Reviews

This has been my favourite film since I was a teenager. It is flawlessly acted by the cast. I do not agree with the previous reviewer that Peter Firth's performance was at all over-the-top. I can see why somebody might make that accusation regarding Richard Burton's performance, although personally I do not agree with that view, but definitely not Firth's performance. It is also unfortunate that several of the reviews, including the previous one, focus too much on the nudity in this film. I have never understood why graphic violence is considered fine, yet nudity is not allowed. The final scene with the horses in the barn is clearly faked, so I did not find it shocking at all.

This might have been a good film if they had not cast middle-aged actors, which completely destroys any attempt at realism in the film. The average age of a soldier during World War II was only 26, and the majority were a lot younger than that, yet in this film they cast the middle-aged John Mills, the middle-aged Harry Andrews and the middle-aged Anthony Quayle as soldiers during the North African Campaign. Sebastian Haffner is correct regarding Hitler's role in decolonisation. He forced Churchill to sign the Atlantic Charter, which effectively dismantled the European colonial empires. This film would be much better as a remake with younger actors.

Robert Mitchum gives a fine performance as the drunken sheriff and he is surprisingly funny at times. Sadly the film itself is not anywhere near as good. Wayne was far too old to play a gunfighter with a lightning fast draw. The studio sets are very unrealistic and the story is inferior to "Rio Bravo" in every way. This was so old-fashioned for a western released in 1967, at times it feels more like a film from the 1940s. Arthur Hunnicutt at least does not overact as much as Walter Brennan did in the earlier version.

Directed by the 70-year-old Howard Hawks, starring the 60-year-old John Wayne and the 50-year-old Robert Mitchum, this is an old man's western all round.

Rock was fine, but sadly Selznick ruined what might have been a truly great epic by casting his overage wife as the love interest. Jones was a poor actress and she was not at all believable playing a British nurse. She should have at least made a slight attempt at an accent. The film goes on for far too long and was too overblown for a trifling love story.

It is no surprise that Jones did very little after this film had flopped at the box office and received such terrible reviews. Rock would soon recover however as he moved into comedies.

The gigantic battle scenes are impressive, but too brief. Sadly they are not enough to save this flop.

This is a thousand times better than the first film. The age gap between Fred Macmaurray and Nacy Olson no longer matters as they are now married and no longer just dating. Tommy Kirk is fantastic as Biff Hawk, I'm suprised he did not get above the title billing. It does seem strange that the actor playing Humphrey Hacker was a decade older than Kirk. What a shame this was not filmed in colour, I can't imagine watching this film in the original black and white.

I was expecting this film to be great but instead it was slow, plodding, dull and the plot was mostly uninteresting. Newman was not at all believable in a role that should have been played by Charles Bronson. There are too many plot holes, like why Russell leaves the Mexican outlaw alive when he should have killed him and taken his guns. Richard Boone overacted as usual and his stupid fake white teeth look ridiculous. Fredric March is the only good thing about the film.

Stewart Granger was incredible as the French-Canadian main character, although it was surprising at first to hear him using an accent rather than his famous usual voice. Wendell Corey was sometime criticized as wooden or dull, but that was entirely right for the character of the Mountie who is sent to arrest Granger. The film is clearky largely shot on location rather than in the studio. Obviously the casting of Cyd Charisse as a native American would never have been allowed today, but this film was made in 1951.

This TV-like film loses interest before the final third. Edward Furlong was a poor actor, and he just looks bored most of the time. A far better teenage actor like Gabriel Damon would have brought much more to the part. The special effects are unsurprisingly very dated due to the early use of CGI. It is very apparent from watching the film that only Furlong was really a teenager, as the other students at the school are obviously in their twenties.

Leif Garrett was incredible in this film, just as he was in "Kid Vengeance" and "Peter Lundy & the Medicine Hat Stallion". Lee Van Cleef, in his final western, is great as both brothers. Sadly Richard Boone looked terrible and hardly appeared in the film. It's a shame they did not film more westerns in Israel.

The raid was a complete failure. It was also a war crime.

I wonder what people would have said if there had been a film glorifying the Warrington bombings by the IRA?

Watchable but very dated. Bader was nothing like the jovial character portrayed in the film. He made several serious mistakes including backing the wrong strategy for the Battle of Britain, and trying to have Dowding and Park fired.

