The Movie Thread

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by WernherVonTrapp

Haven't seen the remake of "Mr. Roberts" (though I like Kevin Bacon as an actor) or the remake of "South Pacific."

The problem there is that technically those aren't remakes. The originals are already remakes, since they are movie versions of stage plays, and sometimes they are criticized for not adhering to the original play. My Fair Lady was a musical version of George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion.

I wasn't aware of the new versions of either of those. One of the movies I've wanted to see but haven't yet is the 1988 version of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial. When his novel became popular Herman Wouk wrote a stage play, expanding just the trial into a full-length drama. The movie version is supposed to be outstanding.

[WernherVonTrapp]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The problem there is that technically those aren't remakes. The originals are already remakes, since they are movie versions of stage plays, and sometimes they are criticized for not adhering to the original play. My Fair Lady was a musical version of George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion.

I wasn't aware of the new versions of either of those. One of the movies I've wanted to see but haven't yet is the 1988 version of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial. When his novel became popular Herman Wouk wrote a stage play, expanding just the trial into a full-length drama. The movie version is supposed to be outstanding.

Yes, I know about those plays (or musicals). If we include movies that were adapted from books, I suppose many more things could be considered remakes.
Naah, I'm just wary about "movie" remakes in general. I liked the original "Caine Mutiny"; not sure if I could even muster the interest to watch a remake. I suppose it could just be one of my many neuroticisms. I can't recall one remake that I ever liked. I tried watching the newer "Taking Of Pelham 1-2-3" but lost interest after about a half hour.
Loved the original (Herman Melville's) "Moby Dick" with Gregory Peck. I think there have been a number of remakes, including one that got rave reviews but, I just can't elicit enough interest to watch one.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by WernherVonTrapp

Naah, I'm just wary about "movie" remakes in general.

Same here. Many years ago I saw that there was a remake of High Noon. I love Tom Skerritt, but I just couldn't bring myself to watch it, even for free..

I can't recall one remake that I ever liked.

There was a TV remake of Vanishing Point. It was one of Claude Akins' last roles. It gave the world Viggo Mortensen. It had a plot, which the original with Barry Newman didn't. That ruined it. The lack of plot was what made the original great.

Then there was a remake of Gone in 60 Seconds. As soon as I read the plot I knew I would hate it, so I didn't bother. The whole plot of the original was to destroy as many cars as possible in 90 minutes. Homemade, bad acting, minimal plot line, no explosions at all. Just a 45-minute chase, put on by a car guy. The remake had to be a better movie in every respect, but it lost the cheesy charm that made the original a true classic. I bought the original on disc and was shocked and disappointed. Another of the hallmarks of the movie was the awful home-grown country soundtrack. The DVD has it replaced with a very nice jazz score, which pretty much ruins a major part of the flick. Oh well.

[WernherVonTrapp]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Same here. Many years ago I saw that there was a remake of High Noon. I love Tom Skerritt, but I just couldn't bring myself to watch it, even for free..


There was a TV remake of Vanishing Point. It was one of Claude Akins' last roles. It gave the world Viggo Mortensen. It had a plot, which the original with Barry Newman didn't. That ruined it. The lack of plot was what made the original great.

Then there was a remake of Gone in 60 Seconds. As soon as I read the plot I knew I would hate it, so I didn't bother. The whole plot of the original was to destroy as many cars as possible in 90 minutes. Homemade, bad acting, minimal plot line, no explosions at all. Just a 45-minute chase, put on by a car guy. The remake had to be a better movie in every respect, but it lost the cheesy charm that made the original a true classic. I bought the original on disc and was shocked and disappointed. Another of the hallmarks of the movie was the awful home-grown country soundtrack. The DVD has it replaced with a very nice jazz score, which pretty much ruins a major part of the flick. Oh well.

Interesting coincidence that you mention Tom Skerritt. I was watching his role in "A River Runs Through It" just the other night. Here's a guy who has appeared in parts & bit parts in just about every TV series I've ever watched growing up, and I never noticed him as an actor until "Aliens". I've heard it said that, if you like a movie and cannot articulate exactly what it is you like about it, then there's probably a parallel in your life that you relate to in the movie.
A River Runs Through It is no action packed thriller and it moves along quite slowly, but I watched it about 5 times already (bought the DVD after my first viewing) and find myself fascinated by the whole story, not to mention Tom Skerritt's role. It's based on a true story about the life of writer, Norman Maclean. I think it also launched Brad Pitt's career.

I never knew of Viggo Mortensen until the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. I somehow lost touch with TV and movies after my first failed marriage and what I refer to as "the lost years" in between my second. Since then, I don't really have the appetite for TV and movies that I once did. That might be why I keep watching reruns of my huge DVD collection. I still buy them once in awhile, but usually of older movies that I've already seen. I know that probably doesn't make sense, but I think there's a correlation there somewhere.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by WernherVonTrapp

I never noticed him as an actor until "Aliens".

