Description

Based on the bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose, the epic 10-part miniseries Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as soldiers' journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear. They were an elete rifle company parachuting into France early on D-Day morning, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and capturing Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. They were also a unit that suffered 150 percent casualties, and whose lives became legend. ... Read more

Reviews (703)

Band of Brothers - The Complete 10 Chapter Miniseries
This 10 chapter miniseries set is an exquisite mix of Saving Private Ryan with the documentary feel of an A&E type production and the drama, look and the inevitable touch of Spielberg/Hanks brilliance and genius.

Incredibly real and gut wrenching, the miniseries begins at 101st Airborne Division training camp at Camp Toccoa, USA. Whereupon we learn about the tough reality of being in the Airborne Division and the severity of living under a military chain of command. Under the command of Lt. Sobel, Easy Company is trained and drilled every single day until they become on of the best companies in the Division, a fact that will prove to be woeful in battle.

At long last (2 years in training) the Allies have concocted a plan to start the invasion/liberation of Nazi occupied France and Europe. D-day is gruesome but Easy Company is more terrible events are yet to come.

As we follow along the story, we slowly get into knowing people like Lipton, Luz, Perconte, Winters, Buck, Bull, Skip Muck, Popeye, Guarnere and many memorable characters who we see triumph, survive and perish in the cruelty of war.
We are taken into the very jaws of the enemy at battles like Foy, Carentan, Bastogne, the Eagle's nest, all these in the dreariest and bitter conditions of bad weather and lack of supplies. We are also shown the harsh confrontation and evil they were up against when Easy and other companies face the concentration camp in Landsberg.

A miniseries all WWII fans and followers are sure to enjoy, hands down a top 5 stars and Thumbs Up.

You will enjoy it.

Powerful testament to the human spirit
BAND OF BROTHERS (USA/UK TV 2001): The trials and tribulations of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, from the D-Day landings in Normandy to their capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest in Austria at the end of World War II.

Co-produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, HBO's epic 10-part miniseries (based on a terrific bestselling book by the late Stephen E. Ambrose) was the most expensive TV undertaking of its day, costing a massive $120 million to produce. And, as the old saying goes, every penny is up there on the screen. Borne from the success of Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) - with which it shares a similar dramatic and visual style - BAND OF BROTHERS' recreation of a glorious (and hard-won) chapter in American history assumed an even greater patriotic significance during its initial US broadcast, when it coincided with the horrific attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center in September 2001. Written with economy and grace, and directed with emotional intensity by a series of directors (including Phil Alden Robinson, Richard Loncraine and Hanks himself) whose combined efforts achieve a genuine aesthetic uniformity, the movie is a masterpiece of storytelling and historical documentation. Punctuated by horrific battle sequences, in which the camera is placed within mere inches of the death and destruction, the film manages to transcend its educational remit by its relentless focus on the human cost of war. Almost every episode opens with testimony from surviving members of Easy Company (none of whom are identified until the end of the series), which further strengthens the emphasis which BAND OF BROTHERS - book and film - places on the bonds which drew them together in times of conflict. And, because it's a true story, there's no telling from one episode to the next which of the 'characters' will live or die, which makes it all the more potent and visceral.

The entire production represents quality writ large: Beautifully filmed on various European locations (including the UK and Austria), the movie is noble without being the least bit pompous or austere, and it manages to humanize a large cast of essential characters with small touches of humanity and humor, all of which serves to heighten the sense of terror as they descend into the maelstrom of conflict. The first - and longest - episode is deceptively staid, featuring David Schwimmer (a long way from TV's 'Friends') as the bullying, cowardly commanding officer Herbert Sobel, whose tyrannical methods nevertheless shaped Easy Company into a fighting force which eventually cut a swathe through the heart of occupied Europe. Brit actor Damian Lewis takes the spotlight thereafter as Easy Company's most respected platoon leader, Richard Winters, with Ron Livingston as his right hand man, Lewis Nixon. Other standout performances in a flawless cast include Matthew Settle as battle-hardened platoon leader Ronald Speirs whose wartime career was distinguished by numerous acts of bravery (fuelled by a unique - if morbid - personal philosophy), Shane Taylor as company medic Eugene Roe, Neal McDonough as 2nd lieutenant 'Buck' Compton (laid low by his horrific combat experiences), and Donnie Wahlberg as 1st sergeant C. Carwood Lipton, who maintained the morale of his fellow soldiers, even when the odds seemed stacked against them. Every episode has its merits, but stand-outs include David Leland's 'Bastogne' (ep. 6), which recounts the horrendous circumstances surrounding Easy Company's involvement in the Battle of the Bulge, and David Frankel's 'Why We Fight' (ep. 9), in which the full horror of the Nazi regime is uncovered in a German forest. Additionally, the closing moments of chapter 10 ('Points', directed by Mikael Salomon) are truly heartbreaking.

Like the movie itself, HBO's region 1 DVD is magnificent. Housed in a beautifully embossed metal case, all ten episodes are spread across five discs (running a total of 624m 23s). The image is letterboxed at 1.78:1, anamorphically enhanced, and picture quality is stunning throughout, with faded colors (a deliberate artistic choice) and strong contrasts. The Dolby 5.1 soundtrack is spectacular and horrific, designed specifically to immerse the viewer in some of the most terrifying battle scenes ever captured on film. Closed captions are included, though there are no open subtitles. Crucially, each disc contains biographical information on the soldiers represented in every episode, which allows the viewer to keep track of an extensive array of characters, and there's a useful glossary, map and timeline of Easy Company's advance across Europe. Perhaps the number of chapters per episode could have been doubled (as it stands, there are six for each instalment), but that's a minor glitch in an otherwise exemplary presentation. The sixth disc in HBO's package contains a fascinating, feature length documentary on the real members of Easy Company (essential viewing), and a series of video diaries by actor Ron Livingston of the boot camp to which many of the cast were subjected in preparation for filming, during which the actors seem to have cultivated the same bonds of friendship experienced by real soldiers in combat situations.

It's doubtful that a more fitting tribute to the men of Easy Company could have been devised than BAND OF BROTHERS, a truly remarkable experience, given the Rolls Royce treatment on DVD. By turns engrossing, provocative and deeply, profoundly moving, it stands as a testament to those who fought and died for our freedoms, almost a lifetime ago.

Who did save Europe?
I have seen this mini-series and like every movie that will ever be made by any film maker (US, Ireland, China, Germany, etc…) it is not an accurate account of what really happen. If the US did not save Europe who did? Was it the Russians, the French, the German’s? I forgot the German’s where conquering Europe. Ireland, who did HELP save Europe? Any way, I am thankful and grateful for all who fought to free Europe and the rest of the countries in this world. I am a naturalized citizen and retired member of the Arm Forces of the USA, who with out their sacrifices I would have not been able to come to this great, wounderful, and giving nation I call my home. It also shows the stupidity of the leadership of all nations, but most of all it shows the prize that Americans paid for the freedom we have today. God bless all those who fight for freedom. This is what this movie is all about, FREEDOM!

Idiot's guide to WWII
This tripe just reinforces the idiotic opinion held by so many Americans that "America saved Europe" from the Nazi's. Rubbish. Read a good book instead.

"It appears the Germans are bad, very bad."
I was lucky enough to catch this excellent mini-series on a replaying on the history Channel because 1.) I don't have HBO and 2.) I don't have over $100 to spend on this box set. But I wish I did. This is probably the best war movie I have ever seen. It follows Easy Company, probably the most famous platoon of world war 2 from their training in boot camp, to the very end at hitler's "Eagle Nest." They were a platoon that suffered 150% casulties.

With the exception of its length (over ten hours) this is right up their with a big bedget movie. It has great actors, awesome cinemetogrophy, and great war special effect. Don't let the fact that this tv miniseries is a wimpy piece of junk. It's not! Because it was on HBO, the makers made sure to keep it realistic with the violence (lots of blood, injures, lossed limbs, etc...), theirs bad language and even a little nudity. So don't let a little kid watch this. The late Michael Kamen provides the excellent score and really provides a ambient backdrop to the sorrow and loss and horrible side of war.

