Reviews (37)

An all time favorite
I'm not entirely sure why I like this movie so very much, but I have loved it from the very first time I saw it more than 20 years ago and still watch it often. It is a dramatization of the true story of the short-lived first cruise of the German battleship "Bismarck", of the destruction it wrought and of the hunt to find and ultimately destroy it. Yes, there are some inaccuracies in the details of which ships took part in the hunt, as well as in the portrayal of German Admiral Gunther Lutjens, but the fact that this is a British movie, made while the scars of war were still a strongly living memory, should be borne in mind in this regard.

Among the things that make it worth viewing are: the presence of Edward R. Morrow recreating the atmosphere of his wartime London radio reports, the recreation of the Naval command center underneath the Admiralty building and the highly believable performance of Kenneth More (himself a wartime naval officer) as the deeply wounded Captain Shepherd. Dana Wynter also gives a delicately nuanced performance as Second Officer Anne Davis. The moment when she enters Shepherd's office and realizes that he is crying is beautifully done.

The highly restrained romantic undercurrent doesn't interfere with the main story line and is very believable for wartime professionals. One comes away from this movie knowing that a great menace to the eventual survival of Britain has been eliminated and that there may be hope for both the UK and for two lonely people.

The inclusion in the new DVD of some newreel footage of the actual event is a nice little bonus. The subject of the hunt for and destruction of the "Bismarck" has also recently been the subject of some recent documentaries. The story retains its impact, even after more than 60 years.

Honorable Men in Desperate Battle
Honorable Men in Desperate Battle

In May 1941, Britain stood alone against Nazi tyranny. The German blitz had devastated much of the English industrial base. The lifeline to America across the North Atlantic was critical to England's survival. In an effort to cut this lifeline, Hitler built the Bismarck, the fastest and most powerful battleship the world had ever seen. "Sink the Bismarck" is the story of a desperate 6-day naval engagement to find and destroy the German battleship. The British initially dispatched the pride of the Royal Navy, the H.M.S. Hood, to intercept the Bismarck. A single shell from the Bismarck penetrated a magazine on the Hood, instantly destroying the British ship.

The film depicts the subsequent efforts of the Royal Navy to locate and attack the Bismarck with overwhelming fire power. As often happens in war, the most unpredictable bad luck was counterbalanced by miraculous good fortune. The film evokes the grim resolution, the desperate gambles, and the professional skills of the British command to bring the Bismarck to bay. Kenneth More is well-cast in the role of Captain Jonathan Shepard, a man who conveys both iron will to duty, yet vulnerability to personal human loss in his pursuit of the Bismarck. The film teems with excitement and suspense as it records one of the great naval battles ever fought.

Classic 1960 film tops most war films
1st of all Dana Wynter is a real "looker".
For all you losers who think the 1969 film The Battle of Britain is a good film, well, you are total easily manipulated fools. This film tells all. Nuff said.

A Great Movie About the Hunt for the Bismarck
This fine film, made in 1960, does a fine job of re-creating the events surrounding the search for and eventual destruction of the pride of the German navy: the Bismarck. Veteran British actor Kenneth More stars as Captain Jonathan Shepard, a new officer who gets placed in charge of the hunt for the Bismarck in Britain's Naval Operations center. Shepard has a personal stake in seeing the Bismarck sunk. Bismarck's commander, Admiral Gunter Lutjens, played by Karel Stepanek, sunk Shepard's vessel earlier in the war. Dana Wynter stars as 2nd officer Anne Davis, an assistant to Capt. Shepard. A fictional implied but never shown romance develops between Shepard and Davis throughout the course of the film. Carl Mohner stars as Bismarck's Captain Lindemann.

The battle scenes are excellent. One must remember when viewing this film that the special effects are from the 1960's, but that does nothing to detract from the excitement of the ship-to-ship combat scenes. The fight between the HMS Hood and Bismarck is the high point of the film. It was exciting to see the ships being straddled by the other's shells, and seeing the Hood blow up was especially thrilling.

