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Reviews
Top Gun (1986)
No surprises here
Another predictable formulaic opus designed to appeal to macho "whannabees". A completely unrealistic picture of Naval Aviation. While the flying scenes were compelling they were strictly Hoolywoods idea of military flying also unrealistic. The romance between Cruise and McGillis is so predictable it's painful to watch. The one high point is the performance of a very young Meg Ryan. Ryan is fresh and exciting in her small role and is the only one worth watching. Nothing new here except that it cost the life of Art School one of the worlds foremost aerobatic pilots, far to high of price for a movie much less the same old thing.
Odyssey 5: Pilot (2002)
Odyssey 5 is a ten, Showtime is a zero.
Finally an intelligent well written excellent SciFi program, the best I've ever seen and what does Show Time do, ax it. Odyssey 5 had a very strong cast doing equally strong work, they deserved better.
Peter Weller was outstanding and completely believable as was almost all the cast. The one weak link was "Neil" as a 21 year old astronaut but after a few episodes Christopher Gorhams excellent portrayal made you forget the incongruity of such a character.
Each episode added to the suspense and rewarded you for watching without spoon-feeding the plot away.
I forget who said it but it won't be the lawyers who are shot come the revolution it will be the TV programmers.
Over There (2005)
Accurate in spirit if not technically perfect.
I have no idea how technically accurate "Over There" is. As a soldier who rose in the ranks from "E nothing" to flag rank I can tell you I've never seen a truly technically accurate portrayal of war from Hollywood. I've been impressed with "Saving Pvt Ryan" and "Platoon" but even with their bevy of advisor's still got things wrong. To obsess over the type of helicopters used for medevac missions is kind of silly, old Hueys are easy to come by but unless your the military or a select few Blackhawks are hard to come by. What is accurate or at least close is the spirit that "Over There" portrays. The boredom, pointless orders for political reasons and the moments of abject terror are all pretty close to what goes on. Ssgt "Scream" is the quintessential NCO getting the job done and keeping his men alive. As far as the rest of the characters I've known them all, the philosopher, the malcontent, the super trooper you'll find them in any Infantry unit. I like the fact they portrays wounds very graphically. Too many people think being wounded is a minor event, get shot go to the aid station and back to the unit, that's not the way it is folks. "Over There is well acted and deserves a second season. With all the garbage on TV such as the repetitive and very boring "Nip Tuck" at least they can do is give OT a second chance.
Bat*21 (1988)
Two percent fact 98% distortion.
Here is a movie that had they stuck to the actual fact s would have
been so exciting and completely engrossing. Instead they used two great
actors and got a piece of schlock not worthy of the film its printed
on. The only parts that were close to accurate were the actual shoot
down and the loss of the H-3 crew (who were not returned until 1995?
for burial at Arlington). The Danny Glover character was a back seater
in a OV-10 Bronco and was shot down the day after Hambleton and needed
rescue too.
Subsequently after 2 plus weeks several downed aircraft a Navy SEAL and
SVN Navy PO stole a peasants fishing skiff paddled up river passing
enemy machine gun nest and had a running gun battle on the way back.
The SEAL was given the MEDAL OF HONOR and the PO the USN Navy Cross the
only NC given to a South Vietnamese sailor ever.
There's a book by the same name as the movie written by a Air Force vet
and current airline captain that is very good and I'd recommend it
highly.
Aa sad postscript when Hambelton was asked how he could act as
technical adviser on a movie that dishonored so many men who died
trying to save him he replied "When they offer you that kind of money
you can't turn it down". Get the book, you won't regret it and you'll
read about real heroes.
Here's a movie that if remade true to actual events would full theaters
with everyone on the edge of their seats. One final tid bit he was only
2 miles behind the "lines".
Bat*21 (1988)
Two percent fact 98% distortion.
Here is a movie that had they stuck to the actual fact s would have
been so exciting and completely engrossing. Instead they used two great
actors and got a piece of schlock not worthy of the film its printed
on. The only parts that were close to accurate were the actual shoot
down and the loss of the H-3 crew (who were not returned until 1995?
for burial at Arlington). The Danny Glover character was a back seater
in a OV-10 Bronco and was shot down the day after Hambleton and needed
rescue too.
Subsequently after 2 plus weeks several downed aircraft a Navy SEAL and
SVN Navy PO stole a peasants fishing skiff paddled up river passing
enemy machine gun nest and had a running gun battle on the way back.
The SEAL was given the MEDAL OF HONOR and the PO the USN Navy Cross the
only NC given to a South Vietnamese sailor ever.
There's a book by the same name as the movie written by a Air Force vet
and current airline captain that is very good and I'd recommend it
highly.
Aa sad postscript when Hambelton was asked how he could act as
technical adviser on a movie that dishonored so many men who died
trying to save him he replied "When they offer you that kind of money
you can't turn it down". Get the book, you won't regret it and you'll
read about real heroes.
Here's a movie that if remade true to actual events would full theaters
with everyone on the edge of their seats. One final tid bit he was only
2 miles behind the "lines".