The Sunday Screening Session….. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

19 Sunday May 2013

Tags

1942, Action, Action Thriller, Adrenaline Rush, Adventure, Alpine Region, Chris Evans, Christopher Markus, Derek Luke, director joe johnston, Dominic Cooper, Film, film review, For Love Of Country, Graphic Novel Adaptation, Guy Movie, Hayley Atwell, Hitler, Hugo Boss, Hugo Weaving, iRate:: 4 / 5, Jack Kirby, Joe Johnston, Joe Simon, margaret river western australia, Master Villain Film, Natalie Dormer, Nazi Germany, Neal McDonough, New York City, Samuel L. Jackson, Science Fiction, Sebastian Stan, Stanley Tucci, Stephen McFeely, Sunday Screening Session, Superhero Film, Thriller, Toby Jones, Tommy Lee Jones, Tough Guys, World War II, World War II Era

Mood?:: Adrenaline Rush |
For Love Of Country |
Guy Movie | Tough Guys.
iRate:: 4 / 5
Director:: Joe Johnston.
Writers:: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (characters and graphic novel);
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (screenplay).
Cinematography:: Shelly Johnson.
Editors:: Robert Dalva and Jeffrey Ford.
Music Score:: Alan Silvestri.
Cast:: Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell,
Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper,
Toby Jones, Neal McDonough, Derek Luke, Stanley Tucci,
Natalie Dormer, Samuel L. Jackson.

Credits (Click to expand)

Trailer (HD):

iReview:
OK, time to fess up… As a kid, a big chunk of my entertainment came from comics and among my favourites were Superman, Batman, The Phantom, The Flash, Spider-Man and Iron Man. Occasional reading of a friend’s Captain America comic was as close as I came to being a fan. Even as a kid, the over-the-top flag waving American nationalism of the character and his anachronistic shield was a turnoff. However, watching Iron Man 2 last weekend, whet my appetite for a bit more from the Avenger crew. So I settled back to take a fresh look at Captain America: The First Avenger with a large glass of the wonderfully smooth and subtle, Evans & Tate Metricup Cabernet Merlot (2008) from Margaret River, Western Australia (that’s a shameless plug for our excellent local wine).

What Happens:
In this Marvel blockbuster, it is 1942 and as war rages across Europe, a brave but under-strength soldier, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into a Super Soldier. Deemed too valuable to be risked in combat, he is named Captain America and is used as a celebrity to win public support for the war effort, sell war bonds, and build morale among the troops. However, when the diabolical Nazi HYDRA organization, led by the villainous Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), threatens the defeat of the Allies, Captain America joins forces with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) in a desperate battle to save a war-weary nation and the world.

“It was a pleasure to realize, once “Captain America: The First Avenger” got under way, that hey, here is a real movie, not a noisy assembly of incomprehensible special effects”.
(Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times)

Story (Click to expand)

It seems Director Joe Johnston together with writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, were aware of the frailty of Captain America’s hold on his super-hero status with the reservations of viewers like me. The way they handled the Captain’s acquisition of his cornball costume and shield, was inspired. It was as though they’d all been out at a screening of Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers (2006), the night before writing the plot-line and had the same epiphany. There are such obvious parallels between the Iwo Jima ‘flag-raising heroes’ touring the country spruking for war bonds and our freshly muscled up and taller ‘hero’, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), embarrassed at his role in a touring showbiz spectacle. There’s also the added flourish of the Captain America comic arising as part of the marketing campaign which very neatly explains the real world model’s OTT name, eccentric clothes and accessories. These scenes also provide some light comic relief from the otherwise, serious endeavour. With my doubts about Captain America’s super-hero viability, deftly allayed, I was free to relax and enjoy the rest of the show.

From the outset, I was intrigued by the visual trickery involved in shrinking Chris Evans (Steve) to his pre-transformation puny size. It seems there was a fair bit of CGI trimming as well as the use of body doubles with Evans’ head digitally grafted on. Although a mighty fine attempt, the grafting process doesn’t quite convince me as the head seems just a little too big for the body in many shots. I know, I’ve wrecked it for you now because if you haven’t seen the movie, you’re going to fixate on the out-size head instead of chilling and enjoying the action… sorry.

Tying together the histories of the various Avenger super-heroes leads to the revelation that Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), father of Tony (Iron Man), was instrumental in providing the technical support required to create Captain America. Anyone who has seen the Scorsese biopic (The Aviator) or is familiar with the story of Howard Hughes, the eccentric industrialist, innovator, filmmaker and celebrated Hollywood player, would have been forgiven for imagining that Hughes had led a secret double life as Howard Stark. Here, Cooper has produced a playful, while not slavish caricature of the enigmatic legend.

There’s something reminiscent of the old matinee films in this which works very well in establishing the atmosphere of the period. As a consequence, there’s not a lot of subtlety on display, but then not much was needed as the story is a pretty straightforward old fashioned battle between good and evil with nary a smidge of nuance required. This treatment combined with the wonderful period production design, does a great job of drawing the viewer into the realistically portrayed parallel universe that this story inhabits.

A standout in this movie is that attention to detail in the period design. What was the mix of physical sets and CGI, I don’t know but the resulting shots of wartime London and Brooklyn were stunning in their resolution.

As well, the top shelf costuming of the Nazi characters, including their glistening black boots, provides a striking clue as to why the original Hugo Boss designed uniforms, particularly for the SS, had such an alluring impact in Hitler’s Germany (Yes folks, Hugo was indeed a Nazi and a founding sponsor of the despised SS. Indeed, without the patronage of the Nazis, Hugo Boss would have been just a forgotten footnote in history).

I haven’t seen any of Chris Evans’ (Steve Rogers / Captain America) earlier work so his performance here was a welcome introduction. While he doesn’t appear to have the range of a Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), he has the look of a sensitive, rather than brutish Captain America and he dealt convincingly with the script.

Hugo Weaving (Johann Schmidt / Red Skull) gives us a suitably sinister (but fun to watch) villain. Weaving seems to revel in playing stony cold bad guys named Smith (or Schmidt in German); this time, channeling the voice of Klaus Maria Brandauer quite convincingly. His over-the-top badness also plays well to the movie’s gritty but wholly comic-book roots.

Stanley Tucci (Dr. Erskine) has a short but pivotal and memorable role as the refugee German scientist running the super soldier experimental program that transforms Steve into a super-human. Tommy Lee Jones (Col. Phillips) is also good as the craggy, no nonsense officer in charge of that program.

Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), as Steve’s go to gal, no… not like that, there’s nothing even PG about the romance in this, as befits a movie of this ‘period’. Hell, even sex is enigmatically described as fondue. As Steve’s confidante and walking thought bubble, Peggy Carter, Atwell does a fine job and has just enough matinee heat and red lipstick to qualify as a ’40s calendar pin-up.

Director, Joe Johnston, does a good job of keeping the narrative humming along. I was kept attentive throughout without any flat spots; sometimes tense, sometimes amused and sometimes with a wry grin. He also gives the audience just enough meat on the characterization bone to keep us engaged with the wide array of characters while still providing a nice balance between action and drama. With this material, Johnston displays a sure grasp of what’s needed to satisfy fanboys and newbies alike; in fact, I’d go so far as to say… he’s nailed it.

The effects are handled well with futuristic weaponry and general wizzbangery neatly encumbered with the technical limitations of the time such as the mechanical analog count-down timer in the self-destruct sequence. It was also clear the design department had done their research in coming up with Hydra’s strange aircraft which were not beyond the scope of German technology at the time. Hydra’s aircraft were based on radical German WWII concepts such as the Horten H.XVIII flying wing bomber, a long range stealth bomber originally intended to bomb New York, and the Triebflügel fighter plane which had been designed as a vertical take-off intercepter.

Another feature of the movie only became apparent to me right at the end, during the contemporary New York sequence; the desaturated colour palette employed throughout the earlier 1940s scenes, evoked just the right drab ambiance for that time. When the time-line reaches the present, the contrast with the supersaturated vibrancy of the surroundings, very succinctly conveys the culture shock that would have ensued from the sudden transition from the 1940s to Times Square (2011)… Nice job.

And, as has become de rigueur with these films, there’s a short bonus scene after the credits.

The Picture:
Once the deliberate desaturation of the 1940s sequences became apparent, I had no fault with the 1080p transfer, particularly when the contrast with the spectacular contemporary Times Square sequence comes into play.

The Audio:
This is a well mixed DTS 5.1 audio track. The buzz and whir of vaporizer weapons together with engine noises, were nicely distributed through the 5.1 channels. The explosions and gunshots also thumped and thudded from the appropriate speakers and contributed to a great overall sound.

Verdict:
The filmmaker’s have done such an excellent job of turning this mildly skeptical viewer into a fan of Captain America, that I’ll even give Marvel Studios’ treatment of Thor, my least favourite super-hero, a go with an open mind.

iRate:: 4 out of 5.

4Movie Tragics

Extras:
Disc One:
• Feature Commentary by Director Joe Johnston, Cinematographer Shelly Johnson, and Editor Jeffrey Ford (This is an informative, if a little dry track which seems a bit screen specific. It nevertheless bolsters my impression that this film was made by a group of comic-book literates).
• Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer
(a curious short film featuring SHIELD’s agent Coulson, a mild-mannered but explosive crime fighter) – 4min.
• Featurettes Menu:
• • Outfitting a Hero
(an an enjoyable look at the evolution of Captain America’s suit) – 11min.
• • Howling Commandos
(looks at the supporting characters, including comments from some of the actors) – 6min.
• • Heightened Technology
(looks at the advanced weaponry and vehicles) – 6min.
• • The Transformation
(looks at ‘skinny Steve’, the shrinking of Chris Evans) – 9min.
• • Behind the Skull (looks at the casting and creation of Red Skull) – 10min.
• • Captain America’s Origin
(looks at the comic-book history of the character) – 4min.
• • The Assembly Begins (a puff piece preview of the Avengers) – 2min.
• Deleted Scenes (4 scenes with optional commentary) – 6min.
• Trailers (4 theatrical and game trailers) – 9min.

Disc Two:
• DVD (standard definition movie only)

You want More!
Captain America: The First Avenger – IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
Captain America: The First Avenger – Rotten Tomatoes
Captain America: The First Avenger – allmovie.com
Captain America: The First Avenger – Wikipedia

The more I see of this fine, current Marvel Avenger series, the more I’m reminded of how mind-numbingly mundane Spiderman 3 was. Do you agree?
:: Please leave a comment ::

The Sunday Screening Session….. Iron Man 2 (2010)

12 Sunday May 2013

Posted by Zak de Courcy in Film

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Action, Action & Adventure, Adrenaline Rush, Adventure, California, Dan Lebental, Don Cheadle, Film, film review, Garry Shandling, Guy Movie, Gwyneth Paltrow, hollywood, iRate:: 3½ / 5, Iron Man 2, Jack Kirby, John Debney, Jon Favreau, Just For Fun, Kate Mara, Master Villain Film, Matthew Libatique, Mickey Rourke, Monaco, Monte Carlo, New York City, Paul Bettany, Rick Pearson, Robert Downey Jr., Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Sci-Fi Action, Science Fiction, Stan Lee, Starpower, Sunday Screening Session, Superhero Film, USA

Mood?:: Adrenaline Rush | Guy Movie |
Just For Fun | Starpower.
iRate:: 3½ / 5
Director:: Jon Favreau.
Writers:: Stan Lee, Don Heck, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby (characters and graphic novel);
Justin Theroux (screenplay).
Cinematography:: Matthew Libatique.
Editors:: Dan Lebental and Rick Pearson.
Music Score:: John Debney.
Cast:: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Kate Mara, Paul Bettany, Samuel L. Jackson, Jon Favreau, Garry Shandling.

