sebradfield Reviews

U-Boote westwärts! (1941)

Better Than Expected

[6/10 · 17 June 2006]

I recently obtained a copy of this film, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though I don't speak a word of German (well, a few, but that's mainly through repeated watchings of Das Boot and playing Silent Hunter III.

The movie is indeed propagandistic as mentioned previously, but no more so than a great number of British and American movies made during the war. The fact that the interiors were filmed aboard a real u-boat (or a very good mock-up) helps, as does the appearance of BdU Admiral Karl Doenitz as himself in two different scenes.

Overall, I found the movie quite enjoyable. I especially like the scenes with the captain's family; the older son making his little brother and sister stand at attention while he gave his father a 'report' was very nice.

Electra (I) (1962)

Wonderful!

[10/10 · 17 January 2005]

I accidentally came across this film while looking through used DVDs at a local store. Having a passing interest in Greek myth, I bought it sight unseen. Far, far better than recent American and British attempts to retell (read remake) these great stories, this marvelous film stays fairly close to the original, telling a tale of betrayal and revenge. I've always loved the story of Orestes: damned if he doesn't avenge his father's murder, damned if he kills the chief assassin-his own mother. Elektra's story is woeful as well-driven by her own desire for vengeance, a vengeance she believes will never come, only seeing her own doom and the triumph of her father's murderers.

Wonderfully acted by Irene Pappas. I'm recommending it to all my friends.

Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)

Great Junk!

[9 December 2004]

And I mean exactly that. Basically, the original Gone In Sixty Seconds has no redeeming value. Period. That said, it's probably the best car chase movie ever. Forget what anybody says about the car-theft-ring plot, the sole purpose of this movie is to wreck 94 cars in 90 minutes. And it deserves a special award for being no more and no less than what it claims. There are some funny scenes-the big cat, the "submarine skipper" at the car wash, the old lady with the umbrella...

My one major complaint about the DVD release is the soundtrack. The threw out all the awful home-grown music and replaced it with a real score. The country song and "Lois Lane Blues" are so awful they make the movie worth watching, and they dumped them for the re-release! Find a copy on VHS-it has the original soundtrack.

Christopher Columbus (1985)

One of the best!

[9 December 2004]

I first caught this in about 1988, and the next time it was on I taped it. Far, far better than either of the two 1992 'Columbus' movies, this one pays great attention to the details of his life, struggles to feed his young family and to gain backing for his dream. It then goes on to show his successes and his failures. Great acting, great costuming, great everything. For some reason I found myself especially pleased by the constant referral of his name in Italian: Christoforo Columbo. Faye Dunaway is subdued and authoritative as Isabella, and even wears the proper armor when accepting the surrender of the leader of the Moors.

If this is ever on DVD, don't miss it!

Doctor Who (1963–1989)

Simply The Best

[28 November 2004]

I came to Doctor Who late in life (well, in my 30s at least) in 1982. Our local National Public Television carried (and in some regions still does) the show, airing one episode every weeknight. For a while the switched to showing an entire story (we called them "Whovies") on Saturdays, but now they're back to the daily showings. My first episode (yes, I still remember more than twenty years later) was episode 2 of "Meglos", with the bad guy ordering Romana (Lalla Ward) to be executed.

Later on, when our station began showing them, I started taping the series from the beginning. Now I try to buy them on DVD whenever I have the money, and I spend a lot of time at the "BBC Cult Television" site. Did you know they have "photonovels", which use archival photos to reconstruct a lot of the missing episodes? The funny thing to me is, the first Doctor I saw was Tom Baker, and I see why people love him so much, but I've lately started to like the early Hartnell and Troughton episodes a lot more. Whenever people start to argue about "which Doctor is the best", I always paraphrase Mark Twain and say "I never saw a Doctor I didn't like"!

I still make a point to watch an episode every night, just for fun.

The Three Musketeers (1993)

What an interesting idea...

[26 November 2004]

...take a classic novel, throw it in the trash and write your own story!

In 1844 Alexandre Dumas wrote a great piece of historical fiction, involving real people who lived two hundred years before his own time. King Louis XIII was a real person, as was his wife, Anne of Austria. Cardinal Richelieu as prime minister held France together during the reign of a weak king, and D'artangan was a real person as well. Dumas made up a great story about the general's early life and threw in a fictional plot involving the queen's love for the English prime minister. In the end Richelieu wins, D'artangan's love Constance dies and the Musketeers barely preserve their lives and their freedom.

There have been many movies made from the book, or parts of it, and discussions can center around how good the film was, or how faithful it was to the book, but that doesn't apply here. There are things to like about this one, notably some of the acting, but the story has nothing whatever to do with the book. I like Tim Curry, but his over-the-top style is way out of place for the great nemesis of the story, and Constance as the gun-toting defender of the Queen?

I can't call it the worst Three Musketeers ever, because:

A) It has absolutely nothing to do with the Three Musketeers except for the names, and

B) I haven't seen the Ang Lee movie The Musketeer.

The Long Riders (1980)

The True Story

[11 November 2004]

I know, calling it "the true story" is a bit much for any film, but I have my reasons. There have been dozens of films about Jesse James, before this one and since, but as a history buff I choose this one as my favorite. Most movies on the subject either make Jesse a misunderstood hero or the villainous target of some (usually fictional) lawman. This movie was called "revisionist" by some critics when it was released, but the great thing about it is that it just tells the story. It uses a series of lovely little vignettes, each one of them historically verifiable. There are failings, to my mind the slow-motion shootout being the biggest, but on the whole it captures the feel of the period, the dress, the idioms ("I would toss the shotgun away!"), pretty much everything. It doesn't make them good guys, far from it, but it does take pains to show why their neighbors loved them and hated the pinkertons.

Not the best western ever, by a long shot, but almost certainly the best movie on the subject.