Recently in War/Military Category

 

Directed by Mary Pat Kelley. Starring Ossie Davis, Albert  Jones, Jeffrey Nash, Denise Nicholas, Eric Laray Harvey. Synopsis:A historical drama about some of the real life sailors on the USS Mason, the first and only all African American crew warship to engage the Germans in World War II.

 

This is a feel good, relatively low budget historical film that portrays some of the actual sailors from the USS Mason, an all African American crew warship that saw action and performed well in World War II, but were not official recognized for their actions until a half century later.

The film is told in flashback, with the late, venerable, and wonderful Ossie Davis (an actual World War II vet himself, but not on the Mason) , being a grandfather who is at his wits end with his grandson's habit of listening to loud hip-hop music (which Ossie's character refers to as "noise", a scene that any of us who have been on both sides of the generation gap will appreciate) with his college buddies late at night when Ossie is trying to get some sleep. He tries to culturally upgrade the youngsters in the form of Billie Holliday records, and soon the talk turns to his service in World War II, something he had not spoken of  much to his grandson before, and soon we are in a flashback to 1944 with, in a neat little twist, the actors portraying Ossie's grandson and buddies are the same actors portraying a young Ossie and his buddies on the Mason.

The story touches on the racism encountered by the men, both covert and subtle, but it does not portray to the depth or length of a movie like the Tuskeegee Airmen or Glory, the focus here is more on the young men involved and their thoughts, hopes, and pride in serving their country, as well as the dreams for the postwar.

The ship and battle sequences are o.k., part of that is the fact that, of the three types of warfare to film, naval is by far the hardest, especially without a huge budget. Real footage of WWII naval battles is used, although I am not sure it is footage of the actual Mason. The acting is decent, most of the faces will be new to most viewers, with the exception of Ossie Davis, of course, and the still striking Denise Nicholas from Room 222 and In the Heat of the Night fame.

What I liked is that the director gave some screen time to the modern day part of the story, the struggle by the members and their descendants to get long overdue recognition in the form of a unit commendation, including some actual footage of actual Mason sailors receiving their recognition from then President Clinton.

Directed by George Tillman, Jr. Starring: Robert DeNiro, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Charlize Thereon, Powers Boothe, Aunjanue Ellis, Hal Holbrook,David Keith, Michael Rapaport, Carl Lumbly, Lonette McKee. Drama/Biographical/Historical. Synopsis: The story of Carl Brashear, who enlisted in the Navy as a teen shortly after World War II and rose up through the ranks to become the first African-American Navy diver, Master Chief Diver, and also the first amputee to serve in that capacity.

Anytime you have a story that focuses on the true life triumph of the human spirit and shows the kind of determination that makes the impossible possible, you have a good chance for a good flick. Its not a given though, the film still has to be well acted and directed. Men Of Honor is well directed, and when you throw in a cast with multiple Oscar winners, past and future, the recipe for success is complete.

Cuba Gooding, Jr. (Wrong Turn At Tahoe)  plays Carl Brashear, Jr., a man who came from the fields of Kentucky, enlised in the Navy in the post WW-II years, and was determined to better himself in all ways through his time in the service. He had an indomitable spirit and never quit attitude, which he got from his parents (Lonette McKee Jungle Fever Carl Lumbly Pacific Heights The Alphabet Killer) in general and his father in particular.

As some may know, the Navy and its department (U.S. Marine Corps) were likely the most inhospitable branches of the service in the post military, pre-Civil Rights era and that is portrayed vividly throughout this film, with one memorable scene being where Carl decides to jump in the Pacific for a swim on a day when only whites were allowed off the ship and into the ocean. Of course, he is pursued but swims so fast he beats everyone to the buoy. After landing in the brig, his speed in the water leads the ship's Captain (Powers Boothe Southern Comfort) to make him one of the ship's rescue swimmers an unprecedented position for an African American. Brashear quickly decides his ultimate goal in the Navy is to become a Navy diver after seeing the rescue heroics of one such Master Chief Diver, Leslie Sunday (Robert DeNiro Casino), an elite position that, at that point in time.

And, through the magic of creative license, when Brashear finally is accepted at diving school, guess who his class instructor is? Give yourself a pat on the back if you said Chief Sunday who is, lets just say, less than enthusiastic to have an African American diving student in his course.

