Reviews

In Mexico 1866, ex-Confederate officer and southern gentleman Ben Trane meets Joe Erin, a ruthless outlaw whose winning smile could be the last you'll ever see. After a close brush with Federal troops and a near-fatal first encounter with Erin's gang, Trane manages to get them hired as mercenaries for the Emperor Maximilian. Rebel factions led by General Ramirez have amassed a force of peasants to be reckoned with. Expressing deep concern for the safety of Countess Duvarre, the amiable Marquis Labordere briefs Trane and Erin's men they will be escorting the lady in a regal coach to the port city of Vera Cruz. Her coach could be attacked by Rebels. Trane is suspicious that something else besides the safety of the alluring countess is at stake.

The two stars playing poles-apart characters is exactly what starts the fireworks. The intriguing plot, the double-crossing, sleazy, elegant, back-stabbing, playing-the-angles crew, all working amidst a major rebellion keeps you on your toes. Beautifully filmed western with a great climax!

I love a suspense thriller that doesn't run much beyond 90 minutes unless it encompasses a large ensemble of characters and it's plot contains complexities and needs time to settle each one. I was in a positive frame of mind as I watched the first 30 minutes.

The central character, a young attractive radiologist is asked by a co-worker if she forgot something...he just saw her leave the building, and she knows that's not true. Outside, she sees an image of herself driving. Later she is involved in a head-on car accident. As she recovers in the hospital and we see repeated images of the crash, not once does she ask about the other driver/passengers. What an amazing lack of concern considering it was her fault for staring in her rear-view mirror. As mirrors break in several locations including her father's office restroom, her apartment, her boyfriend's apartment, a friend's apartment, and initially, her dad's apartment!!!! The clock is ticking on this 90 minute film. As we are two thirds of the way through, I pause it and think, 'they'd better come up with some revelation or explanation soon, because this'll be over in less than a half-hour.' My concern proved regrettably true. Yes, as we are beaten over the head with the exact double-taking-us-over plot, it ends abruptly and miserably. The classy camera-work, a petite and attractive heroine to care about and some fine co-stars and suspense were the positive ingredients that resulted in this bagful of broken mirrors. If there was a book, I will not read it because the issue is the film.

Very sorry to see so much acting talent lost in a mismanaged film that clearly had potential for a place in fantasy/sci-fi cinema history. For once, here was a film (with Digital Tech available) to go where THX 1138, both 1984 films, Fahrenheit 451, Logan's Run, Elysium and so many others missed the proverbial boat on. This is about a future 'take 2 pills and smile' society but what was The Ruin? Nuclear? Chemical? Big brother? What happened? Is there a problem just saying how we as humanity came to this black & white end? Is the audience just supposed to think, 'I guess something bad happened'? How did humanity wind up having all the emotion of unflavored gelatin? So the film bypasses all this and just tells us there was The Ruin. As with Elysium, here was material to make a limited/cable series that instead is a muddled mess. In a future where there is so much technology, why was The Giver's methods not monitored? And then, very little is explained about the The Receiver's brazen escape with the child and how he was outfitted leaping off the boundary and sledding through a winter wonderland and how they later were miraculously outfitted with Land's End. How did his going through some memory portal (barely explained), manage to affect those living in black & white? Giver? Receiver? Give me a break! And by the way, all the best to Meryl, Jeff and Katie (I hope that was make- up that made you look over 50) and the rest of the cast....best of luck in the future...after The Ruin.

