Africa DVD

Studio: Educational Video Network, Inc
Product Type: DVD

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Leonardo DiCaprio puts a handsome face on an ugly industry: In parts of Africa, diamond mining fuels civil warfare, killing thousands of innocents and drafting preteen children as vicious soldiers. DiCaprio (The Departed) plays Danny Archer, a white African soldier-turned-diamond-smuggler who gets wind of a large raw jewel found by Solomon Vandy, a native fisherman (Djimon Hounsou, In America) recently escaped from enslavement by a brutal rebel leader. Archer offers a deal: He'll help Vandy find his war-scattered family if Vandy will share the diamond with him. Drawn into this web of exploitation is journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly, Little Children), who agrees to help if Archer will tell her the details of how conflict diamonds make their way into the hands of the corporations who sell them to the Western world. DiCaprio is compelling because he never flinches from Archer's utter ruthlessness; Archer ends up doing the morally justifiable thing, but only because his desperate greed has led him to it. Hounsou and Connelly, though saddled with all the moral and political speeches, rise above the cant and keep the movie's treacherously formulaic plot rooted in human characters. But in the end, the story won't stick with you as much as the dead stillness in the child soldiers' eyes; the horror of African civil strife refuses to be contained by Blood Diamond's uplifting message--and the movie is all the more potent as a result. --Bret Fetzer

Description

An ex-mercenary turned smuggler (Leonardo DiCaprio). A Mende fisherman (Djimon Hounsou). Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son, conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshed across the alternately beautiful and ravaged countryside. Directed by Edward Zwick (Glory, The Last Samurai), this urgent, intensely moving adventure shapes gripping human stories and heart-pounding action into a modern epic of profound impact.

Customer Reviews:

Gripping.......2007-07-09

This is probably one of those movies that will stand the test of time. It's great, suspensful, and extremely gripping. If you don't cry at the end of this movie, something is terribly wrong with you! Loved every minute of it, even the subtitles, which usually annoy me.

Got Boringly Familiar.......2007-07-05

Yes, there is action. Yes, there is decent acting. But ultimately, it becomes another preachy, and bogged down film.

eye opening movie.......2007-06-27

This movie truly is an eye opener. Even though it is very hard to watch because of all of the killing, it is still a must see movie. Well written and well acted. I'm not a huge fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, but this movie made me think twice. Djimon Hansu is phenomenal. This movie shows the brutality of greed and power. Highly recommended.

Blood Diamond.......2007-06-27

Excellent movie, something orginial and thoughtfull, I would highly recommend this movie to anyone that loves good well thought out movies- a must see.

Human life is the currency of those powerful enough to control the blood diamond trade.......2007-06-23

Greed is the dark heart of "Blood Diamond," director Edward Zwick's ("Traffic," "The Last Samurai") uncompromising look into the underground trafficking of illegally-traded gems in sub-Saharan Africa. Greed of corrupt men for power, greed of an amoral mercenary willing to sacrifice anything for a chance to escape Africa, greed of Western businessmen who seek to artificially control the diamond market, and the greed of a simple man for his family's return. This movie powerfully demonstrates the valuelessness of a human life to those persons obsessed with blood diamond collection in war-ravaged Sierra Leone.

Djimon Hounsou plays Solomon Vandy, a simple fisherman and father of two who witnesses his idyllic existence crumble before his eyes. Rebels seeking new recruits, slaves, and random carnage swarm into his village. They select his adolescent son and other young men as future cadets in their guerilla army--following suitable brainwashing and manipulation techniques--before then getting down to the real business of slave collection. Seemingly devoid of any mental workings besides casual sadism, these bandits top-off their kidnapping and slave-taking exercise with the mutilation and execution of men deemed too troublesome for them to bother with. Vandy is rescued from dismemberment at the last minute when the rebels recognize his strength, seeing it as an asset they can utilize in their constant search for capital: the blood diamond pits. Condemned to toiling underneath the blazing sun with nary a chance of reaping any benefit (besides possible continued survival) for his efforts, Vandy happens to discover an egg-sized blood diamond hidden in the streambed. Hiding it underneath his foot, he buries it when the rebel encampment is attacked by government troops. The only witness to his "theft" is the wounded slave captain--now captured, along with Vandy, by government forces--who swears that the former fisherman will soon be begging to reveal the diamond's whereabouts.

Parallel to Djimon's character's storyline is the tale of Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), an opportunistic solider of fortune caught within a dichotomy of conflicting motivation. He desires escape from Africa at any cost, yet secretly knows that his blood will someday mix with the earth of his homeland. Perhaps it is this realization that he is doomed which propels Archer forward: in every action and every word, he seems to be daring destiny to obliterate him. Taken in and trained from a young age by Colonel Coetzee (Arnold Vosloo), Archer is easily the most dangerous entity alive on the continent: ruthless, misanthropic, callous, manipulative, and incredibly lethal with bullet and blade. After a close-call haggling with rebel leaders over fair prices for blood diamonds, Archer is arrested for smuggling while crossing the Sierra Leone border. It is here that he intercepts the distraught Vandy and begins weaving a plan to save himself from the war-torn country: by dangling the freedom of the fisherman's family as bait to cajole Vandy into revealing the gigantic diamond's location. Solomon, though a simple man, is not so easily fooled. He eventually agrees to help Archer--but only if the mercenary agrees to help locate his family and also permit Solomon to be his travel companion.

There is barely time for indrawn breath during the watching of this movie. Action sequences are furious, brutal, and frequent. The pace of the movie is frenetic. The score is perfect throughout. The "education" of Vandy's son by the rebels is heart-wrenching. Solomon's overarching belief that fatherhood trumps all initially feels naïve, but is eventually revealed to be the singularly most powerful force in the entire movie. Danny's character--the realist mercenary who seems most capable of surviving, when compared to Vandy--shows the most evolution, shedding layers of the personality onion until an actual human appears. He is moved to reveal an element of his past to the beautiful American reporter (Jennifer Connelly), whose persistence and mutual survivorship cements a bond they both were too proud to admit from their first meeting. Archer and Vandy relationship morphs into something beautiful when a sacrifice is needed, prompting Solomon to reverse that remarkably chauvinistic statement made by Rudyard Kipling over one hundred years ago: the "white man's burden."

This is hands-down Djimon's most impressive performance: I have never seen him better represent a character. In fact, he blurs the line between character and actor, totally suspending my disbelief to the point where I "knew" him only as Vandy. I have been told by an acquaintance--currently living in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia)--that DiCaprio's accent is spot-on. In addition, he was utterly believable as heartless mercenary, and his later transformation was also quite convincing. The action sequences were, as mentioned, jaw-dropping in their intensity, but never felt gratuitous or over-the-top.

Easily one of my five favorite movies of 2006--miss it, and you risk missing some of the finest cinematographic wizardry and directorial finesse of cinema from the last year, period.

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Still My All-Time Favorite!
A Favorite Film
Classic
It Moved Me.
Some of Barry's Best Work

Out of Africa
Starring: Meryl Streep , Robert Redford , Klaus Maria Brandauer , Michael Kitchen , and Malick Bowens
Director: Sydney Pollack
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 0783240171
Release Date: 2000-02-29

Amazon.com essential video

Sydney Pollack's 1985 multiple-Oscar winner is a sumptuous and emotionally satisfying film about the life of Danish writer Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep), better known as Isak Dinesen, who travels to Kenya to be with her German husband (Klaus Maria Brandauer) but falls for an English adventurer (Robert Redford). The film is slow in developing the relationship, but it is rich in beautiful images of Africa and in the romantic tone surrounding Blixen's gradual discovery of her life and voice. One downside: while we may all love Redford, he is as convincingly British as Kevin Costner is in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. --Tom Keogh

Description

The most acclaimed motion picture of 1985 stars Robert Redford and Meryl Streep in one of the screen's great epic romances. Directed by Oscar winner Sydney Pollack, Out of Africa is the fascinating true story of Karen Blixen, a strong-willed woman who, with her philandering husband (Klaus Maria Brandauer), runs a coffee plantation in Kenya, circa 1914. To her astonishment, she soon discovers herself falling in love with the land, its people and a mysterious white hunter (Redford). The masterfully crafted, breathtakingly produced story of love and loss earned Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay (based on material from another medium), Cinematography, Original Score, Art Direction (Set Decoration) and Sound.

