart's War" a

(wait for it ...)

BLAH!

Good performances, interesting plot! .......2007-02-09

"Hart's War" is one of those often forgotten war movies, sometimes hard to find in the rental aisle, but a good part of any collection. It features one of the best performances by Colin Farrell, a then promising young actor (pre Alexander, Miami Vice). Bruce Willis also offers understated yet solid acting. Notable performances by Marcel Iures and Terrence Howard are also worth mentinoning. The plot offers intrigue, action, a courtroom drama and relevant issues. Highly entertaining!

Compelling Drama sabotaged by Marketing Campaign that tried to make it an Action movie!.......2005-08-19

I finally got around to watching this movie last night (after buying it for $4 on DVD a few weeks ago) and I can say I was very pleasantly surprised by it after reading so many negative reviews.

The Problem: This film was mareketed poorly - the trailers give an accurate idea of the content, but they give you the wrong impression as to the tone. Because Bruce Willis is in it, they chose to make it out to contain tons of action and heroic combat! They also chose to make it appear to be a Bruce Willis vehicle. Let me tell you, if you are renting or buying it for either of the above reasons, you will hate it! The "combat action" scenes are sparse (two scenes) and extremely short (though very exciting when they do occur. And Bruce Willis is really a supporting actor to Farrel - in fact, of the major characters, he probably has less screen time than anyone else, and is rarely seen outside of Farrel's perspective.

(Also, Americans seem to reject the idea that Nazis in an interrment camp could have had a shred of civility. Perhaps this film gave them a little too much credit - but I think that even as evil as they were, not all Nazis were inhuman brutes.)

The Good: So, the first thing you need to do is lay aside your expectation of a SAVING PRIVATE RYAN or GUNS OF NAVARONNE type movie. This is a drama! And it is a very good one. There are several layers to this story - one is that of Lt. Hart's (Colin Farrel) need for redemption after an early failure in the film. His assignment to defend the falsely accused marine gives him that chance. The main story is the trial of a marine who asserts he was framed for the murder of a fellow marine in the stockade. Farrel quickly learns that the cards are stacked against him as the presiding officer McNamara (Willis) seemse bent on a guilty verdict. This sets up some very tense confrontations between the two.

Adding a second layer to this drama is the apparently misunderstood character of the commanding Nazi officer Werner Visser. Visser represents an aging officer who has wound up in a remote post and seems to have accepted this lesser role. (Someone commented below that his "nice guy" attitude would not get him far in the German Army - ahem, well, I think that's the point - that's why he's watching over a camp rather than storming the frontlines!) He is a foil to Willis's McNamara, who wants nothing more than to get back to the war. The confusion as to why Visser suddenly wants to help Hart is that people perceive this as Visser suddenly becoming the nice Nazi. Well, anyone paying attention can see that Visser is ONLY motivated by getting bac