Murphy's War

Starring:Peter O'Toole, SiÃ¢n Phillips, Philippe Noiret, Horst Janson, John Hallam, Ingo Mogendorf, George Roubicek
Director: Peter Yates
Studio: Paramount
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

An engrossing, 1983 television miniseries based on a bestselling work of historical fiction by Herman Wouk, The Winds of War is an admirable production reminiscent of the era of Hollywood's epic features. At the center of the globe-trotting story is the Henry family, whose laconic but straight-shooting patriarch is United States Navy Commander Victor "Pug" Henry (Robert Mitchum), sent to Hitler's Berlin in the spring of 1939 as a naval attaché to the then-neutral American embassy. A keen observer, Pug deduces that Germany is not preparing for war on two fronts (western Europe on one side, Russia on the other) despite what the Nazis want the world to believe, meaning that Hitler must be working out a secret peace deal with Stalin. Pug's prescience makes him a favorite eyewitness in Berlin for Franklin D. Roosevelt (Ralph Bellamy); the irony is that Pug is far less sagacious when it comes to the realities of his family.

Polly Bergen plays unhappy wife Rhoda, who turns to A-bomb developer Palmer Kirby (Peter Graves) for comfort. Pug's 19-year-old daughter, Madeline (Lisa Eilbacher), defies her iron-willed dad's decision that she stay in school by taking a job for CBS radio in New York. Compliant son Warren (Ben Murphy) can't seem to get Pug's attention despite doing everything right (including becoming a Navy pilot, eventually present at the bombing of Pearl Harbor). By contrast, Pug spends more time fuming over black sheep son Byron (Jan-Michael Vincent), who is working in increasingly Fascist Italy as an assistant to an art historian (John Houseman) while trying hard to woo the latter's exasperating niece, Natalie (Ali MacGraw). The story of Byron and Natalie takes up much of The Winds of War as the pair traverse Poland during the shock of Hitler's 1939 assault, and Jewish Natalie later finds herself trapped inside Italy facing the threat of concentration camps. Before The Winds of War ends, each of these characters will end up in places and situations, and with historical figures (Churchill, Mussolini) as well as ordinary people, they would not have anticipated outside the pressures of war. The program's length and smart script allow for a lot of ideas and background detail that pull a viewer in--happily. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Historical Epic.......2007-06-20

The Winds of War is an excellent historical account of events leading up to America's entry into World War II. It follows the lives of the fictional Henry family as they are intertwined into actual events.

Great book plot adapted to video.......2007-04-13

I had read "The Winds of War" before I saw the miniseries. It is not usual for a movie script to convey what makes a book great but this not the case with "The Winds of War". Robert Mitchum plays a great role as a naval officer who sees himself, due to incredible multi-language capability, serving in naval intelligence in Europe and visiting the hot spots of that continent during the late 1930`s; like Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Soviet Union, United Kingdom ect. His younger son`s role plays out like the young are and how blinded they can be by love. His wife and her uncle roles are well played and show us those people who still think that a river will not be flooded even though they can hear the water rushing down its course. All the roles are well played. A good miniseries.

movie review.......2007-03-10

excellent telling of history. the way this is done you seem to learn more history than just reading a book. great cast.

The Winds of War.......2007-03-09

Excellent. One of the best mini series made. The series is based on the novel, The Winds of War by Herman Wouk, and follows the book very well. There is only one catch, this is only half the story. The second novel War and Rememberance, which was also made into a mini series is just as good.

winds of war dvd set.......2007-02-12

excellent service excellent product

Average customer rating:

batcall
Very Good Movie!
An absolutely fantastic film
A Modern Classic
Suicide Is Painless; It Brings On Many Changes

M*A*S*H (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Donald Sutherland , Elliott Gould , Tom Skerritt , Sally Kellerman , and Robert Duvall
Director: Robert Altman
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
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Catch-22
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The Player (Special Edition) (New Line Platinum Series)

ASIN: B0002B15XI
Release Date: 2004-09-07

Amazon.com essential video

It's set during the Korean War, in a mobile army surgical hospital. But no one seeing M*A*S*H in 1970 confused the film for anything but a caustic comment on the Vietnam War; this is one of the counterculture movies that exploded into the mainstream at the end of the '60s. Director Robert Altman had labored for years in television and sporadic feature work when this smash-hit comedy made his name (and allowed him to create an astonishing string of offbeat pictures, culminating in the masterpiece Nashville). Altman's style of cruel humor, overlapping dialogue, and densely textured visuals brought the material to life in an all-new kind of war movie (or, more precisely, antiwar movie). Audiences had never seen anything like it: vaudeville routines played against spurting blood, fueled with open ridicule of authority. The cast is led by Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland, as the outrageous surgeons Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John McIntyre, with Robert Duvall as the uptight Major Burns and Sally Kellerman in an Oscar-nominated role as nurse "Hot Lips" Houlihan. The film's huge success spawned the long-running TV series, a considerably softer take on the material; of the film's cast, only Gary Burghoff repeated his role on the small screen, as the slightly clairvoyant Radar O'Reilly. --Robert Horton

Description

One of the world's most acclaimed comedies, MASH focuses on three Korean War Army surgeons brilliantly brought to life by Donald Sutherland, Tom Skerritt and Elliott Gould. Though highly skilled and deeply dedicated, they adopt a hilarious, lunatic lifes

Customer Reviews:

batcall.......2007-06-28

One of the first and best anti-war, tell it like it is, movies. Started a great tv series.

Very Good Movie!.......2007-06-26

The movie is wonderful, but what I appreciate most about this film is that it inspired the TV series, which is my favorite series of all-time. I watch the episodes over and over again and never get bored with them!

An absolutely fantastic film.......2007-05-09

I just love, love, love this film. It's been one of my favorites since the early 1990's when I snagged it off cable on video tape. This 5 start DVD collection is tops in that not only is the transfer of the film fantastic, but the special features within are fantastic too. I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary on the making of MASH and how they had to go to great lengths to keep their vision of the movie intact and they succeeded handsomely IMO.