Customer Reviews:

Still My All-Time Favorite!.......2007-07-04

This true story's appeal is for all generations.A movie that intrigues and captivates as it tells of courage and perseverance while maintaining a tension of romance throughout.It is made of everything a great story should be.Meryl Streep and Robert Redford are the perfect actors for these roles.Immerse yourself!

A Favorite Film.......2007-06-09

This is one of my two favorite films of all time. The sweep and grandeur, along with the beautiful human elements makes this film a keeper!

Classic.......2007-06-08

This is one of the great classic films with wonderful actors, beautiful story and great photography. Love It

It Moved Me........2007-06-05

A masterpiece of cinematic beauty. This film is based on Danish writer Karen Blixen's(Isak Dinesen)years in Africa. One of the great performances of Meryl Streep, in a career of many great performances.

The story of a strong, yet very sensitive woman who follows her husband to Kenya to start a Coffee Plantation. His philandering ways soon leaves her with syphilis. Of course their relationship ends, and she is romanced by the Brit' Denys Finch Hatton, played by Robert Redford minus an ascent. One of the few often heard complaints during the film's release. But their chemistry still makes for one of the great screen romances ever.

1985's Best Motion Picture Academy Award winner, a year that saw many superb films. One of my other favorites that year was "The Color Purple", either one of which was worthy of the award in my book. Sydney Pollack also received the Best Director Academy Award for some of his most ingenius work. One of the most beautifully photographed films is magnificently transferred to DVD, though if you've never seen it on the big screen don't miss the opportunity should it ever arise. And John Barry's musical score makes for an even more breathtaking experience.

Some of Barry's Best Work.......2007-05-11

Everything it seems, has been said about this gorgeous film, except perhaps about the sound track. John Barry's work is outstanding and seems to enhance the move at its most powerful moments. The lasting impression I have more than two decades after the movie is the "Flight over Africa," when Denys takes his love up for a flight in his plane. I could watch - and listen - a million times and be enthralled every time.

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Patton
PATTON WAS NOT CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!
AFI rip-off
The best ww2 movie
The Last Generation of True Warriors

Patton
Starring: George C. Scott , Karl Malden , Stephen Young , Michael Strong , and Carey Loftin
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
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ASIN: B000EHSVS2
Release Date: 2006-05-23

Amazon.com essential video

One of the greatest screen biographies ever produced, this monumental film runs nearly three hours, won seven Academy Awards, and gave George C. Scott the greatest role of his career. It was released in 1970 when protest against the Vietnam War still raged at home and abroad, and many critics and moviegoers struggled to reconcile current events with the movie's glorification of Gen. George S. Patton as a crazy-brave genius of World War II.

How could a movie so huge in scope and so fascinated by its subject be considered an anti-war film? The simple truth is that it's not--Patton is less about World War II than about the rise and fall of a man whose life was literally defined by war, and who felt lost and lonely without the grand-scale pursuit of an enemy. George C. Scott embodies his role so fully, so convincingly, that we can't help but be drawn to and fascinated by Patton as a man who is simultaneously bound for hell and glory. The film's opening monologue alone is a masterful display of acting and character analysis, and everything that follows is sheer brilliance on the part of Scott and director Franklin J. Schaffner.

Filmed on an epic scale at literally dozens of European locations, Patton does not embrace war as a noble pursuit, nor does it deny the reality of war as a breeding ground for heroes. Through the awesome achievement of Scott's performance and the film's grand ambition, Patton shows all the complexities of a man who accepted his role in life and (like Scott) played it to the hilt. --Jeff Shannon

Description

A critically acclaimed film that won a total of eight 1970 Academy Awards (Including Best Picture), Patton is a riveting portrait of one of the 20th century's greatest military geniuses. One of it's Oscars went to George Patton, the only Allied general truly feared by the Nazis. Charismatic and Flamboyant, Patton designed his own uniforms, sported ivory-handled six-shooters, and believed he was a warrior in past lives. He outmanuevered Rommel in Africa, and after D-Day led his troops in an unstoppable campaign across Europe. But he was rebellious as well insight and poignancy, his own volatile personailty was one enemy he could never defeat.

Customer Reviews:

Patton.......2007-07-04

George C. Scott delivers a towering rendition of the profane, colorful, contradictory Patton, by turns making us admire, revile, and pity this man, who was driven by a profound sense of pre-destination. Karl Malden is superb as Patton's more measured but equally brilliant colleague General Omar Bradley, but this is Scott's show all the way. This won a raft of 1970 Oscars, including Picture and Actor. A must-see.

PATTON WAS NOT CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!.......2007-06-21

George Patton was a Military Historian, a friend to animals regardless of what you see or hear, and probably the most effective combat strategist of the 20th Century. You can't see this film and see the entire picture. You must read outside of this film, like his own biography "War As I Knew It", as well as read the works by Omar Bradley. Did you know that George Patton was born in Los Angeles County? That's right, like me he was BORN IN L.A. He was born in Pasadena. Did you know he saved the horse breed known as Lipizzaner Stallions from extinction? That's right, the nazi germans had taken the last of what was left of the breed and rounded them up from the rest of Europe to be a nazi prize of achievement, being that they are the most famous and most reliable horses in the world for what was needed in the cavalry. George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and several other famous Revolutionary War heroes rode Lipizzaners. They will not shirk under gunfire or cannon. After the war, the russians had appropriated these animals from the defeted nazis in their sector of conquer, and had planned to have the last of these famous, magnificent animals slaughtered for meat for their soldiers. George Patton found out about this, and forced the russians to turn the animals over to the United States, and Patton himself overseen the safe and secure shipment of these animals back to America. Because of him, these animals survived and thrive today, and to date have sired over 25,000, effectively repopulating the species forever. George Patton also spoke 17 different languages, knew every war and every battle ever fought by anyone in the history of the world, and thought that History should be a priority discipline tought in American schools. He effectively changed the sentiments of the United States Education Department, and now History is taught alongside Mathematics, English, Speech, Physical Education, and all other required pre-teen and teen studies, as a result of Patton's influence. He was a brave human being that was fearless and yes, ruthless, but he was also one of the most far-seeing, one of the most intellectually gifted, and one of the kindest human beings that ever lived. I love this film, but in actuality the slapping incident is taken out of context. You have to realize that some soldiers were put to death for cowardice during World War II. Patton did this man a favor, and like the movie says, he intendid to "ruffle his pride a little bit" and to "remind him of his obligations as a man and a soldier". Don't judge Patton by this film alone. Patton was also a direct descendant of Hugh Mercer, who was George Washington's closest and most trusted friend. General Mercer was killed at the Battle of Princeton during the Revolutionary War. You must understand a man's motive's before you can pass judgement on him. If George believed in past lives, it's because he had a spiritual connection, something that most people don't have at all, with his and our past, as well as the past of people all over the world that did battle for what the believed to be right...Honor, Glory, and Dignity. Never forget that George deeply loved America and all She stands for, and believed in God. Start with this film, and proceed to all the literature about Patton available. He was a remarkable human being that loved God and loved his country.

