Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Amazon.com

With an acceptable balance of strengths and weaknesses, HBO's revisionist rendition of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee can be recommended as a very basic (if slightly inaccurate) history lesson for younger viewers. It doesn't flinch from the harsh realities that were so passionately chronicled in author Dee Alexander Brown's enduring 1970 classic of Native American history, nor does it soften the brutality of violence between the U.S. federal forces and the doomed Native American tribes who fought to preserve their native territories, from the legendary battle of Little Big Horn in 1876 (depicted in the opening scenes) to the shameful slaughter of Sioux warriors at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, on December 29, 1890. Originally broadcast on May 27, 2007, and running slightly over two hours, this U.S./Canadian coproduction struggles to tell a story that would've been better served by a full-length miniseries (and will surely disappoint anyone familiar with Brown's important book), and the screenplay is so busy giving us a Cliff's Notes version of history that it lacks any particular focus or consistent point of view. Instead, we get a sobering, noble, and heartbreaking tale of territorial injustice, with forced parallels to the war in Iraq, full of admirable performances yet riddled with clichés and anachronistic details.

If you look closer, however, you'll find much to admire: Although his character was dubiously conceived to appeal to a contemporary white audience, Adam Beach (from Flags of Our Fathers) gives a fine performance as Charles Eastman, a Sioux doctor integrated into white society, who grows increasingly conflicted by the plight of his people. He's the tragic embodiment of the faulty ideals of Senator Dawes (Aidan Quinn), whose governmental effort to assimilate Native Americans leads to disastrous outbreaks of violence, depicted here with blunt-force realism. As Eastman's sympathetic and upright wife (a white schoolteacher with a strong sense of conscience), Anna Paquin makes the most of an underwritten role, and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is an impressive showcase for outstanding native American actors like August Schellenberg (as Sitting Bull) and Gordon Tootoosis (as Red Cloud), who bring obvious authority and conviction to their roles. The film is most effective when addressing the inevitable failure of the white man's well-meaning but ultimately misguided policies toward Native Americans. To the extent that we still struggle with the historical legacy of those policies, this flawed but instructional rendition of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee can be viewed as a compact precursor to deeper historical study. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Inspired by Dee Brown's acclaimed bestseller, the HBO Films event begins powerfully with the Sioux triumph over General Custer at Little Big Horn. The action centers on the struggles of three characters: Charles Eastman (Adam Beach, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS), a young, Dartmouth-educated Sioux doctor; Sitting Bull (August Schellenberg, THE NEW WORLD), the proud Lakota chief who refuses to submit to U.S. government policies designed to strip his people of their identity, dignity and sacred land; and Senator Henry Dawes (Aidan Quinn, EMPIRE FALLS), one of the men responsible for the government policy on Indian affairs. While Eastman and schoolteacher Elaine Goodale (Anna Paquin, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND), work to improve life for the Sioux on the reservation, Senator Dawes lobbies President Grant for kinder Indian treatment. Epic in scope, BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE is a new Western classic called "...insightful...deeply affecting...visually striking" by The Washington Post.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Featurette
Interviews
Photo gallery
Production Notes

Customer Reviews:

Sorely lacking in its quest to be an epic........2007-09-13

Luckily I was able to catch this on HBO OnDemand one boring Saturday morning, expecting the typical HBO greatness and grittiness.

While long, this movie is hardly epic. That is not to say it is terrible, either. There are plenty of redeeming features with regards to acting, costumes, etc.

Like with any modern PC depiction of Native Americans, the conflict is strenuous, painful, and always the same way. Traditionalism vs Modernism, the almost childlike stubbornness of the Natives to live in their homelands in peace, versus the cold, inevitable need to expand of a young nation with the world in front of them to be conquered. It is always an inability for these two to adapt with one another that leads to the conflict at hand.

At the center of the conflict is Sitting Bull, the chief of the Lakota tribe, resisting US expansion. On the other side is Henry Dawes, a Senator struggling fiercly against anti-Indian sentiment in the US after the slaughter of General Custer and his troops at Little Big Horn to try and resolve the conflicts between the tribes and the U.S.

The other story involves Ohiyesa, an Indian boy whose father converts to Christianity and becomes anglicized, taking his son with him, where he becomes Charles Eastman, and the shining star of hope to Henry Dawes and his faction that the natives are not savages, and can be civilized.

Eastman, however, cannot forget his roots, and still has hateful memories of his time in school, Ohiyesa forced to accept a Christian name or else not be called upon or allowed to pass. His story branches out with a sympathizing woman, lamely acted by Anna Paquin, who later marries him. The both of them work to help Natives on reservations, specifically with medicine and medical help.

Sitting Bull, meanwhile, sees that his land is lost, and leads the remnants of his tribe to Canada, where the Canadians graciously grant them land to live on, so long as they abide by ground rules, and tolerate the presence of their ancestral rivals. They cannot, and so the tribe forces Sitting Bull to bring them back home, where they settle in to reservation life.

The story is known from here, and I won't go on about it. While the story was a good one and well acted, it fell victim to a sort of reverse-stereotyping that Native Americans suffered a hundred years ago and more, depicted as godless savages. The Americans are depicted as sleazy, uncaring, selfish men who don't care at all for the plight of the Natives, and see them all as simply a pest infection that cannot be solved via extermination. Even Henry Dawes, the Senator risking everything to help the Natives, is gradually revealed as a sleazy self-serving hypocrite who cares only for advancing his career with controversial legislation.

As the Americans are hellspawn sent to ravage the earth, the Natives are the helpless victims with only good in their hearts and nature in their souls. No tribal leaders seek violence against the White men, none think of exacting vengeance against individuals, and none seek to harm anyone anywhere for any reason. The Natives gathered at Wounded Knee are simply praying. Sitting Bull is simply befuddled and confused as to why he's being taken away from his home.

All of this leads to a rather clumsily delivered conclusion, in which Sitting Bull is shot in a scene because the Americans felt like shooting someone in the confusion, and the massacre at Wounded Knee for pretty much the same reason.

Eastman's story isn't at all resolved, as he leaves his white wife to go and find himself, in the midst of a hellish job of trying to re-name all the Natives in reservations to anglicized names.

I cannot judge the novel, as I haven't read it, and wouldn't know if this was a faithful adaptation of it, but I feel that overall, this was a clumsily executed attempt at an epic. A true example of the popular phrase about shooting for the stars, and at least ending up somewhere high. This was a good movie, but not great. And certainly not as epic as it attempts to be.

A Western Movie That Is Concerned With Both Sides.......2007-08-08

HBO's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" is not a mini-series; in fact, it only covers the last two chapters of Brown's book and runs a little over two hours. The film would have been better titled, The Last Days of the Sioux Nation: Second Edition

There are many historical inaccuracies in this film; some are big, and some are small. Director Yves Simoneau recounts the story of reservation life, the taking of Indian lands and the debate that ensued. Choosing drama, as opposed to a documentary style, to recount these subjects is most challenging. When one looks past the inaccuracies in "Wounded Knee", one will discover many moments of brilliance.

So, let us undo some of the most important snafus first:

* The film opens with a young Ohiyesa -- Charles Eastman living in the village at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Eastman was never there.
* Sitting Bull physically lashes his men for attempting to flee Canada for their old homeland. This was never the case. Sitting Bull did use the akicita (similar to law enforcement officers) to keep people from leaving Canada. The film accurately portrays why Sitting Bull took the actions he did.
* Sitting Bull surrenders at Standing Rock instead of Ft. Buford.
* Charles Eastman was not the right-hand man to Dawes in developing what would later become the Dawes Act.