Brashear's time in the diving school is the heart of the film, as Tillman does a good job of making clear the hurdles he faced, not only because of racism, but due to his severe lack of education. We do have some stereotypical characters, likely composite characters like Deniro's Chief Sunday, but that does not mean they aren't effective. Michael Rapaport (Grilled) plays Snowhill, the 'liberal' sailor who offsets the bigotry and prejudice Carl experiences in diving school by befriending Carl and being the only sailor to stay in the barracks when the rest are urged to move out by Sunday.

Also standing out in a smaller role is the legendary Hal Holbrook (Magnum Force) as 'Mr. Pappy', the outwardly bigoted and near senile Commander assigned to the diving school whose distaste for Carl remains steadfast even as those around Carl, including Sunday, begin to soften with appreciation of Carl's work ethic and courage.

Neither Brashear nor his chief protagonist, Sunday, are shown one dimensionally, they both have love interests, Carl has his future wife (Aunjanue Ellis Freedomland) and Sunday has a much younger wife, Charlize Thereon (North Country) who is both the enabler and possible hope for his drinking problems. Its not a huge role for Thereon, but she knocks it out of the park, as does Ellis, an actress whom I've long thought was an underappreciated talent.

The film follows Carl's career in the Navy, going directly from his trying time in diving school to his assignment as a diver on a ship in which he becomes a national hero by recovering a lost Russian explosive from the bottom of the sea, and then tragically suffers a serious injury to his leg shortly thereafter which seems to put the end to his diving career. But, Carl demands his leg be completely amputated so a prosthetic can be attached so that he might continue his career. The reluctance of the Navy and the reemergence of Sunday into Carl's life mark the second portion of the film. Its hard to be a Navy diver with two legs, to see Brashear do it with one is nothing less than inspiring.

As with any great film, there are several iconic scenes, the standouts for me being the bar room challenge between Brashear and Sunday to see who could hold his breath the longest, with the stakes being Carl's spot in the diving school versus the readmittance to diving school of Carl's buddy Snowhill (I read an interview with the real Carl Brashear in which he said the scene was true, except they did not use the water filled apparatus shown in the film, but merely dunked their heads into fish tanks); Carl's final test in diving school in which there were deliberate steps taken to ensure his failure and he remained underwater for twenty hours until his task was complete; and the stirring finale, when Brashear, with Sunday as his coach, demonstrates his physical prowess with his prosthetic leg before a high ranking Naval board.

The film follows 20 + years of Brashear's life and Gooding is believable both as the teen aged character and as a 40 year old navy veteran. With all due respect to his Oscar winning peformance in Jerry Maguire , to me this is his outstanding peformance to date. As for DeNiro, what can I say that hasn't been said? Incredible as Chief Sunday.

Understand this genre, though it shows both the ugly side and honor in our military, its not a military movie per se , but the story of an incredible man who happened to live his life in the service.

Great story, great acting, great film.        

Synopsis: A young ship builder realizes a dream when he receives an appointment to the Naval Academy and then struggles to find and keep his place among the more qualified, better prepared plebes during his first year. His struggle is made more difficult by a demanding upperclassman who seems to have a particular dislike for him. Starring: James Franco, Tyrese Gibson, Donnie Walhberg, Jordana Brewster, Chi McBride. Drama.

Its always a good time for a feel good movie with patriotic overtones and its especially a good time when our soldiers are in harm's way, as they are now. I thought these things as I watched Annapolis, putting aside my olive drab Army sympathies, and was pleasantly surprised that the film does not dwell or hammer away mercilessly at patriotic or political themes, which would have been very easy to do. (In fact, I don't think the war in Iraq is ever expressly mentioned, but is alluded to in the character of Midshipman Cole). The film is really human drama focusing on one man's dream and desire to achieve something that most, including his own father, think is outside the realm of his capabilities.

Jake Huard (James Franco Milk)) is a young shipbuilder, with a love of boxing, who works with his father across the water from the Naval Academy, a school that he has dreamed of attending. Much to his shock, merely a day before orientation begins, a Naval Lt. Commander (Donnie Wahlberg The Sixth Sense) shows up at work to tell Jake that a spot has opened up in the incoming class and, despite his meager credentials, the Academy has decided to give him a shot.

Jake decides to take his shot and shows up for orientation where he meets, along with the rest of his plebe class, his upperclassman commander, Cole (Tyrese Gibson Four Brothers), a combat veteran from the Marine Corps who saw action prior to coming to Annapolis and makes no bones about the fact that poor officers equal dead soldiers. While Cole is not warm and chummy with any of the plebes, he has a particular distaste for Jake, who is otherwise doing well with his other social contacts, particularly upperclassman Ali (Jordana Brewster).

The film follows Jake through the ups and downs of his first year, particularly his involvement in the Academy required boxing course and his desire to enter as a heavyweight in the Academy boxing tournament where-I bet you didn't see this one coming- Cole reigns supreme. 

Without being a spoiler, there is a matter of Jake putting his place in the Academy in jeopardy due to his desire to help a fellow plebe and friend, with everything coming down to the big bout against Cole in the finals.

You're not going to see anything new here, but that doesn't mean the film isn't good, because its very good. The main characters, including Cole, have depth, and it would have been very easy to portray Cole or even Donnie Wahlberg's character as one dimensional. Thankfully, they are not. Those expecting to see a kind of cinema documentary about the first year at Annapolis will probably be disappointed, as the class room instruction and hazing scenes are to a relative minimum. Also, though I don't know for sure, I'm sure the fraternization shown between male and female plebes has to be dramatic license.

James Franco is wonderful as Jake. You'll like him and root for him from the beginning, which is just what he needed to have happen with his character. Tyrese Gibson also gives a strong performance as the antagonistic Cole. These two stand out, but the rest of the cast is good, too, with Donnie Wahlberg stepping up very well in his role as does Jordana Brewster. Its always nice to see Chi McBride, too.

No complaints here about Annapolis.

Directed by Arnie Glimcher. Starring Sean Connery, Nicholas Cage, Ed Harris, William Forsythe, David Morse, Tony Todd, Bokeem Woodbine, John C. McGinley, John Spencer, Phillip Baker Hall, Claire Forlani, Michael Biehn. Action Synopsis: A group of rogue Marines led by a highly decorated General take a group of tourists hostage on Alcatraz and point 6 missiles containing poisonous gas at San Francisco and demand 40 million dollars as payment to them and the families of those soldiers killed in covert special operations missions. The FBI puts their best chemical/biological agent with a group of Navy Seals in an effort to disarm the Marines prior to the deadline, but they need the help of an aging Federal inmate, who is the only man to have successfully broken out of Alcatraz.

This one is nothing but pure, non stop action from the adrenaline pumping beginning to the end. Stanley Goodspeed (Nicholas Cage Raising Arizona) is an FBI agent specializing in chemical and biological weapons but mostly in an advisory capacity. We get the feeling that his daily routine is mostly mundane, but things get interesting when he has to diffuse a package containing poisonous gas wrapped up with a bomb. If that wasn't enough to get the blood pumping, he finds out that he and his girlfriend (Vanessa Marcil) are going to have a little one, who has apparently decided not to wait until Ma and Pa are married to come a callin'.   Well, as those of us who have been in that situation can tell you, it makes things mighty interesting.

But not nearly as interesting as they're going to get. A group of Marines, as we see from the opening scene of the movie, led by a living legend General (Ed Harris Just Cause), have stolen some missiles containing highly poisonous VX gas. Why did they do that? Well, we don't have to wait long for the answer: they take several tourists hostage during a tour of Alcatraz, and point the missiles right at the heart of San Francisco, demanding millions from the government as payment for those soldiers killed carrying out illegal and secret missions throughout the world.

It is into this timeticker that Goodspeed is thrust to be the on the scene biological expert. He will be supervised by the director of the FBI (John Spencer CopLand) and the director of the San Francisco office (William Forsythe iMurders). They will also have help from an unexpected source...John Mason (Sean Connery), a former British intelligence agent who has been held for years without trial and is the only man to have escaped from Alcatraz.

Well, right there we have one heck of a recipe for an action packed flick, but don't go thinking this movie is one dimensional, testosterone pumping "guy flick". It's not. Don't get me wrong, its unquestionably a testosterone pumping guy flick, but it has some subtext. Our two main protagonists, Goodspeed and Mason, both have issues with the women in their lives. As I mentioned, Goodspeed and his girlfriend are going to have a little one so that wedding date needs to get pushed up quickly.