AFI rip-off.......2007-06-21

The new AFI top 100 film list appeared today and Patton was absent. I will not disparage the films that made the list, but at least 20 of them are lesser films than this masterpiece: oscars for best picture, actor, director, and script. This is a great war film, a great biographical film, a great film. The dialogue is consistently memorable, the set pieces unforgettable. Scott is brilliant; this is his masterwork (in a career consisting of multiple contending efforts). If you have not seen this film see it now. As one of my college teachers once said, "If you have not read The Brothers Karamazov go directly to the library and do it. You might die without having read it." The same advice applies to Patton.

The best ww2 movie.......2007-06-14

Patton is a great bio and war movie. Patton is accurate the dialouge when he slaps the solider at the hospital is word for word what was said. The combat scenes are realistic and the rivalry with Montgomery is. At Sicily Patton was determined to beat Montgomery to Messina and did at great cost.When Pattons army is going up those icy roads to releive Bastonge is one of the best parts, and a highlight of ww2. Patton has a great theme song. The opening speech is memorable George s. Patton was one of Americas greatest generals and this movie shows why.

The Last Generation of True Warriors.......2007-04-02

War reached its ultimate state - in both grandeur and tragedy - with WWII, and Patton was perhaps the best personification of both its aspects. George C. Scott was in this movie able to capture the conflicts and limitations of modern warfare and to display the ancient traditions of the soldier in a way no one else has. The movie does an admirable job of depicting the final years of WWII from both the Allied and Axis sides of the European war. If the movie can be faulted at all, it is in its tendency to romanticize war though the personality of this great but flawed man.

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Looking at war from a different angle
Compelling Battles, a Social Conscience, & a Different View of France's Liberation.
Not an Epic - but still a good movie
They were so so days.
worth owning, a war movie that tackles racism and cultural questions

Days of Glory (Indigenes)
Starring: Jamel Debbouze , Samy Naceri , Roschdy Zem , Sami Bouajila , and Bernard Blancan
Director: Rachid Bouchareb
Manufacturer: Weinstein Company
ProductGroup: DVD
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Army of Shadows - Criterion Collection

ASIN: B000NVT0RU
Release Date: 2007-06-12

Description

(War/Action) Set during WWII, North African soldiers enlist in the French army and battle their way across Europe to liberate the "fatherland" and confront discrimination.

Customer Reviews:

Looking at war from a different angle.......2007-07-08

On one hand you have your pretty typical war story. This movie paints a vivid picture of some violent developments in WWII, specifically with the French battling the Germans. It displays some pretty intense action between the two sides as the brutality of war is exposed.
But what sets this unique film aside is the scorching assortment of emotional depth that is boiling within. There was a great deal of racial injustices the Muslim soldiers were forced to deal with from their French leaders.
Finally, one soldier confronts the staff sergeant, claiming that "German bullets don't pick and choose". He demanded equal treatment if he was expected to lay down his life for the liberation of France.
Another scene I found very powerful--the soldiers were marching through a field when pieces of paper started falling from the sky. The Germans had begun a strategic mental warfare with these notes. They stated that Muslim soldiers weren't born into slavery, and if they crossed over to the German side their lives would be spared. Each one insisted that the French only send you to die. I imagine these mind games must have been tempting for many of those soldiers.
Overall, this is an entertaining and educational look at this small piece of history. It was nominated for an Academy award for best Foreign picture. Plus, the entire ensemble cast were recognized at the Cannes Film Festival with an award for Best Actor. This is a gripping tale definitely worth a look.

Compelling Battles, a Social Conscience, & a Different View of France's Liberation. .......2007-06-30

Director Rachid Bouchareb made "Days of Glory" to draw attention to the plight of men from France's protectorates and colonies who served in the French military during World War II but who were denied their pensions after 1959, because their countries had won independence from France. The film is very politically charged in France, where its title is simply "Indigenes", meaning "natives". It inspired President Jacques Chirac to finally address the pension inequities. Bouchareb doesn't hide his agenda or his bias: The North African soldiers in the film joined the French army mostly for money, occasionally for opportunity. They fought valiantly and loyally to free France from German occupation. They were stifled by discrimination and quotas during the war and discarded afterward. The specific events and characters in the film are fictional, though some French towns were, indeed, liberated by regiments of mostly North African soldiers.

In 1943, France's African Army recruits soldiers from Algeria, among them a young shepherd named Said (Jamel Debbouze), and from "goumiers" in Morocco, including Yassir (Samy Naceri), who hopes to make enough money for his brother to marry well. In 1944, the 7th Algerian Infantry Regiment, under the command of French "pieds-noir" Sergeant Martinez (Bernard Blancan) and Arab Corporal Abdelkader (Sami Bouajila), win France's first victory against the German army in Italy. They arrive in Marseilles to much fanfare, where their marksman Messaoud (Roschdy Zem) begins a relationship with a French woman (Aurelie Bouab). Abdelkader is increasingly frustrated with the lack of promotion and "liberte, egalite, and fraternite" for African soldiers, inspiring a minor civil rights movement. But the war goes on, and the Regiment will be the first French in Alsace, as they attempt to hold the Germans off until the Americans arrive.

"Days of Glory" won't pack the political punch for Americans that it does for French, but this is a terrific war movie. It tells a World War II story that we haven't seen before, and it features two of the most compelling battle scenes I've ever seen: Flushing the Germans out in mountainous Italy elucidates the fear of the soldiers in their first battle and the utter randomness of who lives or dies. The defense of the Alsacian town is in some ways the opposite, as we know the soldiers well by this time and hope they will survive. The four North African leads represent diverse types: Unsophisticated Said's boyish devotion to his Sergeant, mature Messaoud who is not savvy enough to see the hypocrisy around him, mercenary Yassir whose dedication to his comrades grows, and idealistic Abdelkader who hopes their service to France will advance the position of North Africans. Viewers inevitably sympathize with those most like themselves, but those characters involve us emotionally in the events. In French and Arabic with optional subtitles.

The DVD (Weinstein 2007): "The Making of Days of Glory" (24 min) interviews the director, producer, and writer Olivier Lorelle about researching the film, bringing the story of their ancestors to the screen, and shedding light on the role of North African troops. The cast discusses their preparation and characters. Subtitled. "The Colonial Friend" (8 min) is an animated film by director Rachid Bouchareb about the experience of Senegalese infantrymen who fought for France and met a worse fate than the North Africans. The animation style is a unique, eye-catching black-and-white. No dialogue. English and Spanish subtitles are available for the film.

Not an Epic - but still a good movie.......2007-06-25

I would not call this movie an epic, not by a long shot. It is good, yes, the acting in fact is very good - but it is no "Saving Private Ryan".

Much of the fighting is small scale, still good, but not to the beach assault scenes that we have come to expect of great WW2 movie epics. The story to be told, is certainly political, and while it is difficult to get emotionally attached or close to any of the characters in the movie you find yourself angered at the manipulation and lies that are used by the French Officers to coerce and cajole the Algerians to blindly continue the fight for their beloved France.

My only criticism of the movie would be that I found it extremely distracting that one of the main characters, Sai`d (actor Jamal Debbouze) went through the entire war with his right hand stuck in his jacket pocket and I kept wondering why? I later found out that Debbouze, lost the use of his right arm in a childhood accident. But surely, in a war movie such as this you would be able to find ample opportunity to write into the script a reason that would adequately cover such a wound - other than just having the arm super-glued into an army jacket pocket??? I mean to take nothing away from Debbouze's skill as an actor, because I thought he did a great job in the part as Sai`d in this movie, I just think it a shame that rather than allowing me to focus on the character he portrayed so well, my attention was constantly drawn to his damn right hand in that damn pocket!!

