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TommyWoods
Reviews
The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
A Fine Game of War, and in the End the Allies Win.
The Eagle Has Landed is is one of the classic war movies from the 70's. A flock of the time's finest Anglo-American actors have been put together in a film where gentleman soldiers from both sides of the WWII frontline are having a match in the art of war. Yes, gentleman soldiers. Many classic WWII films are usually seen with plenty of evil "nazi pigs", Germans speaking English with German accent and patriotic atmosphere backing the allied forces towards the victorious end. There are very little of those features here.
If you weren't aware of the existence of the WWII, watching this film, in many points you couldn't actually distinguish who the two counterparts fighting each other are. Everybody speaks English in different accents, not just German, British or American accents as may be in many cases. The German colonel Steiner speaks fluent English with an English accent, an Irishman is on the German side fighting the English, etc.. Also, the German soldiers are not demonised but seen equally human and humane as the English villagers and the American troops. The events are viewed more from the Germans' side than of the English and the Americans. These equalising features separate the film's events from the history in the way that in the end it's merely a story about some military forces that invade some town in a mission to kidnap a head of some state. The film concentrates on individual relationships, on duty, "greater good" and betrayal.
The war in this film has no terrors. Soldiers of both sides obey the rules of proper warfare and they respect each other. There are no "bads" in this film, only "goods". It seems as if they were playing a game. Everybody does what they are supposed and expected to do, even when it results in giving away one's life. Player's on both sides do what is right based on their role in the war game.
All this together, the film is a light war story. It also has an even lighter love story on the side. Reality and authenticity are not an issue. Acting is good, the sights are beautiful and the plot advances steadily. The film is entertaining and easy to watch. Of course, if you have read your history books, you can also predict the outcome of the Germans' plan, but it doesn't matter. The Eagle Has Landed could be described as the "Ocean's Eleven in war". A group of gentlemen challenging another group of gentlemen. Only in this case, they are not robbing a casino, they are robbing a PM. All the same, the general attitude in the film feels similar.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Indiana Jones and the Fourth Adventure of Indiana Jones
Just as I was about to begin writing this review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull there was an announcement about the celebration of the 66th birthday of Harrison Ford on the front page of IMDb. How convenient. So, I saw this movie yesterday, about a month and a half after the film arrived to Finland. I had heard and read mixed opinions about the return of grandpa Henry Jones Junior before I got a chance to form my own opinion about it. They said Ford was too old for the role, they said the film is boring and has nothing new to give to the audience. But some of them also said that it is a good old Indy movie, just the thing they went to see.
I lean towards the latter opinion. The first three films established a certain model of an Indiana Jones movie. The plot goes through certain patterns and the film culminates with a grand finale as the bad guys and traitors get what they deserve while Indy's team survives tightly. There are the villains, the women, the bugs, the wild pursuits and the supernatural forces. Just like when you go see a Bond film you pretty much know what you're going to get. With the fourth Indy you should also anticipate the way things develop. Only the goal of the race is different from the previous ones. I guess you'd need to have seen the first three movies in order to understand and accept this. If you don't know who Indiana Jones is before you enter the theatre, you could end up with an opinion like "This was kind of a children's movie, i guess" (an anonymous quote from somebody in the theatre yesterday). Well, compared to the crash-boom-bang-action films they do today Indy 4 is quite tame and conservative for an adventure film, although there are some exaggerated stunts that are common annoyances in today's CGI-assisted flicks.
Basically, with the Kingdom of Crystal Skull an Indy fan gets what he/she expects. There were only some disturbing details I have to mention. The age of the leading actor was not a problem. It was actually exploited very well as a source for some good laughs. As I mentioned before, there were some unnecessarily exaggerated stunts that weren't plausible in any way. On the other hand, they didn't affect the outcome of the events too much. So keeping that in mind they can be forgiven. More disturbing was the Marion character. Karen Allen played her role well in the Raiders of the Lost Ark, but in this one, she was something completely different. Without going into any details I can say that Marion had her obvious share in the plot but that share should have been limited to the minimum. Allen's acting didn't reach the level of the other's and the scenes she was in seemed to be pretty much expendable. I don't know if the fault was actually in Allen's acting or in horribly bad screenplay of the Marion scenes. Either way, for me, Marion was the only big minus in this film. As a compensation, Shia LaBeouf managed his role as Mutt Williams very well.