"Wounded Knee" indeed seems to be two films. The first covers the latter years of Sitting Bull's (August Schellenberg) life which are filled with triumph and defeat, greatness and loneliness. The second involves the rescue of a culture gasping its last breath. Trying to resuscitate it are Senator Henry Dawes (Aidan Quinn) and Charles Eastman (Adam Beach) through the building of the Dawes Act that ensures every Indian family would own 160 acres of land.

The first film centers on Sitting Bull, a defeated chief of the Lakota, and one of the most convincing American Indian characters ever shaped for a film. He is a complete enigma. He fights to protect his people, yet he lashes warriors for fleeing Canada to their homeland in the Dakotas. He criticizes other Indian leaders for accepting the white man's way of life, yet he sells his autograph and photo. Sitting Bull's redemption is intended to be shown in one dramatic scene where he confronts the Dawe Commission. "You may say they wish to give us land. But, here is the truth. Each patch is for a man and all generations that follow. They know that this land cannot feed but one generation, not even so much as that..." He continues his speech which will shock and surprise many viewers. In the end, Sitting Bull's oration becomes his death warrant.

Film two follows the life of Eastman. When he is 15 years old, his father Jacob (Wayne Charles Baker) takes Eastman back from the roaming Santee bands. Eastman is confused from his father's acceptance of Christianity and his singing of hymns. For me, one of the most notable scenes occurs when Eastman must leave his father to begin yet another new life. As Eastman looks out the window of his slowly moving train, his father waves goodbye and begins to sing a hymn. The emotions are exceedingly powerful; the hymn develops into an Indian strong-heart song as he waves goodbye to his son for the last time. Eastman eventually becomes the agency physician at Pine Ridge where he meets Elaine Goodale (Anna Paquin) and they become fast friends. However, the Beach character is filled with conflict in one of his best performances. Living again among his people, Eastman questions what he has become.

From these doubts, the film chronicles perfectly Eastman and Dawe's collapsing relationship. Through the first two acts, they share the enthusiasm of great dreams and aspirations on how they intend to save the American Indian. They become like father and son. But, they finally reach an impasse in a scene that exudes much sadness.

In the middle of this complex storyline comes a moment of elegance in the only scene involving Wovoka (Studi). With ballet like movements, the Studi character brings his message of the Ghost Dance to the Lakota people. As he articulates his vision in words, he accompanies them with Plains Indian sign language while his body gracefully moves before the crowd. Wovoka's message is simple: If the Lakota people believe his vision and learn the Ghost Dance, the Great Spirit will rid the earth of the white man, return the buffalo to their full glory, and give back to the Lakota their old way of life. It is the strangest irony of this film: from such promise the Lakota people feel happiness again, but all they receive is death.

"Wounded Knee" gives us two great scenes that connect the two films together. The first is the death of Sitting Bull never told before with such accuracy in any other film. This scene over any other still haunts me. The film then transports us to the second climatic scene, which is the Battle of Wounded Knee. Yes, it was a battle; there was fierce hand-to-hand combat, and it ended in a slaughter. The movie vividly portrays the tension leading up to the battle, its fight, and its massacre, but fails in its explanation why. The movie attempts to explain as when Col. James Forsyth (Marty Antonini) says to Eastman, "We didn't fire first. I swear to all-mighty God, we did not fire first." I still wish the film explained further.

That lack of explanation does not diminish from the greatness of this movie. It is truly courageous in the tale movie producers have, until now, been afraid to touch. For the first time we have a Western movie that is concerned with both sides. With its intelligent script, strong direction, and powerful acting, "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" grasps the concept of the last days of the Lakota nation wholly; at times brutal, but the movie still exhibits warmth and passion.

Close to the truth.......2007-07-31

I really enjoyed this movie on HBO. Years ago I read the book. I thought the movie really put the key points into as much time as they had. I recently found out I am a decendant of Ten Bears so this movie really got to me. This movie should get to every man/woman living in this country showing the plight of the Indian Nations during those times.

From someone with Native American decent.......2007-05-29

When I heard this movie was coming to HBO I knew it was going to be a good movie. It tells of the many conflicts the Sioux Nation had with the white man while trying to survive. The actors were fanominal. They played off of eachothers emotions and situations extremely well. Especially Adam Beach's character who does a complete 360 when he realizes the way his people is actually being treated.

The director portrayed the history well. From the battle at Little Big Horn to the senseless massacre at Wounded Knee. I had tears in my eyes from watching the massacre. Kudos to the director for protraying the history correctly.

It is out of all my backgrounds; Irish, French, Native American, Black, Chinese, and German; that I am proud to say that I feel more attacted to my Native American and Irish heritage. But mainly my Native American ancestory. More so with the past 500 years of history that we had to endure.

For those who complain about their "civil rights" being violated, I dare you to sit down and watch this movie from start to the end of the credits. And complain about your rights. This movie shows how the white man made promises and promises to the Sioux but broke them.

Julius A. Archibald IV - Cloud Walker

This Film Left Me Tearful...........2007-05-29

"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" powerfully portrays the usual diabolical motives and savage behavior of European Americans, this time in the massacre of 200 Indigenous Sioux at Wounded Knee in South Dakato in 1890. A very realistic feeling of that historical period was imbued by the talented cast and the skillful director who kept the feeling tone of the production so authentic that it left me tearful.

I also believe watching "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" enables one to make the painful parallels to not only the holocaust that was perpetrated against the enslaved Africans in America and the Indigenous Americans, but the atrocities that continue to be perpetrated by European Americans around the world and the heavy karmic debt that inevitably will have to be paid.

The film in addition to leaving me tearful, left me wanting to read the book.

My heartfelt appreciation to everyone involved in this important historical film.

Average customer rating:

My guilty pleasure ;->
I'm the First

The Hills - The Complete Second Season
Starring: Lisa Love (III) , Lauren Conrad , Jason Wahler (III) , Brian Drolet , and Heidi Montag
Manufacturer: MTV / Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000PY4ZBQ
Release Date: 2007-08-07

Amazon.com

When the debut season of The Hills ended, Lauren had passed up the opportunity to work in Paris for the summer to live in a beach house with her vaguely Neanderthal-ish boyfriend Jason. Flash forward to the second season of MTV's hit reality series--which aired from January through April 2007. Lauren and Jason break up, and you can see the wistfulness in her eyes as her friend Whitney (who got the Paris gig after Lauren turned it down) talks about what an amazing summer she had. Though the conceit of this Laguna Beach spin-off was to have Lauren at its core, her friends are as instrumental to the drama as she is. There's Audrina, whom roomies Lauren and Heidi ostracize for no other reason than they can. As for Heidi, Lauren's supposed best friend, she cares more about fame and men than her friends. As entertaining as this 3-disc, 12-episode set is, this series also reveals the worst caricatures about mean girls and young women. They will gossip about whoever isn't around and will lie to their friends, apparently oblivious to the fact that they will be caught in their lies when the show airs on TV. And sadly, these girls fault each other--rather than their cheating men--for their tumultuous relationships.

