Cactus-7 Reviews

Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

Love on the Wing

[8/10 · 27 January 2008]

This is one of Howard Hawks' best films. While ostensibly about flying the mail in South America, the picture includes a much bigger story. The characters that populate this film are wonderful and Jean Arthur is terrific. I can't imagine anyone other than Ms. Arthur in the role of Bonnie Lee. Throw in Cary Grant, Thomas Mitchell, Noah Beery, Jr. and Rita Hayworth and you know you've got a winner. This film mixes airplanes with romance, music and suspense. This is also the film from which that well-known phrase "Judy, Judy, Judy," comes which is so popular with Grant imitators. However, the line is never actually said. But, like the never uttered "Play it again, Sam," from Casablanca, it has become part of Hollywood myth. You'll enjoy this film.

Captains of the Clouds (1942)

Oh, Canada!

[7/10 · 27 January 2008]

This is one of my favorite films, but not because of Cagney or Morgan. Brenda Marshall is the jewel in this picture's crown. She provides the blue-jean wearing, North Country beauty in the film and drives the fly-boys crazy. Marshall, who bears a resemblance to Madolyn Smith Osborne, wants to get to the big city regardless of how she gets there. The resulting competition among pilots keeps the story line from being completely aviation oriented. This is a good look at Canadian bush aviation in the 1930's and the cast is excellent. As with all films of this period, airplanes are shown doing things that are aerodynamically impossible, but it doesn't take away from the picture. There are even early aeromedical ideas about how G-forces affect the human body. Filmed entirely on location in Canada, much of the scenery is stunningly beautiful. Canadian politics are even slipped in during graduation ceremony when Air Marshal Bishop refers to pilots from "loyal Quebec." All in all a fun film.

Donovan's Reef (1963)

Paradise Lost

[10/10 · 24 February 2005]

With The Duke and Lee Marvin, I knew that this was going to be a fun movie to watch. No disappointment there. Filled with the splendor of the South Pacific and scored with beautiful music from the islands, it will appeal to any fan of the tropics. Elizabeth Allen is stunning as the leggy Boston blue blood who arrives on the island and gets everyone stirred up. She, along with Wayne, Marvin and Jack Warden make the film funny and appealing. If you want to watch a film that does not use today's hackneyed formula of gratuitous sex, profanity, explosions and car chases, fix yourself a Mai Tai, put on your flowered shirt and watch Donovan's Reef. Aloha.

A Stranger Among Us (1992)

Fiddler on the Roof with a Homicide

[5 December 2004]

Man, this is one bad film! If you want yet another mind-numbing lecture on Hassidic Judaism, this is the flick for you. If you thought you were getting a "Whodunnit," you wasted your money. Everyone was so sweet and pious I half expected the final line to be "Rabbi says every time you hear a bell ring, a gentile gets its wings." Perhaps this would have been a better film if it had been made as a musical a la "Fiddler on the Roof." Think of the numbers. "If I Were A Dead Guy," Sunrise, Sunset; My Gut's Upset" etc. Sopranos fans will enjoy a brief appearance by James Gandolfini and John Pankow's "Levine" is the only character of any interest. Bad, bad, bad. Someone bring me a slab of ham. And a shot of Jameson's Irish Whiskey! Quick!

Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

Hasn't yet been equaled

[10/10 · 11 November 2003]

This film is the gold standard by which all Pearl Harbor films are measured. It is mostly accurate from a historical point of view and provides an excellent look at what was going on in both the Japanese and US governments in the weeks leading up to the attack. One of the most striking aviation scenes in film history appears in Tora, Tora, Tora. As night ends, the Japanese aircraft begin taking off from their carriers north of Hawaii. The planes rush down the flight deck in the dark with flaming exhaust erupting from pipes alongside their engines. They rise into a sky that is just becoming tinged with dawn. It is one of the most magnificent moments in the film, as it must have been on that morning so long ago. Like The Longest Day, this film uses many big name Japanese and American actors to help the audience keep the actual historical figures straight in their minds. Tora, Tora, Tora, is so well done, it could be shown to school kids (if they studied history anymore) because of its clear look at both sides of the attack. It's truly outstanding.