Credits (Click to expand)

Trailer:
http://youtu.be/siQgD9qOhRs

iReview:
Next week I’m planning to check out Iron Man 3 in 3D (it’s a threshold test to see how much torture my eyes can endure). Before I do, I thought I’d sit through a refresher with Iron Man 2. Unfortunately I don’t have the Blu-ray 3 disc (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) edition with all its spectacular extras, I only have the lamo 1 disc version. Fortunately though, the main event, the Blu-ray movie, is identical on both.

What Happens:
In the exciting sequal to Iron Man, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is under pressure from a devious Senator Stern (Garry Shandling), abetted by arms manufacturer and nasty-piece-of-work, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), to turn over his Iron Man suit to the US Military.

Meanwhile in Russia, Tony’s father’s one-time partner, Anton Vanko (Eugene Lazarev) is dying. His embittered son, Ivan (Mickey Rourke), vows to make Stark pay while also exacting revenge on the USA. With the assistance of Hammer, Ivan sets about executing his evil plans with an Iron Man suit of his own and an army of remote-controlled killer drones.

Story (Click to expand)

From the outset, the thundering notes of AC/DC, telegraph that this is going to a fun ride. As well, it provides a connecting thread to the first film (when Back in Black memorably blasted from the boom box in the U.S. Air Force convoy escorting Stark in Afghanistan). This time, Shoot to Thrill opens the show and Highway to Hell provides a fitting bookend. Merchandising for the movie also saw an AC/DC soundtrack album released to coincide with the film. Unfortunately, it was a soundtrack in name only, as most of its AC/DC songs did not appear in the movie and almost all the tracks that did, including those by Daft Punk and The Clash, were excluded.

With this branch of the super-hero universe there’s none of the noirish and forbidding tone of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, nor the facile treatment of Spider-man 3. While the Nolan series is in a league of its own, the Iron Man arc seems to place the movies squarely within the comic end of comic-book adaptations. That the filmmakers selected Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) as a character, suggests they may also have had James Bond in mind as they fashioned this screen version of Stark. If you need convincing, take a look at Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) with all his metal fangs and tell me that’s not an homage to Jaws (Richard Kiel) from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).

Iron Man (2008) had a relatively straightforward mission to fulfill, giving us the origin story and a turncoat villain to defeat. The story was also linear with enough action and well written nuance, to more than satisfy critics and the legion of fans alike. For this sequel, the gallery of allies and rogues has been greatly expanded and I admit to fearing there was potential for Spider-man 3 syndrome (too many spinning tops in the plot and an abundance of uninteresting and underdeveloped characters). Happily, with Iron Man 2, I was reminded that a well developed and integrated script together with interesting characters backed by strong actors, can keep many tops spinning successfully.

In the same way that the very dour Christian Bale, personifies Nolan’s Batman, part of the genius of the Iron Man series series is the perfect synergy of character to actor. Before 2008 when the original was released, Robert Downey Jr. was viewed by many as a very charismatic and gifted, but also slightly dissolute, actor with a possibly limited future; just the man to portray Iron Man then. While super-hero action flicks don’t need great actors to succeed, they sure as hell can still elevate an otherwise good film. In this case, Downey carries the Iron Man franchise and gives the character the glint that makes the narcissist, egocentric Stark, an amusing and likable asshole. Add to that, the life threatening crisis imposed on Stark by the palladium in his ARC reactor chest implant, and somehow he becomes a sympathetic character as well.

Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns as Stark’s exasperated and unstated love interest who progresses from overworked assistant to company CEO. Both Paltrow and new action princess, Scarlett Johansson (Natalie ‘Black Widow’ Rushman), were convincing.

Ivan ‘Whiplash’ Vanko (Mickey Rourke) is a welcome addition to the Villain Hall of Fame. Rourke’s skill as an actor, gives Vanko a depth of character that’s not obvious from the words on the page. His whip-cracking party trick that disrupts the race at Monaco is also the film’s memorable highlight. Spectacular as the this sequence was though, I did wonder, given that Stark only decided to drive at the last moment, how Vanko was so well prepared to meet him on the track… hmmmm.

Memorable as Vanko was, I think it’s unfortunately telling that his biggest moment comes so early. He had enough strength and physical presence for a lot more personal mayhem. So, while I enjoyed what we were allowed, I think he was well underutilized with all that brawn, just sitting around in the film’s second half. I would have been happier with a lot more Vanko destructo and less of the storm of clashing and crashing metal bots at the end.

Don Cheadle takes over from Terrence Howard, playing Colonel James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes, Stark’s friend and link to the military. Rhodey’s got to deal with a few loyalty issues throughout the movie but, as you’d hope, the sidekick comes through in the end.

While most of the subplots and characters were well handled, I had a little trouble with the Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) plotline. This well connected military adviser and weapons specialist, was also completely corrupt and so consumed by ambition that he would do anything, including trusting a shackled, known terrorist to deliver a mega-weapon for him. He was also prepared to sweep aside any impediment to achieve his maniacal ends. Unfortunately, instead of the masterful, malevolent warmonger that would have been required to get to where he was, we got an evil, slightly more mocking, slightly less bumbling Colonel Klink. Ok, I’m being a bit harsh, but I think Rockwell was miscast.

Director, Jon Favreau, does a good job with the action sequences and otherwise staying out of the way. He also resists the temptation to give us a festival of action violence and keeps Downey’s charismatic face out of the suit as long as he can (unless it’s behind a heads-up display that is). He understands that the strength of this franchise, lies as much in the story Downey tells as it does in the comic-book’s flying metal suit. A lesser actor would certainly have spent more screen-time flying and busting metal and a lot less time appealing to the adults in the audience.

As with any super-hero actioner, there’s plenty of CGI but for perhaps the first time, I wasn’t conscious of the transition from drama to CGI action. The desktop created world fused seamlessly with the real, to the extent that I didn’t even think about it until after I’d sunk the last of my glass of Drambuie at the end.

Finally, I got a chuckle from the unexpected curiosity near the end of the credits: composer John Debney performing Mary Poppins’ songwriter, Richard M. Sherman’s Make Way For Tomorrow Today, a song right out of the Disney playbook, which follows the metal monster Highway to Hell by AC/DC. Oh, and if you hang in there, right to the end of the credits, there’s a short bonus scene.

The Picture:
There’s not a lot to complain about with this 1080p transfer. The cool blue hue of the image suits the genre and the attention to detail in the set design is impeccable.

The Audio:
From the crisp and raucous AC/DC beginning to the hellish Highway to Hell at the end, this is a cracker of a DTS 5.1 audio track. The energy pouring out the monitors during Vanko’s Monaco car-splitting hissy fit, was a joy. The Foley work throughout was meticulous and it showed in the crisp detail in this mix. For me, a signpost of a good sound field, is the lack of obvious signs. The explosions, the ring-tones, the camera shutters and the bullet strikes, all happen where you’d expect in the channel mix, and contribute to an enveloping and excellent track.

Verdict:
With the comic-book adaptation benchmark set so high by Nolan’s Batman trilogy, it’s pleasing to see that, while Iron Man 2 doesn’t attempt to scale those heights and doesn’t quite reach the standard of Iron Man (2008), it’s still a literate and fun addition to the super-hero genre.

iRate:: 3½ out of 5.

4Movie Tragics

Trivia:
• To prepare for his role as Ivan ‘Whiplash’ Vanko, Mickey Rourke paid a visit to Butyrka Prison, Moscow: “I tried to incorporate the whole Russian philosophy. It’s a culture of its own and I really enjoyed doing the research and meeting the people and they were very gracious there at the prison.”
• Five authentic vintage formula one race cars were used in the Monaco race, including a 1976 Lotus type 77.
• PayPal creator, Elon Musk’s development facility for SpaceX, doubled as Hammer’s factory with many actual employees acting as background extras.
• Cameo: Stan Lee, co-creator of Iron Man, appears as the man wearing suspenders who Stark identifies as Larry King.
• Cameo: Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle Corporation (a billionaire playboy, who has often been compared to Tony Stark) appears briefly at the Stark Expo. As he walks past, Stark says, “It’s the Oracle of Oracle”. Oracle’s brand is prominently placed at several points in the film, including the climactic showdown at a fictional “Oracle Biodome”.

Extras:
• Feature Commentary by Director Jon Favreau (This is an energetic narration that is interesting in the main but does occasionally annoy when Favreau veers into ‘Audio Descriptive Service for the Vision Impaired’ territory).
• SHIELD Data Vault (Provides interactive on-screen information that appears periodically during the movie, about characters, technology and weapons. Alternatively, this feature can be viewed as a stand-alone package).
• Previsualization and Animatics (Another feature that overlays information on-screen during the movie. This displays scene specific storyboards and scene animatics that give an interesting insight into scene development).

You want More!
Iron Man 2 – IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
Iron Man 2 – Rotten Tomatoes
Iron Man 2 – allmovie.com
Iron Man 2 – Wikipedia

I dare you to disagree with anything I’ve written.
:: Please leave a comment ::

The Sunday Screening Session….. Gallipoli (1981)

28 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by Zak de Courcy in Film

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Adventure, Adventure Drama, Anti-War Film, Australia, Australian Film, Bill Hunter, Bill Kerr, Buddy Film, David Argue, David Williamson, Drama, Film, film review, Food For Thought, For Love Of Country, Graham Dow, Harold Hopkins, History, History Fiction, Home Grown, iRate:: 4½ / 5, Mark Lee, Mel Gibson, Middle East, Period Film, Peter Weir, Robert Grubb, Russell Boyd, Slice Of History, Sunday Screening Session, Tim McKenzie, War, War Drama, William Anderson, World War I

Credits (Click to expand)

Trailer:

iReview:
Last Thursday, 25 April, was Anzac Day, the day Australians and New Zealanders acknowledge the sacrifice of all those who have served in war and peacekeeping. It also commemorates the men and women who have died in that service.

Anzac Day coincides with the landing of ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), French, British and other British Empire troops at Gallipoli in south west Turkey in 1915. The objective was to secure the Dardanelles to provide a sea route to reach the Russian allies and ultimately to take Constantinople (Istanbul) and knock Germany’s ally, Turkey, out of the war.

The eight month campaign that followed cost the lives of 53,000 allied (including almost 12,000 Anzacs) and 56,000 Turks with total casualties reaching almost half a million. Many thousands more, suffered from dysentary, a result of the appalling sanitary conditions encountered by the troops.

Despite the campaign’s ultimate failure, media reports reaching Australia extolled the heroism of the Anzac troops and stirred national pride in the young country which had federated as Australia only 14 years earlier. Albany, the south coast port city in my home state of Western Australia, was the embarkation point for the thousands of troops who left Australia for Gallipoli. Albany also has a special significance for my family as it was my children’s maternal grandmother who, 15 years ago, uncovered the evidence that confirmed Albany as the location for the nation’s first iconic Anzac Day “Dawn Service”.

Learn more:
• Albany and the Anzacs
• Albany historian reflects on nations first Anzac dawn service
Listen to their discussion:
• Albany historian reflects on nations first Anzac dawn service

The way Australians relate to Anzac Day has evolved over the years and has not always been as robustly and reverentially marked as it is today. I remember Anzac Day in the 1970s, as a holiday celebrated largely as a day off from work and school, with a sideshow parade of old soldiers who got together once a year to swap tales of war, gamble a little and imbibe a little too much. The Gallipoli Campaign that sporned the day of remembrance as well as the world wars that were commemorated, were remote, little known and of scant significance to many. At that time, many Australians were also disaffected with all things military as a result of the country’s involvement in the disastrous Vietnam War.

