Zulu Dawn (1979) is the prequel to the 1964 film Zulu which tells the story of a proud British army which suffered the worst defeat ever inflicted by a native army during the Victorian era. Burt Lancaster (Colonel Anthony Durnford), Peter O’ Toole (Lord Frederick Chelmsford), Simon Ward (Lt. William Vereker), Bob Hoskins (Sgt-Major Willams), James Faulkner (Lt. Melvill and film’s producer), Denholm Elliot (Lt. Col. Henry Pulliene), and Sir John Mills (Sir Henry Bartle Frere) head the cast of British officers and bureaucrats which began the legendary Anglo-Zulu war.
The film is a rather well researched account of the battle at Isandlwana. This was in Zulu land which bordered the British colony of Natal in South Africa. In January, 1879. Sir Henry Bartle Frere (Mills) is the High Commissioner for her majesty Queen Victoria who along with Lord Chelmsford (O’ Toole), insight a war against King Cetshwayo, the King of the Zulu people who rules in ways that the British view as a threat to their colony and hegemony in the region.
After a British ultimatum to disband his army, Cetshwayo refuses to capitulate to the British and the war begins. Lord Chelmsford leads his army which consists of two battalions of the 24th regiment of foot, to cross the Buffalo River which divides the border of the Zulu territory. Believing that their technological superiority will aid them in victory, the British send 1350 troops against a Zulu army of 25,000.
Green Zone is the third collaboration between director Paul Greengrass and actor Matt Damon. Previously, the two brought us The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. If you are hoping for another adrenaline laced conspiracy drama, this movie will meet you half way. There is conspiracy in excess, but the adrenaline-not so much.
The first half hour does a great job of depicting how unstable conditions in Baghdad were early on in the Iraq war. Greengrass ratchets up the tension and dread much like Kathryn Bigelow did in The Hurt Locker, by merely giving us a glimpse into everyday life after the initial destabilization of Iraq. Soldiers wear heavy uniforms in blistering conditions, and crowded city streets could easily be harboring suicide bombers or other dangers. Everyone is constantly and understandably on edge.
Unfortunately, during the second half of the movie much of the action takes place at night. Greengrass elected to film these scenes with his signature hand-cam, and these scenes are grainy, jarring and indecipherable.
I don’t mind watching documentary style film, and fortunately I don’t get sick from shaky cam (heed my warning, if you have any tendency to get nauseous during this type of camera work, this movie will do you in), but it is really annoying when you cannot see anything that is going on. I found my mind wandering to my mental list of chores during some really crucial chase scenes, because I just kind of gave up on trying to figure out what is going on.
This Week’s pick is yet again another World War II classic, the 1969 John Guillerman (King Kong 1976) film The Bridge At Remagen which stars George Segal (Lt. Phil Hartman), Ben Gazzara (Sgt. Angelo), Robert Vaughn (Major Paul Krueger), Bradford Dillman (Major Barnes) and screen great E.G. Marshall as General Shinner.
The film opens in March of 1945 as the American 9th Armored Div began to push elements of the retreating German army back towards the Rhine River. The German high command wants all the bridges over the Rhine destroyed in order to halt the advance of the allies from reaching the heart of Germany.
But one high ranking officer, General Von Brock (Peter Van Eyck) enlists the help of Major Paul Krueger (Vaughn) to keep one bridge, the bridge at Remagen up in order to allow the German 15th Army and its seventy-five thousand men to retreat and avoid capture. Krueger accepts the mission believing that a large force stationed at the bridge will stop the advancing Americans.
The Americans however want the bridge destroyed, but in the end keep it up as a way to help shorten the war. Both the Germans and Americans don’t realize it yet, but Remagen will become one of the last decisive battles of the war in Europe.
