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DVD Hart's War
Anyone who appreciates subtle tension will enjoy this World War II prison-camp drama, based on John Katzenbach's novel, in which honor, courage, and sacrifice are revealed in unexpected ways. Bruce Willis plays the ranking U.S. prisoner in a Nazi POW camp, joined in December 1944 by a law-student lieutenant (up-and-coming star Colin Farrell) who'd been captured despite his father's powerful military connections. When a black pilot (Terrence Dashon Howard) from the famous Tuskeegee airmen is falsely accused of murdering a fellow prisoner, Farrell tries his case and discovers the real motivation behind Willis's kangaroo court. While combining elements of Stalag 17 and The Great Escape, director Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear, Frequency) spices this moral dilemma with well-crafted suspense and a rousing dogfight sequence, but the human drama remains muted despite fine, understated performances by Willis, Farrell, and Howard. An escape thriller with an ethical twist, Hart's War works best as a study of heroism under extraordinary circumstances. --Jeff Shannon
Compelling Drama sabotaged by Marketing Campaign that tried to make it an Action movie!
I finally got around to watching this movie last night (after buying it for $4 on DVD a few weeks ago) and I can say I was very pleasantly surprised by it after reading so many negative reviews.
The Problem: This film was mareketed poorly - the trailers give an accurate idea of the content, but they give you the wrong impression as to the tone. Because Bruce Willis is in it, they chose to make it out to contain tons of action and heroic combat! They also chose to make it appear to be a Bruce Willis vehicle. Let me tell you, if you are renting or buying it for either of the above reasons, you will hate it! The "combat action" scenes are sparse (two scenes) and extremely short (though very exciting when they do occur. And Bruce Willis is really a supporting actor to Farrel - in fact, of the major characters, he probably has less screen time than anyone else, and is rarely seen outside of Farrel's perspective.
(Also, Americans seem to reject the idea that Nazis in an interrment camp could have had a shred of civility. Perhaps this film gave them a little too much credit - but I think that even as evil as they were, not all Nazis were inhuman brutes.)
The Good: So, the first thing you need to do is lay aside your expectation of a SAVING PRIVATE RYAN or GUNS OF NAVARONNE type movie. This is a drama! And it is a very good one. There are several layers to this story - one is that of Lt. Hart's (Colin Farrel) need for redemption after an early failure in the film. His assignment to defend the falsely accused marine gives him that chance. The main story is the trial of a marine who asserts he was framed for the murder of a fellow marine in the stockade. Farrel quickly learns that the cards are stacked against him as the presiding officer McNamara (Willis) seemse bent on a guilty verdict. This sets up some very tense confrontations between the two.
Adding a second layer to this drama is the apparently misunderstood character of the commanding Nazi officer Werner Visser. Visser represents an aging officer who has wound up in a remote post and seems to have accepted this lesser role. (Someone commented below that his "nice guy" attitude would not get him far in the German Army - ahem, well, I think that's the point - that's why he's watching over a camp rather than storming the frontlines!) He is a foil to Willis's McNamara, who wants nothing more than to get back to the war. The confusion as to why Visser suddenly wants to help Hart is that people perceive this as Visser suddenly becoming the nice Nazi. Well, anyone paying attention can see that Visser is ONLY motivated by getting back at McNamara. Hart is a convenient tool to do so - but there is not fondness for Hart from Visser, as you will see by the film's end.
The third layer is that of the racist motivation behind the original crime. Two of the confined officers are African-American, and they are portrayed in a very heroic light here - but the white enlisted men are very prejudiced to their presence (this is the 40s, remember). This gives ample opportunity to see racism as it truly is - these are fine outstanding officers, but their contributions are ignored by those who only see the color of their skin. Someone said below that the film portrayed the African-American soldiers as Spineless and hapless - I don't know what movie he saw, I think the film COMBATED this misconception!
Combining these three threads takes a skillful director, and Hoblit shows himself up to the task. The film never loses momentum, but switches nicely between the various threads. The writing is crisp, the cinematography is appropriately drab and dreary in its own beautiful way (love the light beams coming through the barrack windows) and the few actions scenes keep the excitement level high. All told, this is an excellent movie, and one I am proud to own - it's a shame more people will miss out on it because of the critics who didn't get it.
