Gladiator (2000)
Directed By: Ridley Scott
Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielson, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, and Derek Jacobi.
Music: Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard

Brief Description: This movie recounts the reign of the evil Roman Emperor Commodus (AD 180-92), son of the philosopher Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who ended the golden age of the Adoptive Emperors. While in the movie, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) strangles his father Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris), in historic truth Marcus Aurelius allowed his immoral son to become emperor. The fictitious character of the former general Maximus turned Gladiator is played by Russell Crowe in a magnificent performance. Oliver Reed delivers his last performance to perfection. The movie is 2 hours and 35 minutes long and is worth every minute of viewing. I agree with David Ansen of Newsweek, who called the movie "Dazzling! Spectacular!"

The story plot is very well summarized by Emperor Commodus in the movie who tells Gladiator in the arena: "The General who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an empire."

The costumes, Roman armaments, the legions, the barbarian hoards, and the gladiatorial games, the Colosseum, and the landscape are all spectacular, even if some were digitally created.

Everyone should see this movie!

Rating: 5-star epic, historic movie recommended by MAF.

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCEf88NkVWI

Notable mention should be made of several films that appeared in rapid succession between 2006 and 2011 in the genre of Ancient Rome in general and Roman legionaries in particular. These movies almost reach heroic, epic status but fall short. Nevertheless, they are entertaining, historic fiction adventures that take place in the mid to late stages of Rome and the Western Roman Empire, and I mention them in descending order of excellence.

The Eagle (2011)
Starring: Channing Tatum, Donald Sutherland
Directed by: Kevin Macdonald

The DVD cover reads: "In 2nd-Century Britain, celebrated Roman soldier Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum) embarks on a dangerous quest to restore the tarnished reputation of his father and find the golden emblem that disappeared with him and thousands of troops twenty years earlier..."

 Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TLYO2I5kgw

 Centurion (2010)
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Dominic West
Directed by: Christian Colson

As with "The Eagle" mentioned above, "Centurion" also relates to the mysterious fate of Rome's Ninth Spanish Legion (Legio Nona Hispana), which was lost in Scotland about AD 117 during the reign of Emperor Hadrian and deals with heroic Romans fighting the savage Scots and Picts in the northern frontier of the empire.

 Rating: 4 stars

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Zba6lg1Z9Y

The next two films that deserve notable mention are "The Last Legion" (2007; 4 stars) set during the actual fall of the Western Roman Empire and "Agora" (2010; 3 1/2 stars), set in AD 415-416 at the time of religious strife in the ancient Hellenistic city of Alexandria. 

"The Final Inquiry" (2008; 3 1/2 stars) takes place at the time of Emperor Tiberius and is all fiction. It's vaguely reminiscent of the chariot epic Ben-Hur.

"Coriolanus" (2012) receives only 1 star. I have posted a comment below summarizing this movie and my great disappointment in it. 

 

Apocalypto (2007)
Directed By: Mel Gibson
Starring: Gerardo Tracena, Raoul Trujillo, Dalia Hernandez, Rudy Youngblood, Jonathan Brewer
Music: James Horner

Brief Description: A mesmerizing epic adventure with which few viewers may be familiar. Mel Gibson has created another thrilling and historic epic about Mesoamerican culture and Mayan civilization, including one of the most compelling features of Mayan civilization, and that is the practice of bloody human sacrifice on a mass scale!

In a non-stop action performance, the movie follows the main character, Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) as he is captured along with others from his tribe and taken to a great Mayan city for ritual sacrifice. Raoul Trujillo gives a credible performance as the Mayan chieftain and hunter of sacrificial victims who pursues Jaguar Paw through the jungle for blood thirsty revenge.

The production description summarizes the movie's plot as follows: "Driven by the power of his love for his wife and son, [Jaguar Paw] makes an adrenaline-soaked, heart-racing escape to rescue them and ultimately save his way of life. Filled with unrelenting action and stunning cinematography, APOCALYPTO is an enthralling and unforgettable film experience." And, I agree!

Mayan historians collaborated with director/producer Mel Gibson to recreate costumes and scenery that are frankly out of this world. The Mayan city is reconstructed from available historic and archeological sources. The sacrificial rituals are stunning.

This movie is an unforgettable visual experience set in the jungles of Mesoamerica in what was the Land of the Maya just before the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors.

Rating: 5-star epic, historic movie recommended by MAF.

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if0bpw_eZWE&NR=1

 

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Directed By: Ridley Scott
Starring: Orlando Bloom, Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons, Eva Green, Ghassan Massoud
Music: Harry Gregson-Williams

Brief Description:  The same magnificent director, Ridley Scott, who gave us Gladiator, has now given us another epic, historic film, "a thrilling, action packed, epic of honor, passion, and courage." Orlando Bloom plays the young Crusader, a Christian knight, who fights to preserve the "kingdom of heaven," the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, from the onslaught of the Mamluk and Saracen armies led by the chivalrous Moslem knight, Saladin (1137-1193), Sultan of Egypt.

Historical background is necessary in order to understand this film. During the early Medieval period there were eight major Crusades from Christendom organized to reconquer the Kingdom of Jerusalem and/or restore one or more of the Latin Christian kingdoms of Palestine. The First Crusade ordered by Pope Urban II (1096-1099) was the most successful and it conquered Jerusalem from the Moslems. The Second Crusade (1147-1149) was inspired by the preachings of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux  and ordered by Pope Eugenius III after the Latin kingdoms lost the city of Edessa to the Seljuk Turks in 1144. This Crusade ended in failure and the Latin kingdoms including the Kingdom of Jerusalem were left in a precarious situation, besieged on all fronts by the growing Islamic threat. Let us say here that the Eighth Crusade was the final campaign and that it also ended in failure. It brought an end to the city of Acre, the last Latin territory in the Holy Land. The Egyptian Mamluks were at last victorious.

