WarMovieBlog Blog

In The Army Now (1994)

WarMovieBlog — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:01:27 GMT

In The Army Now (1994)

Kind of like that quote from Beetlejuice, "it just gets funnier, every time I see it!!" Yeah, so I like Pauly Shore's In The Army Now. Not because I'm a child of the late 80s and early 90s, but just because it really is funny, and its got a decent story and isn't too far fetched. Well, not compared to some disastrous military-themed comedies (like, say, Delta Farce...)

Perennial slacker and altogether oddball Bones Conway (Pauly Shore) convinces his friend Jack (Andy Dick) that the solution to their problems is to sign up for the Army Reserves. Insert the usual comedic-basic training routine here, where they meet up with fellow water-purifiers Christine (Lori Petty) and dentist Fred (David Alan Grier)...and then they return to the real world....

...and are subsequently called up to a mythical conflict between the African nations of Chad and Libya. Thrown into the mess over there, their convoy is attacked while they struggle to fix a flat on their truck, and proceed to get lost in the desert, captured by Libyans, escape by providence, and have to execute the mission that the special forces couldn't complete.

If only to prove in typical hollywood fashion that the slackers can actually get the job done. Lauded as heroes, they return to civilization to start the store they dreamed of, complete with camel in tow.

Now, I know what you're thinking, he likes it?? Yeah. Despite Pauly Shore. Really, he leaves a lot of his MTV schtick behind in this one, with it only making a few well-timed and not too inappropriate appearances. This isn't Encino Man, Bio Dome, or Son-in-Law. Hate to say it, but he's actually not bad here. The supporting cast does a fine job of doing just that, as well.

You also have to give kudos for trying to fill in a gap that really went unfilled for the most part, trying to pay some sort of homage to the veterans of Desert Storm (this is '94 remember) without making it too cornball. I think they managed to do that well, what with the reserves angle and all. The settings and equipment really lend an air of authenticity to it. For a low-budget comedy, I was fairly impressed by that aspect.

If you've never seen In The Army Now, (probably because you hate Shore!) then just overcome it and take a look. You'll probably be quite surprised. Here's a trailer, looks like from TV. Couldn't find any cliips of decent quality for some reason. Does nobody but me like this picture?!

And yeah, I'm putting it under "Gulf War" movies, since we know that's what they were after....

In The Army Now (1994) on Spout.com

Originally posted on:War Movie Reviews and News

The Final Countdown (1980)

WarMovieBlog — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:02:02 GMT

The Final Countdown (1980)

IMDB

Awww, come on. If you were alive in the 1980's you've seen The Final Countdown. It was on TV like every other weekend on one of the big cable networks. And you watched it. Every time. Because it was cool.

You know what? It still is. Maybe its just the nostalgia factor but I still like this movie.

In the biggest "what if" scenario that's ever existed, the carrier USS Nimitz gets sent back in time to the day before Pearl Harbor, and has to contend with the decision to stand idly by while Pearl Harbor is attacked, or to interefere and change history forever.

Just in case you're one of the four people who hasn't ever seen it, I won't spoil the outcome. But I still have to rave about the movie. Sure its chock full of 1980-isms. Semi cheap production, bad special effects and some corny writing, but an all star cast and some unfettered access to the carrier and its crew and planes more than make up for it all.

I think from the sci-fi angle it also plays out well as a good "time travel movie." The moral dilemma of "do we interfere" coupled with a bit of philosophy on the order of "is history changable" really stop and make you think a bit. And it does it without the usual Star Trek-ish pseudo-science and made-up plot devices. It -just happened- and they don't even attempt to explain it. Good, it doesn't require explaining! The fact that everybody can't even comprehend whats happened furthers the believability of it all.

What if their actions had saved the congressman? Would the world as we know it cease to exist? If the Nimitz wiped out the Japanese fleet before the invasion, would things have unfolded any differently? The more you look back on the events around WWII, the more you realize that it couldn't have happened any other way. Almost like it had to happen. I think this picture puts those feelings down in a very concrete way.