John Q (2002)

This film NEEDS a doctor

[2/10 · 5 May 2003]

As the recipient of a kidney transplant, I was not really surprised to see that almost nothing about this film was accurate. The whole phony plot line that a hospital wouldn't perform a heart transplant on Washington's son until he raised thousands of dollars should tip most people off. If a patient can't afford an organ transplant, Medicare will pay for it. Likewise the idea that a perfect donor match would become available within 24 hours is almost too laughable to contemplate. Most transplant patients wait a minimum of two to three years for their donor organ. You don't receive an organ because your dad is holding the ER hostage; you receive it after you've been on the UNOS list long enough to accumulate a certain amount of points. You also have to wait until a suitable tissue match is available. Organ transplantation is an extremely complicated process and this film could have done a lot to educate people as to the lack of donor organs in this country. Instead, it was a ridiculous play for a national health care program. If you like the Postal Service, you'll love nationalized health care.

Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984)

Get your barf bag ready

[22 January 2003]

If this isn't the worst film ever made, then whatever's worse is a well kept secret. Lucinda (Thunder Thighs) Dickey as well as the rest of the cast make comical figures of themselves. It's the usual story...big bad business wants to take away the rec center from kids who in real life would be hijacking liquor stores. I think they were trying to make a knock off of West Side Story. It would be more appropriate to name it Blind Side Story. What a gagger.

We Were Soldiers (2002)

A tribute to the American soldier

[10/10 · 17 September 2002]

This film reinforces a lesson that the current generation of Americans have forgotten. Specifically, war will always be with us and someone had better be good at it. Those who have never served believe that war is absurd and we can all be friends with a group hug; the truth couldn't be more different. The 1965 battle of the Ia Drang Valley was, by the standards of heroism, equal to the Alamo. Without ruining the film for you, suffice it to say a handful of American soldiers from the First Cavalry (Airmobile) are surrounded by thousands of North Vietnamese Regulars. Like all American soldiers, they are a disciplined lot, fight as they have been trained and they mean to win. The crucible of combat brings out the best in them. Thankfully, "We Were Soldiers" also illustrates the valor of the UH-1 helicopter pilots who were such an integral part of the Airmobile operations. The rest of us may be grateful that those who would attempt to put us to the sword will have to face men like these. There are a few errors, but not many. For instance, taxis didn't deliver death messages at Fort Benning. An Army chaplain and an officer came as a team to deliver the message. Likewise, reporters didn't just jump on a chopper and head for the front. There's a little more to it than that. But Hollywood has always played fast and loose with the facts and it's unlikely that anyone would take this seriously. Sooner or later, some knuckle head will refer to this as an anti-war movie. It's not. It's just a war movie. And a damned good one.

In Harm's Way (1965)

Another gut-bustin', mother-lovin' Navy film.

[9/10 · 29 April 2001]

One of Wayne's best pictures. Here he shows all of his sides, including the romantic, the humorous and the dead serious. The interaction between Wayne and Kirk Douglas is pivotal to the film's success. When Pearl Harbor is attacked, Douglas turns to his old friend and asks, "You know what we've got now, don't you? We've got another gut-bustin, mother-lovin' Navy war." The film is a splendid look at "a Navy war," from the small PTs to the larger ships, "...going in harm's way." This film has something for just about everyone. Besides the aforementioned romance and humor, there is high drama, criminal behavior and great courage. See it.

The Devil's Brigade (1968)

The cast makes the film.

[12 December 1999]

You may sometimes get the feeling that Hollywood thinks that World War II was won entirely by commando units. But The Devil's Brigade is one of the better "Special Forces" films. William Holden is chosen to meld a group of American misfits with an elite group of Canadian Army troops. The results are sometimes predictable, but nevertheless, interesting and humorous.The well-chosen cast makes the film what it is, with Jeremy Slate turning in a understated but splendid performance as the hand-to-hand combat instructor. The Devil's Brigade is good entertainment.

Gettysburg (1993)

Great moviemaking. Really bad history.

