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Showing all 28 reviews...
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LOL - Dear ng, you just don't get it, do you? For starters, I'm not a dude. Second of all, I meant the kind of cookie that would soothe your nerves in a massive way, cause, man, you are wired! LOL! Let me attempt to explain this to you plainly in words that you can understand - If a movie is being made about a particular topic (in this case, buffalo soldiers, mystery plot in a small town in Italy during World War II), the director can't very well start talking about Korean convenience stores in black neighboorhoods, Sarah Palin, George Bush, the Iran-contra affair, abortion, gang bangers, the last episode of Survivor and what's in your kitchen sink! It's a little thing called FOCUS. You know, when you stick to a specific PLOT to tell a STORY that one can follow? Like when you read the page of a book and actually manage to UNDERSTAND what the writer is trying to say? That's what filmakers are supposed to do, you know? Tell a story and engage the viewer? I think you're just being acrimonious towards Spike Lee and maybe even towards blacks in general and you're bringing that BAGGAGE into your crap 'movie review'. What you're objecting to is not the movie but the very idea that any kind of discrimination towards african-americans would be being depicted on screen, especially coming from Spike Lee. That makes for a biased and in my opinion, invalid critic. You don't go see a Woody Allen movie if you hate neurotic characters. In the same fashion, you don't see a movie done by a black director if you don't want to hear another point of view or if you don't want to learn something new. You go see the latest Borat (which I'm sure would be more in line with your tastes. If we're to follow your logic, no one should ever make movies about any disturbing topics, however factual, for fear of being accused of playing the victim. Hey, I guess the holocaust didn't happen. I guess the internment of the japanese during World War II didn't happen. I guess Vietnam didn't happen either, I guess there are no genocides except on TV. Let's all go watch Wayne's World! I mean, there have NEVER EVER been critically acclaimed movies that didn't do well in the box office, right? So if it only lasted three weeks and Dum and dummer stayed on screen for 15 weeks, that says it all. LOL... Anyway, this concludes our friendly exchange here. I've come to the conclusion that there's no point trying to engage in dialogue with someone who has been lobotomized LOL! Good luck to you!
8/10
11.13.2008 -
mdlaguerre@ - age: 36-49
Way too overwrought. Entertainment is supposed to be the driving force of a movie. I enjoy some education along the way; but by & large that is what books are supposed to deliver. I want a movie that is light on it's feet; and spins a yarn at the same time.
3/10
10.28.2008 -
eastarcher@ - age: 50+
This is without a doubt the worst movie ever made. Do not watch it unless you want to sit through 3 hours of endless boring crap. [...]
1/10
10.27.2008 -
hondaracing_4@ - age: 18-25
Best movie so far. Best actor and very emotional would see it again.
10/10
10.23.2008 -
yvon412001@ - age: 36-49
Wow... I can't even begin to say how bad this movie was! It just seems like a bunch of go nowhere movie plots, and the dialogue in this was sooo bad. And did they even say Gimmie 5 in the 40? Nice research there Lee. So in summary, this is the WORST movie I have ever seen. Please avoid this one folks. The fact that it is hardly playing ANYWHERE is usually a good sign it's a stinker.
1/10
10.16.2008 -
francis79@ - age: 36-49
Great movie I loved it 1 of my fav's this season! It also had a perfect ending and was very well put movie.
10/10
10.14.2008 -
lindasalame@ - age: 26-35
If I could I would give this movie a 0!! In the long line of bad movies I've seen, this was potentially the worst. There are bad unpretentious movies, but there is nothing worse than a bad pretentious movie, which is what this is! Don't waste your time or money on this worthless piece of garbage! The acting is terrible, the writing and script is patched together, there is little if any action... what more can I say. STAY AWAY FROM THIS. The only redeeming aspect is that I didn't pay to watch it.
1/10
10.11.2008 -
ernestpopescu@ - age: 26-35
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This movie moved me to tears. I didn't feel the 3 hours go by. Spike Lee managed to blend little known historical facts about the Buffalo soldiers (little known in the mainstream, anyhow), all the while weaving in a story of profound humanity, tenderness and chaos during a time of war. Spike Lee is one of his generations' most skilled directors. As for the racist ignorant [...] who comment on the movie being 'yet another Spike Lee rant against whitey', they did not get it at all and have no appreciation for art and social commentary. These [...] comments are pissing me off. It was a story about PEOPLE, about brotherhood, about bonding through chaos, about small town life in Italy amidst the horror of war, about a traumatized, yet touching little boy who held on to his ability to dream, about suffering and loss. And yes, there were references about the hardship and segregation that black soldiers experienced in World war II because that is HISTORICAL FACT and there is no reason why it should be censored from the movie just to appease a bunch of [...] who feel uncomfortable having to deal with any social commentary about black experiences. By the way, the racism wasn't the sole commentary of the movie (you did notice it was set in Italy, didn't you? ) and if that's all you saw, then you are blind, deaf [...]. Yes, The ending is a little melodramatic and doesn't constitute the best part of the movie. But this movie is worth being seen. Unfortunately, it seems as if it won't remain on screen very long since it just premiered a few days ago and only plays downtown now (other theaters seem to have pulled it out) It's a shame. A little uneven at times, but overall quite beautiful.