They were so so days........2007-06-22

The movie is incoherent. The acting is stiff, not convincing.
There are two touching scenes in the whole DVD. One is where an Algerian soldier stepped on a case of fresh tomatoes and said to his French captain "If tomatoes are not given to everybody, then nobody will get one".
The second is where another Algerian soldier rushed to a room and tried to carry his wounded French captain away from the house while the Germans were entering it. They ended up being killed by the German anti-tank gun. Had the soldier just run away by himself and left his commander behind, he would have had escaped death.
The film is good in term of anti-racism. It is worth renting not buying.
Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, the Longest Day, the Lost Battalion, Gettysburg and Gods and Generals are still the only titles on my list of Best War Movies of All Times.

worth owning, a war movie that tackles racism and cultural questions.......2007-06-21

I like war movies, i glanced at the box in the video store, quickly misinterpreted what it was about and rented it.

From this fortunate mistake came an interesting and worthwhile experience. For i knew nothing about the colonial French army in WW2 and this is an excellently done movie, that not only informs but motivates and interests me in the topic as well.

Usually movies with an deeply felt political or social point, loose the film making quality, sacrificing it for the bigger emotional point that the authors wish to get across. It is rare for a movie to have good historical knowledge-it's often twisted to fix predispositions, good film making technic-character development, coherent plot, and good filming, and a deep political point or as this movie does tackle currently hot button topics. "Z" and "The Battle of Algiers" and "Hell in a Very Small Place" are the only other movies quite like this one that i can remember, combining war with political and social commentary and not loosing sight of the need to present the film technically well.

The big point is explained in the "making of days of glory", the usual dvd additional features, for once worth watching and much better than the usual shovelware. That is for those French citizens today of North African (or Sengalese) descent to relearn the sacrifices their grandfathers and great-grand fathers made in liberating France from the Nazis. As a second point, for those French citizens of European descent to be more aware and thankful for the few remaining ex-colonials soldiers in their midst before they die, and to acknowledge that those people in their lives from Africa have long ago paid in blood for their right to be there and to be genuine Frenchmen.

The movie is about racism, judging a person by the color of their skin or the culture of their parents without making any attempt to hear their stories, to see what they have done, where they have come from or what they believe. The movie in a rather nice but complex way shows several ways that racism twists and distorts human relationships. It is also good to see the arena as something other than the US, for racism is not just an American problem but a human one.

The scene with the tomatoes. Only white French troops are given them, the North Africans and Sengalese are not. But as the movie points out, bullets don't discriminate, they indiscriminately kill anyone wearing a French uniform. The scene with the ballet dancers, culture is deeply embedded in us all and we can only see it oftentimes when it grinds into another one and the differences are made obvious to us. When the main character mounts the box and tells the soldiers that both France and the colonials must change, there is a veiled reference to the post-WW2 colonial wars of independence that make the issues of the movie so complex and difficult to understand. When you see the violence with which the sargent responses to the knowledge that he is a son of a Berber women, you can (as all good movies do) feel both his shame and the surprise of the other man at his comment being so hated when it was offered in deep and understanding sympathy. And that is the great value of learning with movies, the visceral, the emotional impact of images and a story told with them. Now i can, and probably will, look into the issue with more reading, but this is an excellent place to learn something about a neglected and important time in recent history.

Pieces of the movie are very attractively done, the uniforms-baggy North African turbans and robes with sandals, in the French winter (how can anyone live in this cold?, a point echoed in me). The fear, the brotherhood of warriors, the French white women plus the Berber soldier and the way society seems to conspire to destroy their relationship, the way some of them steal from the dead. The movie is full of unique and moving pieces that will make it a movie worth owning and watching again, there is too much going on, too many new connections for the viewer to make to be satisfied with a single pass through it.

I think that this movie is a genuine contribution to the ongoing dialogue between not just the European colonial powers and their African colonies, but between Islam and Christianity, racism and cultural conflicts. I need only remember that Augustine was called names because he was small and dark, for Monica was a Berber, to remember that Christianity is not European, not in origin nor in extent. I can hate and fear Islam as the greatest competitor of my faith, but that does not mean that every Muslim is my personal enemy, nor does it mean that i can't respect and honor them for their good deeds.

it is a worthwhile experience, not only for the excitement and passion but for an analysis of the deeper and more important issues that it tries to teach and push us into. thanks to all involved in making this movie and making it available to me to watch

Average customer rating:

Hutus & the Blowfish
EXCELLENT FILM! WELL DONE!
A Masterpiece/Guaranteed to shed a tear!!!
Phenomenal & Highly under-rated
Cheadle's Performance is Flawless

Hotel Rwanda
Starring: Xolani Mali , Don Cheadle , Desmond Dube , Hakeem Kae-Kazim , and Tony Kgoroge
Director: Terry George
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0007R4T3U
Release Date: 2005-04-12

Amazon.com

Solidly built around a subtle yet commanding performance by Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda emerged as one of the most highly-praised dramas of 2004. In a role that demands his quietly riveting presence in nearly every scene, Cheadle plays real-life hero Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager in the Rwandan capital of Kigali who in 1994 saved 1,200 Rwandan "guests" from certain death during the genocidal clash between tribal Hutus, who slaughtered a million victims, and the horrified Tutsis, who found safe haven or died. Giving his best performance since his breakthrough role in Devil in a Blue Dress, Cheadle plays Rusesabagina as he really was during the ensuing chaos: "an expert in situational ethics" (as described by critic Roger Ebert), doing what he morally had to do, at great risk and potential sacrifice, with an understanding that wartime negotiations are largely a game of subterfuge, cooperation, and clever bribery. Aided by a United Nations official (Nick Nolte), he worked a saintly miracle, and director Terry George (Some Mother's Son) brings formidable social conscience to bear on a true story you won't soon forget. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Once you find out what happened in Rwanda, you'll never forget. OscarÂ(r) nominee* Don Cheadle (Traffic) gives "the performance of his career in this extraordinarily powerful" (The Hollywood Reporter) and moving true story of one man's brave stance against savagery during the 1994 Rwandan conflict. Sophie Okonedo (Dirty Pretty Things) co-stars as the loving wife who challenges a good man to become a great man. As his country descends into madness, five-star-hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle) sets out to save his family. But when he sees that theworld will not intervene in the massacre of minority Tutsis, he finds the courage to open his hotelto more than 1,200 refugees. Now, with a rabid militia at the gates, he must use his well-honed grace, flattery and cunning to protect his guests from certain death. *2004: Actor, Hotel Rwanda

Customer Reviews:

Hutus & the Blowfish.......2007-07-05

Or, "Sir, would you like some DEATH with during your stay?"

Yes, Don Cheadle owns, quietly, every scene in this flick.

Yes, director Terry George & vet cinematographer Bob Fraisse (who served up the kinetic street warfare in "Ronin") cook up a little deadly cinematic ghoulash. They evoke, vividly, the feral sink of depravity that was Rwanda in 1994, when more than a million Hutus & Tutsis were slaughtered in an orgy of ferocious destruction, turning the land into a reeking abattoir.

But in the end, so what? What is the point here?

If the point is that something Horrible happened in Africa---well, folks, get over it. Something horrible is always happening in Africa: ask the Sudanese in Darfur, where a brutal genocide against the south is carried out by the Muslim Janjaweed militia, who have slaughtered nearly a million in the last two years, who take delight in refining their tactics of rape and carnage.

Or ask the Cambodians, whose skulls their former God-Emperor Pol Pot used to stack by the millions, as if building little bony towers to heaven, even as liberal lion Noam Chomsky apologized for him.

Or dial up the thousands of Iranian students huddled in broomclosets in Iran, who are regularly beaten, abducted, tortured, and killed for daring to voice dissent to the Mullahocracy's iron rule there.

I'm sure you would have heard outrage had you parachuted into Iraq before April 2003---muted, because an Iraqi expressing his revulsion for Saddam's death camps, torture factories, & rape rooms would have been in danger of apprehension by the hated secret police---and maybe had his tongue pulled off for his troubles.

