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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: Hugely Underrated!
Review: FILM: Thirteen Days, starring Kevin Costner as aid to President John F. Kennedy, is about the Cuban Missle Crisis. The story is gripping and held my intrest throughout the whole film; the acting was also great, not just from Costner but from all the supporting actors, also. This movie is intelligent, engrossing, and boasts great talent- I think it's hugely underrated, probably because most people just want action and special effects (WHAT? Where's all the nuclear explosions?! That was a waste of time!). I couldn't believe it that Thirteen Days was completely snubbed at the Oscars, considering it's quality. Oh, well- no movie can have everything, I guess, including an Oscar.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Thirteen Days is the first in the Infinifilm series from New Line Cinema, and man, is it great. When watching the Infinifilm version of the movie, an icon pops up every once in a while, which you can click on to watch a segment that relates to and goes in-depth with the movie. Very interesting, and I can't wait to see other Infinifilm movies. The standard special features(trailers, making of) are also interesting, although not very numerous, because of the Infinifilm option.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This is why they invented the DVD player
Review: The movie's good, the extras are exquisite. What a fine DVD.

The actor that plays Bobby Kennedy is on-the-nose. What a great portrayal

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Exquisite...!!!
Review: Thirteen days is a marvellous movie which engrosses the viewer. I never really was a fan of serious movies, but my ideology under went a drastic change after watching this movie. The acting is brilliant. Truly brilliant.It may get boring at certain instances but it is revived at others. Get this movie, if you really want to know about the U.S - Cuban crisis.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great DVD for a marginally good film
Review: This really is a good solid film that could have been great if Costner had been able to control his ego and defuse some of his face time in what is out and out inappropriate and self-indulgent grandizing and overestimation of his star power. That said, this DVD is one of the greatest packaged DVDs ever put together so far. The inifinifilm features are outstanding. The film itself lends to use of the "zoom" feature on many DVD remote controls and invites further interactive action by closer inpsection of some of the surveilence photos being displayed. The cast is composed of a plethera of solid and veteran character actors that add only more credibility that unfortunately is constantly being tampered with by Costner's inexcusable, boarish and obtrusive Jihad of placing himself in the middle of critical history making moments. It's comforting that Kevin Costner was able to outsmart and counsel the Kennedy brothers and save us all from nuclear anhiliation. Give me a break. Costner once said "I don't make movies for critics." That's a good thing, because the only criticism of this film is clearly Costner's performance and delusions of taking a JFK lacke (O'Donnell) and somehow twisting him into the savior of the free world and high-priest and comfortor to the fighter pilots who put their lives on the line during the Cuban missile crisis. Delete Costner from this film, and you have one of the greatest historical docudramas ever produced. The quality and mountain of special features on this DVD alone make this a quality purchase. Now if we can work out a delete mechanism on the DVD player to get Costner off the screen for the duration of this film, it would be much more enjoyable. It would have been five stars if not for Dances with Himself.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Boring, with Costner doing a ridiculous Boston accent
Review: First, if you happen to be from Boston (like me) or the surrounding area, you'll find the movie unwatchable. I cringed every time Costner opened his mouth. He was trying to mimic a Boston accent, and it actually came out like Forrest Gump on speed. Second, from my study of history I know that the actual events were far more more gripping than what's depicted here. It would seem a real challenge to turn one of history's most dire and suspenseful crises into a bumbling melodrama. The best part of the film was Steven Culp's depiction of Bobby Kennedy. His was the only solid performance. Third, the film would have us believe that we might have been obliterated in a nuclear holocaust if not for Kennedy aide Ken O'Donnell. Using this character's point-of-view could have been an interesting device, but the film amplifies O'Donnell's importance to the point of upstaging JFK himself, which is pretty ludicrous. Aside from the historical dishonesty, the technique fails because it's just so transparent. (I could almost forgive well-executed "poetic" license).

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Great story, but poor performance by Costner
Review: Only Kevin Costner could take away from the great story told.