The thing is, once Goodspeed gets to San Francisco, he tries to tell his girlfriend not to come for their little getaway because this is something just a little bit more intense than the training exercise he thought he was being called to conduct. Of course, he can't tell her exactly what is going on since that is classified. Well, they get a good start on what many of us consider to be the standard lot of married life when she refuses to listen to him and comes to San Francisco anyway. So, now Goodspeed not only has the lives of hundreds of thousands of Bay area residents in his hands, but the lives of the love of his life and his unborn child.

As for John Mason, he has been incarcerated for two decades but, like I said, he did escape once...just long enough to sire a child who he has never met since he was recaptured before she was born. But, when he briefly escapes for a while this time, he looks her (fortunately, she is in the book and not too far away) up and finds that his little girl, Jade (Claire Forlani Hooligans) is all grown up and open, if careful, about getting to know him...if he could just stop getting arrested by federal marshals.

Like any great action flick, The Rock has more than a handful of wonderful action sequences, starting with the opening scenes and continuing pretty consistently until the scenes when the final solution for the rogue Marines and Alcatraz itself is played out.

Connery is characteristically wonderful in what I feel is one of his most memorable roles. He plays well with Cage and the effective "buddy" setup works extremely well. But, to me, what makes this flick special is the incredibly strong supporting cast and notable performances in relatively small roles from Harris, Spencer, Forsythe, as well as rogue Marines Tony Todd (Murder-Set-Pieces), John C. Mcginley (Crazy As Hell), and David Morse (16 Blocks).

The rock is nothing but a pure thrill ride, with a bunch of cool scenes, more than a couple laughs, done with fine acting, FX, and directing. Action flick lovers, Cage or Connery fans, or fans of doomsday scenarions simply can't miss it.   

Directed by Simon Fellows. Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Julie Cox, William Tapley, Raazaq Adotion, Serbam Celea, Alan McKenna. Action. Synopsis: A Navy SEAL gets more than he bargained for when he arrives for an assignment in Moldavia, that he thinks will be uneventful, only to be thrust in the middle of a siege on the U.S. Embassy as communist rebels attempt the overthrow of the democratically elected president.

I like Van Damme. I've always liked Van Damme. Ever since I first saw Bloodsport back when I wore a younger man's clothes. However, he's behind Seagal (and some others) in my book when it comes to pure action heroes. I know some of you disagree with me, judging from your comments on my previous blog. That's great, I want to encourage healthy debate here. Have I changed my mind after watching Second in Command? 

No.

But I will admit that Jean-Claude has aged considerably better than Seagal (who hasn't) and his acting skills have also noticeably improved (nowhere to go but up). This film is a fun one for anyone that goes into it with realistic expectations. Having said that, I will say that it will probably be a little disappointing for Van Damme fans who want to see him kick butt all over the place, there is actually not to much of that and almost no extended martial arts scenes. However, the story and acting are above par for this type of "B" action flick.

Van Damme is a Navy SEAL who has been assigned to duty at the U.S. Embassy in Moldavia, where he wants to take the opportunity to renew acquaintances with an old flame, TV correspondent Michelle (Julie Cox). He does, but soon everthing is, as they say, cast asunder as Communist rebels storm the hotel where Jean-Claude is making whopee, and they set their sights on the Embassy itself as well as disposing the freely elected President (Serban Celea). Jean-Claude manages to spirit the Prez to the temporary safety of the Embassy where he is, as you might guess, the second in command.

What follows is the expected siege of the inadequately protected Embassy, with Jean-Claude, Michelle, and a few hardy Marines (led by the neat performance of Raz Adotion as the Gunnery Sergeant) trying to stave off the Commies until the cavalry sent by the Pentagon can arrive.

Nothing new or innovative here, although there is a twist as to who is with the bad guys, but you could call that with your eyes closed. However, as I said, the story and acting are better than you would think and that makes for a decent flick. The videography is o.k., though I think they tried too hard with the CGI to make this obvious B flick look like a big budget flick.

But, its not too bad. In fact, its kinda' good. If this is what you're looking for.