In 1981, that all changed with the release of Peter Weir’s Gallipoli. The New Wave renaissance of the Australian film industry had seen acclaimed films like Wake in Fright (1971), The Cars That Ate Paris (1974), Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Sunday Too Far Away (1975), The Last Wave (1977), Mad Max (1979), My Brilliant Career (1979), and Breaker Morant (1980), whet the Australian appetite for home grown cinema. The New Wave reached its zenith with Gallipoli (1981) which was a phenomenon in Australia with huge box office and critical success. The film also sparked a resurgent interest in the Anzac tradition which has grown steadily since. In 2013, a record 40,000 people attended the Dawn Service at the War Memorial in Perth, Western Australia’s state capital. Thousands more attended services in other cities and towns all over Australia, including Albany.

To acknowledge the significance of the day, I thought I’d revisit this best loved of Australia’s War cinema: Gallipoli.

What Happens:
Eighteen year-old Western Australian champion sprinter Archy Hamilton (Mark Lee) could be an Olympic contender, but he disappoints his trainer Jack (Bill Kerr) when he instead enlists in the elite Australian Light Horse cavalry. He’s accompanied by talented sprinter Frank Dunne (Mel Gibson), who also attempts to join but can’t ride a horse and is relegated to the infantry with his other friends.

Training in Cairo, the Anzac cavalrymen are converted to infantry so Archy persuades his Major, Barton (Bill Hunter) to allow Frank to transfer to the regiment.

At Gallipoli in 1915, the Anzacs find that they’re being used as cannon fodder as a ‘diversion’ for British landings elsewhere, and the entire unit realizes that they must obey suicidal orders and charge Turkish machine guns, a lunatic event among a litany of incompetent military planning.

Story (Click to expand)

Since I last saw this movie many years ago, I’d forgotten that it starts out as a boy’s own adventure featuring a very young, very Australian and not so weird Mel Gibson. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s interesting to reflect on this nascent star and his subsequent and controversial career. It’s also interesting to reflect on the very different career trajectories of the two stars. Gibson, we know went on a stellar rise to the A-list in Hollywood while Mark Lee (Archy Hamilton) moved into relative obscurity.

The outback scenes that open the film are spectacularly shot with the heat, dust and desolation radiating off the screen. The stark monochromatic beauty of Australia’s hot, dry interior is a place best admired from the air-conditioned comfort of a 4 wheel drive. That many Australians willingly endured life in these and other hostile environs was the steel that forged the myth of the tough Anzac warrior. Williamson’s script is cloaked in this mythology and he uses it well to set up the main protagonists in this yarn.

Archy is a naive young man and a very talented runner who yearns for the adventure of Gallipoli that he has read and heard about. His sprinting rival, Frank (Mel Gibson) is a cynical descendant of Irish nationalists, and as such, has no desire to fight Britain’s war. At the time, Irish nationalists and unionists were in a bitter struggle over the future independence of Ireland from Britain. The speed with which Frank and Archy are transformed from rivals to such good friends that Frank is prepared to enlist with him, almost stretches my credulity and that’s despite the device of the desert trek bonding ordeal they endure that cements their close mateship. If Weir had taken more time to develop these characters, perhaps this wouldn’t have seemed such a stretch.

Learn more:
• Ireland and World War I

Generally, the performances of the cast, particularly, Mel Gibson are strong. Newcomer, Mark Lee also convinced, despite apparently having a particularly nervous time on set.

David Williamson’s script also moves the story well and although calculated to draw strong emotion, it doesn’t overindulge in overt tearjerking.

Although half the movie is set in Western Australia, none of it was filmed there. Lake Torrens in South Australia represented the desert in WA and Adelaide Railway Station stood in for Perth. The Marble Hall at the station also provided the set for the Cairo ball, before the troops shipped out to Gallipoli. Various beaches in South Australia, including Gallipoli Beach, were also used to depict the Gallipoli theater. On the other hand, the Cairo pyramid footage was actually shot on location and provides an interesting, and sometimes amusing, leg of the boy’s own adventure. The behaviour of the Aussies in Egypt as they mocked their British counterparts, also provided a neat metaphor for the rebellious teenager relationship, Australia shared with the mother country.

One of the film’s most memorable scenes was the eerily quiet and beautiful night arrival at Gallipoli; the looming terror juxtaposed with the brightly festooned and other worldly hospital ship offshore. And although for a time it looked like the boys were approaching a fun day at the seaside, the blood in the water, as they abandoned their cares and clothes and went swimming, reminded us of the deadly import of their endeavour.

The final scenes in the trenches were laden with the dread of what was coming, interspersed with the evocative strains of Giazotto’s Adagio in G minor. Major Barton’s attempt to shut out the war raging around him, listening to the duet from Bizet’s famed The Pearl Fishers opera, also provided a poignant moment in the buildup to the horrible climax.

On the morning of 7 August 1915, the Australian 8th and 10th Light Horse Regiments were to attack Turkish lines a mere 30 metres from their own. The attack in 4 waves, was to be immediately preceded by an artillery suppression barrage that fatefully ended 7 minutes early as a result of unsynchronised watches. The troops had already been instructed to remove ammunition from their rifles and fix bayonets. So hopeless was their position after the Turks were alerted by the barrage, that many went over the top without even their rifle. I’ll never forget the image of a bayonet being thrust into the wall of the trench to act as a hanger for a doomed soldier’s precious wedding ring. Knowing the terror that those boys must have felt as wave after wave went over the top to a certain death, enraged me today even as it did 32 years ago.

The futile attempts to get the 4 insanely suicidal charges of this Battle of the Nek called off, provided the closing argument in Weir’s prosecution case that: the Gallipoli Campaign was a cruel waste of talented young lives sacrificed by stupid and incompetent leaders. On a larger scale, it also symbolised the generation lost to the insanity that was World War I.

The final freeze-frame which evokes Robert Capa’s famous 1936 Spanish Civil War photograph The Falling Soldier, had me uncomfortably riveted to my seat with tears streaming, the first time round. Seeing it again, all these years later had exactly the same impact.

The Picture:
This is a film crying out for a Blu-ray release. The grainy, artifact laden sky in the early outback scenes, reminded me how disappointing the old DVD format picture can be. Russell Boyd’s wonderful cinematography, particularly in the early scenes, needs to be showcased in high definition.

The Audio:
I would have liked a DTS 5.1 audio track but the Dolby Digital 5.1 track was reasonably serviceable. However, the mix was heavily biased towards a simple front stereo with little distribution to surround or subwoofer channels. Frankly there was little difference between the quality of the output from my receiver and the sound generated by the surround speakers on the Panasonic 140cm flat screen monitor.

Verdict:
When I first saw this movie in 1981 it was very much a creature of its time, coming so soon after Breaker Morant and the widening scrutiny of Australia’s past as well as its relationship with Britain and the British Empire. So, with its huge success, this was also a triumph of its time. I’m pleased to say, it is still a wonderful and deeply affecting landmark in Australian Cinema.

iRate:: 4½ out of 5.

4Movie Tragics

Extras:
Disk One:
• Cast and Crew Bios and Filmography (interactive bio. & filmography text screens).
• Theatrical Trailer.

Disk Two:
• Interview with Peter Weir (interesting retrospective interview) – 15min.
• Interview with Mel Gibson (reflective interview filmed in 2005) – 12min.
• Boys Of The Dardanelles: Australian War Memorial Documentary (produced by the War Memorial to commemorate the men who fought and died at Gallipoli) – 22min.
• The Keith Murdoch Letter: The Letter That Changed History (a facsimile of the letter Murdoch wrote to his friend, Australian prime minister Andrew Fisher, which led to the removal of the Campaign commander, General Sir Ian Hamilton and the eventual withdrawal from Gallipoli. Note: Sir Keith was the father of Gallipoli producer and media mogul, Rupert Murdoch).
• Photo Gallery (30 production stills) – 2min.
• In Depth Gallipoli Material (library of interesting information stills).
• DVD-Rom Teaching Aids including a printable version of The Keith Murdoch Letter: The Letter That Changed History.

You want More!
Gallipoli – IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
Gallipoli – Rotten Tomatoes
Gallipoli – allmovie.com
Gallipoli – Wikipedia

Is this one of the best anti-war movies yet produced or am I just biased?
:: Please leave a comment ::

The Sunday Screening Session….. No Country For Old Men (2007)

21 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by Zak de Courcy in Film

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

1980, Abandon All Hope, Beth Grant, Carter Burwell, Chase Movie, Coen Brothers, Cormac McCarthy, Crime, Crime Thriller, Drama, El Paso, Ethan and Joel Coen, Film, film review, Garret Dillahunt, In A Minor Key, iRate:: 4½ / 5, Javier Bardem, Joel and Ethan Coen, Josh Brolin, Modern Classic, Nail Biter, No Country for Old Men, Roger Deakins, Roger Ebert, Sunday Screening Session, Texas, Thriller, Tommy Lee Jones, USA, Woody Harrelson

No Country For Old Men (2007) (122 min)
iReview: Version: No Country For Old Men: Blu-ray Edition (Blu-ray);
Video: AVC 1080p; Audio: LPCM 5.1.
Genre:: Crime | Drama | Thriller |
Sub-Genre/Type:: Chase Movie | Crime Thriller |
Modern Classic |
Settings:: 1980 | El Paso, Texas | Texas, USA.

Mood?:: Abandon All Hope |
In A Minor Key | Nail Biter.
iRate:: 4½ / 5
Directors:: Ethan and Joel Coen.
Writers:: Cormac McCarthy (novel: No Country for Old Men);
Ethan and Joel Coen (screenplay).
Cinematography:: Roger Deakins.
Editor:: Roderick Jaynes (Ethan and Joel Coen).
Music:: Carter Burwell.
Cast:: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Kelly MacDonald, Beth Grant, Garret Dillahunt, Stephen Root, Jason Douglas, Kit Gwin, Tess Harper, Barry Corbin.

Credits (Click to expand)

Trailer (HD):

iReview:
This week I decided to check out a movie I hadn’t seen before (unbelievably lame, I know), and also from this century: No Country For Old Men (2007). Universally praised and hailed as a filmmakers masterpiece, this movie also attracted an avalanche of awards. Joel and Ethan Coen share the record of four Oscar nominations for the same film with Orson Welles for Citizen Kane (1941) and Warren Beatty for Reds (1981). The Coens’ four nominations are for Best Picture (won as producers with Scott Rudin), Best Director (won), Best Adapted Screenplay (won), and Best Editing (under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes).

What Happens:
Acclaimed filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen deliver their most gripping and ambitious film yet in this sizzling and supercharged crime thriller.

When Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles on a bloody crime scene, a pickup truck loaded with heroin, and two million dollars in irresistible cash, his decision to take the money sets off an unstoppable chain reaction of violence and his pursuit by a nerveless psychopath, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). Not even West Texas lawman, Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), can contain it.

“This magnificent film represents the best work the Coen Brothers have done since Fargo. Like that movie classic, this is a cold-blooded thriller with a darkly humorous edge… Hitchcock wouldn’t have done the suspense better.”
(David Stratton, ABC Australia, At The Movies)

“No Country for Old Men is as good a film as the Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, have ever made, and they made Fargo.”
(Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times)

Story (Click to expand)

While this is recognized as the Coen brothers darkest and most tense film, it is not lacking in their signature deadpan humour. I love the way they play with Cormac McCarthy’s language in this script (yes they directed, adapted and edited the whole thing). Here’s an exchange between Deputy Wendell (Garret Dillahunt) and Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones):
Wendell
“Well, it’s a mess, ain’t it, sheriff?”
Sheriff Bell
“If it ain’t, it’ll do till the mess gets here.”

