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Reviews
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Great drama!
This is one of the best submarine and suspense films I have seen; however, for me "Das Boot" is in another class, for several reasons: It is set during wartime. Better yet, I always watch it in spoken German, with English subtitles . It makes for a better film. Hearing A Scottish accent from a Russian submarine captain is definitely a negative. Moreover, Sam Neill is Scottish as well, although his accent is not as strong as Connery's. I understand the language change, which Director John McTiernan gave credit where it was due. He said he got the idea from "Judgement at Nuremberg" (1961). It is done exactly the same way as it is done in this film - in the middle of the conversation between Ramius (Sean Connery) and Putin (Peter Firth) in Ramius' cabin (quite clever).
I had a couple of beefs with this film: (they are Spoilers, I noted at the beginning)). One is after the Americans board the Red October: Jonesy, the sonar man on the USS Dallas gives all his ranges in yards, not meters, which is what is displayed and used aboard Russian ships (and the rest of the world, besides the UK and the US). That is a big goof. The other are the special effects, which (for me) are not that fantastic. Sure, when this film was made, they were not capable to what is seen only a decade later, and especially today. That is why it will never hold a candle to "Das Boot". It has hardly any real FX to speak of, and which makes the film much better. Director Wolfgang Peterson insisted on building an exact, full size replica of a U-boat. The cramped quarters, the crew running to the front of the ship for faster crash dives, a depth gauge which goes beyond crush depth, etc. Add enourmously to the tension.
Suing the Devil (2011)
totally implausible, but who cares
I just finished watching this movie after much coaxing from my friends and then I visited Facebook which discussed the 'mob attack' - I feel this is wrong.
No matter how much you hate God and religion, don't take it out on struggling filmmakers - that's not morally decent.
I was looking over my shoulder and racking my brain throughout this movie trying to figure out how the game always managed to stay one step ahead of the devil's character. Okay, so it asks you to accept some pretty wild premises and some fairly insane leaps of logic. Okay, so after you think about it, the suspense really has no sensible roots. The bottom line is that this movie is fun to watch.
I give it a 9 out of 10.
Hauru no ugoku shiro (2004)
Great animation film!
The production quality is first rate. I have seen Princess Mononoke in the theatre and Hauru has the same production style and quality. The background scenics are very moody and quite suitable to the environment that existed at that time. Definitely not your typical animation movie! Of course, the subject matter, too, is not your typical animation movie!
The story is based on the 'dream' states we all have in animation. You can tell this as you view the movie - this one is from the heart and from real life. That's why it is so powerful and so accurate in its depiction of events and life at that time. The base story line is derived from a traditional Japanese storytelling method, which is why the events are told in the manner that they are in the film. Even though you know what the outcome will be at the start, this does not lessen its impact once you get there at the end of the film.