ScapegoatsOfTheEmpire Reviews

Operation Finale (2018)

Fanciful Story About Eichmann

[1/10 · 5 December 2018]

This has to be one of the worse movies I have ever watched. Based on a true story, does NOT men this movie is an accurate presentation about Eichmann. On the contrary, this movie is about 90% fiction. Earlier movies, even TV movies about Eichmann I found to be more accurate. How disappointing I am with this movie. I had expected this movie to be more accurate. I hope those who saw this piece of junk do not believe this to be the true story of how Eichmann was captured and brought to justice. Even Peter Malkin (only what he was allowed to reveal) tells the remarkable story of how Mossad captured Adolf Eichmann, and is far more interesting than this piece of garbage.

Anthropoid (2016)

Action deemed worthwhile

[9/10 · 5 September 2016]

For those of you who do not know their European World War ll history, Schutzstaffel Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich was the third most powerful man in Nazi Germany (he had files on everyone and would resort to blackmail to achieve his aims) and was Hitler's Hangman. Hitler appointed him acting Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, replacing Neurath in September 1941, because Adolf Hitler agreed with Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich that Neurath's easy rule of the Czechs encouraged anti-German sentiment and resistance. Reinhard Heydrich was a ruthless administrator. The Czech government-in-exile under Edvard Benes, decided to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, regardless of Nazi reprisals, to encourage Czech resistance. Benes believed the assassination of General Reinhard Heydrich (code named Operation Anthropoid), would demonstrate to senior Nazis that they were vulnerable to allied forces and resistance groups. ANTHROPOID shows the assassination and the aftermath, the horrific reprisals Nazis inflicted on the Czechs and Lidice. It demonstrates very well how Nazis loved to show the world their complete disdain for human life, whether handicapped, child, woman, or man. ANTHROPOID is very well scripted, directed, and acted; filmed in actual locations where the events occurred lends authenticity to this story. The movie is brilliantly filmed in what I call sepia color, for lack of a better description. This is a movie everyone should see. Another movie about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich is set to be released shortly called HHH based on the Laurent Binet 2010 Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman prize winning novel, HHH (2010)

White House Down (2013)

Dumb Bubble Gum Mess

[1/10 · 22 March 2014]

Anyone who gives this movie high marks, in my opinion, has a very low standard for good quality entertainment. This movie was very poorly plotted and scripted; and the actors forgot their job, which is to act. To me, it was just a movie with explosions, with no realism in the fights. The weapons Marines used to fight Moros in the Phillipine- American War in 1911 could not stop the Moros, who were high on morale and even higher on drugs. The caliber .45, M1911A1 was designed by John Browning to stop the Moros at the request of the U.S. Marine Corps, who was doing the fighting there, and the guns did the job very well. Any man hit with 45 caliber will go down; the bullet will not be stopped by a pocket watch. A .38 can be stopped by a pocket watch, because it just does not have the stopping power, which explains why the M1911A1, with design changes, has returned to the military, especially U.S. Marine Corps. The general in the movie does not even know how to salute. I was disenchanted within the first 15 minutes; I stuck through it, just to see how bad this movie was. I give it the same marks as, "The Siege," which was just as bad. Martial Law was ruled unconstitutional by U.S. Supreme Court in the post-Civil Ex parte Milligan Case. This movie just reeks of stupidity, lazy writing, poorly plotted, bad acting, no research, and no direction by Roland Emmerich, just as some of his other bad movies show, which is a majority. If I could post, "0," I would.

The Counselor (2013)

Very bad Cormac McCathy

[1/10 · 28 October 2013]

What would you expect from scriptwriter Cormac McCarthy, director Ridley Scott, and actor Javier Bardem? At a minimum I would expect an excellent movie. This movie has an excellent pedigree in the scriptwriter, all actors, and director; however, the movie makes no sense. Neither the plot nor the characters are explained and are very poorly developed: we as an audience have no understanding of who the characters are and why they do what they do. At the end of the movie, we would expect an explanation, but there is nothing to explain what we have just seen--just lots of questions with no answers. It seems, the movie is about a drug deal gone south, but you have no idea who masterminded the deal, who plotted the drug deal heist, or why all of this was done. This has to be the worst movie that I have ever seen. What a disappointment! What a waste of talent!! What a waste of my valuable time!!!

The Watch (I) (2012)

Neighborhood watch patrol fiasco

[2/10 · 29 April 2013]

This has to be one of the worst movies that I have ever seen; it is better than, 'Plan 9 From Outer Space,' but that does not say much. There is a lot of talent in this movie, but was wasted. The acting is atrocious, the script unbelievably bad, and the direction non-existent. This is a movie that never knew what type movie it was supposed to be. The main problem was, in my opinion, there were 3 scriptwriters and they did not know what to write. The scriptwriters had no idea what they wrote: a comedy, a horror movie, a science fiction movie, or a social drama. If they had concentrated on one genre, they might have had a success, but I doubt it; since they did not, they had a flop. A real stinker, thankfully, there will not be a sequel.

