Chris Do's Reviews

We Were Soldiers (2002)

6/10

4 March 2002

Warning: Spoilers

We Were Soldiers has a few powerful moments and lots of sloppy cinematography.The way Moore was portrayed, many a time, I thought I was watching a hagiographic film. He may well be that saintly but the script went overboard in that respect. The fighting scenes were graphic but not very realistic.

*** SPOILERS***

Witness for example the last sequence when the Americans fixed bayonets and charged (I wonder if that actually occurred): exactly when they were running into a machine gun nest, suddenly, helicopter gun ships appeared out of nowhere to clean up the field (and somehow, the Vietnamese never heard them coming!) in a Rambo-like sequence. In another case that cannot be possibly historical, the bespectacled enemy soldier charged Moore and his entourage to be shot just when he was about to stab our bigger than life hero. Any sane soldier would just have stopped and shot everybody, or came on with gun blazing, but this one got a convenient brain cramp.

***END OF SPOILERS***

So in short, very disappointing though sometimes emotionally brilliant movie. And by the way, it is totally misleading to state that the battle pitted 400 Americans against 4000 Vietnamese. The truth is, 400 supported by air power and heavy artillery on the defensive against an enemy with no heavy weaponry actually is a winning odd in any battle.

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Black Hawk Down (2001)

7/10

Propaganda

26 January 2002

Let's put it this way: the soldierly fraternity antics at the beginning were bland and incomprehensible; Americans never missed their shot (except when firing at one another), and are accorded 5 minutes death scenes; the locals, on the other hand, are killed at a rate of 5 a minute, if not more, and are seen charging headlong into withering fires to be shot like they were Zulus at Isandwanah, or just running aimlessly about, again to be shot, nameless and faceless. They may have no notion of tactics but they were certainly not that stupid or suicidal (which kind of remind me of the final combat scenes from Saving Private Ryan where German elite Waffen SS troops were running around aimlessly too). The dialogs of course were ludicrous: the locals got to say endearing lines "killing is negotiating" while Americans had: "tell mom and pop I fought well". And by the way, they looked nothing like Somalis but were clearly West Africans. So in closing, I expect this movie to serve for years to come as recruiting video for the US military, and that's about it.

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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

10/10

Magical and mythical

17 January 2002

Crouching Tiger Hidden dragon is a transcendental experience. With exceptional fight choreography, Zhang Ziyi, lush cinematography, Zhang Ziyi, beautiful score, Zhang Ziyi, it effortlessly pulls you into a world of wonders. Like an expansive painting it captures the mind of those willing and able to perceive the artistry, those who understand that true art does not answer to "reality", and above all, that magical and mythical moments cannot be and should not be explained. Myths strive in mystery. The day when George Lucas explain the force, Star Wars will have lost its appeal (it may already have...)

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Amélie (2001)

10/10

Psychologically insightful

28 December 2001

This movie is stylish beyond belief. But what strikes me most is the way it manages to capture the reality of human emotions, how internal monologues are played out in the form of TV programs, how dreams are simulated by the magical movements of inanimate objects and talking photographs! It is a charismatic portrayal of inner existence and the most natural desire to pursue happiness, both in our life and that of others.

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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

7/10

Pretty, insipid movie

28 December 2001

Very, very pretty to look at but not much substance nor emotions. The ludicrous story is a series of badly set and edited fights in which literally hundreds of villains of all stripes are cut to pieces by a group of nine fellows, four of which are puny little things you wouldn't trust to defeat a hamster. Unless you are already a fanatic, there is nothing to appreciate but the artistic direction which is flawless.

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The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

9/10

A true epic

28 December 2001

Lush, expansive, magnificent to behold. Big, hunky heroes, beautiful, feminine women, it is epic without, computer generated rubbish nor feel-good characters nor a feel-good ending. Accompanied by a rousing score, it is the best epic of the 90s.

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Chris Do

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