If you are at all interesting in Worl War II or like war movies in general. You must do yourself a favour and check this masterpiece out. You will not be dissapointed. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Sam Fuller's The Big Red One was already one of the best films of 1980, despite the fact that the version released to theaters ran barely half as long as the director's cut. Fuller had been America's ballsiest B-movie auteur, an ex-newspaper reporter of the hardnosed breed who made fiercely personal, radically stylized, and politically outspoken films between the early '50s (The Steel Helmet, Pickup on South Street) and the early '60s (Shock Corridor). The Big Red One was his long-dreamt-of account of World War II as experienced by his own squad of the 1st Infantry Division, USA, from the first shot fired (by a dead man, on the coast of North Africa) to the last (in a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia).

Even in the studio-truncated version, there was no shortage of astonishing moments and sequences: the squad choking on dust in a bat-filled cave in North Africa as German tanks clatter past the entrance; Fuller's cold-blooded distillation of the D-Day slaughter on Omaha Beach, with a wrist watch on a dead arm in the surf marking time as the water slopping over it grows redder; the rifle squad delivering a Frenchwoman's baby in a German tank on a battlefield full of corpses; a commando-like raid on Nazi troops bivouacked in a Belgian insane asylum. A quarter-century later, film critic Richard Schickel and Warner Bros. executive Brian Jamieson succeeded in restoring 15 never-seen sequences and fleshing out 23 others to create The Big Red One: The Reconstruction, a "new" film nearly an hour longer.

Above all, BR1: The Reconstruction has a rhythm the 1980 cut lacked. The arc of years, battles, and battlegrounds is so much more satisfying. Greater play is given to Fuller's feeling for children caught up in the sidewash of history and atrocity. And the 2004 cut puts sex back into the movie, not orgiastically but as a fact of life and a rarely forgotten driving force. We can see now that Fuller touched, bluntly and shockingly, on the phenomenon of infiltrators--English-speaking German warriors who donned GI khaki and moved among their enemies waiting for a chance to strike.

It's also apparent, as it was not in 1980, that Lee Marvin as the eternal Sergeant leading the young squad is magnificent. This was Marvin's greatest role, rivaled only by his walking dead man in John Boorman's Point Blank. Just beneath the masterly implacability, we glimpse the tenderness, rage, dark humor, experience, and wisdom beyond guilt that have enabled him to survive, to preserve others and to soldier on. His performance, like Fuller's film, is a masterpiece. --Richard T. Jameson ... Read more

Reviews (54)

THE BIG RED ONE - THE RECONSTRUCTION.
Like other reviewers, I saw the film when it first appeared and liked it. But I also felt that it also lacked some missing features which the novel supplied. Fortunately, a reconstruction has now occurred with the "missing footage" making an accomplished film more like the masterpiece Sam Fuller intended. Thanks to DVD, one does not have to live in a major city to see films like this. The 2 disk reconstruction is amazing and the restored footage is really where it belongs. This is a major work of cinema which needs to be widely disseminated.

On the whole Richard Schickel and the restorers have done a good job. On the audio-commentary, Schickel mentions that the reason Fuller's work is now relevant to today (rather than his more illustrious Academy Award winning contemporaries) is because it reflects the insecurity of life and rejects any false sense of complacency. The film contains one of Lee Marvin's best performances supported with sterling performances by those young actors who play the Four Horsemen to say nothing of those other great performances by Stephane Audran, Serge Marquand, Siegfried Rauch, and Christa Lang Fuller herself in a restored scene. I have one hesitation to record. Both Shickel and the restorers often refer to cinematic cohesion. However, Samuel Fuller would always bend or break the rules at times. That is what made his films so iconoclastic and revolutionary in the same way that his absurd dialogue such as "If you die, I'll kill you" had great emotional reverberation. It is a shame the voice-over was not removed entirely because it is really redundant. The excellent acting and relevant silences speak for themselves in the best manner of silent cinema. Somne "deleted" sequences such as the Vichy officer debate could have been restored.

But, in the last analysis, these are really minor points and we should be really grateful for this restoration which really should stimulate a Samuel Fuller Collection on DVD containing not only his most well-known works but others such as CHINA GATE (in restored letterbox form), VERBOTEN, THE CRIMSON KIMONO, and WHITE DOG to show the real diversity of this man's talent and the valuable cinematic heritage he has lef for future generations to appreciate.

Truthful, brutal and magnificent
This film commences with a hard hitting statement that is unmistakably Sam Fuller. "THIS IS FICTIONAL LIFE, ABOUT FACTUAL DEATH". From that moment, he grabs the audience by the scruff of the neck and takes them on a fascinating, ballsy, unsentimental ride through WWII as he saw it. The film is refreshing for it's determined 'survivor's' point of view. He does not judge with emotions in the simplistic way that so many war films do. Instead he puts you in the state of mind you need to actually survive a war, and given Fuller himself survived WWII, he might just be on to something. The art in this film is all in the contradictions of real life and the perverse pleasures that can arise in even the most horrific of settings. A scene in Italy where the rifle squadren liberate an asylum is magnificently chaotic and amoral in it's presentation. In the midst of this madness Griff (Mark Hamill) somehow enjoys a transformative sexual experience with a psychologically damaged woman. We are reminded time and again that these men are only human, with needs that make little sense in the context of war. Fuller shows the straightforward machine you need to become to survive a war. If you know someone in your platoon is going to die, don't bother getting to know them too well. Harsh, but that, according to Fuller, is how you make it through. Lee Marvin's performance, commented upon here by many reviewers is an engine house of repressed humanity. And it's not overdone - you wouldn't even know the humanity was there. Watch this performance then watch Liam Neeson in Schindler's List. With respect to Neeson, he is playing a character. Marvin is playing a man.

Surviving is part of the fight in reconstructed classic
Surviving war is the most challenging part of it. Whether it be surviving the physical and psychological rigors of war or it's sometimes nasty aftermath "The Big Red One: The Reconstruction" is one of the finest movies made about World War II. Fuller ("Shock Corridor" among many other films)made a lot of exploitation films during his long varied career but it's clear that here Fuller had found his best story to tell.

Lee Marvin gives a terrific performance (and one of the best of his career)as the leader of a group of young soldiers. Most of the cast does an exceptional job as well (particularly Robert Carradine essentially playing Fuller). The film has its minor flaws certainly (some of the performances are a bit stilted)but film critic Richard Schickel a long time admirer of Fuller and this film has done a marvelous job of restoring Fuller's masterpiece to its original projected length. Schickel used the original script, production notes and the memories of some of the production participants to help recreate the film Fuller intended to release in the first place.

The new version runs two hours and forty two minutes with the first disc devoted to the film. The second disc has alternate scenes; "Anatomy of a Scene" looks at the film both before and after the restoration. I haven't had time to watch "The Real Glory:Reconstructing The Big Red One" or the War department reel "The Fighting First" yet but the qualtiy of the documentary on Sam Fuller and the rest of the material is quite good.

War Classic -HORRIBLE PACKAGING MATERIALS!
Great film, DVD done right, package LOOKS good, but when I went to open it up it took ALMOST A HALF AN HOUR AND EVEN THEN THE LOW-GRADE SUPER-STICKY TAPE ON ALL EDGES OF THE CASE RUINED THE COVER! Whoever made choices contributing to this fiasco needs to be shot! Or at least fired and drummed out of the industry. Didn't help matters that on the fancy black slip cover Best Buy had slapped a big ugly price sticker that wouldn't come off all the way, even after I heated the glue up with a hair dryer. Hey, I hope you slobs responsible for these stupid choices are reading this because you are a bunch of incompetent unprofressionals. Still, buy this DVD, anyway.

Pretty good aswar movies go
As a kid I enjoyed this movie very much.It has some pretty good action sequences and in some parts, you can have true actual feelings for what soldiers go through when in battle.It has a very good ending and I feel it is definitely worth watching when you have the time.One of my favorite war movies. ... Read more

Reviews (66)

Bless them all...bless them all....
I am unable to recall another film whose opening and closing scenes are more effective than those in this brilliant portrayal of the 918th Bombardment group based in England which flew almost daily missions to Germany during World War II. The character of General Frank Savage (Gregory Peck) is reputedly based on Brigadier General Frank A. Armstrong, Jr. Sy Bartlett wrote the book and then the screenplay. Brilliantly directed by Henry King, we are introduced to a combination of combat fatigue and self-pity which results in the replacement of Colonel Keith Davenport by his friend Savage who is told by his commanding officer, General Pritchard (Millard Mitchell), to shape up the 918th while avoiding Davenport's problem: Becoming overly involved emotionally in decisions to send B-17 crews on exceptionally dangerous missions, day after day after day. Savage immediately establishes his authority and almost immediately loses whatever goodwill he may have had. He applies and then maintains constant pressure on the crews to improve their performance in all areas of flight operations. Underachievers are reassigned to one B-17 renamed "The Leper Colony." Morale deteriorates to such a point that those at headquarters become concerned. A formal investigation of the situation is conducted. This is a critical moment for Savage. If he has "lost" his men, he cannot continue. In fact, he expects to be relieved and begins to pack his personal items. However, for reasons revealed in the film, Savage remains in command. And then....