McCarthy’s writing was clearly destined for the Coens’ delightful and mischievous adaptation. I can imagine the brothers glee as they saw these words; they and Cormac are kindred spirits.

The three main characters are all beautifully drawn: Vietnam vet. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), is an expert hunter who happens upon an unhappy scene with perhaps, happy consequence – a slew of bullet-strewn bodies, bullet-ridden trucks, a truckload of drugs and 2 million dollars in cash; Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Jones), a very competent veteran lawman, the last in this family business, who seems slightly out of his time; and recovery guy, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), the unflinching psychopath who carves a murderous path across Texas with his gas bottle and cattle stun-gun.

Brolin is entirely believable as Moss, a man who might just be able to stay one step ahead of the unstoppable Chigurh (pronounced chugar). Tommy Lee Jones, as the slightly world weary Bell, acts his socks off in this. He utterly inhabits the role with exquisite timing and tone, and an understated delivery that tells you he’s at the top of his craft. He also wears the vernacular like a Texas native (oh, hang on a moment, he is). Bardem was born to play Chigurh and he does so with pitch perfect characterization. You just know that if you bumped into Javier on an L.A. street, you’d regret the experience; he’s that good. The three story-anchors are ably supported by Scottish actor, Kelly MacDonald, as Moss’ wife Carla, who had me completely fooled – of course she was a Texan; Woody Harrelson plays himself delivering us Carson Wells, who was sent to end the out of control murder spree and recover the money; and Beth Grant, who gives us a short but memorable turn as Carla’s abrasive mother.

From the stunning red sky silhouette that stamps Roger Deakins’ entry into the film, you know there’s some wonderful photography ahead and he doesn’t disappoint. In much the same way as cinematographer, Tom Stern has become the right hand of director, Clint Eastwood, Deakins has come to exemplify the Coen brothers films. His framing is very precise and in almost all ways, I couldn’t imagine it done better. You only need to watch the featurette: The Making of No Country for Old Men (see extras), to see the contrast between the behind-the-scenes footage, and the finished shots.

The music from Carter Burwell, another staple of the Coen universe, is unobtrusive but appropriate, leaving space for the sound of the wind to weave its magic throughout the film.

I’ve left the best for last… The work of the brothers as directors, writers and editors is near faultless. None of the plot seems forced or contrived, even though the effect of the whole is completely quirky (as you’d expect from a Coen film). The stories of the three central intertwining characters rarely fully intersect yet they are told in such a way that you’re never left wondering. The dialogue is fluid and deliberate without anything superfluous or corny. The tension built by the direction and editing is perfectly fit for purpose with so many near misses and moments of possible discovery which keep us on the edge of the seat. The hotel/motel scenes where Moss and Chigurh never meet, are exercises in pure dread. Add to that, the device of the coin toss which creates another layer of delicious tension. And, like a cat toying with its prey, the Coen brothers leave us guessing which way the coin fell, the final time, until we see Chigurh check the soles of his boots on the path out front.

The luxury of having almost complete control of the film making process is a creative advantage few directors are afforded. Even fewer filmmakers, I suspect, would be able to handle these multiple disciplines with as much finesse as the Coens. Steven Soderbergh has often photographed (as Peter Andrews) and edited (as Mary Ann Bernard) the films he’s directed, with excellent results. However, I wouldn’t rate him quite in the same class as Joel and Ethan Coen. Here, the Coens have employed their extra limb (Deakins) on camera while they have control of every other major aspect of the look of the film. The combination of their shooting script, their dialogue, their direction and their precision editing, is a rhythm that is almost musical. I became conscious of this as I mused over their many cuts and cutaways and realized they were part of a dance which also included the delivery of the dialogue. It’s very clever and something only really achievable if you control the whole shebang as they did.

This would have been an impressive genre movie even if it had a conventional conclusion. But the ending that presents itself here, was so satisfying and original that I found myself laughing completely inappropriately. If you’re one of the other three people who haven’t yet seen this movie then I’m not going to spoil it by telling you.

The Academy got it completely right in awarding the filmmakers their Oscars for this movie; as a lesson in film making it is peerless.

As a critic, Roger Ebert, regularly placed himself in the seat of a genre fan, so he would not necessarily grade on an absolute scale (according to his taste) but rather gave a relative score. Thus on Ebert’s scale, if Superman (1978) scores 4 within the superhero genre, then Hellboy (2004) gets a pretty good 3 (even though Ebert really disliked the film) and The Punisher (2004) only a 2. If I were putting myself in someone else’s seat then, like Ebert (who scored this a 4/4), I’d have to give this 5/5. But, because I want to keep a perfect 5/5 for rare movies that completely blow me away, I am awarding this a 4½ / 5. Jeez, after an explanation like that, it might have been easier just to go the 5.

The Picture:
As you would hope, with a movie of this recent vintage, the screen image is superb. Every craggy wrinkle line, every speck of blood (and there’s a lot of that) and every bullet hole crack in the glass of Moss’ truck, is displayed in brilliant detail. The colours are rich and true and the image, clean with no visible noise.

The Audio:
I wish I’d had the foresight to have bought the Collector’s Edition with its possibly superior DTS 5.1 audio track. As it happens, this Blu-ray LPCM 5.1 sound track is more than adequate. As well, as this isn’t an action flick, the quality of audio reproduction isn’t quite as critical. There were times when the balance between speakers fell short of ideal. For example, occasionally, the right front and left surround channels dominated, leaving the left front unbalanced and slightly out of the mix. Apart from these occasional anomalies, though, the audio field sounded fine.

Verdict:
I’m embarrassed that it has taken me this long to see this movie, especially as I’ve had it in the library for some time. In a way though, I’m glad I waited because I think I can now appreciate the virtuosity of its construction a lot more than I would have only a few years ago. It’s a filmmakers tour de force and a film I’ll likely learn more from with each viewing.

iRate:: 4½ out of 5.

4Movie Tragics

Extras:
• The Making of No Country for Old Men (as well as the usual filmmaker discussion about inspiration and script development, there’s some interesting behind-the-scenes action from the set… an interesting featurette) – 24min.
• Working with the Coens (this is pretty much a PR gushfest) – 8min;
• Diary of a Country Sheriff (this character featurette looks at Sheriff Bell from a number of angles and compares him with Chigurh… enjoyable without being essential) – 7min;

You want More!
No Country For Old Men – IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
No Country For Old Men – Rotten Tomatoes
No Country For Old Men – allmovie.com
No Country For Old Men – Wikipedia

Is this the best movie by the Coen brothers or does Fargo still top the list?
Have I got it completely wrong and has Stephen Hunter got it right in his Washington Post review, when he abruptly states, “I just don’t like it very much”?

:: Please leave a comment ::

The Sunday Screening Session….. Apocalypse Now (1979)

14 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by Zak de Courcy in Film

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

1970s, Abandon All Hope, Adventure, Adventure Drama, Albert Hall, Anti-War Film, Apocalypse Now, Apocalypse Now Redux, Cambodia, Cold War Film, Dennis Hopper, Drama, Epic, Film, film review, Francis Ford Coppola, Frederic Forrest, Guy Movie, iRate:: 5 / 5, John Milius, Jungle Film, Laurence Fishburne, Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Modern Classic, Robert Duvall, Roger Ebert, Sam Bottoms, Slow Burn, Starpower, Sunday Screening Session, Vietnam, Vietnam War Era, War, War Epic

Apocalypse Now (1979) (196 min)
iReview: Version: Apocalypse Now: Full Disclosure Edition (Blu-ray);
Video: AVC 1080p; Audio: DTS 5.1.
Genre:: Adventure | Drama | Epic | War |
Sub-Genre/Type:: Adventure Drama | Anti-War Film |
Cold War Film | Jungle Film | Modern Classic | War Epic |
Settings:: 1970s | Cambodia | Vietnam | Vietnam War Era.

Mood?:: Abandon All Hope | Guy Movie |
Slow Burn | Starpower.
iRate:: 5 / 5 (One of my top 10)
Director:: Francis Ford Coppola.
Writers:: Joseph Conrad (novella: Heart of Darkness); Michael Herr (narration); Francis Ford Coppola & John Milius (screenplay).
Cast:: Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms, Albert Hall, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, G. D. Spradlin, Jerry Ziesmer, Scott Glenn.

Credits (Click to expand)

Trailer (HD):
https://youtu.be/apo6_iOe0Jw

iReview:
With the death of famed Chicago Sun-Times critic, Roger Ebert (see my earlier Ebert post), I thought I’d have a look at one of his and my top 10 movies, Apocalypse Now. I recently obtained the 3 disc Full Disclosure Blu-ray Edition which includes the movie tragics must-have Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, the 1991 documentary chronicling the making of the film. The package also includes the 1979 cut of Apocalypse Now and an ammo dump full of interesting extras. I wasn’t able to source this set in-store so I was forced to find it online (I’ve included convenient links to search on eBay and Amazon (UK) below).

What Happens:
Francis Ford Coppola adapted the Joseph Conrad novella Heart of Darkness (set in the Belgian Congo, Africa) to depict the Vietnam War as a descent into primal madness. Capt. Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen), already on the edge, is assigned a secret mission to find and deal with AWOL Col. Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who has set himself up in the Cambodian jungle as a cult warlord. Along the way up-river, Willard encounters: the lover of napalm and Wagner, Col. Kilgore (Robert Duvall); soldiers who prefer to surf and do drugs: a troupe of USO Playboy Bunnies, whose show turns into a riot; and a manic photographer (Dennis Hopper), who tells wild, reverential stories about Kurtz. By the time Willard sees the scattering of heads at Kurtz’s compound, he knows Kurtz has gone insane…

Story (Click to expand)

It’s been many years since I saw the 2001 Redux version of this film and a year or so since my last visit with the original 1979 cut, so I arrived for this marathon sitting of Redux with relatively fresh eyes.

Now that I know Martin Sheen (Capt. Benjamin Willard) was actually very drunk when filming the first bedroom scene in which he did his best to destroy the set, the scene has acquired added significance. The blood was also real as Sheen cut his hand in the process. This scene becomes emblematic of the production chaos of the Philippines’ shoot, with a typhoon destroying the set and Sheen’s near fatal heart attack (which was kept secret, with his hospitalization ascribed to ‘heat exhaustion’). The intrigue surrounding the production is one of the things that makes the warts-and-all Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse documentary (on disc 3), compiled from footage shot by Eleanor Coppola, so compelling. There’s the revelation that half the cast were using marijuana, speed or LSD or all three, and often while filming. Add to that, the news that Laurence Fishburne (Clean) lied about his age to get the part as he was only 14 when filming began; that a nearby Islamic insurgency resulted in the frequent and sudden departure, often while filming, of the leased Philippines military helicopters, called away to battle; that the scheduled 6 week shoot was repeatedly extended to an eventual 16 months; that shooting delays resulted in Brando pocketing his already paid $1 million advance on his $1 million per week salary and almost walking away, rather than reschedule his three weeks on set; that Brando arrived dramatically overweight and concerned about his appearance and required that only scenes showing him in shadow be included in the film; that Brando arrived completely unprepared having read neither the novel (Heart of Darkness) or the script (something he was notorious for); that Brando insisted on detailed consultation with Coppola, sometimes lasting days, before improvising scenes, all while the cast and crew were waiting on standby; and that the budget blew out to $40 million, a record at the time. There’s also the shocking and highly confronting footage of the ritual, brutal killing of pigs and the hacking to death of the water buffalo that appears at film’s end (I think its eyes will haunt me for a very long time). The documentary also brilliantly illuminates the insanity of the shoot which seemed to mirror the insanity of the Vietnam War and the madness on screen. If you don’t want your viewing of the film to be tainted, I’d recommend you leave this documentary ’til last.