I've read several other reviews and I must ask if those who call this a cheapie have ever watched a 'western' where 90% of the film takes place in a town or in a confined location where they talk each other to death. I love for it's drama and characters, the original '3:10 to Yuma'. But every time I watch it, despite it's brevity, there's quite a bit of talking, taunting, hotel door-knocking and window- watching...it takes a while to get the hell out of that hotel room. Unlike even the most highly regarded westerns, this one had a welcomed lack of comic relief, banter and annoying romantic interludes. It was actionful and I can't believe someone actually mentioned it was tired and boring. Aside from it's climactic shootout, 'The Gunfight at the OK Corral' is a town-bound drama with Rhonda Fleming boring us to death. The on-location photography and camera-work in '40 Guns...' was pretty impressive; not filmed as a quickie would be 2 miles from LA or on a backlot. Many of the action scenes I consider very well done. Someone mentioned that a punch during a fight completely misses but the man goes reeling. Ever look closely at the saloon brawl in 'Shane'? Kenneth Tobey proved his worth as a bitter, treacherous villain spewing dark-humored barbed remarks. And whoever counted the modern 50 stars on the flag, should also have noticed that we were spared the hero and the girl in an embrace as the sun set. And as for the plot being well- worn and tired, how many films can they make where the guy's girl and best buddy fall in love? How many sports films can they make where a losing team gets a down- and-out coach who needs to redeem himself? How many action films can they make where the thief, spy, driver, detective, hit man 'comes out of retirement'......??? How many crime films have the hero driving cross-town in traffic to save a potential murder victim, but doesn't call 911? Talk about well-worn formulas.

I was 13 when I saw this wonderful film upon it's first release. This is a stirring piece of history and gallantry by an assortment of real life men and women from Germany, Austria and the US. The film was released less than 20 years after the actual events depicted. I have to say upon just seeing it again 50 years later, that it more than holds up. Other reviewers here have more than amply explained the plot and my contribution, if you will, goes like this: With all of the varied Disney films through the decades, I cannot recall any that was as majestic and carefully produced as this one. Filmed on an obviously healthy budget, it is an opulently told story, running just under 2 hours. Robert Taylor as the director of the school and Lilli Palmer as his supportive wife are both outstanding. Their commitment to save their beloved horses is not only conveyed convincingly, it is realistic with what was going on at the end of WW2 in Europe. Curt Jurgens as a world-weary German officer who movingly laments his self- contempt for his recent past as he takes small comfort having provided aid to the imperiled Riding School, going against Nazi orders. There are several characters who point that there existed more life-threatening concerns than saving horses. It was pointed out that a Russian unit did not share horse lovers' concerns and destroyed the Hungarian Riding School's horses when their food supply was running out. The great true story, was that the American forces were able to blend the rescue of Allied soldiers and liberation with the expedient but daunting task of rounding up hundreds of horses so that experts could later separate the breeds and care for them accordingly. Many Disney films---even the most cherished---rarely established such a mature, unsweetened film. In no uncertain terms, we are shown and explained the formidable, life-risking task of preserving a centuries old tradition and magnificent animals when a terrible war's final end threatened their existence.

After reading IMDb reviews and finally getting to see this entertaining (theatrical version) pilot for the Man from UNCLE series for myself, I have to concur that this was worth the ride. Grittier and less peppered with humor than TV episodes, this story enlisting a civilian to bring down a villain was an interesting plot element that Hitchcock often employed. Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo is pretty much on his own, with David McCallum's Kuryakin part barely more than a cameo. Pat Crowley is the attractive US widow working with Solo. Seductive Luciana Paluzzi is the bad girl Angela, who baits Solo. A scene that would never be approved back then for TV has stunning Angela wearing a form-fitting sleeveless dress standing in front of Solo who frisks her with his automatic with a silencer, passing it slowly from her armpit down to her ankles and up the inner thigh, after which the camera changes position as he continues the frisk. Angela never bats an eye. A spy for all sides.

Michael Caine plays a slim and trim--but not athletic--cat burglar who has to get inside a mansion by climbing the exterior in order to provide access to his accomplice, an aging safe-cracker. During Caine's climbing, balancing and close calls, he gets to one spot where he does a 'dead-fall' drop: as he faces the sheer side of the mansion, he takes a step back and drops to a narrow cement ledge a story below. We next see him clinging for dear life by his fingers, his face in anguish, then pulling his fully stretched out body up to the ledge. Burt Lancaster, maybe. Daniel Caine, maybe. Michael Caine, no. If director Forbes had only worked the stunt as an accidental slip, maybe one could reason that adrenalin lent some strength, not that it was part of the plan. I can't imagine a veteran cat burglar planning such a stunt with the assumption his dead-fall would not be his last fall. I guess despite the film's positive points, if I can't accept this burglar's logic, then the caper becomes fantasy at best.