How about a cogent defence of Lean's film's instead of an insult?
COME AND SEE (The most traumatic fiction film I've ever encountered)THE THIN RED LINE (Staggering. When I'm in a good mood, my favorite film ever)APOCALYPSE NOW (say no more. War as seductive spectacle as well as "the horror") RAN (Rarely has a sheer hell on Earth been so beautifully filmed)KOMMISAR ( A peace film about war. It's Soviet backers hated it so much it was supressed for decades)PATHS OF GLORY (A Kubrick masterpiece)A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (A miracle of a cinema from Powell and Pressburger, known as STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN in the USA)DR. STRANGELOVE (Kubrick again. The absurdity and infantilism of war held up to perfect ridicule)THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP (Yet another masterpiece from Powell and Pressburger. A film made in WWII in Britain so radical that Churchill wanted it banned)ZULU (Sheer existential madness. Not historically accurate, but tremendous film making)That's ten already?? No time to mention ATTACK!, ICE COLD IN ALEX, VACAS, CROSS OF IRON, A CANTERBURY TALE, MAP OF THE HUMAN HEART, THE GREAT ESCAPE, GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES.....
speaking of which I'm surprised that I forgot casualties of war, and that no one else has mentioned it.
Everyone is free to interpret the subject of this thread in any way they see fit, of course, but this list strikes me as Favorite War Movies For People Who Don't Like War Movies.
this list strikes me as Favorite War Movies For People Who Don't Like War Movies.
Wow, Groggy, that IS a great review. You've made the case for Lawrence about as well as anyone could hope to.Lawrence has its virtues (all Lean films with the exception of Ryan's Daughter have something to recommend them), but I find the second part of the film redundant (everything the film has to say is manifest in the first half). I keep waiting for a pay-off that never comes. That said, Lean's use of Lawrence to introduce viewers to the strange world of Arabia (played by Spain and Jordan) is masterful. No other film has transported me like that one has. So, The Arabia of Lawrence (part 1) is a success, while Lawrence of Arabia (part 2) doesn't quite measure up (IMHO, natch).
I did. Its on my list.
even odder... after seeing all the lists with the big red one, I can't believe I left that one out too.
Absurd but true BIG RED story. During the "video nasty" ruckus in Britain in the 1980's, police seized copies of THE BIG RED ONE from video rental shops all over the country because...they thought it was a porno film.