Film Reviews by GI

One of a cycle of Boys Own war adventure films that were popular family entertainment in the 1960s. This one is clearly influenced by the James Bond films and incorporates espionage and the evil baddies, in this case the Nazis, in their underground lair. With an all star cast this had great appeal and being British made and on location in the UK it remains popular as it pushes the myth of the Second World War as a contest between the plucky English and the nasty Hun. It's historically all over the place but never intended to be a realistic depiction of events but a roustabout adventure film with plenty of action. In this case handsome American star (so as to appeal to the US market) George Peppard is Curtis, a cocky American pilot recruited by British intelligence because of his engineering qualifications to infiltrate the German installation making experimentation rockets. Assisted by John Mills, Anthony Quayle, Sophia Loren (her husband Carlo Ponti produced the film!), Trevor Howard, Tom Courtney, Richard Todd, Sylvia Sims et al this will be a favourite of many although there are far better films to be found of this type of war drama. Viewed today it's more likely to raise a smile at the clumsy script and stereotypical characters.

This is one of director Danny Boyle's best films. A very clever British post- apocalyptic horror film that takes the somewhat tired and clichéd zombie sub genre and injects it with an aesthetic visual imagery that is very impressive, and has a story, written by Alex Garland, that taps into the modern day fear of disease rather than the old fears of nuclear war, radiation etc. A group of animal rights activists break into a laboratory intent on releasing the chimps being used for experimentation but they unwittingly unleash a deadly virus. Twenty eight days later Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes from a coma in a deserted hospital to find himself alone in London, not knowing that the entire country has become a desolate place inhabited only by raging infected persons. He meets up with Selena (Naomie Harris) who has managed to survive. They later meet Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his daughter Hannah (Megan Burns) and decide to head north where the believe the army has established some sanctuary. There's some exciting action set pieces, fast paced and at times bloody and shocking but it's the overall images of the country devoid of people whereas nature continues that really impress (the shots of a blazing Manchester are powerful). With scenes reminiscent of the horror of war and highly impactive recreated scenes of news footage that look so real this is at times a scary horror, but also one that makes you think that this is what it could be like should anything as terrible happen and like many horror films it's more about the evils of the survivors than the actual monsters. A remarkable film, definitely one to check out even if horror isn't usually your thing.

This is probably director Terry Gilliam's most accessible film although his trademarks are all there to be seen especially his use of ambiguity to construct a story that requires attention and results in a film of real intensity and imagination. Bruce Willis, in a superb and original performance, plays James Cole who is arrested in 1990 and sent to an asylum where he is treated by Dr Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe), a renowned psychiatrist. Cole has delusions that he is from the future where most of humanity has been killed by a virus. He claims he is a convict and has volunteered to be sent back to discover the origin of the virus in the hope the information can be used to find a cure in the future. Obviously believing Cole is seriously mentally ill Kathryn is worried when Cole escapes from the hospital in strange circumstances. Then six years later he reappears and kidnaps her. With some excellent visual ideas of a steampunk future and a very clever plot this is one of those narratives where you are constantly questioning whether Cole is insane or is he telling the truth. Gilliam leads you in each direction several times and keeps you hooked throughout. The support cast that has a fantastic Brad Pitt as a fellow lunatic and Christopher Plummer as a top scientist adds to the appeal of this great film. It has mystery, thrills and a science fiction edge that is really engrossing. A very clever and intriguing film that is a definite one to try if you've never seen it.

A gruesome crime story based on an infamous real case that remains unsolved although this film offers a theory as to what happened and why. Chloë Sevigny plays Lizzie, the second daughter of an abusive, tyrannical father (Jamey Sheridan) now married to a hated step mother (Fiona Shaw). When both of them are brutally murdered with an axe Lizzie falls under suspicion. The build up to the killings involves a forbidden romance with Bridget (Kristen Stewart), the family maid, and the shenanigans of an uncle trying to get his hands on the family fortune. Set in 1892 this is a quite interesting and a mostly compelling drama, it drags a little in the middle but that can be forgiven because the finale is well worth the wait. Worth checking out.