If Lauren is the determined and good rich girl, Heidi is the manipulative bad seed. She scares a boyfriend into thinking she's pregnant to test how much he loves her and then maintains her innocence when he gets angry at her deception. She lies to Lauren about what another girl said. There are times you may empathize with her, but those few moments are negated by her stupidity when it comes to her slimy boyfriend Spencer, whose claim to fame is hanging around any place (and any one) where there is a camera crew. He even sets up Lauren with his one-dimensional friend Brody (son of Olympian Bruce Jenner) to ensure that he's assured of even more camera time. Spencer guilts Heidi into doing what he wants, but she is guilty of lacking a spine when it comes to standing up to him. Spencer actually is an honorary mean girl, cattier and more jealous than any of the women on the show. Last season's finale left viewers wondering whether Lauren would work towards her future and go to Paris, or remain in the past and live with Jason. The second year ends with another life-altering decision--this time for Heidi. Will she move in with Spencer, whom she has already told that she is too young to make such a commitment, or will she remain as Lauren's roomie and BFF? There is a champagne toast and pizza celebration for a pair of roommates in the final episode that will make most fans of the show very pleased. --Jae-Ha Kim

Product Description

With a year in Los Angeles under their belts in Season 2 of "The Hills," Lauren Conrad and her friends Heidi, Audrina, and Whitney learn that being young women in the big city isn't as easy as they thought. This year, when new boys force them to make tough choices, Lauren and the girls are about to find out that not even friendships can be taken for granted.

Customer Reviews:

My guilty pleasure ;->.......2007-08-18

I don't know why I love this show so much - but I do. It's strangely addictive and for some reason, I can't stop watching it. Yes, it's trashy, but you kind of want to keep seeing what's going on in their immature lives because you realise that you are actually normal and well adjusted. There are 12 episodes, and I watched them in record time.
Here's the breakdown of each episode:
1 - OUT WITH THE OLD. After a rocky summer with her boyfriend Jason, Lauren decides to break it off and returns to Teen Vogue to face her unhappy boss. Heidi finds herself in trouble with a guy both she and Audrina are dating.
2 - WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT. Lauren goes on her first date since breaking up with Jason and is tested at work when she's asked to work a fashion show. Heidi has a life changing secret she must tell her boyfriend.
3 - THE BEST NIGHT EVER. When an uninvited Audrina shows up at Heidi's birthday, she learns Heidi's not ready to forgive and forget. Lauren, determined to focus on work, falls for the charms of the new guy in her life, Brody Jenner.
4 - WHO DO YOU TRUST? Audrina tells Heidi about Spencer's cheating ways, but Heidi is doubtfull until she sees it for herself. Lauren continues to wonder whether she is ready for a relationship.
5 - ONE BIG INTERUPTION. Heidi takes a break from Spencer but finds herself missing him more than she'd like. Lauren has to plan a Teen Vogue dinner but takes a backseat to super-intern Emily from New York.
6 - YOU HAVE CHOSEN. When Lauren tells Heidi what she really thinks about Spencer, Heidi must choose between her best friend and her boyfriend.
7 - WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE. Lauren realizes she can't trust her best friends after Heidi hooks Jen up with Brody.
8 - ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Audrina takes Lauren out on a blind double date, while Lauren and Heidi grow farther apart. And a photo shoot with a Vogue stylist makes Whitney impatient for more responsibility.
9 - NEW YEAR, NEW FRIENDS. Spencer asks Heidi to move in with him, but Heidi doesn't know what to do or how to tell her roomate, Lauren.
10 - APOLOGY NOT ACCEPTED. Lauren's 21st birthday is full of surprises when Heidi and Audrina throw her a party and Jen reaches out to make peace with her.
11 - EVERYBODY FALLS. With a new job on the line, Whitney stumbles in her biggest opportunity with Teen Vogue. Spencer goes too far when he pressures Heidi to leave Lauren and move in with him.
12 - GOODBYE FOR NOW. In this season finale, tension comes to a head as Heidi makes her final decision about moving in with Spencer. Lauren looks to Audrina to fill the void left by her best friend, and Whitney flies to New York City to interview for a full-time job with Teen Vogue.
All of this takes up 2 discs, and on the third disc are some extras. There are some deleted scenes and cast interviews among other things and it's entertaining to watch too (especially the remixes). The nicest and prettiest girl is Audrina. The most immature and idiotic is Heidi.
I don't know why the lives of rich spoilt girls who probably have mommy and daddy paying their rent should be so appealing, but it is somehow. I love the shots of Los Angeles throughout the show and love seeing some of the places they go to - like nightclubs, restaurants and cafes.
If you are looking for a day's worth of trashy entertainment, then look no further. This is great to watch and I'm already hanging out for season 3.

I'm the First.......2007-08-08

I am so happy Season 2 is coming. I love the show. I have season 1 on DVD, the book, and the soundtrack to the show. The Hills is my favorite show. I know everyone will enjoy it!!

Frankie & Annette MGM Movie Legends Collection (Beach Blanket Bingo / How to Stuff a Wild Bikini / Beach Party / Bikini Beach / Fireball 500 / Thunder Alley / Muscle Beach Party / Ski Party)

Average customer rating:

Frankie and Annette collection
60's flashback
TV screen size
frankie & annette
So Retro !

Frankie & Annette MGM Movie Legends Collection (Beach Blanket Bingo / How to Stuff a Wild Bikini / Beach Party / Bikini Beach / Fireball 500 / Thunder Alley / Muscle Beach Party / Ski Party)
Starring: Frankie Avalon , and Annette Funicello
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000PMFRXS
Release Date: 2007-07-10

Amazon.com

The sun will never set on Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, The recording star from Philadelphia and the former Mouseketeer give a master class in chemistry in five Beach Party films that make up the bulk of this swinging eight-film box set. Beach Party (1963) helped to usher in a new wave of teen exploitation films that were far more fun and frolicsome than the rock and roll and juvenile delinquent films that preceded it. Frankie rents a beach house for himself and Annette's Dolores. He is stunned to learn that she has gotten cold feet and allowed the whole gang to hang out there. So Frankie decides to "dig somebody else," and Delores takes up with Robert Cummings, an anthropologist studying the sex lives of teens. All ends happily, and chastely. Harvey Lembeck, whose credits include Billy Wilder's Stalag 17, introduced his recurring series role as bumbling biker Eric Von Zipper. Surf guitar god Dick Dale provides accompaniment. Vincent Price pops up as Big Daddy to say, "Bring me my pendulum, kiddies. I feel like swinging." Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) is the magnum Party opus as Frankie goes sky-diving, Bonehead (Jody McCrea) falls in love with a mermaid, Linda Evans sings, Paul Lynde is snide, Don Rickles insults, and Frankie and Annette sing their classic, "I Think, You Think." Bikini Beach (1964) takes a swipe at the upstart Beatles with Frankie in a dual role as British pop star Potato Bug. Muscle Beach Party (1964) was Stevie Wonder's first film, and Peter Lorre's last.

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) marks the end of an era, with Frankie, off in the Naval Reserves, getting help from witch doctor Buster Keaton in keeping interloper Dwayne Hickman away from Annette. Annette's absence is keenly felt in Ski Party, but James Brown performs, "I Feel Good" and Lesley Gore sings her top-40 hit, "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows." Frankie and Annette were reunited at the racetrack in Fireball 500 (1966), but Fabian is a third wheel as a rival for Annette. Thunder Alley (1967) (from Richard Rush, director of the cult classic, The Stunt Man), is another car-racing vehicle that pairs Annette and Fabian, but by now the thrill is gone. Frankie and Annette are as indelible a screen couple and as inseparable in the public's imagination as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers or Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. What is the secret to their enduring appeal? The last line of Back to the Beach (1987), an unsung gem unfortunately not included in this set, sums it up. Frankie and Annette walk together along the beach for the last time. Frankie turns to the camera and asks, "Are we the corniest couple in the world, or what?" --Donald Liebenson

Description

Disc 1 Side A: Beach Blanket Bingo Disc 1 Side B: How To Stuff a Wild Bikini

Disc 2 Side A: Beach Party Disc 2 Side B: Bikini Beach

Disc 3 Side A: Fireball 500 Disc 3 Side B: Thunder Alley

Disc 4 Side A: Muscle Beach Party Disc 4 Side B: Ski Party

Customer Reviews:

Frankie and Annette collection.......2007-08-27

I purchased this collection as a gift for a friend of mine, who is a huge fan of all those "beach party" movies. Being able to purchase the entire collection for her, and seeing her face when she opened it rates this purchase as a 5 star find! The price was very reasonable and delivery was super fast!

