Ed's Review Dot Com

Legendary East, Atlas Entertainment, China Film Group,

Matt Damon, Tian Jing, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe, Andy Lau, Hanyu Zhang, Eddie Peng, Lu Han, Gengxin Lin, Kai Zheng, Xuan Huang

William (Matt Demon) is a European mercenary who will fight for whomever offers the most money. He’s on a mission, with some of his men, to find out the truth about the black powder that those in China supposedly have to protect The Great Wall from the Mongols. So they show up just as they Chinese under their commander, Lin Mae (Tian Jing) is about to go into a major battle. They are captured and put into the dungeon, but it turns out the battle is a lot more sinister than the Mongols invading. The Chinese have been hiding that they are actually defending their country from some nasty alien creatures who, if they overtake and conquer the soldiers, will spread over to the whole world. William decides to join the Chinese to fight, and uses his skills to help Lin Mae to destroy the Queen and hopefully win the battle.

This is a very intense action film with great action sequences. It’s an odd story. Some years ago I picked up a science fiction paperback from the 99 cent store and found it to be the story of a modern day man who had the unfortunate incident where he passed through a portal to an iron age, medieval like kingdom in need of a leader, but there was also a pathway to a futuristic society. When I finished the book, I found out it was a trilogy, and I searched a bookstore and found the second novel with ease. When it came time to read the third book in the trilogy though, I was hooked on the story, but quickly found that Tor Books, the publisher had discontinued the book which was out of print, and not available anywhere. I was devastated until my oldest son found a copy in a rare book shop and he bought it for me. That unusual story of three different realities, past, present, and future, reminded me a lot of this film. What appears to be a very decent period piece of life centuries and centuries ago, immediately turns into a futuristic science fiction movie and it blew my mind. The special effects, particularly the alien creatures themselves, are quite impressive, and the battle scenes defending the wall are quite entertaining. The action is fierce and vicious, and it’s certainly very lifelike. I didn’t expect a lot out of this movie, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how really good it was. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and though the theaters had this one in and out in the blink of an eye, for a DVD rental (if anyone still does that anymore) or a streaming evening, it’s very well suited. If the you like Lords and Ladies, Asian customs, and outer space bugs, this one has it all. I promise an interesting evening.

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Cross Creek Pictures, Demarest Media, IM Global,

Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths, Vince Vaughn

Desmond Doss (played by Andrew Garfield) was the son of a man who was severely tested by World War I. His father was an abusive alcoholic who used to beat his wife and children senseless. Desmond was very religious, and swore never to touch a gun, and never to harm anyone. But when World War II broke out, he was touched by the need to defend our country. But he had a different plan. He wanted to serve America as a medic to protect and save his brothers, but without a gun. Desmond ended up in the battle for Okinawa, one of the most vicious and horrible battles of the war, without a gun, where he saved the lives of a great many of his fellow soldiers. This is a true story, based on the real Desmond Doss who not only survived the battle, but lived to tell the story in his humble manor.

This is an intense story of probably the worst battle of WWII. When the soldiers were sent to capture Okinawa in a necessary step to conquer Japan, they had no idea how many Japanese were hiding in an underground bunker. This film was expertly directed by Mel Gibson, and is a wonderful film. Special notice has to go out to Vince Vaughn who plays Sgt Howell, one tough Sergeant, who has a close connection to Desmond in the end. At the end, we get to meet the real Desmond Doss and some of the other major characters who confirm the things in the story. As near as I can tell, the things that are depicted really happened. This film not only covers Desmond’s childhood which shaped his thinking due to the hardships he endured, but also the difficulties in getting though basic training before finally being deployed. There is no way this guy could have survived what he went through, but somehow he did. The battle scenes in this movie will take your breath away. It is very intense and gives the film it’s R rating which it deserves due to the realistic battle scenes, but it’s also very heart warming as well. One minute you’ll want to cry, and the next your heart is bursting with pride. It is such an amazing story and one that had to be told. Typically I’m not a big fan of War Movies, but this particular one is so very well done, that you have to see this one. The fact that it’s true is a huge plus as well. Make sure to see this movie!

