For A Lost Soldier

Starring:Maarten Smit, Jeroen KrabbÃ©, Andrew Kelley, Freark Smink, Elsje de Wijn, Derk-Jan Kroon, Wiendelt Hooijer, Iris Misset, Gineke de Jager, Tatum Dagelet, Marie-JosÃ© Kouwenhoven, Valerie Valentine, William Sutton, Andrew Butling, Andrew Cassani, Moniek Kramer, Antoinette van Belle, Rients Gratama, Gees Linnebank, Steffen van der Kolk
Director: Roeland Kerbosch
Studio: Strand Releasing
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Suprising....
Well done!
Tops!
Absolutely a "Keeper!"
Worthy

The Lost Battalion
Starring: Rick Schroder , Phil McKee , Jamie Harris , Jay Rodan , and Adam James (II)
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005U8F4
Release Date: 2002-01-29

Amazon.com

The true World War I story of an American unit that was surrounded by German troops and pounded mercilessly for days (at times even by its own artillery) is vividly portrayed in this made-for-television film starring Rick Schroder. Playing a patrician New York City lawyer commissioned a major and sent into combat, Schroder commands a battalion composed of New York wiseacres as well as so-called "apple knockers" from the West. The plot is straightforward (and will be familiar to those who know World War I history), but the film rises above what could have been a clichéd telling of the story of Major Whittlesey and his heroic men. The action sequences, shot tightly with hand-held cameras, owe a debt to Saving Private Ryan, and the surreal horror of World War I, in which armies killed with machine guns yet communicated by carrier pigeon, is conveyed very well. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews:

Suprising...........2007-05-04

I saw this movie coming on A&E or some other channel and thought it couldn't be good. It had RICK SHROEDER in it for crime's sake! And it was a made for tv movie. Well boy was I WRONG! This movie sucks you in with its realism and its insistence on detail. Small minute details are attended to as this story of the 1918 conflict unfolds in a most horrific (and true to life) manner.

This particular version is very crisp and clear. I actually like it better than the Made For TV version that I originally saw...

Buy it!

Well done!.......2006-10-17

Perhaps it was too long ago for anyone to have memories that could correct innaccuracies but few movies of the first world war seem to get it right. This one captures the American experience in that war like few others have. Drama and action together bring out a story of depth, courage, tolerance, and forbearance in the crucible of adversity. I watch it again and again. Hard to believe it was made for TV and not a major picture. Still one of the great war-stories to capture the American public.

Tops!.......2006-07-28

This is an excellent movie and very realistic. If you don't like to see what war does to people it's not for you. If you like military history it is. This true story is incredible!

Absolutely a "Keeper!".......2006-06-24

As an "old soldier" and a professor, I am not only a collector of war films representing all eras, but am a "student of war." In that role I am quite critical of all films in that genre, and I found "The Lost Battalion" to be practically flawless, which is indeed a rarity. The producers, director, and actors displayed a penchant for historical accuracy in this film, and provided rare glimpses of what it was "really like" during World War I.

There is a chilling reality throughout the film, to include how the war was seen and pursued from the lowliest fighting man through the top echelons of command, and even from the German perspective. Frankly, there are relatively few films that cover World War I very well, but this is clearly the very best. I feel that my collection - or anyone else's - of war films would be incomplete without "The Lost Battalion," as it is clearly the WWI equivalent of "Saving Private Ryan," and one of the best war films of all time.

Worthy.......2006-06-21

If you are my age, its hard to look at Rick Schroder without remembering where he got his start on cheesy TV sitcoms in the 1980s. He's always been kind of a joke.

I gained a little more respect for him when he played a great role in the epic TV series "Lonesome Dove", he did well. In this A&E film directed by Russell Mulcahy, "The Lost Battalion", he shines, and is perfect for the role. I have to admit that like the guy now. I really liked his character, and he quite thoroughly overcame my preconceptions.

This is the best WWI film for pure cinematic visuals that I have seen. Its filmed in 4:3 TV aspect ratio so its got a nice clean and crisp DVD picture, though it would have been magnificent in 6:9 wide screen. I wish they'd have done it for the big screen.

The story is a true recount of actual events, and its a good thriller with sweeping battle scenes - gritty and very much a WWI look that we don't see much- moving warfare, not trench warfare. You get a taste of both trench life and patrol life here, but the majority of the fighting is not trench fighting, but downright grueling battle in the woods. The German side is well represented, the US side is accurately portrayed.

This is a film about perseverance and dogged determination. Schroder plays Major Whittlesey, who finds himself hopelessly surrounded after being sent on a suicide mission, against his knowledge. His portrayal of a Major with honor and leadership abilities makes for a refreshing story in a time when many war films are about the rather nasty side of humankind or are predictably antagonistic to the honorable idea of fighting for what is right and good. As the plot moves along, the story unfolds in a fairly quick manner, but it is the characters' response to the overwhelming odds that really carries the story.

