Reviews (11)

We need more like this today
Unfortunately I have not read the book but the movie gives the viewer a visual on how us as african americans can come together and make a difference. If your looking for great acting, and action your looking in the wrong place because it has a deeper meaning than what is shown on the screen, it's almost like a teaching tool. This movie definately recieves five stars from me, and we really need more movies like this to influence each other to work together as a whole.

The best Anti-Establishment Films Ive ever seen!!!
If you are into fighting against the establishment, then this is the film for you. No wonder the government pulled it, and squashed all publicity of the movie. It is about a black social worker from Chicago that joins the FBI as the "first negro agent." He learned everything he could and used the knowledge obtained to turn a Chicago street gang into the largest internal threat the U.S. Government has seen since the civil war. Ironically, the government discounted the possibilities that the force was black.

correction
Just got finished watching this DVD, and it definitely IS letterboxed, the review below notwithstanding. Not too many extras, though a great interview with author/ screenwriter Sam Greenlee, and a nice transfer. Definitely worth watching.

TAKE NOTE MY PEOPLE
AFTER HEARING ABOUT THE BOOK FROM SEVERAL FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS, I RUSHED OUT TO BY IT, THANK GOODNESS I GOT THE LAST COPY IN THE STORE. I READ THE BOOK IN ONE DAY AND COULD'NT PUT IT DOWN. WE MUST LOOK AT THE REAL WORLD AND TAKE NOTE OF HOW WE ARE LIVING. IN OUR LIFETIME WE SHOULD LOOK AT THE IMOPORTANT THINGS THAT WILL MAKE US RICH IN KOWLEDGE AND NOT IN MATERIAL THINGS, THAT ARE SHORT LIVED. ONCE YOU ATTAIN KNOWLEDGE NO ONE CAN TAKE IT AWAY. UNDERSTAND HOW WE ARE BEING USED AND MANIPULATED. FOR SO LONG OUR EDUCATION HAS BEEN SUPRESSED, BECAUSE WE WERE NEVER ABLE TO GO TO QUALITY SCHOOLS AND LEARN ABOUT OUR HERITAGE. TO SURVIVE IN THIS DAY AND AGE WE MUST BE EDUCATED AND TRULY UNDERSTAND THE SOCIETY WE LIVE IN AND OFFER POSITIVE ROLE MODELS FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. GREAT BOOK I RECOMMEND IT TO ALL!!!! CAN'T WAIT TO PURCHASE THE DVD.

Almost perfect
The film itself gets 5 stars from me, but this DVD only 4. It is seriously lacking a commentary track, any subtitles, and is presented in full frame instead of letterbox.

But beggers can't be choosers, and I've been begging someone, ANYONE, to get a good quality print of this long-suppressed film onto DVD. And this DVD is made from the master negative that has been in a vault for over 30 years!

After watching only pirated VHS copies and badly worn Canadian releases for so long, this film looks and sounds fresh and crisp.

For those uninitiated to this film, or the book it is based upon, here's a quick summary...

A White U.S. Senator, looking to improve his standing among Black voters, sponsors a drive for the CIA to recruit Black agents. However, everyone is graded on a curve, so all are condemned to flunk...save for soft-spoken Dan Freeman. After going through grueling training in self-defence, guerilla warfare and underground operations, he is recruited to be a "reproduction chief" (he runs a photocopier in the sub-basement), and serves the CIA as a token Black employee (the term "spook" used here is both a racial slur, and a slang term for a spy).

After 5 years, he leaves the CIA to work in his native Chicago for a social services agency...by day. By night, he's using his CIA training to teach a street gang to be the vanguard in an upcoming race war...

Understandably, this film raised a lot of fears among Whites when released, and despite box office success, it vanished from distribution after only three weeks. The film-makers insist it was pressure on the film's distributors by the FBI and their COINTELPRO program against Black Nationalist groups.

Long available only on bootleg video copies and screened only on college campuses, it became an underground classic. And now, it's legitimately available on DVD.

The DVD includes the rarely seen coming attractions trailer and TV spot, as well as interviews with the book's author, Sam Greenlee (in his 70's and still as vocal as he ever was!) and film-maker Robert Townsend, who says that this film literally changed his life.

Believe the hype! This film was made against the odds (The producer struggled just to make payroll, and the outdoor scenes in Chicago were shot without permits!), and despite the years, has not lost any of it's punch!

In short: Buy it now! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Solid intro for Redford, but Saxon is the real star...
This is an obviously low-budget affair, but don't let that dissuade you from at least screening this film.

Set in the waning days of the Korean War, the story revolves around a new replacement (Robert Redford), who joins an infantry unit on the front lines. As he experiences the bitter taste of war, he tries to understand the meaning of it all. Meanwhile, he is concerned over the psychotic lone wolf in the outfit (John Saxon), and his bizzare attachment to a young Korean kid. Saxon's character is a successful killing machine, but unaccustomed to fitting in with people.

