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Thirteen Days (Infinifilm Edition)

Thirteen Days (Infinifilm Edition)

List Price: $14.97
Your Price: $7.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: DTS, WOO-HOO!
Review: This film is truly great, great acting, great plot and story and also is very relastic, i am preety glad is going to be on DTS, even, because of the airplane sequences, and the bombings, i a, sure glad that Warner tooked the decision to start giving their DVD's DTS,as far as i know the only ones have been "Twister" and "Lost Souls", so then Warner, continue to give DVD's a DTS track, please?!....

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Intense
Review: This movie was great. It shows how hard the JFK admin. had to deal with this crisis. A bit dialogy so not for kids. But for those of us who are old enough to remember the men and women who delt with this, great movie. This shows how really close we came to a nuke war with those soviets. A+++

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This movie sucks!
Review: It's based on history so you know how it ends. No action. They needed to blow stuff up or at least a little fighting! Don't waste your money.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Thirteen Days
Review: I have never understood the fascination of the American psyche with the Kennedys and Thirteen Days further reinforces that notion. None the less the movie suffers from other serious shortcomings that, while not uncommon in Hollywood works today, still boggle the mind in wondering how it got to the theatre in the first place. Kevin Costner's faux Massachussetts accent is enough to drive anyone mad (a good case for turning off the audio and watching in closed captioning), not to mention the embellishment of his character's role and prominence in the events as they actually occured. Why are we really surprised at this? Of course the rules will be bent to showboat the big name. The special effects are good enough, say not overdone. I don't really have a problem with this though because they get the point across, and are not trying to "outdo" everyone else with something flashy and futuristic that will look dated in a couple of months. The story is good enough, and there are certainly tense moments that are exciting and leave you on the edge of your seat. Of particular note is how John Kennedy and civilian staff demeans and embarrasses the military establishment so many times. Just looking into the faces of the actors and the ambiance of the scene leaves you with but one conclusion: you are seeing motivation behind the subsequent assasination of John Kennedy. Perhaps the production staff is setting itself up for it's next movie? At least Marilyn Monroe did not make an appearance in here somewhere, saving us that aspect of that time in the White House. Overall though Thirteen Days does flow along well, and takes on a sort of documentary type flavor with interspersed news broadcasts and it's take on political wrangling and "keeping up appearances" which does reflect a certain amount of reality and is very entertaining in it's own right. Oh well, so the movie does not really qualify itself as a techno thriller, or a war movie, so what is it? You tell me. Looking beyond the shortcomings and focus on the crisis, you probably won't be disappointed from that point of view, otherwise wait for the rental or pick it up second hand.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: fine political thriller
Review: I saw this film in the theaters and was very disappointed that it was not a major hit; although I think I know why. This is definitely a character and dialogue-driven historical drama. Not your run-of-the-mill mind-blowing blockbuster type of film! I believe this film will play very nicely in DVD or video form where it's quiet drama will play itself better.

I was VERY disappointed that Bruce Greenwood was not nominated for an academy award (there were rumors this may happen) because I believe his performance was as good if not better than the men that were nominated. His JFK was, in my humble opinion, perfect. I found this film compelling, well written, and dramatic. I especially enjoyed the scenes where Kenny O'Donnell (K. Costner) went to church and went to see his son play ball. Can you just imagine what you would feel if you thought the end of the world may happen?

As I watched this movie, I thought it was a shame that the movie-going generation of today did not take the time to watch it. To them, this is history of long ago; to many others, it is a lesson worth watching and remembering.

This is also, quite frankly, a wonderful and entertaining piece of cinema. Give it the chance it deserves.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Redeemed by video/Faith In The Movie Going Public
Review: Hopefully, this movie will recieve more exposure on home video than it did theatrically. The manner in which the public ignored this movie has given me serious doubts about films of the future. I mean. Pearl Harbor will probably be insultingly inaccurate about history and prove to be one of the biggest films of all time. Thirteen Days on the other hand played it as straight as a hollywood movie could and just tanked. Thirteen Days has flaws. The history favors the Kennedys a bit much. The movie uses some bizarre stylistic choices. But one thing the film does that most political thrillers fail at is to show how complicated, intense and most of all important the art of negotiation is. Sure the film portrays the military brass as being war mongers. But damn by the end of the film if I didn't feel like my life could be drastically different now(I was born in 69) if the war mongers had won in the cabinet meetings. Very powerful stuff. Dr Strangelove with it's dark edged satire might have been more effective in scaring me about the horrors of nuclear war. Fail Safe might have done a better job of showing how close we came to oblivion. But Thirteen Days gave me the optimism in knowing that from now on when war is always an option, the art of negotiation is ultimately a more powerful tool.

