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Reviews
A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941)
Relationship Made No Sense
If this movie concentrated more on the flying scenes it would have been so much better. Given the footage available during the early stage of World War II, and the obvious need for aircraft to defend Britain rather than make movies, they are pretty good. Some of the dogfight footage was done with models in a studio, but done really well. The only problem with it is that flying a multi-engine bomber in combat is quite different from piloting a single engine fighter, and the transition wouldn't have been done as quickly as seemed in the film. My biggest complaint is about the scene in which Tyrone Power literally assaulted Betty Grable trying to get her to marry him. Even if head over heels in love with someone, an assault like that should have been a red flag, and Grable behaved like an abused partner who stays in a marriage. I may be applying 2012 standards to this, but I don't see how it would have been appealing to many in the audience.
Safe at Home! (1962)
Great For Boys Of A Certain Age
I first saw this movie in The Bronx as a nine-year old Yankees fan. I loved it then, and still enjoyed seeing it much more recently. Sure the acting was bad (after seeing it one of his teammates advised Roger Maris to end his 1962 holdout and sign his Yankees contract fast), and the script was lame (but with its simple plot and moral not really much worse than the typical Disney or other kid fare of the time), but that was always beside the point. It was and is a chance to see our heroes on the big screen in their prime rather than on a small-screen TV or from the bleachers. We watch 1950s teen movies with their lip-synced performances for the same reason. The game now is to try to identify the players in the background.
Vertical Limit (2000)
One of the Dumbest
I should have been forewarned about this turkey, just from reading over the goofs list. The characterizations are one dimensional, although in an action flick that wouldn't normally be a show stopper. The plot seems borrowed from so many other climbing movies, basically an excuse to film some gorgeous mountain scenery.
My main problem is that most of the actions of the characters make no sense. Climbers have goggles, peering into bad weather, but the goggles are neatly perched on their foreheads, not covering their eyes. People freezing in an ice cave would normally be clustered together to conserve heat, but not these geniuses. No one in his or her right mind would jump from a helicopter (with nitroglycerin in a pack to boot) to an ice ledge without even safety ropes; whatever happened to rappelling, which would have allowed the rescuers to safely disembark.
At about that point I gave up, and wished that all concerned would up and die, bringing this to a merciful end. Better yet, the wedges in the first scene would all have given way, saving a couple hours of viewing time.
Ben-Hur (1959)
Ben Yawn
Letterbox format on 21 inch TV is probably not the best format for viewing this, but with the exception of one sea battle and one chariot race this is a lushly costumed, monotonously paced waste of celluloid. Nobody speaks rapidly. Few talk loudly or softly. From the five minute overture to the five minute background set up before the opening credits, everything reeks of "importance" without relief.
But, that chariot race was something. Most impressive is that it was done before the arrival of computer effects, which makes it that much more realistic. It also pretty much summed up the main plot driver. If only the movie ended with it, instead of continuing for another hour.
Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält (1970)
What a God-awful movie
I saw this at a free midnight preview, with lots of passes given out to us film students. I was intrigued (at least for a little while) at the alternating quiet scenes/ultra (gratuitously) violent scenes. My favorite was the finger chopping off; the blade impact is below the screen, and someone tosses up some cocktail franks to impersonate the severed digits. As each scene rolled by more and more of the audience walked out, leaving only the die hards. I achieved a bit of renown for calling the line as the witch hunter is strangled; "You are no witch hunter" the strangler said, I yelled out "You're dead!", and sure enough that was the actual next line.
It was amazing that the movie ever got released. It wasn't even so bad it's good, it's just bad, well deserving of the barf bag and rated V for Violence promo campaign. I guess it found some kind of audience.