The historical correctness of the film was excellent except for a few minor details. For example, during the attack on the Bismarck by the British Swordfish torpedo planes, the movie shows two being destroyed when in reality none were lost. Also, the movie depicts a British destroyer being sunk by Bismarck. This is also incorrect as the Hood was the only British loss. Finally, the movie depicts Admiral Lutjens as being a staunt supporter of the Nazi party. This is also false. Lutjens was against Naziism, and refused to give the Nazi salute, instead preferring to use the old German navy salute. The movie also depicted a rather close relationship between Lutjens and Lindemann. This was also not the case. In reality, the two German commanders disagreed on many topics, and at one point during the heat of battle, Lindemann said to Lutjens that he refused to sit by while his ship was shot out from underneath him. Aside from these points, the historical aspect of the movie is very well done.

I highly recommend this film. The acting is excellent and the battle scenes will keep you on the edge of your seat. Watch this great movie and experience the hunt for the most feared ship in the German navy.

The story and acting carry you
In this era of elaborate SFX, a 1960 B&W movie of the war at sea might be expected to come up poorly. But the superbly crafted story and steady acting carry you along. While history has been modified here and there, the main points are solidly grounded (reality is almost always more compelling than fantasy: compare the struggle for Tarawa with Helm's Deep). Even though all but the brain dead know what the outcome will be, the level of tension achieved during the hunt for Bismark is remarkable. Viewing this film ought to be compulsory for all directors - story and acting are far more important than SFX. ... Read more

Reviews (21)

ALFIE!
Altoghter now..."What's it all about...ALFIE?" This 1966 film directed by LEWIS GILBERT stars MICHAEL CAINE as Alfie, a wonderfully shallow WOMANIZER who is trying to figure out what life is, well, all about! Actually this is an excellent SATIRE of the SWINGING SCENE in England in the SIXTIES! Also featuring SHELLEY WINTERS and DENHOLM ELLIOTT, along with MILLICENT MARTIN, JULIA FOSTER and JANE ASHER as the women left in Alfie's WAKE! Unfortunately, there are NO EXTRAS besides the trailer on this DVD, because this film deserves more than the bare minimum treatment!

The Movie That Launched Michael Caine
Most huge movie stars have a movie which launched them onto a bigger career path where they never had to look back again. "Alfie" was that movie for Michael Caine just as the "The Graduate" did it for Dustin Hoffman in that same '60s era. Caine plays a Cockney philanderer who flits from woman to woman in one night stands. He is not attractive necessarily though to female viewers who will find his lower class bent offputting. His lifestyle will come off as tawdry at best to many of these viewers. Caine's brilliance in this role though is that his way of talking to you the viewer, speaking directly into the camera conversationally throughout the movie, draws you into the character of Alfie, wanting to know what makes him the way he is. ("What's It All About, Alfie?" was its famous song and is the question which occupies the viewer.) Although you do not sympathize with Alfie, you come to be fascinated by him. Shelly Winters also renders a noteworthy performance as a well-to-do woman Alfie dallies with for her money. I've read that Michael Caine himself in real life comes from origins similar to Alfie's and that the Cockney voice he uses throughout was the dialect he grew up with as a boy.

A pointless grim tradgedy, No comedy here. A waste.
Just as the pseudo protagonist wastes his life and those around him, he spreads the misery to the audience. To spend 2 hours with a man that refers to woman as an "it" rather than she wastes 2 hours of your own life. The good performances only serve to highlight the bad writing of the flick.

The enduring sport of pursuing the tenderest prey
Alfie is the quintessential cad. He's so charming and good-looking that foolish birds flutter about him as soon as he speaks. Very few actors have the charisma to effectively pull this kind of magentism off. Michael Caine makes trashing the dreams of his conquests into a veritable science. He knows he doesn't want to have to work for anything these hungry gals will eagerly do for him. He gets good as long as the getting's good--and then he gets out. Of course, this film doesn't let him flit about. He faces danger, terror, and the hurtful side of human existence he's been so desperate to stave off. It gets him like it gets all of us eventually. It is this development that lends Alfie a dash of wisdom to go along with his easy manners and flashy grin. Of course he always had it. It just wasn't useful before. In other words, suffering has allowed him to actually feel like a person. Still, there is no doubt that he's going to give it another go as soon as he sees one he fancies. He isn't reformed. He just went through a rough patch. Birds are his game. Nice suits, decent food, a bit of money. He doesn't have to ever grow up and take responsibility for anything as long as he plays the game the right way. He'll never have to face his Self and what he is really worth. What it means to be alone with nothing to solve it. He's already accepted the emptiness of what he does. His coldness. His fear of their pain. He'll says he's not a wolf, but he devours them just as ravenously as if they were his prey--discarding their carcasses as soon as he's sated his appetite on their white, quivering flesh. Some men were born to be so loved because of not despite their abject cruelty. It is a gift, perhaps.