It would be a disservice to those who have not as yet seen this film to say any more about the plot. Suffice to say that brilliant direction, great acting by everyone involved (notably by Dean Jagger who received an Academy Award for best actor in a supporting role), superb cinematography (Leon Shamroy), and haunting music (Alfred Newman) are seamlessly integrated in this analysis of effective leadership (especially decision-making) under wartime conditions. The film begins when Harry Stovall (Jagger) makes an especially significant purchase in an antique store and then proceeds to what has by then become an abandoned air base. As we begin to hear the bombers' propellers whine as the engines roar to life, we are transported back in time. Later, as the film ends, civilian Stovall climbs back on his rented bike and departs what is again an abandoned air base. Stunning images throughout both sequences.

Peck included this among his favorite films, while adding that he was especially proud of his performance as Frank Savage. When first released more than 50 years ago, it did not receive the recognition (much less the appreciation) it so obviously deserves. Whenever CEOs and other senior-level executives ask me to suggest war films which offer important lessons about leadership and management, Twelve O'Clock High is first on the list, joined by (in alphabetical order) Command Decision, The Dirty Dozen, The Enemy Below, Fort Apache, The Hunt for Red October, Paths of Glory, Pork Chop Hill, The Red Badge of Courage, They Were Expendable, and Zulu.

The best war movie I've ever seen. Magnificent!
Twelve "O'Clock High is a powerful and true-to-life film dealing with the early days of the 8th US Air Force in Great Britain. Its mission: to bomb Germany not by night in saturation bombings as the British were doing, but instead to boldly engage in "precision daylight bombing." No one knew if the concept was viable because no one had ever dared try it before on a large scale. Gregory Peck plays the role of a leader suddenly thrust into command of a deeply troubled, demoralized, and shot-up bomber squadron. How he motivates the men and overcomes the fact that the men well know that their chances of survival were poor (the worst survival odds of any American combat assignment in the war) is a deeply moving, powerful, indeed unforgettable story. This is a great movie.

The cinematography of this movie is wonderful, featuring actual combat footage of B-17s engaging German Focke-Wulf fighters in deadly combat. The sense of authenticity that this movie brings to the screen is total. One feels transposed back into England in 1942, engaged in a life-and-death struggle in the air against the Germans. The uniforms, dialogue, everything, about this movie reeks of authenticity. The storyline moves along at a breakneck pace--no dull interludes. And yet this is not just a "shoot-em-up" war flick. It is a stirring story of leadership, personality clashes, honest fear and human imperfections that reminds us what an incredible debt we all owe to the men who fought and won the air war over Nazi Germany.

This is a DVD movie to keep and watch repeatedly over the years. It is not only a great movie, it is wonderfully entertaining. This is truly one of the all-time great war movies.

The best review from someone who lived it.
My father, a b-17 bomber pilot, flew 52 missions out of England (Bassingbourn) during WWII. He spoke very little about his war-time experiences, but he said that this was the closest that Hollywood ever came to capturing what it was like for the B-17 bomber squadrons during WWII. It is a great film about human beings under extraordinary stress, making extremely difficult choices and living with their consequences - but most especially it is a moving portrayal of the complexities of leadership and friendship, and the trust needed to get others to do difficult, if not impossible things.

the meaning of "Maximum Effort"
This is a magnificent World War II film about U.S. airmen stationed in Britain in the fall of 1942, and so much more; it's about the psychology that goes into situations of extreme stress, and what makes a man a winner or loser when put to the test. As General Savage (Peck) says in his pep talk, "fear is normal, but stop worrying about it". Savage has no time for self pity, for himself or anyone else, and his toughness and high principles bring out the best in his men, and it also points up the dangers of emotional attachment in the wrong situations.
The script by Sy Bartlett and Beirne Lay Jr., from their book which is loosely based on a true story, is intelligent and insightful, and the direction by Henry King meticulous. The cinematography by Leon Shamroy is crisp and marvelous, and also includes riveting portions of actual WWII battle footage interspersed in the aerial shots.
The Alfred Newman score also adds much to the film.

Gregory Peck is perfect as General Savage, fabulously handsome, with one of the greatest voices of the 20th century, one cannot imagine a better actor for the part. Dean Jagger is also splendid as Major Harvey Stovall; wise and often witty, it is through his eyes that we see the story, told in flashback as he wanders the deserted airfield in 1949.
Other excellent performances come from Gary Merrill and Hugh Marlowe, but every cast member is good, with strong turns from all.

Nominated for a Best Actor and Best Picture Oscar (losing out to "All the King's Men" on both counts), "Twelve O'Clock High" spawned a much better than average TV series (1964-67) that I enjoyed watching, especially in its first season when it starred Robert Lansing.
This is a film that is actually used in "leadership seminars" for business executives, and by the U.S. Airforce as a teaching tool. It has lessons for the average person too, but most of all, it's a superb film, with memorable performances. Total running time is 132 minutes.

Excellent Movie for Leadership
This movie is a classic tool used by the USAF Squadron Officer School. It is a great way to see the different styles of leadership. When we viewed it in an educational fashion the movie carried a much greater sense of meaning for us. For all military buffs this movie has to be in your collection. Tobey Jugs, leather caps, B-17s...Bless them all, bless them all... ... Read more

Reviews (44)

The Definitive Cat and Mouse Submarine Movie
This is one of the best duel-of-wits on the high seas between submarine and destroyer ever filmed. Robert Mitchum as the captain of an American destroyer and Curt Jurgens as the captain of a German submarine try to out maneuver each other in a battle of nerves, instincts, intelligence, seamanship and raw courage. The multi-talented Dick Powell directed this taught drama, which remains one of the most memorable and benchmark films of this genre. The interior of the German submarine does not have the realistic or claustrophobic look as seen in DAS BOOT but that's not the point. Powell's focus is on the two captains and how they act and react. This film does not lose sight of the mentality of that era and the psychological makeup of the men at sea above and below. This is classic filmmaking and should not be overshadowed by the recent resurgence of certain World War II films that seem to have lost sight of the reason men fought and died. This film also has an impressive cast featuring David Hedison, Theodore Bikel, Kurt Kreuger and Doug McClure. Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens portrayed true men of honor each dedicated to their duty that they were called upon.

Dive into this good submarine drama
There is a fairly extensive sub-category of war movies - submarine battles - within which movies made in the 1950's are highly regarded. THE ENEMY BELOW is not up to the standards of RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP but is better than TORPEDO RUN. It is also different that both those movies. Where they use a dramatic human interest story as the main plot line, this movie has a narrow focus on what you would expect from a film about a sub battle. The emphasis is on the chase, the strategy, the cunning and wiles of both commanders - US destroyer Captain Murrell (Robert Mitchum) and veteran German U-Boat commander Von Stolberg (Curt Jurgens). The drama is in changing fortunes - now who is the hunter and the hunted? Both of the main characters are well developed, and while there are differences in behavior, motivation, and naturally, stategy, the movie also shows clearly that as professional sailors they recognize and appreciate the good qualities in their opposites. As such this movie is memorable for the fact that Germans are not demonized or simply stereotyped as Nazis.

It's a well directed movie, with excellent moments of suspense, good acting in some key supporting roles - Lt Ware (David Hedison). The only let down is with some very obvious models in some of the battle scenes.

The Definitive Cat and Mouse Submarine Movie
This is one of the best duel-of-wits on the high seas between submarine and destroyer ever filmed. Robert Mitchum as the captain of an American destroyer and Curt Jurgens as the captain of a German submarine try to out maneuver each other in a battle of nerves, instincts, intelligence, seamanship and raw courage. The multi-talented Dick Powell directed this taught drama, which remains one of the most memorable and benchmark films of this genre. The interior of the German submarine does not have the realistic or claustrophobic look as seen in DAS BOOT but that's not the point. Powell's focus is on the two captains and how they act and react. This film does not lose sight of the mentality of that era and the psychological makeup of the men at sea above and below. This is classic filmmaking and should not be overshadowed by the recent resurgence of certain World War II films that seem to have lost sight of the reason men fought and died. This film also has an impressive cast featuring David Hedison, Theodore Bikel, Kurt Kreuger and Doug McClure. Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens portrayed true men of honor each dedicated to their duty that they were called upon.

