Rating: Summary: Great story, acting and cinematography. Review: Great story, acting and cinematography. Finally a decent story that involves you in the turmoil of West Africa and American forces doing the right thing. The thing I liked best about this movie is that nothing is over done. The director Antoine Fuqua does not show a heavy hand leading to a well balanced and consistent tempo for the movie. The story of a US Navy SEAL team securing refugees in Nigeria is compelling. This fiction gives a glimpse of US forces doing what they do best that is going into harms way for a higher good. This movie is a winner for the actors Bruce Willis and Monica Belluci. I don't expect to see Academy Awards for acting out of this but it should get nomination(s). Moreover the co-stars and entire supporting cast complement the stars and the story. Cinematography is sublime. You almost feel the dense imposing jungle and all of it's nuance from creatures, to the challenging terrain, sauna-like quality, and pounding downpour. Color and lighting are great. Sound could have used some help. I highly recommend this movie for Bruce Willis fans, and even if you're not this is a must see if you enjoy good military stories.
Rating: Summary: Enjoyable war movie with moral and ethical perspective Review: When we first saw this movie, the closing quote best sums up the move: "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing". We appreciated how the movie mixes drama with action. Whether you agree or disagree with the message of the movie, you should be able to relate to the fighting spirit yet compassionate spirit of the soldiers. I always get touched when people have to overcome obstacles and that "no one gets left behind". If you liked "Three Kings", "Black Hawk Down", or "Saving Private Ryan", you would also like this movie.
Rating: Summary: I wonder........... Review: As I sit here trying to figure out what to get for me and my troops since we're out in the middle of nowhere, I'm reading alot of dribble from some of you "reviewers" and wonder if any of you ever served(line unit, not POG) in the military and/or have been engaged in this type of situation. I, myself, have spent 3yrs as a pointman in a CT unit and still on duty, have come under these same situations and wonder if I could've made a difference. This movie does a great job, not only in acting, but that unanswered question operators get when they are faced with a reality check and it shows whats going on in other parts of the world. This movie also shows that front-line personnel are not cold-hearted and bloodthirsty but that they are just everday people trained to do something no one wants to do, can't do, or scared to admit is really happening in the world. Plus, do you honestly think members of the SpecOps community like to be publicized, for all you arm-chair commandos or X-Box warriors, take a stroll in my jungle boots and see what goes on in our world of hand signals and ROE. Quit looking into our house and experience it yourself instead of going off your many years of "movie reviews" and "paintball games" which you are so proud of. As, for tactics, when the SEALs walk on-line firing there weapon systems, that is taught in Marine MCT and Army AIT and I even have my troops continue to run contact drills in this manner. All in all, great film that not only gives good action sequences but an understanding of what goes on in the mindset of military professionals. POG - personnel other than grunt CT - counter-terrorist ROE - rules of engagement AONYMOUS DUE TO OPSEC
Rating: Summary: Very Plesantly Surprised! Review: I have never been a fan of war-type movies, but after watching this film (at the insistence of my boyfriend), I found "Tears of the Sun" to be a very riveting and powerful film. Watching this film made me even more grateful to be an American and live in this country. I couldn't even imagine living through what the people in this film had to endure. The film centers around a group of men in the military who go on a mission to rescue a doctor, two nuns, and a priest from a mission in Nigeria. This group is led by Bruce Willis' character, Lt. Waters. When they arrive, the doctor is hesitant to leave and insists and taking 70 of her patients with her. The two nuns and priest decide to stay at the mission with the remaining patients even though their decision would ultimately result in their deaths. Against his orders, Lt. Waters takes the doctor and her 70 patients through the jungles of Nigeria to safety while being hunted. I really enjoyed this film because it shows that making the right decision, even if you're going against orders or what is expected of you, can be so much rewarding than just doing what you're told. I will agree with other reviewers that there are some graphic scenes in this film, so if you're a little sensitive to that, you may want to divert your eyes for a moment. I would highly suggest this film to anyone regardless of your like or dislike of war films. "Tears of the Sun" will pull you in and captivate you from the beginning!
