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Homefront (1991)
Not as Great as You Remember it
After some internet surfing, I found the "Homefront" series on DVD at ioffer.com. Before anyone gets excited, the DVD set I received was burned by an amateur from home video tapes recorded off of their TV 15 years ago. The resolution and quality are poor. The images look like you would expect old re-recorded video to look. Although the commercials were edited out, the ending credits of each episode still have voice-over announcements for the segway into the ABC news program "Nightline", complete with the top news headlines from the early 1990's. Even with the poor image quality, the shows were watch-able and the sound quality was fine.
To this show's credit, the casting was nearly perfect. Everyone was believable and really looked the part. Their acting was also above average. The role of Jeff Metcalf is played particularly well by Kyle Chandler (most recently seen in the 2005 remake of King Kong). The period costumes were very authentic as were the sets, especially the 1940s kitchens with vintage appliances and décor. The direction was also creative and different for a TV show at that time. For example, conversations between characters were sometimes inter-cut with conversations about the same subject between other characters in different scenes. The dialog of the different conversations was kept fluid despite cutting back and fourth between the different characters and locations. That takes good direction and editing and they made it work in this case.
As I started watching this series again I suddenly remembered why I lost interest in it 15 years ago. Despite all the ingredients for a fine show, the plots and story lines are disappointing and confusing right from the start. For one thing, the name of the show itself is totally misleading. When WWII ended in 1945, there was no more fighting so obviously there was no longer a "homefront" either. Curiously, the first episode of the show "Homefront" begins in 1945 after the war had ended. That's like shooting the first episode of "Gilligan's Island" showing the castaways being rescued. The whole premise of the show's namesake is completely lost. I still held on to hope with the possibility of the rest of the series being a flashback but no, the entire show takes place from 1946 through 1948. Additionally, this series fails miserably in any attempt to accurately portray any historical events of the late 1940's. By the third episode, it becomes obvious that this series was nothing more than a thinly veiled vehicle for an ultra left-wing political agenda. The show is set in River Run Ohio, near Toledo. However, the show's ongoing racism theme makes it look more like Jackson Mississippi than Ohio. Part of the ensemble cast are Dick Williams, Hattie Winston and Sterling Macer Jr. who portray the Davis family. Much of the series shows the Davis family being discriminated against by the evil "whites" to the point of being ridiculous and totally absurd if not laughable. The racism card has been played and over played by Hollywood now for over 40 years. We get it. We're also tired of having our noses rubbed in it on a daily basis. The subject of racism is also unpopular with viewers and it is the kiss of death for any show, as it was for "Homefront". The acting talents of Williams, Winston and Macer were wasted in their roles as the stereotypical "frightened / angry black family". The wildly exaggerated racism in this series makes it look like everyone in Ohio was a KKK member or something. The racism issue could have been addressed in this show in a single episode with a simple punch in the nose or fist-fight in which a bigot gets a well deserved thrashing, and leave it at that. Devoting a major portion of the series to the racism thing gets really old really quick and its just plain stupid.
In yet another ridiculous plot line, the big boss of a local factory (Ken Jenkins) is portrayed as an Ebenezer Scrooge like character who is against pensions and raises and is unconcerned about acid dripping on his employees. The workers revolt and take over the factory in a blatant pro-communist propaganda message to the viewer.
Personally, I think this series had great potential. The writers could have easily placed the timeline in 1941 1945 as the title suggests and shown the hardships of food and gas rationing and working 14 hour days at war factories. Of course the loss of brothers, sons and husbands fighting overseas would have also added drama. The situation was also perfect for writing in special guest stars as military or USO personnel passing through their town during training or en-route to Europe or the Pacific. The possibilities for good story lines and plots are endless. But no, the writers of Homefront (David Assael and James Grissom) completely ignored any relevant or interesting plots. Instead, they totally missed the point and strayed into a bizarre and irrelevant obsession with racism and left-wing politics. It would be unfair to the actors to condemn the entire series but the plots and situations in which they were placed are total garbage.
The Green Berets (1968)
The Green Berets = Classic Action, no more, no less
The liberal reviewers of "The Green Berets" need to free their minds from all of their 40 year-old irrational hate. "The Green Berets" is a motion picture film, nothing more. Anyone who sees it has the right to exercise their opinion and they are entitled to like or dislike this or any other film. However, it is interesting how left-wing reviewers of this film will go to such great lengths to mock and ridicule it.
Liberals are quick to point out that John Wayne was not in WWII which is somehow supposed to make him a bad guy because he portrayed soldiers in the movies. Really? Let's look at the reviews of Jane Fonda's films. Oops!, it looks like Jane has been portraying decent American citizens for years after she gave hugs & kisses to the Vietcong in Hanoi after they had killed Americans. "The Green Berets" is routinely viewed under a microscope with hyper-critical eyes looking for the slightest continuity error to exploit and exaggerate. It's interesting that "The Green Berets" and "The Hellfighters" were two films made back-to-back the same year (1968) with a nearly identical cast including John Wayne, Bruce Cabbot and Jim Hutton. Both films are action yarns with the only real difference being the enemy. In "The Green Berets" they fight the Vietcong. In "The Hellfighters" they fight oil fires. Take a look at the reviews left for "The Hellfighters". Most render praise for the acting, story and cast, noting that it is a worthwhile albeit 40 year-old action film. Considerably different from the vicious and offensive reviews given for "The Green Berets" to say the least. Is it likely that an ensemble cast used in both films, shot only months apart, gave bitterly disappointing and ridiculous performances in "The Green Berets" but then turned out memorable, well portrayed and entertaining performances in "The Hellfighters"? I think it's obvious that the people who bash "The Green Berets" have a problem with their political agenda, not the film or its players. Despite all of the John Wayne and America bashing infiltrated into the reviews for "The Green Berets", one fact still remains; fighting communism was a just and noble undertaking and the film conveys this. If any political system can be measured in a degree of evil, communism is at the top of the list. Roughly 4 times as many human lives have been senselessly murdered in the name of communism over those murdered by the Nazis during WWII. If it's okay with the liberals for a war film to show the U.S. fighting Nazis but it's not okay to show them fighting communists, their logic is seriously backward. In the case of the war in Vietnam, the people who bash "The Green Berets" should do a little more homework. The U.S. was obligated under treaty to help Vietnam fight a communist uprising. That's why we were there. If the U.S. had broken our treaty agreement and abandoned Vietnam, the same people who bash the U.S. for fighting the war today would be bashing the U.S. for leaving the Vietnamese high and dry. Communism in southeast Asia was a very real political, economic and military threat. The desire to keep the south free from unwanted communist rule and to keep communism at bay in Southeast Asia in general was a reasonable goal for the U.S. By the time American advisors started to arrive in Vietnam, the country had already obtained their independence from France so the U.S. certainly wasn't fighting for France or colonialism. I was alive during the Vietnam War and I remember the mood of the U.S at the time very clearly. Most people supported our troops. Unfortunately, 40 years later, the only people who are remembered are the war protesters which gives the impression that they were the majority. "The Green Berets" did not go against the mood of the country, it was right in line with the majority. Don't believe it? Take a look at the box office business this film did in 1968. It wasn't a blockbuster but it did very well. Also, the theme song "Ballad of the Green Berets" by Barry Saddler went to number one on the Billboard charts. The paperback book "The Green Berets" on which the film was loosely based was a nation wide best seller for months. Does anyone believe any of this success could have been achieved with a population who unanimously opposed the U.S. presents in Vietnam? Come on now, who are you trying to fool? In recent years it seems film makers feel compelled to portray American soldiers in Vietnam as murders, thieves, rapists, insane or bumbling inept leaders. In the film "Platoon", every bad thing that ever happened in Vietnam was condensed into the account of a single Army unit. People raved about how great a film it was. The unbelieveability of "Platoon" was like attributing every criminal act ever committed by an entire mafia family to one single character. It's just absurd and totally ridiculous. And some people call "The Green Berets" unbelievable!? Clearly, a film like "Platoon" was made for the single purpose of making American soldiers look bad. Pure anti-American hate propaganda. The very best thing about "The Green Berets" is its success. This film has continued to sell well in both video and DVD since the mid 1980's. It sells more home use copies than "Platoon" and "Full Metal Jacket" combined. People like this film and that's all that matters but the liberals just can't stand it.