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Reviews
Fury (2014)
Well worth the wait!
Fury was awesome. The camera work was wonderful, the sound was great, and it served very well as an unflinching look at the last weeks of WWII in Europe through the eyes of an armored crew.
The primary flaw with the movie is its lack of originality in characters. You have your typical veterans (The leader, the vulgar one, the religious one, and the drunk) and a new fish-out-of-water thrown in with them, but they are all developed adequately in this case. Likewise, the plot is not so simplistic and clichéd as the trailer would imply, but it's still somewhat predictable. If you can get past the slightly formulaic plot and characters, it's generally very well acted and has some great talent driving it.
As a WWII reenactor, I sincerely appreciated the effort that went into historical accuracy in the movie. While some of the stars had questionably accurate additions, the movie as a whole went very well. The units portrayed in the film (B Company, 41st Armored Infantry and the 66th Armored Regiment) were real units in the 2nd Armored division in 1945 and served with distinction, giving the characters some great background potential, and the tactics shown weren't too heinous either.
You may need a drink afterward, but it's a very, very well done film and I'd highly recommend giving it a chance.
Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014)
Best Wolfenstein yet
Coming from a market where thoughtless shooters and pay-to-play online games are dominant, I found that Wolfenstein: The New Order was a wonderful breath of fresh air. The writing in the game is excellent, giving a compelling narrative that distinguishes this game from others on the market today, and allows you to understand more about the B.J. Blazkowicz that we've come to know and love over the decades. The ethical dilemmas presented in the game add a dimension not seen in previous incarnations, and help enormously with the replay value. The graphics were decent (probably look better on next-gen systems) and game play is smooth. The only drawback I found was the somewhat tedious task of stockpiling ammo, armor, and health packs, but this hearkens back to the earlier games, so some may find it more charming. Overall, I would highly recommend this game for purchase and look forward to many hours of replay.
Red Rose of Normandy (2011)
Nearly shot the television
As a WWII reenactor and history enthusiast, I tend to be rather harsh on movies, but in this case I think a low rating is justifiable. I can appreciate Mr. Struckmann's enthusiasm for working with reenactors in film, but it is simply not working out for him. He seems to bite off more than he can chew in this movie, given his roles as lead actor, producer, executive producer, director, and writer. The plot was barely discernible, and even though I did sit through the whole movie, I'm still not exactly sure what happened. Perhaps if Tino decided to stick with one role, be it acting, directing, or whatever, and practiced it a great deal, then he might have more success. In addition to the flaws with the story, the historical inaccuracies are so glaring that they seriously made me contemplate shooting my television. Many of the "top of the line" troops are overweight and middle-aged, and the wide variety of individual reenactors with different impressions means that you have many people with different gear congregating where they shouldn't be (E.G. Heer, SS, Fallschirmjäger, and Luftwaffe troops guarding a Gestapo prison). While I appreciate that working with reenactors allows the movie access to plenty of period vehicles, weapons, and pieces of equipment for a minuscule price, it doesn't make the movie very convincing at all thanks to their often unprofessional appearance and actions. Overall, I can appreciate the amount of work put in my Mr. Struckmann, but I think that this movie spends too much time trying to be an epic with hundreds of troops on screen and not enough working out the many kinks in the story to be worth more than a laugh.
Deadliest Warrior (2009)
Really, really awful, but better than nothing
I first saw this show in 2009 when it first came out, and was quite excited.It promised to deliver interesting outcomes from hypothetical battles between some of the most famous warriors of all time. I was perfectly happy watching it in '09, but when I caught up with it in '12, it looked just plain awful. This show was clearly written with the most casual military/weapon enthusiast in mind, because it quite honestly has little to no credibility or realism. Many of the so-called "experts" are shown handling their weapons as if they were toys, keeping their fingers on the triggers and waving the muzzles at the cameras, generally having little respect for the weapons they're holding. Many of the actors representing the various armed forces lack even basic training in the use of firearms (See: Viet Cong vs. Waffen SS) and are sometimes shown with a complete misrepresentation of the weapons, gear, and uniforms issued to those forces (See: Green Beret vs. Spetsnaz and Viet Cong vs. Waffen SS). On top of that, incorrect data is often shown when displaying the weapons during the show's trials, further demonstrating the lack of attention to detail that goes into this show's production. The biggest problem that I have with this show overall is that it completely misrepresents how a conflict would have turned out between any two forces, particularly because the only factors that are utilized in choosing the "victors" are the show's dismal understanding of weapon specs and poorly-informed personal opinion on the part of the hosts. The value of a weapon or a piece of equipment is determined chiefly by the skill of the operator, and this show completely ignores this critical area in favor of Call of Duty-style showboating, bad special effects, and bunch of idiots attempting to figure out how weapons work. I enjoy this show (and I use that term very loosely) when there is literally nothing else on TV, but otherwise, I'll pass on it.
Emperor of the North Pole (1973)
An excellent railroading and action film, but lacking in the music department
I have to say, this film is one of the hidden gems of the '70s. The only reason I found it was because it was recommended on Amazon after I ordered "The Dirty Dozen". It is definitely an exciting film, even if a little slow at times. The scene where Shack's train is attempting to avoid a collision with a fast mail train still resides in my memory as one of the more exciting action scenes I have ever viewed.
Ernest Borgnine is excellent as the sadistic conductor, and Lee Marvin is as well in his role as a veteran freight-hopper. Keith Carradine plays his role as an arrogant, whiny youth quite well, to the point where I was genuinely disgusted with his character. Malcolm Atterbury is perfectly cast in his final film role, playing the memorable bit part of the Hogger. Oregon Pacific and Eastern #19 is also captured beautifully among the lush foliage of the Pacific Northwest. Almost all of the filming looks like it was done on location, and Borgnine and Marvin are quite convincing as "real men" who don't need stunt doubles to be impressive.
The soundtrack is the only part I genuinely did not like about this movie. The tune and lyrics are both very, very '70s, and I think that some music from the period that the film is set in would be much more effective. The timing of the already flinch-worthy music is occasionally quite bad, such as in the pre-credit sequence in the very beginning of the film. In this case, Shack finishes off an unlucky hobo with a hammer, and upbeat folk music begins to play as we see his bisected body on the tracks behind the train. Really? The music was bad, but not enough to bring it down one star in my book. The film's amazing cinematography more than makes up for this shortcoming, and the performances of both the main and supporting actors further boosts my opinion of it.
I would highly recommend this film for any railroad buff or action movie lover. This is truly a forgotten masterpiece that deserves a spot in any collection!