Enemy Below
Dick Powell had to have had one of the most interesting careers in Hollywood history. He started out as a golden-throated pretty boy actor, made a successful mid-career shift to hard boiled roles like Philip Marlowe and then, for good measure, directed a handful of movies, including the submarine action picture THE ENEMY BELOW.
THE ENEMY BELOW is a 100% action movie, without any distracting romantic sub-plot or comic relief crew members. Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens are excellent as the American destroyer commander and U-boat commander who cross paths in the Atlantic Ocean and engage in a deadly hunt. With a few exceptions the models are realistically rendered and convincing. This is one of the best war movies out there, and maybe the best navy movie available. I strongly recommend it to action fans.

great cat and mouse game by two great actors!
This is not the average sub-film that centers on the crews of the sub and the sub-chaser. This is a two-man cat and mouse film, marvelously done with style and incisive insight.

Robert Mitchum is the man who rises to do what is needed. Not a superhero, but a very human man who goes into war and does what is required. He is the Captain of a U.S. destroyer sent out to track U-boats. Curt Jurgens is his mirror reflection - below - a Captain of the U-Boat that becomes the target of Mitchum's search. He is not a product of the Nazi war-machine, but again, a very likable man just defending his country. This is demonstrated with deft humor when Jurgens very deliberately hangs his jacket over the plaque of Hitler's propaganda.

The script eschews the stereotypical "Nazi monsters", and portrays a German crew with very real - and universal - emotions. They, too, were just men doing their job and what is required. Instead of having us root for the Americans to blow up the evil Germans, you are put in the position of caring equally for both sides. You comprehend that they are men, offering their lives for their command, not in a political way, but in a time-honoured fashion of a man going to war. You understand both sides REALLY do not want to be here, to kill or be killed; they would rather home. No rousing stereotypical propaganda. In the end, they will kill each other if they must, but given the choice, they would rather not. Very different for that period of war films.

A little dated appearance on the boat scenes by today's standards. It's obvious toy models when the boats crash, but easily overlooked and dismissed when balanced with the very impressive lack of finger-pointing and flag-waving for either nationality. Both Mitchum and Jurgens are dead-bang on target in their lead roles, with David Hedison, Theodore Bickel and Doug McClure round out a super cast ... Read more

Reviews (317)

Kubrick Addresses The Complexities Of War
The dual nature of man, wherein he is able to embrace both war and peace simultaneously, is addressed by director Stanley Kubrick in the decidedly anti-war film, "Full Metal Jacket," starring Matthew Modine. Divided essentially into two parts, the first half follows raw recruits through basic training at Parris Island, where the effects of what it takes to turn a man into a Marine / killing machine is explored, predominately through the characters of Private "Joker," played by Matthew Modine, and Private Leonard Lawrence (Vincent D'Onofrio), dubbed "Gomer Pyle" by the D.I, Sergeant Hartman (Lee Ermey). It's a hard, stoic study of techniques and motivation that inherently questions the system itself, and is deftly and succinctly illustrated by the results achieved, which are not entirely those desired. It's hard stuff to swallow at times, but engrossing, and Kubrick manages to gradually build the emotional intensity that gives such impact to the climax of this first part, which is without question the strength of the entire film. The second half switches suddenly to Vietnam, where Kubrick takes up his pallet and canvass, and while attempting to paint a realistic portrait of war, instead takes more of a turn away from reality, and the film takes on a sense of the surreal; the result is more reminiscent of the visual artistry of "The Thin Red Line" than of the truly gritty realism of "Saving Private Ryan," and rather than make his statement directly through the use of the story, he uses the movie to stage sequences of events to demonstrate the contradictory nature of war and it's consequences, and man's involvement therein. And while he compares the moral and emotional conflicts with the physical, it is an acknowledgement of an inner struggle devoid of any proffered solution, though delivered quite subjectively. The pace of the film is very deliberate and much of the dialogue has a "staged" sense about it that, rather than underscore the issues being addressed, has more of an alienating effect which serves to neutralize the emotional aspects of what is being presented. The story is told from the point of view of Modine's "Joker" , but though Modine does a passable job, his is a rather unsympathetic character whose purpose it would seem is merely to act as narrator and to serve as the "eyes" of the camera. And, again, it only manages to distance the audience further, as Joker becomes a kind of buffer between the viewer and any sustained level of emotional involvement with the story or any of the characters. Instead of a stirring fulmination against the lunacy of war and man's enablement of it, Kubrick's approach creates more of a sense of rather cold ambiguity. Had Joker (as the lead) been a stronger character, and had the second half of the film been more like the first, instead of nothing more than a series of vignettes, this could have been a dynamic movie; as it is, because of Kubrick's choices, he made a good movie, but not a great one. There are two memorable performances here, one by Vincent D'Onofrio, who did an exemplary job of creating the hapless Leonard; the other by Lee Ermey, as the Gunnery Sergeant who could be the poster-boy for an anti-enlistment campaign. Also worthy of note is the work of Arliss Howard, who brought "Cowboy" so credibly to life. Rounding out the supporting cast are Adam Baldwin (Animal Mother); Dorian Harewood (Eightball); Kevyn Major Howard (Rafterman); Ed O'Ross (Lieutenant Tinoshky); and John Terry (Lieutenant Lockhart). With "Full Metal Jacket," Stanley Kubrick raises issues that are important, and makes some valid points about the causes and complexities of war, and the moral and ethical challenges of those presented with it. Obviously, this was a passionate endeavor; if only he would have allowed more of that passion to make it's way onto the screen. What a movie this could have been.

Great movie,but not my favorite on Vietnam
Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket is a very good movie,but I like others on the subject of Vietnam better.It follows a group of Marine Corps recruits from boot camp to the war in Vietnam.I thought the boot camp sequence was outstanding.Gunnery Sageant Hartman is an unforgettable character,(every time I see R.Lee Ermey in a movie I'm reminded of him)probably the best drill instructor ever in a movie.The rest of the cast was very good,as well,especially Vincent D'Onofrio as Gomer Pyle,and Matthew Modine as Joker.After boot camp the movie shifts to Vietnam,where the action is seen mostly through Joker's eyes.The movie show's some of the horrors of war,but not as well as other Vietnam films such as Platoon and Hamburger Hill.(of course that's just my opinion,you may disagree)I've read that the movie was shot entirely on soundstages in England,rather than on location,and it looks incredible.Overall,while not my favorite movie about Vietnam,it is a very good film.

Fantastic
First of all....many Marines say that the first 30 minutes of the movie about boot camp is THE most accurate depiction of Parris Island in cinematic history. And of course Lee Ermey himself being a former Marine drill instructor tops it all....his profanity laced tirades are totally outrageous.

Second of all, the latter half of the movie deals with a subject not covered in Vietnam movies, a squad getting lost and having to face a lone sniper. Its a radical departure to be sure, but Kubrick in his usual cinematic mastery makes it very gripping.

So if you like Vietnam movies that are a bit different but still as strong as Hamburger Hill and Platoon, check this one out....its fantastic.

full....metal...jacket.
one of my favorite movies kubrick and matthew modaine how better can it get.lol. i suggest this omvie to anyone who likes kubrick, war movies or both for that matter. i also read the book that its based off of "the short timers" by gustav hasford it was really good but i still liked the movie better becasue it had vincent d' onfario and and the segarent(its like blasphemy that i cant remeber his name at this moment) but this movie is great, kind of boring at parts but still its deffinalty worth a watch.

An Near Masterpiece.
When Ordinary People are all Plunged into a Boot Camp Hell Pitbulled by a Leatherlung D.I. (R.Lee Emery) to Prepare for the Vietnam War and the Dehumanizing Process that turns People into Trained Killers.

