Tag: War

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Movie Review

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) Movie Review

All Quiet on the Western Front – ABC Film Challenge – World Cinema – Q – All Quiet on the Western Front – Movie Review

All Quiet

Director: Edward Berger

Writer: Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell (Screenplay)

Writer: Erich Maria Remarque (Novel)

Cast

Plot: A young German soldier’s terrifying experiences and distress on the western front during World War I.

Runtime: 2 Hours 28 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: All Quiet on the Western Front starts when Paul Baumer (Kammerer) signs up for the German army. Joined by two of his best friends Albert (Hilmer) and Franz (Klaus), the get sent to the front-line during World War I. Paul gets to see first hand the brutality of the war, as the condition push him to the extremes to survive.

Elsewhere, Matthias Erzberger (Bruhl) is trying to lead the peace committee to stop the slaughter of thousands. As the war looks to get to an end, Paul continues to see the horrors he has been through over the last few years.

Verdict on All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front is a brutal vision of war that uses the modern filmmaking techniques to show us the horrors of war. It focuses on two stories, the first being a young soldier that enlists with friends. He is on the front line seeing the horrors first hand. The second story sees a German officer trying to find a peace treaty between the two sides to stop the bloodshed.

In this harrowing war drama, we get to see how many men were killed in the name of battle. Seeing them fighting over metres of ground, dying and losing their closest friends. The battle sequences in the movie are disturbing, shocking and look completely realistic. A young cast give us amazing performances too, making this one of the best war movies ever made.

Where to Watch: All Quiet on the Western Front is available on Netflix.

Final Thoughts – All Quiet on the Western Front is a brutal, harrowing and disturbing movie.

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Movie Review

Battle for Moscow (2016) Movie Thoughts

Battle for Moscow (Panfilov’s 28) – ABC Film Challenge World Cinema – P – Panfilov’s 28 – Movie Review

Battle for Moscow

Director: Kim Druzhinin, Andrey Shalopa

Writer: Audrey Shalopa (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Andrey Shalopa
  • Kim Druzhinin
  • Dmitriy Girev
  • Yakov Kucherevskiy
  • Aleksandr Ustyugov

Plot: In November 1941, a remaining squad of Soviet soldiers must stop a column of Nazi German tanks.

Runtime: 2 Hours 1 Minute

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Battle for Moscow starts as we meet the small unit of Soviet soldiers. They must set up to defend themselves against Nazi tanks using their limited resources. This sees them setting up their own defences to best fight back against the numbers that are incoming.

Verdict on Battle for Moscow

Battle for Moscow is a war movie that shows the odds a small Soviet unit of soldiers faced in a battle during World War II. It shows us how they prepared for the battle and how they did it once they entered the battle.

While most of the movie is everything we have seen before, there is some heart involved with the passion project of the directors. However, it doesn’t end up being fresh enough and by the end of the movie, we know how most of it will unfold.

Final Thoughts – Battle for Moscow is a typical war story following a group of heroic actions.

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Movie Review

Legions (2019) Movie Review

Legion – Movie Review

Legions

Director: Dariusz Gajewski

Writer: Dariusz Gajeski, Michal Godzic, Tomasz Lysiak (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: In 1914, shortly after the start of World War I, the Polish Legions were formed to fight for a sole purpose; independence. Battling against vast empires, the young, quick-witted legionnaires endured the onslaught of world powers to secure Poland’s sovereignty. Follow Joseph, a deserter turned warrior, and Ola, an intelligence agent, through this tale of love and sacrifice in the face of great odds.

Runtime: 2 Hours 20 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Legions starts as World War I commences, and the Polish creates Legions. Jozek (Fabijanski) has deserted his unit before being forced to join the legionnaires. Meanwhile, Tadeusz (Gelner) and his fiancée Aleksandra (Wolanska) are fighting to remain together during the intense conflict.

As the war rages on the three find themselves getting involved in different battles. Some are to survive against the odds, others are to maintain their own safety. Everything they are fighting for is to keep their country free.

Verdict on Legions

Legions is a war movie following three people during the First World War. They find themselves dealing with different battles before coming together for the biggest battle of them all. This sees them going through different conflicts with deadly results.