One more thing. Michael Delucca was an executive producer of this movie. Delucca always takes chances. Maybe that is why some of my favorite contemporary films(Seven, Magnolia, Dark City) have been produced by him. He was let go from New Line. Whoever hires this guy will end up releasing great films.

end kdc

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Worthy "JFK" Companion Piece for Costner...
Review: ...And a More than Worthy Recreation of the Two and a Bit Weeks where the World was Brought Back from the Brink of Nuclear War. For those who Lived through it, for those, like me, who knew Of it from their Parents Stories, the film sets the record Straight without turning into a Documentary, or making a Mockery of the Truth.

Costner's Thick Boston/Irish Accent took a Little getting used to, as we All know that is Not how he usually speaks. With the Lesser-known stars Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp, that is Less of a Problem. After about 5 minutes, Costner's Accent was Totally Believable. Their 3 Characters have to Save the Entire World and These Three Actors have to Carry the Entire film; they do so with the Upmost Ease. They get Great support from a Large Supporting cast with Standouts including Dylan Baker (as Robert McNamara) and Christopher Lawford (as Commander William B Ecker).

Roger Donaldson's Directing is Very Well-Judged. He makes what could have been a Very Long and Arduous film Exactly the Opposite. It also had the potential to be very Confusing, but he Sidesteps that landmine by Introducing the Characters Quickly and Cleverly, and whenever a character is Discussing a Manoeuvre, a Ship, a Plane, a Place, the camera Flashes to were the Action is and we see everything First hand.

"13 Days" deserves to be seen by Everyone, and Everyone should Enjoy themselves. It isn't just a History Lesson; it's an Intelligent Political Thriller with Great Performances, Spot on Directing and Top-Notch Production Values. A Classic film and a Timeless Thriller.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, but very slanted
Review: This film is entertaining but so very biased and slanted that it detracts from the movie itself. It appears we can no longer watch a movie without Hollywood's political agenda weaved throughout the movie. The last war movie I can remember without a political agenda added to it was Firebase Gloria.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A very good movie!
Review: This was an all around good movie. I didn't know that much about the Cuba missile crisis, but after seeing this movie, I feel like I was there when it was all happening. The acting is top notch. Kevin Costner does an excellent job, except for the accent. The movie is so well done that you forget about the accent anyway. Both actors that play JFK and Robert Kennedy are very compelling. I saw this movie with a buddy of mine and he felt the same way. A lot of information about what was actually going on behind the scenes. How certain people didn't believe in JFK's leadership or his brother. Kevin seems to pull them all together and starts making the Kennedys look great. The movie is a little long, but well worth it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Even knowing the ending, a real knuckle biter
Review: THIRTEEN DAYS is somewhat of an oddity in that it's an edge-of-the-seat knuckle-biter even though the viewers know, or at least should know if even only half-conscious, the ending before a ticket is bought. The very fact that the film's makers have managed to overcome this handicap tells me that they've done a top-drawer job.

It's 1962, and the Executive Branch of the U.S. government has learned that the Soviets have installed nuclear ballistic missiles 90 miles off Florida in Cuba. THIRTEEN DAYS is ostensibly a behind-the-scenes look at how America's leaders dealt with the dilemma. Kevin Costner has top billing as Kenny O'Donnell, an advisor to President Kennedy, played by Bruce Greenwood. Other roles of particular note are Steven Culp as Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Dylan Baker as Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, and Kevin Conway as Air Force General Curtis LeMay. (Fans of Jackie Kennedy can forget it. Her character is all but invisible.)

The best performance is by Greenwood as the President, the actor having reportedly studied file footage of Kennedy to get his mannerisms down. He did well, and is very believable. Culp is quite effective as Jack's protective Brother Bobby, and Conway is chilling as the Air Force chief who would just as soon nuke the USSR back into the Stone Age. And Costner is ... well, Costner - with a Boston accent. The core of the film is comprised of the Washington scenes, while the relatively brief military action sequences serve as plot anchors, and the balance is just right.

The exactitude of the historical details as portrayed in the storyline is debatable. (One hopes that nobody would expect to view a completely accurate rendition of history in any Hollywood big-budget production. Puhleeze!) But, in this case, it doesn't really matter. The moviegoer is completely absorbed into the action and strained decision-making of the moment as the Oval Office struggles to get Krushchev's bombs out of Cuba, and dodge Armageddon in the process. The pre-knowledge that no World War Three resulted is virtually irrelevant to the viewing experience. Pure and simple, THIRTEEN DAYS is a taut thriller that just happens to have factual history to back it up. Excellent flick!


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