Reviews

I agree with so much of the above.

Foyle's War is off its game. There's a real sense to me of Michael Kitchen just going through the motions.

I had wanted to love this new series of the show and was willing to give it time to find its Cold War feet, but this ISN'T Foyle's War.

Even allowing for character development our beloved Honeysuckle now seems to be playing someone else completely - none of the jolly old Sam - just an austere sadness.

"Sunflower" was also practically incoherent and I just can't imagine the original Sam stooping so low as to produce the transcript of a tapped phone conversation for her Labor MP husband. Felt like his response "It's unthinkable" was more a commentary on today than the immediate post war period. If that's the case it's not very subtle Mr Horowitz.

And just to be really picky, but as a WW2 history buff - why not?. In the Normandy Nazi war crime scene, the American artillery officer is seen wearing his dress uniform - what he'd be wearing on leave in London - not in combat attire ala helmet etc with subtle reference to his rank. That seemed weird to me. A bit like the new Foyle's War in general.

I'm not going to write a review of this remarkable film but just want to share and echo some thoughts.

Yes, the bookends are awful.

The(I believe 101st Airborne)on parade at the end of the film is horribly jarring with MM's gritty, malarial jungle tone--but the film remains a favourite from childhood and into my mid 40's.

Jeff Chandler, for me, was never better---bit like Gregory Peck being never being better than he was as General Frank Savage in "12 o'clock High" And if THAT film was all about the USAAF's "Maxiumum Effort" THIS is the army's version of it,and Sam Fuller imbues it with the eye of the combat GI.

As others have said the battle at Shaduzup is particularly affecting: claustrophobic and just plain hellish.

I reckon this sequence is easily Fuller's greatest pure war movie making in the film--and just bloody unforgettable. As others have noted "Stock" walking between the concrete blocks at the battle's end is haunting.

Sam Fuller who fought in North Africa/Europe might just have also made the best film about the US Army in the Asia/Pacific theatre here. A theatre of operations that popular imagination tends to be dominated by the USMC.

Yeah, there's a cheesy( but appreciated)representation of the Brits in Burma, but Merrill's Marauder's is a war film that never fails to inspire, and demands a DVD release.

A remake would be nice too I suppose without the "Battle Cry" footage and cobbled together music, but would it draw you in to the jungle and its ever present Japanese threat in the way that Sam Fuller did? I don't think so.

Myktina, Walawbum and Shaduzup.

Is it just me or are those names forever locked in your memory?.

This is just superb Aussie true crime drama, with David Wenham utterly convincing as disgraced(but bloody brilliant)lawyer Andrew Fraser.

The Melbourne crime milieu feels just right.

Colin Friels makes a great Lewis Moran.

Kris McQuade delivers a searing performance as crime matriarch Kath Pettingill(Granny Evil).

You'll also never be able to quite shake the Walsh St murders after seeing this...rendered like something out of a nightmare.

"Killing Time" also gets its period feel RIGHT without overly drawing attention to its set/clothes/hair/music details--HELLO "Puberty Blues".

Liked the use of Nick Cave/Hunters and The Saints.

NOT-TO-BE-MISSED.

Superb, gripping take on France's Algeria quagmire.

Not writing a review as such, just keen to share some thoughts.

Spoiler Alert: The Iraq comparison hits you in the face early on. And from a western point of view Iraq is THE telling comparison.

America's occupation post Saddam ouster is much more in keeping with the tone of the Algerian experience. Afghanistan, as wars go, is a more just one - fought in response to an international act of mass murder.

The Colonel, although made essentially toxic by his long exposure to war, is waging, with the apparent blessing of the French military hierarchy, a campaign to bust up an insurgency and seems to have succeeded.

He's displaying the whatever it takes mentality to win, isn't he?.

I'm sure it wasn't only the Gestapo who practiced torture in WW11.

I'm NOT saying this is right, but the film, at least for me, begs the question - is it necessarily wrong as part of an overall war-fighting/winning strategy - especially if it will save lives.

The ultra naive young Lt bothered me. Completely unfit for military service, psychologically and physically.

Clearly, I know he shouldn't have been in the army, let alone Algeria - joining up because of a broken heart.

Spoiler Alert/s: But I was repulsed by his cowardice when he finally made it into combat but couldn't even bring himself to use his gun to save the life of a French comrade.

In fact he didn't fire a single shot during the village skirmish, preferring to cower behind a stone wall, as those about him blast away at the insurgents.

And HE is the one who opens the Colonel's mind to his process of bloody realpolitik, but doesn't see it until his musings about summary execution become a gut churning reality.

As an earlier contributor wrote, I agree this film is more interesting for the historical/human conduct questions it raises rather than the obvious Oh-My-God! this is just like the Americans in Iraq thing!..

"The Colonel", much like his job in the film, truly toys with your mind.