Rating: Summary: Good men doing nothing - for 2 hours. Review: A big let down, Tears of the Sun is a convoluted, tortuous mess. The flaws are too many and too gross to name all of them, but on with the review anyway... The Good: I really couldn't find anything. The Bad: Absolutley no chain of command whatsoever...anywhere. One fire mission manages to kill every single hostile in the area while not harming our heroes. The final encounter is no more than a quick jog from the safety of an allied compound apparently. The Ugly: These happen to be the dumbest navy seals I have ever heard of, led by a man who is probably the dumbest in the bunch. He makes a bad decision from the outset and then complicates it with more bad decisions. Who was the technical advisor on this film, or did they even bother with one? Lines such as "conserve your ammo!" were followed by men firing from the hip indescriminatly into the treeline, while "hold the line!" was usually followed by a retreat. The ambush they intended to orchestrate put the Seals in the lowest possible firing position, firing up into the enemy. No one bothered with camoflauge (especially Willis' big shiny bald head), and the teams sniper honestly would have known better. They wait until they are engaged to place their claymore, but luckily the enemy in typical hollywood fashion can't hit a thing. And when things start going poorly they honestly line up in a row and start walking across the clearing towards the enemy. Come on, honestly. Didn't we learn to stop fighting like that about the time of WW1? Another great portrayal of one of the best fighting forces in the world (heavy sarcasm).
Rating: Summary: Details are important Review: Okay first I would like to say that the movie overall was good. However, Can we please concentrate on the details. The biggest problem is that the movie has soldiers rescuing 70 Nigerian villagers who seem to have the best dental care known to man. There must be something in the nigerian water, because the villagers had the whitest teeth. I mean the I just got a teeth whittening treatment white. Now I have never been to Nigeria so I shouldn't specaulate on things I haven't seen first hand but I can say I have never seen teeth as good as there is a national geographic. Details are so important and they missed a big one it made the story far less believable and more hollywood evertime someone smiled :)
Rating: Summary: It's no Hamburger Hill Review: This movie is just silly! It stars Bruce Willis as a somewhat long-in-the-tooth Army Lieutenant whose mission is to rescue the (all too pretty for this part) Monica Belluci who plays the part of the heroic American doctor running the mission in war torn Nigeria. Naturally, she convinces Willis to also rescue her 70 Nigerian villagers. This movie is long on philosophical jungle conversations but short on emotional impact, until the last thirty minutes or so when violence substitutes for intelligence. It is truly jingoistic and could well have been named Die Hard four, or five, or six.........Good news for fans of the genre! To its credit, the scenics are remarkable, as is the reality of ethnic cleansing in war-torn Nigeria. In conclusion, if you have nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon, rent it. Just know this is no Hamburger Hill, or Black Hawk down!
Rating: Summary: Okay, not worth the time Review: I really enjoy good action movies. I tend to like war movies. Somehow, this was not one of them. Bruce Willis was fine and believable as a Navy SEAL. Monica Belucci - a super-hot Italian bombshell playing a super-sentimental doctor - is just fine and probably the best part of the movie. That's it, those are all (read: both) of the characters. The direction is fine - at least its not jerky or super-faux-artsy e.g. Thin Red Line. The problem is that the movie contributes nothing to the war or action film genre. It is not new or different from any movie that you have seen before. There is nothing really good to say about anything. The story was okay and somewhat touching, bleeding-heart American soldiers who mostly die (sorry if I ruined it) save a bunch of Nigerians including someone special (won't ruin it) on an extraction mission meant to just save Monica, which is what I would be doing. The action scenes aren't bad but are mainly just long shootouts that you've seen 10, 20, 30 times before. At times you may forget whether your are at the middle or end of the movie, it is all essentially the same. Spoken lines are few. Real tension is missing completely. Cool, realistic-looking combat scenes, though - and lots of blood. Suprisingly enough the movie is pretty long. It is unfortunate that there are still only two essentially undeveloped characters and a very linear, static storyline. The ending is predictable - you don't find out what happens afterwards, and you don't care. This film wants to be Black Hawk Down, but isn't. Don't waste your time, unless you are a huge war movie nut. Then you will probably want to watch this, and say all the things I said to your war-nut-buddies, and then go watch Patton again to remind you that some war movies are genuinely pretty good. The DVD is of good sound and visual quality, as to be expected. Special features are worthless. Not worth the money or time.
Rating: Summary: not a fun movie to watch ... Review: The characters are too self-righteous and naive. Doesn't make much sense to risk all these soldiers' life to save a volunteer doctor in Africa given she doesn't want to be rescued -- is her like more valuable than the soldiers' ? Almost everyone in the movie are filled with rage (for no reason) and no humor in life. The movie feels like European instead of Good ol' American. simply put, no fun whats so ever to watch this movie.
Rating: Summary: One of the best... Review: This was without a doubt the finest military movie I have seen since We Were Soldiers. Short on talk and long on action, this may have been Bruce Willis' finest hour. I nearly came out of my chair as the film reached it's powerful climax. There is not a single bad thing I can say about this film. You MUST own it.
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