Hell and Back Again (2011)

Marine rehabbed from Afghanistan war wound

[5/10 · 2 February 2013]

This documentary was pretty good. As a 100% disabled Vietnam Marine, I found the story before his wound and his rehab at home very interesting. What I do not understand is how they could have committed such an egregious error of saying, '...the medics could not save the Marine.' To be glib, the medics could not save the Marine, as there are no medics in the Marine Corps; US Marines are provided Navy Corpsman, established by US Congress in 1898. Other than this error, this is a fairly interesting documentary. I enjoyed his rehab at home very much; I found it to be very telling about the effects of war. Hopefully, they will edit better in the future.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Does Not Rate the Hype It Has Received

[5/10 · 23 January 2013]

After seeing the OBL movie that National Geographic hyped (and was extremely poor) I had hoped this would be much better. I was wrong. Yes, more money was spent on this movie, with better actors, director, script (?), editing, etc.; however, the movie is nowhere near as factual as claimed. Wrong equipment, adding characters, fattening the story with trivial embellishment, creating situations that never happened, changing the story to what they want it to be, just ruined this movie. OBL was taken to a carrier in the Arabian Sea, proved to be OBL, then he was buried in the Arabian Sea. There is more inventive people and scenes in this movie; however, over time, it has proved to be more accurate than the other movie. Yes, it is better.

Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden (2012 TV Movie)

The story of how Seal Team 6 kills Osama Bin Laden

[1/10 · 5 November 2012]

This was a movie I wanted to see based on the hype from NatGeo. This could have been a terrific movie if properly developed, because all the elements are here: how the CIA found Osama Bin Laden, how Seal Team 6 trained for the mission, how Seal Team 6 killed Osama Bin Laden, and the aftermath of Osama's death on the aircraft carrier. Unfortunately, none of this was done; instead, the producers decided to dramatize the killing of Osama Bin Laden and Seal Team 6's involvement in the typical 1940-1950's style. Instead of sticking to the facts of Osama's killing, the producers dramatized his death and the role of Seal Team 6. This movie seems to have been developed way before the news media released all the information they could gather about the killing of Osama Bin Laden and Seal Team 6's involvement. Almost everything has been dramatized to the detriment of the real story. This movie has more fiction than a novel. The movie has the feel of a Roger Corman quickie: bad script, mostly unknown actors, poorly directed, and acted. It was put together way too fast. It is a shame that Bob and Harvey Weinstein are associated with this dreadful movie. At the end, the movie is dedicated to the armed forces and intelligence community for what they do on a daily basis to keep us free. As a veteran, I am insulted with this trash. This movie deserves a turkey rating. Another problem was the way National Geographic presented the movie: way too many commercial breaks with way too many commercials. This movie should have been shown commercial free.

Bloodknot (1995 TV Movie)

Poor story of US Marines

[1/10 · 19 October 2012]

This deserves a 'Turkey' rating! A news reporter said 8 US soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash in Saudi Arabia and the US Army would issue a report on the crash while showing one of the soldiers killed at a US Marine funeral with an honor guard. This honor guard does not have a proper gig line, and can not march. A US Marine is not a soldier, and would take offense if called 'soldier.' The further you get into the movie the more ridiculous this movie is. The screenplay is lousy, the acting poor, and the direction non-existent. Even the few TV stars can not save this movie. Low budget does not explain why this movie is so poor. No research is evident everywhere. I found it hard to accept Kate Vernon wearing a BAM uniform, that does not look USMC issue, with SGT stripes literally falling off her shoulder! This movie reveals itself as being a Canadian production, not an American production: police uniforms, EMS uniforms, Canadian beer, and Canadian scenery are just a few giveaways. Avoid this movie at all costs.

Breaker Morant (1980)

Wonderful Story of MilitaryJjustice

[10/10 · 27 August 2012]

This is an excellent film about military justice. Born in London, England, Harry Morant, called Breaker by Australians for his uncanny ability to break any horse, immigrated to Australia in the later part of the 19th century. Both British colonies, Australia and New Zealand, fought for the British against the Boers in the Second Boer War. Breaker Morant is now a legend in Australia. This movie is well directed by Bruce Beresford; and Edward Woodard was excellent in his portrayal of Breaker Morant, just as Bryan Brown was excellent as his friend, Lieutenant Peter Handcock. Both Lieutenant Morant and Lieutenant Handcock were executed after a court martial for killing Boer prisoners- of-war February 1902. This film is the most honored film in Australian film history, earning 10 Australian Film Institute awards in 1980. This movie is well scripted, acted, and directed, with excellent photography. I found the movie to be gripping as it presented the court martial with evidence for and against the accused. At the end, it is you the viewer who must decide if military justice is fair or unfair. This is one (1) of my all time favorite movies.

Homeland (2011–2020)

Manchurian Candidate Re-worked Yet Again

[3 October 2011]

Damian Lewis is a fine actor and so is Mandy Patinkin, but this terrorist/suspense movie is ridiculous. The USMC uniform is incorrect; you are not covered when you meet the Vice President of the US? You do not salute your former CO, even though you are very good friends? These instances would not be tolerated in the USMC. The CIA operates only overseas--it is in their charter as given by Congress; the FBI provides US domestic protection. 'Homeland' is pure Hollywood and is really lame; this is not USMC or reality. Besides, the plot is too reminiscent of the classic Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury, and Henry Silva movie 'Manchurian Candidate,' directed by John Frankenheimer in 1962, from the Richard Condon novel. 'Homeland' is really ridiculous and very lame. Yet again, Hollywood tries to show customers what the military and CIA are incorrectly, because the people who write this drivel know nothing about either one. I wasted an hour watching this pedestrian fluff. Not recommended.