I became aware of him in the original movie M*A*S*H. He later said he was asked to reprise his role as Duke Forrest in the series, but turned it down because he thought the series would last three weeks and be forgotten.

I don't really have the appetite for TV and movies that I once did.

Again, it's the same with me. When I was young I made a point of going to see a new movie every weekend. These days there has to something that really intrigues me, or I won't bother.

[WernherVonTrapp]

OK, here's a movie that might put
some people to sleep, but I really liked it.
It was Robert Redford's directorial debut
and had an all star cast. 8 Academy Award
nominations, 4 Academy awards. Probably
Timothy Hutton's greatest performance.
Ordinary People

[frau kaleun]

Great movie and also a great performance from Mary Tyler Moore, really a departure from the roles for which she had been most well known. Everybody in this one is great, but if you only know her from her sitcom characters her performance here is quite an eye-opener.

[Red October1984]

I'm watching Battle of the Pacific right now. It has a different name in Japanese. I think it's Oba: The Last Samurai or something like that.



It's interesting. I'm enjoying it so far. It takes place on Saipan in 1944. Mainly from the Japanese point of view.

[Stealhead]

That is a Toho movie the largest film company in Japan they did the Godzilla films and all of Akira Kurosawas films where published by Toho(Seven Samurai,Yojimbo).

Saipan was a major blow to Japan in Japanese minds this was the point of no return.Even though they did some pretty nasty things i have to say I feel for the enlisted Japanese serviceman they where often treated very poorly by their officers.The film does seem a bit stylized you would never have seen an officer dress down a Marine for saying Japs.For example refusal to obey an order even an immoral one was very harshly punished.

Not sure if posting the video link is within the site rules though this is a fairly new film and not public domain but am no expert so unless a mod tells you other wise I guess it is ok and it has been on youtube for over a month.

[Stealhead]

All of this reminds me of a movie that I really hated (sorry) "1492 Conquest of Paradise" I watched it in he threat with my grand mother in 1992 it was awful.

Now a good film set in 18th century South America and a group of Jesuit priests (Deniro and Jeremy Irons) They end up protecting the natives from
enslavement by fighting with them.I do not want to spoil the outcome so you will have to watch it to see what happens.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091530/

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

That is a Toho movie the largest film company in Japan they did the Godzilla films and all of Akira Kurosawas films where published by Toho(Seven Samurai,Yojimbo).

Saipan was a major blow to Japan in Japanese minds this was the point of no return.Even though they did some pretty nasty things i have to say I feel for the enlisted Japanese serviceman they where often treated very poorly by their officers.The film does seem a bit stylized you would never have seen an officer dress down a Marine for saying Japs.For example refusal to obey an order even an immoral one was very harshly punished.

This is a good movie even if it's not historically and factually correct. I haven't really seen or read much about the Japanese point of view on the war. It's an interesting movie.

The Japanese sure did have it rough. I just think they should've had a better strategy towards the end of the war.

Not sure if posting the video link is within the site rules though this is a fairly new film and not public domain but am no expert so unless a mod tells you other wise I guess it is ok and it has been on youtube for over a month.

There have been other movies linked in this thread. That went by okay so I assume that it is within the rules. If I am told otherwise, I will comply and take it down and replace with the IMDb link to the movie info page.

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by Red October1984

There have been other movies linked in this thread. That went by okay so I assume that it is within the rules. If I am told otherwise, I will comply and take it down and replace with the IMDb link to the movie info page.

Well Neal really dislikes piracy so that is a big no no but certain films are what is considered public domain and you can view them for free most of the movies linked before are this type as most older films fall under this.

At the same time a much newer movie can become public domain if it does very poorly in the box office or for other legal reasons.I would say that if a film has been on youtube for few months or longer it most likely is considered public domain other wise you tube would have removed it as whomever owned the rights would have complained.

I dont really think you would be the type to post something clearly pirated anyway.I just sort of forgot that a new film can be public domain just as an old one can.

Maybe they want to brainwash into thinking how bad we Americans where in WWII so they made it public domain.

The Japanese never really had a solid strategy for anything after they took over South-East Asia.That is why the attack on Pearl Harbor was so vital but they failed at two vital goals one being the sinking of US Navy carriers the other was that they canceled the planned bombing of the POL tanks in and around Pearl.The later would have caused some serious issues for at least 6 months and they could have done but they feared the US CV might be in the area and be able to strike back.A thread could be dedicated to Japanese errors in judgment following the success of the first few months of 1942.

They actually could have had more military power in Saipan and the rest of the Marinans islands but they where unsure if we would strike there or Pelelu most heavily or perhaps at the same time(the allies struck Peleu after the Marinans).