Apocalypse Now was always episodic, as road movies often are, with set pieces revealed as Willard and the river patrol boat crew, progress up the Nung River towards Cambodia. But in Redux, this aspect of the story is accentuated with the addition of scenes featuring the stranded ‘Bunnies’ and the French colonial plantation compound.

After so many previous viewings, there’s still the pleasure of anticipation, waiting for the arrival of Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall) who leads his airborne chopper cavalry and is surfing obsessed, seemingly invulnerable, and just loves “the smell of napalm in the morning”. He also has a lust for mass carnage, accompanied by a bellowing rendition of “Ride of the Valkyries” by Wagner.

Next up the river, there’s the USO show featuring the troupe of Playboy Bunnies, who arrive by chopper, parade provocatively, get mobbed in a riotous scramble, and retreat to their chopper in a cloud of smoke.

By the time I’d arrived at the chaotic MedEvac station with the stranded ‘Bunnies’, the first major departure from the 1979 version, I realized I needed to see the original again to put Redux into perspective (hence the delay in publishing this post). And frankly, while the original stand-alone USO Bunnies show scene, illustrates the detachment of US resolve and ineffectiveness in war fighting, the added MedEvac scene seems an unnecessary adjunct which muddies (excuse the pun) the thread of the story and adds only a negative aesthetic to the movie.

Moving up the river, Chief (Albert Hall) spots a sampan and, against Willard’s advice, they stop and search the boat. As Chef (Frederic Forrest) belligerently searches the sampan, Clean (Laurence Fishburne) unexpectedly opens fire on the boat. What ensues is the My Lai Massacre moment of the movie.

With each encounter, as they progress further from civilization, the crew’s grip on sanity wavers a little more. By the time they reach the chaotic Do Long bridge outpost with its precarious suspension bridge and no discernible chain of command, Willard and his men seem like an island of calm in a swirling nightmare.

I’m neutral about the efficacy of the added French colonials scene in Redux. At the time of the release of the 1979 cut, the Vietnam War was still extremely raw in the American Psyche, having ended only 4 years earlier. It’s perhaps understandable then, that Coppola decided not to pollute the ‘descent into the madness of America’s Vietnam War‘ theme with a discourse on the colonial era. Thirty four years later, that anti-Vietnam War focus of the film, perhaps, doesn’t need to be so sharply defined, so the departure into French colonial history adds an interesting side-track. Filming it at all may have been a subtle nod to Conrad’s original Heart of Darkness, set in the French speaking, Belgian Congo colony.

The horrific scenes awaiting what’s left of the crew, when they arrive at Kurtz’s compound, seem entirely appropriate, given the portents that accompanied their journey.

Coppola’s additional Kurtz Compound scenes in Redux, add another layer of insight along with subtle changes to Kurtz’s character. In the original, Kurtz was made more poetically enigmatic by his shadowy illumination. In Redux, Kurtz is just plain mad. At the time of production, Marlon Brando was something of an actor demi-god, so it was understandable that he and Coppola were concerned that his obesity might be an unwelcome distraction, hence the noirish camera work. With Brando’s immensity no longer a novelty, it’s interesting to see the additional ‘lit’ scenes as they ‘flesh’ out Kurtz’s personality (stop with the puns, already!).

This intense week-long immersion into the Apocalypse Now universe has been fascinating for me and has led to the conclusion that on balance, I marginally prefer the original cut to Redux. However, they each stand, in their own right, as monumentally stunning achievements in film-making. Watching both films in reasonably close proximity, also gave me an unexpected look behind the curtain to the art behind movie-making, as I was able to see great examples of the editor’s craft. That for me was worth the price of admission (in this case the cost of the Blu-ray set).

The Picture:
I’m pleased that Coppola prevailed with the 2.35:1 aspect ratio rather than Cinematographer, Vittorio Storaro’s preferred 2.0:1 (used on previous releases) which chopped the frame and occasionally caused oddly skewed shot framing and pans.

This transfer to Blu-ray while not quite as stunning as some I’ve seen recently (I’ve been spoilt), is nevertheless beautifully rendered and a pleasure to watch. It might just have been me, but this new Blu-ray palette also seems to have a slightly heavier yellow hue than previous versions, giving the image a warmer look than I’d like (it’s OK, I’m already kicking myself for nit-picking).

Overall, the screen image is clean and well defined with Kurtz’s disembodied head brilliantly defined and contrasted against deep black. Also look out for the way Willard’s face is lit while he reads the Kurtz dossier on the deck of the patrol boat. And let’s face it, Storaro’s photography is breathtakingly sumptuous, especially in the film’s first half. I’m also conscious of the fact that Coppola needed to incorporate previously discarded footage, which can’t have been easy, and then colour grade both films for consistency. To have created such a seamless result is astonishing. If you need confirmation of just how good it is, check out Richard Donner’s 2006 cut of Superman II which is good but not nearly as consistent as Apocalypse.

The Audio:
The Blu-ray DTS 5.1 sound track is one of the best I’ve heard, particularly the woofer’s rumbling bass. The balance and sweep of the sound effects mix is awesome with helicopters tracking seamlessly from monitor to monitor. The sound field is completely immersive, especially at higher volume (I hope the neighbours weren’t too annoyed).

My only complaint about the soundtrack is an issue of personal taste: I would have much preferred a score without the heavy and dated synthesizer. A completely contemporary rock track or even an orchestral score would have been fine. Unfortunately, the mix of great ’60s and ’70s rock tracks interspersed with nondescript synth. just didn’t do it for me.

Verdict:
This movie was already in my top ten so my expectations of this release were high. I’m so pleased that Coppola has allowed his two versions of Apocalypse Now to co-exist as they are each wonderful in their own way. I’d say, if anything, this new Blu-ray package with its incomparable set of extras, has enhanced my impression of the films. So hats off to the guys who took such care putting this together.

iRate:: 5 out of 5 (One of my top 10).

4Movie Tragics

Buy:
• Apocalypse Now: Full Disclosure Blu-ray Edition (at eBay)
• look for Apocalypse Now: Full Disclosure Blu-ray Edition / 3-disc Special Edition (at Amazon UK).
(note: Any UK Blu-ray is playable in Australia as they share the same region code ‘B‘ (USA code is ‘A‘). Just to confuse things though, be aware that their DVD region codes are different – Region: 2 (UK), 4 (Aus), 1 (USA). But many UK DVDs are coded for both regions (2 & 4), so check.)

Extras:
• Feature Commentary by Director Francis Ford Coppola (complements the Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse documentary quite well. I’d be inclined to listen to the commentary on Redux, as it’s full of interesting production notes and anecdotes. As well, the commentary track for the original version was edited down from this one).

Disc Two:
• A Conversation With Martin Sheen
(Sheen and Coppola reminisce about the casting, drugs, alcohol, tigers, the heart attack, and much more… interesting) – 59min;
• An Interview With John Milius (here Coppola and Milius discuss their writing process and the script’s evolution as they drill deeply into the screenplay. They also briefly touch on Milius’ own military ambitions and how that played into the screenplay… one for the geeks and illuminating and enjoyable) – 50min;
• Fred Roos: Casting Apocalypse (includes screen test footage and features the film’s casting director, Roos, talking about the hundreds of actors tested for various roles) – 12min;
• ‘Apocalypse’ Then and Now (has some brief snippets from Roger Ebert’s Cannes interview with Francis Ford Coppola) – 4min;
• 2001 Cannes Film Festival: Francis Ford Coppola (the entire Ebert Cannes interview) – 39min;
• PBR Streetgang (profiles and reflections from the actors playing Willard’s patrol boat crew: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Bottoms, Albert Hall, and Frederic Forrest) – 4min;
• “Monkey Sampan” Deleted Scene (a disturbing deleted segment featuring a boat overrun with monkeys and natives singing “Light My Fire”) – 3min;
• Additional Scenes (12 timecoded scenes including Lt. Richard M. Colby (Scott Glenn) dialogue and undoctored footage where the name of Brando’s original character name, Col. Leighley, can be heard) – 26min;
• Destruction of the Kurtz Compound (the jettisoned final credits sequence which Coppola ultimately rejected when he feared audiences were misinterpreting it) – 6min;
• The Birth of 5.1 Sound
(a fascinating Dolby Labs presentation which looks at how Apocalypse Now led to a revolution in film surround sound design) – 6min;
• Ghost Helicopter Flyover
(sound engineer, Richard Beggs, explains how the surround sound design for the opening helicopter sequence was created) – 4min;
• The Music of Apocalypse Now (looks at how the various musical elements: The Doors, synthesizer music, orchestral and percussion work were integrated together) – 15min.
• The Synthesizer Soundtrack (a text screen reprint of a Bob Moog article from Keyboard magazine);
• Heard Any Good Movies Lately? The Sound Design of ‘Apocalypse Now‘ (Coppola, Walter Murch, Richard Beggs, and post-production recordist Randy Thom talk about and show us how the revolutionary sound design for the film was created) – 15min;
• A Million Feet of Film: The Editing of ‘Apocalypse Now‘ (a great look at how Coppola and editor Walter Murch pulled a coherant film together from the immense stock of scripted, experimental and improvised footage) – 18min;
• The Final Mix (Randy Thom introduces some great footage of the multi-room setup which was necessary to achieve the final mix for the film) – 3min;
• The Color Palette of ‘Apocalypse Now‘ (Vittorio Storaro attempts to explain the technical aspects of the three strip dye transfer Technicolor process utilized on the film) – 4min.
• The Hollow Men (an odd little period (circa 1979) featurette with Brando reciting Eliot’s poem with scenes from the film and the shoot) – 17min;
• Mercury Theater Production of ‘Heart of Darkness’ (audio presentation of Orson Welles production of Joseph Conrad’s novella… some of the audio quality has suffered with time.) – 37min.

Disc Three:
• Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (the fascinating behind-the-scenes documentary compiled from home movie footage shot by Coppola’s wife Eleanor. The film includes audio from tapes she recorded without Francis’ knowledge for what she, at the time, expected to turn into a diary. The chaos and intrigue surrounding the making of the film, makes this compelling viewing. As if that’s not enough, there’s also an optional and very interesting commentary track from the Coppola’s.) – 99min.
• John Milius Script Selections with Notes by Francis Ford Coppola
(text screens);
• Storyboard Gallery (with more than 200 screens);
• Photo Archive (a huge trove of production and candid stills together with some Mary Ellen Mark photography);
• Marketing Archive (featuring the 1979 trailer, radio spots, theatrical program, lobby cards, press kit photos, and a poster gallery).

Printed Material:
• A 48-page Full Disclosure booklet which features a written introduction from Francis Ford Coppola, script excerpts (with notes scrawled over them), production photos, storyboards, sketches, and other production art.
• An Apocalypse Now booklet with production notes, credits and cast and crew biographies.
• 5 Black & White postcards.

You want More!
Apocalypse Now – IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
Apocalypse Now – Rotten Tomatoes
Apocalypse Now Redux – Rotten Tomatoes
Apocalypse Now – allmovie.com
Apocalypse Now Redux – allmovie.com
Apocalypse Now – Wikipedia
Apocalypse Now Redux – Wikipedia

Is this the best war film ever made?

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The Dean of Movie Critics, Roger Ebert is Dead:

05 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by Zak de Courcy in Film

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Chicago Sun-Times, Film, film review, Roger Ebert

For movie lovers the world over, today is a very sad day. The most famous of all film critics, Roger Ebert, has died aged 70 after a long battle with cancer.

In 1967 he joined the Chicago Sun-Times as their film critic and had worked continuously since (with a short break in 2006/7 for cancer treatment). Through the years he gained a formidable reputation and was the first critic awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his work.