60's flashback.......2007-08-24

These were my altime favorite movies to watch as a kid growing up. I always watched them on the Million Dollar Movie or Saturday Afternoon Matinee etc. What's more fun than Annette, Frankie and VonZipper romping around. Good clean fun. What's funny is how I remember the guys looked so vintage back in the 80's & 90's, now they'd fit right in today stylewise. The girls have the big hair to overcome, lol. Classic stuff.

TV screen size.......2007-08-13

I was very disappointed to find the these are not the from the theater release verions, but the modified for TV versions.

frankie & annette.......2007-08-10

This was a birthday gift for my 27 year old daughter. I haven't watched it yet, so I can't really review it. She seemed excited about getting it, as she loves these old movies, but was disappointed to note that this grouping did not include her all-time favorite of the group, "Back to the Beach."

So Retro !.......2007-08-09

I grew up in the 60s and watching these Frankie and Annette beach movies brought back great memories! A definite must have for anyone collecting 60s memorabilia!

The Last Mimzy (Widescreen Infinifilm Edition)

Average customer rating:

The Easter Bunny phones home
Great story--I hope children will love it and will understand it years later when they see it again
Suckiest Movie In History With Even Worse Casting
Fantasy + Science Fiction + Environmentalism
Fine movie, disgraceful DVD

The Last Mimzy (Widescreen Infinifilm Edition)
Starring: Chris O'Neil , Rhiannon Leigh Wryn , Joely Richardson , Timothy Hutton , and Rainn Wilson
Director: Robert Shaye
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000Q66FB6
Release Date: 2007-07-10

Amazon.com

Comparisons with E.T. are inevitable, but the more modest The Last Mimzy is based on the classic short story "Mimzy Were the Borogoves," by Lewis Padgett (a pseudonym for husband-and-wife writing team Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore), that anticipated Steven Spielberg's extraterrestrial fantasy by nearly four decades. Chris O'Neil and Rhiannon Leigh Wryn give winning, naturalistic performances as siblings Noah and Emma, whose lives are transformed by a box of mysterious objects they find on the beach outside the family's Seattle vacation home. Among its contents is a stuffed rabbit that Emma names Mimzy and becomes quite attached. Noah and Emma are your typical outsiders. He is not good at sports, and she is interested in astronomy and plays the violin. But the objects work wonders on them. Their brainpower increases exponentially, Noah is able to drive a golf ball hundreds of yards, and Emma begins to communicate telepathically with Mimzy, who reveals his true identity and purpose. Rainn Wilson of The Office displays an off-center charm as Mr. White, Noah's New Age-y science teacher, who discovers similarities between Noah's intricate notebook doodlings and ancient renderings of the universe ("This is so out of my league," he marvels at one point), and becomes involved in Mimzy's back-to-the-future quest. Timothy Hutton and Joely Richardson are solid as the understandably confounded and increasingly concerned parents. Michael Clarke Duncan is a menacing FBI agent who, invoking the Patriot Act, arrests the family after Noah inadvertently causes a citywide blackout with one of the futuristic objects. The Last Mimzy may not reach E.T.'s spectacular heights, but as thoughtfully adapted for the screen by Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost) and Toby Emmerich (Frequency), it is a transporting, idea-rich family film that is free of gratuitous coarse language (save for Mr. White's offhand classroom use of the word "screw") or bathroom humor. --Donald Liebenson

Description

When Noah and Emma Wilder discover a special box on the beach, they open it and unlock an exciting adventure beyond imagination. Inside they find Mimzy, a magical stuffed rabbit along with other mystical toys, which give the children exceptional powers of their own. Able to move objects with their minds and to solve complex equations, these new wonder kids begin to attract the attention of their parents, teachers... and even the FBI. Surrounding the phenomenon of Mimzy is an awesome secret Â¿ one that holds the key to saving the future of all mankind.

Customer Reviews:

The Easter Bunny phones home.......2007-09-13

*spoilers*

"The Last Mimzy" is such a shameless and unabashed rip-off of "E.T.-The Extra Terrestrial" that Steven Spielberg ought to sue the makers of the film for blatant copyright infringement of his famous material.

Noah and Emma Wilder are two Seattle youngsters who discover a mysterious box floating in the ocean. Upon opening it, the children find it contains several abnormal objects including an odd stuffed-animal rabbit that calls itself Mimzy and communicates in a garbled, incomprehensible language to the little girl. In addition, the children themselves become endowed with strange preternatural knowledge and extrasensory powers as a result of their encounter with the material. The first part of the movie is dedicated to the kids' efforts to hide the secret from their parents, while the second involves the government scientist's typically clumsy efforts at studying the bizarre phenomenon.

Virtually every major idea from "E.T." manages, at some point or other, to find its way into this film, starting with the basic alien-from-outer-space-being-hidden-by-adorable-children scenario and heading on from there. The other similarities include the psychic connection between alien and child, the frightened, uncomprehending adults, the threatening government officials, the seemingly dying alien, and the kids' stealing of a vehicle in an effort to outrun the authorities. This is certainly not the first movie to try to siphon off some of "E.T."'s irreproducible charms for its own benefit ("Short Circuit," "The Iron Giant" and "The Indian in the Cupboard" come first to mind), but it is definitely the creepiest and most New Age-y of the lot. Then, after all is said and done, the screenplay gives us an anticlimactic epilogue so convoluted and muddled that even Stephen Hawking himself would have trouble comprehending it.

As Noah and Emma, Chris O'Neill and Rhiannon Leigh Wryn don't exactly set the screen on fire with their performances, but they are at least adequate to the task they are called on to fulfill - which is more than can be said for Timothy Hutton, Joely Richardson, Rainn Wilson and Michael Clark Duncan who are stranded in poorly written roles as the various adults on hand.

Forget about phoning home; E.T. should be calling his lawyer.

Great story--I hope children will love it and will understand it years later when they see it again.......2007-09-11

Two children visiting their cottage on Whidby Island find a box full of toys, including a stuffed rabbit. Soon, their abilities expand. Noah, the eldest, was barely passing Science now he's submitted a Science Fair project that could win National. And, Emma is talking to her stuffed bunny and it's telling her about a very bleak time for a future race and asking her to help.

The story's great, the casting and effects are enthralling. I think "Mimzy" is destined to be a children's classic. While the young ones won't really understand what the story means right now, I think it's one they will watch again and again--and a valuable lesson will sink in.

Suckiest Movie In History With Even Worse Casting.......2007-09-04

I have never seen a more miscast, boring, irritating movie in my life. Where was this movie made? Another Galaxy? It---and the "cast"---were totally unrelatable, unlikeable, and made me squirmy. It was so bad I asked for my money back.