Of course, it wouldn't be a decent 1980's war movie if you didn't throw in the Russian "Cold War" angle. That's what they all think it is at first, some sort of Russian nuclear strike. A healthy bit of paranoia can go a long way.... Kind of funny in a way when you think of it now, but at the time, the threat was still considered very real.

There's a few tongue-in-cheek bits of comedy, such as when the rescued Zero pilot (Soon Teck-Oh) practically leaves his jaw on the deck as he's brought on board the carrier.

Couple that with star power such as Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen, and you've got a really underrated picture that could have been better, but not much.

And the ending? Once you've seen it, it all makes sense. The Final Countdown will remain one of my "cult favorites" just because, hey, its still cool!

The Final Countdown (1980) on Spout.com

Originally posted on:War Movie Reviews and News

K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

WarMovieBlog — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:01:41 GMT

K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

IMDB

K-19: The Widowmaker is based on the true story of the Soviet nuclear submarine K-19, which suffered a disastrous reactor failure and nearly resulted in a worse accident, and possibly could have started World War III.

Honestly I'm struggling to write this review. The first half of the movie is a struggle to get through. The second half, well, more than makes up for it.

K-19 is a new class of nuclear sub, and she's been cursed it would seem before even getting wet. Several men have died during construction, and during her christening ceremony, the bottle doesn't break. Not good omens for any ship.

The captain of this crew, Polenin (Liam Neeson) is replaced at the behest of the party officers by Captain Vostrikov (Harrison Ford), leaving Polenin as the Exec. One of Vostrikov's first actions is to replace the drunken yet experienced reactor officer with a fresh-from-the-academy version. And the hilarity ensues.

They embark on their mission, which is to test fire one of their missiles. Along the way, Vostrikov tortures the crew with endless and often dangerous drills and exercises. This of course only increases the crew's ire towards Vostrikov. They successfully perform their test, and receive new orders, to patrol the waters off New York and Washington. Up until this point in the film, you are really left wondering what the hell we are all doing here. Apart from the endless drills, not much else is going on, and it starts to drag on. And on.

Then, the reactor fails. In a bad way. In an almost non-repairable way. In a way that nobody really understands what the outcome will be.... The crew and Vostrikov really start to pull together, and the story finally starts to get interesting.

They manage to affect a cobbled together solution, at the cost of a few of the crew due to radiation. The situation continues to get worse and worse as radiation floods the boat, yet Vostrikov refuses to seek help, and its unclear why.

Not until the repair fails again, and they encounter a US Destroyer offering assistance does the Captain reveal his motives. To try and keep the ship away from everything should it explode, potentially leading to disastrous outcomes on both sides of the ocean.

But the real payoff is the final scene, where the remaining crew of the boat reunites on the anniversery of the event. At this point it doesn't matter which Navy you sail with, the sentiment remains the same. One of comraderie, loyalty and friendship.

Yeah so I spoiled it. If you can manage to get through the mechanics of the first half, and wait for the unfolding drama that awaits you will be satisfied with the outcome.

Although, I have to say that Neeson's and Ford's Russian accents were rather weak. They were just not thick enough I think to be believed. Ford's inparticular just didn't seem right at all, at times I could barely tell it was there, then he'd roll an R or something silly like that....

I will also give props to the production crew for making me believe I was in a Russian cold-war era sub. The entire environment seemed just foreign enough and "Soviet" enough (if that's possible) to really put it across.

K-19: The Widowmaker will start you fidgeting, but eventually rivet you in place by the time its over, and hopefully leave you touched at the end.

K-19: The Widowmaker (2002) on Spout.com

Originally posted on:War Movie Reviews and News

The Fighting 69th (1940)

WarMovieBlog — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:00:54 GMT

The Fighting 69th (1940)

IMDB

Alright, let me just start by saying that I'm not a big fan of James Cagney, and I'm not really sure why. Maybe its just because every role I've seen him in has just been either flat and uninteresting, or just downright annoying. Like his portrayal of the misfit Private Plunkett in 1940's The Fighting 69th.