One of my favorite scenes is when they raise the walls of the showers while Major Hot Lips Hoolihan was inside and she falls and her outburst afterwords is just priceless, also the scene before that where she makes out to Major Burns and it gets broadcast all over the camp, also a priceless scene.

True, the film is based on the book of the same name, but about the Korean War and MASH the movie, is as much about Vietnam as it was about Korea as far as the war is concerned. I love the grittiness of the film, the overlapping dialogue and such, all ground breaking stuff back in 1969-1970.

Overall, this deluxe DVD package is well worth the price for what it contains.

A Modern Classic.......2007-04-21

An All-Star cast that surpasses all expectations from some of the most well known actors to this day . Visually impressive and the wittyist film of all time .

Suicide Is Painless; It Brings On Many Changes.......2007-04-20

In the opening moments of this joyously, soberly brilliant film, an instantly engaging balladeer serendades and assaults us with these outrageous lyrics, while we watch helicopters ferry their grim burdens of wounded men back to a medical unit behind the lines in Korea. This comic and absurdist film captured and helped form the blithe irreverence of the 60's counterculture. Along with Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July, which is of course anything but a comedy, MASH is the truest reflection of that period of American history on film. Its spirit is caught perfectly in one short take. A player on the bench of the football team whose coach, an Army colonel, is much too serious about everything, takes a hit on a joint with a bland expression of carelessness and amusement. He's not taking anything too seriously, and we know he's right. Ah! If only everything had worked out that simply! Thank you, Robert Altman, for showing us how to laugh at the merchants of death.

Average customer rating:

Triumph of Effort and Courage
A simple but great autobiography of a hero
Excellent factual account of a true hero!
To Hell and Back
Great movie

To Hell and Back
Starring: Audie Murphy , Marshall Thompson , Charles Drake , Jack Kelly , and Gregg Palmer
Director: Jesse Hibbs
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Biography - Audie Murphy: Great American Hero
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ASIN: B0001FVDH8
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Amazon.com

Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier in World War II, enjoyed a Hollywood acting career after the fight. In this 1955 autobiographical film, however, he plays himself re-creating his own actions and movements in key battles. As strange as this project might have seemed to him at the time, the results are pretty impressive. The film, despite a flat script, is really a pretty good war drama about Murphy and his buddies making their way from North Africa to Berlin. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Triumph of Effort and Courage.......2007-06-02

Murphy was perhaps the greatest citizen soldier ever. Today, his memory stands as a valuable lesson not only to the American youth, but also for the world as a whole.

Read this book if you wish to have any idea what real men are capable of.

A simple but great autobiography of a hero.......2007-05-12

This is a great account of a WW II hero. Read the actual Congressional Medal Of Honor Award to Audie Murphy on the Internet before you watch the movie. It really puts things in perspective doing it that way. Quality of the movie is not that great by todays standards but the story is worth having in your library. I would have given it 5 stars except for the quality of the production technology.

Excellent factual account of a true hero!.......2007-04-10

While some of the acting in the film was quite ordinary, this fact-based film biography of Audie Murphy, the most highly-decorated soldier in US history, and portrayed by himself, is essential to the serious war film collector. Murphy insisted that the scenarios presented in the film were factual, while some were, of course, dramatically enhanced for Hollywood consumption. It is a fast-moving story and definitely enjoyable.

To Hell and Back.......2007-04-08

I found the book to be a fascinating true account by Audie Murphy. It is a story that gives accurate details of what was happening but goes into indebt thought and feelings about his desire to survive. The closeness he and his buddies form during their time together and the feelings that they go through when one gets injuried or killed is spot on. Always knowing that they were fighting for not just personel survival but survival of the free world.

Great movie.......2007-03-30

I love this movie as I have seen it many times. Audie Murphy did a great job in playing himself, although it must have been really hard to relive.

A movie that I would highly recommend.

Average customer rating:

Very funny and entertaining romantic comedy
Fun movie with Walken and Fraser shining
good info
Great romantic comedy
A Blast to Watch!

Blast From the Past
Starring: Steve Bean , Dave Foley , Brendan Fraser , Richard Gilbert-Hill , and Ted Kairys
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 0780626494
Release Date: 1999-07-27

Amazon.com

Coasting on the successes of Gods and Monsters and George of the Jungle, Brendan Fraser turns in yet another winning performance in this fish-out-of-water comedy in which Pleasantville meets modern-day Los Angeles, with predictably funny results. Fraser stars as Adam, who was born in the bomb shelter of his paranoid inventor dad (a less-manic-than-usual Christopher Walken), who spirited his pregnant wife (Sissy Spacek, in fine comic form) underground when he thought the Communists dropped the bomb (actually, it was a plane crash). Armed with enough supplies to last 35 years, the parents bring up Adam in Leave It to Beaver style with nary any exposure to the outside world. When the supplies run out, and dad suffers a heart attack, Fraser goes up to modern-day L.A. for some shopping and long-awaited culture shock. More of a cute premise with lots of clever ideas attached than a fully fleshed out story, Blast from the Past is also supposed to be part romantic comedy, as the hunky Adam hooks up with his jaded Eve (Alicia Silverstone) and tries to convince her to marry him and go underground. The sparks don't fly, though, because Silverstone is saddled with the triple whammy of being miscast, playing an underwritten character, and suffering a very bad hairdo. Fraser, however, carries the film lightly and easily on his broad, goofy shoulders, mixing Adam's gee-whiz innocence with genuine emotion and curiosity; only Fraser could pull off Adam's first glimpse of a sunrise or the ocean with both humor and pathos. Also winning is Dave Foley as Silverstone's gay best friend, who manages to make the most innocuous statements sound like comic gems. --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews:

Very funny and entertaining romantic comedy .......2007-05-20

Perfect vehicle for Brenden Fraser. Good script, cast, comedic timing. I have watched it 3 times. I like more each time

Fun movie with Walken and Fraser shining.......2007-05-14

The movie has a good pace, with a lot of screen time dedicated to
Fraser and Walken, who give fresh and fun performances. Spacek
also gives a solid performance. Some parts drag, like the whole
gag about the bartender turned cult leader, and Silverstone is just
god awful. But otherwise, there's some quirky humor from Walken's
paranoid character and also some good lines from Fraser when he
meets 'reality'. Cute and upbeat overall. An overlooked film that is
certainly better than most of the comedy garbage out there.

good info.......2007-05-11

Lots of helpful info for everybody. You never know when you may be in this situation.

