Reviews

If not reviewed by a cineaste against a spectrum of Film snobbishness, this movie holds up over time and has been wrongfully panned since. The cinematic values alone make this one of the most sumptuous-looking films of all time, and I'm talking about Roger Carmel's eyeball!

The segue from the firing bullets to the erotic dancers clearly draws the path of Sex&Death as clearly as anything from The Kama Sutra.

Robert Sidney is a notorious sexy choreographer. You also get Stella Stevens as a Comely Comedienne, Daliah Lavi as an enticing Double Agent and Nancy Kovack as lady who is too enticing while devicing.

And Dean is so smooth & funny...

Highly derivative, at least 3 shots stolen directly from 2001 Space Odyssey. The dumb Carprenter two-note bass line while purporting to be a Morricone sountrack... Yeah, a lotta tv stars who became famous later. How about dumb humans being dumb & dumber all the time just waiting to be killed?

What's the KoolAid everyone is drinking on this? John Carpenter is a b-movie hack. Just because you thought it was cool when you are young, certainly those who have become older can see why they were suckered? But as we know, some movie watchers want to be all-day suckers...

OK, I liked Kurt Russell's hat turned upward. Keith David is always an impressive presence. Donald Moffat, Wilfred Brumley are always a strong presence. All that gets the 6.

No one expects the unexpected. What the mid-to late 60s did, that has not been done so effectively done ever since, is to turn up the side of a head against expectations. Perhaps radical, but largely dismissed at its time and since, is a film that pushes audience expectations to somewhere nowhere ever thought of. It is a trip, but understandable if you don't like the ride. If you do, then very enjoyable...

Seems like trying to do Batman '66 for Bond, taking the themes & conceits of the Fleming series and turning it around in some kind of Weed-LSD lens that not only transforms viewer expectations, but human consciousness of what is actually possible. (Bond is celibate?)

It's not a Bond movie, it's a Zeitgeist movie. Music is cool, Sellers is not over the top, Woody is ok, Niven holds the center, all the women are beautiful beyond belief, better than most "legit" Bond Girls...

Watched this with my brother growing up and can't say I liked it since I was scared by it. "Black Hand," and as others have mentioned, "Pay Up or Die," told frightening tales of immigrant Italian thugs preying on their own people. Any story of courage to stand up to such brutal bullies is commendable. When I was a kid I didn't think Gene Kelly had a chance to succeed in this flick with his enemies so ominous.

TCM just ran it in 2022 and one's suspension of belief might have to be in full bloom. While I accept a great actor can do any role, H'Wood's tendency to cask dark-haired men and women as "ethnic" holds up less and less today. Gino from the hood? Sure, the hood was in Pittsburgh. Funny thing about Kelly - he was no great actor, no great singer, and his dancing style was simply unique, so not great by any standards. If you buy him as an Italian immigrantin NYC in the early 20th century, then you should enjoy this movie.

Ladd & Lake look fabulous, but the "plot problems" remain a hang-up. It looks like most reviewers want to forgive plot problems & the very choppy / uneven direction and mind-blowing script.

The tone & direction are all over the place, so it a fun a movie if you like that kind of ride. But it is not a classic. It's just strange. We have WWII propaganda, a serial killer as a hero and the ever charming Lake alternately in a musical and as a Stockholm Syndrome victim.

Biggest plot problem - everyone knows everyone in the movie. The girl's in love with the cop, the cop is after the killer and the killer is after the guy who just happens to be employing the girl because a U. S. Senator wants her help defeating anti-American saboteurs.

Looks beautiful tho, worth a watch.

Does that mean anything? Obv to me and how influenced I was when I saw it in it's premiere. This is a tv movie when in the 1970s there was a sometimes effort to make compelling weekly fare, and while all the other criticisms are spot-on, still don't think you can judge it without keeping it context.

Pretty radical in 1970 for tv. A roster of B+ plus Afro-American actors: Billy Dee, Richard Pryor, Moses Gunn, Rosey Grier, Glynis Turman and the original Mr. T., Robert Hooks. Boyd's Irish Southern accent and Susan Oliver's American fake German accent (altho she is of German descent) are a distraction now, but back in the day no one was doing method or authenticity on tv. And what their characters say resonate beyond the cringing phony accents.