Produced and Directed by Stanley Kubrick (2001:A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut) made a Savage Vietnam drama with a dark sense of humour. There's terrific performances by Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, R.Lee Ermey, Dorian Harewood, Arliss Howard, Kevyn Major Howard and Ed O'Ross. The first 45 minutes is a Masterpiece and then the last 71 Minutes, the movie turns into familiar territory with dark humour. The film's conculsion is Strong and Satifysing. This newly restored DVD is better than the previous DVD transfer. DVD has an sharp Pan & Scan (1.33:1) transfer and an strong newly remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. This is a Well Made film, which it might be far from some of Kubrick's best films but his elements are here. It's worth viewing. Based on the Novel "The Short-Times" by Gustav Hasford. Screenplay by Kubrick, Hasford and Micheal Herr. Grade:A-. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Both epic and intimate, A Very Long Engagement reunites Audrey Tautou and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the star and director of the hugely popular Amelie. A young woman named Mathilde (Tautou, Happenstance)separated from her lover by World War I refuses to believe he's been killed and launches an investigation into his fate--an investigation that spins in all directions, creating dozens of miniature stories (including that of an Italian prostitute avenging the death of her own lover by elaborate means) that shift to and fro in time. The dazzling curlicues of narrative put brutality and tenderness back to back, shifting between crushing inevitabilities and miraculous rescues with deft storytelling skill and the lush visual style of the director of Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children. Through it all, Tautou--fierce and luminous--anchors the movie effortlessly. She's among the most emotionally engaging actresses in cinema, with the kind of expressive beauty that transcends language. A gorgeous, far-reaching film; the huge cast also includes Jodie Foster (The Silence of the Lambs), Gaspard Ulliel (Strayed), and Dominique Pinon (Alien: Resurrection). --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (30)

Ridiculous comments!
I can't help but commenting on the review featured below posted by: Vyto Stoskus "Bookroom regarding the film `A very long engagement'. I respect the fact that the film is not everybody's cup of tea (I personally think it's a masterpiece) in the end, it's all a matter of tastes. But suggesting the French people stick to making comedy because (apparently) it's what they do best is the most ridiculous comment I have ever heard. Some people sadly (and it's a shame) don't much about French cinema!

flying bodies
90% flying corpses and those--bleeding to death--about to be corpses. Great showcase for the make-up dept. 10% storyline: amnesia--big hairy deal. Aren't there any more stories worth telling? Shame on everyone associated with such travesty. The French should stick to what they do best--comedy. Or maybe this was and they're laughing at all us suckers who spent our money and an interminable 2 hours+ watching their multimillion dollar joke on us.

A great artistic film!
Once more the French fertile imagination decides to make a real punch demostration of superb good taste and charm picture, get its goals without apparent effort. The dinamism and engaging script won't let you down. You will face and be part of this sensible drama in search for a love in the middle of the First War. Pierre Jeunet employs the War only as a big frame to tell us a love story and the inexhaustive hope that feeds the soul of Audrey Tautoo, a twenty years old girl who never gives up for his love's life. She suffered of polio in her early childhood but that is not any obstacle to prevail in what she believes.
The script is real web that will involve several secondary stories but the whole ensamble is conceived as a huge watch mechanism, so well articulated and filled of intelligent doses of black humor all the way.
Andre Dussollier, Jodie Foster, Dominique Pinon and all the cast is simply outstanding. The crude war sequences are admirably well filmed, loaded with intense realism and profound humanity before any other circumstance. Jeunet does not judge, he just only watchs and presents the kindness and the abominable horror of certain human beings not only in the War but far beyond the War field. The destroyed indult letter of Poincaré that never came, will work as a complex fixed idea of revenge because the life of these five men will be narrowed linked.
If you like the artistic films, if you want to enjoy of a whole film, without fissures that face you with the reality of those years you will enjoy this one. No doubt just a second and go for this artwork.
Nowadays the lovely, funny and expresive face of Audrey Tautoo. Jeune as Stanley Donen with the other Audrey, and at least fifty million people in the world are simply bewithced with her charisma and outstanding presence. Undoubtedly she would seem to fill the long long time expected emptiness left by the other Audrey, at last.
Pierre Jeunet's handle camera is just equalled by Terry Gilliam in what rapture travellings and close up concern.
A must in your collection.

Sustaining Plot and High Film Art
This film reminds us of how films can be made, with care and sincerity. Each scene renders a time and place with vivid imagery and authentic treatment. The acting is excellent, and story compelling, and editing and directing inspired. It may have deserved the Oscar for best picture last year.

Simply Engaging Story about Love That Prevails
To make a filmed version of French bestselling novel 'A Very Long Engagement' has been THE dream of director Jean-Pieere Jeunet, best known for international hit 'Amelie.'Now Warner Brothers, who owned the right of the book, agreed to co-produce the film with the star Audrey Tautou, and now this is the result of this Hollywood studio's wise decision.Thank you, Warner Bros.

But the film is definitely French, in language and in style, and the story begins NOT with the endearing characters in Paris, but with the rain-soaked trenches during the time of WW1.Five soliders are being court-marshalled for wounding themselves, and they are sentenced to be expelled into the no man's land, the terrirory between the German and French lines.One of them happens to be young Manech (Gasper Ulliel, 100% different from 'Strayed'), who received a terrible shock during the last battle.

But the true protagonist is Matilde (Tautou radiently beautiful as ever).She was in love with Manech, and still is even after the war is over, and the five soliders are supposed to be dead.However, Matilde believes that her love is still alive.Believing in her unfailing intuition, she doggedly follows the traces of the witnesses and clues that are scattered all over France while she needs a wheelchair to travel.

A word of warning first; unlike 'Amelie' in which everything looked charming (but in fact it is not though), some parts of 'A Very Long Engagement,' especially the war scenes, are very violent, though not too graphic.And don't forget that there are some killings (by one mysterious lady Tina).But her MOs are so ingenious that you may be rather fascinated to see them.

The film is well-crafted in whatever way you may think of -- gracefully Gothic visuals, rousing music score (by Angelo Paralamenti known for David Lynch films), and first-rate acting (including by one Jodie Foster speaking French.And she was once in a French film 'Blood of the Others' by Claude Chabrol, so that's no surprsing matter).At the end credit you will find many names familiar to French film fans -- Tcheky Karyo, Jean-Claude Dreyfuss, Dominique Pinon, and ... but making a list may be pointless after all.

For the star of the film is Audrey Tautou as Matilde.Every audience will fall for her, and be impressed with her strong acting as the independent heroine.Though the film looks awfully whimsical at times with so many characters and incidents, she remains the pivotical presence all through thefilm.

The original novel is written by veteran Sebastian Japrisot, who died one year before the film was completed.(Many of his books had been filmed, 'Rider on the Rain' for example.)As they compressed so many things in the original into 130 minute film, 'A Very Long Engagement' suffers from very confusing relations between so many characters.In book, we can stop and think; in film, well, you can stop your DVD player, but I'D rather not.Let the film keep on telling its story, and enjoy the world of Jeunet's visual genius.You never get bored with the strikingly original images he presents. ... Read more

Reviews (495)

A cinematic masterpiece!
Meet Oskar Schindler. A German living in occupied Poland during World War II. A member in good standing of the Nazi party. A womanizer, a war profiteer...and ultimately a man of conscience. A man who became one of the great unsung heroes and humanitarians of the war.

"Schindler's List" chronicles Oskar Schindler's spiritual odyssey from war profiteer to humanitarian and hero. Winner of seven Academy Awards® in 1993, including Best Picture, this harrowing and heart-rending film is Steven Spielberg's masterpiece, and perhaps one of the finest and most important movies ever made. It depicts Schindler's ultimately successful attempt to rescue 1,100 Jews from Hitler's "Final Solution" by getting them to safety outside Poland.

Dynamic performances abound in this beautiful movie, Especially noteworthy are Liam Neeson as the suave Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as the monstrously depraved Nazi colonel, Amon Goeth, and Ben Kingsley as the dignified, principled Jewish prisoner Itzhak Stern.

"Schindler's List" is definitely not light entertainment! This beautiful movie allows viewers to feel like they're actually a part of one of the darkest, most horrific periods in history. (I'm sure this is the reason the film was shot in black-and-white, with only minor "colorized" bits included.) The story of the Holocaust needs to be told over and over again, in hopes that future generations can understand the horrors perpetrated on an entire race of people and prevent future occurrences. "Schindler's List" is perhaps one of the best and most effective vehicles for telling that story I've ever experienced.

Whoever Saves One Life Saves the World Entire!
That's the tagline of Steven Spielberg's 1993 holocaust epic, SCHINDLER'S LIST (a film that has inspired me with my own film, TRIANGLE). What is this film? A documentary? A memorial service? A biopic? The answer is all of the above. It is a realistic look at a man who began as a womanizing criminal and ended as a sympathetic savior to thousands of Jewish people.