The Fighting 69th purports to be a tribute to a Father Duffy, who was a chaplain attached to the newly formed 42nd Infantry, aka "The Rainbow Division", and formerly part of the New York 69th Infantry, as the Army started getting away from the practice of having these regional divisions and moved to more mixed and diverse units.

But that's neither here nor there, as the film actually turns out to be a chronicle of the misdeeds of Plunkett, a selfish, arrogant, and quite frankly dickhead Irishman who just reeks attitude. A role Cagney was made for? Quite possibly, but man, I just can't take it.

His attitude and selfish unthinking nature follows him to France, where time and time again, he manages to do something either incredibly stupid or chickenshit which gets more men killed. But enter Father Duffy, who has aims of turning Plunkett into a responsible soldier after all.

While awaiting execution after his last royal screwup which got yet more men killed, he's able to escape, but after another close call on the battlefield, he somehow gets religion and proceeds to help take out a German machine gun nest and clear the wires before himself getting killed.

I really don't know why I didn't like this film so much. Maybe its because of Cagney, maybe its just the way the role and the story was written... but it just gets to be, well, for lack of a better word, annoying. George Brent, Pat O'Brien and Alan Hale are decent. And for some reason we are introduced to Poet turned Sergeant Joyce Kilmer (Jeffrey Lynn)... who Plunkett manages to get killed as well, only adding to the weight of his F---ups.

And then at the end there's this big tribute to Father Duffy. A noble sentiment, but I really can't see how it all comes together. I mean, Plunkett's screwups far outweigh his final "heroic" act in my book, and I... well, I just thought it was lame. Is it supposed to be funny? It's not. Is it supposed to instill some sort of patriotic feelings? It doesn't.

On the bright side, the DVD for The Fighting 69th has a great set of "before the film" extras, which I actually enjoyed more. Such as the trailer for the Edward G. Robinson and Bogart film "Brother Orchid", a newsreel "London Can Take It" (which was a little too optimistic for my tastes), a great cheeseball government short encouraging young folks to get into the aviation field, and of course a cartoon, this time "Pilgrim Porky." Too bad things went downhill once the opening credits rolled.

The Fighting 69th just left a sour taste in my mouth, and me scratching my noggin.

The Fighting 69th (1940) on Spout.com

Originally posted on:War Movie Reviews and News

The Lost Battalion (2001)

WarMovieBlog — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:02:30 GMT

The Lost Battalion (2001)

IMDB

In October 1918, one battalion of American soldiers gets trapped behind enemy lines, thinking they are at the lead of an offensive, the reality is quite different. Based on the Johnson and Pratt book of the same name, The Lost Battalion is a dirty, bloody, gritty look at life in the trenches, and at the reality of war.

This made-for-TV movie falls into the category of 'best war movies I've never heard of.' Yeah, its really quite good. Surprisingly good as far as made-for-TV films go. New York lawyer turned Major Charles Whittelsey (Rick Schroder) reluctantly takes his men where ordered, straight into the sights of the Germans. He thinks the offensive is succeeding all around him, while in reality everyone else has pulled back, leaving his unit stranded up against a German battalion hell-bent on keeping them at bay.

From there it only gets worse for them, as he tries to reconcile his orders with the well-being of his men. Continued assaults from the Germans, as well as a barrage of friendly-fire artillery tear the battalion to pieces. Over the span of the six days they are trapped, their numbers drop from around 600, to less than 200.

The Lost Battalion is not for the squeamish. Graphic are the battles, the injuries, the combat, and the deaths. Yet it never really enters the realm of exploitation. To me it turns out to be a pretty realistic representation of what it must have been like. The supporting cast is also stellar, if somewhat unknown.

You also get a glimpse into the mechanics of the WWI battlefield. Carrier pigeons for communication, the cavalry-like charges over the wall, that entire transition from "the battlefield" to modern mechanized warfare....