Great romantic comedy.......2007-03-28

The first time I saw this movie I watched because of the actors. Alicia Silverstone, and Brendon Fraiser. I have enjoyed both actors in other movies, and Blast from the Past is no different. I am a fan of Brendon Fraiser, he has such a great comedic sense, and in this movie gives a great performance. I particularly like the scene in the 40"s dance club. The swing dancing really captured my attention. All in all this is a great movie to add to your collection.

A Blast to Watch!.......2007-03-17

A paranoid scientist builds a full sized home in a large nuclear bomb shelter for his pregnant wife. A plane crash that he thinks is a bomb prompts him to whisk his wife down below, and they live in the shelter with enough supplies for 35 years.

But the father has an apparent cardiac episode in the early 1990s, and so they send their son (Adam) to the earth to buy supplies. He meets a beautiful girl named (surprise!) Eve, who befriends him and helps him to find his way in the world.

There are many funny and entertaining moments, and Brendan Fraser does a great job of playing the well educated, well behaved son. I lover it when he tells the guy at the memorabilia store to stop taking the Lord's name in vain. The store owner says "Why, do you have a problem with it?" Adam says "Yes, I have a BIG problem with it!"

Adam not only has a lot to learn from the world, but the world has a lot to learn from him. This was one of the most entertaining movies I've seen in a while.

All Quiet on the Western Front (Universal Cinema Classics)

Average customer rating:

The brutal poetry of war
Apparently Horace never served active duty
The Horrors of War
A powerful reminder
Nice anti-war message but awfully creaky

All Quiet on the Western Front (Universal Cinema Classics)
Starring: Louis Wolheim , Lew Ayres , John Wray , Arnold Lucy , and Ben Alexander
Director: Lewis Milestone
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000KGGJ0Y
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Amazon.com essential video

If a classic movie can be measured by the number of indelible images it burns into the collective imagination, then All Quiet on the Western Front's status is undisputed. Since its release in 1930 (and Oscar win for best picture), this film's saga of German boys avidly signing up for World War I battle--and then learning the truth of war--has been acclaimed for its intensity, artistry, and grown-up approach. Director Lewis Milestone's technical expertise is already stunning in the great opening sequence, as a professor exhorts his students to volunteer for the glory of the Fatherland while troops march past the windows. Erich Maria Remarque's novel is faithfully followed, but Milestone's superbly composed frames make it physical: the first battle scene, with the camera prowling the trenches as they fill with death and chaos, was surely the Saving Private Ryan of its day. The cast is strong, with little-known Lew Ayres finding stardom in the lead (Ayres became a pacifist and conscientious objector during World War II; although he served in battle as a medic, the stance harmed his career). This DVD has no extras beyond a vintage re-release trailer and Robert Osborne's useful introduction, but the main draw is the excellent picture and sound quality of the print--the movie looks better than it has in years. Those indelible images are now clear enough to cut glass: Ayres' lonely look back at the disappearing troop truck; the blinded soldier who runs into enemy fire at night; the fine pair of boots wasted on a boy with an amputated leg; and the final, devastating seconds, arguably the defining cinematic image of war in the 20th century. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

The brutal poetry of war.......2007-06-10

Ah, the 1930's. The first full decade of sound for pictures. The advent of Technicolor. The full-flowering of Hollywood, bringing escapist entertainment to a world gripped by the Great Depression.

Many great movies were made in the 1930's. "The Adventures of Robin Hood", "Gone With the Wind", "Snow White", "The Wizard of Oz" were all great films from the late 1930's, which many people have refered to as the best time for cinema.

But the early 1930's, though often overlooked by modern audiences, contains such wonderful films as "M", "Frankenstein", "Dracula" and "All Quiet on the Western Front".

This film won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1930. It's well-deserved. The movie plot follows basically the same plot as the novel; centering around a group of young German soldiers going on the grand adventure of war. Whipped into a patriotic frenzy, they enlist, head to the front, and start dropping like flies.

The movie beautifully encapsulates the horror of war. The acting (particularly from Lew Ayres in the staring role), writing and directing are all top-notch. Put the film in color, and it could almost be a movie from this era, rather than one that's almost 80 years old.

The DVD version of this movie is... well, nothing to write home about. Not too many extras, though the comments from Robert Osborne are welcome. No chapter selection for some odd reason, but otherwise... it's ok.

Modern audiences don't really know too much about World War One. It's a largely forgotten war in our national conciousness. As I write this, we're 89 years out from the start of the war. Further, according to Wikipedia's "Surviving Veterans of World War One", there's only 28 veterans left world-wide. Twenty-eight. That's it. One less than when I looked last week, and almost certainly several more than we'll have by next year. Only three of the veterans left are from the USA.

If for no other reason than expanding your knowledge about this horrible, meaningless, stupid war, I strongly recommend this movie.

As a side note: if Universal still owns the rights to the novel, they need to be pressured to make a new version of this film in time for the 100th anniversary of the start of the war. Get the young teeny-bopper/teen-idol actors of our era (the Zac Effrons of the world), and let modern audiences see the beauty of youth twisted by war.

It's a lesson no one should ever forget.

Apparently Horace never served active duty.......2007-05-23

This picture serves to illustrate the madness in Horace's statement
that it is sweet and proper to die for one's country. Lew Ayres' perform-
ance was magnificent--especially the marching scene depicting his love and
respect for Kat, via facial expression and body language alone These few
seconds would have been worth the price of admission in 1930.
Those German boys weren't much different from the good, decent German-
American boys I grew up with.

