Reviews (14)

Cheesy But Fun
This is a good movie if you are looking to relax, have a few laughs, and not use your brain. There are some "cringe" moments which some consider funny that I did not like which kept me from rating this higher (and almost caused it to drop a notch). But moments like "doing the nasty" and the thing Keith David's character does to some cops is seriously wrong and funny. I enjoyed watching Emilor and Charlie work together. I'm glad Amazon.com has put this back out for sale!

men at awesome work
this move was the most funny movie and yet it was heartwarming in a way

Alot of laughs
This is a pretty funny story and has some great actors in it. Although it could be considered a little on the odd side it definitely will get you laughing. There's always something going wrong and the comedy never stops!

a comedy classic
I've been waiting for this to be released on DVD. The movie is a hoot!!! Especially love the "Louis" character. "I hate cops- I hate rent-a cops too". "Now if Mr.Sneaky-man would come up here and stand next to Mr.Bone-head". I just received my copy the other day, and was wondering if anyone else has this problem.......there is no chapter index sheet in the box. Just the DVD.

best movie ever
all i got to say is that this movie is so bad ass my buddy and i are going as sheen and estevez for halloween. ... Read more

Description

This highly acclaimed motion picture stars Emilio Estevez (MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, ANOTHER STAKEOUT), Kathy Bates (Academy Award(R)-winning Best Actress, MISERY), and Martin Sheen (THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT). Estevez (who also directed) plays a returning Vietnam War hero whose haunting experiences leave him unable to adjust to the quiet realities of small town life. At odds with his domineering father (Sheen), his desperately cheerful mother (Bates), and free-spirited younger sister (Kimberly Williams -- FATHER OF THE BRIDE 1&2) -- tensions at home soon escalate, finally reaching the breaking point one fateful Thanksgiving Day. A timeles story of one family's struggle to overcome the past ... THE WAR AT HOME is unforgettable movie entertainment! ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Emilio Does His Vietnam Movie
Emilio Estevez does a fine job as both star and director of this overlooked film. His real father Martin Sheen plays his father, and watching the two together is remarkable. This movie really makes you think about what it must have been like for Vietnam vets coming home profoundly changed, to a world that didn't change along with them, and no one really understood post-traumatic stress syndrome at that time in history. And that is the legacy of Vietnam - making it home alive was not the end of the war for those who fought. If you're a vet, you'll want to see this, and you'll want your kids and parents to see it too.

The War At Home 1996 w/Martin Sheen & Emelio Esteves
I just watched The War At Home. This story is very well written, acted & directed. It makes you care for all the characters, and understand what each one is feeling and going through. Not just with what is said, but more importantly, what is not said. The movie gives us a small glimpse of what the Heroic and Brave men went through after returning from the Vietnam War. I myself do not care for war movies, but I could not stop watching. I gave this review five stars because it truly deserves it! I also love that the story is character driven, and does not for one minute rely on special effects. There are a few scenes that were VERY tastefully done, and I did not need to look away once. I highly recommend it. Rarely do I cry during movies, but this really touched my heart, as it will yours. Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Kathy Bates & Kimberly Williams really give great performances. Directed by Emilio Estevez.

This is awesome!
This movie blows me away! Martin Sheen and Kathy Bates, (my favorite actress,) both play roles totally unexpected and suprising as husband and wife.

The acting was believable of all characters, and it really makes you stop and think about the horrors that our soldiers had to endure in Vietnam, God bless them! This is a wake up call addressing our need to honor our vetrans and their families.

I highly reccommend this flick!!!

Great film (minor spoilers herein)
I first saw _The War At Home_ by accident on television. I was about 16 at the time. I loved it mainly because I thought it was a true story, since I had turned it on after the first 15 minutes & missed the opening voice-over. (Just to clarify: five million Americans served in Vietnam over the course of that long war, therefore a good chance exists the events in this movie happened to thousands of young vets--so I'm hesitant to call it FICTIONAL)

Watching it four years later, I felt very sad at the end. Which I actually DIDN'T feel the first time I saw it. The characters were both likeable & unlikeable; I love a movie where you can resent one character you've known all of two hours, or be on the verge of tears when another is facing a difficult time.

Bob seemingly acknowledges his son has changed for the worse when he gives his "draft card speech" at the Thanksgiving day table, but he does nothing to help Jeremy. At the same time, Karen is a psych student, but she can be a little too harsh on Jeremy in certain moments. But the characters are humans, they make mistakes.

The only real problem I had was with the ending voice-over. It gave too much away. I would have been happier wondering what became of Jeremy. (I wonder why they had Karen, of all the characters, doing the voice overs?) Still, it's worth 5 stars.

speechless
i am speechless.
this movie is definetly one of my favorites.
It might not be funny at all. But it is one of the best acted movies of the 90's.
that's all i have to say
i am speechless ... Read more

Amazon.com

There's a great film waiting to be made from the real-life Cain and Abel story of the Mitchell brothers, a story of decadence, drugs, and sex that ended in bloody fratricide. This, unfortunately, is not it. The San Francisco pornography pioneers created the crossover X-rated hit Behind the Green Door, took on both the government and the mob, and weathered the crash of porno theaters by turning their show palace into a venue for live sex shows. The brothers Mitchell were flamboyant showman, from black-tie movie premieres to high-profile arrests, and brothers Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez play the media clowns with ease (under, it should be noted, some very unconvincing bald caps).