The main selling point is, of course, the film debut of Robert Redford. Redford is excellent here, even at a relatively young age. Redford has always been good at playing honest, good-guy straight shooters, and his debut as Pvt. Roy Loomis is no exception. However, it really has to be said that, for as good as the young Redford is, it is John Saxon who steals the show as the brooding, psychotic killing machine, Endore. If you don't believe me, just check out the scene when Redford confronts him, and Saxon shows us a murderer using every ounce of control at his command to master his anger and keep from killing.

Gavin MacLeod and Tom Skerritt play fellow soldiers in the squad, and the stark black & white photography assists in setting the proper mood for the story.

John Saxon as bad guy ?
very heavy war story but great in that we get to see a VERY young Robert Redford and the ever handsome John Saxon as the bad guy .. good battle scenes ... but dark brooding and violent ! ... Read more

Description

Cassavetes' first independent feature depicts the struggle of three African-American siblings to survive in the mean streets of Manhattan. Hugh, a would-be jazz musician, looks after younger siblings Ben and Leila, who are light-skinned enough to pass for white. This seems to give them an advantage and more opportunities while Hugh must struggle by playing the trumpet in dive bars and strip joints. Shadows was made from a script entirely improvised by the cast, and heralded a vital new era in independent filmmaking. Starring: Hugh Hurd, Leila Goldoni, Ben Carruthers. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Out from the Shadows
Cassavetes was just warming up when he made this in the late '50s, but what a debut! He'd have better actors and more focused scenes in future movies, but the willingness to tackle intense subjects in unexpected ways is already here in full force. Race isn't so much the issue in "Shadows" as it is an occasion for exploring a whole range of folks uncomfortable in their own skins, from the 'racist' lover who wants Lelia back to the goofy hoods in Ben's gang. Cassavetes is especially sensitive to the way that people who are forced to conform to any of society's ideas--about the artist, the intellectual or the racial outsider--can be violent in turn towards others. A great taste of the films to come!

AWEsome Film
This is a great movie. Like it was made yeserday. Punk, beat in sensibility. About young people struggling on the fringes.

Also the review that follows mine is right. A guy named Ray Carney just wrote an amazing book about the movie that has incredible behind the scenes details that no one ever knew before. Cassavetes revealed them to Carney before he died in a Rosebud conversation. Check out the book titled Shadows and another titled Cassavetes on Cassavetes along with the film. It's available here if you type in Cassavetes' name under books. Also Carney has a web site that you should check out with lots of other Cassavetes material.

I love this movie! And the books about it.

FILM GOGGLES
This intense, hysterical, loud, sweet and sour film was NOT an IMPROVISATION despite the end title! Neither were Cassavetes other films, in the classic sense of IMPROV. Improv was sparringly used in the writing of the scripts, but Cassavetes was a WRITER who knew what he was doing more than people give him credit for. This is a major crime against one of the greatest artists of the last 100 years (wha? no, seriously). To get the real scoop, and an exhaustive, loving take on this important first film by an American original, check out the BFI Film Series edition on SHADOWS, which just came out. It breaks it down and builds it back up, in a way you won't believe.

Director Cassavetes in Top Form
In constrast to the sanitized images of 1950s television and motion pictures, SHADOWS is like a breath of fresh air. It's independent filmmaking at its best. You'll find no silly "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best" plots here. Instead, you have characters that respond and speak like regular people. This is in large part because Cassavetes allowed the actors to improvise their dialog. This is particularly true for the black characters in the film, because they aren't constrained by an outsider's view of them.

There are several stories in the film, but perhaps the most interesting is that of Lelia (played by Lelia Goldoni). Living in a Manhattan apartment with her two brothers, she's somewhat naive of the world. At a party she meets Tony and they soon hit it off. Just as quickly, things start to sour between them. If it already isn't bad enough, all hell breaks loose, when Tony is unable to conceal his shock when he discovers that the olive complexioned Lelia is actually black.

In a Hollywood film, this scenario would have been thrown under the rug or handled in a stiff and artificial manner (like ISLAND IN THE SUN). Fortunately, we get a much more interesting and realistic view of the situation. Granted some of the dialog might be a bit on the nose at times, but when the improv works, it works fabulously.

One of the best scenes in the film involves Lelia on a date. Without revealing too much, her dialog is a killer. John Sayles couldn't have written it any crisper.

As the whole, the cast is very good. All of the major players have the same first names as their respective characters. Rupert Crosse (who later received an Academy Award nomination for his role in The Reivers) is very funny in this film. Hugh Hurd (father of Michelle Hurd on Showtime's "Leap Years") is very believable as a frustrated vocalist who is also the caring older brother of Lelia. Also look out for Lynn Hamilton (perhaps best known for her recurring role on "Sanford & Son") in a small role.