And the best part- detail, detail, detail! This is a visually rich film. Proper weapons, proper uniforms, loads of accurate scenery and attention to period detail make the experience believable. Small arms history buffs will enjoy this film. If you like early Mausers, Springfield 1903s, and especially the good old 1911, this is a film for you. Its colored in a rather dismal dusty unsaturated hue, perfect for the film's gritty nature. While not a blockbuster, the story is pretty good, and captures the true historical account acceptably well. WWI buffs need to have this movie, no doubt about it.

Average customer rating:

Not for the completely prudish or timid
Excellent - this is definitely a classic
Very Poignant
for a lost soldier
A Tough Call

For A Lost Soldier
Starring: Maarten Smit , Jeroen Krabbé , Andrew Kelley , Freark Smink , and Elsje de Wijn
Director: Roeland Kerbosch
Manufacturer: Strand Releasing
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000687FH
Release Date: 2002-05-31

Customer Reviews:

Not for the completely prudish or timid.......2007-06-26

While the movie was done with a lot of sensitivity, there is one particular scene that intimates quite a bit. However, I applaud the writer and director for leaving it in. The movie slowly touches on a very tough and sensitive topic, but succeeds at doing it in such a way so that you are left to make your own decisions. That takes skill. Acting was fairly good by the youth. Adults were less impressive, but not enough that it diminished the movie.

Excellent - this is definitely a classic.......2007-04-19

This is a classic movie with a very good "simple" look at life in the Netherlands. Like all good movies, it does not shy away from mixing religious scenes with secular. Good father-son type movie, though it has subtle controversial elements in it that will be offensive and suggestive to some, concerning the actual relationship between the boy and the Canadian soldier. If you look at the overall theme, however, there is a very basic element of friendship that is lost in much of modern life.

Very Poignant.......2007-01-10

I found this film very tastefully done considering the subject matter. You can imagine how it could really happen. Those looking for sordid exploitative films can look elsewhere. I can recommend it to anyone with an open mind to alternative European cinema. This depicts a tale that Hollywood does not have the guts to tell. This is a very different coming of age tale.

for a lost soldier.......2006-12-22

I must say that i really enjoyed the movie and all, there could have been a little more nudity but other wise a great movie. Have watched it several times now and still feel that I am happy with what i saw on the DVD.

A Tough Call.......2006-12-18

"FOR A LOST SOLDIER"

A Tough Call

Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride
\

When I first saw "For a Lost Soldier" (Strand Releasing) several years ago I found it shocking so I decided it was time t revisit it now and see where it fits in the canon of gay film. I was still somewhat shocked by it but I will say that it is a beautiful, engrossing and somewhat shocking film. In the movie a twelve year old boy who escapes from the tyranny of Nazism in the Netherlands finds himself be taken care of by s sympathetic family. The boy has gay tendencies but is not aware of them until he meets a Canadian soldier who is gay. They become friends despite a considerable age difference and the soldier uses the boy sexually while the boy, in turn, falls in love with the soldier. When the soldier leaves abruptly, the boy?s heart is broken. The pain of that separation haunts the kid through his adult life and as the movie attempts to show the healing of the pain, we find how sympathetic we are.
The best word to describe this film is ?powerful?. Yes, the subject matter is shocking but actually it is more than just shocking. It becomes powerful in the hands of an extremely skilled director, Roeland Kerbosch, and what a shame that this is his only film.
The film is loosely based on the true events of the life of Rudi van Danzi and it presents the sexual and emotional awakening of a young Dutch boy as he engages in a sexual relationship with a soldier during WWII. Their relationship seems to be a loving one and at times it even appears magical. This causes the question to arise---can a relationship based upon two people with such an age difference actually have validity and integrity or they abusive?
The film is sure to cause a ?kick in the stomach? reaction by the majority of people but even with this happening the film is remarkably delicate and beautiful. It no way does it exploit or preach. It is beautifully acted and photographed and the sensitive material is handled with grace and compassion. The film avoids the common pitfalls and because it is so carefully handled it avoids reaching a logical conclusion. The film is a memory which echoes the present time and it is obvious that the film does not consider the relationship to be abusive in any way; the viewer has to make that decision himself.
If the movie is viewed with an open mind, those that see it will find that it forces them to define in their own minds what is considered abusive and this is undoubtedly what the film aims to do?the viewer must argue with himself on an issue that is considered largely taboo in the modern world.
The film will , without question, be seen by some who will consider it perverted but in reality I found it, although shocking, to be heartwarming and a sympathetic view of youthful homosexuality, There is no mention of child abuse and the love affair between the thirteen young boy is handled sensitively and with great frankness. In fact, it is the young boy who seems to be pursuing the older man. The film is never vulgar or sensational and the actual sexual coupling of the two males is surrounded by sub-plots and there are many references to sexual tensions.
The question which remains is whether or not a mere child can have consent ional sex with an adult. There is, of course, the idea that since the soldiers were protecting us and making the world safe that they were allowed to do whatever they wanted. The real problem, as it appears to me, is for most adult males, a love affair of a few days cannot be truly considered as ?love? yet for a child whose innocence is lost forever, and this is an affair that will never be forgotten.
Nonetheless, the subject is handled beautifully and with great tenderness. This film is highly recommended as one that will make you think and re-examine yourself and after all, is that not what a really good movie does?
_________________
Amos Lassen

