Tag Archives: War Movie

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Why I Did Not Like The Alamo (1960)

I was convinced that I had read somewhere that The Alamo, produced and directed by and starring John Wayne,  was a great movie. Well… It isn’t. It is bordering the ridiculous. There is dialogue in this movie that would fill me with shame if I had written it, I’d probably even be tempted to shoot myself. No, seriously… Horrible. Corny and just plain insufferable. It’s always great when you laugh during 50% of a movie that isn’t meant to be funny (I mean, just look at the picture).

The story? Texas fighting for its independence from Mexico… A minority against a majority. A hopeless battle. You won’t shed one tear but be annoyed those gits  didn’t die any earlier.

It doesn’t even deserve a proper review. Or maybe I’m just lazy. No, honestly, this was BAD.

Remember the Alamo! I will….

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Grace is Gone (2007) A War Themed Movie About Collateral Damage I Did Not Like


Dear Mr Cusack,

I don’t think I am entitled to call you “John” after all we are not that familiar with one another.

I must tell you that I am really disappointed in you.

What the hell have you been thinking?

After so many fine movies, one of which a favourite of mine, The Thin Red Line,  and many good ones from other genres (High Fidelity, Con Air, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Being John Malkovich, Identity and whatever not)  I come across this horrible, weepy and truly no-go movie Grace is Gone?

What happened? Did they force you to act in it or did you have some sort of temporary dissociation problem?

You did look super rough to say the least (geeky is actually the  word). If there was some sort of problem in your personal life, that would explain a lot, wouldn’t it?

I truly appreciate the effort of some film directors to make movies about so-called collateral damage and that’s what this movie is all about. Your wife in the movie, this Grace woman, she gets killed in action in Iraq. Not an uninteresting topic to base a movie on BUT… Grace is Gone is so awfully boring, unimaginative and just plain dull, it should really not figure in your list of movies.

It would have taken a better person than I am to keep quiet about this one-off.

However I do feel obliged to let you know that I still believe in your capability to choose good movies.

That the theme of collateral damage can be done in a very convincing way has been shown by the crew of  The Messenger.

All this said, I wish you all the best for your future filmmaking.

Yours sincerely,

allaboutwarmovies

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Danger UXB (1979) A Clever British TV Series about a Bomb Squad During the Blitz

I would say that this British TV series is one of the most realistic stories ever told about London during the Blitz and the dangerous duty of defusing the numerous unexploded bombs that hit the country. Danger UXB focuses on a young lieutenant, Brian Ash (Anthony Andrews), appointed to a bomb squad. His squad defuses all sorts of unexploded German bombs. This is highly stressful and very difficult. There are so many different types of bombs with different types of fuses. Magnetic, movement detectors, chemical reaction, clock work and time delay fuses. The bombs are found in many different places such as  schools, gardens, back yards, living rooms,  a night club, a factory  which gives ample opportunity to tell side stories and show the lives of ordinary people during this time. It is hard to imagine what it must have been like to be bombed every single night. The series manages to give a very good feel for the danger of this line of work.  I would say Danger UXB provides a rare combination of instruction and entertainment, combining historical accuracy with tales of everyday lives and the story of one young officer, his work , his dealings with fellow officers and commanders and  his love life. British TV is a great source for realistic historical series and movies. I haven’t seen Piece of Cake yet but it is sitting here, waiting to be watched. Danger UXB is far less known. I highly recommend it. I think it is also interesting to compare it to the ubiquitous The Hurt Locker (see my post on The Hurt Locker) and see the difference between a bomb squad now and then.

I attached a video for you, where you can see that each episode initiates with original footage to enhance accuracy. Unfortunately this video has an addition to it but it is the best I could come up with. I couldn’t find any trailer only some fan videos but they had insufferable music.

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The Silent City (2006) A Short War Movie starring Cillian Murphy

I discovered this short Irish movie thanks to Novroz. I hadn’t heard of it. It is well done but admittedly very short. There doesn’t seem to be any intention of making a full length movie out of The Silent City. I have a feeling they quote quite a few movies. Starship Troopers and Behind Enemy Lines?  The back of the uniforms look like backbones. I was also reminded of District 9. Definitely a Sci-Fi thing ging on here. Be it as it may, watch it, it’s worth it.