What happened? The UN dithered & stalled (just as it did with Rwanda, as it does with the Sudan), despite Saddam's violation of more than 13 separate sanctions over the past decade. Eager to remove Saddam---for his atrocities, for the threat his intransigent regime posed the US, and for his probable secret WMD program (moved to Syria while the US waltzed with the UN for fruitless months)---the US took action, and deposed the tyrant in weeks.

Did the US mishandle post-war Iraq? Absolutely. But for its troubles, the US, and particularly President Bush, received nothing but international vilification: for saving millions of Iraqis from torture & tyranny, Bush was branded "a new Hitler". Liberal 'experts' now assure us we have no place remaining in the middle of a "civil war".

You know, a 'Civil War'. Just like in Rwanda. Or in the Sudan.

Which is why this type of movie, however beautifully acted, however balefully true, however illlustrative of the savagery of Man at his worst---its appeal eludes me. Does it make you feel righteous, weeping over the long-buried dead, while ignoring those about to be shoveled into the charnel pit? Does it make you feel oh-so-sweet-sanctimony?

Remember this, then: the next time you weep into your popcorn over cinematic bloodshed: when another tribe, another people, face the cameras with tears in their eyes and bayonets in their backs & beg rescue from a weary West, the answer will likely be: "Sorry, it's none of our business. Try the UN."

JSG

EXCELLENT FILM! WELL DONE!.......2007-07-04

I did not know much about this movie before I watched it. I was completely engrossed in the story and characters. A well made folm that probably hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. The DVD transfer is very good.

A Masterpiece/Guaranteed to shed a tear!!!.......2007-06-30

Hotel Rwanda sheds light (as it should do) on the 1994 Rwanda genocide that led to the deaths of close to a million people while the world looked on.
The manager of a Belgian owned luxury hotel, an ethnic Hutu, tries desperately to save his Tutsi wife and children as the world around him descends into chaos and madness; a nightmare where hatred and slaughter are the order of the day...
Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Nick Nolte, Jean Reno and the rest of this AMAZING cast have truly outdone themselves with their performances, which are extraordinary to say the least! All the actors, without exceptions, give it their 100% and it really shows (the chemistry is something else)! Very well written and very well presented, the movie is without a doubt guaranteed to provide important insight not to mention more than a few tears.
More relevant than ever, the movie does a great job as an eye-opener to one of the darkest events of the twentieth century. The film provides the necessary background as well as an accurate description of conditions on the ground during the few months that the conflict lasted. The world's reaction, or lack of it, (especially the American and British hypocrisy and inaction, and the French support of the Hutu perpetrators) is briefly touched upon.
Moreover, it could have been and it should have been much more graphic in showing what really took place in Rwanda's "killing fields."
Hopefully more will be done to stop the ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of Western Sudan and we will not have to wait for another movie to come out after it's all over before people become aware and do that which is humane.
Similarly to movies like The Lord of War, The Last King of Scotland, and Blood Diamond to name a few, Hotel Rwanda draws attention to some pretty important issues facing Africa.
In short, Hotel Rwanda is a movie definitely worth watching and one to seriously consider adding to your movie collection!

Phenomenal & Highly under-rated.......2007-06-19

I don't know what else to say about this movie. It's was one of the most moving stories about Africa that I have seen. It's a shame that it didn't receive more rewards. I only wish I would've seen this film sooner. Powerful.

Cheadle's Performance is Flawless.......2007-06-05

Every actor in this film is excellent and delivers a rather understated performances. Perhaps it's because the harrowing and tragic tale is something the real-life people portrayed here have come accustomed to somehow and that is a tragic commentary in of itself. In any event, this film while filled with excellent supporting actors belongs to its lead, Don Cheadle who earned a Best Actor nod for this performance (and should have won hands down).

Cheadle has been building an impressive resume with memorable supporting roles in which he nearly eclipses his leads. He began his career on TV's Picket Fences - Season 1 and remainded on the show for it's entire run and eventually emerged as the star of it. He then went on to cool roles like in Volcano with Tommy Lee Jones and facinating and complex roles such as in Crash (Widescreen Edition), but nothing compares to his quiet, restrained performance in this film that I can only compare his role and delivery of it to Gregory Peck's Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (Collector's Edition) in which both actors have the challenging task of exhibiting what I call "quiet courage" under great calamity and showing their great love and compassion for others without exactly "showing" it. It's all in their subtle gestures, whispered dialogue, and revealing eyes. Both films remind me of that old adage teachers like myself live by, "no cares how much you know until they know how much your care."

I, like other reviewers here, went into this film knowing nothing about the topic. I rented it based upon my respect of Don Cheadle and the positive reviews that surrounded this film when it was released. Again, I knew nothing about the topic of the film itself and was I shocked by the events that unfolded in the film. It is truly a harrowing tale told with great respect and dignity. I found no silly cliches or trite treatment of this compelling and important event in history.

This film is outstanding and it that will move you and stay with you long after the experience of viewing it is over.

Average customer rating:

Eating children is a GOOD thing...
"THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND", by way of "LAKE PLACID"
"Jaws"+"King Kong"+"Hotel Rwanda"+"Broadcast News"+"Lake Placid"="Primeval
The actual story is more intriguing than this mediocre film
Where is the Crocodile Hunter when you Need him?

Primeval
Starring: Dominic Purcell , Brooke Langton , Orlando Jones , Jürgen Prochnow , and Gideon Emery
Director: Michael Katleman
Manufacturer: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000OCZ9WS
Release Date: 2007-06-12

Amazon.com

Who would have thought that Primeval, a movie about a giant man-eating crocodile, would turn out to be closer in spirit to Hotel Rwanda and Blood Diamond than to the average slasher-movie horror flick? Perhaps it doesn't aim at the social-issue heights of those more prestigious films, and the acting is uneven to say the least, but give this monster movie credit for trying to get in the smart, edgy vein of some of John Sayles's early scripts for Roger Corman. A cable-TV news crew travels to Burundi to capture footage of (and, if possible, just plain capture) the enormous crocodile that's been terrorizing the local landscape. Making things more complicated: the local landscape is also being terrorized by a civil war. The film does a clever job of weaving the two scourges together, and the script by John Brancato and Michael Ferris pays surprisingly explicit attention to the way the West has been slow to acknowledge human-rights disasters in Africa, calling out Rwanda and Darfur by name. Now if only the characters were more than cardboard-thin; only Orlando Jones, doing the standard-issue wisecracking black sidekick, makes any particular impression. (Poor Jurgen Prochnow, glowering about in the Great White Hunter role--you'd think the guy who commanded Das Boot could knock off a giant reptile, no problem.) Pedestrian direction doesn't bring the human element to life, but give it up for a fine crocodile--his name is Gustave--who exists in a nifty, hungry computer-generated frenzy for most of his performance. And the script even provides Gustave some behavioral motivation that recalls the it's-not-their-fault-it's-man's-fault spirit of 1950s monster movies. Not a bad effort at all. --Robert Horton

Description

Inspired by the true story of a legendary 25-foot man-eating crocodile comes the intense, terrifying horror movie PRIMEVAL, starring Dominic Purcell (TV's PRISON BREAK) and Orlando Jones (RUNAWAY JURY, EVOLUTION). An American news crew, determined to capture this voracious monster and stop his demonic rampage, travel deep within the darkest reaches of Africa to hunt their prey. But Gustave, as the natives call him, is also on the hunt — always on the move, always elusive, always hungry for human flesh. Heart-pounding fear is nonstop in this edge-of-your-seat nail-biter about the cunning killer who continues to blaze his blood-soaked trail of terror.

