hbdunfo Reviews

Hearts in Atlantis (2001)

I found this movie interesting, well acted and pleasurable

[9/10 · 19 October 2001]

I have not been to many movies the past year because of the atrocious trash presented in most of them. Blow-em up, disfunctional people, drug promotion and a generally anti-family and anti-real people have me fed up. I did like Captain Correlli and prior to that Space Cowboys. Hearts in Atlanta was pleasurable and enjoyable from the git go. The score was wonderful, a lot of real good music and songs from the past. The acting was first rate, particularly Anthony Hopkins and Bobby as a boy. I thought the mother overplayed her part somewhat. The plot was a little bit hard to swallow but then this was a movie not a documentary and I just went along with the flow and found it enjoyable. The ending was a little pat but so what. The movie trailers and all of the promotion for this movie was way off base; they tried to sell it as a supernatural thriller which it was not. It was a viewer friendly movie with only one swear word, nothing in the way of severe violence and nothing being blown up. I thoroughly enjoyed the depiction of the homes and the neighborhood in their heyday; how normal it looked to one who is 76 years old. Also, the depiction of the clothing, furniture, etc was great and I thoroughly enjoyed the automobiles, particularly in the last scene that of a Rambler, about a 64 model I would say. Hey it was all entertaining and isn't that what movies are supposed to be about?

Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)

A mostly enjoyable time at the movies.

[8/10 · 4 September 2001]

The star of this movie was, of course, the island and its beautiful scenery. This is a cinch for best cinematography. Such a beautiful place so beautifully captured on film. I liked most of the plot considering, of course, it was pure fiction which is ok. The love story was predictable but interesting. I did not like the portrayal of the German officer. He was a wimp and whether we like it or not I doubt that any wimp made it to the rank of a German captain during World War II> His portrayal at the surrender ceremony was ridiculour. If a mayor of a Greek town had acted in that manner in real life the German would have known how to handle him and he would not be alone; he would have had a squad of men with him. The mayor using the F word was also ridiculour. Do people in Hollywood think they always have to have this word in every movie they make. The mayor could have been defiant in another way and it is doubtful if the Greeks in 1945 even used the word although they may have had other expletives just as strong. I liked the music in the movie and would have like even more of the mandolin playing. The Italians during World War II were not known to be very adept at fighting so it was rather difficult to accept them as being more interested in making music and first and then turning in the last part of the picture to being expert combat soldiers. I thought it was very unrealistic to have the German soldiers making their assault on the island in modern landing craft similiar to LSTs of World War II> Hey, the U.S. Navy in World War II had the amphibious ships for D-Day and in the Pacific. The Germans did not have that kind of capacility. Yes, they could have landed troops from ships but not the kind shown in the picture. The ending was quite pat, but in the larger sense it was a good ending because like most good Hollywood endings it left you with an upbeat feeling. I gave it an 8 in the review. Maybe I should have given it a 9.

Battle Cry (1955)

Not a perfect movie, but in my opinion, a good one.

[1 September 2001]

My perspective of this movie is that of a Navy veteran of World War II. My ship landed Marines on Iwo Jima and I witnessed the flag over Mount Suribachi. I take exception to some who do not consider this realistic enough, but it was made in 1955 and for its time I thought the combat scenes were adequate. I read Leon Uris' book Battle Cry long before I saw the movie. He was there in the Pacificduring World War II not in some office in Hollywood and not long after the question of whether or not we would prevail was yet finalized. He mentions in his book and it is also mentioned in the movie that when the Marines left New Zealand they "boarded the ships known as the Unholy Four." Well, I served on USS President Jackson, an attack transport which landed the first Marines in an American offensive in WWII and this was 7 August 1942 at Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. An hour later the USS President Adams landed the first troops of Guadalcanal. These two ships plus the USS President Hayes and USS Crescent City made up what was known by sailors and Marines throughout the Pacific as the "Unholy Four." So, you see, Leon Uris knew a heck of a lot more about what went on in the Pacific than latter day critics of this movie whom I doubt were ever in the military let alone in the Pacific during WWII. I enjoyed the story, the characters, the love story woven through the plot. I and many veterans could well relate to a Marine on leave falling in love with a New Zealand girl and then going off to fight and returning in bad shape. Hey,pals of today, you really don,t have any idea of such things unless you experienced them. The battle scenes were not gory and perhaps not realistic; if they were you wouldn't be able to sit in the theatre without throwing up. The two Navajo indians portrayed were used to show how the Marines used the Navajo Codetalkers to thwart Japanese trying to listen in on their communications. Recently two real live Navajo Codetalkers where given medals at the White House and there is another movie to come out about the Code Talkers. The idea that a Marine Colonel might spend a long time training troops and then not being allowed to take them into combat may seem idiotic but if you trained hard for a long, long time for a job you wanted to get it done, at least that was they way men felt in those days. The training sequences were in my opinion quite good and showed how Marines were shaped into combat readiness. The story line about some of the Marines reflected just a little about the diverse nature of servicemen during the war. There were no blacks in the movie because during WWII all military services were segregated although the Navy had black mess cooks aboard ship. Whether you like it or not that was the real way it was then. The movie has James Whitmore as a top sergeant and does a fine job with one memborable scene when the Colonel asks if he is going to stay on base or base with the Old Man. He replies, "T think I'll go to town and see ikf I can scare up an Old Woman." He had previously done a fine job as a Sergeant with 101st Airborne in Battleground, in my opinion another very good war movie. Well, the movie ends with the Marines back hom on leave and what do they see as they get off the train but a newspaper with the big black headline: "Marines on Iwo Jima." If anyone thought this was a lousy movie they are entitled to their opinions, but for me, I say, "Tell it to the Marines!"