Rating: 
Summary: A little less talk and a lot more action, please!
Review: Wow, was this a boring movie. Of course I knew how everything was going to turn out, but that didn't stop me from loving Gettysburg! This movie is about 95% talk, with a few exciting ship or U2-spy-plane scenes interspersed to remind you that we were "THIS CLOSE" to war! Honestly, Kevin Costner's performance was very good (horrible Bahstan accent notwithstanding) and Steven Culp (known to JAG fans as Webb) did an excellent job with his role as Bobby Kennedy (even though this movie served to make me like Bobby a lot less than I had). Bruce Greenwood did a good job as JFK, and even looked like him a lot.Was there actual footage anywhere in this film? I noticed a lot of fades from color to black-and-white and back to color, but I never noticed anything genuine about the footage, except a couple times when color footage of military aircraft and ships seemed authentic. To me, the color/bw switching was a distraction. Please, trust me on this one. I was a history major in college, and I LOVE historical films. This one was dull.
Rating: 
Summary: Listen Up! History repeats.
Review: Thirteen Days presents the "silent" national crisis facing the U.S. in October 1962. While the facts may have been embellished to enhance the sensationalism of effect, it certainly did not take away from the story. This IS the epitomy of pressure and a leader's response to it. Of course, the leader to which I refer is JFK and of course, the crisis is the Cuban Missle Crisis. While this film has taken "non-constructive" criticism for puffing Kenny O'Donnell's role in the JFK White House, the viewer must remember that O'Donnell's character is portrayed by Kevin Costner, the star and co-producer of the film! O'Donnell is the presidential aide to JFK and in this role, takes on the guise of what we would think of as the current day Chief of Staff...the President's confidant. Costner portrays O'Donnell as a no-nonsense, tough hellion. Regardless the fictional twists, the story is honest, forthright and totally nerve-wracking in its depiction of JFK and RFK's savvy negotiation tactics with the USSR to sway peace. This story must be told. Again, with some embellishment for taste, this was a tense period of time for the U.S. You'll learn what the missle crisis was all about and how it was handled by our cool, calm leadership. If even remotely depicted in an accurate fashion, JFK was indeed, one of the greatest. Well worth viewing. Outstanding cast and story.
Rating: 
Summary: Historical experience.
Review: I've based this review on questions you may ask, and on the answers I may reply,
hoping you'll find this form of presentation helpful. Question: Why did you pick this movie up?
Answer: The truth is, I had some spare time, and I thought this DVD would be a good choice. In addition to that, I had a course in crisis management last spring, that dealt largely with the Cuban Missile Crisis and I thought it was a good opportunity to see a visual version of the events I had learned about. Q: How did you find it?
A: It is a very serious film; there was almost no comical relief; I felt like I was seeing an intense documentary, like those in the History Channel, only this time it was a complete Hollywoodian remake (set aside some original shootings). The latter means distinguished Hollywood actors, the main cast's emotional involvement, struggles and doubts in "real time," and high budget naval and air action scenes. Q: What could you overall comment about the crew?
A: Everybody was very committed to his or her work; You could feel the tension within and between the characters, in the face of such intense crisis, that almost dragged the world to third world war. Q: In particular, how did Bruce Greenwood portray JFK?
A: I think he did a great job ; I could feel the horrible stress he was under and ,my god, I forget about any former plans to run for office. His performance helped me to better understand the pressure the decision-maker endures day by day, and especially while in the midst of multi-national crisis . Q: What about Kevin Costner?
A: He was the actor with the longest part of acting, apparently due to his stature and experience as an actor. Some say his role and impact on the events was enhanced to suit his "leading actor"demands, I say - so what? I really don't care that the film is not 100% accurate, it's not its target; I got an impressive production on a major important historical event, and I that's what I wanted. Q: I've heard the movie contained black and white sequences and A-bombs explosions "what's the purpose, and was it necessary?"
A: I think everything was in place ; The b/w sequences were used to create a sense of the sixties atmosphere and to help American old timers to relive that era. The explosions (that were spectacular, by the way) served to demonstrate what could have happened should Kennedy and his close staff weren't in charge at the White House. Q: Any special features of the DVD you have found helpful?
A: You bet. There is a comprehensive review of all the main characters. It is interesting to know some facts about their life and who they were after seeing the movie. The commentaries of the director and the other makers is less appealing, not to say boring. Q: Why did you give it only 3 stars?
A: Because it's not the word of the providence, but a good functional film, well done, with no new ground shaking moral or emotional unprecedented climax.
Q: Whom would you recommend this movie?
A: For everyone who is interested in the recent history of the American nation, and of the entire world ,for that matter. It's a rare glimpse of the occurrences that are taking place in the offices of our leaders worldwide when things get rough. Maybe the nuclear threat is not as imminent as it was then, but we all know the world is not a better place today, not by a long shot.
Rating:
Summary: Riveting, thrilling, edge of your seat stuff.