Japan lacked the logistical ability to hold the US to a stale mate plain and simple.Now in the Home Islands I think they could have made that very costly assuming that enough of the population did not simply capitulate do to starvation.I think in such a scenario there would have been a rift between the victory or death Japanese and the ones that wanted to stop fighting.

Anyway back to movies.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

Well Neal really dislikes piracy so that is a big no no but certain films are what is considered public domain and you can view them for free most of the movies linked before are this type as most older films fall under this.

At the same time a much newer movie can become public domain if it does very poorly in the box office or for other legal reasons.I would say that if a film has been on youtube for few months or longer it most likely is considered public domain other wise you tube would have removed it as whomever owned the rights would have complained.

I dont really think you would be the type to post something clearly pirated anyway.I just sort of forgot that a new film can be public domain just as an old one can.

Maybe they want to brainwash into thinking how bad we Americans where in WWII so they made it public domain.

I didn't know new films could be PD too. I thought there was a period of time that has to pass.

Anyway, like I said...if it becomes an issue, I'll happily remove it but right now, it doesn't appear to be an issue.

The Japanese never really had a solid strategy for anything after they took over South-East Asia.That is why the attack on Pearl Harbor was so vital but they failed at two vital goals one being the sinking of US Navy carriers the other was that they canceled the planned bombing of the POL tanks in and around Pearl.The later would have caused some serious issues for at least 6 months and they could have done but they feared the US CV might be in the area and be able to strike back.A thread could be dedicated to Japanese errors in judgment following the success of the first few months of 1942.

They actually could have had more military power in Saipan and the rest of the Marinans islands but they where unsure if we would strike there or Pelelu most heavily or perhaps at the same time(the allies struck Peleu after the Marinans).

Japan lacked the logistical ability to hold the US to a stale mate plain and simple.Now in the Home Islands I think they could have made that very costly assuming that enough of the population did not simply capitulate do to starvation.I think in such a scenario there would have been a rift between the victory or death Japanese and the ones that wanted to stop fighting.

The Japanese had potential...but like you say, they made many errors and lost the momentum.

And the US was good at war. Even though we weren't expecting a war in the Pacific...we did good. We didn't want to drop the bomb on Japan...but they wouldn't give up. I don't know what else we could've done. Invading the Home Islands would've been very ugly and an especially bloody battle.

Anyway back to movies.

Indeed.

I can say one thing about this movie. It's very well done. I really liked it.

Really humanized the Japanese people and did not portray them as the robots that other movies do. You actually saw them as Humans.

Das Boot was another great example of this kind of movie. Instead of the super-Nazi HEIL HITLER! kind of German, they show the human side of things. They show it from the other side's point of view. I like movies like that.

Movies that can change my opinion about a topic are always good.

*Not to say that I support what the Japanese and the Germans did in any way. They were still the enemy and they were out to kill us...not to mention the terrible things done by the governments of these countries.

You just remember though.....they weren't all bad...and they're all human.

----

I think the next one I'll watch is the Korean "Brotherhood of War" movie that Oberon linked to me the other day (Also on YT). I've taken a liking to old classic war movies and foreign war movies lately. I've been missing so many good movies in the past...

It'll have to wait, sadly. It takes a long time to load up a video like that and right now I'm downloading Europa Universalis 3 from Steam.

OTOH, curse my slow internet!

[Stealhead]

I think Das Boot did a better job that Japanese film sought to demonize the US and idolize the Japanese.I only saw a few minutes of the film but it looked like pure idealized propaganda to me a better Japanese point of view film would be "Letters From Iwo Jima" it humanizes without a Mack truck dump truck dumping a ton of horse manure on top of you.

Like I mentioned in some threads before a friend of mine his wife is from Okinawa she is actually Ryukian not pure Japanese but they go to Japanese schools and they do not teach anything truthful about WWII Japan this woman did not learn much truth about WWII and Japanese involvement from a neutral perspective until she left Japan.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

I think Das Boot did a better job that Japanese film sought to demonize the US and idolize the Japanese.I only saw a few minutes of the film but it looked like pure idealized propaganda to me a better Japanese point of view film would be "Letters From Iwo Jima" it humanizes without a Mack truck dump truck dumping a ton of horse manure on top of you.

I noticed a bit of that in the Japanese film... I know it's a propaganda thing...but it's a good film and it made me think a bit.

Like I mentioned in some threads before a friend of mine his wife is from Okinawa she is actually Ryukian not pure Japanese but they go to Japanese schools and they do not teach anything truthful about WWII Japan this woman did not learn much truth about WWII and Japanese involvement from a neutral perspective until she left Japan.

That's one thing that always interested me.

How do they teach WW2 in the former Axis countries?

I started up a thread about it in the past and I remember you talking about your friend's wife. There were some good answers in that thread by people from these countries.

Sadly, the GT-Disease struck it and started up a huge argument and then it died off.