The story of John Kennedy during one of the most dangerous times in our history is overshadowed by another poor performance turned in by Kevin Costner, who took the story of a man (Kenny O'Donnell) who was an advisor to the President, and made him almost equal to the Kennedy Brothers.

Costner needs to learn a few things,

First off, if he cant talk in a proper Boston accent, to use his normal voice. Secondly, to not interject himself too much into a movie. He had O'Donnell as everything from Chief of staff to Jackie Kennedy's chief of staff, to advisor to AG Robert Kennedy.

If you can get past Costner's bad performance, great story line.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Brave effort but missing something.
Review: I really wanted to enjoy this movie. I am a great fan of JFK, and the historical subject matter coupled with my favourite President had me very excited. Despite the interesting storyline however, I found the movie lacking that special something. The movie just didn't keep me riveted as I expected. This is possible due to Kevin Costners casting. His Sam Neil like drollness certainly didn't add to the tenseness of the situation. It was a brave attempt on the part of the films financiers to put this movie together, but somehow I feel it has just missed the mark. I'm just waiting with baited breath for a film company brave enough to put a movie together that tells the truth about JFK's assasination. Something tells me however, that the true culprits in the states will never allow that to happen. Now that is a movie about JFK worth waiting for.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: excellent
Review: this film is a beautifully created film. it shows just how tense and just how close we actually came to nuclear war. thankfully cooler heads did prevail and we had a president who did not wish to push the button and destroy the entire world. the only problem with the film is that the intensity is not that strong, only because we already knew the ending, the world did not get destroyed.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, but for Costner
Review: What must have been a tight little screenplay with enough tension and historical interest to hold an audience's attention for 100-odd minutes is here pointlessly dragged beyond two hours by a string of utterly redundant scenes involving Costner's character and his family. God only knows what this abortive and indulgent non-subplot was meant to demonstrate. The gratingly obvious fact that nuclear holocaust would mean the end of American home life? That politicians are "real people" too? That a film with Costner in it must always be unnecessarily long? Who knows ... But his return to high drama demonstrated one thing to me, and it's something I think we've all come to realize over the last 10 years - Hollywood is a much more entertaining place without him.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Built-In Drama
Review: "Thirteen Days" is the 'true story' of the 13 days of the Cuban missile crisis as told through the eyes of Kenny O'Donnell (Kevin Costner), one of President Kennedy's main advisors. "Thirteen Days" is a movie that benefits from not having to create any sense of drama. The actual events of the Cuban missile crisis are dramatic enough.

The movie does a good job of dissecting the troubles that Kennedy faced. Being a New England democrat meant that he could never be hard enough on the Soviet communists for a large portion of the American people. However, if he had pushed too hard against them, as many of the military men were advising, Kennedy could have provoked a nuclear war. On the other hand, it was imperative that the Soviets not be allowed to establish missile sites in Cuba that would be minutes from striking American targets all over the south, even if it meant going to war.

In "Thirteen Days" the importance of Kennedy's decision on a course of action is made very clear by the contrast generated between he and Gen Curtis LeMay, USAF (Kevin Conway). There is some allusion in the movie to an attempted physical intimidation of Kennedy by his military men. I don't know how true that may have been; but, the psychological intimidation is made clear by it. The military brass were essentially accusing Kennedy of selling out American interests by not bombing the missile sites in Cuba.

Costner's role in "Thirteen Days" as the 'narrator' included, the best performance of the movie is Bruce Greenwood as President Kennedy. The obvious accent is gone from Greenwood's portrayal but not his determination. Greenwood presents Kennedy as a man both desirous of protecting American interests and American lives if at all possible.

Having not lived through the Cuban missile crisis I can only imagine if the movie adequately captured the real sense of danger that permeated the air at the time. If it undershot it's mark, then perhaps no movie could do an adequate job.

The only thing I would probably like better would be a movie version of the Cuban missile crisis from Soviet eyes. How much the Soviet people knew about what was happening in Cuba I don't know; but, it would be interesting to see what the Soviet government's spin on it would have been to their own citizens.


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