Legions is another one of the many amazing stories of bravery being discovered from the World Wars. It does a good job of showing the different conflicts the characters are going through. This also puts together good battle sequels throughout the movie. It also gets the importance of the parts played to get the upper hand.

Final Thoughts – Legions is a strong war movie, giving us another look at an historic moment.

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Movie Review

Narvik: Hitler’s First Defeat (2022) Movie Review

Narvik: Hitler’s First Defeat – Movie Review

Narvik Hitler's First Defeat Movie Poster

Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg

Writer: Christopher Grøndahl (Screenplay)

Writer: Christopher Grøndahl, Erik Skjoldbjærg, Live Bonnevie, Sebastian Torngren Wartin (Story)

Cast

  • Kristine Hartgen
  • Henrik Mestad
  • Stig Henrik Hoff (The Thing)
  • Christoph Bach
  • Carl Martin Eggesbø

Plot: April 1940. The eyes of the world are on Narvik, a small town in northern Norway, source of the iron ore needed for Hiter’s war machinery. Through two months of fierce winter warfare, Hitler is dealt his first defeat.

Runtime: 1 Hour 48 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Narvik: Hitler’s First Defeat starts when the small Norwegian town of Narvik comes under attack by the Germans. They take control of the town, wanting the locals to help with the iron ore operation to help in the war. Ingrid Tofte (Hartgen)  is an interpreter between the Mayor and the Germans.

As the Norwegians look for a way out of the town, wanting to keep their civilians safe. They find themselves needing to operate in secret, despite the Germans not using an aggressive approach yet. However, knowing the English are coming, they want to get out of the conflict before innocent lives are taken, leading to their own operation to bring down the Germans.

Verdict on Narvik: Hitler’s First Defeat

Narvik: Hitler’s First Defeat is a war drama showing the first time Hitler’s Nazis last a battle in World War II. His men came up against a determined Norwegian town and army that wouldn’t give up a war-defining set of equipment without a fight. Showing their bravery, they put in to go around in secret to save their loved ones.

This shows the impossible position Ingrid and her fellow civilians were trapped in the middle of the conflict. The families feared for their lives during the combat. While the soldiers had to wait for their chance to take back their city. This does fall into another tragic story from the war, where people lost their lives. In the combat sequences, we see pure terror from being involved in the battles. Seeing their own town attacked and not knowing what will come next.

Where to Watch: Narvik: Hitler’s First Defeat is available on Netflix Now.

Final Thoughts – Narvik: Hitler’s First Defeat is a hard-hitting war movie.

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Movie Review

Wolves of War (2022) Movie Review

Wolves of War – Movie Review

Wolves of War

Director: Giles Alderson

Writer: Toby Kearton, Samuel Christopher Ellis, Ben Mole (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: At the end of WWII, a tough British officer leads a band of Allied commandos into enemy territory in Bavaria on one last impossible mission to extract an American held hostage by the Nazis.

Runtime: 1 Hour 27 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Wolves of War starts as Captain Norwood (Willis) leads a group of soldiers, Jack (Westwick), and Deegan (Gittins) behind enemy lines. The mission is to locate a missing American Professor Hopper (Graves) who has been captured by the Nazis.

As the English start their mission, they find themselves coming up against the larger army, seeing them overcome the odds to save the scientist. They must still find a way out of the country, the next challenge the soldiers must face.

Verdict on Wolves of War

Characters

Jack Wallace is a soldier that is in the war to make sure his daughter has a future. He wants to help the families that might be in trouble, which sees him clash with orders to do the right thing. His decisions help Norwood complete the missions.

Captain Norwood is the man running the missions, he is left to make the difficult decisions along the way. He looks to do the right thing to save the people involved and keep his men safe.

Deegan is the sniper in the team. He keeps his distance from close combat because he is the best shot in the team. This is similar to most of the supporting cast, not many get used to moving forward with anything going on.

Performances

Ed Westwick does well in the leading role of the film. He gives his character the heart of anyone involved in the movie. Matt Willis in his first acting role does well keeping his character by the rulebook. The supporting cast does well in the film too, without anyone standout.

Story

The story follows a small group of British soldiers needing to go behind enemy lines for a top-secret mission. This will see them needing to solve the problems they are facing to make this happen.

When it comes to war missions, we are used to seeing a small number needing to overcome a large number to complete the mission. We have seen many stories like this before, which get to tell heroic stories that many people never heard about. This does tell an important story, but it never manages to get as intense as it should be.

Themes

Wolves of War is an action war movie that sees a small unit looking to complete an operation. The movie will use small country homes for locations, which never feels like it is dangerous for anyone involved. The gun fights feel tame for what they were, with some bad reactions to being shot along the way.

Where to Watch: Signature Entertainment presents Wolves of War on Digital Platforms on 12th September and DVD on 19th September

Final Thoughts – Wolves of War is an easy-to-watch war movie, that doesn’t feel that intense.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – World Cinema – F – The Fortress (2017) Movie Review

Director: Dong-hyuk Hwang

Writer: Dong-hyuk Hwang (Screenplay) Hoon Kim (Novel)

Starring: Lee Byung-Hun, Kim Yoon-seok, Park Hae-il, Soo Go, Hee-soon Park, Woo-jin Jo

Plot: In 1636, King Injo hides in the mountains to avoid being part of the Qing dynasty.


Tagline – A nation trapped in the longest winter

Runtime: 2 Hours 20 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Fortress starts as the Qing dynasty looks to move into Korea, forcing King Injo (Hae-il) into hiding in his mountain fortress. Choi Myung-gil (Byung-Hun) believes they should negotiate with the Dynasty to ensure the safety of their own people, while Kim Sang-heon (Yoon-seok) is preparing for the war.

With the odds stacked against them and the weather conditions only looking to make things worse, the Korean royalty is left to face the difficult decision, fight and face defeat or surround to new ruling, one that would give them a future.

Thoughts on The Fortress

Thoughts – The Fortress is one of those epically big movies, that will show the battle between two countries, one that could see countless bloodshed, or could see the world come together unlike before. We are following the Korean side of the battle, showing the planning for fight and the thinking to see the people have a future, which offers up a chance to see the bigger picture for people who just want to live in peace. We have strong performances through the film, which will see each one gets their big moments throughout the film to shine. The locations used to show us the strategic advantage the Korean would have had with the battle, despite the number problems they were facing. This is an important historical drama that highlights just another one of the many different conflicts the world once faced.

Final Thoughts – The Fortress Epic scale war movie showing us the importance of the history we have been through.

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Movie Review

The Water Diviner (2014) Movie Review

Director: Russell Crowe

Writer: Andrew Knight, Andrew Anastasios (Screenplay)

Starring: Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Ylimaz Erdogan, Cem Yilmaz, Jai Courtney, Dylan Jett Georgiades, Steve Castoni, Isabel Lucas

Plot: An Australian man travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to try and locate his three missing sons.


Tagline – To honour a promise. To find his sons. To make his peace.

Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict:

Story: The Water Diviner starts with the end of the battle for Gallipoli where the Turkish soldier won, 4-years later Australian Connor (Crowe) has still not learned the fate of the three children who fought in the battle believed to have died, but his wife still waits for them, before killing herself in grief. Connor gives up his whole life to travel to Turkey in search of his children to fulfil the final wish of his wife.

Once in Turkey, Connor finds only paperwork holding him back from finding his boys, turning to a local Ayshe (Kurylenko) who has her own hatred to anybody who came from the British Empire, but the unlikely union helps him go on the moment he needs to get complete closure in his life with the help of two sides that fought there, Major Hasan (Erdogan) and LT Colonel Hughes (Courtney).

Thoughts on The Water Diviner

Characters – Connor is a father of three from Australia, he has spent his time in his homeland discovering water in the deserts and after his three children are believed to have died in the battle of Gallipoli, he has seen his wife grieve slowly and painfully. He decides to travel to Turkey in search of his son’s remains where he gets to see and discover the truth about what happened in the battle. Ayshe is a local women in Turkey, she has seen her husband die in the war, but hasn’t told her son, she doesn’t like anyone from the British side of the war, only to learn it might be her own culture holding her life back after her own tragedy. Major Hasan led the enemy into battle, he was involved in countless deaths and now is helping identify the dead, he sees Connor’s story and will help him learn about the truth.