The film is raw, but like sushi there is much to savour here. Just sit back, relax and pop this movie into your machine. A little patience will go a long way with this gem. Check it out.

REBELS WITH A CAUSE
If you love movies, you have to be curious. I'm well aware that it's not possible, even for the most resistant among us, to see, let's say, the whole american production of the year. So how could we find the time to admire the european, asiatic, african or south american movies presented each year ? Oh yes ! I forgot one thing. Most of us have a 50 hours working week to digest... How but how to make the right choice ? I'm pretty sure that everybody has his own answer to this question. Personally, I choose the movies I see by the name of the director. Because I'm convinced that the only movies that'll pass the test of time will be the movies shot by authors-directors.

John Cassavetes was one of these authors-directors and his movies are already classics. A few weeks ago, Pioneer has presented SHADOWS, the first movie of John Cassavetes, in the DVD standard. Shot in black and white, with unknown actors, in the streets of New-York, SHADOWS is a magistral first movie. An improvisation if we have to believe the final credits.

SHADOWS is the kind of movie which is going to make you love cinema once again and forget all the trashy images you have swallowed this year. It's not perfect but John Cassavetes was a movie lover and that's the only thing that matters. He was honest and he deserves respect.

A scene access and a two pages essay as sole bonus features. Sound and images are below average but I don't care. I'm curious.

A DVD dedicated to the independent ones. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Men in War - Cult War Classic and Psycho-Drama
"Men in War" may just be the best pschological study of combat ever made and should be considered a cult classic (and probably is) even if it is a cult of one. Anyone who claims this is a "Standard war film set in Korea" might also claim "The God Father" was a standard gangster movie or "The Wizard of OZ" was a standard children's flick. "Men in War" is a concise, classic study of combat that just happens to be set in the Korean War. Anthony Mann's direction impacts every aspect of humanity subjected to sustained combat. Amid the horror we see from the all-but-doomed patrol kindness, depravity, valor, self-interest, despair, hope, and, finally, relief without joy. In short we see how desperation exponentializes human emotion. The unusual camera angles give it a Film Noir "look" that highlights the conflicts and tragedies played out by the forlorn platoon. Robert Ryan and Aldo Ray are the perfect dueling co-protagonists who show that our toughest fights are not always with the ones defined as the enemy. The movie is all very real, all real personal, and all very difficult to watch sometimes because of the graphic truths, not the least of which is the insight into the final thoughts of several doomed souls. There is no going back with this film. Once you watch it you are hooked. It would be best for some esteemed critics to actually watch it once before reviewing it.

Best War film of the '50s?
Anthony Mann's "Men in War," along with Sam Fuller's "Steel Helmet," is the most realistic, tough-as-nails war film made in the '50s.

This is ANTYTHING BUT your standard Hollywood treatment. "Men in War," along with Mann's famous Westerns is a demonstration model of the 'vulgar subtlety' with which Mann subverts Hollywood convention to craft a masterpiece.

And what can you say about Robert Ryan? Easily one of the greatest actors of all time, and one of the coolest. Ryan OWNS this film like he owned Ophuls' Noir film "Caught," (even outshining James Mason in that one) and Aldo Ray steps up to Ryan's challenge with a truly phenomenal performance. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

A Stark, Unflinching War Drama
"Men in War" makes one wish Anthony Mann had directed more war films. This is an excellent, character-driven story. It is a prime example of the mature, unflinching kind of war film that began to appear after the Korean conflict. Undeservedly neglected, this picture ranks with Lewis Milestone's "Pork Chop Hill" and Robert Aldrich's "Attack". And it is the progenitor of "Platoon" and "The Thin Red Line". with their complex characters and situations.

Every actor seems to give his best, with exceptional moments from Robert Ryan, Aldo Ray and Robert Keith, as a shell-shocked Colonel. And it is always good to see the admirable Pine, Morrow, Persoff and Edwards. The film has a stark, yet pleasing black & white look which is appropriate for the bare bones conflicts the story sets forth. Moreover, "Men in War" features a very fine score by Elmer Bernstein, utilizing an authentic Korean folk song.

Men in War
This has to be one of the most underrated war flicks of all time. Next to Pork Chop Hill with Gregory Peck, this is the best Korean War film I've seen. Robert Ryan was the perfect cast as the war weary Lieutenant trying to lead his platoon back to battalion HQ. Those who rate this movie average must be fans of Rat Patrol. This movie is a must see.

Men in War
Excellent,all the cast perform their parts well, great action sequences and some amazingly tense scenes.The film begins with the troops hiding in a large hollow ,surrounded by tall grass. Wrecked vehicles lie strewn across the area and only the sound of the wind can be heard.Probably the most climactic scenes I will ever see. This is one of my all time favourites. ... Read more