Reviews

Much overlooked in the flash of the great cast: DeNero, Stone, Pecci, Rickles -- is the musical background. If anything sets the tone of the movie as a fun-loving, Las Vegas vacation, it's the 50's period music. Of course, it's not a Las Vegas vacation spot they're talking about; it's mob-control of the casinos and some foreshadowing of another film -- "Leaving Las Vegas" which earned an Oscar. This one is more palatable.

A signal quality of Eastwood's movies is the excellence of supporting actors. In this case, Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, John Vernon and Paula Trueman -- some major support -- Dan George, Sandra Locke -- some more minor roles -- John Vernon and Paula Trueman, who was in but one scene and gave tone and verisimilitude to the story. Josey Wales escapes a slaughter of his southern comrades by yankee soldiers after the surrender of the South. A wandering indian (George) becomes his muse and mentor as they seek escape to Texas. Commancheros, Commanches and the yankee search and destroy party do their best, but Josey brings a Kansas family, himself and his indian friend to peaceful coexistence.

A movie made as a movie, not just another horse opera. Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, directed by John Ford and supported by then unsung actors such as Struther Martin, Lee Van Cleef, Edmond O'Brien and veterans such as Andy Devine, John Carradine and Vera Miles. For once, John Wayne looked like a working cowboy, thanks to great costuming. You would have to live as a cowboy to know how real to life the acting was.

Following the bloody debacle at Galipoli, an Aussie lighthorse brigade was given another "Mission Impossible;" they were to move across the waterless desert and attack a heavily armed Turkish post at Beersheba. These were infantry mounted on horseback and getting water was dependent on their success. Their adoption of cavalry tactics was an unexpected stroke. The final attack on Beersheba is worth the time spent watching the whole thing.

Michael Caine, Noel Coward, Benny Hill -- brought together for a tour de farce in Italy. A well-paced comedic venture of a gang of would-be crooks who masquerade as soccer fans to make their escape. The ending leaves one teetering on the brink.

John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Ward Bond, Barry Fitzgerald, Victor McLaglen -- the cast is loaded with talent beyond any normal expectations. John Ford could hardly hope for a better combination with the Irish countryside and a fanciful script. This film has remained in memory since its release in 1952. If that doesn't indicate quality entertainment, what does?

An English country manor house is the setting for a party Peter (Fry) gives for some chums from college days. It quickly becomes a catharsis, much like that in "Four Seasons," for the guests, as well as Peter himself. The TV version is reduced to essentially a single set and plays much like a stage play. Exemplar performances by an extraordinary cast, which includes the director (Branagh) and a co-writer (Rudner).

Though produced well before "Saving Private Ryan," it gives the same picture as seen by the men and boys who flew the bombers out of England, often to certain death over Germany. The graphic portrayals of four engine bombers being destroyed at 30,000 feet -- often grotesquely -- match those of the slaughterhouse in "...Private Ryan" on the beach on D-Day. Once again we see portrayed the heroism of those who fought that war, and see confirmed once more that war, indeed, is Hell.

An excellent film and perfect for Selleck who appears to cherish the somewhat off-beat setting and story, this time in Australia, for a western. The firearms scenes are especially well done.

Four of the best all time best western actors performing with Tom Selleck and Catharine Ross at their best -- Harry Carey, Jr., Ben Johnson, Geoffrey Lewis and Sam Elliot -- make the best of a Louis L'Amour story. Purists may be put-off by the geographical inaccuracies; there is no Baffin Bay or Converse County, Texas. The location looks more like the California coast than Texas.

Rue McClanahan as her trademark southern matron on-the-make teams with Stephanie Zimbalist, an American photographer seeking adventure in this "Perils of Pauline" style of pot boiler. Complete with CIA agent -- Ken Howard, wealthy British heavy -- Edward Woodward, and Christie's standard "red herring" the bumbling Tony Randall, who performs in both clerical garb and drag, combine to be entertaining in this Agatha Christie mystery. Zimbalist manages to cross Eastern Africa without luggage but with occasional change of wardrobe -- including a flashy harem girl costume on a boat that moves north along the coast of Africa, when the plot says it's going south. In the style of Hollywood "B" of an earlier age, it comes off funky and cute.

Film has never captured the grand invasion with such accuracy and detail. Never has the near defeat of the allies on the beaches of Normandy been so graphically and accurately portrayed. Every actor gave a performance equating the actual performance of the real soldiers in this great endeavor; the accuracy of detail is unsurpassed in cinema. If anyone wants to know something about the horror of war, if they think there is honor a glory in war, this movie is a must see.

A primal effort by Eastwood to act in something besides an oater or shooter. Sadly the "available light" photography left much of the movie in the dark -- literally. It scored a plus in the shock-horror department with a shot of the housekeeper's body inside the clothes dryer. Suspense builds around the prospects of Eastwood's daughter being kidnapped by the killer.A not particularly memorable film, but it got him to New Orleans.

Eastwood is a spirit returned from the dead. A former sheriff who was whipped to death by some rowdy cowboys returns to the scene of the crime and involves everyone in the town who could have helped him, but didn't, in a bizarre plan to welcome the bad boys back to town after coming out of prison. The avenging angel and the dwarf jester concept of mythology underlies the entire plot. Watching it unravel is the appeal of the film. A fine though little-known supporting cast. Billy Curtis outstanding as the dwarf.

The story jumps about so much as to be indiscernible. Missing insignia, wrong native languages, a blatant homosexual, an impossible interracial affair, an airplane with different tail registration numbers, and the use of a rifle not in the system until 1939 in a 1933 setting lend to the confusion. The introduction of a German Nazi(?) kidnapper adds nothing, but more confusion. The plot appears written in sequences, then glued together without consideration for continuity.

A good effort to support the cause of the veterans, which is much needed, but -- it trashes the DVA medical system. They have a daily battle of their own ... professionals vs. administrators. However, the system cannot exist without both. The movie overloads the poorest of possibilities, it exploits the "worst case (impossible) case scenrio. The DVA deserves better. The character portrayed by Keefer Southerland does himself well , and Southerland carries it off well. A good cast, a good story, a poor representation of the truth ... close, but not the truth.