With partners, first Gene Siskel, then Richard Roeper, Ebert enjoyed success with syndicated television shows, including the long-running At The Movies. In his almost 50 years of criticism, he produced more than 9,000 reviews, a record that’s unlikely to be beaten.

He described his critical style as relativist saying,
“When you ask a friend if Hellboy is any good, you’re not asking if it’s any good compared to Mystic River, you’re asking if it’s any good compared to The Punisher. And my answer would be, on a scale of one to four, if Superman is four, then Hellboy is three and The Punisher is two. In the same way, if American Beauty gets four stars, then The United States of Leland clocks in at about two.”

Although Roger Ebert wasn’t a fan of “top ten” lists, or movie lists in general, he still contributed his top ten to the 2012 British Film Institute’s Sight and Sound Critics’ poll. Listed alphabetically, those films were 2001: A Space Odyssey, Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Apocalypse Now, Citizen Kane, La Dolce Vita, The General, Raging Bull, Tokyo Story, The Tree of Life and Vertigo.

In 1968, when 2001: A Space Odyssey was released, many respected critics realized what a landmark it was, including Ebert, while others like Renata Adler of The New York Times, were short on praise. Adler wrote that the movie was “somewhere between hypnotic and immensely boring”.

In tribute to Roger Ebert, here is his 1968 review of one of my favourite films: 2001: A Space Odyssey.
It was e. e. cummings, the poet, who said he’d rather learn from one bird how to sing than teach 10,000 stars how not to dance. I imagine cummings would not have enjoyed Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey,” in which stars dance but birds do not sing. The fascinating thing about this film is that it fails on the human level but succeeds magnificently on a cosmic scale.

Kubrick’s universe, and the space ships he constructed to explore it, are simply out of scale with human concerns. The ships are perfect, impersonal machines which venture from one planet to another, and if men are tucked away somewhere inside them, then they get there too.

But the achievement belongs to the machine. And Kubrick’s actors seem to sense this; they are lifelike but without emotion, like figures in a wax museum. Yet the machines are necessary because man himself is so helpless in the face of the universe.

Kubrick begins his film with a sequence in which one tribe of apes discovers how splendid it is to be able to hit the members of another tribe over the head. Thus do man’s ancestors become tool-using animals.

At the same time, a strange monolith appears on Earth. Until this moment in the film, we have seen only natural shapes: earth and sky and arms and legs. The shock of the monolith’s straight edges and square corners among the weathered rocks is one of the most effective moments in the film. Here, you see, is perfection. The apes circle it warily, reaching out to touch, then jerking away. In a million years, man will reach for the stars with the same tentative motion.

Who put the monolith there? Kubrick never answers, for which I suppose we must be thankful. The action advances to the year 2001, when explorers on the moon find another of the monoliths. This one beams signals toward Jupiter. And man, confident of his machines, brashly follows the trail.

Only at this point does a plot develop. The ship manned by two pilots, Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood. Three scientists are put on board in suspended animation to conserve supplies. The pilots grow suspicious of the computer, “Hal,” which runs the ship. But they behave so strangely — talking in monotones like characters from “Dragnet” — that we’re hardly interested.

There is hardly any character development in the plot, then, as a result little suspense. What remains fascinating is the fanatic care with which Kubrick has built his machines and achieved his special effects. There is not a single moment, in this long film, when the audience can see through the props. The stars look like stars and outer space is bold and bleak.

Some of Kubrick’s effects have been criticized as tedious. Perhaps they are, but I can understand his motives. If his space vehicles move with agonizing precision, wouldn’t we have laughed if they’d zipped around like props on “Captain Video”? This is how it would really be, you find yourself believing.

In any event, all the machines and computers are forgotten in this astonishing last half-hour of this film, and man somehow comes back into his own. Another monolith is found beyond Jupiter, pointing to the stars. It apparently draws the spaceship into a universe where time and space are twisted.

What Kubrick is saying, in the final sequence, apparently, is that man will eventually outgrow his machines, or be drawn beyond them by some cosmic awareness. He will then become a child again, but a child of an infinitely more advanced, more ancient race, just as apes once became, to their own dismay, the infant stage of man.

And the monoliths? Just road markers, I suppose, each one pointing to a destination so awesome that the traveler cannot imagine it without being transfigured. Or as cummings wrote on another occasion, “listen — there’s a hell of a good universe next door; let’s go.”

Roger, you’ll be greatly missed. – 4/4 and two thumbs up.

Also check out:
• Roger Ebert as a Builder of an Empire by David Carr
(New York Times – April 7, 2013)

Do you have any impressions or recollections of Roger that you’d like to share?

:: Please leave a comment ::

The Sunday Screening Session….. Star Wars: Episode VI – Return Of The Jedi (1983)

31 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by Zak de Courcy in Film

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Action, Action & Adventure, Adrenaline Rush, Adventure, Alec Guinness, Billy Dee Williams, Carrie Fisher, Ensemble Film, Epic, Fantasy, Film, film review, Frank Oz, George Lucas, Guy Movie, Harrison Ford, iRate:: 4½ / 5, John Williams, Lawrence Kasdan, Mark Hamill, Master Villain Film, Modern Classic, Other Dimensions, Out In Space, Richard Marquand, Sci-Fi Action, Sci-Fi Adventure, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Epic, Space Adventure, Star Wars, Star Wars Episode VI Return of the Jedi, Sunday Screening Session

Star Wars:
Episode VI Return Of The Jedi (1983) (135 min)
iReview: Version: Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Blu-ray);
Video: AVC 1080p; Audio: DTS 5.1.
Genre:: Action | Adventure | Epic | Fantasy | Science Fiction |
Sub-Genre/Type:: Action & Adventure | Ensemble Film |
Master Villain Film | Modern Classic | Sci-Fi Action |
Sci-Fi Adventure | Science Fiction Epic | Space Adventure |
Settings:: Out In Space.

Mood?:: Adrenaline Rush |
Guy Movie | Other Dimensions.
iRate:: 4½ / 5
Director:: Richard Marquand.
Writers:: George Lucas (story); Lawrence Kasdan & George Lucas (screenplay).
Cast:: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Frank Oz, Billy Dee Williams, Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Sebastian Shaw, Ian McDiarmid, Michael Pennington.

Credits (Click to expand)

Trailer (HD):

iReview:
This week’s selection was a no-brainer, as a happy coincidence of events made the choice very easy. Today is the 30th birthday of all-round-good-bloke and son in law, Morgan, who shares a birthday with the final chapter of one of his favourite film franchises, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return Of The Jedi. It’s hard to believe, I know, that it’s been that long. I had intended to set aside a whole weekend to view the entire Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray set, with its 6 movie and 3 Extras discs. But that’s going to have to wait. In the meantime, and in honour of Morgan’s birthday, I’m going to enjoy revisiting this much loved film.

What Happens:
In the epic conclusion of the saga, the Empire prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star.

Han Solo (Harrison Ford) emerges intact from the carbonite casing in which he’d been sealed, after rescue by R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), disguised as a bounty hunter, and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Then they must escape the clutches of the grotesque Jabba the Hutt.

On the forest moon Endor, the reunited team enlist the help of the Ewoks as the rebellion reaches its decisive stage.

Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader (David Prowse & voiced by James Earl Jones) in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). As he enters into this spirited battle with his light saber-wielding enemy, some surprising revelations await the young warrior…

Story (Click to expand)

With the plot safely secured back in my memory, I sat down with a little unease; this was the first time I’d watched Jedi in isolation and also in glorious 1080p HD. How would the movie stand up without its usual crutches, Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back to lend it support? I wanted it to be great, and you know what, I wasn’t disappointed.

In my memory, Jedi was the least impressive of the original trilogy. That may still be true but I get the feeling that by its release in 1983, we’d become very familiar with the Star Wars universe. I still remember the goose bumps I felt on that day in 1977, when I first saw the mighty Imperial Stardestroyer emerge from above and gradually fill the huge dark screen. The sequence was made perfect by the accompanying deep rumble of the sound track and John Williams’ opening of the Star Wars Symphony. When I first saw it, everything about Star Wars was new for me. I’d seen and been perplexed by 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) but I’d never seen a space fable like Star Wars. The special effects were not a compromise of Flash Gordon model spacecraft darting drunkenly in front of an obviously painted matte space. They were believable and very real in a way I’d never seen before. I remember that very quickly, Star Wars had been integrated into my life to the extent that the sound-track vinyl album got frequent play even though it was completely out of place next to my Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Fleetwood Mac.

With the second installment, The Empire Strikes Back, in the hands of Irvin Kershner, the continuing story transcended the novel appeal of its predecessor and emerged as a cinematic triumph with a great story, great effects, and most importantly, none of Lucas’ dreadful dialogue. I recall seeing Jedi for the first time as a much anticipated closure to the story and with a very high bar set by the first two films, it didn’t disappoint.

The Picture:
In this high definition version of Jedi, the image is brilliantly saturated and crisply defined, with no discernible noise. I don’t remember Endor being quite as lush and beautiful as it appears here. As well, the battle between the Imperial and Rebel fleets fills the screen spectacularly and with a pitch-perfect DTS 5.1 audio track. The final confrontation between Vader and Luke also has all the drama and visual excitement I’d hoped for and remembered.

The Audio:
The Blu-ray DTS 5.1 sound track is stonkingly brilliant and that’s with no ifs, buts or maybes. The mix of sound effects and music score is pristine. The discretion of spacecraft rumble and other mechanical noises together with the subtlety and richness of the sounds of the Endorian natural environment, are a joy to hear. John Williams’ Star Wars theme has been waiting patiently for 30 years for the exposition of this Blu-ray set. And, never has Darth Vader’s respirator assisted voice sounded so menacing and the swoosh and hum of the lightsaber, so threatening.

Verdict:
My only criticism of this edition of Jedi, and it’s very minor; I wish someone had held Lucas back when he decided to tinker with the later releases of the film, including this one. Look out for the CGI soul singer with suitably silly alien backing group singing Jedi Rocks. I found myself mildly irritated that George thought the addition of this turgid song and its inconsequential CGI would somehow elevate the movie. Also, some of the other cosmetic CGI changes that Lucas has brought to the movie seem to stand out even more in HD, especially the not so successful additions of some obviously CGI building structures.

Coming back to the film in isolation, did also highlight how much merchandising Lucas was able to attach to these movies. I’d never been so conscious of how cute, kid friendly and stuffed toy-like the Ewoks were.

Overall though, this has been a wholly satisfying return to one of my favourite movie sagas and one I’m really looking forward to completing. I also have a sneaky feeling that once I’ve seen the rest of this Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray pack, the old DVD box-set (with the exception of the Special Features disc), might reluctantly have to migrate to Cash Converters.

Anyone looking to augment Morgan’s (if you know him, that is) Blu-ray collection can use these convenient links:
Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray (at eBay)
Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray (at JB HiFi)

iRate:: 4½ out of 5.

4Movie Tragics

Extras:
• Feature Commentary by Director George Lucas, actor Carrie Fisher, and crew, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren (this is a surprisingly interesting and informative track, dominated, as you might expect, by George Lucas, which also appears on previous releases. If you’re new to this then I’d urge you to remember that Lucas is the creator and curator of the Star Wars mythology and so treat his recollections of fact with due caution.)
• Audio commentary from archival interviews with cast and crew.

You want More!
Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi – IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi – Rotten Tomatoes
Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi – allmovie.com
Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi – Wikipedia

Where does “Return of the Jedi” fall on your list of favourite Star Wars flix? A lot of critics were unenthusiastic about this when it was released. Were they wrong? I love it, what about you?