Oliver is a German woman who counsels & inspires a black man. She's no Nazi and believes in humanity. Boyd starts off as the stereotypical racist cracker, but in each scene you see his character understand a little bit more, develop a little bit more. Not many movies with a big budget can achieve that kind of character development.

In 1970 is was War Against All. Everyone seemed to hate everyone else, again how it now seems to be. This movie actually promotes racial justice, and while the basic scenario is like a Combat! Episode, all the actors elevate it to something just a little bit better.

When I was 11, this movie helped me to understand the concept of not only racial tolerance, but that race is never what defines the character of your soul.

It delivered far beyond what you might expect for a 90 minute tv movie.

Now that I'm older I cringe because I realize, they're not in a European forest but in California. I think I drove over that dam once the Germans were going to blow up...

And when I saw Aaron Spelling's name attached to it, thought: Oh the cheesy exploitation master. But he's exploiting racism not race here while we still get the thrill of seeing Nazis lose once again.

The 2022 Epix streaming version is visually/aurally not worth subscribing for. Low-D transfer, looks like a second-dub VCR tape recording. Suffered thru the technical deficiencies just to confirm what I felt 42 years ago was still true today.

This is one of those "Big Promise" color movies of the mid-50s. And judged in that light, then a big failure.

Scenery & Photography is fabulous, and Clark Gable always delivers the goods.

But then... Jane Russell. She can't sing, altho she did it many times many movies. She can't really act, unless she is mad. And maybe she's 135 pounds when Clark calls her "Grandma," but Jane's always been a wide-load and acting cute isn't her forte. She's the woman all men desire, and spends most of the time brushing them off.

Cameron Mitchell is compelling alternating between obnoxious & sympathetic, but his character is so schizo that while he serves some plot elements he's really just 2-D and makes no sense.

Robert Ryan is one of the most compelling actors of his generation, but he goes through the whole movie as tho on Quaaludes, never raising his voice, even when he wants to kill Mitchell.

So a lot falls on the bad direction as there is never any tension to the pace. And to see Raoul Walsh is the director is mind-boggling. He certainly fell asleep at the wheels with the soundtrack, clearly one of Victor Young's worst. No matter what the tension-level of the scene is, Young orchestrates Muzak, except when the Indians show up and he does the most basest tom-tom shtick, embarrassing all concerned.

Looks good, seems like Fox was trying to cash in on Mitchum/Monroe in "River of No Return," but Gable/Russell don't really hit off, except for pulling each other's boot off.

This doesn't have the histrionic grand slam effect of "I'm Mad," but it does have a level of depth that rings truer. Everyone knows the BS of Network TV, and most people know hospitals are incapable of taking care of all the people they admit. But Health & Living is ultimately more important than TV ratings, so the message of this movie resonates deeply because George C ultimately commits to healing lives. Finch deserved the oscar he won, but Scott is the more compelling actor, deeply diving into his depression and sense of obligation. His Patton was 2D, his doctor is 3D and should have won again. Can't say it's a great movie in the sense of uplifting, but a great movie in the sense it takes an audience at both times realistically / absurdly into the world of modern medicine. Paddy is a genius for many reasons, this is surely one of them.

"Touching, Inspirational" - Bogus, mind-numbing. Cliche-ridden to the extreme.

"The definitive chronicle of the American Space Program" - as nationalistic propaganda. The Hanks intros were the epitome of Secular Religion - he even called it a "divine" mission.

"They don't come any better than this..." Well... The space photography/simulations are amazing. Still had the obvious cheat of making sounds when engines blast when in fact there is no sound in space, and of course the faux inspirational soundtrack - it's a case of if you want to buy it, then sure it can be bought. Much of the dialogue was written by Captain Obvious. Casting was trapped in late 90s mediocrity. Sure, Al Franken is such a fit on the Kennedy cabinet. Jay Mohr is Tom Brokaw.

"Perfect in every way...the comprehensive study of the American Space Program" - So since Hanks made Apollo 13 the movie, it was ok for him to make that episode just about news in-fighting? So comprehensive do we really know many of the scientists other than Kelly throwing a rubber ball against a wall?