The action in this movie takes place from about 1181-1187 in and around Jerusalem in the perilous period between the Second (1144-1150) and Third (1189-1192) Crusades. The hero of this saga is Balian of Ibelin (Orlando Bloom), a true historic figure. The character of Balian's father, Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), is a composite of Godfrey of Bouillon (1058-1100; leader of the First Crusade and brother of Baldwin I, founder of the dynasty of Latin kings of Jerusalem) and his real father, Barisan of Ibelin. In the earlier part of this movie, the King of Jerusalem is Baldwin IV, a just ruler but a leper who died at the young age of 24. He is succeeded by Guy de Lusignan who is married to Sybilla, the sister of Baldwin IV. All of these characters are true historic figures, who do in the film as they largely did in history. The instigator of much of the trouble in this movie as well as in history is Reynald de Chautillon, a savage knight bent on war for profit and who attacks Moslem caravans with impunity. Reynald's insults and bellicosity become the primary reasons (or pretext) for Saladin to wage total war against the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Good counselors to King Baldwin IV are Balian and Tiberias (Jeremy Irons), who do all they can to prevent war and preserve the "kingdom of heaven." The character of Tiberias is based on the historic ruler, Raymond III of Tripoli (and allied Latin kingdom). The Christians are vastly outnumbered and led by a few hundred knights, among them the monastic orders of the Hospitalers and Templars. The Moslem armies number in the thousands and include Saracen warriors as well as the dreaded Mamluks. Following Baldwin IV's death from leprosy, Guy de Lusignan assumes power and leads the Christian armies in the disastrous Battle of Hattin. The fate of the kingdom of heaven is sealed. Nevertheless, in 1187, Balian leads a heroic defense of the holy city of Jerusalem, knighting servants and peasants to increase the morale of the people in the besieged city. He helped man the fortifications and directed the city's defenses.

The final battle for Jerusalem is a spellbinding spectacle and is accurately portrayed. Archers on the walls and towers shooting their deadly arrows at the Saracens storming the walls and trying to breach the fortifications; trebuchets launching their flaming missiles; "Greek fire" poured down and catapulted from the towers; "scorpion" missiles fired to and fro with deadly accuracy; slashing of scimitars and Damascene daggers; are all part of the battlefield extravaganza that is the siege and battle of Jerusalem.

Who wins? Who survives? You'll have to watch the movie!

Let us just say that as the movie ends, the Third Crusade led by Richard I, the "Lion-Heart," King of England (1189-1199); Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor; and Philip II, King of France, was in the making.      

Rating: 5-star epic, historic movie recommended by MAF. 

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sndVnlLDFqI

 

The Plague (1993, Import)
Directed By: Luis Puenzo
Starring: William Hurt, Robert Duvall, Raul Julia, Sandrine Bonnaire

Brief Description: William Hurt plays Dr. Rieux in this cinematographic adaptation of Albert Camus' existentialist epic novel. And, the performances delivered by Raul Julia and Robert Duvall are spellbinding.

Despite the frequent absurdity of life on this earth, man must do his duty and fulfill his obligation to his fellow man and to the society in which he lives. And, despite the obligatory barbs to Christian theology in general and the personality of the Bishop of Oran in particular, it's an existentialist gem. And yet, it's the Christian virtues of charity and hope just beneath the surface that sustain the inhabitants of the city even if some of them don't recognize it as such.

Arguably, the philosophic and theological undercurrents behind the story's main plots follow the thoughts of Albert Camus (1913-1960)  and Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), father of Existentialism, who in part reconciled certain tenets of existentialism and stoicism with Christianity.

I agree with the DVD insert which summarizes the movie as follows:

"Refusing to conceal the outbreak of bubonic plague in Oran, Dr. Rieux sounds the battle cry invoking the government to call in the military and quarantine the city. Joined by a research colleague and two reporters, Dr. Rieux sets up an emergency facility which becomes the heart and hope of a city slowly suffocating. Escape is uncertain; survival of Oran rests on the determination of its citizens to find the solution together.

"An epic story of courage and personal sacrifice set amid the turbulence and disorder of modern day South America. "

Unlike the setting of Camus' great novel which takes place in Algeria, North Africa, this adaptation is set in a nondescript South American country (Argentina).

Toward the end of his life, Albert Camus refused to sell out existentialism for socialism, or subjugate the metaphysical one to the political other, as was the case with Jean Paul Sartre. Camus' untimely death in a 1960 automobile accident was tragic for literature and philosophy in general and metaphysics and existentialism in particular.

The novel and movie both stress the nature and existence of free will, even if we make no palpable impact in the greater nature of things; and that citizens should lead good lives, in spite of loneliness, despair, and the tragic tribulations of life on this planet — and sometimes the absurdity of it all!

I do not presume to argue that my philosophic interpretation of The Plague is the only valid one, but only one of many. You will need to do your own research. We do know that Camus rejected all philosophic labels during his lifetime. He did not even called himself an existentialist,  and resented his being linked in any way with the political philosophy of Jean Paul Sartre. In his later life, he rejected nihilism, Marxism, and totalitarianism in any of its forms, and firmly denounced the Soviet Red Army crushing of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He also spoke firmly against the police state repression and suppression of freedom of the Russian people by the Total State of the USSR.

Rating: 5-star epic movie recommended by MAF. 

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGZIUhbzlxo 

 

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Directed By: Werner Herzog
Produced By: Werner Herzog, Daniel Camino, Hans Prescher, Lucki Stipetic
Starring: Klaus Kinski, Ruy Guerra, Helena Rojo, Del Negro, Peter Berling
Music: Popol Vuh

Brief Description: This is a great epic movie supposedly based on an expedition down the Amazon River in search for El Dorado, the city of gold. The journey down the perilous river surrounded by lush vegetation and the savage and precipitous jungle began with the great Conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro (1502-1548) and ended with the Basque madman, Conquistador Lope de Aguirre (1510-1561; played by Klaus Kinski). The fictitious movie plot is ostensibly based on the surviving diary of the duplicitous and hypocritical Dominican friar, Gaspar de Carvajal.

To become the leader of the vanguard expedition searching for gold, riches, and power, the treacherous adventurer, Lope de Aguirre, had his immediate superiors Pedro de Ursua (1526-1561) and Fernando de Guzman killed. He even defies Philip II, the King of Spain. But it is important to separate what is fiction and what is history in this cinematographic spectacle and surreal adventure — the ultimate tale of intrigue, betrayal and madness!

The historic Gaspar de Carvajal (1500-1584) was a Spanish Dominican friar who accompanied Captain Francisco de Orellana (1511-1546) in the historic expedition and discovery of the Amazon River course and estuary. The real Carvajal had settled in Peru and dedicated himself to the conversion of the Indians. His general attitude towards the Indians was consistent with the benevolence of his better known brother Dominican friar, Bartolome de las Casas. Interestingly, Friar Carvajal was born in and came from Trujillo, Extremadura, Spain, the same hard region and city as that of the conquistadors, the Pizarro brothers and Francisco de Orellana.

