Into the Blu

The United States Navy SEALs, Army Rangers and Marine Snipers.  These are some of the most highly trained and deadly soldiers ever to grace the planet (thank God they’re on our side).  In Jarhead, we see a story unfold around one of those classes, specifically a Marine sniper and his spotter.  For those unfamiliar with the term ‘jarhead,’ it is slang, if you will, designated for United States Marines.  Let me just put the disclaimer out there and say if you were never a Marine, don’t call one a jarhead.  It’s best to leave that term of endearment delivered by the Marines themselves, former and current.  Continue Reading

I have to admit that when I heard Sly Stallone was coming out of retirement to make another Rambo flick I swear I almost fell out of my chair laughing. I mean who in their right mind at 60+ years old decides to revive a franchise based on a muscle bound action hero?? All I could picture was some old man with cane in hand fighting of gangs of old people at the local retirement home for the last piece of Jell-o…… Rambo: The Geriatric Adventure. With these low expectations I sat down for a viewing of the last Rambo flick Hollywood will ever make… Continue Reading

It is very easy to compare a film like The Longest Day to a more current film in Saving Private Ryan. But where Saving Private Ryan only focused on how the Americans did things, The Longest Day went deeper. Based on the book of the same name written by Cornelius Ryan, The Longest Day is shown from 3 sides; the American/British, German and French. Continue Reading

For anyone who has read my reviews know, I am not a big fan of the classics.

It is just the way I am. But when I received The Sand Pebbles to watch and review, my interest was definitely peaked given what I had heard about the film. This was my first opportunity to watch a film with famed actor Steve McQueen, as well as world renowned actor and narrator, Richard Attenborough. I was very excited to see what all the talk was about.

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Don’t you just miss the old days of the Cold War? Let’s be honest. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, there just haven’t been any interesting bad guys around anymore. Sure, there’s plenty of bad guys out there, more now than likely ever before. But these bad guys are just nasty and about as colorful as a 1 crayon box of crayolas. If you miss those old days, then Crimson Tide is the film for you. It’s one of those last looks back before an era disappears under the horizon never to be seen again. Continue Reading

Since its limited theatrical release Rescue Dawn has caught my eye, mainly due to my curiosity regarding the Christian Bale, Steve Zhan combination but also because I?m a fan of the genre. Sure the Vietnam flick has been done a thousand times, but the fact that Rescue Dawn is based upon a real life account makes me feel better about it. Originally German director Werner Herzog made a documentary some ten years ago on the life of German-American U.S. Navy Pilot entitled Little Dieter Needs to Fly. Since then it has gained some notoriety and the compelling story of Dieter Dengler has made its way to the big screen staring arguably one of Hollywood?s finest, Christian Bale. Continue Reading

Apparently, Larry the Cable Guy and Bill Envall (Blue Collar Comedy Tour) made a movie. Who knew? No offense to their fans, but I’ve never quite appreciated their “comedy” so I wasn’t exactly looking forward to viewing this release. Before I’m called a biased yank, let me say I grew up in southern Tennessee and my family lives in Georgia. Also another bit of education: a “hillbilly” was originally a term used to describe a group of farmers who settled in lower Michigan. Guess where I spent my high-school years? So I think I’m quite qualified to make a judgement on this movie. So there you go. And guess what, this movie ain’t half bad neither. Continue Reading

For those unfamiliar with Clint Eastwood’s recent massive undertaking, Letters from Iwo Jima is the companion film to Flags of our Fathers (see my previous review). What Eastwood has done is taken two different perspectives on the same battle: one from the soldiers responsible for raising the famous flag on Mt Suribachi, the other from the Japanese soldiers as they prepare and enter the battle themselves. Letters is the latter and possibly stronger film of the two.

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Before I delve into my review of Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers, I feel it necessary to share with you that I am not a historian. History has never been a strong point for me. While I can often find certain aspects of history fascinating, I suffer from being a shallow American who is only learning to appreciate his roots through efforts such as this film. That being said, I do love a good war movie, and this is a hell of a good one. Continue Reading

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Armageddon) seems to have started to get into more dramatic fare over the last couple of years, adding to his resume such projects as Remember the Titans and C.S.I.. Black Hawk Down tells the story of the failed military raid on Somali warlord, Mohammed Aidid, in October 1993, which led to the deaths of 19 American soldiers and over 1,000 Somali citizens. It’s hard for me to be impartial on this kind of film, because I’m a war movie geek, and was in the Army at the time of the Mogadishu incident. Continue Reading

The first time Mel Gibson and Randall Wallace got together they put out an epic film (Braveheart), which is a personal all time favorite, so my expectations were pretty high going into this film. Based upon the book We Were Soldiers Once And Young by Hal Moore and Joseph Galloway, the movie depicts the struggles of American Forces in Vietnam, both on the field and their coping families back home. Continue Reading

War films have always been the type of film that hold a high level of enjoyment for me. Even though I’ve never (luckily I might add) experienced war first hand, I’ve had numerous family members that have. I suppose war films are so important to me because war is an occurrence that will always be occurring regardless of time. World War I based films in particular are usually interesting as this was a tumultuous time for everyone involved. So what exactly happened with Fox’s recent WWI based film Flyboys? Continue Reading