The Horrors of War.......2007-05-08

All Quiet on the Western Front is an excellent adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque novel about the horrors of war. It follows several German students from the classroom into the trenches as they die one by one. The story features many random stories depicting one boy, Paul Malvern's (Lew Ayres) experiences similarly to the way the book was organized. There are many powerful scenes, like boys going mad in the trenches, the sickening experience of the boys' first battle, and Paul killing a man up close.

Because this film was made at the beginning of the "golden age of Hollywood," viewers might expect it to be highly sentimental and preachy. Although its anti-war message is blatant, it is surprisingly underplayed and straight-forward.

The first few times I tried to watch this film I was put off almost immediately. The sound quality suffers because the film was made so early in the talkie era. The opening scene where the teacher preaches to the students about the glories of war is a bit long. However, after that scene, I soon found myself glued to the screen. Give the film a proper chance before condemning it.

A powerful reminder.......2007-05-07

Such a cinematagraphically sophisticated portrayal of the Great War's horrors and heroes.

Nice anti-war message but awfully creaky.......2007-03-30

Based on Erich Maria Remarque's famous pacifist novel, All Quiet on the Western Front explores the horror of WWI through the eyes of a young German soldier.

Ideas of glory fuelled by patriotism are quickly drowned in the mud-filled trenches of the battlefield. Young lives are squandered cheaply for a few centimeters of ground.

WWI was fought with traditional tactics - the mass charge, trenches - but combined with more efficient killings machines - machine guns, field artillery - led to horrific loss of life among the soldiers.

The Germans learnt from these mistakes in WWII and employed the tactics of the Blitzkreig "lightening war" where speed of movement was paramount.

Back to the film itself. It's really easy to tell this is a child of the early sound era - there is lots of overacting and it is very visual in its telling. Modern audiences will find it very heavy-going though.

Still it has an ageless anti-war message. An important part of film history but very much an antique now.

Average customer rating:

Disappointing Lemon
Where's that DVD? Oh I see it!
The Wackiest Ship In The Army
Wrong Movie
They don't make 'em like this anymore.

The Wackiest Ship in the Army
Starring: Jack Lemmon , Ricky Nelson , John Lund , Chips Rafferty , and Tom Tully
Director: Richard Murphy
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B0002TSZHY
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Description

Jack Lemmon and Ricky Nelson get that sinking feeling when they pilot THE WACKIEST SHIP IN THE ARMY in this hilarious comedy-adventure. During World War II, the Army recruits Navy officer Rip Crandall (Lemmon) to command a battered old schooner for a top-secret mission. Masquerading as a Japanese fishing boat, this nautical nightmare must smuggle a spy through mine-infested waters of the South Pacific. Unfortunately for Crandall, he has inherited a wild crew of butterfingered landlubbers, including First Officer Tommy Hanson (Nelson). Can the dedicated lieutenant whip these comically inexperienced gobs into shape in time to carry out their perilous mission? Starring: Jack Lemmon (2-time Academy Award® Winner, 1955 Mr. Roberts, 1973 Save the Tiger, 8-time Academy Award® Nominee), Ricky Nelson (Golden Globe® Nominee, 1959, Most Promising Newcomer).

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing Lemon.......2007-06-10

Somehow, I (we) remembered this movie differently from what we just saw and sadly, were dissapointed with the plot (if any), dialogue and the acting.

Where's that DVD? Oh I see it!.......2007-05-17

His is one outstanding film. It is funny, very funny - a real service comedy and it works on several levels. The cast is first rate. Jack Lemmon and Rick Nelson are perfectly cast. A very memorable movie all around. Fond memories.

The Wackiest Ship In The Army.......2007-03-28

This vhs tape was in excellent condtion. It arrived in just a couple of days of ordering and was very pleased with the condition the tape was in.

Wrong Movie.......2007-01-03

This isn't a bad movie, but what I had rather see is a compilation of the seasons that "Wackiest Ship in the Army" was on TV. The TV show was, all told, much superior to this movie. The missions they were sent on and the dangers that they faced were exciting, and at the same time done with much humor. I'm not knocking this movie at all, but I would prefer to see the several seasons of the TV show on DVD. McHale's Navy it definitely wasn't.

They don't make 'em like this anymore........2006-07-10

If you enjoy the comic antics of Jack Lemmon (Grumpy Old Men, Grumpier Old Men), give yourself a treat. Mr. Lemmon's earlier films are well written, campy, and just plain fun! Two of my favorite Lemmon films are HOW TO MURDER YOUR WIFE and THE WACKIEST SHIP IN THE ARMY. Give yourself a fun filled evening. Send the kids out for pizza, turn off the phone, pop some popcorn, and curl up on the sofa with THE WACKIEST SHIP IN THE ARMY. Don't expect a deep "meaningful" plot or some kind of political metaphor. Isn't it time for a good laugh, the way we use to?

Unconstitutional - The War On Our Civil Liberties

Average customer rating:

It's the end of the innocence
Wonderful job documenting frightening loss of our rights
good veiw
Unconstitutional - The War On Our Civil Liberties
Unremarkable

Unconstitutional - The War On Our Civil Liberties
Starring: Colleen Rowley , Larry Thompson (IX) , Barbara Olshansky , Aquil Abdullah , and Laura Murphy (III)
Director: Nonny de la Peña
Manufacturer: The Disinformation Company
ProductGroup: DVD
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Unprecedented - The 2000 Presidential Election - 2004 Campaign Edition

ASIN: B000621NRQ
Release Date: 2004-10-05

Amazon.com

Completing a trilogy that should be required viewing for all Americans, Unconstitutional explicitly reveals how the USA Patriot Act violates numerous civil liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Following the equally persuasive documentaries Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election and Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War, this film presents powerful and tragic examples of how the USA Patriot Act--passed with virtually no Congressional debate just 45 days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01--has been used to justify the unconstitutional arrest of innocent immigrants based on Arab stereotyping; the illegal detention of vaguely defined "suspects" and their improper treatment (including beatings and torture) during extended confinement; prisoner abuse of alleged terrorism suspects in Guantanamo Bay military prison; the allowance of improper search and seizure without due cause; prohibited travel based on racial profiling; bully tactics employed with impunity by local police in efforts to undermine free speech; and other clear indications of the Patriot Act's unconstitutional enforcement. The more personal these stories of violation are, the more gut-wrenching is the realization that U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft--and by extension, the George W. Bush administration--have used the Patriot Act to justify what is essentially a dictatorial police state.

Sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union and full of bipartisan testimony by lawyers, politicians, and victims of Patriot Act abuse, Unconstitutional makes an eloquent case for the careful interpretation of Constitutional law, exploring rising opposition to Patriot Act abuses while exposing how many of our freedoms have been undermined in the name of post-9/11 security. Regardless of your political affiliation, this is a chilling reminder of how seemingly good intentions can corrupt even our most cherished American values. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties is the new, hour-long documentary from Robert Greenwald - one of the most prolific and progressive producers in Hollywood - in conjunction with the ACLU. This new film, written, directed and produced by Nonny de la Peña, details the shocking way that the civil liberties of American citizens and immigrants alike have been infringed upon, curtailed and rolled back since 9/11 and the USA Patriot Act.

Autumn of 2001 brought us assaults against Americans' comfort zone on many fronts. We learned that we could fall victim to attacks on US soil, and we learned that those guarantees provided to us in the Constitution were equally vulnerable.

Unconstitutional is the third in a series of Public Interest Pictures films that follows Unprecedented: The 2000 Election and Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War. True to their legacy, Unconstitutional provides the facts and stories that illuminate administration lies, wrongheaded policies and the real victims of these actions - the American people.

Here, you'll get the real story behind the USA PATRIOT Act and other administration policies and the gut wrenching stories behind those affected - from law abiding sales clerks to United States Olympians unable to travel. It'll remind you of what America used to stand for and what it seems we're falling for now. In short, this film will affirm why you're angry and give you a tool to help others join your ranks.

Customer Reviews:

It's the end of the innocence.......2007-05-11

As with all documentaries I've seen by Robert Greenwald, he enlists experts to give credible testimony to support the information in his programs. In `Unconstitutional' you are able to hear from experts on legal analysis and constitutional law along with counter-terrorism specialists to confirm the disturbing information about our disappearing rights and civil liberties.

Just over a month after the cowardly attacks of September 11, 2001, American citizens were presented with the `Patriot Act' which was, in essence, protections for citizens against terrorism and tools for the war on terror. If it was such a good plan, why did the Bush administration present it to Congress and tell them not to hold hearings on its contents which would then avoid any public input whatsoever? To add insult to injury, this legislative bill was presented to Congress before anyone had a chance to review its contents but it still passed with overwhelming support. It even contained provisions that Congress previously rejected before 9-11 ever happened. Using the cover of terrorism, the `Patriot Act' largely and inappropriately expanded the power of federal law enforcement which may haunt us for many years to come.

Not long after 9-11 occurred, federal law enforcement began to indiscriminately arrest and detain immigrants from Arab and Muslim countries. This sinister trend began to look suspiciously like ethnic or religious profiling not to mention targeting someone because of stereotypes. Those that were victims of the system were subjected to solitary confinement, inhumane treatment, no contact with the outside world whatsoever, and no due process of the legal system. The phrase `guilty until proven innocent' immediately springs to mind and it fits the equation. The Justice Department even coined a term for this nefarious activity. It was the `hold until clear' policy.

A solution was even found to incarcerate those detained (in the interests of the war on terror) outside of the United States. It was in the form of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This opens up a completely new level of questionable legalities due to the known information. First, those confined in this facility are not subject to legal restrictions. Secondly, everyone here is not subject to constitutional protections because they are not being held in a United States territory. Lastly, no one is subject to the Geneva Convention because they are not combatants and therefore are not considered prisoners of war. As the war on terror continues, it becomes readily apparent that the government makes the rules as they go to fit their agenda.

When it comes to your expectation of privacy as a citizen, well, that is right out the window. Without probable cause, federal law enforcement agencies can check your employment, medical, and bank records without your approval. Oh, your email traffic and internet browsing history isn't confidential either. And if that's not enough, the `Patriot Act' also allows for secret search warrants of your home and wiretaps of your phones, again without your permission. Big Brother is not only watching you now, it is smothering you and taking away the protections that the Constitution has promised you for over 200 years.

`Unconstitutional' is a very good documentary, in my opinion, and it relates a very serious message that every American citizen absolutely needs to hear. It can also be interpreted as a warning of sorts of what is to come in the future if no attempts are made to change these dangerous policies. A government for the people, by the people, and of the people should be just that and not an all-powerful administration teetering on the edge of totalitarian control. I highly recommend this documentary to everyone and I commend the producer for his courageous work.

Wonderful job documenting frightening loss of our rights.......2007-04-28

Greenwald does it again. He's produced a well-crafted film showing clearly some of the substantial losses and further threats to our civil liberties by the fiercely anti-democratic Bush administration. You see a wide range of folks who've been personally oppressed by the strong-arm, unconstitutional tactics allowed and encouraged by the Bush administration all in the name of fighting terrorism, but not having much effect on terrorism at all.
For those who can't understand how Germany became as it did before and during WWII, watch this film for how insidious the process of losing civil rights in a democracy can be. Obviously the US today is NOT as bad as Nazi Germany, but there are disturbing parallels. You see how perfectly law-abiding citizens have their civil rights increasingly denied or whittled down and how this threatens the very fabric of our fantastic democracy.
I dare anyone to see this film and not come away concerned for the future of our republic if we do not change course soon.

good veiw.......2007-01-11

Well what can i say if you like seeing your rights vanish then see this dvd you know whos hitting you from in front and behind ....lol.

Unconstitutional - The War On Our Civil Liberties .......2006-08-25

Good movie. A must watch for anti-Bush crowd. Sad direction we're headed with this guy in the lead.

