A real favorite movie of mine, I'm really happy to see Murphy's War on DVD. ++++Spoilers++++ It is a shame for Murphy the way the end goes, and it will totally blow you away kinda like the jolt of watching the Bedford Incident ending had for me. But really, Murphy got a raw deal because those Nazi's deserved to die after all the atrocities they had done. Ok Ok they were following orders just kill the Captain I guess. Great moments of Murphy flying a seaplane and not knowing how to fly, the dropping the bombs dead on with wick fuses is really far fetched but for some reason I totally was into it and never questioned that till now. The only other thing I did notice right off was the modern sub used but thats totally understandable and its a pretty boat too. I know, I know, war is a bad thing, and I guess a heroic Murphy ending is very boreing so that wouldn't work. However don't forget England had Chamberlain who was the worlds darling for saving the world in 1939 or so and look what happened. Highly Recommended
The Wrath of O'Toole
Peter O'Toole plays Murphy, one of the sole survivors of merchantman destroyed by U-Boat late in WWII. In a swampy and remote chunk of South America, Murphy finds asylum among a group of missionaries. The U-Boat however, won't leave him alone. Having little more than a barge, a seaplane and his hatred for the U-Boat and its crew, O'Toole presses on a private war that looks to outlast WWII. As those around Murphy begin to realize how his war has turned into an obsession, we in the audience begin to realize that we're watching an updated version of "Moby Dick", with some diferences that don't amount to an improvement. For one thing, the U-Boat isn't content to be the hunted one - it returns to exact a revenge when one of Murphy's ideas doesn't pan out. Also, when we get a look at the guys driving the U-Boat, we're in for a nasty shock of our own - they look less like steeled seawolves in search of a target than some obnoxious brats who need a bad shave, but otherwise could care less about Murphy once it looks like the war's over. (At least in "Moby Dick" and "Wrath of Khan", there was the implication that the obsession was mutual.) O'Toole acts with the same sort of epic sweep of "Lawrence of Arabia" - which seems ironic given the movie's "private" setting and less than epic scope.
That said, it's still a watchable movie - one of those that's most memorable for its final scene. Like "Wicker Man", the parting shot is one that connotes fury, futility and most of all, finality.
Unique WWII Fiction
A merchant seaman seeks to destroy a German submarine crew in South America to avenge the slaughter of his shipmates. Peter O'Toole is Seaman-machinist Murphy, a sardonic Irishman who miraculously survives a massacre by German submariners who unmercifully gun down Royal Navy sailors in the water after torpedoing their ship. Murphy is rescued by a Quaker medical mission on the shores of a coastal river used by the Germans to hide their boat. Local Indians later rescue the merchant ship's pilot who discloses that his seaplane is recoverable. The Germans discover there is a survivor at the mission and the submarine commander executes the pilot while Murphy is retrieving the plane. Murphy resolves to wage war single-handedly against the Germans.
Murphy's War is a very unique World War II story about an unlikely warrior who takes on overwhelming odds, and controversial when Germany is close to surrendering and ending the war in the Europe. The movie features some exciting flying scenes as Murphy learns to operate the airplane, as well as some surprising changes when he and the Germans fight to the bitter end.
The DVD release is excellent-much better than the old video tape edition.
Three years after Lawrence of Arabia, the largely impressive Lord Jim (1965) finds Peter O'Toole again essaying a self-doubting but remarkable, white Englishman who leads a foreign people against their oppressor. Based on the Joseph Conrad novel, Lord Jim is the story of a British maritime officer, Jim (O'Toole), who takes a brief post on a tramp steamer and flees in terror during a storm at sea. Dogged by a reputation for cowardice, Jim attempts to reinvent himself in his own eyes, commanding an attack against a feudal warlord (Eli Wallach) in a distant, Southeast Asian village and basking in god-like glory afterward. A sinister plot by a gentleman pirate (James Mason) sets the stage for Jim's confrontation with his true destiny. Simplified and adapted by... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Peter O'Toole - James Mason Director(s): Richard Brooks DVD Release Date: Released the 24 August 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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In The Enemy Below Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens are respectively captains of a U.S. destroyer and a German U-boat whose vessels come into conflict in the South Atlantic. Both are good men with a job to do, the script noting Jurgens' distaste for Hitler and the Nazis and engaging our sympathy with the German sailors almost as much as the Americans. Made at the height of the cold war of the 1950s, the film delivers a liberal message of co-operation wrapped inside some spectacular action scenes and a story which builds to a tense and exciting, moving finale. --Gary S. DalkinMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Robert Mitchum - Curd Jürgens Director(s): Dick Powell DVD Release Date: Released the 25 May 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The German offensive in December 1944 became the basis for this all-star Hollywood take on the Battle of the Bulge. Henry Fonda is an officer who predicts the assault, Robert Ryan and Dana Andrews are Army brass skeptical of his intuitions, and Robert Shaw (his hair dyed yellow and his eyes glinting with malice) is a German officer leading the tank attack. Shaw is certainly the most compelling thing about the film, especially in his philosophical debates with ambivalent underling Hans Christian Blech. Elsewhere, the movie jumps around to sidebar stories (cowardly James MacArthur becomes a leader, wheeler-dealer Telly Savalas falls in love) while messing around with the historical facts of the battle. There are interesting episodes, such as the Malmedy massacre of American POWs and the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Henry Fonda - Robert Shaw - Robert Ryan Director(s): Ken Annakin DVD Release Date: Released the 03 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Out of step with the public mood when it was released in 1968, Ice Station Zebra has held up decently as a Guy's Movie. Based on an Alistair MacLean novel, the film is half submarine picture and half spy puzzler, short on action but long on military chatter and espionage gamesmanship. Rock Hudson, looking seasoned and just a little miffed, gives one of his better performances as the captain of a nuclear sub, ordered to the Arctic to check out a disturbance at a research station on the floating ice. He doesn't know the mission, but he's stuck with mysterious passengers: haughty British agent Patrick McGoohan, back-slapping Russian operative Ernest Borgnine, and hostile Marine captain Jim Brown. McGoohan gets the film's best lines and finest fur jacket, but Brown is pretty cool in a... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Rock Hudson - Ernest Borgnine - Patrick McGoohan Director(s): John Sturges DVD Release Date: Released the 11 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Not the typical WW2 spif. Plot is familiar with new Cmdr. trying to fit in and win the loyalty of his men. Enough action to keep the movie interesting. Shows importance of the Underwater Demolition Teams. If you like WW2 navy films, this would be worth viewing. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Lloyd Bacon DVD Release Date: Released the 24 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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