:: Please leave a comment ::

The Sunday Screening Session….. Platoon (1986)

24 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by Zak de Courcy in Film

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

1867-68, Action, Anti-War Film, Blood and Gore, Charlie Sheen, Cold War Film, Combat Film, Drama, Ensemble Film, Film, film review, Food For Thought, Forest Whitaker, Francesco Quinn, iRate:: 4½ / 5, John C. McGinley, Johnny Depp, Jungle Film, Keith David, Kevin Dillon, Modern Classic, Oliver Stone, Platoon, Richard Edson, Southeast Asia, Sunday Screening Session, Tom Berenger, Tough Guys, Vietnam, Vietnam War Era, War, War Drama, Willem Dafoe

Mood?:: Blood and Gore |
Food For Thought | Tough Guys.
iRate:: 4½ / 5
Director:: Oliver Stone.
Writer:: Oliver Stone (screenplay).

Cast:: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Forest Whitaker, Francesco Quinn, John C. McGinley, Richard Edson, Kevin Dillon, Reggie Johnson, Keith David, Johnny Depp, David Neidorf.

Credits (Click to expand)

Trailer (HD):

iReview:
I was scratching around my library trying to settle on a film for this week’s screening but found myself spoiled for choice. I asked a few friends for help and suggested they consider titles from science fiction, gangster or graphic novel adaptation. So after extensive consultation within the strict parameters provided, I’m Screening Platoon in this Sunday Session. Umm, yes I know, it’s a war movie. I hadn’t seen this film for more than 10 years and that was the less than stellar, 2000 DVD release, which I viewed on an old 80cm 4:3 TV. So I was looking forward to the opportunity to see the recent 25th Anniversary Blu-ray release, on a 140cm 1080p widescreen.

Throughout the soundtrack, Samuel Barber’s hauntingly beautiful Adagio for Strings, interjects to add a note of melancholy. It’s unfortunate, that after Platoon, overuse has turned such a wonderful feature of this film into a cliche. Nevertheless, I’d still recommend listening to the track while reading this as it sets a darkly appropriate tone.

After a very brief introduction and without fanfare or warning, the audience descends into an impenetrable jungle. The camera at eye level draws us into a patrol alongside the newest member of Bravo Company, Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen), who is confronted by the claustrophobic thick lush brush, with rough fronds brushing and irritating his fresh face. We experience the gut-wrenching physical exertion of the terrain as he hacks frustrated and incompetently with his machete, dry reaches and is harassed by ants, leaches, and mud. And we sense the contagious and overwhelming fatigue.

“Somebody once wrote: ‘Hell is the impossibility of reason.’ That’s what this place feels like: Hell.” So says the bewildered Taylor as he writes a letter to his grandma.

Most of us could identify with Taylor’s disillusionment. He’s a kid from a good family who dropped out of college because he felt the call to do his patriotic duty and “Live up to what Grandpa did in the first war, and Dad did in the second.”. And, as he put it, “…why should just the poor kids go off to war.” He soon realizes that in ‘Nam the drafted men are largely uneducated, “They’re poor. They’re unwanted… They’re the bottom of the barrel, and they know it.”.

Through Taylor, Oliver Stone stipulates that war has always been fought by the poor and “rich kids always get away with it.”. He’s right of course, You need look no further than the last president and vice-president of the USA, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. It’s reported that Bush went AWOL (absent without leave) from the National Guard from 1972-’73, while Cheney applied for and received five Vietnam War draft deferments. When asked about his deferments, he reportedly said, “I had other priorities in the ’60s than military service”.

Story (Click to expand)

Platoon is set in a remote area of Vietnam’s east, near the Cambodian border, during 1967-’68. The men of Bravo Company live in barely tolerable conditions, rarely sleep and frequently go out on nerve-jangling ‘ambush’ patrols where they lie in wait for an ethereal enemy, who only seems to emerge from the mist as an apparition. We, like the rest of the patrol, intently watch the dense, steaming wet brush, looking for any movement. Like them, we have no idea if they will appear but sense the danger. Alongside the patrol, we also learn that veteran leaders, Sgt. Elias Grodin (Willem Dafoe) and Sgt. Bob Barnes (Tom Berenger), can spot the seemingly invisible source of much of the danger and uncertainty, the tunnels below them that the VC (Viet Cong) disappear into. Their sense of siege is heightened by the suspicion that the enemy are also the civilians, young and old in local villages. This paranoia and contempt for the Vietnamese results in the most shocking and viscerally disturbing scenes in the film.

In Stone’s vision of the Vietnam War, there are no heroics, just a very real sense that at any time, one of us could be thrown into that hell and how might we react; perhaps just like one of them.

Some of Oliver Stone’s other films, like Salvador, JFK and Natural Born Killers, almost blow the horn before coming down the street, so transparent is their intent; not so Platoon. Here, the plot doesn’t meander and yet, it is brilliantly disorienting, creating a palpable unease. Nor does it telegraph its trajectory and because the whole story is told from the point of view of the camera lens as a member of the squad, there’s no predictability or safe foxhole for us to rest and little indication what we might expect through the next bush.

While the wisps of the enemy provide the danger and uncertainty that keeps us riveted from the first frame, the narrative arc is provided by the tension within the squad. Sgt. Barnes, a scarred battle veteran sees every Vietnamese as the enemy and fosters an attitude among his acolytes that manifests in depraved violence. At the other pole, Sgt. Elias, who acts as mentor to Taylor, blunts his cynicism by shotgunning smoke in the old-fashioned way with his ‘hippy’ friends. He also acts to mitigate the excesses of Barnes. These two characters could easily have been caricatured but in Stone’s writing they are utterly convincing.

The screenplay has been wonderfully crafted and has the polish that often characterises a song-writer’s first album that’s been percolating for years. And knowing that Stone had been working this script for 18 years, seems to confirm that. Watching the result seems like witnessing Stone’s own catharsis, reliving his own experience in Vietnam.

The performances of all the ensemble are authentic and enhanced by the realism constructed in the locations and uniforms that show the effects of constant wear, as well as copious mud and grime that attaches to bodies that are seldom washed.

Before filming began in the Philippines, the cast was sent on a two-week boot-camp. The actors were given military haircuts, required to stay in character, required to dig foxholes, ate only military rations, not allowed to shower, camped in the jungle, had rotations for night watch, and were subjected to forced marches and nighttime “ambushes” with special-effects explosions. Stone explained that he was trying to break them down, “to mess with their heads so we could get that dog-tired, don’t give a damn attitude, the anger, the irritation… the casual approach to death”. In a Bombsite interview, Willem Dafoe said,
“the training was very important to the making of the film… It wasn’t boot camp with lots of push-ups. It was serious, getting no sleep; doing activities at night where you were attacked by real people. Certainly you weren’t going to die, but you did know exhaustion and confusion… the training was important because it gave us a relationship to soldiering… By the time you got through the training and through the film, you had a relationship to the weapon. It wasn’t going to kill people, but you felt comfortable with it.”

This preparation obviously paid off in the delivery of the cast. If anyone were to ask me how an actor is directed, I’d point to one of the worst I can remember as a contrast: George Lucas’ Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. There, fine actors, like Ewan McGregor, appear to be delivering lines with the care of a first Script Read-Through. in a Daily Express interview, McGregor even said,
“Quite honestly, after my initial excitement, the film-making process turned out to be the epitome of tedium,” he said. “There was no spontaneity. Your job, as an actor, was just to get it out. I was frowning a lot. It just became a frowning exercise.”
Now come back to Platoon, and while it’s not the finest bit of actor performance direction, it’s still very good. The acting of this ensemble is delivered with assurity and an easy familiarity. The performances are also understated even though the actions portrayed might be shocking and seem almost implausible at times. This restraint adds to the believability and menace of the scenario with very ordinary people doing inexplicable things.

One of the Vietnam War movies that’s frequently held up in comparison with Platoon, is Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola which was released seven years earlier. Where Apocalypse Now is epic in its bombast and artifice, Platoon is intimate but a lot more confronting. Where Coppola orchestrated a well crafted Wagnerian opera, Stone has unselfconsciously delivered a frank and unmannered masterpiece.

Francois Truffaut is often quoted as saying, “There is no such thing as an anti-war film”, reasoning that in a good war film, explosions and great cinematography always excite, and there’s always some sense of adventure. Well, I think Platoon goes a long way towards refuting Truffaut; this is a great anti-war film.

iRate:: 4½ out of 5.

4Movie Tragics

Extras:
• Feature Commentary by Director Oliver Stone (This filmmaker enjoys talking and this informative track relates just how personal this film was to him).
• Feature Commentary by Military Advisor Dale Dye (In this interesting track Dye details his training regimen for the cast and how he and the director worked to achieve authenticity. He also relates his own wartime experience).
• Deleted & Extended Scenes (12 scenes) – 12 minutes.
• On the Flashback to Platoon Menu, you’ll find 3 featurettes:
• • Snapshot in Time:1967-1968 (this featurette includes movie clips and interviews with Stone, Dye and others and recalls the Cold War political climate at that time) – 19 minutes.
• • Creating the ‘Nam (this production featurette looks at the design, effects and locations) – 12 minutes.
• • Raw Wounds: The Legacy of ‘Platoon’ (this piece looks at the healing process after the war and how American veterans reacted to the film) – 17 minutes.
• One War, Many Stories (veterans react to a screening of the film and relate how their own experiences compared with that depicted) – 26 minutes.
• Preparing for ‘Nam (war veterans recall their enlistment and basic training) – 7 minutes.
• On the Vignettes Menu there are 3 short elements:
• • Caputo & the 7th Fleet (recollections of the 1975 evacuation of Saigon) – 2mins.
• • Dye Training Method (the technical advisor, Dale Dye discusses his process for turning actors into soldiers) – 3mins.
• • Gordon Gekko (recalls how the name was hatched during a Platoon brainstorming session) – 1min.
• The DVD copy (this is the disappointing dvd version released in 2000 and a questionable addition to this set)

You want More!
Platoon – IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
Platoon – Rotten Tomatoes
Platoon – allmovie.com
Platoon – Wikipedia

In my mind, this film ranks right up with All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) as one of the two or three best anti-war films yet produced. What do you think about the film?

:: Please leave a comment ::

The Sunday Screening Session….. How the West Was Won (1962)

17 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by Zak de Courcy in Film

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

1839-1889, Adventure, American Civil War Era, Classic, Debbie Reynolds, Drama, Epic, Epic Western, Film, film review, Frontier Region, George Marshall, George Peppard, Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda, Henry Hathaway, History, History Fiction, How the West Was Won, iRate:: 4 / 5, James Stewart, John Ford, John Wayne, Karl Malden, Romance, Rural Setting, Slice Of History, Spencer Tracy, Sunday Screening Session, Tough Guys, USA, Western, Wild West Era

Mood?:: Slice Of History | Tough Guys.
iRate:: 4 / 5
Directors:: John Ford
(segment “The Civil War”);
Henry Hathaway
(segments “The Rivers”, “The Plains”
and “The Outlaws”);
George Marshall
(segment “The Railroad”).
Writer:: James R. Webb (screenplay).
Cast:: Henry Fonda, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, James Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, John Wayne (General William T. Sherman), Eli Wallach, Lee J. Cobb, Richard Widmark, George Peppard, Spencer Tracy (narrator), Harry Morgan (General Ulysses S. Grant), Carroll Baker, Carolyn Jones, Robert Preston, Walter Brennan, Andy Devine, Raymond Massey (President Abraham Lincoln), Agnes Moorehead, Thelma Ritter, Russ Tamblyn.

