Change Your Image
banjofred-414-79873
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The General's Daughter (1999)
Intriguing plot with excellent performance by Travolta
After enjoying again seeing Pelham 123, I tried Blow out, which has 7.4 on imdb but deserves 2 at most. I gave him another change with this movie.
Like Bruce Willis (for health/wealth reasons I think), Travolta movies are a mix of the very good and the very bad. This was good
His acting was excellent (don't know if the sweat only on his brow not others and paunch were part of the character, or his state at the time), it has good support from other top actors. The plot was fast moving. Whats not to like? Well the dummy corpse (in end titles) was a bit too overexposed for me, and I was grateful when the white sheet was added. The end titles about what happened made me think is this factual, but surely the US military would not permit such a cover up? Hmm. Well as the gladiator said "Were you not entertained?
AmeriGeddon (2016)
The worst movie ever?
Garbage. What a waste of effort. So half a dozen people on a farm fight the other half a dozen un guys in the movie and free America. Really bad. I thought those WW2 recent efforts at B movies were bad.
Nihon no ichiban nagai hi ketteiban (2015)
Excellent depiction of this eventful day in history
Having seen the original Japans Longest Day, this modern colour update was welcome viewing.
The older movie was more melodramatic, with for example the junior rebels practically exploding in what we in the West would say was overacting, but perhaps this is a tradition of Japanese filmmaking. The latest film follows the same path in a less excited way. Depicting an ancient culture full of ceremony yet capable of producing army officers like Tojo, and th eon guy who suggested millions of kamikaze, it added to my sparse knowledge of the other side previously seen inToraTora Tora and The Emperor..As one who previously had an opinion of Japan only from the book The knights of Bushido by Lord Russell of Liverpool read at age 14, with depictions of horrors, it took Tora Tora Tora and these films to slightly change my opinion. Were the Americans right to drop two bombs. Absolutely! They were also right not to execute the Emperor.
Earth Has Fallen (2021)
dreadful rubbish
Some post apocalyptic moves are good , some very good. Mad Max,waterworld,The Postman, the Book of Eli,and many more. This is tosh. It has no story and just leads you along the path of perhaps a finale, but....
La valla (2020)
Gripping thriller with a very dark theme
I wont spoil the story, but things do move apace in the 13 episodes. I did binge watch so it must have some value. The sentences in English added to the SF weirdness of the piece, as they tried to lipsync and evolved their own grammar. Anyway its worth a watch. Then edn was a little unexpected, and i await an explanation on that.
The Martian (2015)
Ten out of Ten for one of the best movies ever
Perhaps it sno co-inidence that of the few movies I rated ten most were directed by Ridley Scott. Blade runner and Blade Runner 2049 are marvellous. Gladiator is stupendous. Only Coppolas Godfather !! And The Godfather keep up at 10. (add the Bourne movies and thats about it for 10).
To enjoy this in 4K with 7.1 sound through my onkyo box was a very enjoyable experience. Matt Damon was on top from once more.
The red Planet is stunning (Dakar?) The funny bits funny the exciting bits build to a crescendo.
The Pelican Brief (1993)
Disappointing acting
Denzel Washington is usually a guarantee of hours of fun, and you would expect Julia Roberts to perform well. Unfortunately throughout the whole movie she speaks in a soft monotone whisper, and denzel responds by doing similar.
After a while this becomes distracting, and the hope is the bad guys will take her out soon.
As usual with this author the story is great and fast paced. The acting is bad. So for a potential score of 8 , I give 6.
Lonely Are the Brave (1962)
Well written by Dalton Trumbo - well acted by the cast.
On the face of it a very simple story, but its script is excellent. all the way through Kirk Douglas,Walther Matthau and others move the film along in a way that is almost poetic. Black and white enhances it. The pre-Rambo plot is not too violent, and the horse is perhaps the main character. The bar fight with a one armed man is great. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie
Battle of the Bulge: Winter War (2020)
Dreadful B movie rubbish of a major WW2 Event
The 2005 Battle of the Bulge with Robert Shaw,Henry Fonda and other stars was excellent. Whilst the senior offices might have been a tad older than in fact, non were Tom Beringers 70 year old operating from a money saving tent (everything was in the tent), asking for General Omar Bradley saying christian and surname as a history lesson for the viewer. the weather was good considering the reality was in mid winter.Uniofrm facts already covered by other reviewer with more knowledge than I. There have been some great WW2 movies. Patton lust for glory scores 10 for me. It had this battle in it.The Longest Day, whilst a starkest, as was A Bridge too far, was excellent. Even the 1950s Combat black and white movie on this subject was better. All in all this may have provided mister bringers pension, but its not for me.