Schroder, love him or hate him, does a great job here. He maintains that sort of 'officer stature' throughout, while never disconnecting with his men. His final words sum up the tone of the picture. "These men are better than you, they're better than me."

The special effects and production here is absolutely amazing for a made-for-TV bit as well. While I'm no expert on WWI armaments and equipment, I never once felt that anything was out of place, or that anything was (technically) wrong in any way. The pacing is just perfect on top of everything else. We pause just long enough for the men to recover from the latest attack, and to muse on the madness of war and to comment on the disconnect between the men in the field and the officers back at command.

My only gripes might be the fact that it's in 4:3, but for a TV-bound show I guess you can't expect too much more. I can only imagine what this would have been in full scope though. The soundtrack is rather "TV like" as well, but it never gets too bad.

The Lost Battalion is a greatly-overlooked modern day classic in this reviewer's book. I will watch this again.

Here's a snippet, if in somewhat poor picture quality.

The Lost Battalion (2001) on Spout.com

Originally posted on:War Movie Reviews and News

The Long Voyage Home (1940)

WarMovieBlog — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:01:26 GMT

The Long Voyage Home (1940)

IMDB

Ah, the merchant marines, the unsung heroes of WWII. Putting their lives at risk on the open waters of the North Atlantic to deliver much needed supplies to Allied forces in Europe. The Long Voyage Home follows the crew of the Glencairn in just one of these voyages.

And what a misfit, motley bunch of guys this is. Through the length of the picture, we witness the bond between these guys grow, get tested a few times, get re-affirmed, and finally tested again. That's what this movie is really about, is how a crew of sailors (or soldiers, or whomever) winds up more-or-less as a family.

The opening scenes were, well, lets just say I was shocked at how racy and provocative they portrayed the island women. Especially considering this was 1940! Yikes! That definitely had to raise some eyebrows back in the day....

Then we are witness to some of the paranoia that came out of the war. One of the characters, Smitty (Ian Hunter) gets accused of being a Nazi spy through no fault of his own, but through a series of unfortunate observances on the part of the crew. In a psychological twist the entire crew right down to the "leader" of the gang, Driscoll (Thomas Mitchell), and one of his best friends starts to doubt him. But in the end the real problem is revealed, and its clear that nearly everyone identifies with him.

And what of the ethnic stereotypes present here? Holy cow, more than you can shake a stick at. Between Driscoll's drunken Irish demeanor, and the simply awful accent of the Swede, Ole (none other than John Wayne) it gets a little funny at times. Sure these crews were made up of guys from widely varied backgrounds, and even the US at the time might've been a little more diverse, but these guys hammed it up. Bigtime.

You'll get the entire range of human emotion in this film. From the exuberant opening party in the West Indies, all the way through the fear, comedy, desperation, comraderie, death, compassion, and an incredibly tense, but still quite funny, sequence at the end. My God, I have to admit to being hooked by it, line and sinker included as the impending fate of Ole starts to unfold. Surely they wouldn't! But no, they didn't, and instead one of the others makes the ultimate sacrifice to get good old Ole home again.

The Long Voyage Home might not appeal to everyone, but it has a place as a decent portrait of the forgotten cogs in the war machine.

The Long Voyage Home (1940) on Spout.com

Originally posted on:War Movie Reviews and News

Son of Rambow (2007)

WarMovieBlog — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:01:21 GMT

Son of Rambow (2007)

IMDB

So. What if the only movie (or TV show) you ever saw in your entire life to date was none other than Stallone's First Blood? What kind of impact would that have on you? Especially if you were brought up in a staunchly religious environment?

Son of Rambow takes on that issue, and proceeds to be a fun ride down the road of youth and the imagination and exploration of it.

Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) is that boy. Brought up somewhere in the UK by his widowed mother in a "Plymouth Bretheren" household (for us in the states, think Amish, sort of, kind of), he's not allowed to watch TV or movies of any kind, even educational videos in his school.