The Big Red One: The Reconstruction is director Samuel Fuller’s (Fixed Bayonets, The Steel Helmet, Merrill’s Marauders) autobiographical account of his experiences with the legendary 1st U.S. infantry division throughout World War II. Lee Marvin leads the cast of raw recruits which include Griff (Mark Hamill, fresh from success in Star Wars), Zab (Robert Carradine, who doubles as Fuller and the film’s narrator), Vinci (Bobby Di Cicco), Kaiser (Perry Lang), and Johnson (Kelly Ward).
This version of the 1980 film was released several years following Fuller’s death, which was in 1997, as a tribute to his lasting work and the version he intended his audiences to see. When this version was released in early 2005, I was overjoyed to see the original forty seven minutes which Fuller was forced to cut by the Warner Bros. executives.
The film opens as the guns fell silent on the Western Front in France during World War I in November of 1918. Lee Marvin begins his military career as a private who outlasts the war only twenty five years later, to fight once again on the battlefields of North Africa, Sicily, and Europe. The film serves as a combat diary of Marvin and his rifle squad of young, inexperienced boys who fast become hardened soldiers.
Kelly’s Heroes is a war film that has all the great elements of an old fashion, rousing epic that keeps your attention all the way through. Set in the late summer of 1944 as the allies swept across occupied France, Kelly (played by the ever cool Clint Eastwood) and his squad of screwball infantry men find out that the Germans are holding over sixteen million dollars worth of gold bars in a bank thirty miles behind enemy lines.
Tired of the politics of infantry life and the gross inefficiency of their Captain, Kelly and the rest of the squad run by tough sergeant ‘Big Joe’ (Telly Savalas), cook up a scheme to go behind the lines with three M-4 Sherman tanks to rob the bank. As the movie poster states: “They set out to rob a bank and damn near won a war instead.”
With Kelly’s Heroes, Eastwood began his second collaboration with director Brian G. Hutton, who had directed him a year earlier in the highly successful Where Eagles Dare (1969) — a movie which solidified Eastwood’s status as a major box office star. What makes Kelly’s Heroes such an interesting film is the fact that it was made in 1970 as the U.S. was beginning to downsize its presence in Vietnam.
Director Francis Lawrence, who’s previous credits include I Am Legend, Constantine and TV’s Kings has picked up another directing gig. He will take on the big screen adaptation of DC’s comic character Sgt. Rock for producers Joel Silver and Akiva Goldsman. The film, who’s previous director Guy Ritchie left to take on DC’s Lobo adaptation, will be scripted by relative newcomer Chad St. John.
Another change announced for this project is the shift from a WWII setting, where in the comics Sgt. Rock leads his “Easy Company” team of soldiers against the Nazis, to the future where, reportedly, the producers feel the film will be more universally accepted due to the comic’s current “pro-America” stance. Plus, the producers are worried about the relative box office success of a big budget WWII action film, Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds notwithstanding.
I guess both of those things make sense. Although, I would argue that WWII is a great place to set a movie and Nazis are always okay as bad guys. Look at the huge success of the Call of Duty video game franchise and Tarantinio’s film as examples. Setting the film in the future, whatever that might mean, just seems kinda like a cop out.
No word on casting or a release date for the film as of yet. Or on what further changes will be made to the premise. We’ll keep an eye on this one and let you know what develops.
Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds is the WW II movie we’ve needed to see since the war ended. Some might consider it overlong or self-indulgent, but it showcases Tarantino’s filmmmaking skills at their finest and serves as an example of one filmmaker’s singular vision and immense storytelling craft. It is immensely entertaining, and at times brilliant, for its entire running time.
Those going into the film hoping to see lots of bloody action like some of the director’s other films are going to be somewhat disappointed. There is some violence and gore to be sure, but this is a war movie that barely features any of the war. Instead, Tarantino focuses on the people and a very personal story of revenge. This is what Inglourious Basterds is at its core: a revenge film.
From the first scene where we’re introduced to “Jew Hunter” Colonel Landa (brilliantly played by Christoph Waltz) and he lets young Shosanna Dreyfus go instead of killing her as he did with her family, the stage is set for Shoshana’s revenge on the man, and the Nazis, who took everything from her and so many others. This is not just Shoshanna’s personal tale of revenge, however, its the cathartic revenge for all Jews — and by extension all people — who suffered at the hands of the Nazis.