Customer Reviews:

Eating children is a GOOD thing..........2007-07-07

I was very pleased to get my daily dose of GIANT CROCODILE. You simply cannot get enough of THAT. News team travels to Africa to capture the largest known crocodile in the world. GIANT CROCODILE has plans of its own, mainly to eat everything in sight. Complicating matters is the fact the team is caught in the middle of a civil war between rebel factions shooting everyone in sight. A better horror film than Lake Placid, which really didn't have ANY good GIANT CROCODILE attacks, this movie builds suspense while also giving you plenty of GIANT CROCODILE action. Now if someone could satisfy my need for GIANT SQUID...

"THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND", by way of "LAKE PLACID".......2007-07-06

The title of my review says it all; this is a movie which boldly attempts to mix the strife-torn drama of African unrest with a giant crocodile movie. With mixed results.

The crocodile (named 'Gustave', of all things) looks pretty rad, for a CGI beastie. The acting is fine, and I'm beginning to view star Dominic Purcell (who plays a shallow TV reporter that unsurprisingly finds his inner hero by the end of the flick) as a very dependable, likable leading man. A bit of genuine amusement is afforded by his interactions with co-star Orlando Jones, though the typical romantic tension he shares with leading lady Brooke Langton is predictable and forced. Straight-to-video king Jurgen Prochnow is wasted here (and somewhat under-written) as the grizzled, Captain Ahab-like croc-stalker.

Aside from it being a monster movie, which I'm ALWAYS up for, the best thing about "PRIMEVAL" is the fact that it is played to utter seriousness. The background of the story is a dark and grim place, where tribal in-fighting produces an impoverished, atrocity-filled atmosphere of brutality and callous murder. This is the perfect setting for a monster film, and the style in which this movie is shot conveys the aura well.

Biggest disappointment? "PRIMEVAL" (supposedly based on true accounts) takes the cheap way out and has 'Gustave' conveniently showing up at the most inopportune time for the bad guys, and his massive scaly butt intervenes more than once to chomp down on a villain or two just as the heroes of the story are at their most endangered.

*sigh*... uh, yeah. whatever.

But I liked it overall, since I'm a huge fan of killer crocodile/alligator flicks, and "PRIMEVAL" is certainly better than the average rampaging-reptile fare that you find on late-nite cable. Probably not for everyone, but hey, let's face it -- if you're the kind of person who's looking specifically for a giant crocodile movie, how picky can you really be?!

"Jaws"+"King Kong"+"Hotel Rwanda"+"Broadcast News"+"Lake Placid"="Primeval.......2007-07-04

"Primeval" is another one of those movies where you can have fun working out the movie equation where you name the films that were cannibalized to come up with the formula for this one. What if "Jaws" came out of the water? Okay, yes, you would have one scene in "Deep Blue Sea," but you would also have "Primeval." The nature guy in this film even claims it is the crocodile that is the most perfect killing machine on each, so take that, Matt Hooper. What if the expedition in "King Kong" was really trying to bring back a giant crocodile alive? You would also have "Primeval." What if you sent a news crew concerned with ratings like in "Broadcast News"? What if you use a goat for bait just like in "Jurassic Park"? What if you just took "Lake Placid" and moved it to Africa so that you can play it against the backdrop of civil war like in "Hotel Rwanda?" Add up all of these films and what you get is "Primeval." Do not be surprised as you watch this movie that time and time again you mind wanders to those other, much better films. Even the characters in this one acknowledge they are trapped in "Jaws," although they are way off base on the "Godzilla" analogy and I must note with pleasure that the natives are not willing to start singing a song in English like they did in "Congo."

The opening scene is somewhat interesting. A United Nations group is checking out what they think is another mass grave in Africa when it turns out to be something different namely a giant killer crocodile named Gustave (Really. He is supposedly still out there dinning up and down the Rusizi River that is his home: this film is inspired by true events as opposed to being a true story). This 2007 film is ill-served by the gaudy post-modern opening credits because the whole point is that somewhere out there is a real monster eating hundreds of people and this looks like it is setting up "Se7en" or something grittier like "Hostel."

Using the "Jaws" typology, news producer Tim Manfrey (Dominic Purcell) is the Chief Brody character who does not want to be there when he is sent to Africa to bring the monster back alive, Mathew Collins (Gideon Emery) is the Matt Hooper science geek with the gadgets, and Jacob Krieg (Jurgen Prochnow) is the Quint character who everybody should be listening to before people start dying. Instead of town fathers concerned about taking the "summer dinks" for everything they can on the 4th of July, we have soldiers going around lopping off heads and killing civilians for essentially the same reason. Where Manfrey is different is that he brings his romantic interest, Aviva Masters (Brooke Langton) along for the ride, and has a wisecracking cameraman, Steven Johnson (Orlando Jones) who always has something to say on every subject from halitosis to Darfur. But you worry about him because the funny guy is usually one of the first to go in a monster movie.

There is an interesting sub-text to this film that would have been well worth exploring, because Gustav has eaten literally hundreds of natives and it is not until a white woman become the entree that the "world" takes an interest and decides to go do something about it. But instead the film puts the characters between a rock, in the form of the giant croc, and a hard place, namely the Brundi-Rhwandi border, where every thug has a gun. The dynamic is that if you are worried about the croc, the guys with the guns show up, and when things get ugly with the thugs, expect Gustave to save the day. To put it another way, every time you forget the other half of the movie, it comes back into play. Eventually the idea of capturing Gustave is forgotten as the survivors try to avoid both the croc and the thugs, and I swear I was going to round up on this film until Manfrey articulates a link between the genocide and the monster that might be true, but ironically made it all seem unreal just because it was given such dramatic weight it capsized the moment. The ending is fairly predictable once you understand the three sides involved, but let us not pretend that the irony is a divine solution to the situation.

The movie was filmed in South Africa and all I can say is that things sure have changed since John Huston took Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn to Africa to shoot "The African Queen." You travel thousands of miles to make THIS movie? I did think that drirector Michael Katleman and especially film editor Gabriel Wrye did above average work here, much better than I would have expected and probably better than the production deserved. However, ultimately, there simply is not enough of the croc in this film and when it does show up the special effects are not up to the challenge. I just watched "Jaws" again earlier this week and, yes, the shark is suggested rather than seen for the first half of the film, but once we finally see Bruce he is an integral part of the action. For me the special effects are problematic because Gustave moves so damn fast, in or out of the water, that I have trouble buying it. After all, this is supposed to be the biggest croc in the world. The lower your expectations, the more you can enjoy watching "Primeval," and it really is a beter "Jaws" rip-off than all of the actual "Jaws" sequeles combined.

The actual story is more intriguing than this mediocre film.......2007-07-02

Despite being based on a "true story", primeval is still a story that kind of gets pulled down by the production, marketing and DVD cover of a B-grade horror flick. Although the story is somewhat interesting, the CG crocodile and the somewhat hokey dialogue and overall production are lacking for this film to be taken too seriously. I found the special features section that covered the actual case of the story much more compelling than the fictional counterpart that was trying to represent it.

Primeval is based on a large crocodile that is sometimes referred to as a "man eating" crocodile. I wasn't aware that some crocodiles were man eating and some are not, and although I am no expert in the field I would assume that if one is hungry enough and finds something edible in the water, it is probably going to eat it without a second thought of whether that dinner is accompanied by a Rolex and cell phone or not. The film does have some familiar faces from other corners of films and TV with the screen presence of Orlando Jones, Brook Langton and Dominic Purcell. After an initial introduction of a separate incident involving the croc, the movie gets rolling into the main course of our main characters playing a team of people with varying skill sets in journalism and crocodile hunting being assembled to travel to Africa to capture the crocodile. Throw in some corruptive baddies who carry AK-47 rifles and the back-story of genocide and you have a good plot that involves two major ongoing subjects who both have carnage as the end result.

