I have actually never heard about this 1998 war drama titled "A Bright Shining Lie" before now in 2023, as I happened to stumble upon the movie by random chance. And seeing that the movie had Bill Paxton in the lead, of course I wanted to take the time and sit down to watch it.
The storyline in "A Bright Shining Lie", as written by Neil Sheehan and Terry George, proved to be entertaining and providing a different approach to the archetypical Vietnam War-based movies. And I found that to be a refreshing thing about the movie. The storyline has elements of both the archetypical warfare, as seen in countless other movies, but also have elements of politics and powerbroking, so there was something more than just your run-of-the-mill jungle warfare.
The acting performances in the movie were good, and it was nice to see Bill Paxton in the leading role, because he carried the movie quite nicely. The movie also have the likes of Donal Logue, Amy Madigan, Harve Presnell, Robert John Burke, Vivian Wu, Ed Lauter, Ed Lauter and James Rebhorn on the cast list, so there are many familiar faces on the screen.
The cinematography in "A Bright Shining Lie" was good, because it was a nice mixture of steady camera work and a more action-packed style of camera work during the action sequences. I enjoyed that about the movie. However, I don't understand why they opted to cram in stock footage from the days of the Vietnam War, but to each their own I suppose.
If you haven't already seen "A Bright Shining Lie", and have an interest in movies based on the Vietnam War, then give director Terry George's 1998 movie a chance. I did so, and I was genuinely entertained throughout the course of the 118 minutes that the movie ran for.
My rating of "A Bright Shining Lie" lands on a six out of ten stars.
The storyline in "A Bright Shining Lie", as written by Neil Sheehan and Terry George, proved to be entertaining and providing a different approach to the archetypical Vietnam War-based movies. And I found that to be a refreshing thing about the movie. The storyline has elements of both the archetypical warfare, as seen in countless other movies, but also have elements of politics and powerbroking, so there was something more than just your run-of-the-mill jungle warfare.
The acting performances in the movie were good, and it was nice to see Bill Paxton in the leading role, because he carried the movie quite nicely. The movie also have the likes of Donal Logue, Amy Madigan, Harve Presnell, Robert John Burke, Vivian Wu, Ed Lauter, Ed Lauter and James Rebhorn on the cast list, so there are many familiar faces on the screen.
The cinematography in "A Bright Shining Lie" was good, because it was a nice mixture of steady camera work and a more action-packed style of camera work during the action sequences. I enjoyed that about the movie. However, I don't understand why they opted to cram in stock footage from the days of the Vietnam War, but to each their own I suppose.
If you haven't already seen "A Bright Shining Lie", and have an interest in movies based on the Vietnam War, then give director Terry George's 1998 movie a chance. I did so, and I was genuinely entertained throughout the course of the 118 minutes that the movie ran for.
My rating of "A Bright Shining Lie" lands on a six out of ten stars.