The Foreigner (2017)
Greatly exceeded my expectations. First Class
I had avoided watching this as I ha slow expectations but it built up all along the way to a final denouement.
Excellent
Banjo
Acts of Desperation (2018)
pathetic rubbish
Has a number o characters sleepwalking through this movie. Impossible to engage with any of them.
Dreadful
Jangsa-ri 9.15 (2019)
Excellent high quality movie depicting a brave young army unit
The first thing I noticed was the sharp high quality filming and good subtitles. Then, drawn into the story, the shock of seeing the Americans/Koreans seining foreword a suicide unit of 773 x 17 year olds into certain death against the North Korean 5th army regulars. The biggest shock apart form the waste was seeing the American govt try to cover up the story as secret intelligence, and the totally evil General officers of South Korea put the blame on the heroic colonel leading the attack, sentencing him to death for losing so many men. With publicity by US female war reporters this was rescinded and after many years he got recognition for his troops. As with the Siege of Jadotville, the men fight and the political seniors blame them. Very good film.
Enemy Lines (2020)
Giving three stars is generous
We can really appreciate Great War films when we compare them with dross like this. Fury is an excellent film about a team of menon a mission.. There are dozens of other good examples, not all high budget. This is wooden actors reading wooden lines. It is simply impossible to car about any of the characters. The little girl is about the best. The marine is dreadful.
The sniper is about 10 feet away and he still wounds his target, so that the wife can then be taken out. A real sniper would have removed the SS guys head.
COBRA (2020)
Dreadful Acting and plastic plot destroys potentially good idea.
The characters are cardboard cutouts, interspersed with Token ethics (as usual since the 1960s). The MI5 woman had possibilities, but her acting was awful. The main rubbish character was the Butcher Blair like Tory Prime Minister who had a choice of two or three expressions and a totally depressed look throughout (he had read the script). The set piece action parts had better characters, with the bearded wonder explain everything as it progressed. The idea that folks would not riot completely was laughable. A few bits of rioting then everyone did as they were
told. The leader of the revolution;utionaries form Sunderland was hardly Che Guevara. They threw all but the kitchen sink at this - Dyke MI5,Black Wonder Woman,That other woman who I kept seeingass the Queen Mother as the
Liithuanian Hit man drug dealer tupped her. Throw in some cuckolding in th middle of the power cuts, a man messing up the petrol refill of a generator and setting fire to the hotel. Interesting that th ePM asnd his Cobra had to chose a part of the country to sacrifice, and picked the North East !!! Overall this was truly awful
Kurier (2019)
A necessary reminder of the way the Poles were treated by the Germans, Russians and British
We had a treaty with Poland, we went to war due to that treaty. We then deserted them due to the agreement with Stalin.
We could at least have supplied some arms ammunition and a little support. The Russians waited outside Warsaw until the Germans killed the poles, then subjected them to decades of subjugation. I visited Gdansk once, the lady on the cheap card table inside the Cathedral collecting small donations for candles said what the germans didn't take, the Russians took. The cathedral was bare.
The reviewer here says why pour salt on old wounds. Never Forgive, Never Forget !! Let others forgive, we must constantly remind the Germans of their actions - not "Nazis" but Germans
The Japanese rewrote history despite the US ruling presence. Dont let Europe forget the Germans evil acts.
an excellent film.
Beyond Valkyrie: Dawn of the 4th Reich (2016)
Dreadful usurping a a great hit movie for usual trash
Whe someone steals a name to make an el cheapo movie to hang on the back of a winner, it usually shows up as poor. this is no exception. Overlong, nice uniforms (inaccurate here and there) some special effects. Awful dont bother, just re-watch one of the many Stellar War movies (Patton,Fury,The Longest Day,Bridge too far,even Where Eagles Dare. All had proper actors, plot acting, not just an attempt at "pace". I score a generous 2 for budget on vehicles, uniforms effects etc.