Vivien Merchant ("The Maids", "Accident", "Frenzy") radiates prim carnality as Lily. She is easily the most "proper" lady in the film--and subsequently saddled with a sick husband and three kids. She's too much for Alfie--and far too hungry. Shelley Winters is a scream as the hostess with the mostest. She commands the screen with as much veracity as Caine. Her fangs prove to be a bit too much for Alfie once they are bared. Denholm Elliot as the abortionist has a few minutes of screentime--but he makes the most of them with a solid, commanding turn.

This is exquisite entertainment. It gets terribly dark in places but such is life. 5/5.

Overall, a fine film.

'Alfie' is one of the best British 60's films
Michael Caine plays the title role to perfection. Alfie is an attractive, sexy, but shallow and obnoxious playboy who goes about his business of womanizing while frequently turning to address the audience with his views, philosophies, justifications, etc., so that you get a sense of shadowing him like an invisible imaginary friend he's always talking to. He has very little respect for women and he's every mother's nightmare of the type of fellow she would not want her daughter involved with. Some may find the film disturbing because Alfie is such a rotten person, but the unfortunate fact is, he is realistic. Almost everyone has known men who behave just like him, just as everyone has known wonderful 'nice guys' like several of the male characters who appear in contrast to Alfie's type.

Alfie seems to be in a constant battle with himself to remain insensitive, uncaring, and focused only on an 'empty sex is everything' point of view. He carries on affairs with married women who yearn to run away with him, and at the same time with single girls who'd do anything to pry a commitment from him, and he makes a few people pregnant along the way. Every female he meets is desperate to get him for a serious partner and he is indifferent to them all. Irony comes when he meets and finally falls for someone, at last wishing to commit himself. The object of his desire is a flashy, worldly older woman (Shelley Winters), and the problem is, she is a female replica of himself who uses men and views them with the exact same disregard he has for women. To her, Alfie, 'the bloke all the other gals are dying for', is just another meaningless piece of sexual action, and thus, he ends up getting a good dose of his own medicine.

The DVD is beautifully clear, almost 3-dimensional. I've never seen it with such clarity! And yes, as someone asked below, the great hit song 'Alfie', sung by Cher, is indeed played with the end credits. I've heard that the British release of the film had it sung by Cilla Black, but the American DVD has Cher's version, as did the American theatres. ... Read more

Reviews (139)

"Remember - The Spy Who Loved Me"
On July 7,1977 (7-7-77), The Spy Who Loved Me roared into theaters across the country to become one of the most financially successful Bond films of all time. The tenth in the series, TSWLM marks the begining of the big Bond films, a trend that would continue (with the exception of For Your Eyes Only) throughout the rest of the series. In this film, James Bond (Roger Moore) must join forces with Soviet secret agent XXX (Barbara Bach) as they track down two missing nuclear submarines. Their search takes them to Egypt, Sardinia, and Atlantis, a giant underwater city owned by the shipping mogal Stromberg. Stromberg wishes to use the two submarine to start World War III by launching nuclear missles at New York City and Moscow. If successful, he wishes to start a new civilization under the sea. This is a grand movie. The action, gadgetry and the sets themslves are absolutly wonderful. Two more reasons to see TSWLM: the villanous Jaws (7-foot 2-inch actor Richard Keil) and "Nobdy Does It Better" the title song is arguably one of the best Bond songs of all - it's my personal favorite. So anyway, see this movie. It's the biggest. It's the Best. It's Bond. And B-E-Y-O-N-D.

Moore's best
The Spy who Loved Me was awesome.This film had the best settings,Roger Moore performance,and musical score.Atlantis was SWEET.Stromberg gets 3 out of five stars as a villain,while Jaws gets 4 and a half.Barbara Bach was great as agent Triple X.I love the car chase on land and the part were the Lotus Espirit turns into a submarine is awesome. The trapdoor in the elevator that led into the shark room was really cool.A good pre-title sequence with the ski chase.This movie takes place in Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.I liked the part when Jaws and Bond fought in the shark room. Kind of gruesome when he kills the shark though.