Performances – Russell Crowe is brilliant here both on front and behind the camera, making us see the pain the war bought to a man that never went to war, but saw his sons die there, as well as the relief of learning the truth. Olga Kurylenko is the best she has been before, showing she has the talent to achieve much more in her career. Yilmaz Erdogan might be the only unknown for the casual fan and he shines through the film too.

Story – The story here follows one man that travels across the world to learn what happened to his sons in the battle of Gallipoli in an attempt to get closure in his life, what he discovers only brings him new hope in the world, despite being trapped in a war torn country. This is based on a true story and shows just how much damage the battle did to one man’s family and multiply countries that lost men in the war. What will make this incredible story standout is the determination that Connor showed to learn the truth and just what it meant to him after losing his wife to grief. We can always talk about the heroes of war, but we will also struggle to face the truth that not everybody came back and the ones who lost people will be forever changed. This story shows us that despite being on opposite sides, they are all humans and death will leave a scar on the people left behind no matter what.

War – The film does focus more on the consequences of war, showing us just how the lives have been changed and just because it is over, doesn’t it is over for the people who lost loved ones.

Settings – The film does create beautiful settings as well as showing us the battlefields years after the war, this shows us that memories will always be left on this field.


Scene of the Movie – Cricket.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The war scenes are safe scenes, not edgy for the truth about what happened.

Final Thoughts – This is an incredible story of one man desire to learn about his children, showing that even when the war is over, the truth could be different to what you expect.

Overall: Brilliant from Crowe.

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ABC Film Challenge

ABC Film Challenge – World Cinema – G – Girls of the Sun (2018) Recommendation

This is just a recommendation, this is a shocking look at the brutality the women faced in Kurdish war.

Director: Eva Husson

Writer: Eva Husson, Jacques Akchoti (Screenplay)

Starring: Golshifteh Farahani, Emmanuelle Bercot, Zubeyde Bulut, Sinema Alievi, Mari Semidovi, Roza Mirzoiani

Plot: A Kurdish female battalion prepares to take back their town from extremists.


Tagline – Inspired by the True Story of the Female Firefighters Who Dared to Take On ISIS

Runtime: 1 Hour 55 Minutes

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Action – J – Jarhead Law of Return (2019) Movie Thoughts

Director: Don Michael Paul

Writer: Don Michael Paul (Screenplay)

Starring: Amaury Nolasco, Devon Sawa, Jeff Pierre, Ben Cross, Amos Taman, Yael Eitan, Robert Patrick

Plot: Ronan, a fighter pilot and Israeli by Law of Return, is shot down and captured in Syria after a mission. As he’s a US senator’s son, a joint Israeli US squad’s sent in to rescue Ronan within 36 hours.

Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Jarhead: Law of Return starts when fighter pilot Ronan (Sawa) is shot down in Syria, the US know the problem with him being captured because he is the son of the US Senator Jackson (Patrick), the US look to send in GySgt Torres (Nolasco) and his squad, joined by a specialist Israeli squad to go behind enemy lines to rescue Ronan.

What we see is the unit working together to plan a rescue, while Ronan must use his training to keep his true identity secret from the world.

Thoughts on Jarhead: Law of Return

Final Thoughts – How the Jarhead movies have turned into some loosely connected franchise is beyond me, each one brings a brand new story, this time it mixes Behind Enemy Lines with the Jarhead soldiers, seeing a unit needing to rescue a captured pilot. This doesn’t bring anything new to the military movies, it does everything it needs to, to be watchable, without giving us any truly engageable characters. The performances in the film are fine without anyone looking out of place, with the squad showing strong chemistry together, while most of the action is plenty of flying bullets without being anything but a lot of shaky cam to deal with the movements. This isn’t going to go down as one that will be remembered long after seeing and it doesn’t come close to any of the previous ‘save a soldier’ style movies.