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Hannibal Pictures, USS Indianapolis Production,

Nicolas Cage, Tom Sizemore, Thomas Jane, Cody Walker, Matt Lanter, Weronika Rosati, Brian Presley, Emily Tennant, Callard Harris, Mandela Van Peebles

It was in the midst of WWII in the pacific and Captain McVay (Nicholas Cage) is captain of a Navy ship, and he and his men are given orders to deliver two packages with unknown contents to the Mariana Islands in the Philippine Sea. It is a top secret mission and so their ship must sail across the Pacific alone without other ships accompanying them. This puts them at great risk of Japan submarine attack because the ship is a dead duck if a sub attacks them. The crew has no idea what’s in the boxes, but set out on their way. The custom was for large ships like this to follow a zig-zag path, but Captain McVay decides the best move is to sail as straight and quickly as possible. The Japanese were now using manned torpedo subs, and zig-zagging was of no value if there were attacked by one of these because the suicide pilot would follow and hit you for sure, so the only choice was to get there as soon as possible and keep a low profile and hope. They delivered their packages, but were sunk by a Japanese sub on the return trip. The survivors were thrown into the sea with very basic rafts, hardly any supplies, and in water full of sharks. Because of the secret of their mission, the Navy was not searching for them and they had no contact. The sailors suffered terribly from hunger, thirst, exposure, and shark attacks.

This is based on the true story of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, a cruiser that was sunk by a Japanese sub. Historically it may be correct. There is a lot more to the story than what I have given you above, and this story didn’t end when the survivors were recovered. The feel of the torment on the sea was very well done, and I feel Nick Cage did a wonderful job in portraying this character. A lot of people have complained about this film, but I think some people complain about anything Nick does. I felt he was very well suited for this role, and he did a very good job. I like how the movie at the end, in the credits gave us a look at the actors and the real sailors side by side, and there are lots of special features and interviews with some of the survivors on the DVD, even the rental version. I have briefly heard of this story, but did not really know the facts, and I was impressed with the whole story. If you can remember, Quint (Robert Shaw) from the original Jaws movie talks about the USS Indianapolis with Richard Dreyfus while aboard the ship. I was glad to learn much more about these brave men, and the terrible way they were treated by the Navy to provide the coverup of their mission. In my opinion this was a darn good movie based on real WWII history and had some very touching and thought provoking experiences. CGI is good, and I think the acting was good, and the look and feel of the story was really authentic. I recommend this move for mature teens and adults, especially those interested in military history.

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Atlas Entertainment, Legendary Entertainment, Blizzard Entertainment,

Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Ben Schnetzer, Robert Kazinsky, Daniel Wu, Anna Galvin, Ruth Negga, Clancy Brown, Dylan Schombing, Terry Notary, Callum Keith Rennie, Dean Redman

Based on the Blizzard video games, this high adventure film follows the story line of when the Horde came through a portal into the land of Azeroth which is run by the human race. Orcs come through because their world is in ruins and they want to wage war to take over the world. All of the bravery, magic, and strength will be needed to protect Azeroth.

This film is very well done. Blizzard is a classic company, and I generally am not a big fan of video games turned into movies, but this was technically superb. Special effects. The action is very good as are the battle scenes. I must admit I played World of Warcraft for a number of years, although I have never seen the earlier single player games, but seeing some of the locations was a real treat, although I must admit that I played the game completing quests and not paying much to the back story. I really enjoyed the action and adventure in this movie, and I think it was very well made, and as such, I recommend this movie. It was a lot of fun!

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Broadway Video, Little Stranger, Paramount Pictures,

Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina, Billy Bob Thornton, Nicholas Braun, Christopher Abbott, Sheila Vand, Stephen Peacocke, Evan Jonigkeit, Josh Charles

Based on the memoirs of Kim Baker (Tina Fey) this is the story of a news reporter who is embedded with the Marines in Afghanistan and the dangers and excitement of trying to get the scoop and bet out other reporters while being in harms way every moment. This is the true story of this reporters experiences over a number of years in the early years of the 2000’s.

I was caught off guard by this film. Knowing it’s Tina Fey, and looking at the posters in the theaters, and not knowing anything about the content in advance, I expected a comedy romp through the middle east. This is NOT a comedy by any means. Now I have lots of respect for Tina Fey, and I don’t think she did really bad in this serious role, but still it was a little off putting to have her play such a dramatic and dark role. I ended up having a hard time keeping my attention on this film and found my mind wandering away. The story is interesting enough, but other than a few short episodes, most of it was bad romance and lots of talking and talking. One highlight was Bill Bob Thorton who plays the commander of the team Kim is placed in. He did a really good job, though it wasn’t a big role, playing this guy as tough as nails with a kind streak a mile long. I enjoyed him any time he was on the screen. But for the most part, it dragged and was not really that interesting to me. I was not highly impressed with this movie, and I guess the public pretty much agreed with me as it really disappeared in a hurry and ended up on DVD pretty quickly. If you are really interested in the subject of a female reporter in Afghanistan, the you’ll probably do better reading the book, and if you’re not particularly interested in the subject, then there’s probably not enough substance here to make it worth watching this nearly 2 hour film.

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