Reviews

While the brainwashed elite criticize this story of how Communism threatened the security of America in the 1950s, any unbiased viewer will understand a piece of history that has since been revised.

This movie was made while the liberal elite defended their liberalism by making a straw man of Senator McCarthy. John Wayne understood the real threat of Communism and their spies in America. Making this movie was unpopular then, nevertheless now; Wayne was a brave patriot who should be commended for doing the principled thing, however unpopular.

The liberal politicians and the media has waged war on the fight against communism for 40 years. That repeated mantra of group thinking has obscured the real attitudes of that era. This movie is valuable for the independent minded; it shows a history and culture that Hollywood wants to deny and ignore in the same way the Klan wants to deny and ignore the Holocaust.

It is not Wayne's best film. It is probably the least seen. However, a student of history or a student of Wayne's character should view the movie.

Easily the best new show and the one everyone should watch. The benefit of using advisors who have been around the actual white house is demonstrated week-after-week, from the cramped and sloppy clutter of the media room to the focus upon polls and the air of self-importance and self-righteousness.

The show is clearly an effort to help get Gore elected, just as "The American President" was intended to help Clinton get re-elected, showing Clinton's womanizing as endearing and creating very likable Bill and Chelsea images.

West Wing does the same for the current administration. They take a fact which shames the current administration (such as campaign finance) and create a fiction which is not only understandable but also would make the Clinton administration heroic - if it were true.

West Wing also does more for ensemble TV than any show since Hill Street Blues. They have avoided the mistake of ER in creating a single central character. The scripts are not written to a 6th grade level. The witty dialog makes me wonder if the writers from Sports Night have defected.

Putting Rob Lowe in as a Democrat party hack (who gets into trouble with illicit sex) is a marvelous casting homage to Mr. Lowe's real conduct with an underage girl in Atlanta during the Democratic convention.

My only real criticism to the makers of the show is their simplistic view of conservatives and the religious right. It would be a better more complex show if these important players were shown to be more than cartoons.

This was a disappointment. There was far less imagination after a decade to plan than Lucas demonstrated in the few years between the first three movies.

Too much was recycled. A final fight sequence which happens (again) of a set of narrow scaffolds surrounded by power plants and deep wells. A triumphant march at the end where the warriors are rewarded.

There was too much wasted effort and not enough of the elements that work (such as the Jedi Council). I especially disliked the way the identity of the emperor was heavily telegraphed (foreshadowing with a brick).

I had no complaint with the special effects, the acting, the casting, or any of the rest. My problem is with Lucas. With a decade to plan, there should have been fresh ideas. Maybe he is saving them for the next two movies.