Unremarkable.......2006-06-28

Unconstitutional is a movie about an extremely important topic. It's even more topical now in 2006 than when it was produced in 2004 (with some interviews done earlier than that). Unfortunately I found it overall a less powerful message than Greenwald's previous films, Unprecedented, Uncovered, etc. I think it's unlikely to win over those who support the Bush Administration's actions on its own, but it will provide some valuable tidbits of information for those who are already concerned about the loss of our civil rights.
The main problem with the movie (to me) was that the first half of it illustrates its point with examples of a lot of people toward whom Americans who support the administration's "war on terror" simply are not going to feel very sympathetic: Moslem immigrants from the Middle East, Jose Padilla, etc. It's only the second half of the movie that starts to address how this threatens the liberties of everyday, homegrown, law-abiding American citizens. Of course the revelations of what this administration has done have only increased in scope since the movie was produced. This is a movie worth watching--but don't expect to be on the edge of your seat.

Average customer rating:

A film about making films
THE BEST ADVICE YOU WILL RECEIVE TODAY (EXCEPT FOR NO ONE OVER THE AGE OF 5 SHOULD WEAR A STRIPED TEE SHIRT)
A Shambling Mess!
An accurate period piece... not
Pre-postmodern . . .

Tristram Shandy - A Cock and Bull Story
Starring: Steve Coogan , Rob Brydon , Keeley Hawes , Shirley Henderson , and Raymond Waring
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Manufacturer: HBO Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000EOTFBW
Release Date: 2006-07-11

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Michael Winterbottom is no stranger to literary adaptation. Both Jude and The Claim were drawn from works by Thomas Hardy. Nor is the versatile filmmaker a stranger to the post-modern romp, like 24 Hour Party People. In that paean to Manchester's music scene, Steve Coogan was Factory honcho Tony Wilson. In Winterbottom's take on Laurence Sterne's digressive The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, the prolific helmer combines literature with lunacy and brings Coogan back as the titular character--and then some. Coogan doesn't just portray the 18th century squire, but his father Walter and insecure actor "Steve Coogan." It's a film about the making of a film, effortlessly shifting between Tristram's tumultuous birth and his frustrated adulthood--bogged down in the writing of his life story--and between fiction and (what appears to be) fact. There are no end to the worries on and off the set: Coogan worries his heels aren't high enough, Rob Brydon worries his teeth are too yellow, and Coogan's girlfriend (Kelly Macdonald) worries she isn't seeing enough of him. It may sound like Spike Jonze's Adaptation, but in spirit, it more closely resembles Tony Richardson's Tom Jones. Coogan and his co-stars, particularly Naomie Harris as the ultimate film nut, Gillian Anderson as the American brought in to boost the project's profile, and Brydon as Tristram's Uncle Toby are as game for the challenge as their fearless leader. Consequently, Tristram Shandy isn't just one of Winterbottom's best films--it's one of the year's best. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Description

Michael Winterbottom?s TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY is a rollicking, inventive adaptation of the notoriously unfilmable British comic novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, written by Laurence Sterne. Crammed with literary jokes and dark humor, and aided by stellar performances by Jeremy Northam, Rob Brydon and Naomie Harris, Shandy?s warped tales reveal far more about himself than any conventional autobiography.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Extended takes
Interviews
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

A film about making films.......2007-04-23

This film starts off as an 18th romp and just when you are getting tired of it veers off into a film about the MAKING of an 18th century romp.

It has many sly comments to make about film-making - vain actors, cheapskate producers, crazy technical consultants...

Like many of these types of films it is amusing but leaves one ultimately unsatisfied as you have the carpet pulled out from you too many times.

Another interesting film from the hardworking Michael Winterbottom.

THE BEST ADVICE YOU WILL RECEIVE TODAY (EXCEPT FOR NO ONE OVER THE AGE OF 5 SHOULD WEAR A STRIPED TEE SHIRT).......2007-04-20

This is my good deed for the day. Save your money, increase your pleasureable hours...do not buy, watch or rent this movie. Please understand, I love movies. My favorites range from Olivia De Haviland in The Heiress to Love Actually and everything in between (ie: Harry Potter, Star Wars, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood etc etc etc). Tristam Shandy a cock and bull story was an incomprehensible mess. It was not funny, it was not interesting, it was not touching, amusing, warm or anything one wants from a movie. Even a nice scare (watch Julie Harris in the original The Haunting for a 1st class scare) is worth ones time but not this disaster of a movie.
Anyway, forgive me for the aformentioned striped tee shirt warning, I could not help myself. This might be the worst movie I have seen in quite a while. It was even worse than Eragon and that was BAD.

A Shambling Mess!.......2007-04-04

First, I confess to not having read the novel, although I am familier with some works of the period, the literary style, and the history of that time. This movie is trying very hard to be something that it is not; which is good comedy. There is a strong effort to have a sardonic humor which seems to fall flat. There seems a bizarre combo here of Monty Python with FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN. Both syles mix the past with the present, or the on scene off scene moments. Humor is brought into the realms of the surreal, which can work sometimes, but here it seems to fall flat on its face.

There is too much emphasis on the current day situations of the actors. Perhaps this is some attempt to match the feelings of the book in some strange way, but I certainly did not get it. I think the production could have been as witty and sardonic if it had not shown the modern set, but just stuck to the story itself. I am sure a more satisfying way to portray the unique mood of this novel could have been conveyed to the viewer without the choatic mess we have here. And where is the epic seige of Namur in 1695? Wasn't this in the original novel? This was one of the key seiges of the Dutch wars against Louis XIV in his efforts of expansion. Too see all these movie people with their off-hand attitudes confirms my views of how history often suffers in their so-called creative hands. Reminds me of the cute little film with Alan Alda SWEET LIBERTY which also conveys how films distort and twist historical facts around, let alone the spirit of an old novel from the past.

Cinema students might like the production shots, and all the politics invovled on the set, but otherwise there is little to recommend this choatic, messy affair. You will need something to calm your senses after watching all the confused activity that leads to no where in it. Not a satisfying movie.

An accurate period piece... not.......2007-03-20

The classic novel by Laurence Sterne is best described in this movie: "This is a postmodern novel before there was any modernism to be post about."

So it sounded pretty disastrous that a film was being adapted from it. Actually, half a film -- the other film is a mockumentary about a film crew desperaately trying to make some kind of movie, out of a book with way too much material. It's wickedly clever, but there's too little Tristram Shandy and too much about the shoes.

While his mother is in labor, a grown Tristram Shandy (Steve Coogan) narrates the backdrop of his life -- his awkward conception, the farcical circumstances of his birth, early penile injury, his uncle's obsessions and (ahem) war wounds, and the circumstances of being named Tristram (and not Trismegistus, which is even worse).

But then we cut to the real world, where a film crew is filming the whole thing. Star Steve Coogan (himself) and director Michael Winterbottom (Jeremy Northam) are struggling to make this novel as true to the spirit of Stern's book as possible. The problem is, there's WAY too much material, and everyone wants different aspects -- love story, battle, his own character -- to stand out as the MAIN part of the story. Will the movie be funny? A sell-out? A big confusing mess?

Filming an unfilmable book is usually either going to be a disaster or a masterpiece -- for the latter, look at "Lord of the Rings." But "Tristram Shandy" hovers somewhere in the middle, courtesy of its mockumentary storyline, and some pointed mockery of the studio bigwigs.

Basically, the bigwigs interfere and insist on stars -- such as Gillian Anderson, who barely makes it to the final cut -- and hoard money, because the movie is too quirky for their tastes. Meanwhile, the stars quibble about minutiae (like shoe height), and real-life director Michael Winterbottom deliberately blurs the lines of fantasy and reality, letting one seep into another. And it has Coogan in a giant plastic womb.

And there's an extra kudos for the dialogue. Half of it is deliciously witty modern stuff ("The thing is, I can't act..." "I know that." "... with Gillian Anderson. I have a proper sexual thing for Gillian Anderson. I covet her"), but there's a whole different style for Tristram. He tends to have these faux-serious metafictional monologues, which end up being very funny ("That is a child actor, pretending to be me. I'll be able to play myself later").

The problem? Well, there's too much of Coogan and not enough Shandy, especially in the second half. It would have improved the movie dramatically to cut some of this stuff about Coogan flirting with Jennie out, because it's really quite dull compared to Tristram. When the fantasy/reality starts leaning too heavily into reality, the movie starts sagging. Big time.

Coogan does a pretty good job playing himself, but he's much better as Tristram/Walter -- arch, wry and kind of inconsiderate. Rob Brydon is enormous fun as himself/Toby, and Naomie Harris is fairly good as a movie nut who specializes in arty German cinema, and not much else. Anderson isn't in the movie for long, but her "equipment" scene is gutsplittingly funny.

"Tristram Shandy - A Cock and Bull Story" is a very funny film, but one bogged down by too much reality (and Coogan). Entertaining, witty and strange.

Pre-postmodern . . ........2007-03-19

The ads for this film show Steve Coogan in period costume sitting in a director's chair with a cell phone in his hand and wearing trainers. That willful mix of past and present should be a dead give away. Laurence Sterne's post-modern novel (written as we are told well before the modern novel) finds its way to the screen as a kind of making-of documentary often found on DVDs. Coogan addresses the audience much as Sterne does, telling the life story of Tristram Shandy and discovering that the events of life proceed forward faster than you can possibly record them. And since identifying first causes requires moving backward rather than forward in time, any expectations of narrative can be frustrated even further. We get to witness the title character's conception, his birth (numerous times), his christening, and a rather ugly incident from his childhood involving a window sash and a tender body part.

Much of the rest of the film, in modern dress, concerns the cast and supposed crew of the film being made - Jeremy Northam playing a slick director and Kelly Macdonald as Coogan's long-suffering girlfriend with a perpetually squalling baby. The off-camera debates and struggles over the direction of the film provide the chief dramatic conflict, and it is not incidental. The film even starts in make-up where Coogan gets a false nose while arguing with co-star Rob Brydon over the nature of the credit he should be getting. Coogan's droll and earnest persona, delivered often in a kind of confused, pained deadpan, is fun to watch, and the chaotic process of film-making calls to mind other films of the genre, e.g., Truffaut's "Day For Night." Good fun, but don't expect too much of Laurence Sterne.

Average customer rating:

Triumph under fire
Still the classic World War II movies about American G.I.s
Great, now where's the DVD?
Still the classic World War II movies about American G.I.'s
So-So WWII Film

Battleground
Starring: Van Johnson , John Hodiak , Ricardo Montalban , George Murphy , and Marshall Thompson
Director: William A. Wellman
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B0007TKNLU
Release Date: 2005-05-03

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Director William Wellman (The Big Heat) offered up this 1949 treatment of the Battle of the Bulge, which won Oscars for best screenplay and best cinematography. The film concentrates on the camaraderie and the divisions between the troops as they ready for the big offensive. Told in a taut narrative, the men of the 101st, led by Van Johnson, wait out the winter in the Ardennes forest to confront the German army in what would be the last major offensive of World War II. The men are demoralized and trapped, with no hope of support from the Allies as they are forced to band together and defend their position. A classically assembled war drama that nevertheless manages to be both engrossing and entertaining, Battleground is a mainstay of the genre. --Robert Lane

Description

Van Johnson, Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy star in this remarkable war film, nominated for six Oscars(R) (including Best Picture) about courageous American G.I.s caught up in the battle at Bastogne. Year: 1949

Customer Reviews:

Triumph under fire.......2007-03-26

Being entitled Battleground you might think this film to be non-stop combat, but it isn't. It is so much more than an ordinary "war" film. One won't spy a tank in this film, for instance, until more than 90 minutes into this story; the story of the boys of the 101st who held out in Bastogne until the skies permitted aerial support to come to the rescue in this Battle of the Bulge. Skirmishes there are, however, up until this point, as a prelude---seemingly---to that which will ultimately test them; in which these soldiers show their individual mettle as well as insecurities. It's the story of a historically significant moment, but told from the vantage point of foxholes, in other words, and the GIs that dug them, holed up in them, and sprung from them to engage hostile German combatants. Van Johnson and company are convincing & the direction in this film is commendable. A number of scenes and/or specific camera shots are simply well framed & thus add to the dramatic effect of the lines being delivered by members of this fine cast. There are not that many World War Two-era films as well presented as this one. Do give it a chance (but keep in mind that it's a measured film---almost 2 hours in length, & more dramatic than action-packed). My only complaint herein or rather wish would be that they would've filmed more of Battleground beyond MGM's sound stage doors---dialogue in one particular street scene, for instance (wherein troop trucks roll into a town) bares the traces of an indoor echo. In addition, the artificial snow utilized is no better than passably realistic at times. (Do also catch another fine 'Bulge' story entitled Saints and Soldiers). (04Dec) Cheers!