Chances are if you get a lot of your news and entertainment online, you’re probably using one or more of the “social networks” like MySpace or Facebook. If so, you’re also probably using one of the fastest growing online destinations where people interact and “follow” their favorite friends and celebrities. I’m talking, of course, about Twitter.
We’ve got a Twitter account of our very own here at The Flickcast and we’re not alone. Many companies have established a presence on Twitter and send out updates, or ‘Tweets”, whenever they have something new to say or, in our case and many other sites similar to ours, when a new article is published. Many of these companies and celebrities have a huge following on Twitter, so its no surprise that one of them would partner with Twitter for the premiere of its brand new movie.
That’s just what The Weinstein Company is doing next week in conjunction with the premiere of Quentin Tarantino’s latest film Inglourious Basterds. According to the company, guests at the Hollywood premiere of the film will “be able to see timely conversations, opinions and experiences as they emerge from the red carpet on special large screens at the premiere and at the exclusive after-party. Twitter-users at home and on mobile devices around the globe can even interact.”
Biz Stone, Twitter co-founder, is equally as excited for the event, saying: “The Weinstein Company’s idea to throw the first ever Red Carpet Tweet-Up for this premiere is brilliant and I’m looking forward to it,” So, if you’re a fan of Tarantino, looking forward to his latest film and love to “Tweet,” be sure to fire up your favorite Twitter application next Tuesday for the Red Carpet Tweet-up and join in the fun.
We’ve posted quite a few things about Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming World War 2 romp here on the site, from clips of angry Nazis to awesome new posters, but it looks like this newest one has to be the best, and it was only released in France. The trailer shows the film in a new light, making it slightly less dark and more comedic, with lots more Brad Pitt talking about “Nat-zee Scalps”.
Today, HBO has released the “official’ trailer for Steven Spielberg and Tom Hank’s miniseries sequel to Band of Brothers called The Pacific. The new show, as opposed to Band of Brothers which followed paratroopers in Europe, tells the story of the Pacific Fleet’s journey through the 2nd World War.
According to HBO’s press release about the miniseries:
“Made up of 10 episodes and produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman, the creative team behind the Emmy-winning 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, The Pacific tracks the intertwined odysseys of three U.S. Marines – Robert Leckie, Eugene Sledge and John Basilone – across the vast canvas of the Pacific.
The extraordinary experiences of these men and their fellow Marines take them from the first clash with the Japanese in the haunted jungles of Guadalcanal, up the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima, to the triumphant, yet uneasy, return home after V-J Day”
As a big fan of Band of Brothers, I can’t wait to see this. It looks great.
The Pacific premieres on HBO in early 2010. Check out the trailer after the break.
Zulu Dawn (1979) is the prequel to the 1964 film Zulu which tells the story of a proud British army which suffered the worst defeat ever inflicted by a native army during the Victorian era. Burt Lancaster (Colonel Anthony Durnford), Peter O’ Toole (Lord Frederick Chelmsford), Simon Ward (Lt. William Vereker), Bob Hoskins (Sgt-Major Willams), James Faulkner (Lt. Melvill and film’s producer), Denholm Elliot (Lt. Col. Henry Pulliene), and Sir John Mills (Sir Henry Bartle Frere) head the cast of British officers and bureaucrats which began the legendary Anglo-Zulu war.
Director Francis Lawrence, who’s previous credits include I Am Legend, Constantine and TV’s Kings has picked up another directing gig. He
Chances are if you get a lot of your news and entertainment online, you’re probably using one or more of the “social networks” like 
Today, HBO has released the “official’ trailer for Steven Spielberg and Tom Hank’s miniseries sequel to Band of Brothers called The Pacific. The new show, as opposed to Band of Brothers which followed paratroopers in Europe, tells the story of the Pacific Fleet’s journey through the 2nd World War.
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