In 1540, the historic Friar Carvajal joined Gonzalo Pizarro, governor of Quito (so appointed after the conquest of Peru and the Incas), in an expedition to find the "Land of Cinnamon" in eastern Peru. The expedition consisted of 200 conquistadores and 4000 Indians. It crossed the Andes mountains and traversed the Amazonian jungle under trying and desperate conditions. They were treading inhospitable jungle, and they carried insufficient provisions. All the indians, serving as servants or slaves, reportedly died in the expedition, and Governor Gonzalo himself barely survived with a handful of his men. The ultimate goal of the ill-fated expedition was the search of the elusive city of gold, El Dorado, which was never found.

In the historic epic saga, Francisco de Orellana, Gonzalo Pizarro's second in Command, asked to lead a search party down the Napo River (a tributary of the Amazon) to find provisions with 64 men. The mission was approved, and Orellana went down the rivers in rapidly constructed rafts (as in the movie). They reached a great confluence of the rivers, but he was unable to return due to the strong current, so the party continued down the Amazon river until it reached its estuary in the Atlantic in 1542. Orellana and his men agonized over this turn of events, just as Ursua and Guzman did in the movie version with Lope de Aguirre. They suspected Gonzalo would call them traitors (which the great conquistador did but died before he could press charges in the court of Spain). In their journey, they actually found many populated, peaceful indigenous trading centers along the river, but the survivors were not fully believed. Orellana made it to Spain, was allowed to return, and died lost in the jungle in a subsequent expedition (1546).

Friar Carvajal was one of the survivors of the first, historic Orellana expedition, and it is from his narrative — which was later published as, "Account of the recent discovery of the famous Grand river which was discovered by great good fortune by Captain Francisco de Orellana" — that we know of the details and travails of the expedition. Recent ethnographic and archeological research has judged the narrative to have been extremely accurate. But this is not the narrative of the expedition of Lope de Aguirre depicted in the movie.

In Werner Herzog's epic movie, Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) — the account of Gaspar de Carvajal which took place in Orellana's expedition is mixed with the mad journey of Lope de Aguirre down the Amazon river, which took place almost twenty years later in 1561. Lope de Aguirre, actually led 186 conquistadors down the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers, pillaging and plundering as he went. He is reputed to have proclaimed: "I am the Wrath of God, Lord of Tierra Firme and the Provinces of Chile." Aguirre, just as in the movie, did become the leader of an expedition and subsequent colonization of an island off Venezuela, and he did have his immediate superiors Pedro de Ursua (1526-1561) and Fernando de Guzman killed. He even defied Philip II, the King of Spain. But the real Aguirre was executed in Venezuela after his rebellion against the Spanish Crown had been suppressed. His body was quartered and scattered throughout Venezuela as a traitor.

I will not tell you how the fictitious Aguirre fares in the movie, nor how the expedition ends in the film. Suffice to say, it is an epic movie of surreal, cinematographic wonders; incredible jungle, river, and mountain scenes; and unspeakable betrayal. This epic movie by the master German film director, Werner Herzog, is definitely worth seeing and well deserves a 5-star rating. It is indeed a stunning, hypnotic masterpiece! 

Rating: 5-star epic, drama and historic movie recommended by MAF. 

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xcr8nVr4tSA

Dr. Zhivago (1965) 
Directed By: David Lean
Starring: Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness, Ralph Richardson, Tom Courtenay
Music: Maurice Jarre 

Brief Description: Boris L. Pasternak (1890-1960) won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1958, one year after his magnum opus, Doctor Zhivago, had been smuggled out of Russia and published in Milan. Set during the turbulent time of the Russian Revolution, the novel had been banned in the USSR. Persecuted by the KGB, the apparachiks of the Soviet Communist party and the Union of Soviet writers (controlled by both the KGB and the Party), Pasternak "reluctantly" declined the Nobel Prize. Prior to that in 1953, when Stalin died suddenly and while the Russians were grieving and mourning the brutal dictator, Pasternak had written, "Men who are not free... always idealize their bondage." Unlike Russian author, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Pasternak did not possess the psychological fiber to oppose the Soviet authorities. Nevertheless, his novel and his persecution shook the foundations of the Soviet police state under the regimes of Khrushchev and Brezhnev.

The movie, based on Pasternak's novel, tells the story of a Russian doctor and poet, Yuri Zhivago (played by Omar Sharif), who gets trapped in the savagery of the Bolshevik Revolution and the ensuing Russian civil war between the Soviet Reds and the anti-communist Whites.  Although the novel’s protagonist is already married to Tonya Gromeko (played by Geraldine Chaplin), Yuri falls in love with Lara Antipova, a revolutionary's wife (played by Julie Christie). They suffer untold hardships and privations.

The movie’s musical score by Maurice Jarre is simply magical, and the beauty of the scenery and cinematography are outstanding!

Here is how one Amazon reviewer described it: "David Lean's ‘Doctor Zhivago’ is a classic film, one that will live on ... There are scenes in this movie that will become indelibly etched in the viewers imagination: The opening funeral march through the vast Siberian landscape; the grandeur of the Czarist Russian palaces; the march of the revolutionaries through the Moscow boulevards; the train ride straight out of Dante's Inferno; the Ice-covered interior of the Zhivago country estate (a truly magical moment in the film)..."

I agree heartedly!

According to Wikipedia, after publication of the Pasternak’s novel in the West:

"…Acting on direct orders from the Politburo, the KGB surrounded Pasternak's dacha in Peredelkino. Pasternak was not only threatened with arrest, but the KGB also vowed to send his beloved Olia back to the GULAG. It was further hinted that if Pasternak traveled to Stockholm to collect his Nobel Medal, he would be refused re-entry to the Soviet Union. As a result, Pasternak sent a second telegram to the Nobel Committee:

'In view of the meaning given the award by the society in which I live, I must renounce this undeserved distinction which has been conferred on me. Please do not take my voluntary renunciation amiss.'

“The Swedish Academy announced: 'This refusal, of course, in no way alters the validity of the award. There remains only for the Academy, however, to announce with regret that the presentation of the Prize cannot take place.'