Based on Thomas Keneally's bestselling novel, it is passionate look at the Jewish struggle during the ghetto liquidation by the Nazis and in the concentration camps.

Filmed entirely on location in Poland and in black-and-white, with some color aspects, SCHINDLER'S LIST brings to life one of the saddest chapters in history. Starring Liam Neeson as industrialist Oskar Schindler; Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth; Ben Kingsley as Schindler's accountant Itzhak Stern; and Caroline Goodall as Schindler's wife, Emilie.

This is a film too sad to imagine, but also very important to watch and shameful to miss. Neeson does an extraordinary job in showing us the man who saved so many lives. A man whom most would call a pirate, he has shown us a brighter light. But, honestly, the one who impressed me (and shocked me the most) was Ralph Fiennes as a Nazi superior. Fiennes was known for playing romantic heroes on the London stage before playing such a dastardly role. (In the end, you can't help but cheer when he is eventually hanged.) And to Ben Kingsley (Oscar-winner for GANDHI), always the dependable one! His Stern provided me enough time to breathe a sign of relief and smile at his nervously mousy character. From his being trapped inside the train to his trying to reason with Schindler about the one-arm man's dependability working in the factory (a rare comedic moment in the film).

This is a triumph in every way possible! To watch a man, whom we never even heard of, save thousands of lives is heart-breakingly wonderful. Good job, Steven!

Winner of 7 Academy Awards including: Best Picture - Steven Spielberg, Branko Lustig & Gerald R. Molen; Best Director - Steven Spielberg; Best Adapted Screenplay - Steven Zaillian; Best Cinematography - Janusz Kaminski; Best Art Direction/Set Decoration - Allan Starski, Ewa Braun; Best Score - John Williams; and Best Film Eediting - Michael Kahn.

Approximately: 3 HOURS and 17 MINUTES

**Schindler's List **
This film from Steven Spielberg was shot in black and white and is very effective as a film to portray what happened to the Jews in Germany/Poland etc.. from the ghettos to the concentration camps. The film is very realistic in its portrayal and the environment of that time in history of the 1930's and 1940's. This is a film that you may only want to watch once. It is an excellent film. The acting is very good, the reality of the killings is very graphic. The cinematography is excellent. The only reason I think that is a film to viewed once or twice in one's life is due to the depressing nature of the film. I think it is a film that younger generations (teenagers and some people in their 20's) should see because many are coming out of school without even knowing who Adolf Hitler was and what he had done. I think it's important that they see what occurred so a repeat of history does not happen. This is an important film, but not necessarily one you want to view over and over again.

Some other reviewers on this forum start bringing up that "other genocides occurred in history" and how come only this one is made into a film. I'm afraid folks that Spielberg didn't make an all encompassing film to include all of the past atrocities that happened in the past 1000 years. He focused just on the Holocast. Also it is just pure ignorance to deny that 5-6 million Jewish civilians were killed/murdered. Even if it was 10,000 Jews, it does not make it any better. It doesn't really matter if they were Jews or any other religion. The fact is that 6 million PEOPLE who were civilians were murdered. They were Germans, Polish, French and many other nationalities. It just happened they were of the Jewish faith that was targeted by the Nazis(Jews were used as a scapegoat to blame all of Germany's economic ills as a country on. The Nazis also killed and murdered gypsies too. The people (men, women and children) killed were white people (Jewish is not a race. It is a religion).
Actual documentation of what the Nazi's did is on film shot by British news cameras as the American and British soldiers entered these concentration camps throughout 1945. Disease was rampant in these camps due to all the mass graves and thousands of bodies that were left to rot (by the Germans) as the British bulldozers needed to bury these corpses. My father and grandfather were in the 2nd World War as part of the American and British invasion of Germany and witnessed it first hand. That's enough proof as far as I am concerned. Yes. Not all Germans were bad people, but there were enough of them to throw the world into a World War in 1939 and to allow this to go on just a few miles from their towns and villages.

This is a good film. Good coverage of a very bad time in world history.

Not the best Special Edition one can expect, but still...
Although this 5 time Academy Award winning film certainly gets a beautiful presentation on disc, I both do and do not understand the complaining of the DVD presentation of Schindler's List. But first, let me discuss the benefits of the disc first.

The picture here is impressive, although there are noticeable flaws. The 1.85:1 anamorphic picture showcases excellent detail and rich black levels; at times the picture looked so good I thought that the movie was remastered by Lowery Digital Services. But then minor flaws show up, such as excessive grain and minor print flaws (such as in the sequence where Schindler Jews are calling out their names, I spotted a vertical line). Flaws aside, the picture is still beautiful and Janusz Kaminski's photography is put to good use here.

The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 Surround. All Dolby and DTS tracks give a sense of place to the film, and while the tracks aren't bass-heavy, they fit the movie's tone perfectly. It demonstrates excellent stereo separation and bass response, all the while not calling attention to itself. The two-sided disc cuts down on cost, and the menus allow one to access each part of the DVD with considerable ease. (The movie is also given French and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles, while the extras have optional subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.)

Now, the disadvantages. I know people were expecting an extras-packed version of this movie, but we only have two real extras included; the "Voices From the List" Featurette and "Behind the Shoah Visual Foundation" Featurette. Both are good extras detailing the various stories recounted by actual Schindler Jews, and while these are substantial enough, I had the feeling more could've been added. If Spielberg were to do commentaries, I would appreciate one done for this film, and the addition of the theatrical trailer would help too. Inclusion of those two extras would've added much more to the DVD.

Still, quibble about the extras aside, the disc release of this film gives newcomers a chance to be introduced to one of Spielberg's greatest cinematic achievements ever made, with great picture and sound. It may not always be easy viewing, but the impact it leaves is indelible and unforgettable. For fans of Spielberg's work and this movie, this disc is a must-have, despite the slim extras. (If you're intent on having more, the gift set is a viable option. Along with the DVD, it also includes a booklet, the movie's soundtrack CD, certificate of authenticity, a photo still book and a Plexiglas keep case.)

History repeating it's self?
Why don't we hear about other genocides, like the ones in Russia and Turkey that inspired the German one? The movie was so distorted and stereotypical it's ridicules. The nazi's weren't all-bad and the Jews weren't all good. Jews aren't as innocent as they are portrayed. This could be due to Hollywood being monopolized by them. See how much trouble Mel Gibson had when he tried make a movie that portrayed Jews as less than perfect. If they had really went through all that trauma, why would they go to Palestine and commit the same atrocities only decades before to the Arabs? Schindler's List is just one of the yearly Jewish propaganda films that are thrown at us, like the pianist for ex. And worst of all, every year schools have to show this movie to young children. And Disney show's this movie every yr on the wonderful world of Disney. Why is this gruesome movie targeted at kids I have no idea. "so we won't forget the past my A**" ... Read more

Amazon.com

Island at War turns a little-known bit of history into anextraordinarily rich miniseries. During World War II, the Nazi forcesoccupied the Channel Islands, located between France and England.Island at War unfolds on the fictional island of St. Gregory, wherea web of interconnected characters cope with the occupation--a politicianstruggles to maintain peaceful relations, for fear of brutal reprisals; an island policeman's anger at the occupation becomes complicatedwhen he's forced to chauffeur the commanding Nazi officer and he discoversthe position gives his family privilege; a shopkeeper, angry about her husband's death in anearly bombing raid, finds herself sharing in profits with a Nazi officialas they bring much-wanted food and supplies to the island; a girl hidingher Jewish identity becomes the object of a brutal lieutenant's sexualobsession. These four stories are only a hint of the series' fullness; thescript, direction, and performances are superb, building an engrossingportrait of how human beings cope with extremity and how the smallest ofinteractions--from laying rocks on a wall to getting a photographdeveloped--can lead to profound and unexpected results. The economy andcomplexity of Stephen Mallatratt's script are remarkable. The forces ofmoney, sex, prejudice, and love run deep through every story, juxtaposingprivate moments with historical scope. Island at War matches skilland talent with passion and insight. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Great story and very interesting perspective on WWII
Most WWII movies focus on the action in the main theatres of combat. Recently, I purchased an atlas which described what went on around the world during WWII even in countries which the history books didn't cover. 'Island at War' is such a study of the Channel Islands (located between France & England) and delivers a very interesting perspective on WWII while telling the story of several characters. It's highly recommendable, but I do warn you that it will leave you wishing for more episodes to explain actually what happened to the characters later.

