Rating: 
Summary: WWII : the war that tore us apart.
Review: Listen, people. Can we maybe stop obsessing on American race relations for just like a second here? I mean the unsuspecting average Joe goes into a theater to watch a WWII flick and he figures its gonna be about Americans fighting Nazis. Next thing you know he's finding out the history books have lied to him. WWII is really about black and white Americans fighting eachother, with the urbane, literate Nazis acting as referees; that is when they're not occupied tossing off the odd urbane remark. "Ahh, you've read Herr Mark Twain, but he iss vonderful, ya?" This line of dialog just about sums it up. Why? Well, in the first place, Mark Twain is NOT wonderful. He is an enormously overrated American writer who'se stuff is so condescendingly folksy and toweringly boring that I suspect everybody claiming to like Mark Twain is a liar or a philistine or both. But the point is that this Mark Twain crack is thrown in like you'd throw in a reference to Shakespeare - the most overrated writer of all time. You know, like "You've read Shakespeare? Oh wow like MAN!" It is as if this is not meant to be the opinion of the character but a plain and simple fact we all can agree on - so completely as to treat this fact as part of the scenery, like the barbed wire and the barracks. We just figure this Nazi guy has some pretty good taste. In other words the movie is a subversive piece of revisionism wherein the Nazis are civilized background to the savagery of American black and white race hatred. In other words, the real monsters in WWII were not the Nazis, but us. Next thing you know we're gonna be sitting still for a WWII picture where the Nazis are the good guys and the Americans are the villians. Because, after all, every good indoctrinated liberal knows that America is pure seething evil. I mean look at the government-plotted assasination of JFK. What? that only existed in Oliver Stone's imagination? Well what about the evil Vietnam war that was prosecuted for corporate greed? What? That was pure leftist propaganda? You mean we weren't out to plunder Indochina of its vast noodle ore? Well, we better dig further back in time, then. Lets see now... I've got it, World War II! Lets show your average Joe Blow a whole new way to feel ashamed to be American. Well this Joe Blow ain't buying it. Not by a long sight.
Rating: 
Summary: A Touching Drama With Twists & Turns
Review: At first I found this movie a bit on the boring side, but as the movie goes on, it becomes much more intriguing and intresting. So don't just quit on it, give it a chance. The movie is about a Nazi prison camp, with an imprisioned American army division, wich you probably have heard allready. It brings out the courage and self sacrifice of Americans under such situations. It won't leave you disapointed, especially when you find out (towards the end) what motivates these people and why. The picturing is also great, and you'll probably better understand it with subtitles on.
Rating:
Summary: Boring nonsense
Review: The first 10 minutes of this film was interesting, after
LT. Hart hits the camp, BORING! Willis is awful (i hate to say) in this film. This movie is not a good addition to any War movie collection, Skip it! Boring, Boring, Boring!
Rating:
Summary: Hart's War: a Poor Man's Stalag 17
Review: Hart's War isn't unwatchable, but it isn't good either.Why Bruce Willis is the primary actor listed in the credits speaks more to his declining fame than his role in this film (typically an actor who receives top billing does so for a reduction in salary). Midway through this WWII potboiler, I expected to hear the theme music from "Hogan's Heros" and have the actors visages flash up on the screen. Hogan's Heros was a comedic take on a serious and excellent film: Stalag 17. Hart's War incorporates aspects of Stalag 17 and then adds in parts of To Kill A Mockingbird for good measure. Based on a book, I suppose I'm also critiquing that novel's content as well. So what's my critique? How could I not like a film (and book) that are so politcally relevant and emotionally draining as a story of white and black prejudice set against an even greater evil of Naziism? Oh, puleese! I thought I was going to see a fair to good WWII drama, but then I was duped by the filmmakers into a racism drama that typically casts the poor put upon black man in a role that he can do nothing but become a hero as a result of circumstances put upon him. Don't get me wrong - black men have been dealt a poor hand for a long time, but this film doesn't cover new territory and it doesn't tell a story that is unique: it feels stale and overcooked. The black character at the heart of this story could have just as well been cast and written as an American Indian, a Jew, a homosexual, or any other minority group and it would have worked as effectively. If it seems that I am a bit ticked off - you'd be right. I don't have a problem with the role of prejudice being identified and played on in a film, but it doesn't have to be handled in some a heavy and ham-handed way as Hart's War lays it out. Our narrator is apparently some sort of saint (but he is also a bit of a coward in that he gives up U.S. secrets for his own safety - a plot point which dies on the vine in lieu of the racist subject matter) because he's the only white man in the entire prison camp who isn't a racist. The characters in this film are sketches - two dimensional sketches. They are either good or they are bad. No one has multi-layered personalities. The camp bigot is not only a bigot but he is a traitor! The captain is not only a hardcase, but he has ulterior motives that may be bigotry and probably include selling out the camp saint in addition to the black man. The narrator (saint), though he committed treasonous acts, is to be completely forgiven because he is in support of the camp's only black resident. People are not all bad and people are not all good. There are many a murderer out there who are extremely good to their mothers, but who would gun you down without thinking twice. Surprisingly, the Nazis don't come off as hideously evil as the typical Hollywood film would portray them. The Commandant of the camp is intelligent and suspicious, and even a bit self-serving, but that would be expected in war. The Nazis are actually cast more believable than any of the Americans. I would love to see Hollywood address racism with more subtly than this. I think it is a point that deserves attention, but I think that we have also moved beyond the point when it has to be shoved down our throats as Hart's War does. Photograhed beautifully, and yet not unlike Stalag 17 and Hogan's Heros (it's always winter in these prison camp shows - you know Germany is actually quite beautiful in the summer - you'd think that such a contrast might sometime be brought out in these war pictures), Hart's War is sadly a poor rehash of material previously covered in Stalag 17 and To Kill A Mockingbird.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This is a well-acted movie, which should have received at least one Oscar nomination. As someone of African descent, I found it amazing that African Americans remained so loyal to a country, which had little respect (if any) for them. The good thing about this movie is that it keeps you hooked to the very end. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and hope that word of mouth gets more people interested in seeing this fine movie.