Great Bond Adventure
This is the 10th film in the long-running "James Bond" series and the third to star Roger Moore as Bond. This entry is also my favorite in the series (well, so far it is as I have only seen five Bond films).

007 is on another mission to the save the world (what else?) in "The Spy Who Loved Me." A pair of nuclear submarines from England and Russia have strangely disappeared and Bond...James Bond, is assigned to retrieve a microfilm that has recorded the movements of the British sub. The Russians send their own spy, the beautiful Anya Amasova, to find the film as well. At first, Amasova and Bond attempt to outwit each other to get the film but eventually the pair are ordered to team up to get to the heart of the problem. The trail they follow leads them to billionaire Karl Stromberg who has a dastardly plan to destroy the Earth...

This Bond episode works well thanks primarily to some good direction from Lewis Gilbert. Though the film is not well paced, Gilbert makes up for that with some excellent set pieces. I thought the fighting sequences on Stromberg's boat were particularly well done. There are some other good moments too, including the chase in the Lotus Espirit (which can transform into a submersible), the opening ski-chase, and Bond's dueling with steel-toothed bad guy Jaws. The acting here was serviceable, though I felt it left something to be desired. This happens to be the first Bond film I've seen in which Roger Moore is carrying the 007 moniker. Moore gets the job done but he seems to lack the edge of the two other Bond's I've seen: Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan. Meanwhile, Barbara Bach has the looks for a typical Bond-girl but is a bit stiff in her role. Still, she gives an effective performance. One more thing worth noting is the theme song by Carly Simon, "Nobody Does It Better." I really liked it and it seems to complement the James Bond character well.

This is a great entry in the 007 series. If you're a Bond fan (or even a non-fan) and haven't yet seen this episode, then be sure you do so. This movie will be a fresh reminder that indeed "Nobody Does It Better" than James Bond.

moores franchised bond
roger moore gets knocked around a lot for the way he played bond.
now, come on, lets be frank, bond is the stuff of pulp fiction and moore knew this.
by the time live and let die was being filmed the bond movies had become a franchise (only the first three stand out as non franchise movies). connery could not co-exist in a franchise.
he was too stubborn an actor to merely be 'one of the special affects'.
when roger moore came around he decided not to take any of it seriously and he was right to do so.
it is moores little boy sense of humour that makes these movies work.
spy who loved me and for your eyes only are the best of the moores, with this one having the slight edge.it has the necessary balance to make it a mmeorable entry. classic scene:
when moore is in a van being attacked by jaws he smiles, and charms his way through a series of puns that only he, in his all too cool superficiality, could pull off.
makes for a fun night.

the underrated moore in the best of his bonds
roger moore gets picked on a bit too much as of late for making bond too cartoonish.
puleazee!
we are talking about a pulp character here.
there is no doubt that he did not have connery's edge, but. hell, connery no longer even had his edge.
the lame, bored connery of diamonds are forever is not the gritty connery of dr.no or from russia with love.
we wouldn't see that type of grit again until dalton's brief stint, which DID work, but was flawed by two films with a miami vice feel.
moore refused to take any of it seriousely and by doing so, at least for a while, he gave a new vigor to the franchise.
unfortunately, moonraker followed this, but then moore did one have one last hurrah with a more subtle performance in 'for your eyes only '(and he did prove to the producers in that film that he could take it seriousely).
but here, is moore at his best. this is His interpetation and all the elements come together to support moore in his styling of the character.
a potent remionder that moore kept this franchise alive and going and did it well for some time. ... Read more

Description

From legendary filmmaker Carol Reed (The Third Man, Odd Man Out, Oliver!) comes this charming fantasy about the power of childhood imagination. Joe is a young boy who lives in a poor section in London. He becomes convinced that through the mythical powers of a unicorn, he can grant the wishes of his mother and friends. Joe searches endlessly and finally discovers his unicorn—which turns out to be just a goat with a misshapen horn. Or is it? A Kid For Two Farthings is a touching film about the power of make believe.
... Read more