Average customer rating:

building a bridge...
EXCELLENT!!
Boring and pointless
Good picture and sound quality

Pioneers in Ingolstadt
Starring: Hanna Schygulla , Harry Baer , Irm Hermann , Rudolf Waldemar Brem , and Walter Sedlmayr
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Manufacturer: Fantoma
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005KH2D
Release Date: 2001-07-10

Description

Rainer Werner Fassbinder's first film to be invited to the Cannes and New York Film Festivals, "Pioneers in Ingolstadt" is the story of a group of young German recruits whose assignment is to build a wooden bridge in the town of Ingolstadt. They seek relief from their boredom with alcohol, acts of brutality and sexual escapades with the local women. Alma (Irm Hermann) and her friend Berta (Hanna Schygulla) welcome the excitement that the new arrivals bring to their lives, but while Alma picks up passing soldiers, Berta searches for true love. Heavily influenced by the theater of Bertolt Brecht and the Hollywood melodrama of Douglas Sirk, the film alternates between perverse comedy and melancholy. "Pioneers in Ingolstadt" announced the arrival of a fierce new cinematic talent, a talent that the New York Times' Vincent Canby dubbed the most original since Jean-Luc Godard.

Customer Reviews:

building a bridge..........2007-03-05

Fassbinder's unique adaptation of the fleisser story is something of a bridge in his career as a film director.. You can see elements of his previous movies in 'Pioneers ingolstadt' but you can also see that it looks forward to his later melodramas.. The unique camera work and lighting (pre michael balhaus) highlight the sexual frustrations and the battles that are being waged in this town.. Fassbinder creates a mood that lasts the whole movie.. The movie once again adresses the impossibility of love... and it shows how you can use the needs of other people as a weapon against them.. It is not Fassbinder's easiest work - but one of his most important..

EXCELLENT!! .......2006-02-26

This is the best review for this film that I have ever seen, so I wanted to share it here! (Source listed at bottom)

Why anyone of their own free will should elect to employ the most difficult accent in the British Isles to imitate plausibly - Northern Irish - is beyond me. Criticism over; the rest is rave. A squad of outsiders (with sort-of-Ulster burrs) cause upheavals in the lives of the (central Irish brogue-laden) inhabitants of a small '20s Bavarian town when they arrive to build a bridge. Town, surrounding hills, river and bridge are evoked in turn by a simple and superbly versatile set, which the squaddies and the local moat-swimming club move over, under and through as required.

The several strains of the plot - the girl who wants to go with a soldier and picks the most casually misogynistic of the lot, the one whose flirtatious savvy deserts her and is led into the game, the middleclass lad trying both to be one of the boys and to find lurve - are beautifully orchestrated by author Marie-Luise Fleisser and pitched to perfection by the ensemble. Any worries of tokenism surrounding the Gate's Women in World Theatre season are more than dissipated.

Written for City Limits magazine.

Copyright © Ian Shuttleworth; all rights reserved.

Boring and pointless.......2005-03-31

I have seen various Fassbinder movies and this one is clearly the weakest. Somebody tell me the point of this movie.

Pioneers in Ingolstadt is about a group of Germany army recruits stationed in the small Bavarian town of Ingolstadt to build a wooden bridge. The movie summarizes the interactions of various recruits with the local population from sexual encounters with the women and evoking jealousy amongst local men. Then, the bridge is built and they leave at the end.

As said, I watched this movie and at the end, asked myself what it was about. Some of the material doesn't make sense either. The soldiers wear swastikas on their berets. [...] Also, there is a BMW in the movie which appears to have been manufactured well after World War II.

If you want to see some of Fassbinder's better works, watch movies like Martha and Katzelmacher. This one will disappoint.

Good picture and sound quality.......2001-07-16

yeah this is what they should be like - colours are good, the sound is clear. Why can't all DVDs be of this quality??? the film is great of course. But I believe that buying a DVD is a bit of a risk - you don't know know if the quality of the transfer is going to be lousy (Querelle, Mirror) or good. What I hate most about DVDs is when the picture contains no movement, then it becomes like a still photo. Am I the only one who notices these things? BUY VHS if you care about picture quality.

Average customer rating:

building a bridge...
EXCELLENT!!
Boring and pointless
Good picture and sound quality

Pioneers In Ingolstadt
Starring: Hanna Schygulla , Harry Baer , Irm Hermann , Rudolf Waldemar Brem , and Walter Sedlmayr
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Manufacturer: Fantoma
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

General | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0000AGQ68
Release Date: 2003-08-26

Description

Customer Reviews:

building a bridge..........2007-03-05

EXCELLENT!! .......2006-02-26

Boring and pointless.......2005-03-31

Good picture and sound quality.......2001-07-16

Average customer rating:

For a Lost Soldier
Starring: For a Lost Soldier
Manufacturer: Phantom
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Album Description

Asian NTSC/All Code DVD release of 1993 Dutch drama directed by Roeland Kerbosch & starring Maarten Smit & Jeroen Krabbe. English subtitles. 89 minutes. Fejui. 2003.

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