The Bad: That is not to say it is the perfect film. I did have a difficult time following alot of what was going on for the first hour, but near the end, when a plot twist was introduced, much of these scenes made more sense. Also, some of the dialogue was either poorly recorded, or poorly delivered. But, my main gripe was covered above about the misleading marketing of this film.
The Summation: Think of it as a combination of THE GREAT ESCAPE, A FEW GOOD MEN, and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - with the final sum being just a few notches below each of these titles, and you'll get an idea of what you're in for . . . give it a chance!
Awful!
Saw "Hart's War" the other night and couldn't really believe anyone would invest money and time in a film as awful as this one. This film bombed at the box office and was yanked from circulation after only a few days. Here are ten reasons why:
1. This film isn't "The Great Escape" and even though he would probably like to think otherwise, Bruce Willis isn't Steve McQueen. Even though Willis received top billing, this is a Colin Farrell vehicle.
2. The vast majority of the target audience of 18-34 year old moviegoing males could care less about what happened during the Reagan administration, much less World War II. "Hart's War" may just as well be a film about a POW camp during the War of 1812. Anything with Vin Diesel or the Rock would be bound to sell more tickets.
3. As far as depicting life in a POW camp, "Hart's War" is pretty much on par with "Hogan's Heroes". The Germans are nice guys with guns who don't know very much and everyone gets away with just about anything. Where did the GI's get all those cigarettes, anyway?
4. Any Stalag Luft comandant worth his weight in sauerkraut would have just as soon killed the Bruce Willis character as look at him. As depicted in "Hart's War", the camp commandant (as portrayed by Marcel Lures) would have had a very difficult time maintaining any sort of status as an officer in the German Army. His collection of American jazz/blues records is a cute writer's invention that has nothing to do with the reality of the situation, or of the type of men who were in charge of German POW camps. In reality, the Marcel Lures character would probably have been relegated to another type of nazi camp with a pink triangle sewn on the front of his tunic.
5. The storyline is not completely unbelievable - trials did take place in POW camps, one good example being the POW's who were tried and hung in Andersonville; However, the whole idea that the camp's commandant would actively participate in such a trial as sort of a Jerry Springer type advocate is ludicrous.
6. The idea that during the trial, a group of POW's who escape go on a secret mission to destroy a nearby munitions factory is insulting. Not only did nothing like this ever happen during World War II, it degrades the bravery of those poor souls whose only act of heroism was to survive internment under harsh and sometimes brutal conditions. The German army simply wasn't that stupid.
7. I saw this film once and didn't like it. I thought that maybe the second time would be better. It wasn't.
8. Beyond being sheer Hollywood political correctness, "Hart's War" seriously misrepresents many of the more important aspects of internment. It ignores the real focus of life in such a Stalag which, for most POW's, was just day to day survival. Also, the soldiers who served in our armed forces during World War II and also happened to be African Americans weren't spineless, hapless dopes.
9. Bruce Willis playing the same role in variations of "Die Hard" over and over and over again is tiring.
10. Better films about the same sort of subject matter are "The Tuskeegee Airmen" and "Stalag 17". Hopefully in a few years, "Hart's War" will be completely forgotten, and these dvd's will be rotting in some landfill.
A twist on WW II!
I thought the movie had a great plot. The Bruce Willis role of being in charge of a POW camp in Germany. To sacifice a black American Airman for the good of an escape plot is abhorrid. The thing is I'm sure this could have some historical merit. Collin's role is quite good as he launches his investigation into the war crime. It brought up racial bigotry in a way not told too often. We talk of the atrocities of Nazi Germany, but we do the same things here --- even today. I did not think Collin's role should have pointed out the area where Allied men were after being captured before arriving at the POW Camp. Being a fan of Mr. Linus Roache, (great British thespian) was not pleased he had such a small role in this film either. He deserves better from US films. Other than the fiction of the '60s comedy Hogan's Heroes, I really doubt that things in a POW Camp in Germany, or anywhere are really that calm. If your a fan of Bruce Willis, or Collin Ferrell this would be for you. As for me being a fan of Linus Roache it left flatter than old soda. Also this was a film of merit as it delved into the subject of racism in America, and everywhere.