Rating:
Summary: Harts War
Review: This movie was good, but not the best WW2 movie I've seen. Colin Farrell and Bruce Willis are good in this movie...but then again they're both great actors!! So yeah. It got kind of boring at some parts. It could have been better but it was a war movie and it had Colin Farrell so I was happy!! If you're really into war movies, I suggest you watch this movie, but don't expect it to be this all out great movie. I don't suggest you buy it, just rent it.
Rating:
Summary: Better than advertised.
Review: From the previews, I had no idea what this film was about. But after watching it I can say that the previews did not do it justice. This is a pretty decent flick about a POW that has not seen much action (in WWII) due to his father's political status. To make a long story short (without giving away the plot), Bruce Willis plays the ranking officer in the camp with whom Hart (Colin Farrell) must deal with in more ways than one. Both Farrell and Willis do an great job in this film. The special effects and general photography are excellent as well.
Rating:
Summary: To Have & Have Not
Review: Hart's War is an interesting study in priviledge and deprivation. Colin Farrell who starred as Jesse James in "American Outlaws" does a good job of playing the Senator's son with the cushy wartime job who gets captured, tortured, capitulates, and must prove himself in the war camp not for who he knows but who he is. Terrence Dashon Howard does a great job as the accused black aviator; and the film explores these issues of rascism in WWII. Bruce Willis turns in a journeyman performance as Col. William McNamara. While this may not be a classic drama, it does keep a good pace and keeps you involved with the story to the end. The DVD version didn't have any deleted scenes and seemed a bit light except for some added trailers for other films. All in all, a good time.
Rating:
Summary: A study in honor
Review: Forget what the negative reviews say about this movie. Forget the book. Forget even the discrimination subplot. If you focus on these aspects, you will miss what this movie is about. As a stand-alone story, this movie is an enjoyable piece of cinema. The script is about honor among warriors, regardless of race or which side they are fighting on. Willis, as a POW, is playing poker in this role, to bring about a strategic defeat against the Nazis through a gallant act of subterfuge and leadership. He plays it perfectly understated. The score is exceptional and adds just the right amount of dramatic tension and poignancy for the subject matter. Understanding that honor is the theme of this movie is the key to understanding its ending. It is a moving tribute to those, who, when faced with a no-win scenario, emerge the true victors.
Rating: 
Summary: It's more like 3 and a half stars
Review: The movie has a theme of racial prejudice revolving around it and is cleverly portrayed. This is a movie with only men, so if you are looking for romance there is none. This is set in a Stalig Camp, I guess this is a camp based in Germany for POW's. They get better amenities than the Jewish although there soup is filled with maggots. One fellow has a good way of looking at, at least its protein. The story has an underlying plot going on that is hidden from our eyes until the end. Only McNamara and several other men know whats happening. Our main character, Hart, is unaware like the audience. Hart had a conflict over the way he surrended to questioning when he was caught and was reliving this over at the Stalig Camp when he is asked to defend a black Lietenent POW, who has been accused of murdering a fellow white officer. This white officer had a hand in getting his friend who was also a black Lietenent POW in trouble with the Germans, which prompted a firing squad.
The movie again has surprises in it and is intelligent. I like the way the Nazi Captain was portrayed. Very different, a melodramatic man, with a kind of thoughtful demeanor. This was really not so much about the Nazi's as it was about how the irony was really appalling, here we are fighting to stop genocide and treating our own fellow Americans as if they were lesser than, in this movie it was the African Americans. It makes a good point, one that I really didn't realize. I had no idea that the blacks were treated as if they were just fill ins, and deserved no respect, even if they were officers. The hypocrisy is just so visible, its a wonder people stayed in denial.
The drawback is the movies ending, it was clever but it didn't let the movie stay true to form. The black officer should have walked away the hero, he didn't have a chance. Hart had an agenda, he wanted to take the slot, because of his internal conflict, mainly guilt. McNamara took it because he was supposed to he was the captain, therefore his que. But the Black Officer whose name I can't remember, should have been the hero, he should have been the one we mourned, let us feel our anger. The movie starts out letting us feel the anger but than as always whoever the star is, in this case Willis, he steps out of the smoke and grit and takes the hero slot. This is frustrating. That is why I did not give this movie as many stars as it could have achieved. Overall, worth viewing! Lisa Nary
|