Orlando Jones character is perhaps the most intriguing, and his compassion for an orphaned boy does add some good sentiment within the main storyline. Although promising given the background of facts this story was based upon, I found it overall to be marketed too much as a film that falls along the lines of a "Lake Placid" or perhaps "Anaconda". At times I found the set production to be lacking some basic elements although it was being filmed on location in Africa. Despite our team of characters being exposed to Searing heat and swampy water, they are rarely shown drinking water or sweating profusely. One particular scene that struck me as odd was after an attack at a boat house with an adjoining dock in which it gets mauled to splinters by the crocodile. The following morning the team is shown laying out on the remnants of this facility in the sun trying to figure out what the next plan of attack is, since the croc (monitored electronically by now) is out in the grass somewhere near shore. Everyone is relatively calm and even joking somewhat, with nary a scratch on them despite surviving a collapsing wooden structure. Aviva Masters (played by Langton) even seems to have makeup on and looks more like a girl who just walked through a park, including hair that isn't the slightest out of place. I know it may seem like I am nitpicking here, but if you are going to show people in the wild, at least make it somewhat believable with some dirt on their face and sweat soaked clothes for a little more believability.

The chase scenes of the team trying to escape and deal with the armed militants who are caught up in a civil war are done well, and I found the particular use of camera angles and slow motion of Steven Johnson (played by Jones) making a valiant attempt at escaping the croc towards the end very haunting. Overall the director did not do a bad job of mixing in the civil war strife with the nuisance of the giant crocodile, but in the end it is not something that would be regarded as a keeper in my own collection, perhaps good to rent if you have nothing else of interest on the shelf. I try to judge a film like this for what it is, and not what it is not when it comes to lower budgets and such. The main issue is that despite the actual stories that come from Africa, this film is a combination of "shock and awe" CG tactics and mediocre fictional storytelling.

Where is the Crocodile Hunter when you Need him?.......2007-07-01

Seriously, this movie is really not good. If you want a great Crocodile movie, go see "Lake Placid". Better actors, much better acting, and a more realistic crocodile... but not by much!
People have gone over the plot, so I will not rehash it here.
The plot is not very good as it intermixes the horror Crocodile and the African political storylines. And as with most bad horror movies, stupid decisions are made at times that wind up killing the actors.
Jurgen Prochnow's talents are wasted in this film as the big-game hunter who is supposed to help the film crew. Dominic Purcell once again proves he has no acting talent. I wish they would kill him off on "Prison Break". The only talent here is Orlando Jones. He does a relatively good job, but we do not even see him being killed. He just pops up dead later on.. What a waste!
The bonus features on the DVD are thin. There is one "deleted" scene that is pretty amusing, where they show a scene on how the Warlord was supposedly to be killed originally. The "Making of" is not very interesting.
I did give the movie 2 stars, because it did keep me watching for 90 minutes.

Average customer rating:

My Friend George
Curious cool George
A hit
Beautiful, innocent, gorgeous
Warning WRONG DVD included in case

Curious George (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Frank Welker , Will Ferrell , Shane Baumel , Tamara Jo Beatty , and Eugene Levy
Director: Matthew O'Callaghan
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Animals | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000GIXEWC
Release Date: 2006-09-26

Amazon.com

A wild collection of hip actors--from Will Ferrell to Drew Barrymore to David Cross--provide voices for Curious George, based on the classic, gentle children's books. Ted (voiced by Ferrell, Elf) works at a natural history museum that's fallen on hard times. The museum director's son (Cross, Arrested Development) wants to turn it into a parking lot, but Ted offers to bring back a mysterious idol from Africa that's guaranteed to pull in crowds. Unfortunately, the idol turns out to be three inches tall. But Ted (who, before he heads on safari, gets outfitted in head-to-toe yellow, transforming him into the beloved Man in the Yellow Hat from the books) accidentally brings back a lonely yet irrepressible monkey, soon dubbed George. In no time at all George gets into all kinds of mischief--painting an apartment, soaring aloft with a bunch of helium-filled balloons, climbing on a dinosaur skeleton, and generally getting Ted into hot water. Older fans of the books will probably wince at the formulaic save-the-museum storyline, as well as at the obligatory love interest (Barrymore, Charlie's Angels) whose role is utterly passive. Jack Johnson's songs are so bland you can't remember the melodies even as you're listening to them, and the animation (an odd but not ineffective blend of two-dimensional drawing and CGI) has grossly cutified the book's illustrations, eroding their origina charm (the contrast is made sadly clear by a montage of the original drawings over the closing credits). But the basic relationship between man and monkey remains sweet, and younger kids will delight in George's innocent troublemaking. --Bret Fetzer

Amazon.com

"Buckle up for this amusing, exciting and hilarious adventure" (Janet Stokes, Film Advisory Board, Inc.) with everyone's favorite inquisitive little monkey! When The Man In The Yellow Hat befriends Curious George in the jungle, they set off on a non-stop, fun-filled journey through the wonders of the big city toward the warmth of true friendship. Featuring the voice talents of Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore and an all-star cast, Curious George is ""a family classic"" (Dean Richards, WGN-TV) that will have the kid inside everyone giggling with delight again and again!

Customer Reviews:

My Friend George.......2007-06-14

Curious George (the movie) sweet, funny, friendly and curiously wonderful for the whole family. Sometimes I watch it all by myself. A great movie for getting the kids to settle down.

Curious cool George.......2007-06-13

Our eight year oldgrandson had seen the movie in the past and couldn't wait to see the DVD

A hit.......2007-06-06

My 2 year old loves Curious George from reading the library book, so I was excited when this movie was made. Pretty funny for her and all right from me to watch. It does get a little old after the 5th time, but all little kid movies do.

Beautiful, innocent, gorgeous.......2007-06-05

Curious George is a heart-warming tale about a mischievous little monkey. I'd recommend it to anyone who has children ... even adults will find themselves drawn to the innocent fun of this story. The music is relaxing, soothing and lovely. A wonderful buy for the whole family!

Warning WRONG DVD included in case.......2007-05-28

DO NOT ORDER THIS PRODUCT IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THE MOVIE. I purchased this movie for my son--it was the second time I purchased this DVD because we watched it so many times we damaged the first one. My complaint is not with the movie, but with this particular product. When I received the DVD--the cover indicated widescreen edition. This disk did not contain any version of the movie. I clicked on every posible link after inserting the disk into my computer and the movie was NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. This disk is NOT THE MOVIE!!!! Then when I attempted to return it, I found the Amazon return options to be completely annoying.

The Wild Geese (30th Anniversary Edition)

Average customer rating:

Great Quality
Absolutely Perfect
The Wild Geese Fly Again
Silly, but good fun
Wild Geese

The Wild Geese (30th Anniversary Edition)
Starring: Richard Burton , Roger Moore , Richard Harris , Hardy Krüger , and Stewart Granger
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Manufacturer: Tango Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0009UVCQW
Release Date: 2005-09-27

Amazon.com

Mixing action, humor, sentiment, and even a few righteous moral convictions, The Wild Geese is good, rousing fun. Released theatrically in 1978 (oddly, this 2005 DVD release is referred to as the "30th Anniversary Edition"), director Andrew V. McLaglen's film depicts the adventures of a group of British mercenaries hired by a shady multinational corporation to free the benevolent leader of an African nation held captive by a ruthless dictator. Led by the caustic, no-nonsense Col. Allen Faulkner (Richard Burton), these soldiers of fortune are all stout fellows out to earn a big payday and restore a good man to his rightful place of power (the underlying message of universal racial brotherhood is effective, if somewhat simplistic), and they do their job swiftly and efficiently... at least until they're double-crossed by their venal, perfidious employers, at which point the film becomes a tale of survival and revenge. The cast, which also includes Richard Harris, Roger Moore, and a host of other fine veteran actors, is first-rate, the story-telling efficient, the dialogue entertaining (with occasional bursts of profanity), and the action reasonably exciting and not overly graphic. And even if the pace is somewhat leisurely by new millennium standards (we're nearly an hour into it before the actual mission starts), The Wild Geese is a very enjoyable ride. Bonus features include a profile of producer Euan Lloyd and commentary by Lloyd, Moore, and journalist Jonathan Sothcott. --Sam Graham

Description

This film does not have closed captions. It needs to be taken off the Details page.