"Despite his decision to decline the award, the Soviet Union of Writers continued to denounce Pasternak in the Soviet press. Furthermore, he was threatened at the very least with formal exile to the West. In response, Pasternak wrote directly to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, 'Leaving the motherland will equal death for me. I am tied to Russia by birth, by life and work.' As a result of this and the intercession of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Pasternak was not expelled from his homeland."

Rating: 5-star epic, drama, romance, war film movie recommended by MAF. 

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAWrXTn5Www

 

Atlas Shrugged, Part I (2011)
Produced By: Harmon Kaslow, John Aglialoro
Starring: Taylor Shilling, Grant Bowler, Matthew Marsden, Edi Gathegi
Music By: Elia Cmiral
Based on the Novel By: Ayn Rand  

Brief Description: Fantastic movie about dangerous times with intriguing parallels to today!

This movie is plainly magnificent, the cinematography, the script, the acting all superb! Normally, when I watch a movie based on a great book or novel, the question always arises, how does it compare to the book?

The book, Atlas Shrugged, is fantastic, but may be a bit too long toward the end, particularly for an impatient younger generation. The repeated question of "Who is John Galt?" becomes a bit old in the book, but not so in the movie. So the answer — as far as Part 1 concerns us — is the movie thus far. Why? The writing and the plot for both the book and the movie are a tour de force, but the movie moves at a faster pace than the novel, and the actors, who match the novel's characters so well, "live and in color" on the screen — may just tilt the balance!

The movie, like the novel, is a cliffhanger of intrigue and suspense, and leaves the viewer wanting more! Moreover, the casting is outstanding. Taylor Schilling and Grant Bowler give magnificent performances as Dagny Taggart and Hank Rearden, and so does the rest of the cast in their respective roles. When Ayn Rand was alive her first pick to play Dagny Taggart was Farrah Fawcett in the 1970s, when Farrah was at her peak, but I don't see how the casting of the equally beautiful Taylor Schilling could be improved upon!

And the parallels with the present could not have been better chosen by Fate. The movie takes place in 2016, and America is teetering on the abyss of economic disaster, oil prices climbing out of sight, government collusion with businesses (that are cooperating with the increasingly socialistic American state) is rampant, regulations are mounting, economic freedom is being curtailed, individual liberty itself hangs in the balance. The most productive citizens are disappearing from society, while those who are dependent on the state are multiplying...the country is on the verge of revolution. Everything depends on our rugged individualist heroes, Dagny Taggart and Hank Rearden (and their Objectivist philosophy), but they are yet to find out "Who is John Galt?" I give thumbs up to this magnificent movie, and cannot wait for the release of Part II in theaters in the Fall of 2012!

Rating: 5-star movie recommended by MAF. 

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W07bFa4TzM

 

 Atlas Shrugged, Part II (2013)
Produced By: Ben 'Bud' Brigham, Bernie Laramie, Bruce McNall

Starring: Samatha Mathis, Jason Beghe, Esai Morales, Patrick Fabian, Kim Rhodes

 Based on the Novel By: Ayn Rand  

Brief Description: Eerily familiar, yet entertaining and powerful! Once again a masterful performance that almost surpasses Part 1! The adaptation once again is exceptional because the cinematography, script, and acting are superb. This is one of the few times that a Hollywood movie approximates the excellence of a classic!

Eerily, the movie parallels the actual U.S. economic decline and the despair of the middle class, as government regulation and oppression increases proportionally! Government bosses and their minions driven by the politics of envy are ending the free enterprise genius that built this country. Brilliant innovators and industrialists disappear as the economy reaches the brink of collapse!

The liberal critics who controlled the opinion cartel of the popular culture may dislike this movie, but the middle class will applaud this film, as it depicts reality, the increasing tyranny of envious politicians, government suppression of liberty, and the crushing of innovation and individual freedom. All because increasing socialism with the strangulation of the economy in the name of false equality and collectivism.

By the strong reaction of liberals (critics or otherwise, especially those who have not even watched the film), you can judge their panic at the film's masterful performance and powerful message!

Go and see this precious movie and make sure your friends watch it too! I'm looking forward to Part 3 as well!

Rating: 5-star movie recommended by MAF.

Theatrical Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gkLg4buEmw

Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983)
Directed By: Jim Goddard, Martin Campbell
Starring: Sam Neill, Jeananne Crowley, Leo McKern, Kenneth Cranham, Michael Bryant, Norman Rodway, Tom Bell, Hugh Fraser
Written By: Troy Kennedy-Martin
Based on the Book By: Robin Bruce Lockhart

Brief Description: From the DVD case: "At the turn of the 20th century, one remarkable man single-handedly tried to alter the course of history. Cold, ruthless, and enigmatic, this Russian-born British agent radically transformed modern espionage techniques and set the mold for a new kind of secret agent — the super spy.

"Reilly: Ace of Spies is the thrilling, suspenseful dramatization of the real-life adventures of Agent ST-1, aka Sidney Reilly, the inspiration behind Ian Fleming's James Bond. Shot in glorious period detail, one heart-pulsing mission after another captures the arc of Reilly's brilliant career. From stealing top-secret Russian oil information to a near overthrow of the Bolshevik Revolution to his final capture by Stalin's forces in 1918, Reilly's exploits are at times so daring and reckless it's hard to believe it's history and not fiction."

I cannot agree more with this tantalizing synopsis!

British author Robin Bruce Lockhart (born 1920), whose book this miniseries is based upon, was the son of the British diplomat and spymaster, Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart (1887-1970), a personal friend of Sidney Reilly and a participant in some of the intrigues and espionage in the Kremlin during the early days of the Russian Revolution. The British agents, Boris Savinkov, Sidney Reilly and Robert Bruce Lockhart, were trying to get Lenin and the Russian government to renounce the humiliating Russian-German peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 3, 1918) and entice the Bolsheviks to rejoin the war against Germany. When this did not happen, they were to attempt to overthrow the Bolsheviks!

Robin Bruce Lockhart's book, Ace of Spies, was published in 1967. The television miniseries "Reilly: Ace of Spies," written by Troy Kennedy-Martin and starring the New Zealand superstar, Sam Neill, aired in 1983, recounting the British super-spy Sidney Reilly's saga in graphic, cinematographic detail. Lockhart's book was then republished in 1984 as Reilly: Ace of Spies.