Credits (Click to expand)

Trailer:

(Note: The vertical bands that appear in this theatrical release trailer, have been digitally removed in the Blu-ray release of the film)

iReview:
In this week’s Sunday Screening, I’ve gone back 51 years to 1962 to seek out films in my library worthy of another look. 1962 was awash with more than 2,000 films released but after a quick scan, I was humbled by my few representatives from that year. But, my small sample does include some notable films: Dr. No, the first Bond film; To Kill a Mockingbird, with Gregory Peck’s outstanding portrayal as Atticus Finch, the lawyer who defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge; Lawrence of Arabia, the story of T.E. Lawrence’s desert war (my favourite film); Lolita, a story of forbidden infatuation by my favourite director, Stanley Kubrick; The Longest Day, the story of D-Day (6th June 1944); The Manchurian Candidate, with a brilliant Frank Sinatra as a brainwashed former captive of North Korea; Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando in an overwrought remake of the 1935 classic; and How the West Was Won. It’s the Blu-ray version of the last of these that I’ve selected for this week’s screening. I’ll be having another look at the rest of this eclectic bunch of 1962 films soon.

How the West Was Won is a curiosity in that it was one of only two narrative films produced using the Cinerama three lens camera system; the other being The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962). And, given the complexity of filming in this format and the cost of building theatres capable of screening them, it’s not surprising. Cinerama required three projectors for the three screens used in the curved ultra widescreen presentation. Where the three projected images overlapped, there were thin blurred join-lines, but given the impact of the overall experience as projected onto the unique and enormous screen construction, this was a small infraction. As well as the stunning surround visuals, the system was also one of the first to employ 5.1 audio, giving an unparalleled audio-visual experience.

Story (Click to expand)

For this epic western, three legendary directors, Henry Hathaway, John Ford, and George Marshall, were employed to shoot different segments of the stories of three generations of the Prescott family and their travels from east to west across America between 1839 and 1889. The film chronicles the family’s triumphs and tragedies as they encounter river pirates, suffer drownings and make and lose a fortune in California after travelling the plains together in a wagon train.

This all-star ensemble includes Karl Malden as pioneer Zebulon Prescott who sets out west with his wife (Agnes Moorehead) and their children, Lilith (Debbie Reynolds) and Eve (Carroll Baker). They travel down river and along the way, encounter mountain man and fur trader, Linus Rawlings (James Stewart), who marries Eve.

Lilith continues west after joining a wagon train led by Roger Morgan (Robert Preston), and is accompanied by roguish gambler Cleve Van Valen (Gregory Peck), who saves her during an Indian attack.

These first two vivid segments, dubbed ‘The Rivers (1840)’ and ‘The Plains (1850s)’, were directed by Henry Hathaway.

Moving into the 1860s, the Civil War erupts and Linus and Eve’s son, Zeb (George Peppard), enthusiastically follows his father into the Union army. However, after the Battle of Shiloh, he becomes disillusioned and contemplates a different path. This ‘Civil War (1861-1865)’ segment was directed by John Ford

Richard Widmark also stars as railroad boss Mike King, building the transcontinental railroad, who wants to cut a line straight through Indian territory but is resisted by mountain man, Jethro (Henry Fonda). Zeb, who has rejoined the army as a lieutenant in the U.S. cavalry, is tasked to secure a peace treaty with the Arapaho to allow the railroad construction to proceed peacefully. This segment, titled ‘The Railroad (1868)’, was directed by George Marshall and includes his famous buffalo stampede sequence.

In the final segment, The Outlaws (1880s), directed by Henry Hathaway, Lilith who made it as far west as California, has done well for herself in San Francisco but, after a change in circumstances, auctions most of her possessions and relocates to her ranch in Arizona, inviting Zeb to join her. However, Zeb, now a marshal, has a run-in with an old foe, Charlie Gant (Eli Wallach).

Many more characters and stories are woven throughout this epic film which also features appearances from Raymond Massey as President Abraham Lincoln, John Wayne as General William T. Sherman, and Harry Morgan as General Ulysses S. Grant.

In my earlier description of the plot, I’ve tried to limit the spoilers, so I don’t give everything away. I hope I haven’t just made the story completely obtuse in the process.

As a dramatic narrative, How the West Was Won works more like a travelogue, with emblematic scenic locations providing a visual feast, interrupted by action and dramatic set pieces. The characters are not on screen long enough to develop their identities but that is often a drawback of films that seek to cover an epic story over such a daunting time-span. And with so much visual splendour on offer, it’s only a minor criticism.

The technical restrictions of shooting with three fixed 27mm lenses meant that depth of field variations and close-ups, employed on traditional single lens films were not possible. One of the inadvertent benefits of this constriction is a vivid screen image with the incredible clarity of waving blades of prairie grass in the foreground against crisply defined mountain peaks in the distance. The fact that everything in shot is always in focus, also means that the entire image, including background action is invariably in motion, adding to the window-on-the-world quality of this film. As breath-taking as the magnificent vistas are, the shortcomings of the format are evident. The 400kg Cinerama camera was entirely mechanically rooted and most of the action is front-on because shots needed to be framed in such a way as to avoid foreground actors moving quickly across the boundary between one lens-view and another. These limitations, though, forced directors to become creative in the way shots were constructed and so, there are many wonderful and inventive tracking shots as the camera gracefully glided along its tracks.

When How the West Was Won was first released on VHS and DVD, the presentation was marred by the butchery required to crop the frame for display on the old 4:3 TVs. This compromise also negated one of the film’s main viewing attraction, its wonderful cinematography, rendering the movie barely watchable. Thankfully, for the three disc Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray releases, the film has been painstakingly restored with almost all evidence of the vertical three-panel join lines, digitally eliminated. The stunning result is an image that is brilliantly saturated and a joy to watch. The restoration has also left just enough occasional evidence of the vertical panel lines to demonstrate the ingenuity of the directors in utilising aspects of sets, like doorways, poles and building uprights as well as natural features like trees, to obscure the boundary lines.

For me, the work of John Ford, who filmed the short ‘Civil War (1861-1865)’ segment, is the most evocative and beautifully constructed. In its three scenes, there is the battlefield at Shiloh which ebbs into night with wonderfully lit horizon shots that stretch over and brilliantly amplify the ultra widescreen image. The shots beautifully juxtapose a war scene with the liberal ornamentation of Cherry blossoms, giving the night the look of Christmas decoration. The battle’s aftermath also reveals the short but effective scene with two disheveled Generals, Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. The quiet rhythm of the scene moves into the next, when Zeb returns home. The pacing and atmosphere of these scenes is exquisite.

Dave Kehr of the New York Times, in his 2008 review, wrote: “The best reason for buying a Blu-ray player right now is Warner Home Video’s high-definition version of “How the West Was Won,” a film made 46 years ago in the highest-definition moving picture medium the world had seen: Cinerama”. He continued, “Not even the finest home theater installation will be able to reproduce the scale and resolution of the Cinerama experience, or anything close to it. But moving from standard-definition DVD to Blu-ray generates a shock analogous to what the audiences of 1962 must have felt when the curtains parted to reveal the panoramic screen.”

Films like How the West Was Won and Ford’s other western masterpiece, The Searchers (1956), have languished in VHS hell for too long, waiting for the advent of Blu-ray and a big wide home screen on which to showcase their brilliance. This result is a riveting revelation and richly recommended.

iRate:: 4 out of 5.

4Movie Tragics

Extras:
• Feature Commentary by: Filmmaker David Strohmaier; Director of Cinerama, Inc. John Sittig; Film Historian Rudy Behlmer; Music Historian Jon Burlingame; and Stuntman Loren James (This informative and interesting track appears on both the Blu-ray and Special Edition 3-disc DVD versions).
• Cinerama Adventure (This fascinating 93 minute documentary tells you everything you didn’t know you needed to know about the revolutionary Cinerama format and appears on both the Blu-ray and Special Edition 3-disc DVD versions).
• The 2-disc Blu-ray version also offers a Smilebox version of the film, which attempts to mimic the curved screen of the original Cinerama process. The effect is hard to describe so you’ll need to get it to see it.

You want More!
How the West Was Won – IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
How the West Was Won – Rotten Tomatoes
How the West Was Won – allmovie.com
How the West Was Won – Wikipedia

I’d love to hear your impressions of this film. Am I wrong to rate it so highly despite its shallow plot and dialogue? I’d also welcome your impressions and anecdotes, if you’ve been one of the lucky few to have seen this at a Cinerama cinema.

:: Please leave a comment ::

My Favourite Directors:

07 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by Zak de Courcy in Film

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

2001 A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, A Passage to India, Alfred Hitchcock, Barry Lyndon, Christopher Nolan, Coen Brothers, David Lean, Directors, Ethan and Joel Coen, Eyes Wide Shut, Film, Goodfellas, Great Expectations, Joel and Ethan Coen, Lawrence of Arabia, Marnie, Martin Scorsese, North by Northwest, Notorious, Psycho, Quentin Tarantino, Raging Bull, Rear Window, Rebecca, Robert De Niro, Stanley Kubrick, Taxi Driver, The Birds, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Departed, The King of Comedy, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo

Who are my favourite directors?
For me, the first is Stanley Kubrick… I’m in awe of his body of work. I’ve seen 11 of his 12 features and three of them I revisit every couple of years: Barry Lyndon (1975, a sublimely beautifully framed, clinical and evenly paced wonder); A Clockwork Orange (1971, a film to which I introduced an unsuspecting friend in 1991, at a 20th anniversary screening… He came out reeling); and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, a film that still intrigues and perplexes me). My least favourite was the last, Eyes Wide Shut (1999), but I’d still gladly sit through any of the 11 again.

Equal second: David Lean. His great films were outnumbered by his ordinary, but in 2 films: Lawrence of Arabia (1962, my all-time favourite film) and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), there are such memorable scenes that they elevate him near the top. Add to that, his wonderful adaptation of Charles Dickens novel, Great Expectations (1946) and his final film, A Passage to India (1984, which famed critic, Roger Ebert described as “one of the greatest screen adaptations I have ever seen”), and it’s easy to see why Lean is a favourite.

Equal second: Martin Scorsese. Taxi Driver (1976, I love the noir feel and the tension); Raging Bull (1980, a master class in film-making);
The King of Comedy (1983, a playful and very effective role reversal for Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis); Goodfellas (1990, the ultimate gangster film); The Departed (2006, don’t laugh… for me, Jack Nicholson’s chilling performance is brilliant).

Ask me in 10 years and I reckon one of them might be replaced, possibly by the Coen Brothers or Christopher Nolan or Quentin Tarantino. I’m really looking forward to what those guys come up with.

Now I feel guilty for leaving out Alfred Hitchcock. After all, he did give us The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 and his own 1956 Hollywood remake); Rebecca (1940); Notorious (1946); Rear Window (1954); Vertigo (1958); North by Northwest (1959, my fav. Hitch movie); Psycho (1960); The Birds (1963); and Marnie (1964). I think the problem with Hitch. for me, is that many of these great films have dated quite badly, with the possible exception of North by Northwest and Psycho and that has detracted from my enjoyment of his movies.

This has been totally self-indulgent and enjoyable.

Well, they’re my favourites, who are yours?

:: Please leave a comment ::

Zak From Downunder

~ Zak de Courcy's sometimes incendiary thoughts about politics, life and religion.

Tag Archives: Film

The Sunday Screening Session….. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

The Sunday Screening Session….. Iron Man 2 (2010)

The Sunday Screening Session….. Gallipoli (1981)

The Sunday Screening Session….. No Country For Old Men (2007)

The Sunday Screening Session….. Apocalypse Now (1979)

The Dean of Movie Critics, Roger Ebert is Dead:

The Sunday Screening Session….. Star Wars: Episode VI – Return Of The Jedi (1983)

The Sunday Screening Session….. Platoon (1986)

The Sunday Screening Session….. How the West Was Won (1962)

My Favourite Directors: