An Inglorious Review

Set in World War II,  inglorious bastards tells the epic story of Lt. Aldo Raine as he leads his brigade of  Jewish-American soldiers into the depths of France that has been invaded by nazi soldiers. From the start, their objective is clear: they must target and destroy the nazis. They are soon known and feared by all the Enemy armies . Meanwhile, Shosanna runs a cinema and by chance is selected to show a propaganda film. Every German authority figure is to be at the showing so it seems to be the ideal opportunity for Lt. Raine and his men to attack. Shosanna, who is Jewish and whose parents and siblings were killed before her eyes, also has her own plans for the evening's festivities. Shosanna, a Jewish woman, soon discovers the man who killed her family, Colonel Hans Landa, would be attending the showing of the film and plans an attack of her own.

This may be my favorite movie I've watched yet this year! I wasn't looking foreword to it at first and put it off until Sunday night but when I was finally sat down to view it was was immediately enthralled in the plot. I've always had a fascination with WWII and this film captivated me and had me on the edge of my seat throughout! I rate it a solid 4.25 scalps.

Platoon

Platoon follows the experience of Christ Taylor, a college dropout who volunteered for the war in Vietnam.  The movie shows his experience and that of his platoon, including the harsh conditions and the disagreements between Elias and Barnes (which eventually leads to the death of both).  This film does a great job in illustrating what the Vietnam experience really was for the soldiers.  It showed the physical pain through the long hot marches through  the jungle.  But is also showed the emotional and inner distress experienced by every soldier.  It showed the fear and mental breakdown due to the stress of the war.  It showed how Vietnam changes people, how nice people break down.  While the battle is defiantly a theme in this, because it is a war movie, I think that the most prevalent theme is man vs. himself.  Every man struggles with himself in the movie, and it shows itself in many ways.  The merciless slaughter and rape of accused Vietcong, the fleeing and cowardice during the last battle, even the killing of one's own ally.  While this film is extremely accurate, I feel like its the same thing for two hours and I lost interest eventually. I give this film a 3 out of 5.

Platoon

    Platoon is a movie of a soldier, Chris Taylor, who dropped out of college to fight in the Vietnam War only to find out that it is nothing like he expected it to be.  The movie shows much of the experiences of Vietnam from the gruesome combat to the tension within the platoon.  It does this well through its development of characters.  It shows the violence and atrocity of the war, much through the actions of Sgt. Barnes.  Barnes in many ways embodies what many people hated about the Vietnam.  He gives orders and never listens to anyone but himself.  He shoots an old woman for not being quiet and nearly shoots a little girl to get a guy to talk before Sgt. Elias stops him.   Though these things did happen, how the movie portrays it makes the audience hate Barnes.  This is intensified immensely when Barnes shoots Elias and leaves him in the forest.  One thing that this movie showed that others about Vietnam I have seen did not is how bad the relationships between the soldiers could get, even bad enough for them to kill one another.  This, overall, is probably the best movie about Vietnam that I have seen.
     Of the ten movie themes, this one contains battle, man vs. himself, and, to an extent, good vs. evil.  It contains battle because it is a war movie and is centered around fighting.  It has man vs. himself because Taylor is fighting inside his head about the reality of the war and what he thought back in America.  His opinion has changed almost since the second he got there and he is also driven to do brutal things, such as taunting a Vietnamese man at gunpoint and killing Barnes.  This movie shows good vs. evil in the fact through Barnes.  Taylor and others hate Barnes and his cruelty.  They are constantly at odds with hm throughout the movie.  This finally ends when Taylor is alone with Barnes and wants payback for all the he has done, especially killing(or at least trying to kill), Elias.  Overall, I would give this movie a four out of five. 

Savin Privat Rya

Ill start with my rating: 4.78. I was amazing. If it had not been for two whole scenes that this high quality rental DVD made me skip that 4.78 would most likely be a 5.
This movie was amazing. After seeing all the aspects that go into just the sound of a movie; I was amazed at the foley effects. At random moments during the movie I would do my own test of wether a certain sound of footsteps or a pencil hitting the floor were made, and they were. After seeing this amazing use of foley I literally spent a solid two hours looking up more and more aspects and facts about this art. This movie in particular has so many working parts and reloading sounds that are key to the film, and they nailed it.
The story line was great. I loved how they tied the very beginning to the very end; because I had completely forgot about it until I was shocked back into reality by the man standing in the military cemetery. This tie in along with the opening scene at Normandy were beautifully and horrifically woven into what is "Saving Private Ryan".

Saving Private Ryan

Well done.... well done. It was just as good as I thought it would be and how people said it would be. One of my favorite things about this movie is how they really try to put the viewer in it. Especially with the use of the camera, mainly at the beginning of the movie. One of the things that always gets to me is when the camera goes underwater and they subdue the noise. I honestly feel like im underwater and my head is always pounding.
Another idea they used in the movie which pissed me off (but a good thing) was that we (the viewers) had to wait with the soldiers for the Germans to get to the town at the end of the movie. I was really starting to become impatient BUT HEY, that's war and you gotta do what you gotta do.
Another thing that pissed me off WAS THAT STUPID, CHILDISH, SOFT, GERMAN SPEAKING, TYPEWRITING CORPORAL. I really wanted him to die, when he didn't save the dude that got stabbed that was my last straw with him. Even though i would be the same way I still hate him. SUCH A CHICKEN.
4.5 out of 5 ryans 

Just watch it... Seriously... Right now: A review of "Black Hawk Down" by Sam Hayes

The most accurate description of this movie I can think of would be a roller coaster that starts by going straight up for about a thousand feet, then just drops for the rest of the movie. This isn't to say that it's bad, but emotionally that's how it goes.
The reason for that description is because in the beginning, you are treated to getting to know all the soldiers you will follow on the raid of the Bakara market. You see all these different men (who were of course, real people) who come from different cities and different states, who all have their own personalities. In this first segment of the film, you really learn to love these characters and develop an attachment to all of them (which is a terrible thing to do if you get emotional in films). Soon enough you see the briefing on the raid of the Bakara market in which lies a key player in the warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's organization whom the rangers are sent to capture. This is where the downhill begins. From the very beginning, one can see the whole plan go wrong as the Somalian rebels are much more populous and dangerous than previously thought to be and succeed in taking down not one, but two Black Hawk helicopters. This leads to a supposed 30 minute raid turning into an over-night gunfight as the rangers must rescue the pilots of the choppers and get out of the market.
The whole movie really captures the terror and frenzy of war as you see basically anything and everything happen to the rangers. From men taking bullets, losing hands, and even being blown in half. The tension is built a record high as every time a ranger crosses a street, or peeks out of a corner, you always fear for them since you can never be certain of who will die and who will survive. Seriously though, I can't do justice to the emotions one would feel while watching this. There are so many heartbreaking moments such as when the pilot of the second crashed chopper sees his comrades die and pulls out a picture of his wife and child, or when Jamie Smith bleeds out after getting shot in his femoral artery only asking that the other soldiers tell his parents that he fought well. There were many aggravating moments too, like when the general denies requests at inopportune times, when Nelson goes deaf after specifically telling Twombly not to fire his gun next to his head, or when the U.N. convoy moves too fast for the soldiers on foot at the end and do not stick around to help fend off some final shots from Somali terrorists.
The end scenes are very fitting, because although the images on screen are of others celebrating the return of the rangers, there is still melancholy music to display the grief felt by all the men that they lost anyone that day.
Black Hawk Down gets 4.7 out of 5 stars because of all the emotion it makes one feel and how it immortalizes such a tragedy. However, it does lose a few points because as i discovered later, it's not entirely historically accurate as the Somali rebels do not resemble actual men from the Horn of Africa and their dialect is completely wrong. There were also many scenes that were cut as they showed tough decisions for the rangers that some deemed inappropriate.

Chi Bi: Jue Zhan Tian XIa (赤壁：决战天下）

Chi Bi: Jue Zhan Tian Xia

赤壁：决战天下

  This is a war movie about the history of China. This is an actual war took in place in A.D. 285, when Cao Cao wants to unify China, but Zhou Yu and Liu Bei do not want him to do so, the two of them become allies. Since Cao cao has around 10 million armies, Liu and Zhou together has approximately 1 million, they wants to decide a safe way to win this war. But, on the allies’ side, they have Kong Ming whom is an excellent militarist and knows a lot about weather and geography as well.

  So, when Liu and Zhou are short of arrows, Kong Ming arranges 20 boats that are covered with high-density of straws’ secretly sails into Cao Cao’s area, so that due to the huge fog that night, his people could not tell if it’s real men or not, so all the arrows that they shoot are stack on the straws’ and happily, Liu and Zhou have enough arrows to fight.

  Then, the evening before the battle starts, Xiao Qiao who is Zhou Lang’s wife hears that the direction of the wind will not change till 1:00 a.m. in the morning, she decides to go “visit” Cao cao in order to keep him till the time. Because if the wind does not change toward east, the idea of lighting up Cao cao’s boats will fail, Zhou and Liu will lose. Xiao Qiao does this is all because she believes in her husband that he will win this battle and come save her and she loves her people so she does not want Cao cao to rule them.

  As the battle ends, the last word that Zhou Lang said to Cao cao is: ”We all lose.” Because both sides have lost so much and suffer a lot since the preparation of the war, and this war neither side is right. They are all doing what they think is the right thing to do. Cao cao is been told to win this war by his emperor, Zhou lang and Liu Bei simply wants to keep their place without been taken. So, none of them are right or wrong.

  This movie reflects the true story of that time. Overall 5/5

Rambo: First Blood Part II

Pretty sure everyone knows I like Rambo. But to my dismay I have never seen any of the sequels. So today I decided to watch Rambo: First Blood Part II. This movie takes place after the events of the first movie when Rambo is in prison. His old commander, Colonel Trautman, orders him out of prison in order to rescue old POW's in Vietnam. It shows Rambo's journey back through Vietnam, his memories and nightmares of the past, and his struggle to get out alive.

This movie focuses on the Good vs. Evil theme. Rambo is trying to free POW's from captivity, showing a good quality in him. It also shows a Man vs. Himself theme, as Rambo tries to stay alive amidst his painful experiences and memories of Vietnam.

I would give this movie a 3.5/5. It is a great movie, but I don't think it is a good as the original. I liked the change of scenery and I like how they put Rambo out of prison and into Vietnam. Definitely another classic 80's movie and another great addition to the series.

JAR HEAD

Trevor Kirbabas

War moive

Jarhead is based on the experiences of one Marine named Anthony Swofford (played by Jake Gyllenhaal here), who wrote the book on which the movie is based. Surely Swofford's path of frustrated inactivity wasn't shared by all the soldiers of the Gulf War. And it's also not reflective of the current situation in Iraq. Yet, the dramatization seems justifiable in how it gives light to the possibilities of these new mutations of war. And despite its differences in outward appearance, there's still a common experience to be shared -- the veteran of a war will always witness a horror the regular civilian can never fully understand, even when the horror takes the form of sitting around, waiting, wondering, and slowly losing a grip on the stability of one's fate.

Jarhead is bookended with a pronouncement from Swofford about how a soldier will always be a soldier, even after he returns to civilian life, just as long as he's had the training and has felt the reality of a war. But there's a strange, detectable resentment here to the level of his scarring -- in that he hadn't been scarred enough to feel the residual effects of the military life that he feels. It's almost as if the horror wasn't horrible enough, and yet the events that he did go through have certainly affected him. It places him in a limbo, caught between being primed and nurtured for an experience he didn't have and the awkward, directionless, unrewarding experience he did have.

Director Sam Mendes might be accused here of not being subtle enough in presenting Jarhead's themes -- a lot of what happens here is met with how strange things are, and how nothing is turning out as a soldier would hope for (the use of voice-over, for instance, is evidence of this). Yet he makes up for it in the movie's feel of aimlessness and in how visually surreal it is. This is a movie about disillusioned fascination, and it looks the part with its stark desert scenes and with Gyllenhaal's glazed-over expressions. His face isn't saying war is hell -- it's saying war isn't everything it's cracked up to be.

4.2/5 stars 

The Pianist

The Pianist

Directed by Roman Polanski

Review by Aurora, Wang Yi

            This film is the only film let me lose my courage to watch twice. It is too heavy.

            Couple years age, Steven Spielberg gave the scenario of Schindler's List to Roman Polanski, but Roman Polanski refused to direct, because this part of history was too heavy for him. He can't bear to think of the past.

            Couple years later, Roman Polanski chose the fiction of The Pianist and show us in a film, because he found a power, which can let him and all of us walk out suffering. This power is not only for survive.

            In the film, we know the best pianist in Portland. He has not got any choice to be a suffer under atrocity of Nazi, because he is a Jew. He does not know why there is the war. He does not understand why the people kill others like they dust their coat.

            Then he meets a German officer in a broken house. The officer’s face can be the best represent of Nazi. The pianist’s untidy face can be the best proof of deprecation of Jews from Nazi.   The officer knows the Jew is a pianist and let him play the piano. For this music of piano, God saves pianist’s life and officer’s soul. The pianist is alive by officer’s food and coat; the officer gets the gratitude and pardon from others.

            We can say this film describe suffering on humanity rather than WWII. It is not a problem on whether WWII is the biggest suffering or whether Nazi is the darkness part of humanity. When we face the suffering, we like the people under suffering have no choices.

            The power of music is the exit of soul to let people have peace.

Apocalypse Now Review

My life will never be the same after seeing this movie. I feel as if it showed me things that I should not have. I'm actually sick to my stomach writing this. This movie is not for the faint of heart, and most likely not those with good constitution too. It's not a gung-ho, hooray America movie. It makes Saving Private Ryan look like child's play. The amount of violence, torture, and gruesome scenes shocked me worse than any scene in a movie I had ever seen. It didn't help that I had no idea who the good guys were. The movie uses characters that you can't root for, and yet cannot abandon either. Martin Sheen plays the title character who takes us on a mind bending journey into Vietnam to kill a madman. I don't want to spoil anything else from there. This movie is a trip. With an amazing score and a soundtrack that is killer you get sucked into the movie. It dunks you straight into Vietnam and you don't leave until its over. Hell, I'm still there. Sweeping scenes on napalm hitting the jungle to bodies hanging from ropes make you feel the terror and sickness. The contrast of the soldier's attitudes and ideas of war versus what the reality of it is, is enough to make you want to lie down for a bit. To be honest, my brain is a little scrambled, between the gore, violence, and philosophy it makes me want to cry out "The horror...the horror". Unless you're looking for a two and a half hour movie to wade through in the depths of your mind, this movie is not for you. In fact, I don't know if it was for me. But it was good. So good. It makes you appreciate it even more if you go to IMDB and read the trivia section about all the trials and tribulations this movie had. Even the production itself was rocky. A Vietnam in itself you might say. For example, extraneous noises made it impossible to use the audio in some shots (like from helicopters) and actors then had to voice over later in a studio. I can't comprehend watching the Redux version as this movie. More of this movie would make my brain melt. I feel like I just took a philosophy class for a whole day. Anyway, I'm rambling more than Brando, I give this movie Five out of Five Napalms in the Morning.
Sidenote: This movie is Man versus Himself. All over the place. Every character versus himself.

Saving Private Ryan

     Set in the middle of WWII with an unforgettable opening scene of the landing at Normandy, the first five minutes of Saving Private Ryan acts as a spoiler alert for the rest of the movie: it's awesome. The mission of Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and his soldiers is simple: rescue Private Ryan (Matt Damon) from the battlefront and return him home safely in order to spare his mother the consecutive loss of her fourth son, Private James Ryan. What proves to not be quite so simple is the journey and trials the soldiers encounter along the way to save Private Ryan, including the loss of a beloved Captain Miller at the very end of the film, proving there is no greater sacrifice than to lay down one's life for a friend.
     Obviously I love this film, the acting, the plot, and the picture is all so well done, you'd hardly believe it was a 90's film. Tom Hanks is probably one of my favorite actors to date (just behind Michael C. Hall and Robin Williams) because he has such a fatherly warmth to every single character he delves into and it is especially present in his role of Captain Miller. I also love the role of Private James Ryan because again it was so well done. Sure this may seem like an easy surface role to play, but in reality Damon said it was one of the hardest roles he has encountered. Why? I read an article on the interwebs somewhere that the entire cast of soldiers were put through a hellish boot-camp prior to filming in order to get into shape and truly experience first-hand the depth of the roles they play, that is all except Damon. Damon was excused from the camp because director Steven Spielberg wanted to set up a sort of animosity between the soldiers and Ryan as they would have in the film itself. Damon struggled because he so badly wanted to be in oain with the men, but had to refrain because the story isn't about him, it is about the men who risked their lives to save his: a symbol for war itself.
     I love this film so much I'm feeling a 4.75 out of 5 Tom Hanks' mustaches.

Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan certainly grabbed my attention. So much so that even when I was having audio issues, I kept watching for half an hour without sound. After the issue was addressed, I went back and watched it again. After having just seen the footage, I thought I’d probably want to fast forward. Now, audio is a large part of the movie, yes, but both times the movie held my attention, and the added experience of audio only made it more powerful. This was just the beginning.

Immediately, we are introduced to a battle that’s present the entire movie. It’s a fairly standard approach to war, making the viewers cheer for one side, while the other side, in a sense, is exaggerated to evil. Before the main plot driver is introduced, we are given a look at a team that we grow to love throughout the movie.

Another morally conflicting theme is brought to the team when they are sent to deliver news to a Private Ryan that all of his brothers are dead, and it is time for him to return home. Many members of the team that we as audience members love do not make it to see the Private’s face. It is a brutal path to Ryan, and while the war can bring out the best in people, it also brings out the worst. It creates an interesting ideology to see how different characters react differently under pressure. Some people are driven to a near insanity. They stray to lengths of betrayal once violence is all they know. Uppam is a very interesting character we are introduced to. His highlight of his character is his rationality, and he helps save the team, but his rationality clouds his vision of war and the death surrounding him, and indirectly lets his fellow men die. At the end, we see him overcome the barrier his rationality brought him, without losing his personality and ability to look at things from a clear perspective.

Ryan’s character is being developed from the start. Under the same idea of man vs. himself, Ryan fights for the men around him that he loves, but is introduced to a major dilemma. He does not want to leave the side of his fellow teammates who are given the duty of protecting one of the two remaining bridges, but then realizes that not only his brothers died, but men died searching for Ryan himself. It is a lot to process, but Ryan ultimately chooses to stay despite the risks. When we realize that Ryan is shown at the beginning and end in old age, we see that he carries the deaths of Captain Miller and his team upon his shoulders while returning home to a family that has already been broken beyond repair.

The emotional aspects of Saving Private Ryan add an entirely new element to a story that portrays war in its most chaotic element. It is a film that takes away the characters we have grown attached to, while relating it to the people who have truly lost loved ones at the hands of war. A character that we could hold responsible for the death of characters that we held dear becomes the remaining element of the love that was developed in our hearts from the beginning of the story. It was truly brilliant. I am giving this a well deserved 4.5/5 congressional medals of honor.

Brave Heart

“Brave Heart” is a Mel Gibson’s movie, which basically tells how William Wallace, a valorous Scottish warrior carried his homeland to fight against the English back to the fourteenth century.  It conveys the idea of patriotism, love and freedom to the audience smoothly.

This war movie features some of the most eye-catching combat in years, and the massive use of the violence is part of the thrill.  Mel Gibson turns war into brutal epic spectacle. 

Surprisingly, the portrayal of William Wallace is successful, who comes off as such an awesome invincible hero.  Also, the film is highly effective at making the English seem so overwhelmingly evil that I was about to rush and tear up the screen. Patrick McGoohan, who plays King Edward, did a fantastic job in making the character so real and wicked.

“Brave Heart” shows us that it is not your family background or birthright that makes who are, but the way you live your life.  Even though the use of ferocity might be inappropriate for some audiences, it does not affect the fact that it is an excellent movie.