"This was a wonderful and informative production." - Know I'm a crank, but as I've been telling family & friends since the 70s who were watching PBS and claiming to be informed - You learn nothing from tv other than you are watching tv.

Assume it may have been shot in Malibu State Park, but wherever, definitely California, not France. While it seems to be the time of the Battle of The Bulge, there's no sign of the Ardennes Forest and none of the soldiers seem to be under any particular duress. They just seem kind of bored, or like the lunch they just ate didn't sit well in their stomachs.

When Dean Jones shows up a Disney vibe kicks in. He's the prime example of a soldier with a clean uniform and no stubble, looking like he has suffered no hardship whatsoever. Yet he's supposed to be wrought with "Battle Fatigue."

Trust those who have already said the "comedy" falls flat. Red Buttons has two modes: Kinda Funny & Not Funny At All. He's fully working the latter mode here. Having to partner in routines with Tige Andrews doesn't help. Tige wasn't known for being a crack-up in the Mod Squad.

Glenn Ford is reliably himself. TCM showed this along with his other military-oriented comedies, Don't Go Near The Water and Advance to the Rear, which are better flicks. Every-time it seems like Glenn and Imitation General are about to take-off he and it fall flat. And before we know it, we have Red Buttons in an apron cooking dinner.

The US Army is supposed to be surrounded by the Germans, but it seems like there's only about a dozen of the Reich's army. But there is quite a bit of killing of Germans, so the violence and the comedy are a mismatch, along with romancing Taina Elg making believe she's French.

To have all 3 parts listed so high in the ratings as if they are 3 separate movies is absurd. Part one is 8-9, Part two is 6-7, Part three is a straight 7. Will concede all 3 make an 8. But since it's just one story stretched out ad infinitum, why are all 3 movies listed individually as though they are discreet & distinct from one another?

Just watched the extended versions, so maybe jadedness is settling in. Frodo is such a weepy leaky lead. Understand the charm is that all the others (minus Boromir) of the Fellowship are The Heroes. But still, the viewer has to suffer endless shots of Frodo suffering, worrying, cowering, weeping, etc. Not a compelling figure for such a long time, no matter how many times Sam bails him out.

Viggo & Orlando are so magnificent, but from Part 1 to Part 3 - what's the difference? Viggo had to kill over a thousand Orcs and Orlando had to do a "can you top this" shooting arrows on the mammoth beast. Even by then he and the dwarf were just counting numbers.

Same stuff over & over again - part 2 and the trees was insufferable. It all ends quite nice - but it never really gets better than The Fellowship, which is truly amazing. Doing amazing all over again & again becomes, uh, less amazing.

Trivia states: "The electronic music soundtrack was played entirely on instruments available in 1969." But it sure sounds like they're using a 2019 Korg Minilogue which mimics the 1969 analogue Moog. And it totally takes anyone who listened to any moog in 1969 watching today out of the picture when you hear the yes "too loud soundtrack." (as another reviewer stated)

This seemed like it was going to be a magnificent cinema verite at the beginning, using only real sounds of the time, but they creators fell into the old bugaboo fearing viewers would be bored when the space scenes had no real recorded sound. Then they dump in the bogue audio and you realize: I guess I'm too old for the intended audience.

Even fake rocket sounds would have been better... Or bleeps, bloops and a theremin...

Not much to add, just wanted to point out the MAD spoof - which can find be found online at some comics reading sites. If your idea of riveting fun & action is watching Orson Welles & Gert Frobe have conversations about the future of Paris when it's obvious all they want to do is get something to eat, this is the movie for you.

Seeing so many great French actors speak English just throws one off - the beauty of the French language is hearing it in French, subtitles be damned. The French language version has to be way better than the American English dubbed. Don't know if there's a French L with English S, but if there is, that's the one to see.

Douglas as Patton - $50k for that scene? He just says no and offers a glass of champagne, and while George C. Scott defined Patton, Kirk didn't even try to flatten his hair or wear pearl-handled pistols, or even curse once. Glenn Ford as Omar Bradley is also weak, but not because Karl Malden is a great Bradley. It's just that Glenn Ford doesn't have any commanding presence. The one US General who does, Robert Stack, just seems confused, as tho he didn't know he had a French army in reserve.

The spoiler: Paris doesn't burn. It is boring.