It's a shame Richard Burton pulled out in order to star in "Alexander the Great" as Bader was only a young man, not middle-aged like Kenneth More.

A dated, boring film glorifying a war crime. Bismarck had surrendered as Tommy Byers admitted, yet the Royal Navy continued firing until Bismarck's crew scuttled the ship. The British then pretended there were reports of a U-Boat so they could justify their refusal to rescue survivors.

The UK should never have started a war it could not win by itself. Backing the Soviet invasion of fascist Poland in 1939 was fatal for Britain's long-term intetests.

The began and ended well, but lost a great deal of interest in the middle. The film looks great in rich 1940s Technicolor but has the usual Hispanic stereotypes.

The film was powerful in its time, but James Dean looked far too old to be a teenager even with the heavy make up. They should have cast a younger actor like Bobby Driscoll. Only Sal Mineo looked the right age to be at the school. It was too improbable that everything happened in the space of 24 hours, it would have been more believable if the film had been set over the period of several days. Jim Backus gave the best performance as Dean's father.

The CGI is so fake, even by the standards of its time. No wonder this film was regarded as a major flop. Jeremy Sumpter looked good but the rest of the film was so artificial. The film also goes on for too long. Jason Isaacs could never act at all and he completely ruins the film with his hammy overacting. The 1953 Disney animated classic is a million times better than this rubbish.

By 1975 Mitchum was far too old and fat to play Philip Marlowe. The film is dreary and boring, and eliminating the Ann character makes it too obvious who "Velma" is. The 1944 classic with Dick Powell is much better in every way.

Although not as fun as either "God's Gun" or "Peter Lundy", Leif Garrett was brilliant in this. It's funny how another reviewer wrote that Van Cleef stole scenes, obviously as the star he was given all of the best lines and scenes. However Van Cleef and Jim Brown were clearly playing second fiddle to Leif in this. Sadly after this Van Cleef did not have any more notable roles, apart from a small part in "Escape from New York".

They should have tried to address the huge age gap between John and Bud Elder. John Wayne was clearly far too old to play one of the brothers, and Dean Martin was obviously of Italian descent and looked nothing like the others. Martin was a medicore actor and played his part for laughs, when a more serious performance was required. The actor playing Bud was terrible, it's such a shame they did not cast Tommy Kirk as originally intended. Sadly Earl Holliman made little impression as the third brother.

A very boring and dated film with a ludicrous story and all of the actors too old to play mercenaries. Faded former star Richard Burton was clearly at the end of his career, and too unfit to play a soldier. The film broke the ban of filming in apartheid South Africa, and therefore helped enable the racist apartheid regime to continue. The racist portrayal of black Africans and the homophobic stereotypes make this film unwatchable today.

Most of the actors were clearly far too old. Lee Marvin looked at least 50, yet his character was only 30. The acting is very bad and the film is at least an hour too long. Why did they have to cast middle-aged actors as World War II soldiers? The mission is pointless as the western Allies would have just bombed the building from the air.

The best of the "Beach Party" films, mainly due to the incredible performance by Tommy Kirk. He should have been a major star after leaving Disney in 1963, what a shame he was fired from "The Sons of Katie Elder". This film is delightful and hilarious. Sadly these films would only remain popular for a few years due to the changes in society due to the Vietnam War, race riots, counterculture and increasingly urban violence.

Wayne looked old and ill, and clearly had great difficulty breathing in the high altitude on only one lung. Casting Katharine Hepburn was a mistake as she was obviously about the same age as her screen father. Wayne was right, they should have cast a young actress like Mary Tyler Moore. The film is basically just a remake of the first film with a bit of "The African Queen" thrown in.

Far better than the first film, this is the greatest sequel in history. Gabriel Damon was incredible as Hob, I'm amazed he didn't have a much larger career in Hollywood. His delivery of the lines and facial expressions are impeccable. The film is much less dated than the first film. The 2014 remake is also better than the original.

This was my favourite film as a child. Sean Marshall was brilliant as Pete, it is surprising that he did not appear in more films afterwards, although he still acted on television. Mickey Rooney and Red Buttons are hilarious in their roles, and Jim Backus gives a delightful extended cameo as the Mayor. Helen Reddy could not act but was great with the singing. Jim Dale completely stole every scene he appeared in as the villain Dr Terminus. He could very easily have overplayed his part, yet he captured the character perfectly.