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  #41  
Old 29th November 2021, 11:50 PM
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That was on BBC1 last weekend. Looked amazing in HD. Managed to actually catch the Valkyries helicopter assault when flicking through channels. I have the Blu but i only watched the dvd earlier in the year so haven't got round to watching it.
Apocalypse Now is a amazing film and one to watch time and time again and never be boring.
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  #42  
Old 30th November 2021, 10:05 AM
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Apocalypse Now is a amazing film and one to watch time and time again and never be boring.
True. This is my third edition of it following the theatrical cut and Redux on dvd and now The Final Cut on Blu.
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  #43  
Old 21st February 2022, 05:40 PM
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The Dirty Dozen. 1967.

A rebellious Sergeant-Major of the U.S. Army is assigned 12 soldiers who are in prison, his job is to train them up for a mission to assassinate German soldiers at a chateau behind enemy lines.

Lee Marvin plays the rebellious Reisman who is assigned former soldiers to lead them into battle on a suicide mission who tests them during basic training with some mild humour added in than can create a small laugh or smirk, as soon as they are dropped behind enemy lines that's when the humour slowly dies and becomes a more serious film.

Charles Bronson, John Cassavetes, Donald Sutherland are easily recognizable in the line up with Jim Brown who retired from his football career during this film or face a fine and suspension when the film went over running schedule. Telly Savalas is another familiar face and can be unpredictable when tormented by a female.

Robert Aldrich was given a decent script and managed to run it into a classic film even though one or two cast members were able to show their displeasure about the direction on the way the film was going and some leading men turned down the film on the violence that was going to added in. Even at the end with the voice narration describing what will happen you can only sit there and cheer the men on, this is what happens when you let prisoners fight the Nazi's.

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Old 25th May 2022, 11:34 AM
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Platoon. 1986.

Chris, a young new recruit is thrown into the frontline of the Vietnam war and sees the brutality of it and conflicts arise between two Sergeants.

This still has to be one of the toughest war movies to sit through and feel the emotion of what had been witnessed by those serving at the time. Charlie Sheen plays the young recruit who feels man enough to sign up and slowly heads down a spiral of a psychological meltdown, and begins to reflect on his time being there.

Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger play the two sergeants Elias and Barnes whom seem to be at logger heads yet they never see eye to eye even on a raid of a village. That can be a bit tough and depressing to view due to the nature of the people in the hut and the senseless killing that ensued and the decisions on how to handle it along with betrayal. Both Berenger and Dafoe received a oscar for their performances and they deserved it the way the made their characters, one a sympathetic leader and the other a cold hearted asshole.

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Old 6th June 2022, 04:43 PM
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McBain. 1991.

Robert McBain a Vietnam Vet, who was rescued by a soldier called Santos, Santos lead a group of people to revolt against the President of Colombia and is killed, his sister tracks Robert down in New York and asks for help.

Christopher Walken leads his group of mercenaries which is his old group of army buddies on a path of revenge and creating a new war. With very little funding they somehow manage to persuade, drug dealers and gangsters for a small donation to their cause, even hanging them from a crane and explaining their new charity donation plea.

Maria Conchita Alonso plays the sister Christina who goes looking for Robert and seems like she guilt ridden's him to help her beloved country and do seem to have the start of some chemistry between them. Steve James, Thomas Waites and Jay Patterson join Walken on the job, they aren't exactly like the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse but certainly do a a lot of shooting and destruction. There is a good bit of laugh and nearly homage to Apocalypse now between Walken and Michael Ironside.

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Old 1st August 2022, 09:22 PM
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Paths Of Glory. 1957.

When a group of soldiers refuse to attack the enemy, they are summoned for a court martial, being accused cowardice, their commanding officer stands to defend them.

Kubrick displays great cinematography in the small but effective small battle sequence, even in the trenches Kirk Douglas slowly walking by his men shows great control when the bombs are going off and doesn't even flinch a muscle. There is a slow opening for about 5-10 minutes long but that does pay off well, this focuses on the French against the Germans in 1916 and shows how ignorant some commanding officers can be with their denial of being shell shocked and fear of loosing the battle.

s-l400.jpg
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  #47  
Old 1st August 2022, 09:42 PM
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Paths Of Glory. 1957.

When a group of soldiers refuse to attack the enemy, they are summoned for a court martial, being accused cowardice, their commanding officer stands to defend them.

Kubrick displays great cinematography in the small but effective small battle sequence, even in the trenches Kirk Douglas slowly walking by his men shows great control when the bombs are going off and doesn't even flinch a muscle. There is a slow opening for about 5-10 minutes long but that does pay off well, this focuses on the French against the Germans in 1916 and shows how ignorant some commanding officers can be with their denial of being shell shocked and fear of loosing the battle.

Attachment 241454
Kubrick's best film in my opinion.
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  #48  
Old 8th November 2022, 09:07 PM
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Hell Is for Heroes (1962)

Clint Eastwood's go-to director Don Siegel made this classic well liked war film starring an over intense Steve McQueen, Bobby Darrin and James Coburn as part of a small unit of US soldiers who have to con a nearby German garrison into thinking they hold the whole area rather than just being a few men, until reinforcements arrive.

For a war film this is more character study than action packed spectacle. There are no German soldiers in it other than extras to shoot at so it never feels exciting or indeed tense in the threat department and whilst the various characters of the US company are interesting they certainly aren't The Dirty Dozen.

There's some good black and white photography going on but overall this always feels uninvolving and lacking in substance when compared to many other men on a mission / backs to the wall films.

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  #49  
Old 15th November 2022, 07:51 PM
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Mosquito Squadron (1969)

David McCallum stars as an RAF pilot of a Mosquito light bombing aircraft alongside a bunch of familiar faces from British tv and film of the time, plus Charles Gray.

McCallum's pilot must comfort the widow of his superior believed killed in their last raid over occupied territory however when it comes to light their next mission is to be a raid on a French chateau which is host to the Nazis V3 weapon things turn complicated as the chateau is also a POW camp to a group of RAF prisoners including the once thought dead officer.

In a way it's a bit derivative borrowing much from superior films like 633 Squadron (1964) and especially The Dam Busters (1955) but Mosquito Squadron is short enough and pacy enough to hold the attention with some impressive flying sequences and most notably the genuinely thrilling final reels featuring the raid on the chateau.
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Old 15th November 2022, 08:07 PM
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The Counterfeiters (2007)

The story of the Operation Bernhard, the largest counterfeiting operation in history, carried out by Germany during WWII using skilled concentration camp prisoners, mainly Jews, to carry it out. The film is seen through the eyes of Salomon (Sally) Sorowitsch - an excellent performance by Karl Markovics.

The forgers are given special privileges such as clean clothes and beds, cigarettes and food whilst their compatriots rot (and worse) next door. The Nazi brutality isn't to the fore as much as say it is in Schindler's List (1993) but the excellent screen play shows the struggle the prisoners have surrounding collaboration with the Nazis.

The film is based on the memoir of Adolf Burger a prisoner who attempted to sabotage the operation of flooding the British and American economies so much as to destabilise them.

The Counterfeiters is a genuinely excellent film but not the sort of thing you'd perhaps return to every couple of years. Last night was my second viewing in fifteen years of owning the dvd.
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