As a whole, for an Indy fan like me Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull delivers the goods that the name Indiana Jones promises. It follows the familiar form of the previous Indys, and although Dr. Jones has moved a bit from junior towards senior he can still take the ride. I guess the film isn't loud enough for all the fast and furious kids of the 21st century, but for us old school Indy fans (perhaps I'm just middle school being born in the late 70's) this does fine. Sure, we've seen this before, but who wouldn't take more than just one ride on a good roller-coaster?
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Good acting with a beautiful background
This film is contemplative, poetic and not for impatient people. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford takes its time with every scene. It concentrates on words, images and expressions of the characters. There are lots of long close-ups but the actors manage them well as they also do with their roles in general. The film is full of beautiful sceneries from the American nature and the scenes look like video strips shot in the late 19th century because of their multiple details. The soundtrack fits in nicely. Excellent work altogether. The characters aren't introduced too well in the beginning so if the viewer wishes to keep up with the plot and the characters from the start, I recommend studying the history sources concerning Jesse James and Robert Ford before seeing the picture. This film isn't about twists and turns in the plot but the characters and the atmosphere. It's a historical movie so one can assume many viewers are familiar with the events beforehand. Because of the title, at least the outcome shouldn't be a secret to anyone.
The film starts slowly but builds up the suspense towards the end. The last scenes are very intense and worth waiting for. I recommend The Assassination of Jesse James as a "one-view" movie, meaning that it is a good film but maybe seeing it once is enough. It's the kind of film that offers you everything it has on a single view. I enjoyed this film but I'm afraid watching it second time would get me bored.
Tuntematon sotilas (1985)
The evil twin brother of the unknown soldier
Rauni Mollberg's version of the Unknown Soldier, the novel of Väinö Linna, has always been the one that has been compared to the first movie version directed by Edvin Laine 30 years earlier. The times have changed between 1955 and 1985 and it shows. Laine's Unknown was jolly and cheerful, almost farce-like when compared to this one. Mollberg's Unknown is grimmer and wants to show the darker shades even darker and deeper than the first one. Laine skips the difficult themes like plundering of enemy cities and the executions of the soldiers sentenced in court-martial quite quickly or doesn't handle them at all. Mollberg obviously wants to dig deeper in them but hasn't left out any of the original scenes either. Hence the titanic length of the film.
When one has seen the Laine's version so many times as, for example, I have, it is difficult to form an objective opinion about Mollberg's version. The first impression stresses the darkness and seriousness of the atmosphere. It would be OK, if all the actors seemed natural, but they don't. Of course, all the actors in the first version don't seem natural either, but hey, it's Laine's Tuntematon Sotilas! Who cares!? This one gets better along the way, though. You get used to the "new sides of the characters" and forgive some of their faults compared to the old ones. I have to say I haven't read the novel so fortunately I don't have to compare this film to the book. Fortunately, because the book usually overcomes the movie versions. Because of my illiterate manners, I cannot compare this film to the original novel, and again, cannot say how much this one is more or less true to the novel than Laine's film. Therefore, I can only compare these two films. This version has its strengths. It is in some ways more realistic and brings out the characters more than Laine's version, which is almost like an action movie because of its fast pace and light atmosphere. But sometimes Mollbergs Unknown is almost too dark and grim to believe. This is a nice film but it doesn't compare to the first one, which, unfortunately for this film, is a legend. However, Mollberg's Unknown couldn't make it without Laine's version, because to me, it could not stand alone without the legendary memories experienced with the scenes in the first one. Mollberg's Unknown adds something to the "one and only" but that's all there is to it. I first and foremost recommend Laine's Unknown and after that, if you have some extra four hours on your hands, take a look at this Mollberg's view.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
You want to see some Tarantino? Well, you got it!
This film is unlike the three previous films by Quentin Tarantino, but it also has the 'Guaranteed Tarantino quality' -label on it. There are the familiar Tarantino-like dialogues (with lots of dirty words, of course), perfect songs for each scene, also a few surprises and of course, cool and classy atmosphere the whole time.