[4/10 · 13 November 1998]

Once again, Hollywood has taken an actual historical event and tried to improve on it. To its credit, this is one of the most beautifully shot and scored films you are likely to see. But the makers of Gettysburg were not about to let this film be confused with the facts. Jeff Daniels makes an impassioned speech that the actual Joshua Chamberlain never made. It's not even a good speech. He says that his men form an army like no other army in history...an army fighting for an idea. This would come as an enormous surprise to members of the Continental Army of the American Revolution who also fought for an idea. General James Longstreet continually argues with Robert E. Lee about which strategy to adopt. Longstreet did favor a different stategy, but there is no evidence to support the fact that he didn't accept Lee's plan. He is shown so wracked with doubt that he can't give the order for Pickett's charge. Witnesses say Longstreet was overcome by emotion, not doubt. He states in one scene, "I don't think about the cause much anymore," while the Federal soldiers are depicted as being swept up in some kind of noble cause. In actual fact, by 1863, the north was so sick of the war there was strong sentiment to just allow the Confederacy to leave the Union without further violence. But with the exception of a few men from Maine who are unhappy with their enlistment deal, the Union soliders are depicted as a happy lot on a holy crusade. The death of Stonewall Jackson just two months prior to Gettysburg gets no treatment in this film. If there is one single historical event that altered the outcome of the battle it was Jackson's death at Chancellorsville...something that is completely overlooked. Lee is depicted as a starry-eyed old man; George Meade, the Union commander barely puts in an appearance; John Bell Hood whines his way through the film; JEB Stuart's absence is never accurately explained-you're left to believe he was out joyriding; Corps Commander Hancock utters such ridiculous statements under fire as, "There are times when a corps commander's life doesn't count;" General Armistead is a blubbering, sentimental old fool; Chamberlain is almost comic in his stammering attempts at conversation. George Pickett is a fopish baffoon, and on and on and on. It's a wonder the war went on as long as it did with such a collection of officers. Revisionist history at its worst. Skip it.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Where did we find such men?

[10/10 · 28 September 1998]

"Saving Private Ryan" provides, in stark relief, a portrait of the American infantryman in World War II. For those looking for a whiney anti-war film in the Vietnam tradition, this isn't it. The men portrayed in "Saving Private Ryan" are American soldiers of the 1940's who realize that, like it or not, they stand between the dark night of Nazi tyranny and freedom for millions. They have truly gone in harm's way. In case you are still unfamiliar with the story, Private Ryan is the sole survivor of four brothers who are serving in the military. Two are killed in the Normandy invasion, a third has been killed a short time earlier at New Guinea in the Pacific Theater. Army Chief of Staff George Marshall is so trouble by the prospect that another family will lose all of its sons to the war, that he orders a small unit of eight men to find the surviving Ryan. Marshall is haunted by the deaths of the five Sullivan brothers who all perished when the ship on which they served went down in the Pacific. Marshall is clearly not doing this as an Army publicity stunt. A letter he posseses which was written by Abraham Lincoln to a mother who made a similar sacrifice during the War Between the States also spurs Marshall into action. Ryan parachuted into Normandy with the 101st Airborne Division the night before the beach actions and, thus, will be difficult to find. The men on the rescue mission are just guys. Nothing special about them. The thing that makes them stand out is their determination to just do their job. They're not sure why Ryan is so special, but they intend to find out or die trying.

This is Tom Hanks at his best. His portrayal of a World War II officer is never better than when he gives his men their last minute instructions in the landing craft. He ends by saying, "And I'll see you on the beach." His quiet confidence is remarkable and accurate.

Barry Pepper is excellent as the unit's Tennessee born and bred sniper and Giovanni Ribisi is outstanding as the medic. If you're looking for an anti-war "message" movie, this one isn't it. It's about duty, honor and the type of men who stood on the ramparts during one of the world's darkest hours. After seeing this, go thank a World War II veteran. Plenty of them traded their tomorrows so we could have today.

Captain James Cook (1987–2000)

Discover the man that discovered the world.

[13 September 1998]

Peter Yeldham's "Captain James Cook" is notable in it's historical accuracy, beautiful cinematography and music. Keith Michell is well cast in the title role and portrays Cook as the humane and progressive British explorer that he was. While some dramatic license is taken in the interest of compressing the story for television, it is generally a faithful representation of Cook 's story. The supporting cast members portray actual historical figures and do so eloquently. John Gregg and Xabier Elorriaga are especially good in the roles of Joseph Banks and Lord Sandwich, respectively. This is one of TNT's better mini-series.