In 2005, A&E released the miniseries' 12 original episodes in a 4-disc DVD format (approx. 10 hours, 30 minutes, plus extras). The collector's set includes a documentary, "Life of Reilly: The Super Spy," that narrates the true facts of the case and fills in some biographical and historic gaps. For example, what were the real circumstances surrounding Sidney Reilly's disappearance in Russia in the autumn of 1925, and the extent of his knowledge regarding the Trust organization?

Had Reilly gone to Russia to expose the Trust organization as a "false flag" operation and to avenge his friend Boris Savinkov? Or like Savinkov, had Reilly fallen into an incredibly unsuspecting trap, under the spell and deception of the infamous false "monarchist" Trust operation, which was, in fact, a counter-intelligence organization created by Feliks Dzerzhinsky and the Bolshevik secret police, the Cheka, precisely to lure White Russians and other "enemies of the revolution" back to Russia for their arrest and extermination?

The informative documentary clarifies any discrepancies in the necessarily dramatized and romanticized miniseries, viz-a-viz the harsh realities of what transpired.

The miniseries, "Reilly: Ace of Spies" is a superb historic epic to which I ascribe a 5-star rating for its excellent cinematographic adaptation and dramatization of history, so conveniently accompanied by its concluding documentary, as described.

Rating: 5-star miniseries recommended by MAF.

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnkF-qOmxro&feature=related

The Wild Geese (1978)
Directed By: Andrew V. McLaglen
Produced By: Euan Lloyd
Starring: Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, Hardy Kruger, Stewart Granger, Winston Ntshona, John Kani, Ian Yule
Based on the Book By: Daniel Carney

Brief Description: This is simply the best mercenary film ever produced, maybe the best movie in this genre that will ever be made!

This epic film is a tour de force, a magnificent blend of sensational cinematography and war adventure (with a tight plot and an incredible cast to boot). It is an action-packed, suspense-thriller from beginning to climactic end. The product teaser on the DVD reads:

 "Their home is the battlefield. Their calling is war. Their only loyalty is to each other. They are the Wild Geese, 50 crack mercenary paratroops commanded by fearless veteran Colonel Faulkner (Richard Burton). Their mission: to land in a remote and hostile corner of Africa, free the one man who can change a nation's destiny, seize the airport, and make their escape... But while the Wild Geese are fighting and dying in the African sun, sinister forces in the corridors of power are working to seal their fate."

Yes, but there is more to this cinematographic extravaganza. The consultant to this film (technical advisor) was the renowned soldier of fortune, Colonel Michael ("Mad Mike") Hoare. And the main hero in this movie, Colonel Allen Faulkner, is patterned after Hoare himself. Ian Yule, one of the actors in the movie, was an actual mercenary who served in Africa in the 1960s. Hardy Kruger was a former German POW, who successfully escaped from allied custody and reached Germany, later becoming a successful actor. The character of the good, ailing, long-imprisoned President Limbani is played by the South African playwright, Winston Ntshona, and the role was inspired by Congolese statesman Moise Tsombe, who had died at the hands of his pro-communist captors after sustaining physical torture for years.

Colonel Hoare, the movie's technical advisor and perhaps the most famous mercenary of all time, had participated in the first Congo Crisis of 1960-61, leading the Commando 4 unit that fought to help the province of Katanga gain her independence from the savagery of the newly independent nation of the Congo.

In 1964, Hoare was formally recruited by President Moise Tsombe to fight the barbaric communist troops, the Simbas. The Colonel later fought with Belgian paratroopers and anti-communist, Cuban exile pilots and commandoes in an attempt to save the lives of 1,600 Europeans and missionaries stranded in the Congo and to rescue them from the savage Simba rebels, who were later supported by communist Cuban troops led by Che Guevara.

So the film's plot was inspired not only by the Simbas and Congolese wars of the 1960s but by the end of life tragedy of President Moise Tsombe, the freedom fighter, who fought for the liberation of Katanga, trying to free this formerly prosperous province from the dictatorial and brutal rule of the Congo in the 1960s. (An excellent documentary on this episode, "Katanga — The Untold Story (Of U.N. Betrayal)" was produced in VHS format by American Media in 1991.)

The Wild Geese DVD contains other supplementary features, including the Making of the Wild Geese, a commentary with Sir Roger Moore (of James Bond "007" fame), the star-studded Charity Premiere Newsreel, star biographies and interviews, theatrical trailers, interactive combat menu, etc.

The music of the soundtrack, "The Flight of the Wild Geese, " was written and performed by Joan Amatrading, a black, British singer-songwriter, and she was magnificent!

When first released, this film was a commercial success in Great Britain, but it was judged controversial, and due to Hollywood's partisan politics as well as distribution problems, it was a flop in the United States. Fortunately since that time, the movie has been resurrected by word of mouth and has developed a life of his own, or so it seems. (Wild Geese II, however, remains a well-deserved flop, a truly boring sequel.)

Rating: 5-star epic adventure recommended by MAF.  

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNef4MC4ldo

Honorable mention should go to perhaps the only "other"
movie in this genre worth mentioning:

The Dogs of War (1981)
Directed By: John Irvin
Produced By: Norman Jewison, Patrick Palmer
Starring: Christopher Walken, Tom Berenger
Based on the Novel By: Frederick Forsyth

Brief Description: This movie was heavily influenced by The Wild Geese, and interestingly the good African ruler in this movie is again played by the South African playwright, Winston Ntshona, but there the historic comparisons end.

This second movie is purely an entertaining, action-filled adventure. As usual, Christopher Walken, as the protagonist (Jamie Shannnon) in this lesser but still a very good film, played his role magnificently.

Ratings: 4-star action adventure recommended by MAF. 

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji7-p2GMbWA

Lost Highway (1997)
Directed By: David Lynch
Starring: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthgazar Getty, Robert Blake, Robert Loggia, Gary Bussey, Natasha Gregson Wagner
Music: Angelo Badalamenti 

Brief Description: From the director of "Blue Velvet" and "Twin Peaks," comes a masterpiece of "haunting sexuality, ricochet action and fleeting, murderous shadows...that begins and ends on the Lost Highway....

"Trapped in their worlds of desire, destiny, and unknown destination, where the truth is always just a short way further down the road," this all-star cast takes us through a "powerful, sensual and extraordinary movie."

Horror/deviltry or psychological thriller? Faustian bargain with the Devil gone awry or mental illness and psychogenic fugue? A well-written review was posted on Amazon.com based on research into David Lynch's cinematographic background and intentions. I prefer to think that the Devil is in the details!
 