Fantasy + Science Fiction + Environmentalism.......2007-08-31

The title of this movie, The Last Mimzy, refers to a toy bunny doll that is actually a form of artificial intelligence, created in the distant future, and sent back in time. Its creator is a scientist who lives in an Earth that has been so polluted that the human gene pool has been horribly damaged. These scientist makes these toy dolls and sends them back through time to collect virgin human DNA to bring back to the future to replenish the human gene pool. No Mimzy has ever made it back to the future, except for the one discovered by Emma and Noah, a sister and brother who live in Seattle with their parents. Once discovered, Mimzy embues both siblings with astonishing brainpower and technical skills that changes their lives, and leads them to create a bridge through time for Mimzy to travel through. The DNA Mimzy takes back is from a teardrop from Emma.

This was one of those movies that did not do that well at the theaters. Its release was short, and soon ended up on DVD. This is surprising considering the quality of this movie. The cast are comprised of mostly unknowns, but they deliver. The dialogue is realistic, and the special effects help carry the movie. The storyline is a blend of family drama, science fiction, adventure, and environmentalism. Overall, a great movie, and worth the time to see it.

Fine movie, disgraceful DVD.......2007-08-26

This is the first DVD I've ever encountered where its authors disabled the pause, rewind, and fast forward buttons. This is defective by design. I liked the film, but the restrictions on the DVD are something I can not stand.

Average customer rating:

Girl Happy with Chris Noel
MY FAVORITE ELVIS MOVIE!!!!
FINALLY!!!
Girl Happy - Elvis Happy - Viewer Happy
Don't like Elvis, but this movie is AWESOME!

Girl Happy
Starring: Elvis Presley , Shelley Fabares , Harold J. Stone , Gary Crosby , and Joby Baker
Director: Boris Sagal
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000QXDEEA
Release Date: 2007-08-07

Description

Elvis plays Rusty Wells, the leader of a four-piece rock group, consisting of Gary Crosby, Joby Baker and Jimmy Hawkins. Hired by Chicago gangster boss Big Frank (Harold J. Stone) to protect the virtue of Frank's cute daughter Valerie (Shelley Fabares), Rusty and his buddies follow Valerie to Fort Lauderdale during Spring Break. The girl falls in love with Rusty, then falls out of love when she learns that he's in her dad's employ. Valerie then becomes involved with a slick Italian playboy (Fabrizio Mioni), forcing Rusty to break up the romance lest he end up in a cement overcoat.

Customer Reviews:

Girl Happy with Chris Noel.......2007-09-14

You know what makes this movie so good ?? It's Chris Noel who did so much for our troops in Vietnam and continues to support the VETERANS today !! She's been an outstanding advocate of the AMERICAN VETERAN for many years and we're so thankful for all she has done. She realized a long time ago what's important to OUR nation and that's the AMERICAN VETERAN. God bless her and help her to continue her very important work.

P.G. Gentrup
Rising Sun, Indiana
25th Inf Div
Cu Chi, Vietnam 1967-68

MY FAVORITE ELVIS MOVIE!!!!.......2007-08-16

This is by far my favorite Elvis movie to date. It's just such a fun spring break movie with girls, beaches and most importantly, Elvis. I have been watching this movie since I was kid. My grandmother was a huge fan and loved watching his movies and got me into, not only his music but also his movies. I have been searching over the last few years for this on DVD. And now the day has finally come, it's here YEAH!!!!

FINALLY!!!.......2007-08-16

Yes, FINALLY!! I'm not quite sure why this particular Elvis film took
so long to get to DVD, but instead just say "thank you" Warner Home Video, for finally making it so!

This is one of my favorite Elvis films of all time. Why? I'm not really sure. It's the "typical" Elvis formula flick (you know, paper-thin plot,
pretty girls, Elvis lip-synching to a song every (seemingly) 5 or 10 minutes, etc., etc., etc.). However, therein probably lies the very reason why this one for me stands out (just a bit), from Elvis's others.

The year is 1965. The country wasn't yet divided over that "unfortunate
situation" brewing in southeast Asia (U.S. troop strength up until this year, was relatively small), NASA was well on it's way to turning the corner on the way to "victory" in the space race, and life, for most
Americans was pretty good.....

What could make it better? April 14 held the answer. This was the release date for "Girl Happy". Elvis, at the peak of his movie career,
looks and sounds great! Add to this one of his most enticing female
co-stars, Shelley Fabares (possibly second only to Ann-Margaret), fold-in a light-weight, fun plot "set" (on sound stages, anyway) in Fort Lauderdale, FL at spring break, and sprinkle in a generous helping of frothy, playful Elvis tunes from start to finish.

Okay, a great film it ain't; but a deliciously fun "guilty pleasure" nonetheless.

For those fond of Elvis throw this one on, kick back with a bowl of popcorn, a favorite beverage, and bask in the glow of simpler times
gone by! Enjoy, one and all!!

Girl Happy - Elvis Happy - Viewer Happy.......2007-07-03

Yes this is a really great fun type of movie from the mid Sixties (when the world was more innocent and safer place) Not sure I would want to hang around on the beach in Fort Lauderdale now. Anyway I digress - it's great to have this available on DVD along with the cut song "Startin Tonight" that was noticeably absent from recent VHS releases. In fact Warner's have come up trumps with all these new DVD releases, as the majority of them are really good happy go lucky fims.

Don't like Elvis, but this movie is AWESOME!.......2007-06-06

I admit I am not an Elvis fan at all. As matter of fact, this is the only Elvis movie I have ever seen. BUT this movie is great! Every song is upbeat and fun. You get the first song stuck in your head, then you hear the next song then IT gets stuck in your head, until the end of the movie when you have every song stuck in your head. The storyline is wonderful too. I can relate to every character, even Elvis. I am only 24, but first saw this movie in my teens and it was load of fun then too. A must have for anybody who likes fun tunes, witty humor, and a movie to talk about that many people don't know about (unfortunately). FINALLY on DVD, too. My VHS player was having a breakdown and the tape has just about had it!

Saving Private Ryan (Special Limited Edition)

Average customer rating:

A good but not great, WWII film...
VISCERAL IN-YOUR-FACE WAR EPIC THAT YOU WON'T FORGET!!
I think 5stars says it all!!
Unbelievable
A fantastic movie that left me drained

Saving Private Ryan (Special Limited Edition)
Starring: Tom Hanks , Tom Sizemore , Edward Burns , Barry Pepper , and Adam Goldberg
Director: Steven Spielberg
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00001ZWUS
Release Date: 1999-11-02

Amazon.com essential video

When Steven Spielberg was an adolescent, his first home movie was a backyard war film. When he toured Europe with Duel in his 20s, he saw old men crumble in front of headstones at Omaha Beach. That image became the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, his film of a mission following the D-day invasion that many have called the most realistic--and maybe the best--war film ever. With 1998 production standards, Spielberg has been able to create a stunning, unparalleled view of war as hell. We are at Omaha Beach as troops are slaughtered by Germans yet overcome the almost insurmountable odds.

A stalwart Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller, a soldier's soldier, who takes a small band of troops behind enemy lines to retrieve a private whose three brothers have recently been killed in action. It's a public relations move for the Army, but it has historical precedent dating back to the Civil War. Some critics of the film have labeled the central characters stereotypes. If that is so, this movie gives stereotypes a good name: Tom Sizemore as the deft sergeant, Edward Burns as the hotheaded Private Reiben, Barry Pepper as the religious sniper, Adam Goldberg as the lone Jew, Vin Diesel as the oversize Private Caparzo, Giovanni Ribisi as the soulful medic, and Jeremy Davies, who as a meek corporal gives the film its most memorable performance.