The first thing that sticks to your eye is the blood, the excessive amount of blood and violent images. I've seen some gory films before but this one also brought back up the kebab meal I had just before the movie. The fight scenes in this movie don't hide any details although they are lightened a bit in different ways. For example a long and bloody fight seen is shown in black and white and another part is in animation. The whole film is a very interesting mix of styles. There is a constant Japanese feel in the movie, much because of the martial arts theme, but at the same time there is also a touch of spaghetti western. The music in the duel scenes could be straight from The Good, The Bad And The Ugly or some other Sergio Leone flick. Even with all the different styles, they are matched perfectly together.
Watching this movie I had the same feeling as I had when I saw Pulp Fiction for the first time. Like Pulp Fiction, this one was something different from what I had seen before and that's why it was a pleasure to watch it. I had no idea what I would see in the upcoming scenes and that's a nice feeling nowadays. The cast was good, although only a part of it is seen in the Volume 1. Uma Thurman does her job well in her second Tarantino-film and Lucy Liu was nice in her role of a different kind of angel. The idea of a dark counterpart of Charlie's Angels popped in to my mind a few times during the film. The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (just say Bill's Angels), mostly consisting of women with ultimate skills in weapons and martial arts... and Lucy Liu as one of them. Do I need to say more? Well, I have to say that this is a much better movie than the two new Charlie's Angels -films together.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 is a very good movie. I can't say, how good it is in a Tarantino-scale, because it's not really comparable to the previous ones. This is more fantasy than the previous, more realistic crime movies, but it doesn't make it any worse (or better either). If you expect to see a good Tarantino-style movie, this is definitely it, no doubt about it. It's a shame that Kill Bill was cut in half and is now shown in two volumes. It's not so long that it wouldn't be possible to watch it from the beginning till the end non-stop. But, this is such a good film that it doesn't hurt so much to pay two ticket fees to see both volumes. Though, I haven't seen the second one yet, so I can't really say anything about that. Anyway, with Uma Thurman there's one very good improvement made since Pulp Fiction. She really looks better as a blonde. ;)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
A great piece of Al Pacino's early work
This movie was a joyride. All I knew beforehand was that it had Pacino in the leading role and Cazale supporting. I also knew about the hostage situation being the main plot. Everything else was new to me and Al Pacino being one of my favorite actors I was more than thrilled when I noticed that Dog Day Afternoon would be on TV tonight. And it wasn't a disappointment. Right from the start, when the third robber with Pacino and Cazale gave up, I knew that this is going to be interesting. For me that was a totally new way to start a bank robbery. And it got interesting, I can say that. The dominant feeling during the film was that the two robbers were completely out of their element and in the wrong place. The whole time I had a feeling that Cazale's character Sal would do something hazardous and blow the whole thing. Pacino's Sonny was also a big question mark. What would a nice guy like him do in a situation like that? And I couldn't get a straight answer to that question. Although he had big problems with money and family he didn't seem that desperate. Well, they say that the quiet ones are the most dangerous and unpredictable ones in reality. This quiet and odd pair got my sympathy right from the start and had it all the way till the end. Sonny was the one who exceeded himself time after time (or so it seemed) and Sal was only trying to hang on and do what Sonny tells him to. It was a surprise that they got as far as they did. Also the other people in the movie were a bit different than in most of these kind of crime movies. There were no panicing and screaming hostages or cops with a too heavy trigger finger. The usual and annoying cliches were left out. The cops and the crooks had an unusual understanding between each other, for example in the negotiation situations. I've never seen the cops saving the villain from a raging civilian when the villain has come out to negotiate. Maybe I haven't seen enough these kind of movies or then it's just one of the particularities of this one, I don't know. Anyways, the great suspense and atmosphere lasts all the way till the end of the film when the final solution takes place. Also the solution feels really realistic (well, it is based on a true story) and it also seems to be the only right one to end the story. As a whole, Dog Day Afternoon is a great and entertaining film with all its unconventional characters and situations. Pacino also makes a convincing performance while other performances stay in the background much because of Pacino's great work.