Thank you, Jason Porter

Customer Reviews:

Great Quality.......2007-04-11

My husband has worn out his VHS of this movie, and he was so pleased with the quality of this DVD! It's a good "old school" action flick, with humor, plot and good character developement.

Absolutely Perfect.......2007-03-28

I first saw The Wild Geese when I was quite young but I remembered it well so I had to buy it when it came out on DVD. I hadn't seen it in years so I was a bit worried it wouldn't live up to my memory, but my fears were put to rest quickly. The movie is still fantastic even though it is getting on in years. It is as relevant today as it was when it was produced. If you got rid of the fly collars and 70's looking clothes you could rerelease this movie as is and people would go to see it.

The Wild Geese Fly Again.......2007-03-19

I liked this film. Again it is made with the poor quality by which most of the films in the 1970's were but the legendary cast and unique military script really place this movie in higher perspectives. I enjoyed the entire story line. It flows from one scene to another and you can't help it but to like each of the characters and their down on their luck attitudes. What this movie goes to show is that you can make a great film when you have actors with chemistry unlike the artificial version of another film "Tears of the Sun" starring Bruce Willis which attempts to copy "..Wild Geese" but fails.

Silly, but good fun.......2007-03-14

This is one of those movies that probably played better at the time, but after thirty or so years isn't quite as realistic sounding as it might be. An all-star cast with the Richards (Burton and Harris), Hardy Kruger, and Roger Moore, lead a group of mercenaries into Africa to rescue the imprisoned Mandela-like "leader of his people" who will presumably be willing to make a deal with a multi-national corporation (headed by the oily Stuart Granger). We're introduced to the characters in suitable 70s-intro fashion, and it's one of the problems with the film: Burton's the cynic, Harris is more of an idealist, Moore's the wisecracking tough guy who's always getting into trouble, and Kruger's the racist South African who just wants a farm he can call his own. By the time you're done with the intros, you should know who's going to live and who will die at the end of the movie. It's very predictable.

The theme of the movie, racial reconciliation in Africa, is of course more or less commendable. Unfortunately, this long after the movie, the whites have left everywhere but South Africa, pretty much, and the blacks have taken to killing each other (Darfur, for instance, and Rwanda/Burundi). As a result, the sentiments expressed in the movie, looked back on from this far afterwards, seem unreasonably idealistic and optimistic.

It's always fun to see a war movie from this era. Hollywood wasn't big on doing things realistically (this is the era of the six-shooter you never reloaded, and the "flesh wound" in the shoulder) and so it was fun, for instance, to see Roger Moore sneak up on an African bad guy with a cigar in his teeth (they stink, the guy would have sniffed him out a hundred feet away). There also was a marvelously contrived, unrealistic episode involving shooting sentries with a crossbow loaded with cyanide crystals, and later a scenario involving gassing sleeping soldiers, when it certainly looked like it would have been easier to shoot them with silenced guns.

All of that being bad, I don't think Burton or Harris were ever really terrible in a movie. Granted they're not at the top of their game, but then again they're not terrible, either. Moore's his usual wiseacre self, and Kruger, given the trite dialog they gave him, does OK. Granger does a good turn as the bad guy. If you're interested in this sort of thing, it's a fun movie, and I would recommend it.

Wild Geese.......2007-03-04

This is one of the best movies of its type.This action packed movie makes the Dogs of War look second rated.
This movie was made into multi languages and one can see why.
The Wild Geese has a good script and the action is good for a movie made in 1978.The cast is brilliant just look at the actors Richard Harris,Hardy Kruger,Roger Moore and Stewart Grainger.
This movie is a must buy for people who collect action movies.

The Constant Gardener (Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Important Issues underlie this Film, but Lousy Story
the constant gardener
Well-told story, superb mystery, excellent acting
Secrets, Suspicions...and Love
three and a half stars for the DVD

The Constant Gardener (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Ralph Fiennes , Rachel Weisz , Hubert Koundé , Danny Huston , and Daniele Harford
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000C65Z1G
Release Date: 2006-01-10

Amazon.com

The Constant Gardener is the kind of thriller that hasn't been seen since the 1970s: Smart, politically complex, cinematically adventurous, genuinely thrilling and even heartbreaking. Mild diplomat Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes, The English Patient, Schindler's List) has a loose cannon of a wife named Tessa (Rachel Weisz, The Shape of Things, The Mummy), who's digging into the dirty doings of a major pharmaceutical company in Kenya. Her brutal murder forces Justin to continue her investigation down some deadly avenues. This simple plot description doesn't capture the rich texture and slippery, sinuous movement of The Constant Gardener, superbly directed by Fernando Meirelles (Oscar-nominated for his first film, City of God). Shifting back and forth in time, the movie skillfully captures the engaging romance between Justin and Tessa (Fiennes shows considerably more chemistry with Weisz than he had with Jennifer Lopez in Maid in Manhattan) and builds a vivid, gripping, and all-too-justified paranoia. And on top of it all, the movie is beautiful, due to both its incredible shots of the African landscape (which at times is haunting and unearthly) and the gorgeous cinematography. Featuring an all-around excellent cast, including Bill Nighy (Love Actually), Pete Postlethwaite (In the Name of the Father), and Danny Huston (Silver City). --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Important Issues underlie this Film, but Lousy Story.......2007-06-07

I was slightly disappointed in this film. It had been recommended to me by a couple different people, and I had been led to believe it was a true story about real African history.

It's not exactly a true story, but the plot does revolve around drug companies using untested drugs on African countries. Which is a real issue. So I guess it's close enough.

The big problem for me is that the film uses that issue to create a sort of suspense thriller. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I have to admit that this film (and the internet researching I did following it) did increase my awareness of the unsavory practices of pharmaceutical companies in the 3rd world, but I did feel that the movie was simply using it as a background to make their suspense story and sappy love story more compelling. And on top of that, it wasn't all that great of a suspense movie.

the constant gardener.......2007-05-14

good product, great movie with excellent actors... one of my favorite movie!

Well-told story, superb mystery, excellent acting.......2007-05-07

This movie possessed a well-developed plot full of surprises up until the very end. The political context of the film gave it some relevance, and gives the viewer something to think about...at the same time, this can't be categorized as a 'message movie', as the message isn't too overbearing.

Highly recommended.

Secrets, Suspicions...and Love.......2007-05-05

I think it is easy to get the wrong idea about this film. It is about so much, and much of it is uncomfortable to watch in many ways. If you focus on what might be considered the 'biggest' aspect of the story, you might just miss what is really important about it.

Part of what makes 'The Constant Gardener' hard to watch is that it is so well done. Shot and edited in a gritty, almost documentary style, I felt like I was watching something that was, in ways, more intimate and more real than I should have been seeing. It's a hard illusion to pull off, but here it is accomplished admirably well. Fine performances by all the actors, and in particular the leads, Ralph Fiennes and the stunning Rachel Weisz in her best role to date, make this a compellingly authentic film, one that is difficult to extract yourself from once you are in it.

On the surface, 'The Constant Gardener' is about Western pharmaceutical companies and the lengths they will go to to get their drugs to market before their competitors. This is an unstated evil in our culture, a secret we all know about but do not speak of, and this film makes a bold stab against it. Ralph Fiennes, as Justin Quayle, spends much of