This post apocalyptic science fiction tale is very watchable and quite moving. It's a film of two storylines and admittedly they don't make for a natural fit but director and star George Clooney has managed to pull it off and produce a tense and emotional film. It's set 30 years in the future and an unnamed cataclysmic event has left the Earth losing its breathable air. Clooney is an ageing and ill astronomer, Lofthouse, who has remained alone at an Arctic station when the rest of the crew headed off to try and find safety elsewhere. With time running out he is attempting to contact a spacecraft he knows is on its way home from exploring one of the moons of Jupiter. The crew of the spacecraft led by Adewole (David Oyelowo) and his four crew including his partner Sully (Felicity Jones) are unaware of what has happened on Earth. Lofthouse has further problems when he discovers a little girl, Iris (Caoilinn Springall) has been left behind with him. They have to make the perilous journey to another station to use the communications equipment to speak to the space crew who have their own problems. In essence the film is a survivalist narrative for the Arctic scenes and a relatively standard sci-fi story for the space one. Indeed the spacecraft story has all been done before and occasionally the film dwells a little too long with them when the more interesting events are with the man and little girl on Earth. Despite this though it is an enjoyable and well made film and it has an emotional twist that I didn't see coming. This is definitely worth checking out.

Powerful and compelling this drama is film everyone should see. It's certainly a masterpiece of tension with themes about bias, racism and the psychological effects of persuasion and conflict resolution. Even though the entire film (bar small introductory and concluding scenes) is set in one room it draws you in and becomes a film you can't turn away from. On a stifling hot summer afternoon twelve men acting as jurors in a trial of a young under privileged man accused of murdering his abusive father retire to the jury room to decide the boy's fate having been told that a guilty verdict will result in the death penalty. From the start eleven of the men are convinced the boy is guilty but one man has doubts. The resulting deliberations bring forth personal prejudices, hatreds and attitudes that sharply highlight the views of white privileged America. The issues of justice and the rights to a fair trial are openly there to see but underneath the film gets into the heart of social injustice and the effects on behaviour even when it may cost someone their life. This is a riveting film, one of the finest examples of serious drama in the classical Hollywood period and despite its age all the themes resonate today and, indeed in other countries not least the UK. This is essential viewing, a film to really savour for the direction, use of camera and the wonderful performances led by Henry Fonda and aided by Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley and all those who play the jurors. Simply a fantastic and thoroughly rewarding film.

A huge spectacular post apocalyptic fantasy film that is best described as a steampunk Star Wars with more than a little influence of Mad Max, a little bit of the Terminator and Terry Gilliam. Produced and written by Peter Jackson with his partnership team of Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens this is all style over substance and ultimately it ends in a predictably battle fuelled climax. The film starts a thousand years after an apocalyptic war where the earth was decimated and the land mass altered. Now humanity lives in roaming mechanised towns and cities that prey on one another. The most fearsome is 'London' a huge machine that engulfs smaller 'towns' and steals their fuel and energy. A young woman, Hester (Hera Hilmer) has survived in the wilderness but attempts to kill the leader of London, Thaddeus (Hugo Weaving) but failing she joins up with Tom (Robert Sheehan), a young expert on old world technology in order to stop Thaddeus from building the weapons that nearly destroyed the world centuries before. This cues masses of CGI and an interesting vision of the future but it all feels a little derivative and tiresome and the whole idea needed some explanation in the story (like how did these massive moving engines get built?). The performances are ok and as a teenage action adventure I'm sure it does the job but the obvious Star Wars storylines make it one big homage.....or steal.

This is exactly what you expect from a Terry Gilliam film although considering the troubled history of getting it made it ultimately feels a little underwhelming. But it has a charm, an originality and a delightful innocence to it that makes it quite watchable and at times hilariously funny. Adam Driver, on top form here, is Toby, a cynical and stressed film director who is in Spain making an ad. As he is close to the location of his first student film that he made years ago about Don Quixote he decides to look up the locals he cast from a small village. He soon discovers that his little film has left a lasting and not too good an impression especially with Javier (Jonathan Pryce), a humble cobbler who now believes himself to be Don Quixote and is looked after by the villagers. When Toby visits him Javier takes him to be Sancha Panza, his faithful servant, and a series of mishaps cast the two of them onto a surrealist fantasy adventure that has Toby believing he is going crazy. This is a comedy that is about lost love, regrets and trying to be something. It lacks the dark edge of Gilliam's better films but it is quite a fun film and worth a watch.