Island at War Forum/Philip Glenister Appreciation Page
If you're an admirer of the wonderful series Island at War; would like to discuss and review the various characters; explore the nuances of the late Stephen Mallatratt's brilliant script; or learn more about the real history of the Channel Islands Occupation, then pay a visit to http://dancebarkprance.homestead.com/PhilipGlenisterAppreciationPage.html

As the name suggests, we do have a strong leaning towards Baron von Rheingarten, so magnificently portrayed by Philip Glenister, but we have come to like all the characters, be they the Dorr family; the Jonas family; the Mahys or the Germans (with the possible exception of Flach who has all the charm of a great white looking for its next meal, although having said this Andrew Havill is a very fine actor, most worthy of further consideration).It is primarily a female group at present but we're an intelligent, discerning bunch from numerous necks of the woods; we do know a lot about history and military matters so no male should be deterred from posting on the site and we're passionate about Island at War and PG!

This needs a sequel
Most shows on television are turkies. Awful just does not give the full meaning to say how bad American tv is. PBS tends to show some of the worst. Liberal scri[t writers who just do not understand what the American people are tends to be the problem.
Not to mention bad acting and poor selection of subjects.

When I saw this show advertised on PBS, I thought I would give it a try. And I found to my delite this show really was a joy to watch that I would like to see more episodes, which are unlikely as I hwear the guy producing it has died.

Britain has that odd abilty that this country does not have. The ability to produce actors really know how to act and speak english. American actors can't do either.

The settings are perfect. I loved the scenery provided by the Isle of Mann. The cloths are period. It is good to see women properly dressed rather than in trousers. The characters physically look their roles. It is all first rate work.

I enjoyed the personal conflicts of the characters. Angelique Mahi doing her best to keep her young impressionable sister away from German eyes only to find herself falling in love with young Luftwaffe airman Berhard Tielman was the best part. The honest cop, doing his best to be true to the island while his colleagues readily collaborate, and finding himself the baron's driver was another.

Though there were many fun characters to watch, the Baron is the best of them. He was a joy to watch. He is well done. He has a wonderful sence of humor. He readily comes across as the strict prussian with the soft side.

Of course, it has its flaws. In the DVD two bits of nudity which should have been clipped out. Some of the dialogue in the PBS show I wish were back in the DVD especially the Baron's early lecture on individual prussians being anarchists, but molded together under dicipline. A little confusion on whether it is set in 1940 or 1942. Refurences to Organisation Todt and its slave labor pool from eastern europe (still under Stalin in 1940). The baron wears the order of the GOld Cross which did not exist in 1940. Refurences to being sent to the Russian front and depoetation of Jews to the concentration camps which did not happen until later.

But it did have its accurate side. The nazis did round up and deport local Jews to the camps. Zelda, based on Theresa Steiner, actually existed. Theresa Steiner died in Auschwitz.

German behavior is well portrayed. Overall, they did their best to get along.

The Germans did have a venerial disease problem, as did all armies of the period, and tired to cope with it. They imported french (...) to sate the lusts of their troops to protect the virtues of local girls. And many local girls were grabbed off the streets for medical inspections. But not as shown as part of some policy of harrasing possisble reistence people, but more likely German soldiers getting even with local girls for various reasons.

Many of the German garrison had local girl friends, like the Americans on the British mainland. Fathering many children. I have actually read accounts where some individual Germans had to plead with superiors for permission to marry their girls whom they had fathered not one but numerous offspring. Which after the war proved quite an embarrasment to the Brits. Who went to great lengths to seperate these couples.
I wonder if Angelique and Bernhard would have been among them.

And many German soldiers were good people who made many friends with the locals. Acts of kindness performed are frequently mentioned in every article and book I have read on the German occupation period of the Channel Islands.

So much material with which to make a good show series.

I wish to see a sequel, but I doubt that will happen I am sorry to say.

Island At War ~ More, More, More!
Having caught an episode of this series on PBS purely by accident I was hooked. Unfortunately our local PBS stations were not showing any more of the series.I immediately purchased this 3 Disc Series. Our family just finished watching it and it was just wonderful!

I had read the reviews here first and knew that it might end abruptly. Although I wouldn't call it abrupt..it certainly does leave you wanting more.I have written to PBS to make my plea to continue on with this saga.I don't know how they market their shows..but I hadn't a heard anything about this series until I just happened upon it.

PLEASE PBS....reconsider and continue on with this series.With a little more publicity and some more airing on the stations I think it would be a huge success on this side of the pond.

For those of you considering a purchase..I do highly recommend it despite it not drawing complete conclusions at the end.

Island at War - wanting more
This was such an excellent series! !! I was so involved in each family'spersonal dramas that I gasped at the close to think that WE had to supply the endings to all the unfinished stories. I understood from WGBH that there were origionally to have been TWO more episodes, but the author's death last November from lukemia (he is the vicar) forced the producer's decision to stop there. Fine drama can provoke & disturb ...& haunt us. I will think about these charactars for a long time & hope for the best for them. Who knows, maybe after the war..... ... Read more

Description

One of the cinema's greatest epics finally comes to DVD in its originallavish, uncut splendor! This definitive version of Leo Tolstoy's literary classic boasts anunprecedented scale for its battle scenes, including a fully created regular army, over 120 ... Read more

Reviews (40)

Spectacle & Reverence....
You will never see a movie like the Russian War and Peace ever again. With battle scenes involving 200,000 extras (the Russian Army), made prior to CGI, the film has awesome scope and spectacle to spare, as well as a reverence for the source material, Tolstoy's massive and magnificent novel.

It will not please all fans of the novel, no movie can ever do that, but it is a worthy effort in trying to capture Tolstoy's sprawling story, which itself shifts from the spectacle of the wars with Napolean to the intimacy of family life and society in 19th century Russia.

There is meticulous recreation of the lifestyles of the nobility of the era, and some simply incredible sweeping re-staging of the key battles of Austelitz and later the War of 1812. Shot with incredible tracking shots, crane shots and aerial camerawork, there are images here that are stunning.

Perhaps the more intimate stories of the loves of Natasha (a marvelous Irina Skobtseva, a Natalya for all times), the travails of Prince Andrei and Pierre are somewhat overwhelmed by the greater spectacle of the war, but we come to know them nonetheless. Some of the other characters that are vivid in the novel are given short shrift, but in so huge an undertaking, I don't know how that could be avoided. More than one viewing will help to sort them all out.

At any rate, we are left with an incredible effort to capture the sweep of history and its effects on the individuals caught up in it. Tolstoy's themes of love and death, of the horror and futility of war, of the price paid by all for the egotism of a Napolean and the ambitions of ruthless men, are here. The foolish & foolhardy, the wise and the devious, the courageous and the cowards, the loving and the indifferent, i.e., all the very human characters in Tolstoy's Russia are here as well. And the great span of the film allows us to see them grow and change.

Not perfect, but a hugely ambitious film that succeeds more often than not. Worth it.

A surpisingly enjoyable film.
After an unexpected delay, Image Entertainment has finally released the full-version of War and Peace on DVD. And what a collection it is! The entire film is spread out over 4 discs in a serialized fashion with each disc dedicatated solely to a specific portion of the film. Additionally, each disc contains cast biographies, notes on relevant history, architectural drawings, and more. The fifth disc contains lengthy interviews with the production staff as well as original "documentaries" on the making of the film. All in all, an impressive package indeed.

So, how is the movie? When I first sat down to watch it my first thought was "What am I doing? A six-hour Russian film that is almost 40 years old? Is this going to be interesting at all?" Surprisingly I found the film to be very engaging and held my interest throughout the 6 hour 43 minute running time. The photography is excellent, the acting is very realistic, and the enormity of the production does bring moments of "Oh my god!" every now and then. (Seeing 50,000 extras in costume while a battle rages is very impressive!) But the film is not for everyone. It does lack the polish of the traditional Hollywood film and the story is sometimes difficult to follow. The director's style would go from melodrama to experimental with multiple images, odd camera angles, and strange compositions. (You can definitely see the influence of Abel Gance's Napoleon.) The battles scenes are the most impressive portions of this film, perhaps of any film to date, and are worth the cost of this disc alone.

The quality of the transfer is excellent, despite a flawed film source. The audio is up-to-date with excellent 5.1 sound separation and strong bass for those booming canons. Since the disc is not region encoded (for worldwide distribution) it contains multiple audio streams and an enormous amount of subtitle choices. The English audio & subtitles are flawed. The dubbed version has many scenes that are not dubbed at all and contain only English subtitles. (The liner notes say this version on DVD is the restored version, including originally censored scenes. My guess is that the non-dubbed parts are these restored scenes.) As for the English subtitles, they appear to be accurate but often do not materialize during French speaking scenes. However, since I prefer to watch the film in its original Russian language, the only annoyance I encountered was the sporadic lack of English subtitles.

If you have any interest at all in this film, I would strongly recommend this new and definitive release. At 6+ hours, five discs, and a film production that will never be duplicated again, this is a purchase that will not go unappreciated.

Ruscico War & Peace DVD is horribly defective
ZERO STARS. What a dissappointment! The film randomly switches between English and Russian and French dubbing ---sometimes in the same section--- and the subtitles don't always come on in English. I tried it on 2 DVD players so it is quite defective. Judging from some other reviews, other people are experiencing it but for some strange reason they find this acceptable. This is the first DVD I have ever seen which was this screwed up. Too bad----a great movie which I still have only on Beta (Kultur version).

Bondarchuk's "War and Peace" released by RUSCICO
A gargantuan version of Tolstoy's national epic, approached as a priority as important as the Soviet space program, War and Peace is surely the biggest production ever put on film, with entire armies filling the screen and covering vast landscapes. The recreation of the Napoleonic era in St. Petersburg and Moscow is a wonderment. Director Sergei Bondarchuk makes the story work even better at the intimate level. The romantic adventures and heartbreaks of the story's central trio, Pierre, Natasha and Andrei lead to at least 4 or 5 devastatingly emotional highpoints.
Previously, there was the 1956 Dino DeLaurentiis version. Except for some awkward casting, it wasn't half bad, but it pales beside the opulence and scope of this colossus. Ruscico's version is both longer and better-presented than previous releases, and Image has packaged it with helpful extras and easily-navigated menus. More on that below.
Savant was excited to see this pricey-but-exceptional DVD release; Ruscico has a reputation for quality releases of hard-to-see Soviet pictures, and War and Peace is certainly the prize title, at least for Western audiences unfamiliar with the majority of Mosfilm's output. I saw the American release when 16 years old, serialized over two weeks in a fancy theater in San Bernardino. I can't say I followed the story well, and mostly remember the grainy, washed out picture and the distracting English dubbing - Natasha's voice squeaked like Minnie Mouse. But the eye-popping visuals stayed burned into my memory, especially a God's eye view, receding into the heavens, of the Austerlitz battlefield spread out below. It looked as if it took in miles of smoke and fighting.
In Russian with subs in a number of languages, the new Ruscico / Image DVD is a completely different viewing experience. The Russian voices are beautiful, and it's easy to catch cultural things we had only read about, such as the St. Petersburg elite opting to speak French for many conversational details. It's not 70mm, but on a big widescreen television, the scope of the visuals can be almost overwhelming.
Ruscico's DVD of War and Peace is handsomely presented on 4 discs in a thankfully easy-to-understand package. The transfer image isn't going to be able to compete with restorations done here, however. War and Peace was shot in a Soviet color system in 70mm, and the colors are a muted set of pastels we aren't used to. Either the age of the elements, or the reduction printing, or bad storage has given many scenes a dupey look, with slightly fluctuating contrast. The image is stable and intact, but there are occasional scratches and slight damage.
Either that one bad shot was an isolated instance, or most of the time we're too caught up in the story to notice such things. I should point out that I viewed the discs on a 65" monitor that magnifies these kinds of flaws, so many viewers will probably be completely unaware of them.
The DVD producers have included a generous allotment of extras, listed below. A fifth disc contains a couple of Soviet docus on Tolstoy and an elaborate commemorative behind-the-scenes piece. It starts with the stars at a Moscow premiere, and then backtracks to show how many scenes were filmed. The cameraman is on roller skates in the ballroom scene, and a trucking scene through the battlefield shows exactly how some of the more amazing shots were captured. The cameramen use portable 70mm cameras of a kind I've never seen, that look every bit as sophisticated as ours.
In one of the interviews, the President of the Mosfilm studio says that after the years of filming, War and Peace wasn't unanimously praised in the Soviet Union. Everybody saw it, but not everyone thought it was a masterpiece. Audiences are audiences, Russian or American, and after those 4 or 5 transcendant moments in the picture, the ending does seem rather downplayed and anti-climactic. But seeing the show now after 35 more years of film history, this enormous epic seems more of an accomplishment than ever.

P.S. To watch the movie preview video clip you can on russianDVD.com website for free.

Grand epic
This is an excellent movie. The dubbing situation was strange, but that doesn't detract form the overall quality. And off course the book is better and more extensive then the movie. That said though. bondarchuk did do the ideal screen adaption. I only wish Nicholas would have been more prominently featured. ... Read more

Reviews (1130)

Saving Private Ryan DVD: Definitive Movie on D-Day
This was an awe-inspiring, horrific and honest portrayal of the D-Day landing and the extraordinary sacrifices made by ordinary individuals. Spielberg's hand-held in your face film technique immerses the viewer into the action. Without a doubt, Speilberg's depiction of the landing on Normandy Beach is one the most intense battle scenes ever filmed.

It is no less than a sheer masterpiece of filmaking. It is a well-researched, authentic anti-war statement that stands as a tribute to those individuals who endured horrific circumstances and literally saved the free world from tyranny.

Saving Private Ryan accomplishes what Schindler's list did in regard to the holocaust and what Oliver Stone's Platoon accomplished in its statement on Vietnam.

In addition, Spielberg has not only paid a deserving tribute to the veterans of World War II, he has also produced an excellent anti-war film that deglorifies warfare. There was nothing romantic about being butchered on the battlefield. If there is a hell, the D-Day veterans have already been there.

Saving Private Ryan is without a doubt one of the most honest, realistic combat movies ever made. Although Spielberg may not have gotten it all down in regard to the war with Germany; his depiction in regard to Normandy Beach and D-Day are right on target!

A terrifically powerful film
"Saving Private Ryan" is probably the best World War 2 movie ever made. The cast is excellent, and the cinematography unparalleled. The use of the hand-held, filtered camera during the battle scenes brings Capa's D-Day photographs to life. The story is simple--eight men are sent to find another soldier behind enemy lines--yet powerful by that very virtue. It is full of brilliant cinematic moments, such as the segueway after the horrific opening D-Day sequence: The screen goes blank for a second, and we hear the layered sounds of typewriters clicking like machine guns as Army typists write next of kin letters...Raindrops falling, then falling faster and dissolving into the sound of gunfire...
Throughout the film, we are shown many aspects of combat: the depersonalization which occurs in battle (Hanks' Captain Miller staring paralyzed at the carnage around him on the Normandy beach for a moment, then stoically replacing his blood-filled helmet); the tragedy of a single death (Giovanni Ribisi's Wade calling for his mother as he dies--the most realistic and moving depiction of death in cinema, to me...); heroism and cowardice. The music is great, the characters vividly drawn, the historical details perfect.

Steven Spielberg made this film as a tribute to his father, who served as a radio operator in the Pacific theater. His first film, made when he was thirteen, was a war story (in which he was allowed to use real airplanes at a nearby airbase for some of the shots). He'd been thinking of making a big film like this for a long time, and it is rewarding to watch.

Surprisingly impressive, stands out among war movies
Most of us expect a low-rate, pointless and overall tacky war movie from today's money-hungry industry, but SPR has done well in distancing itself from our presumptions. If you've never seen it before, than you'll be surprised at how well the movie is puit together. Aside from the usual modern-day method of pumping a movie full of A-List actors, a predictable script, less-than-impressive direction, irrelevent acting, and the overall novelty that one can come to expect of supposed dramas of today's glamour industry.

The story follows Captain John H. Miller and his team, including a sniper, a medic, an Arab, a surly private, and an acceptable Vin Diesel, to rescue James F. Ryan, a private in a paratrooper squad whose three brothers have been killed in action. A mission susceptible to much protest, and ultimately one that will cost many lives.

Everything about the movies feels as if it was done right. The overall atmosphere feels right, and it makes you feel as if you're sitting inside the movie--you can almost feel the moisture of the air seething through your clothes or the subtle sunshine warm your shoulders and forehead. The acting is very good as well, although you can spot some parts where improvement wouldn't hurt and it at times feels tacky and stunted. The direction is done well, as the actors can easily pass as soldiers, but the aforemen