A modern era message here maybe, "We have No Business in Iraq," We should clean our own house first, then help other nations.
Shot in the rough, 16-millimeter style of a low-budget documentary, Tigerland marked director Joel Schumacher's welcomed return to simplicity after a slew of bloated blockbusters like Batman & Robin. In revitalizing Schumacher's directorial talent, Tigerland--partially inspired by the Danish Dogme 95 movement of no-frills filmmaking--suggested that one solution to Hollywood's moribund "product" was to abandon excess, focus on essentials, and assemble a fine cast of unknown actors to make it all worthwhile. To that end, Tigerland also marked the deserving arrival of Irish actor Colin Farrell as Hollywood's hottest new discovery.
Its story never leaves U.S. soil, so Tigerland differs from such in-country Vietnam films as Platoon and Full... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Colin Farrell Director(s): Joel Schumacher DVD Release Date: Released the 18 December 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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While it offers nothing new to the military action genre, Tears of the Sun distinguishes itself with fine acting, expert craftsmanship, and seriousness of purpose. Its familiar "extraction mission" plot is essentially similar to that of Black Hawk Down, involving a crack team of U.S. Special Ops commandos struggling to rescue innocent missionaries amidst the bloody horror of Nigerian ethnic cleansing. With Bruce Willis as their grizzled, no-nonsense commander, the skillful team enters a hot zone that gets even hotter when their "package"--an American national (Monica Bellucci) who runs the isolated mission--demands that 70 Nigerian villagers be included in the rescue. Willis's uneasy conscience leads him to defy orders and expand his mission, and in an ambitious follow up to... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Bruce Willis - Monica Bellucci - Cole Hauser Director(s): Antoine Fuqua DVD Release Date: Released the 10 June 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Having earned Hollywood's respect with blockbusters like Face/Off and Mission: Impossible 2, Hong Kong action master John Woo lends his signature style to serious World War II action in Windtalkers. Recognizing the long-forgotten contribution of Navajo "code talkers," whose use of an unbreakable Navajo-language radio code was instrumental in defeating the Japanese, the film serves as an admirable tribute to those Native American heroes. Unfortunately, it falls short of importance with its standard-issue story about a battle-scarred sergeant (Nicolas Cage) assigned to protect a code-talker (Adam Beach, from Smoke Signals), with unspoken orders to kill him if Japanese capture is imminent. This allows for an involving drama of hard-won friendship, but cardboard... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Nicolas Cage - Adam Beach Director(s): John Woo DVD Release Date: Released the 15 October 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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"Nothing is as it seems" in The Recruit, a guessing-game thriller that employs plot twists and conflicting loyalties as its primary raison d'être. Surrounded by potential deception, a newly recruited CIA officer (Colin Farrell) must determine if his manipulative instructor (Al Pacino) is being honest when he identifies Farrell's fellow recruit and love interest (Bridget Moynihan) as an enemy "mole" assigned to steal a dangerous computer virus from CIA headquarters. While claiming to offer an insider's look at CIA training methods, this engrossing yet ultimately predictable plot is pure Hollywood fantasy; any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental, leaving the perpetually unshaven and scruffily coiffed Farrell to fend for himself in Pacino's cynical arena while tracing... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Al Pacino - Colin Farrell - Bridget Moynahan Director(s): Roger Donaldson DVD Release Date: Released the 27 May 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Based on the book by Lt. Col. Harold Moore (ret.) and journalist Joseph Galloway, We Were Soldiers offers a dignified reminder that the Vietnam War yielded its own crop of American heroes. Departing from Hollywood's typically cynical treatment of the war, writer-director Randall Wallace focuses on the first engagement of American soldiers with the North Vietnamese enemy in November 1965. Moore (played with colorful nuance by Mel Gibson) and nearly 400 inexperienced troopers from the U.S. Air Cavalry were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese Army soldiers, and the film re-creates this brutal firefight with graphic authenticity, while telling the parallel story of grieving army wives back home. While UPI reporter Galloway (Barry Pepper) risks his life to chronicle the battle, Wallace... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Randall Wallace DVD Release Date: Released the 20 August 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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