fastball1740 Reviews

Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

Still the best about Pearl Harbor

[8/10 · 12 July 2004]

While the acting was far from Oscar worthy and the plot slow at times Tora! Tora! Tora! remains the best account on film concerning the tragic events that occurred at Pearl Harbor.

The movie's strengths lie in its accuracy and use of real events. For example it uses Yamamoto's actual line about awaking a sleeping giant instead inserting some fancy overly dramatic phrase. Furthermore, the film is not judgemental about its characters and lets the viewer come to his or her own conclusion as to whom the blame should fall.

For the time the film was made the special effects were good and the story was one that could not be forgotten. Other accounts still pale in comparison and that is the final measure for me.

Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)

A Giant Shadow of a Cast

[6/10 · 19 June 2004]

One of the greatest casts ever assembled for a single film including Kirk Douglas, Michael Douglas, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Yul Brynner, Senta Berger, Angie Dickinson and others was put completely to waste in this film of unfulfilled potential. Sadly, despite a disproportionate amount of Jews in influential positions in Hollywood, Exodus and Cast a Giant Shadow remain the only two major films on the subject of Israeli independence.

Clearly almost the entire budget was spent on a two minute cameo by John Wayne because even for 1966 the special effects were poor, the dialogue was flat, the plot was boring, many scenes made little sense, and every actor either seemed bored with his or her role or they overacted. For a movie based on actual events the filmmakers due an incredibly poor job of explaining how things actually come to pass in the movie, maybe the truth was just too boring. The film sends a message but it is poorly conveyed and in the end I simply am left unsatisfied with a desire to see a Longest Day type caliber movie about the Israeli War of Independence.

A Bright Shining Lie (1998 TV Movie)

They Call Themselves Actors?

[4/10 · 3 February 2004]

I was expecting a lot more of this film than what I actually got. The acting was just awful from everyone and the story was far from impressive. It took a lot of something I don't to even follow what was going because it was so jumpy. An example of the acting is when Paxton's character, Vann, is upset the South Vietnamese colonel for so he throws some of the sand from the "sand map". It was impossible to get any idea of what he was feeling and his actions were robotic. To make things worse, I have no idea how I'm supposed to feel about Vann. He's obviously presented as the protagonist but as soon as he gets to Vietnam he starts an affair with an Vietnamese English teacher. The only thing the movie had going for it was that it wasn't particularly boring. I give it 4 stars out of 10.

All the President's Men (1976)

An atrocious movie

[1/10 · 19 May 2003]

It truly saddens me that Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein got as much credit as they did for coming up with a bunch of lies. Misquotes, forgery, exaggeration, and outright lying plague the book and the movie. I would like to see them deny these claims because they can't truthfully do so. Even though the general conclusion is likely true the reporters were unable to actually get the information themselves. I know this firsthand from testimony that what was written in the book and said in the movie was not said in real life. It is also amazing how Woodward and Bernstein claim how people feel from their voice over a telephone then have the actors or actresses make that sound in the movie. The rules of heresay certainly do not apply here. While certainly someone or some people in the Nixon administration committed criminal acts it must be realized that this was and is not out of the ordinary. Anyone who believes that political espionage has not existed since the Continental Congress is fooling themselves. Of course this doesn't excuse Nixon's actions but he was not a particularly bad person. I also think we can hardly call this movie suspenseful when the outcome is already decided before it starts. This is truly a work of fiction posing as a true story going far beyond "artistic license".

Company Jasmine (2001)

A Great Documentary

[10/10 · 10 April 2003]

"Company Jasmine" shows us something most people have never seen before. Few have seen what it is like to train to become a soldier, fewer to become an officer in one the world;s most prestigious militaries, and fewer yet what the experience is like for women. Not only that but the film itself is done extremely well. It also suprisingly presents the issue of women on the front lines entirely objectively, encompassing both points of view and examining multiple perspectives. You would normally expect such a documentary to be firmly biased but "Jasmine" does not do so and is all the better for it.