Home :: DVD :: Drama  

African American Drama
Classics
Crime & Criminals
Cult Classics
Family Life
Gay & Lesbian
General
Love & Romance
Military & War
Murder & Mayhem
Period Piece
Religion
Sports
Television
The Story of G.I. Joe

The Story of G.I. Joe

List Price: $24.99
Your Price: $22.49
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Story of G.I. Joe
Review: I have been watching "War Films" for nearly fifty years. This has been my favorite war film of all-time. It was filmed in black and white. It does not have the special effects of "Saving Private Ryan",but being made in 1945, it has the look and timeliness of the "real thing" without the Spielberg touch. 150 men in this movie were actual combat veterans which lends a lot of credence the movements and actions of these soldiers. This was the first and only time, that Robert Mitchum was nominated for an Academy Award. He was OUTSTANDING as Capt. Walker. Burgess Meredith is so great as Ernie Pyle, that Ernie Pyle could not have played himself any better!

This movie will let you know about the comraderie of combat citizen soldiers. Their personal anguish. Their sacrifice and courage.

A VERY REAL LOOK AT WAR!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Story of G.I. Joe
Review: I have been watching "War Films" for nearly fifty years. This has been my favorite war film of all-time. It was filmed in black and white. It does not have the special effects of "Saving Private Ryan",but being made in 1945, it has the look and timeliness of the "real thing" without the Spielberg touch. 150 men in this movie were actual combat veterans which lends a lot of credence the movements and actions of these soldiers. This was the first and only time, that Robert Mitchum was nominated for an Academy Award. He was OUTSTANDING as Capt. Walker. Burgess Meredith is so great as Ernie Pyle, that Ernie Pyle could not have played himself any better!

This movie will let you know about the comraderie of combat citizen soldiers. Their personal anguish. Their sacrifice and courage.

A VERY REAL LOOK AT WAR!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the story of g.i. joe
Review: I saw this movie many years ago and always considered it the best war movie ever produced. The stars were outstanding. Ernie Pyle could not have have played himself better than Burgess Meredeth and Robert Mitchum has never been better in portraying the lt. loved by all his men. The characters were everyday men who had a job to do and never considered themselves heros. I could never understand wythis movie was never reproduced on video or why it has never been shown on tv in over 40 yrs. This movie falls in the same class as "Saving Private Ryan" and "A Walk in the Sun"

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Ok film barely, Objective Burma better
Review: I've been watching war movies obsessively since I was probably age six or seven (born 1971). Once in a while a war picture becomes available that I haven't seen, like The Story of G.I. Joe. So I added it to my collection. This movie is filled with great locations, nice filming, strong images, and a very solemn downbeat realism unique to war movies at the time (I usually love this kind of stuff, and think the Korean war movie Men In War is one of the best accomplishments of this style, as also the WWII movies, Hell Is For Heores and When Trumpets Fade). Based on true experiences of war correspondent Ernie Pyle, the movie focuses on Ernie Pyle (played very well by Burgess Meredith), as well as Captain Bill Walker (played by a young and awesome Robert Mitchum), and the unsung grunts in his company. When the movie came out in 1945, the real Ernie Pyle had already been killed in the Pacific war, having left the battlefields of Europe to report on the men in the Pacific.

The movie tries to take a very personal approach towards the men and their experience, focusing more on the men and their feelings then on the actual experiences they have. Very little action in fact actually appears in this war DRAMA. The movie was nominated in 1945 for Best Score, Best Song, Best Supporting actor (Robert Mitchum), and even Best Screenplay. How the times sure can influence some people.

In my opinion, the fine acting talents of Robert Mitchum, Burgess Meredith, and a few others scattered through the picture are the main strength of this movie and carry it along, but just barely. The movie suffers in many places. Several people sound stiff and wooden, as if they are giving out memorized lines instead of experiencing them. This plagues the movie. Many scenes that attempt to portray group exhaustion and disgruntlement end up drug out, in need of better acting, and perhaps editing. Morale is portrayed as low even when it probably would not be low. The movie meanders on and on in many places with a loose script that neglects the rich subject matter available. The script went through several hands in the process of being made and it shows. The need for rehearsal also shows.