7/10
10.10.2008 -
ninaskye40@ - age: 36-49
Great movie, many historical facts, really instructive.
9/10
10.9.2008 -
liliaudrey@ - age: 26-35
If I read one more review of how awesome this movie was, I think I will throw up. Much like I did when I watched this movie. The only miracle in this movie is the fact that is actually ends... finally. This was the most racist and ridiculous movie I have even seen. The thought provoking gore actually made me laugh is was so bad. I laughed at what he other guy said about the Geneva Convention too. HA! It was after the war! Nice historical research there Spikey!
1/10
10.8.2008 -
pstationgames@ - age: 26-35
Fast moving well acted. The story is well told and shows a time of racism in the lives of black soldiers.
9/10
10.7.2008 -
brandes@ - age: 50+
I had doubts going into this movie, but those doubts were allayed by the end of the movie. I didn't realize I was in the theatre for 3 hours until it was over. This movie was very provocative and insightful. It deals primarily with the treatment of African American solders in the WWII. I understand why many of the reviewers here are giving it a poor rating, presumably, most of them are Caucasians who do not want the guilt of racism thrown in there face once more by Spike. But for those of us who live in the real world, this was a great movie.
8/10
10.7.2008 -
h_asamoah@ - age: 26-35
Not very good. A lot of historical content was missing.
6/10
10.6.2008 -
mariabkie@
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My goal this morning is to prevent other people from wasting money on this film. Well, I actually snuck into this, so I felt bad to the others that actually paid to watch this. Heed my warning: THIS MOVIE IS GARBAGE. There are sooo many things to talk about... from historical inaccuracies, to the subtitled conversations that at one point are rollign by so fast, you can't even read it, to insane conversation about nothing (what was with that german discussion about biscuits!!), to hauling a Stone statue head around the country side (being a former soldier, I can tell you right now, that would be left in a bog after 100 meters), to the over the top violence that didn't make me feel bad for those beign subjected to it, but it actually made me laugh it was so over the top and out to lunch. That baby scene was so far off the deep end, I don't even know what to say. Whereas saving private ryan made me feel for the soldiers and their hardships, this movie made we want launch an F15 strike against these soldiers, which would have been "historically accurate" in the eyes of the director no doubt. So in the words of that german officer about halfway through..."Is zhere ein ECHO!". I seen this with my girlfriend... and at the very least, it has provided us with a few laughs in the post discussion of the insanity that was this movie. A positive thing to say... was the country side looked kind of nice. What also would have been nice however, would be a Miracle. I guess old Spike forgot to include that. Avoid this one folks!
2/10
10.6.2008 -
rob_ontario18@ - age: 26-35
Very bad movie, long and no substance. The plot lacks is complicated and the dialogue is horrible.
1/10
10.4.2008 -
richard,paquet@ - age: 36-49
I saw how people were rating this movie and I just had to put in my two cents... as far as I am concerned this was a crap movie - a slam on white people by "spike" and a way for him to get his opinion out... (which if you read between the lines - is as screwed up as the opinion he gives of the white man) as far as the actual movie goes, I sat there waiting for something to happen and it never did - it had the potential but he never actually did anything with it... then it ended... could have been a good movie... with a better director... and ending.
2/10
10.2.2008 -
pctemp1@ - age: 36-49
A layered story that touches on many aspects of American and world history circa 1940's (WWII years) A bit melodramatic at times, and the ending was too quick with not enough development. It felt like Spike realized the movie was getting close to three hours and thought "darn, I gotta end this quick." Emotional and explicit in it's show of violence which was necessary to get the desired effect. Overall, a very good movie. The chocolate Giant's humourous moments were great.
8/10
10.2.2008 -
sunnythinda@ - age: 26-35
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I'm giving it an 8. Fortunately the first 95% of the movie was a well told story. Good realistic war 'effects'too. The movie actually exceeded my expectations of it... until the last 10 minutes. I won't give away details, but hardly it's a real mystery movie as it was trumped up to be -it is however full of gripping intrigue throughout. Cinematic camera shooting was great and the bulk of the story had a nicely paced peculiar plot about it which held all the audience's attention. Battle scenes are standard fare -well done but done before. The time of nearly 3 hours actually went by fast. But like I said, the last 5% of the movie anti-climaxed -like the last Star Wars episode ending fizzled out the whole series without any 'WoW' factor it sorely needed to match the rest of the story. Be forewarned, there is some grim reality depicted in the movie regarding civilians as 'casualties of war'. Hopefully the review moderators here let me go on a bit here about the context of the movie -as Spike Lee tried to evoke through his storyline. Unfortunately one reviewer a few posts back entirely missed the principle aspect of the movie. The reviewer claims there's a racial gripe being once again overly revisited, and he brings it down to simply Spike Lee trying to make whites feel guilty about past racism. Here's what the reviewer missed entirely in his short sightedness. I myself studied the episode of segregated black units in the US military in the World Wars. What the movie accurately showed was that these black units serving abroad were astounded by how kindly White European locals treated them in England, France -AND EVEN Germany during post-War occupation! There was no segregation in dancehalls, restaurants, washrooms -they were treated as equals... and this angered the more racist white soldiers in the US army when they saw such integration. Spike uses some stunning racist accounts from black vets that I've read about regarding vulgar segregated treatment in the US South and incorporates them into his story very well. Also- an important point to make is that many of the mandatory white officers of the black units got along very well with their unit's soldiers. However, the unit shown in the movie -the 92nd 'Buffalo' (Black) Division suffered horribly with almost entirely having very prejudiced officers that particularly hated their soldiers. The contrasts of treatments that these proud soldiers confronted is well done in the movie. Too bad about the movie's flakey ending though.
8/10
9.30.2008 -
francis79@ - age: 36-49
A few brief moments of drifting away from the theme, but overall, a very moving and compelling story! The little boy adds to the magic touch! I could not wait to see another war movie from Spike Lee! Maybe, toning down the racial comments would add to more charm of the film, like Letters From Yiwogima by Clint.
10/10
9.29.2008 -
howard,hao2@ - age: 36-49
Very disappointed. - bad music; - bad acting for the most part; - bad story (to much detail where we don't need it); - bad war scenes; - Too long for nothing, Don't bother. Rent saving private Ryan or check out band of brothers...
4/10
9.28.2008 -
ezekiel@ - age: 26-35
The movie captures a moment in our history worth revisiting. I found the movie to be very engaging albeit a little on the long side of the time clock. Removing/shrinking some of the excessively violent (and sometimes drawn out) scenes would have benefited this movie. His signature 'over the top' emphasis on racial overtones, certainly drives home an important message. The diner scene is classic Spike Lee.
7/10
9.28.2008 -
cja123@ - age: 36-49
Good movie, a little long but I didn't feel the time as much. Constant reference to race is understandable given the extreme racism of the time. The movie was engrossing.
8/10
9.27.2008 -
swlson@ - age: 36-49
Awesome MOVIE as a movie goer (2-3 week). it's a really cool flick... 9/10 Very touching... Great story...
9/10
9.27.2008 -
guytoronto2005@ - age: 36-49
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[ATTENTION: This review reveals content of the movie.]
Poorly directed. I am so sick and tired of these Black directors constantly revisiting the whole white/black race issue over and over again. Okay, we get the point, racism existed, still exist and will likely continue to exist, got you loud and clear. The movie had way too many scenes and dialogue about race... blah... blah. I couldn't stop laughing at how overly exaggerated the acting was during that supposedly tense restaurant scene. Ha... ha.. Seriously, the acting was way over the top by alot of the actors. Then there were some pretty boring and lame scenes with the kid and the big soldier (Train) Also, how heavy is that statue head anyways? Sometimes, it looked liked it weighed a tonne, other times it looked liked it weighed nothing such as when the kid was holding onto it when he was sitting on the bench with Train? It took almost two detectives at the beginning to start lifting the head out of a Macy bag and somehow a boy could easily hold onto it? Sure whatever... Then there's the Nazi who gives a fully loaded pistol to the last surving soldier and tells him to defend himself? Sure... whatever! Oh, and how about the lame set-up at the end, with everyone all dressed up in nice white outfits, on a beach with a beach chair and table all set-up ahead of time - come on - how much lamer can you get? Then there's that black character at the end of course in a white suit who's talking in an extremely funny voice like he's on a commercial or something - going on and on about the inventions etc. of who had posted the soldier's bail? Then our hero turns around and gets all emotion and stuff, at first I thought it was because he recognized that it was the KID who's all grown up now sitting there, but no it's because he sees the damn statue head? Dude, you've had the head forever in your closet, it's not like it's the first time you've seen it again or something? Oh, and how about that lawyer with the attitude... please... Spike please do not make another war movie again. No seriously, please don't. You know what, maybe you should stop making films for awhile period. Thanks.
2/10
9.27.2008 -
ng_m90@ - age: 26-35
I do not like a war movie usually. But this one did move me some part and telling a good story. Excellent describe of the personalities of the actors.
7/10
9.27.2008 -
cryslake@ - age: 18-25
Picture, note perfect. Lee fills the historical gap.
10/10
9.26.2008 -
kibblesnbits@ - age: 36-49
Amazing work by one of our generations most talented insightful and diverse directors. The work is accurate historically speaking and allows us into another slant of life that might have otherwise been forgotten. Tnx. Spike.
10/10
9.26.2008 -
muttour@ - age: 26-35
Unfortunately, Spike Lee's epic story of Black American soldiers during WWII is too long, contains too many characters who aren't fleshed out, and unnecessary explicit violence - the masacre of women and children. This story would have been better served as a mini series where 4 or 6 hours of story telling might have served the minor characters better.
5/10
9.25.2008 -
joakov@ - age: 36-49
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