This is one of a series of British war films made during the Second World War and designed to show the viewing public a morale boosting view of military life although this one takes things a bit further and follows a melodrama style story. It's set on an RAF bomber base in southern England beginning in 1940 and initially follows the trials and tribulations of a small group of RAF Blenheim bomber crews as they face life and loss. Led by Michael Redgrave as the caring commander and involving the, at first novice but later battle fatigued, Flying Officer Penrose played by John Mills. This is not a film that follows the characters into combat but relies on the effects of their roles on those left behind principally friends and lovers who congregate in a small country hotel near to the base. Eventually the base is passed over to American crews and the same story lines continue and in one the film is actually quite risqué for its time in suggesting an adulterous relationship between an American pilot (Douglass Montgomery) and the hotel owner (Rosamund John), whose husband was killed on an operation. Like all these films made in the UK during this time there's a delightful sense of the times and the film oozes with nostalgia. The cast includes early roles for Trevor Howard and Jean Simmons as well as some very regular British actors of the day. A film to seek out if you have a fondness for these war dramas from the 1940s/50s, it certainly is an interesting film and a delight to watch the various aircraft scenes.

A first rate crime film, violent and action packed with western influences. This has a great plot, some neat twists and turns and led by two great characters played by Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro. They play two drifters who see an opportunity, after overhearing a conversation, to kidnap a young pregnant woman (Juliette Lewis) acting as a surrogate for a rich couple and hold her to ransom. What they quickly find out is that the baby's father-to-be is a top crime boss and soon has a host of mercenaries on their tail. James Caan is in a support role and two menacingly cold mercenaries are wonderfully played by Taye Diggs and Nicky Katt. This has some unique chase sequences and action set pieces and the film ends in a deserted Mexican brothel in a climactic battle that has obviously been influenced to some extent by The Wild Bunch (1969). This has some unflinchingly tough scenes but it is at all times exciting and well executed with a sharp script, editing and confidently directed by Christopher McQuarrie in his first film. Good, solid adult crime thriller that is well worth seeking out if you've not seen it.

This is a good solid western enhanced by the presence of Tom Hanks as former Confederate Captain Kidd who now tours the Texas towns of 1870 reading the news to the illiterate populace. These are dangerous times and Kidd, being a former Confederate has to be wary of the Army still suppressing any rebels. One day he chances upon a young white girl, Johanna (Helena Zengel) abandoned after the Indians who captured her have themselves been massacred and finds he has to take her on the long trek to her German immigrant relations. This is essentially a journey film with dangers along the way, not least from some vicious men who want the girl for themselves, and there's some of director Paul Greengrass' visceral action although overall the film is a restrained affair concentrating instead on the relationship between the curmudgeonly Kidd and the frightened girl. There's been a few westerns that focus on the issue of white captives, either the rescue of them or their reintegration into white society with all the prejudice that accompanied that but this story deals with neither issue and is more about a lonely man and an abandoned child bonding. To that extent this is watchable, entertaining but a little bland. Worth seeing for Hanks inevitably sound performance and Zengel's excellent one as the girl who has been orphaned effectively twice.

A British war film made during the Second World War to attempt to highlight the prestige of the conscripted army and consequently it's a flag waver but like many films similar to this it's actually a gloriously exciting, gritty and quite nostalgic war drama and vision of British life during the war years. David Niven, who gave up his Hollywood career to rejoin the Army when the war began was a Major when the film was made (it is said that Winston Churchill asked Niven make a film about the army) and used his film connections to make this, at first a recruitment film, but later turned into this feature film. Written by Peter Ustinov (who has a small role in it too) and Eric Ambler and directed by Carol Reed it follows a small group of men who are called up in 1941 and all hate the idea of being in the army. They go through their basic training under the tutelage of very tough Sergeant Fletcher (William Hartnell, who often played NCOs), who they grow to hate and their officer played by Niven. The training is of course nothing compared to combat in North Africa in which they inevitably find themselves via a series of adventures along the way. This is less a combat film, although the last scenes are quite realistic battle scenes, and more a story of good ol' British pluck. Yes of course its propaganda but it painted a picture the Government of the day wanted to ensure the morale of the country was maintained after four years of war had begun to erode it. There's a host of familiar British actors supporting including Stanley Holloway, James Donald and John Laurie (later to become Private Fraser in the TV series Dad's Army). A marvellous golden oldie of a film and one definitely worth seeking out if you love these old British war films, they certainly deserve a modern audience.