Rating: 5-star movie recommended by MAF.

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvGvjnqSKF8

 

Angel Heart (1987)
Directed By: Alan Parker
Starring: Robert, De Niro, Mickey Rourke, Lisa Bonet, Charlotte Rampling
Music: Trevor Jones

Brief Description: A masterpiece of cinema with various genres interconnected, horror/deviltry intertwined with psychological thriller. But there is also a great dark mystery…

"Harry Angel, a down-and-out fifties, Brooklyn gumshoe takes us on a journey of violence and murder that canvasses the desperate streets of Harlem, smoke-filled jazz clubs of New Orleans, and ultimately to voodoo rituals in the sweltering swamps of Louisiana. Angel Heart is a truly unsettling film experience."

Horrifying suspense...Robert De Niro and Mickey Rourke at their best.

Rating: 5-star horror movie recommended by MAF.

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp0LXxkx7yA

 

Anonymous (2011)
Directed By: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, Derek Jacobi
Music: Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser

Brief Description: Set in Elizabethan England, Anonymous "speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds. Who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare?"

I first learned about this controversy after reading a 1991 article written by essayist and editor Joseph Sobran in National Review. Suddenly many murky questions I had about William Shakespeare became very clear. The real author of his plays, Sobran claimed, was Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, a very learned man and a literary scholar but whose authorship of those plays was not acceptable for a man of his rank. Rhys Ifans is magnificent in his role as the Earl of Oxford.

The veracity and revisionism of the Sobran article was answered in a subsequent National Review issue by none other than Charlton Heston, who vigorously defended Shakespeare and the accepted conventional historical account.

The movie is magnificently made, the acting and cast superb, the setting (e.g. the Globe Theater, London circa 1600, etc.) and cinematography outstanding. But the historical additions and elaborations, interwoven with pompous fictional exuberance, detract from the more serious literary debate. I for one was disappointed for example when, as someone else wrote, Queen Elizabeth I was transformed in the film from the austere, dignified Tudor Virgin Queen, who placed the throne and England above everything else, into a young, fluttering nymphomaniac monarch butterfly and later to a befuddled old hag of a queen.

In those days of the Renaissance when monarchs had no real private lives, Queen Elizabeth I could not have been another Catherine the Great without the court and courtiers knowing of her sexual liaisons and gossipy peccadilloes, nor could she have prevented these transgressions from seeping into the fabric of historical accounts.

Likewise, the character of William Shakespeare, the literary wraith, is needlessly distorted beyond belief for the purpose of contrast and the sensationalization of the film.

The elaboration and interweaving of fictitious events leading to the Earl of Oxford as one of the former lovers of the queen and whose sexual consummation led to the bastardy of the Earl of Southampton also adds to our sense of disbelief.

I recommend a little homework for those who seek historical accuracy before watching this movie. Look up the main historical characters and learn a bit about them, i.e., Queen Elizabeth I; the Earls of Essex and Southampton; William Cecil and his son, Robert Cecil; Ben Jonson; and of course the Earl of Oxford and William Shakespeare.

If one watches this movie with a sense for historical accuracy, not to mention if seeking clarification as to the dispute of who actually wrote the Shakespearean plays — the film is disappointing. Admirers of Queen Betsy will be enraged. Ben Jonson fans will be delighted. Those seeking historical entertainment and those who enjoy alternative history for its sake — will be entertained. Those who watch historical films to learn history and use that "history" for conversational purposes will be deceived, and will be unwitting deceivers to others, unless they are careful historical connoisseurs, who can separate very carefully the wheat from the chaff in this fictionalized historical movie!

Rating: 4-star fictionalized historical movie recommended by MAF with the aforementioned caveats.

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrUUxD1QmaQ

Cuba: an African Odyssey (2008)
Directed By: Jihan El Tahri
Produced By: Jihan El Tahri, Tancrede Ramonet 

Brief Description: I was inspired to write a review of this interesting documentary because I read another excellent review by "Mark" on Amazon.com; to my amazement he had been lambasted for his review merely because of ideological reasons, so I decided to wade into the contoversial waters of the literary and political fray. I know something about this topic, not only because it's an area of my own historic expertise, but also because one of my favorite uncles was conscripted in the Cuban army and was a participant in this Cuban adventure, serving honorably in Angola.

This documentary should have been entitled Cuba — African adventurism and combat by proxy in the superpower conflict during the Cold War.

This is a well-done but terribly biased documentary that glorifies communist Cuba and her heroes in the repressive pantheon of the workers' paradise. Part 1 of this documentary relates to the Congo and the war for independence from Belgium. Then it proceeds with the struggle for power between communist Patrice Lumumba, who is idolized, and his successor, Laurent Kabila, against (Joseph) Mobutu Sese Seko (1930-1997), who eventually won and ruled with an iron hand as a socialist dictator.

Che Guevara enters the picture in this Congolese civil war and despite hero-worship treatment for this communist icon, the producers are forced to admit that Che's misadventure was a disastrous and colossal failure. We are not told, however, that if there was a real communist hero, it was General Arnaldo Ochoa, who rescued Che from the claws of his enemies in 1965, when the Argentinean now in full retreat got lost and nearly perished trying to reach Lake Tanganyika, his desperate escape route. General Ochoa, who later became a potential political opponent of Fidel Castro, was accused of drug smuggling and shot in Cuba as a scapegoat after a kangaroo trial in 1989.

Token Americans — e.g., CIA operative Larry Devlin, who must admit to his cloak and dagger operations during the interview — are used to give the documentary a semblance of balance. But the fact remains that the glorification of the war against neocolonialism and the exaltation of communist heroes both Cubans and Africans — not just big fish like Lumumba and Che Guevara but even lesser known communist Cuban revolutionaries, such as Victor Dreke and Harry Villegas, assistants to Che Guevara and who provide some of the narration — are given paramount importance. This glorification of communism and the idolization of revolutionary heroes is all pervasive in the documentary, and facts, logic, and understanding are subordinated to hard reality.

It is highly ironic (although the producers failed to see the irony) that when the Cuban revolutionaries entered the Congo, Victor Dreke, a black Cuban, was given the nom de guerre "Moya," and the Congolese were told that he was the supreme "Commander of the Congo Mission." They were astounded and in awe because "Moya" was black and ranked higher than the two white Cubans (of course it was a lie, one of the two whites was Che, whose nom de guerre was "Tatu"!) After Che's identity was ascertained, the astonishment passed unnoticed. Che was then worshiped as a demigod and the Africans were afraid for his safety and that "something" might happen to him. Nothing was said of the brutality of his African comrades' tribal warfare, to the point that Che himself was revolted by his African confreres' barbarism.

Part 2 of the documentary deals with Cuba's major involvement in the collapse of the Portuguese African colonies in Angola and Mozambique. Nothing is said of the major role played by the left-wing Portuguese military junta, which actually was the biggest player in that collapse. Withdrawal of colonial troops from the Portuguese colonies by the sympathetic, left-wing junta facilitated the work of the African national liberation movements in Cabo Verde, Mozambique, and Angola in 1975. Selective omissions like this favoring the leftist revisionism, unfortunately haunt this documentary.

I also agree with the aforementioned Amazon.com reviewer, "Mark," that in the Angola war, the communist MPLA were treated as heroes, while the U.S.-supported UNITA fighters were insufficiently covered, intimating only that they were U.S. puppets! You would never know that Dr Jonas Savimbi was the greatest guerrilla and military leader in both that war, as well as the war for independence in Angola, nor that he was assassinated in 2002 while still fighting!

I am also in accord with the reviewer about the venial situation of the Angolan communist regime and Western oil companies propping up the corrupt regime and accepting protection from the Cuban army in the oil fields. This is not discussed, I suppose, because it would taint the revolutionary image of Agostinho Neto, head of the MPLA and later communist dictator of Angola.

In short, this documentary was well-researched, had good footage, but it was tremendously one-sided, exalting the heroes of the communist pantheon and at times even omitting inconvenient facts that would oppose the leftist perspective of the producers. Finally, the documentary failed to tell the viewers about the corruption (Angola), depredation (Mozambique) and even genocidal perversity (Ethiopia, the Derg, and Mengistu Haile Marian) that the Cuban communist troops, the Soviets, and African socialism left in their wake. You will not see the atrocities of African communists in this documentary, only exaltation of Cuba's adventurism in Africa during the Cold War. By all means watch this documentary, but only after reading about this topic so that the viewer is prepared to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Rating: 3-star historical-political documentary recommended by MAF with aforementioned caveats.

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywd2B_uiQfo 

No Direction Home (2005)
Directed By: Martin Scorsese
Produced By: Susan Lacy, Jeff
Rosen, Martin Scorsese, Nigel Sinclair, Anthony Wall
Starring: Bob Dylan
Music By: Bob Dylan

Brief Description: Martin Scorsese's documentary "No Direction Home" (run time: 207 minutes) is truly a masterpiece about the life, times, and music of the legendary Bob Dylan, and contains great surprises about Dylan's attitude toward the media, politics, and philosophy of life.

Produced by the Academy Award winning director, Scorsese brilliantly recreates, through personal interviews with friends and colleagues, events in the extraordinary life of Bob Dylan, from his upbringing in the small American town in the hinterland of Minnesota, "to his early days in the coffee houses of Greenwich Village, to his tumultuous ascent to pop stardom in 1966."

The inclusion of the interview with Maria Muldaur ("Midnight at the Oasis") proves essential to help clarify several aspects of Dylan's closely guarded details about his personal life and politics. Likewise, interviews with Paul Clayton and Dave Van Ronk, folksinger friends of Dylan, fill in other details about Dylan's life and music. In an interview with Joan Baez, the singing legend and political star who was so attracted to Bob Dylan, Baez states that no matter how much she tried, she could never decipher Dylan's mind. Finally in an interview with Allen Ginsberg, the left-wing poet and activist, Ginsberg reminisces that he loved Dylan's music, but like Baez, he could not penetrate his mind and thoughts.

There are two salient aspects of this documentary about Bob Dylan's life that the viewer will not forget. One is the intensive opposition Bob Dylan encountered from his early fans and friends when he successfully diversified his music to include rock music. He was accused of being a "traitor" to folk music and reviled. Left-wing folksinger, Pete Seeger, who considered folk singing and ballads his personal, political-left, musical fiefdom, even tried to cut off the sound at a folk music concert, when Dylan and his band went on to play rock music!

The other aspect is Bob Dylan's impenetrable refusal to allow the media to unraveled the details of his personal life and the true meaning of his philosophy (political or otherwise) of music. Bob Dylan kept on remonstrating that he was only a musician, "not the conscience of the protest movement," as the New Left and the media kept insisting.

Dylan's performances in this documentary include: 'Blowing in the Wind' (live on TV, 1963); 'Girl on the North Country' (unaired Canadian TV special 'Quest,' 1964); 'Man of Constant Sorrow' (live on TV, 1964); 'Mr Tambourine Man' (Newport Folk Festival, 1964); 'Like a Rolling Stone' (Live from New Castle, England, 1965), etc.

According to the insert, this DVD set also contains "never-before-seen footage, exclusive interviews, and rare concert performances — the untold story of a living American legend." I must concur. Scorsese has constructed a well-deserved, documentary hagiography of Bob Dylan that his fans will never forget. His place in folk and rock music and political history in the turbulent Sixties and Seventies is now solidly engraved in stone!

I should also add that Bob Dylan's published memoirs, Chronicles (Vol. I, 2004, Simon and Schuster) is also recommended as a supplemental road map for those who might get lost among the many music personalities who enter in and out of Bob Dylan's life in the epic documentary. I found Chronicles to be a magnificent little prop to have handy as you watch the documentary a second time, and to help identify the colorful characters interviewed and mentioned in the documentary.

Rating: 5-star documentary recommended by MAF.

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOUtzHizr9A

The Weather Underground (2004)
Directed By: Sam Green, Bill Siegel
Produced By: Carrie Lozano
Narrated By: Lili Taylor 

 Brief Description: A historical-political documentary, "The Weather Underground — The Explosive Story of America's Most Notorious Revolutionaries" features former members of that Destructive Generation, including Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, Mark Rudd,  Brian Flanagan, Naomi Jaffe, Laura Whitehorn, David Gilbert, Kathleen Cleaver, and Todd Gitlin. The running time of this splendid documentary is 95 minutes.

Originating in 1969 as a radical faction of the leftist Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the Weathermen organization took its name from Bob Dylan's song, "Subterranean Homesick Blues," whose lyrics stated: "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." According to Wikipedia, "that phrase was also used in the title of a position paper the Weathermen distributed at the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) convention in Chicago on June 18, 1969." (It is of great interest that later taking a hint from the Soviets who declared Bob Dylan a "capitalist" rather than a revolutionary, the organization changed its name to the Weather Underground.)

Reflecting the political views expressed in the documentary, Netflix sympathetically describes the film as "a sobering documentary about a group of 1960s 'committed freedom fighters' known as The Weather Underground. A radical offshoot of the Students for a Democratic Society, the weathermen didn't just march or sit in, they rioted and bombed — not to change the American political scene but rather to destroy it. The organization was part of a global trend of evolution that sprang from the belief that not acting against violence is violence."

The name of that organization became synonymous with acts of violence. This group of domestic terrorists "conducted a campaign of bombings through the mid-1970s, including aiding the jailbreak and escape of Timothy Leary. The 'Days of Rage', their first public demonstration on October 8, 1969, was a riot in Chicago timed to coincide with the trial of the Chicago Seven. In 1970 the group issued a 'Declaration of a State of War' against the United States government, under the name 'Weather Underground Organization' (WUO). The bombing attacks mostly targeted government buildings (e.g., U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, and the U.S. Department of State), along with several banks…Then on October 20, 1981 in Nanuet, New York, the group robbed a Brinks armored truck containing $1.6 million. The robbery was violent, resulting in the murders of two police officers and a security guard. WUO former members Kathy Boudin, Judith Alice Clark, and David Gilbert were found guilty and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. The documentary The Weather Underground described the Brinks Robbery as the 'unofficial end' of the Weather Underground." (From Wikipedia, "Weather Underground")

Most of the Weather Underground members eventually turned themselves in to federal authorities, but were either fined and put on probation or released due to legal technicalities (e.g., the FBI collection of evidence and surveillance of suspected members were deemed illegal by the courts, etc.).

Two of the former members of the Weather Underground were still serving their 75-year prison terms at the time the documentary was released, and several other members appear to still be living in the Sixties, except Todd Gitlin and Brian Flanagan.

Gitlin, a founding member of SDS who never joined the Weather Underground (considering them part of the radical faction that hijacked his organization), gives a great rebuttal to the mostly unrepentant radical cast. Another repentant member of SDS, Brian Flanagan, a bar owner and a $28,000 winner on the TV show Jeopardy, also renounced his radical ideologies, expressing regret for his actions and comparing the WUO's acts to terrorism stating "When you feel that you have right on your side, you can do some pretty horrific things."

From watching the documentary, viewers would never realize that Kathleen Cleaver, wife of ex-Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver, has also recanted her radical, left-wing sentiments; and Mark Rudd, a professor of mathematics at Central New Mexico Community College, admitted he still has feelings of "guilt and shame" 30 years later stating, "These are things I am not proud of, and I find it hard to speak publicly about them…"

This is an excellent documentary but it could have benefitted from a little more balance, perhaps from someone on the right, such as David Horowitz, who would have enhanced the political equilibrium.

Finally, Brian Flanagan's observation summarizes it, "the Vietnam War drove us crazy…." I would add and expound on Flanagan's sentiments: Once a group of radicals believe they have rightness and social justice on their side, violence, crime and terrorism, become accepted methods for bringing about change, even when the American and Western culture that they so despised and attacked was the best society that human minds had yet created in man's ascent in the turbulent history of progress. This statement is still relevant today in view of the horrific 911 attack and Islamic fanaticism.

Rating: 4-star historical-political documentary recommended by MAF.

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay4cgdq6g-o

 

2016 Obama's America (2012)
Directed By: Dinesh D'Souza  and
John Sullivan
Produced By: Gerald R. Molen 

 Brief Description: As the cover reads, "Love him, hate him. You don't know him." 2016 Obama's America examines the question, "If Obama wins a second term, where will we be in 2016?"

Amazon's description also reads: "Immersed in exotic locales across four continents, best selling author Dinesh D’Souza races against time to find answers to Obama’s past and reveal where America will be in 2016. During this journey he discovers how Hope and Change became radically misunderstood, and identifies new flashpoints for hot wars in mankind’s greatest struggle. The journey moves quickly over the arc of the old colonial empires, into America’s empire of liberty, and we see the unfolding realignment of nations and the shape of the global future."

Observant reviewers at Amazon.com have pointed out the inconsistency of so many trashy one-star review ratings by Obama partisans. The reality is that this documentary is a well-done, artistic, thoroughly documented film. The unjust criticisms at Amazon.com by Obama partisans show that man can be an unfair, political animal. In the case of the background and performance of President Barack Obama, the unfairness has been taken to extremes by his apologists. Frankly, these "reviewers" have not been intellectually honest and have given bad ratings to a masterful documentary they could not have seen, or if they have, they plainly rated it dishonestly.

We can disagree about the ultimate political bent of the film, but not about the documentation of hard, cold facts that can be checked out plainly by those who do not fear facing cold reality. The documentary is in fact very fair to Obama — revealing but not shocking, informing while entertaining. It may be too cerebral for some who have become too used to the Jerry Springer-type of sensationalism or Rousseauian emotionalism. But some intellectual challenge is occasionally needed for something as serious as a presidential contest approaching and an incumbent president who despite a mediocre performance, has been sheltered and shielded by the American press and media.

Because of the political polarization of this documentary, this film will be most helpful to those who consider themselves centrists and independents. It is an essential film for those who are still undecided. As I have noted, Democrats are panning these movies not only for what it reveals, but for what they think it reveals. Many Republicans do not think this movie goes far enough in exposing all the revelations, but have nevertheless given it the commendable good ratings it deserves.

And because detractors of President Obama have been unfairly labeled in some cases "Neanderthals" or racists by partisan Democrats, it should be noted the executive producer, co-director, and co-writer of this film is Dinesh D'Souza, not an "angry white male," but an Indian-born intellectual, an eminent college president.

Mr. Dinesh D'Souza and associates should be commended for carrying out a masterful piece of investigative journalism and producing an exemplary documentary, doing the homework that should have been performed by the mainstream media at least since to 2008 and which the American press still refuses to carry out, even as we approach the momentous November 2012 Presidential U.S. elections. Do your civic duty, see this film.

Rating: 5-star historical-political documentary recommended by MAF.

Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRbqMGtvQD0

Written and Reviewed by Dr. Miguel Faria

Copyright ©2011-2012 Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D.