One day while sitting in the hallway (not watching a video!) he runs into the misfit Lee Carter (Will Poulter) and his trek towards realizing that there is a larger world outside of his sparsely furnished and dim house begins.

Through a series of mishaps, he happens to watch the entirety of "First Blood" and is totally blown away by it. His already imaginitive mind begins to fabricate a detailed and intricate new story, where he must rescue his father, Rambo from the evil scarecrow. He puts his artistic talents to use creating a series of comic-like storyboards for his new epic.

As luck would have it, Carter's got an itch of being a filmmaker, and between his camera and Will's story, they start to put the story to tape. By the end of it they enlist practially the entire school, including French exchange student and Didier (Jules Sitruk).

Really, though, the story is a lot more than that. It explores Carter's relationship to his brother, Will's discovery of the world around him, the ideals of friendship, and takes a tongue-in-cheek jab at the movie industry, with all of its infighting and everyone inviting everyone else to be involved....

So, not being exactly what I expected, (which was something more down the war-movie alley), it still wound up an excellent film. And, although the cast is mostly made up of, and the story revolves around, the kids... I don't think I'd recommend it for the youngsters, at least not in this day and age. Some of the things they do and the places they wind up might be difficult to explain. ("Um, no you can't do that, ever!")

Unfortunately there are some moments which could have been left out, such as Will's inciting all of the older students' commons area into a giant dancing jumping fit. Didn't quite get that one, I'm afraid.

Son of Rambow is just a lot of fun. Check it out.

Son of Rambow (2007) on Spout.com

Originally posted on:War Movie Reviews and News

Mister Roberts (1955)

WarMovieBlog — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:01:46 GMT

Mister Roberts (1955)

IMDB

Take the crew of a cargo ship that hasn't been on leave in over a year, and a hard-nosed captain, a disillusioned cargo officer and a misfit laundry officer and you've got Mister Roberts.

The plot of Mister Roberts revolves around, well, Mister Roberts (Henry Fonda), the cargo officer who wants desperately to be transferred off the ship and into real combat. He's a hero to the men on the ship and an all around nice guy. On the other side is the "by-the-book" Captain Morton (James Cagney), who proudly displays his palm tree award just outside the bridge.

Honestly, I didn't much care for Mister Roberts. The film is merly slightly amusing most of the time, struggling hard to be funny, but never really getting there. There are a few comedic moments straight out of 50's TV, and really that's about as good as it gets.

I think the problem is Fonda. He's a master actor, but here he just kind of, I dunno, seems to be rolling along with a certain melancholy. Pissed off at the captain, and his being stuck on the boat... the character never really is, well, funny. Then there is Captain Morton. Cagney is, well, Cagney, but again, he just seems PO'd to be playing this part. No real acting there except to bark out orders and reprimands with stern face. Pulver? Inept and naive, but never really all that much.

Then there is the entire sequence where the crew finally gets to go to a "leisure port" and proceeds to trash the entire joint in an endless array of misdeeds. The whole thing is actually kind of uncomfortable.

And the ending. Any hope of cementing this as a comedy effort is dashed upon the rocks as Pulver reads his two letters, and goes off on a tirade towards the Captain.

I just didn't get it, maybe. The whole thing seemed forced and un-thought out. I wish it weren't so, but I really didn't like it as much as I probably should have. Mister Roberts might be a fun diversion, or a wayback machine for those who might've been stuck in such a role during the war, but not much else. Wish I had more to say, but that about covers it!

Mister Roberts (1955) on Spout.com

Originally posted on:War Movie Reviews and News

The Counterfeiters / Die Fälscher (2007)

WarMovieBlog — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:01:37 GMT

The Counterfeiters / Die Fälscher (2007)

IMDB

The Counterfeiters (or Die Fälscher as its known in its native Deutschland) is a sad, sad, depressing, and somber look at the Nazi's effort to undermine the economies of its enemies during the war by dumping millions in counterfeit notes into their systems.