Over the years this big budget post apocalyptic film has gained a reputation of being a bad film. It's true it failed to find an audience on initial release and stories of arguments between star Kevin Costner, then at the height of his fame, and director Kevin Reynolds didn't help. Costner had invested heavily and cut the film substantially to try and recuperate potential losses against Reynolds wishes. All that aside this is actually not a bad film by any stretch and in it's restored longer cut - known as the Ulysses version - it is a very entertaining adventure film, best described as a sort of Mad Max at sea. It certainly has some impressive set piece action sequences and the story is quite clever and interesting even though you can dig holes in it easily. Set hundreds of years in the future after the polar ice caps have melted and the Earth is totally covered in water. Humanity has survived albeit just a few isolated floating bases and loners who roam the seas in various ramshackle craft. One of these is a man (Costner) who by circumstance finds he has to look after a woman, Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and a young girl, Enola (Tina Majorino) who draws pictures of strange, long extinct animals. The 'pirates' of the seas are the Smokers led by psychopath Deacon (Dennis Hopper - always good as a zany baddie) who is hunting the girl as it's believed she has a map that reveals the last location of dry land, something the man believes doesn't exist. The film ripples along at a great pace, there's loads of gritty chases, fights and even some sea creatures to contend with. Some of the images of this desolate world and glimpses of the old one are impressive and if you like a good solid action adventure story then this does the trick. I strongly recommend the extended cut especially if you've only previously seen the somewhat limited theatrical version.

This film is a mini masterpiece of tension and story construction. It's a fictionalised reconstruction of a real event, a massacre in a Canadian Engineering college in 1989 when a student rampaged through the school targeting the women staff and students. Shot in a dreamy yet bleak black and white adds to the suspense giving the film a realistic feel that makes it a truly gripping experience. Director Denis Villeneuve's third film before he began to make a big name for himself in Hollywood and here you can see an inspired film maker beginning to blossom. This is a very accomplished film, wonderfully edited, and with occasional yet curious jump cuts that work very effectively. The film is told through the eyes of three main characters. In the mid winter a disaffected young student (Maxim Gaudette), never named, takes a high powered rifle and with a grudge against women for stealing what he sees as the rightful places for men, begins to shoot, at first with careful precision, but later randomly students at a Montreal Polytechnic college. Karine Vanasse plays Valérie, a student with ambition to be a mechanical engineer but faced with the social misogyny that such careers are the preserve of men who is in class when the killer arrives and has to deal with the attack and the aftermath. A male student, Jean-Françoise (Sébastien Huberdeau), and friend of Valérie tries to help the wounded but also faces emotional problems once the event is over. This film has some quite shocking moments so be prepared it's a powerful and emotional experience without needing to resort to gratuitous violence and this is down to Villeneuve's skill at story construction and visuals. An amazing film and one I highly recommend. It will impress you and leave an indelible mark.

The Superhero film genre has become arguably one of the most popular cinematic film genres in the last fifty years and it continues to grow. So it was inevitable that films that seek to subvert the genre and the narrative tropes would come along eventually. Most that have looked into the genre as a social phenomena have often opted for comedy as a way of understanding the appeal but Watchmen, based on a popular graphic novel, attempts to look at superheroes as flawed, as essentially people with power and how it corrupts or emotionally damages them. Set in an alternate 1980s where superheroes emerged in the 1940s and who then spawned a new generation that take on the American Dream and open it up for scrutiny. Here the heroes, known as The Watchmen, have inevitably become political and corrupted. Assisting Richard Nixon to stay in power, ensuring that America wins the Vietnam war (indeed making Vietnam a new state of the USA) until eventually the public begin to turn against them so some opt for obscurity and retire to private life, and some publicly become good Samaritans, the most powerful, Dr Manhattan (Billy Crudup), helping the USA to build a new energy system. With a nuclear war brewing between the US and USSR, one of the most violent of the Watchmen is murdered which brings others out of retirement to find out who's behind it. The superheroes here are all unique creations although they are based around the DC comic book heroes, Dr Manhattan is the Superman of this world for instance, but they are viewed here as violent, morally flawed, emotionally as conflicted as normal people and shown enjoying fighting and killing and having sex. There's a convoluted plot on offer here that is quite involved and there's plenty of very gutsy violence on offer which does make the film very exciting. Overall this is a very clever look at the genre and cult of superheroes and although the film is epic in length and quite complex at times, it is a bold, entertaining and stimulating film. Repeated viewings reveal lots of details that are not immediately obvious the first time of watching