On a final note, one thing that I found awful was something contained in the notes inside the DVD box itself. Pyle is solely credited with creating the portrait of the G.I. as the common man gone to war, the suffering servant of democracy who triumphs over death through perseverance. While Pyle may in fact have been the most reverend correspondent of WWII as they also claim, and while the DVD notes may also be true in the claim that Hollywood embraced "his portrait" of the common G.I. in scores of films down to Saving Private Ryan, it's a far stretch to claim as they do that this image started solely with this movie and with Pyle. A far better movie in IMHO is Objective Burma staring Errol Flynn (a rousing action/drama), which actually accomplishes many of the things that The Story of G.I. Joe tried to do. According to the IMDB, Objective Burma was released on FEB 17, 1945 and The Story of G.I. Joe premiered on June 18, 1945 and released on July 13, 1945. But if you like meandering character studies like the WWII movie Walk in the Sun (which the Story of G.I. Joe outdoes by a long shot IMHO), then who knows, you might like this as well. For a better WWII movie with Robert Mitchum, try The Enemy Below!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great movie, weak dvd
Review: The dvd is disappointing--scratchy print with really bad sound (claims to be digital mono). I suspect from the liner that its long unavailability on video has something to do with Lester Cowan, the producer, whose name is all over the cover and notes, almost as prominently as director William Wellman's. There are only two extras--a three minute segment with the real Pyle talking to a soldier and one newspaper page with one of Pyle's columns. But the movie itself holds up pretty well, with no really false notes of propaganda in the script (originally worked on by Arthur Miller!), and the unrelentlingly nasty weather makes a real point about what the infantryman's life was like. The almost total invisibility of the enemy is very interesting, and the obsession of the sgt. who is trying to play the recording of his son is not as corny as I remember it. Meredith is excellent, and Mitchum, well, he never really grew as an actor but he's wonderful here, even if his most powerful scene is as a corpse.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: History
Review: The story is a good story, it is Erines Pyles story of the GI's of WW II. Captian Walker is based on a young Captian Henry T. Waskow of Belton, Texas, of th 36th Division. KIA January 10, 1944, in Italy. Pyles books are well worth reading if you have an interested in the stories of the men who were responsible for winning WWII, the boys who did the work, made Generals famous, went unnoticed , came home went to work raised faimlies and made the America we enjoy today.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Classic WWII film
Review: This film is one of the very best war films every made. The cast is superb and the story is gritty, down to earth (and mud) and captures all the misery, weariness and danger of combat. This movie has haunted me since I was a kid. I am so glad it was released on tape for a new generation of film buffs to savor and enjoy.
The film follows an infantry unit through some terrible battles, long weary marches, but mostly if shows that the men are human and suffer in many countless small ways. I recommend this film for anyone interested in seeing what WWII was like because this one (next to They Were Expendable) is one of the finest. The ending is a gripper, even after all these years and my own time in the service. Check it out, you won't be disapointed.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Story of GI Joe
Review: This is a long overdue addition to the family of movies made during and after World War II. This portrayal of the trials and tribulations of an infantry company entering combat at the end of the North African Campaign and then into Italy is about as perfect as it gets. I was particularly impressed by the film's use of combat veterans of the Italian Campaign. Watch the way in which a 57mm anti-tank crew places fire on an enemy position in support of the company's fight through an unnamed town. You could never get actors to duplicate the smooth, cool precision of that gun crew. The ending scene of the movie is a true tear jerker. The scenes of mud, rain, and filth are impressive. This is a film well worth purchasing and watching.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Fun For the Kidz
Review: This is one of the best GI Joe movies. The scene where Duke and Hawk take on Serpentor is a classic, one of the penultimate battles in GI Joe History. I didn't understand why Sgt Slaughter and Snake Eyes were excluded, as they were vital characters on the tv show. Cobra doesn't stand a chance against the new gi joe ordinance squad. This movie also featured the first appearance of captain gridiorn.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GI Joe-The truth behind it all
Review: This movie is an inspiring tale of a young, hot GI Joe. It tells the tragic story of going to war, and still carries that little reminder of home. This movie touched the hearts of everyone who saw it. Every movie made should be like this.

Does anyone know if GI Joe is married?


<< 1 2 3 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates