Early 2012 saw the release of Act of Valor, a film involving a team of US Navy Seals sent on a variety of missions to rescue captured allies, eliminate enemies of the USA and generally just be Navy Seals. Act of Valor's unique selling point is that it stars real Navy Seals as opposed to actors and highlights the real tactics used by them when in the field. It is truly a novel … [Read more...]
Coriolanus (2012) review by That Film Dude
When people think of Shakespeare, they usually think of Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet or Macbeth. Coriolanus is not exactly a well-known play, but with any luck Ralph Fiennes' modern update on it will help bring it to more people's attention. Granted, it isn't as good as Hamlet, but then there's very little that is. At the end of the day, there's only so far wrong you can go when … [Read more...]
First Blood (1982) review by That Film Guy
War is hell. It is unimaginable now to a have a war film that doesn't somehow incorporate a soldier's personal hell ideal into its narrative. Yet there was a time when soldiers were portrayed as pro-Government, 'doing their duty and loving it' role-models, exploited by the real military as poster boys for why you should sign up. Nowadays, 'War is Hell' and those fighting in any … [Read more...]
Review: Starship Troopers (1997)
Starship Troopers is a 1997 sci-fi action film loosely based on the Robert A. Heinlein novel. It involves Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien), a high schooler in a futuristic fascist nation. Everything is controlled by the government, and there are two classes “ civilian and citizen. A civilian cannot vote. A citizen can, but with a catch: in order to become a citizen, you must serve … [Read more...]
Review: The Counterfeiters (2007, Austria)
The Counterfeiters was the winner of the Best Foreign Language Film at the 80th Academy Awards. It's an extraordinary story, based on real events, although some have been fictionalised to slightly to fit the narrative. The protagonist is Salomon ˜Sally' Sorrowitz, based on the real Salomon Smolianoff. A Russian Jew living in Germany just prior to the outbreak of World War 2, … [Read more...]
Review: Inglourious Basterds (2009)
It's the 40s “ World War II to be precise “ and Nazi Germany are spreading their fascist views as far across the globe as possible, including France. Cities are infiltrated and countryside havens are terrorised by the Anti-Semites. Hitler is also unaware that his about to get his ass handed to him on a plate in the slightly fictional Inglourious Basterds. Brad Pitt heads the … [Read more...]
Review: The Front Line (2011, South Korea)
January 1953 and the Korean War has been dragging on for two and a half years. Negotiations for a peace treaty have broken down again over a minor quibble about where borders between the north and the south should be drawn yet again. Kang Eun-pyo, an intelligence officer in the South Korean army, in his frustration, lets off too much steam in public and finds himself in … [Read more...]
Review: War Horse (2012)
Based on the 1982 children's novel by Michael Morpurgo, War Horse charts the life of a horse born and raised in Devon who gets drafted into military service. It was initially adapted into a highly successful stage play before Steven Spielberg announced his intentions to turn it into a Hollywood film. Hiring Richard Curtis and Lee Hall to write the screenplay, Spielberg himself … [Read more...]
Review: Joyeux Noёl (2005, France)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B006GP30M8][/pullquote] Christmas Eve, 1914. A group of Scottish soldiers in a trench in Northern France strike up a song to cheer their spirits. A few hundred yards away across no man's land, a German singer picks up the tune, and steps out up out of his trench. A … [Read more...]
Review: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, Spain)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B000UYBP0K][/pullquote] Pan's Labyrinth begins a long time ago in an underground world a princess escaped to the world above, the sunlight blinded her and she forgot who she was. She grew sick and eventually died but her father, the King of the subterranean, knew that … [Read more...]