Unfortunately they utilized Jewish prisoners who possessed specific skills for their nefarious deeds. The story is told from the point of view of one of them, Salomon Sorowitch (Karl Markovics), who was a gangster and counterfeiter in his former life. Just the kind of man they need. Early on, he's betrayed, arrested and thrown into prison by Friedrich Herzog. Herzog will later re-appear as the leader of this "project."

The movie, though, is about one thing. Survival. Sorowitsch and his counterparts are torn between helping the Nazis in the war effort and simply staying alive. Dealing with the guilt of having it relatively well, with proper beds, and food, while their Jewish compatriots are tortured and murdered. Only one of them has any designs on sabotaging the operation, and nearly finds himself on the wrong side of his comrades.

Interestingly, Herzog's character finds himself in much the same predicament. Unlike your typical Nazi thug, he is simply doing what he must to survive as well. By fulfilling his duty and performing his job in order to keep himself and his family safe. He actually employs Sorowitsch at one point to create a set of Swiss passports to get his family out of the Nazi regime. While I was surprised to find such a compassionate (for lack of a better word) portrayal of a Nazi officer, especially in a German-borne film, it does make the film a great deal thicker. Is there any difference between Sorowitsch and Herzog? Which one of them is "the bad guy" here? You'll have to figure that out for yourself.

Unfortunately the film just seems to really lack any personality. Other that being consistently dark and gloomy and depressing. Sorowitsch never seems to be anything but sullen, even in the "before" and "after" scenes, he doesn't seem to portray much emotion at all. On purpose? Hard to say, but he could have been a bit more, well, something.

The horrors of the camps are only touched upon here and there, and that is probably for the best as far as this movie is concerned. To do otherwise would have shifted the focus away from the counterfeiting operation and the struggles within, and would have made for a much more confusing picture.

Did I like it? It was interesting throughout, although I can't say it was particularly "enjoyable", and that's how it should be. Parts were downright uncomfortable, but not enough to completely ruin it.

The Counterfeiters provides a semi-historical look into an oft overlooked aspect of the war, and does so with enough grit and realism to make it believable, but just seems lacking in a few respects, while excelling in others. I really did like it, as a movie, but I'm not sure I'd watch it again any time soon.

The Counterfeiters / Die Fälscher (2007) on Spout.com

Originally posted on:War Movie Reviews and News

Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004)

WarMovieBlog — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:01:32 GMT

Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004)

IMDB

In a word: Ick. In two more words: Don't bother.

Robert A. Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers was a story about the conflicts inherent in anybody in military service. The tear between duty and what's right. The often necessary evils one must do in order to save the greater good....

Then there was the 1997 film of the same name. While taking most of that and chucking it out the window, it at least served as a strange sort of parody of war movies and war-time propaganda, with the smiling faces of the young attractive folks torn to shreds by the bugs, and the constant happy recruitment and gung-ho going on around them....

And then there is Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation. Directed by visual effects genius Phil Tippett, this travesty should have been left as a proposal buried on somebody's desk.

Here's the rub: Take every over-the-top war movie cliche and characterization you can think of, and throw them into a squad pinned down by a nasty evil enemy. Then multiply that by 10. Then introduce some silly and over-the-top effects and try to end the picture on a high note. That's what you get here. A whole lot of bad acting, corny writing, and even more bad acting.

The only high point of the film is a detailed look at Kelly Carlson's anatomy. Yeah, that's about it, really. Guys of the world rejoice.

I imagine the producers and Tippett were going for the same sort of thing that they pulled off with the original film. Unfortunately the whole thing is sorely lacking in combat, as the story turns into a haunted house-style monster movie real quick. There's no tongue-in-cheek parody of the war machine here, just a lot of overplayed cliches. Haven't I said that already? Yeah, I did. Two stars, one for trying and one for Kelly Carlson, whoo!

Here's a trailer. Don't believe what you see here. I think they squeezed every human-vs-bug combat scene into it, and none of the other junk, which makes up most of the film.

Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004) on Spout.com

Originally posted on:War Movie Reviews and News