The movie is as heavy and realistic as Spielberg's Oscar-winning Schindler's List, but it's more kinetic. Spielberg and his ace technicians (the film won five Oscars: editing (Michael Kahn), cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), sound, sound effects, and directing) deliver battle sequences that wash over the eyes and hit the gut. The violence is extreme but never gratuitous. The final battle, a dizzying display of gusto, empathy, and chaos, leads to a profound repose. Saving Private Ryan touches us deeper than Schindler because it succinctly links the past with how we should feel today. It's the film Spielberg was destined to make. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

A good but not great, WWII film..........2007-09-06

Though I liked this movie overall, though there are some outstanding shots, sequences, and effects, and though I would probably recommend it to friends and acquaintances as one of the better cinema treatments about World War II, my expectations were too disappointed to engage in high praise of this work. I had many serious "problems" with SPR from the very opening overtly false patriotic flag scene to the very end.

The opening scene of Ryan as an old man visiting the Normandy cemetery was fine except for one very annoying factor, John Williams, lush, overly-sentimental BS musical pretensions, which we've heard 100 times already, and in almost every scene in which this score swelled, I felt it was inappropriate. I would've much rather have heard no music whatsoever throughout the film, or at least a very subtle form of and use of. I don't really like being manipulated like this. And various scenes do this. A lush musical war, no thanks.

The most striking example of the film's almost soulless failure to do justice to its apparent agenda and real blood and guts reality (to show how utterly abominable real war is), brings me to yet another complaint. The films' cinema verite, shaky documentary camera style. NYPD Blue on amphetamines...

A little of this "style" can go a long way. Drenching entire scenes lasting several minutes, was totally ineffective and pretentious to me. Some of the wobbly camera in the opening sequence, was very potent, like the troops running towards the beach. This gave the viewer a real sense of being there, of being in a frantic state of confusion, attempting to move forward into a frightening and imposing blur of horror and motion. However, a bit later, when Hanks and his men are using a mirror at the end of a rifle to try to find out where a particular German machine gun is firing from, why shake the camera? When the medics are trying to fix up wounded men on the beach, why shake the camera? If one were there watching these things, they would simply not be seeing it from this perspective. Again, this whole technique was so overused to me.

What's so disappointing about SPR is that it just could've been done so much better, in so many areas. Long, boring, unimaginative sequences are followed by Hollywood hokum. The truly outstanding radar attack sequence, stood out. The characters were given a REAL identity to me during this portion. But for all the talk (hype?) of blood and gore and entrails in SPR's beginning, to me, the only really powerful depictions of real war in the film, was specifically in the segment when one of the GI's chests was pumping gushes of bright red blood, in addition to some opening shots.

Why wasn't there so much more of this however? Why not show utterly horrible pain and suffering and death? That which is real war? That which is happening even as I write this, which I hope Spielberg or one of his other cronies may deal with in the near future, about Iraq. Holding my breath, but not too long.

The entire Axis prisoner scene, was good. There was a real tension here, and I easily felt myself not watching a movie anymore, but feeling as if I had some sort of personal stake in what I was watching. In SPR, Spielberg's more delicate and subtly discriminating add-ons, were clearly the best moments of the film. All the blood and violence and special effects of the opening and closing sections (the closing sections having nearly as much power as the opening ones), never came close for me, in displaying the real horror of war, than this one little middle section, which culminated in two men on the same side, almost killing each other because a "bad guy" POW was being released.

There were and are WAY TOO MANY shots for me of Americans mowing down whole groups of German soldiers, like as if this was a standard scene out of WWII (it wasn't). It IS a standard, stereotypical scene out of WWII MOVIES however. I had hoped for much more however, in SPR. Otherwise, in Spielberg's fantasy WWII world, whole German squads can easily be mowed down by a single GI, and tanks and other weapons can be disabled with nothing more than some good old GI Joe bravery. For all the effects, for all the blood and guts that ARE shown, SPR continually refuses to step over certain lines. It wants to be two things at once, which is its ultimate undoing, to show the "reality" of war, but to do it in an entertaining Hollywood story suited for mass consumption.

I have to say this film, like digestible war-movie filler candy before and after, satisfies for awhile, but there are no great ideas here, no true moral or political or philosophical "center" or soul. And there is nothing groundbreaking here except for a few FX enhanced "war scenes." There are much better WWI&II films, of all stripes. I'd suggest "Enemy at the Gates," or "Paths of Glory,' or even the low budget "A Midnight Clear." For starters.

This is a fairly good war film, but not a "great" war film. DVD extras aside. What the film clearly does wrong, cannot in the final analysis, overcome the few things it does really great and right. Entertaining? Yes. Transcendent? But only if one is easily prone to hype, political, or cinematic, or falsely (IMO) "patriotic" propaganda. This viewer is none of the above, and in the end, to me is just another Steven Spielberg misfire, which garnered and continues to receive critical/popular praise truly undeserved, compared to so many other much more worthy WWII films. As well as documentaries. I wish the whole script had been rewritten/filmed, concentrating on D-Day alone, and never diverted into a corny, schmaltzy retread of almost any other good or bad WWII flick since, or afterwards.

VISCERAL IN-YOUR-FACE WAR EPIC THAT YOU WON'T FORGET!!.......2007-09-05

'SAVING PRIVATE RYAN' STRUCK ME AS: HARD-HITTING - GRAPHIC & EMOTIONAL WITHOUT OVERT SENTIMENTALISM OR SIMPLY THE 'CITIZEN KANE' OF WAR FILMS,

VERY SIMPLY STATED:

This is the most visceral, in-your-face war epic I have ever experienced. But "Saving Private Ryan" is much more than that, as it gives us a well-developed story line and characters we come to care about during the natural unfolding of the story.

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?:

After landing on Normandy through the most visceral and graphically-realistic re-creation ever put to film, this ensemble of American soldiers and the film itself slow down to catch their breath and hand us a great story, having now prepared us for it. The heroic "everyman" types that comprise this small band are fleshed out as they go through their mission to find Private Ryan. It's a sort of follow-the-yellow-brick-road-to-Hell kind of mission that is just about impossible for them to reconcile. What is so important about Private Ryan? See the film and you will find out.

BOTTOM LINE:

Action, drama, and morality are all mixed together in the cauldron of wholesale killing that was the second World War. The "right thing" to do is very difficult to decipher, both by these soldiers and by us viewers, but in no film is the topic more in-your-face realistic and emotionally-supercharged.

After seeing the Normandy sequences in this film, such similar epic recreations as in "The Longest Day" seem not just tame, but also emotionally-removed and from a safe distance. "Saving Private Ryan" is one of the best and most captivating films of any genre that I have ever experienced.

----- CAST

Tom Hanks - Capt. John Miller
Edward Burns - Private Richard Reiben
Tom Sizemore - Sgt. Horvath
Jeremy Davies - Cpl. Upham
Vin Diesel - Pvt. Caparzo
Adam Goldberg - Pvt. Mellish
Barry Pepper - Pvt. Jackson
Giovanni Ribisi - T/4 Medic Wade
Matt Damon - Pvt. James Ryan
Dennis Farina - Lt. Col. Anderson
Ted Danson - Capt. Hamill
Harve Presnell - Gen. George Marshall

----- PRODUCTION CREW:

Steven Spielberg - Director / Producer
Ian Bryce - Producer
Mark Gordon - Producer
Gary Levinsohn - Producer
Robert Rodat - Screenwriter
Janusz Kaminski - Cinematographer
John Williams - Composer (Music Score)

ABOUT THE DVD:

Great Transfer of both audio and video. Compared to the VHS edition, it is like viewing a different and better film due to the transfer, NOT any change in the content, which is identical.

"Director's Message" is well put and needs to be said, but I can only say I wish there was more, a lot more.

Behind-The-Scenes Featurette: A segment titled "Into The Breach" was excellent, but frankly this film needs more than a 24-minute short and you can get more on the 2-Disk DVD 60th Anniversary edition.

I think 5stars says it all!!.......2007-08-24

Without doubt this movie ranks in my top 5 of all time favourites! In fact I have just recently played the Medal of Honour PC game which begins in the same way as this movie does. Except for the harsh reality of the movie!!! The most astonishing start to any movie I have ever seen (Ghost Ship comes close), this movie is just incredible. Buy it, Watch it & then watch it again...... I may have to purchase a second!!!!

Unbelievable.......2007-08-23

Great War, WWII movie. you have to see it. Great graphics, realism and plot. MUST SEE!!!

A fantastic movie that left me drained.......2007-08-15

From the opening scenes to coming full circle in the closing scenes, Saving Private Ryan is a movie and emotionally draining film that leaves you analyzing your own life to determine if you have led a life worth the sacrifices the men and women of our armed forces have made.

Speilberg has created another masterpiece. Just when I thought he could not create a movie more vital than Schindler's List, he comes up with Saving Private Ryan. I cannot say enough about this film. If bloody realism is not something you can stomach then move past the initial Normandy invasion scenes. If you can stomach it though, I encourage watching the scenes because they set the tone for the characters.

This is one of a few films every household should own.

Average customer rating:

When times were fun.
One of the BEST movies of ALL TIMES
Longing for the good 'ol days
Happy Highways
American Graffiti

American Graffiti (Collector's Edition)
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss , Ron Howard , Paul Le Mat , Charles Martin Smith , and Cindy Williams
Director: George Lucas
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
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ASIN: 078322737X
Release Date: 1998-09-16

Amazon.com essential video

Here's how critic Roger Ebert described the unique and lasting value of George Lucas's 1973 box-office hit, American Graffiti: "[It's] not only a great movie but a brilliant work of historical fiction; no sociological treatise could duplicate the movie's success in remembering exactly how it was to be alive at that cultural instant." The time to which Ebert and the film refers is the summer of 1962, and American Graffiti captures the look, feel, and sound of that era by chronicling one memorable night in the lives of several young Californians on the cusp of adulthood. (In essence, Lucas was making a semiautobiographical tribute to his own days as a hot-rod cruiser, and the film's phenomenal success paved the way for Star Wars.) The action is propelled by the music of Wolfman Jack's rock & roll radio show--a soundtrack of pop hits that would become as popular as the film itself. As Lucas develops several character subplots, American Graffiti becomes a flawless time capsule of meticulously re-created memory, as authentic as a documentary and vividly realized through innovative use of cinematography and sound. The once-in-a-lifetime ensemble cast members inhabit their roles so fully that they don't seem like actors at all, comprising a who's who of performers--some of whom went on to stellar careers--including Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, and Paul Le Mat. A true American classic, the film ranks No. 77 on the American Film Institute's list of all-time greatest American movies. --Jeff Shannon

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

When times were fun........2007-08-18

I was 8 years old when rock n roll first came on the scene and when young people ask me what it was like when I was a teenager, I tell them to watch the movie American Graffiti. It nails it right on the head. The street rods, cruisers, custom cars, the music, all bring back good memories. Sock hops, car races, going steady, all part of an era in time that will never be duplicated again. All of these things were captured in a fun but very capable and accurate way by the director, producers and and actors. Richard Dreyfuss, Cindy Williams, Ron Howard and the rest were great. What a cast of characters and what a time in history. I loved it and have watched this movie more times than I can count. I highly recommend it to anyone that grew up in that era and to the young who want to see how the "older" generation had fun and enjoyed life. It didn't take much to entertain me or my friends when i was a teen. Give me a car, a girl friend, friends and a few hundred cruises around the circuit on a Friday and Saturday night and there you have it. American Graffiti.

One of the BEST movies of ALL TIMES.......2007-08-08

One, great cast. Two, great music. Three, great story. A must for any movie buff. This is one I watch from time to time and enjoy it every time I watch it

Longing for the good 'ol days.......2007-08-07

I grew up in Northern California and graduated from Fremont High School in the not so small town of Oakland in 1965 (and later from California Polytechnic University in San luis Obispo in 1975, after a short stint in the service). I remember the Mel's drive-in in downtown Oakland, and I remember the 'cruising' on San Leandro Blvd on Friday and Saturday nights (although I couldn't afford to get a car until 1968--a 1961 Volvo PV 544 sedan--(Wow, I wish I had that car back!). I have to say that this movie is truly one of the best nostalgia stirring movies I have ever seen. It tugs at your heart and reminds us babyboomers that there really was a simpler, more carefree time and we lived it! When gas was 23 cents a gallon (or less when the gas wars were on), you loved Casper's Hotdogs, and education costs were almost nothing if you attended Merritt Junior College. When you rode on the back of your friend's Vespa motorbike to San Jose, just because you had never been there, and when you took off in your car on a whim to visit Big Basin to see the redwoods. Talk about a movie that causes you to reminisce!

Happy Highways.......2007-07-09

Into my heart on air that kills
From you far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?

That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.

This verse, from A.E. Housman's "A Shropshire Lad", summarizes everything that I feel for American Graffiti. The movie opened when I was 13 years old. It was my first "R" rated movie and the sold out theater erupted with laughter over and over. Now I'm 47 and I find it almost too sad to watch. Where did my childhood friends go? What lives have they led? The sweet promise of youth: a happy highway where I went and cannot come again.

American Graffiti .......2007-06-27

I didn't care for this movie too much. It might be ok for teenagers but I doubt today's teenager would relate, it may seem kind of nerdy to them.

Flags of Our Fathers (Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating:

The raising of the flag should be an event best left to history.
THROUGH A SOLDIERS EYES!!
Found it high quality but boring
Important film for all generations
The Hidden Side of The Flag Raising on Iwo Jima

Flags of Our Fathers (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Ryan Phillippe , Jesse Bradford , Adam Beach , John Benjamin Hickey , and John Slattery
Director: Clint Eastwood
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
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ASIN: B000M4RG42
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Amazon.com

Thematically ambitious and emotionally complex, Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers is an intimate epic with much to say about war and the nature of heroism in America. Based on the non-fiction bestseller by James Bradley (with Ron Powers), and adapted by Million Dollar Baby screenwriter Paul Haggis (Jarhead screenwriter William Broyles Jr. wrote an earlier draft that was abandoned when Eastwood signed on to direct), this isn't so much a conventional war movie as it is a thought-provoking meditation on our collective need for heroes, even at the expense of those we deem heroic. In telling the story of the six men (five Marines, one Navy medic) who raised the American flag of victory on the battle-ravaged Japanese island of Iwo Jima on February 23rd, 1945, Eastwood takes us deep into the horror of war (in painstakingly authentic Iwo Jima battle scenes) while emphasizing how three of the surviving flag-raisers (played by Adam Beach, Ryan Phillippe, and Jesse Bradford) became reluctant celebrities - and resentful pawns in a wartime publicity campaign - after their flag-raising was immortalized by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal in the most famous photograph in military history.