Review: A great adaptation of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 under the leadership of President Kennedy. Cool heads prevailed and the threat of World War III was layed to rest. Well done with initial subtitles for names so the players are easily recognized. The movie makes a clear distinction of the warmongers and the Kennedy team who wanted no mistakes that might escalate the situation to a point of no return. Great acting by all involved, intelligent and passionate dialogue. Being from Massachusetts myself I found the accents quite realistic. Plenty of extra material on the DVD. Clearly a good choice for a movie. Kelsana 9/24/01
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed Emotions
Review: Technically speaking, the DVD is top notch. It is loaded with extras and the sound/picture are flawless. The movie was gripping. Greenwood did solid JFK and Culp was a spot-on Bobby Kennedy. Costner was okay as O'Donnell, but the accent was embarrassing. I felt the picture portrayed the events in a way that was easy to understand, and it showed JFK to be the hero many of us know he was and always will be. My beef was the role of Kenny O'Donnell. Knowing a lot about the crisis and the JFK administration is a bad thing for this movie. Kenny O'Donnell was a football buddy of Bobby and a special appointment to JFK. He was tight, but he was a political operative. He had NO ROLE in this crisis on a tactical level. The liberties taken are hard to swallow. Still, I'd highly recommend this movie to anyone. It is tough to make movies where he audience knows the ending. Apollo 13 was the best, but this holds its own.
Rating:
Summary: Infinifilm's History Buff Edition of "Thirteen Days"
Review: I had heard that the Infinifilm Edition of "Thirteen Days" was impressive, but I have never seen this many DVD extras loaded onto ONE DISC. The second time you watch the film and enable the features it will take you at least five hours to get through everything. With Infinifilm you get mini-menus that pop up and over you the opportunity to see news footage about a specific event, biographical clips on the key participants, or historical commentary. Or you can simply engage subtitles that present historical facts and insights throughout the film. The list of possibilities is so extensive I can only hint at it here. This is without getting into two commentary tracks, the first offering Kevin Costner, director Roger Donaldson, writer David Self, and executive producer Michael De Luca and the second, a "historical" commentary," provided by John F. Kennedy, Sergei Khrushchev (Nikita's son), Ernest R. May, Philip D. Zelikow and Pierre Salinger and excerpts from key historical speeches. "Thirteen Days" is geared towards the historian more than the film buff, so while there is a short feature on "Bringing History to the Silver Screen," there is a length one of the "Roots of the Cuban Missile Crisis." However, there is a visual effects scene deconstruction that gets into a little bit of movie magic and the requisite deleted scenes and trailer. What about the actual movie, which covers the same ground as the TV film "The Missiles of October?" I read Bobby Kennedy's book "Thirteen Days" a long time ago and the thing I remember the most was about the brainstorming sessions and RKF's critical suggestion to just ignore the second letter. My main complaint about the film is the same as most people who know about the history of the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is that the role of Kenny O'Donnell, Special Advisor to the President, is built up because Kevin Costner is playing the role. When RFK goes to have the pivotal meeting with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin and the camera stays outside of the office so we can watch O'Donnell whistle, I was about to have a stroke. Fortunately the camera ended up in the AG's office for the critical scene, but they had me worried. Bruce Greenwood stands out as JFK by avoiding any semblance of caricature (I should point out that Costner really does under play the real O'Donnell's Bahstan accent). "Thirteen Days" is one of the most historically accurate films I have seen and while its dramatic impact will have to do with how much you know/remember about the Cuban Missile Crisis, the educational impact of the Ininifilm extras is an absolute joy. Especially when you consider that this is only the FIRST Ininifilm DVD. I am already willing to commit to picking up the next one, whatever the film might be.
Rating:
Summary: Hollywood makes light of History
Review: This movie is an interesting take on the Cuban Missile Crisis, in that it covers the issue from Kenny O'Donnell's aspect as Political Advisor. Costner's portrayal of this aspect is nominal at best. It's an O.K. movie if you've never visited the subject matter, but for a much more compelling account try The Missiles of October. You'll be surprised at how much popcorn you go through!
Rating:
Summary: NOT historical
Review: while this is a very well-made and gripping movie. it is by no means historic. things are taken out of context and the cuban and soviet sides of the story are completely ignored. meanwhile, the u.s. is once again (as with most "historic" movies) portrayed as the protector of all humanity. among other facts that are ignored, there is not mention of the fact that the u.s. had 500 missiles pointed at the Soviet Union while the S.U. had 50. if you don't know the objective facts about this event don't watch this movie until you do, otherwise you will come out with a grossly skewed idea of what happened.
otherwise, it is an engaging and well acted (for the most part) movie. it is enjoyable, but incredibly one sided.
Rating:
Summary: no better than your average "TNT" production
Review: This was basically a "movie of the week". The only reason it received bigscreen treatment was because of Costner's involvement. While I'm on the subject of Costner, I must say that his performance was horrible. His Massachusetts accent was horrible. He sounded like Elmer Fudd. Judging by both this and his performance as Robin Hood, it is obvious that, as an actor, accents are not his strong suit.
Dramatically, the film was a dud. Anyone with even a basic knowledge of history knew exactly how things would turn out.
Rating:
Summary: The Best in Five Years
Review: This movie is, without question, the best I've seen in the past five years. And I'm picky. The cast is exemplary. Okay, Costner mangles his accent (Let it go people.), but all in all he gave a great performance. Bruce Greenwood was outstanding as JFK. And the underrated Steven Culp--he was chillingly wonderful as Robert Kennedy. Absolutely breathtaking. If you are the type who needs to be spoonfed your movies with gratuitous explosions, hollow characterizations, and chintzy dialogue--watch Power Rangers. This is a film for history buffs, Kennedy buffs, or individuals who enjoy a beautiful, intellectual movie.
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