Sheen brings a mix of boyish charm, sleepy-eyed irresponsibility, and welled-up rage to the part of Artie Mitchell, the younger brother full of ideas always in the shadow of Jim (Estevez), the director and media glory-hound. Behind the scenes, however, their lives are a repetitious loop of snorting, smoking, sex, and shouting matches. The sloppy direction by Estevez is rambling and unfocused, never really plumbing the depths of the love and jealousy that drove the brothers. It pales next to the passion of Boogie Nights and the complexities of The People vs. Larry Flynt, but for all its shortcomings it is a fascinating story, the underside of the outlaw American dream.

The DVD also features commentary by Estevez and Sheen (who cracks so many deadpan jokes he keeps breaking up Emilio) and interviews with Marilyn Chambers and former San Francisco assistant district attorney Bernard Walter, who talk about the real-life Mitchell brothers. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (10)

The Sheen Bros play the Mitchell Bros to astonishing results
Once you get past the allure of pornography, Rated X is the true story of two troubled brothers who strike it rich in every respect (money and women) in the earliest incarnation of the modern day porn world. Loosely based on the intense biography, X Rrated, Rated X is also the directorial debut of Emilio Estevez. Now before you laugh, Estevez has a strong command of his vision and crafts a startiling, dark world where a pair of brothers fall into drugs, sex, and money and slowly unravel into despair and mental illness.

Charlie Sheen gives the performance of his career as Artie Mitchell, a drug addled, womanizing, porn producer who is eventually gunned down by his brother Jim (Estevez).

'Rated X' shows the earliest struggles of the porn industry against censorship and obsenity and its triumph into the mainstream with the production of 'Deep Throat' and the Mitchell Brothers' classic 'Behind the Green Door.' Eventually, amid the atmosphere of drugs and organized crime the industry falls from the lofty heights of those seminal porn films into a mockery of jokes and sex.

This is an excellent companion piece to PT Anderson's 'Boogie Nights.' Where as 'Boogie' deals more with the personalities that existed in the hey day of porn, 'Rated X' gives us the struggle with authorities over obsenity, the triumph of the porn film with a story and the decline into kitch, cliche, and video.

Sheen and Estevez's performances are strong and vivid, especially in the sceens together where it is obvious (based on Sheen's drug problems) that the brother's are pulling from emotions they have felt in their lives to add realism to the lives of Jim and Artie Mitchell.

Brothers Play Brothers
Real life brothers Emilio Estevez, who is a film maker as well as an actor, and Charlie Sheen, who has been through addiction hell, play the real life brothers Jim Mitchell, a film maker, and Artie Mitchell, who goes into a downward spiral from addictions. I found the parallels interesting and perhaps that is what motivated Emilio to tell this story. The love between both sets of brothers seems very real, and watching Charlie (who has been clean and sober for three or four years now) act out the misery of addiction as Artie was unsettling. I didn't notice any distractions with the skullcaps, and I appreciate Emilio's original film-making style. A thought-provoking movie, and if you are a fan of the Sheen/Estevez clan, definitely check it out. Emilio's son Taylor plays Jim Mitchell as a teenager.

Bad wigs
This movie could have been handled so much better. Doesn't help that the brothers Sheen wore terrible bald wigs which were so noticeable in parts it made the film so silly. Just keep your eye out for the really shiney moments when the wigs look so plastic. That aside, what is wrong with this film. Besides the fact it did nothing at the box office, the film just doesn't have enough punch to pull you in. I really felt nothing for any of the characters involved, and you need to be able to do this to appreciate a film.

The Sheen brothers team up again for this film (remember "Men at Work"?). Someone must have told them that they make a good combination, but I am afraid that this partnership couldn't save this film.

Good til the end.
I saw it on cable and knew something about them but I didn't know that they were pioneers of the porn industry. They put a soft-core actress Marylin Chambers on the map. The brothers Artie and Jim Mitchell went through ropes with the government and the mob to produce their movies. Their personal lives are another story. Jim was a bachelor while his brother was twice married and divorced. Jim Mitchell was the brother who kept things afloat despite his drug use. His brother Artie, was into parties, guns, and sex. After the courts decided to end porn films, they went into the live sex business. However, Jim needed to get away which did him some good. He had to kick his drug habit once and for all. Meanwhile Artie who had a second wife and two sons was still destructive to himself.
Throughout the movie it was Jim who was his brother's keeper which he could no longer do. It's one thing to help a family member who will help himself. It's another when that member is destroying himself intently while hurting others around him. Artie felt like he was always in his brother's shadow. Jim, as always is there to protect him. Both Sheen and Estevez, real-life brothers, do a good job at portraying the characters and their attitudes. It is a good role for the both of them because Estevez has his head above the water like Jim, while Charlie Sheen has been known for being reckless and has a past drug history. This was a good role for the both of them.

Terrific Performances makes this an Intense Drama.
This film is Based on a True Story about the Rise and Fall of the Porn Filmmakers, the Mithchell Brothers (Played by Charlie Sheen & Emilio Estevez), who made a famous porn film called-Behind the Green Door. Once they become successful, they have to go through the Gouverment,The Mob & even Eachother to Create a San Franciso Porno Dynasty, but the Drugs and thier Intense Relationship puts them apart.

Directed by Emilio Estevez (Men at Work, The War at Home, Wisdom) made a terrfic drama that, it was never release in Movie Theaters. Instend it got debuted in Showtime Entertainment Network. DVD's has an bright Pan & Scan (1.33:1) transfer and an fine Dolby Stereo 2.0 Surround Sound. DVD has an surprisngly amusing Commentary Track by Real Life Brothers:Sheen & Estevez. Watch for film director:Peter Bogdanovich appears as a film school professor. A Must See. Grade:A. ... Read more