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The Hunt for Red October, a review by Antares

The Hunt for Red October





Year: 1990
Film Studio: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Action, Drama, Suspense/Thriller
Length: 135 Min.

Director
John McTiernan (1951)

Writing
Tom Clancy (1947)...Novel "The Hunt For Red October"
Larry Ferguson (1940)...Screenplay
Donald Stewart (1930)...Screenplay

Producer
Larry DeWaay
Mace Neufeld (1928)
Jerry Sherlock

Cinematographer
Jan De Bont (1943)

Music
Basil Poledouris (1945)...Composer

Stars
Sean Connery (1930) as Marko Ramius
Alec Baldwin (1958) as Jack Ryan
Scott Glenn (1941) as Bart Mancuso
Sam Neill (1947) as Captain Borodin
James Earl Jones (1931) as Admiral Greer
Joss Ackland (1928) as Andrei Lysenko
Richard Jordan (1938) as Jeffrey Pelt
Peter Firth (1953) as Ivan Putin

ReviewThe Hunt for Red OctoberThe Hunt for Red October is a taut and well paced suspense drama. Its screenplay pulls no punches and plays it safe, giving the viewer exactly what they are expecting. My contention though, is that in another twenty five years or so, it will appear as anachronistic as The Longest Day or The Battle of the Bulge does to modern day audiences.


Ratings Criterion

(From The Hunt for Red October (1990) on February 27th, 2010)

The Desert Rats, a review by KinkyCyborg

The Desert Rats




Title:The Desert Rats
Year: 1953
Director: Robert Wise
Rating: NR
Length: 88 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, English: Dolby Digital: Mono, Spanish: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Richard Burton (1925)
Robert Newton
Robert Douglas
Torin Thatcher
Chips Rafferty

Plot:
The story of the men who stopped Rommel!

RICHARD BURTON stars in this exciting film about the courageous men who held off notorious German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, despite being hopelessly outnumbered. The year is 1941, and all that stands between Rommel and the Suez Canal is the fortress of Tobruk, which is manned only by a small Australian battalion whom Captain MacRoberts (BURTON) must whip them in to shape - fast! JAMES MASON co-stars in a stunning portrayal as Rommel in this stirring, action-packed story of the World War II heroes known as THE DESERT RATS.

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Closed Captioned
B&W


Everyone knows I love my war movies, especially ones that recount actual events. This one tells the story of the Australian 9th Division Infantry unit that was asked to hold the city of Tobruk, Libya in Northern Africa against German Field Marshall Rommel's forces for two months! In fact they held it for 8 months, never giving up the position.

While the story was great and the acting credible, this has to be one of the most poorly shot war movies I have ever watched. Dark grainy footage throughout, it was difficult at times to figure out what exactly was transpiring. Even by 1953 standards this could and should have had a better quality of picture. Another major gaffe was the exclusion of subtitles during the German speaking parts which just added to the puzzlement of what was going on.

Richard Burton played the English Captain in charge of the Aussies who is duty bound to perform but morally conflicted which is a rather standard, cliched premise in war movies. He was good as was James Mason playing Rommell although he didn't get nearly enough screen time. The rest of the cast was fleshed out with mostly unknowns.

I didn't mind this movie but Fox War Classics has put out much better.

KC

Rating:


(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2011 on April 13th, 2011)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

1. When She Was Bad
Buffy's got a new, not-so-nice attitude; the Anointed One plans to resurrect the Master.

My Thoughts:
A good start to the second season. I like how they made it so Buffy had to deal with all that she went through during the end of season 1.

2. Some Assembly Required
Someone is building a woman using body parts from different girls ... and Cordelia's head is on the wish list.

My Thoughts:
Another decent episode... enjoyable... but nothing special really.

3. School Hard
Spike and Drusilla come to town, and Spike invades Parent-Teacher night.

My Thoughts:
Excellent episode! Definitely one of my favorites. The episode that started the Spike craze that swamps the Buffy fans... Even though I like Spike well enough... I don't know why he is as well liked as he is.

4. Inca Mummy Girl
Buffy and Joyce offer to take in a foreign exchange student, but instead get a life-sucking mummy who's taken an interest in Xander.

My Thoughts:
Another good episode. First it is a giant insect... then it is a mummy girl... poor Xander just has no luck what so ever.

(From Buffy the Vampire Slayer Marathon on November 10th, 2007)