As the surviving flag-raisers reluctantly play their public roles as "the heroes of Iwo Jima" during an exhausting (but clearly necessary) wartime bond rally tour, Flags of Our Fathers evolves into a pointed study of battlefield valor and misplaced idolatry, incorporating subtle comment on the bogus nature of celebrity, the trauma of battle, and the true meaning of heroism in wartime. Wisely avoiding any direct parallels to contemporary history, Eastwood allows us to draw our own conclusions about the Iwo Jima flag-raisers and how their postwar histories (both noble and tragic) simultaneously illustrate the hazards of exploited celebrity and society's genuine need for admirable role models during times of national crisis. Flags of Our Fathers defies the expectations of those seeking a more straightforward war-action drama, but it's richly satisfying, impeccably crafted film that manages to be genuinely patriotic (in celebrating the camaraderie of soldiers in battle) while dramatizing the ultimate futility of war. Eastwood's follow-up film, Letters from Iwo Jima, examines the Iwo Jima conflict from the Japanese perspective. --Jeff Shannon

Beyond Flags of Our Fathers

Other World War II DVDs
Essential DVDs by Director Clint Eastwood
Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley

Stills from Flags of Our Fathers (click for larger image)

Product Description

From Academy Award-winning director Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven) comes the World Was II epic Flags of Our Fathers, produced by Eastwood, Academy Award winner Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List), and Rob Lorenz (Mystic River), and from a screenplay adapted by William Broyles, Jr. (Cast Away) and Oscar winner Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby, Crash).
February 1945. Even as victory in Europe was finally within reach, the war in the Pacific raged on. One of the most crucial and bloodiest battles of the war was the struggle for the island of Iwo Jima, which culminated with what would become one of the most iconic images in history: five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi. The inspiring photo capturing that moment became a symbol of victory to a nation that had grown weary of war and made instant heroes of the six American soldiers at the base of the flag, some of whom would die soon after, never knowing that they had been immortalized. But the surviving flag raisers had no interest in being held up as symbols and did not consider themselves heroes; they wanted only to stay on the front with their brothers in arms who were fighting and dying without fanfare or glory.
Flags of Our Fathers is based on the bestselling book by James Bradley with Ron Powers, which chronicled the battle of Iwo Jima and the fates of the flag raisers and some of their brothers in Easy Company. Bradley's father, John "Doc" Bradley, was one of the soldiers pictured raising the flag, although James never knew the full extent of his father's experiences until after the elder Bradley's death in 1994.

Customer Reviews:

The raising of the flag should be an event best left to history........2007-09-12

What is the point of this movie . . that American Indians have an alcohol problem, or that the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima was somehow a show, with meaning only for the publicists at that time. That a flag was raised twice is fine, and that there was some confusion over who was actually in the picture is also credible. But harping on one of the soldiers sour disposition, and his drinking problem just didn't seem to belong. And the insistence that the USA would run out of money unless the surviving soldiers put on shows across the country to help raise funds didn't seem appropriate either. Of all the problems we were faced with during the Good War, the inability for the Government to print money when required was not one of them.

This movie tried to sensationalize a very somber event, representing the first major triumph of US forces over the Japanese. It shouldn't have. The raising of the flag should be an event best left to history.

THROUGH A SOLDIERS EYES!!.......2007-09-02

flags of our fathers was a nicely done film. at some points it made me feel as if i was there. seeing what they saw, living what the lived, all the blood, corpses, and not knowing if they would live or die. everything they would go through, friends they would lose, and family they never know if they would see again. they would return, not feeling like heroes, but feeling empty, alone, with no one to understand, only those who lived and died during war. they would be traumatized, with images and voices they would never forget, but never share. this movie was very well done, a good thumbs up for catching that accuracy of the feeling only those who've been to war know about. clint eastwood nice job. great actor, and director. through this you can see just what people of all backgrounds, and race have done to give all of us what we now have.

Found it high quality but boring.......2007-09-02

I was looking for something more like "Letters from Iwo Jima" which was an excellent movie. Although FOF is typical Eastwood quality, I found the movie itself boring and still haven't finished it. I guess if you're into WWII history and character studies it would be better, and although the story about the two flags is interesting the movie just didn't do much for me.

Important film for all generations.......2007-09-01

Bought this for Father's Day, as my late father was a Navy Medic in Iwo Jima, just as the main character in the film. It was moving in so many ways, primarily to see what he went through, but never spoke of. The Marines had no medics, so they borrowed them from the Navy. They carried no weapons, and saw the most horrific action. The scam fostered by the government was an indictment and an embarrassment, but part of our history that must be told, and the Native American experience was also something I was not aware of. A must see for all Americans.

The Hidden Side of The Flag Raising on Iwo Jima.......2007-08-31

A compeling story of the cost of war on young lives. Not only those who died, but also those who survived. The lives of the survivors were forever changed, often for the worse.

Average customer rating:

Inspiring film!
A holistic, world-wide look at the happiness known as surfing... magical stuff
Awesome!
Quality surf movie
Boring

Step into Liquid
Starring: Robert August , Ken Collins , Rob Machado , Kelly Slater , and Bruce Brown
Director: Dana Brown (II)
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Biography | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video

Documentary | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video

Surfing | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Accessories:

Enduroshot Energy Shots, Maximum Energy, Orange Velocity, 15 drinks [33 oz (975 ml)]

ASIN: B0001FGBUC
Release Date: 2004-04-20

Amazon.com

Thanks to Dana Brown's delightful Step Into Liquid, the surfing scene in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, should get a healthy boost. That's because Brown, in the tradition of his father, filmmaker Bruce Brown (The Endless Summer), has captured dazzling images of surfers riding curls in some of the world's most exotic--and sometimes unlikely--places. Besides the action on Lake Michigan, Brown leads us to Costa Rica, where the sport's senior elite (including Summer star Robert August) prove they still have the moves, and Oahu's North Shore, where the legendary Pipeline inspires this quote: "It's so scary, maybe you die a little." Most entertaining is a segment in County Donegal, where the American Malloy brothers startle the locals and meet their Irish counterparts on the grayest ocean imaginable. Great personal stories here, including the tale of Northern California's Dale Webster, who has never missed a day on the waves in 30 years. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Inspiring film!.......2007-08-22

This is a fantastic and inspiring film for both surfers and non-surfers. Be careful if you're a non-surfer, though; you may get hooked on this sport after watching the film. :)

A holistic, world-wide look at the happiness known as surfing... magical stuff.......2007-07-29

This is a ridiculously sweet DVD. From big wave surfing with Laird Hamilton to barge surfing off Texas to some nut who's been surfing every day for over 20 years, Step Into Liquid goes there with the question ... what is it about surfing?

And it has the answers... a brief history, a wide array of top-notch and not-so-much top-notch but having a good time surfing spots. Some of the scenes and cinematography are just unreal, and many of the big namers (Laird, Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, etc.) are in the mix. Great music too... and not too much narration.

Do yourself a favor - buy it, watch it, and go surfing... you'll feel better afterwards.

Awesome!.......2007-07-12

If you ever thought about surfing but weren't sure, buy this DVD and we'll see you in the water.

Quality surf movie.......2007-06-12

I grew up surfing and in the "surf culture" of Southern California. I watched many, many movies over the years and found that most were good as far as the surf scenes (Pipeline, Java, Australia etc.) but ultimately became boring due to a lack of any examination about real watermen/women and what drives them in this art & sport. This sport/art is about a relationship with a vast and ever changing ocean. An eye on the weather, tides and several of other Mother Nature's elements is what the true "soul" surfer does on a daily ba