Still the classic World War II movies about American G.I.s.......2004-02-02

The first twenty minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" raised the bar on the realism of war film in terms of the portrayal of the violent hell of combat. But in terms of showing us in a movie what it was like to be combat troops in World War II, the standard still remains the 1949 film "Battleground," directed by William Wellman (and I say this having loved "Band of Brothers"). The film won Oscars in 1950 for Robert Pirosh's script and Paul Vogel's black & white cinematography, and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (James Whitmore), and Best Editing (John D. Dunning).

The setting for "Battleground" is the besieged city of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge and focuses on I Company of the 101st Airborne. Pirosh had based the story on his own experiences during the battle, which including the details like Private Kippton (Douglas Fowley) always losing his false teeth and Private Rodriguez (Ricardo Montalban), who came from L.A. and had never seen snow before he got to Belgium. The situation was pretty simple: the Germans have Bastogne surrounded and the 101st is short on food and ammunition. Sgt. Kinnie (Whitmore) and the men of I Company have there sector to control, so they sit in the freezing cold, waiting for the Germans to attack and praying for the cloud cover to lift so they can get air support and supplies.

I am sure I am not the other kid from my generation who learned to do the cadence call of "Sound off," not knowing that it came from older kids who had seen this movie. This is a movie full of memorable scenes: Private Holley (Van Johnson) trying to make eggs, a checkpoint exchange that shows the importance of knowing baseball terminology like "Texas Leaguer," and a befuddled German officer trying to understand if General McAulliffe's infamous reply of "Nuts" to the demand for the 101st's surrender is a negative or an affirmative response.

For me the key moment in the film comes when I Company finally receives supplies dropped from C-47s. These guys have been freezing and pretty much starving for a week, and when they open up crates of SPAM and K-Rations, they are clearly disappointed. It is not until they find ammunition that they finally get excited. The montage of defeating the Germans is superfluous at that point, because the look in the eyes of these guys captures the moment even better.

In terms of realism I do have one slight knock on this film, in that I Company is atypical because they had winter coats (compare with the Bastogne episode of "Bad of Brothers"), but that is rather secondary to the point of this film, which is to celebrate the citizen soldier. As Holley explains to a major, "PFC" means "praying for civilian." Even when the Chaplain (Leon Ames) answers the big question, as to why these guys had to leave their families and jobs to fight in Europe, in has less to do with fascist ideology and more with the idea that the Germans were bullies throwing their weight around and killing a lot of people.

Still, "Battleground" comes down to the guys in I Company, Jarvess (John Hodiak), "Pop" (George Murphy), Layton (Marshall Thompson), Spudler (Jerome Courtland), Standiferd (Don Taylor), Hansan (Herbert Anderson), Bettis (Richard Jaeckel), Doc (Thomas E. Breen), and Sgt. Walowizc (Bruce Cowling). There is a tendency to make fun of the idea of the melting pot nature of these units, but we are talking diversity in terms of ethnicity more than racial lines and is certainly in keeping with everything I have read about the 101st. The humor in the trenches is a lot grimmer than you hear in most of these movies, an advantage of being made several years after the war ended (compare it with Wellman's 1945 film "Story of G.I. Joe").

This film is more about the psychology of war, putting up with the weather, the lack of supplies, the Germans trying to get them to surrender and showing up dressed in American uniforms, and keeping up morale than it is about actual fighting. That makes it rather unique in terms of movies about World War II in general or the Battle of the Bulge in particular. "Battleground" remains one of the classic films about grunts in the army.

Great, now where's the DVD?.......2004-01-30

It's amazing that this one hasn't seen a DVD release yet because it's a really fine classic war film. Don't be put off by the fact it came out in 1950: yes, there's no blood and gore, so you can easily argue it's unrealistic from that angle. There are hardly even any combat scenes. But like all the best war films, this one concentrates not on combat but on the psychology and morality of the men caught up in war.

Battleground follows a squad through the nightmare of Bastogne, showing the everyday misery they had to put up with and the grim humor and camaraderie that helped them get through it. For a film of its day, this is one is surpisingly even-handed, even a bit dark and cynical. You won't find a bunch of John Wayne heroics here, but rather a bunch of sick, tired, demoralized men doing their best to stay alive. This is a great companion piece to the Bastogne episode of the superb Band of Brothers miniseries. Also consider checking out Wellman's other classic WWII film, The Story of G.I. Joe.

Now, where's the DVD release??

Still the classic World War II movies about American G.I.'s.......2004-01-30

So-So WWII Film.......2003-09-03

I was really looking forward to watching this movie when I received a VHS copy as a Birthday present.
Unfortunately, there are only a couple of combat scenes in BATTLEGROUND.
Where are the 7 crack German Divisions that surrounded Bastogne during late December of 1944? Where are the German Tanks, vehicles, and equipment?
All we get to see are a handful of Germans, and most of them are disguised as American Soldiers!
The entire movie is centered around a platoon of 101st GIs who wisecrack bad jokes all day.
Van Johnson is a Terrible lead actor.
To me, the only good war films are ones that portray the Enemy as well as the Friendlies.
BATTLEGROUND is simply another post-WWII Hollywood film that celebrates American ego and arrogance.

Average customer rating:

Not a real story.... to much fiction....