Change Your Image
CmdrCody
Reviews
Paris brûle-t-il ? (1966)
One of the great movies about World War 2
Sure...it's a long film but the story takes time to tell it right.
The movie, shot in black and white, allows use of real film footage of the battle to be interspersed within the narrative.
I love the realism of the military equipment. The "German" tanks are a fair replica of Panthers. Where did the studio get so many authentic Shermans, M-2 scout cars, jeeps and half tracks to show the French 2nd Armored Division on the move? Terrific stuff.
The musical soundtrack is just great. The orchestration starts bombastically for the German side and quietly for the French. Gradually, as the narrative progresses, the French themes build to a crescendo as victory becomes a reality and the city is saved.
As an earlier poster mentioned, much of the French scenes early on in the picture depicting political struggles among the major characters is lost on many American viewers. It is an interesting historic chapter to read about independently and the movie covers this enough for non-French to follow the general issues.
The City itself is the main attraction. How did they clear the streets for the battle scenes ?
One last comment about a favorite scene in the movie. It's the one where a French couple in their storefront in the Normandy town outside Paris see an armored column of tanks and half tracks on their street and shout "...it's the Americans, the Americans !" The storekeeper ventures out halfway in the street to where the armored units are streaming by, turns and runs back to his wife and proclaims "...no...THEY'RE FRENCH !" His wife swoons emotionally at the news, "they're French. They're French !" A nifty moment.
Another great scene is when the German engineering troops are placing explosives at Napoleon's Tomb. The German officer reviews the inscription of Napoleon's victories embedded in the floor until he reads "Moscow." The background music underscores perfectly the irony of the moment.
I think the film is right up there with other war classics like The Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far. One of my favorites.
Hunter Killer (2018)
Too bad that a real submarine veteran didn't help with the screenplay
A lot of effort was put into the essential elements of this military thriller: the underwater effects, the sub bridge, and set design. The plot has potential.
What "sinks" this Navy movie is the poorly written dialogue. Compare what the characters say and do in this film with similar scenes in "Red October," "Crimson Tide" and "The Peacemaker." It's a pity that some ex-Navy or retired military people were not consulted to make the actors interplay authentic.
The movie characters are simply not believable.
Vanishing Point (1971)
Part of a great double-feature at the drive-in
Every once in awhile, the Aut-O-Rama Drive In theater in North Ridgeville, Ohio plays a great double feature on Retro Tuesday:
"Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" and "Vanishing Point."
The twin screens are visible from the Ohio Turnpike as the traffic blasts by. The last time I was there a few years ago to catch both movies up there from my car, I was transported back to when I was 17 and "gettin' lucky" in the front seat for the first time. Of course, we couldn't see the movie much back then 'cause we were steaming up the windows.
Prisoner X (2016)
A nifty sci-fi movie, a unknown gem, give it a watch
A lesser-known movie with unknown actors but the premise really put the hook in me. After watching the movie for five minutes, I was thinking...wow...where is this going? I won't get into the plot except to say that after watching and thinking about the film, I began to appreciate the little bits of logic interwoven into the narrative. There are things left unexplained including the implications of the ending, but the screenwriter leaves that up to you.
I haven't told you much about the plot to let you experience it as I did: no prior information. If like well-written sci-fi, give PrisonerX a watch.
Obviously, I enjoyed it.
Ronin (1998)
Chemistry
Ronin has it all: great shootouts, car chases, suspense...even a MacGuffin, but the French retired spy, Jean-Pierre, describes the point of the movie: the intense fellowship of those in The Trade: The Warrior Code. The great script takes a host of unaffiliated mercs thrown together to accomplish one job. Over the course of the narrative, intense chemistry is kindled between several of the characters with a minimum of dialogue. The interactions of Sam and Deidre, Sam and Vincent, Vincent and Jean-Pierre and Sam with the retired French spy are the best parts of the movie.
I understand that the great David Mamet was a "script doctor" to the film. His contribution is felt throughout the movie.
I watch Ronin once a year or so to relive the movie craftsmanship, the spare dialogue of the screenplay and the interplay between the great actors appearing in the film. I like the ending, too.
The Big Lift (1950)
Realistic, gritty and sad.
The movie, "The Big Lift," starring Montgomery Clift as Flight Engineer Danny MacCullough, represents a time machine back into the beginnings of the Cold War. It's shot in gritty black and white by director George Seaton to enhance the images of life among the ruins of post WWII Berlin. It's also a very nice slice of Air Force flying in the early 50's and as a professional pilot, I can say that the flying sequences showing the C-54 cockpit are quite realistic. In one scene, Clift runs cockpit checklists for the pilots who are flying that are completely authentic. There is also a nice description of how GCA approach control works, which still exists as a backup at todays airports.
Some claim that Paul Douglas' character, "Kowalski," isn't believable as an anti-German bigot, but I thought he was "spot-on." There are men in their 80's today who still feel the same way.
German actor O.E. Hasse portrays "Stieber, the Scrounger." He's a bit of comic relief as a spy for the Russians, watching Templehof field, counting the Allied aircraft as they land. He says that he has to lessen the count so that the Russians will believe him. Look for Hasse in another excellent war picture, "Decision Before Dawn", where he plays Wehrmacht Colonel Von Ecker of the XI Panzer Corps, deployed east of the Rhine to counter the American Seventh Army during the closing months of the war. Also like "The Big Lift," this movie was shot amongst the ruins of Germany and used real Army personnel on screen.
"Decision Before Dawn," "Battleground," "The Best Years of Our Lives" and "The Big Lift" are four b+w movies made in this era which attempted to get a real taste for the movie goer of what the men experienced during World War II and the period just after. All four are favorites of mine and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Thank you for reading my comments.