Rating: 
Summary: Filled with Suspense and Drama
Review: This movie is dated, and anyone who didn't live through some part of the Cold War may not feel the full effect, but it is filled with suspense and drama. The casting for this movie was perfect, with Fredrick March as the frail looking President Lymon, who manages to show the great strength contained within; Burt Lancaster as General Scott, who gives off an commanding aura of strength and purpose; and Kurt Douglas as Colonel Jiggs Casey, who is torn between duty and loyalty. Great supporting cast as well. This movie also makes you think, and at the end you'll be wondering, could something like this really happen?
Rating:
Summary: It could never happen here... or could it??
Review: "Seven Days in May" was a so-so book that John Frankenheimer turned into an absolutely brilliant movie. It's an excellent cold-war drama, made at a time when tension between this country and the Soviet Union was at boiling point. At the center of the story is President Jordan Lyman, a well-meaning, somewhat naive chief executive who has pushed through a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviets, which most of the country, and all of the military, fear the Soviets have no intention of honoring. The stage is set for a political confrontation between the president's supporters, who feel they must back him whatever their private apprehensions, and his opponents, who fear he is selling the country out. Enter at this point a career soldier with political ambitions, General James Scott, who plans to put his enormous popularity to work in devising a scheme that he thinks will save his country, which is nothing less than a military plot to overthrow the government. However, loose lips can sink a ship, and a few chance words reach the ears of Colonel Jiggs Casey, a Marine torn between his loyalty to his general, General Scott, and his commander in chief, president Lyman. What makes a good soldier, and what makes a true patriot? That is the dilemma Casey has to come to grips with as he realizes that the clock is ticking, the plot is underway, and there are less than seven days left before something very big goes down. The movie has minimal action and a lot of dialogue, but the tension is maintained nicely throughout, and the acting is uniformly excellent. Among the excellent cast, the standouts are Frederic March as the president, Burt Lancaster as General Scott, Kirk Douglas in one of his finest roles as Colonel Casey, and Ava Gardner, still drop-dead gorgeous, as Scott's cast-off mistress, drowning herself in booze, self-pity and resentment. The final verbal confrontation between Casey and Scott near the movie's end is one of the best I've ever witnessed on film. The movie grabs hold of you from the opening frames and keeps you riveted right to the end, all the while making you wonder, could it really happen here? Let's hope we never find out...
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant, subtle, and thought-provoking.
Review: This is a wonderful movie. The subject is simple: at the height of the Cold War there is a military plot to seize control of the US government. The storyline is complex, but nevertheless does not drag. The movie manages rather to proceed gradually but steadily to its hard-hitting conclusion. The movie keeps the momentum going without much in the way of extraneous material. Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas both turn in fine performances. The supporting cast is of similar caliber. The most frightening thing about the movie is that it manages to make a pretty good case that such a thing could actually happen. Let's all hope the military has enough fine officers like Kirk Douglas in this film to prevent it from happening! This movie retains a wonderful feeling of authenticity. It is filmed in black and white which possibly adds to that, and also to the 1960s-era theme. This one is a keeper. You'll watch it more than once.
Rating:
Summary: commentary worth the price of DVD.
Review: Read other reviews for the plot. This is an excellent DVD> The commentary by director Frankenheimer never fails to interest. He describes in detail is reasons for staging a scene, his choice of lens, etc, even gives the F stop. He points out that this pic is set in the future and notes which items didn't exist at the time and how he made things such as picture phones. He goes into detail tooon locations, JFKs cooperation with the company and so on. As he doe in the Train he notes lttle details you might miss. Have not seen it since it came out and have no interest in politics but found myself caught up in it again. I think those with an interest in movies will find this a treasure and the story is still suspensful with excellent acting.
Rating:
Summary: Seven Days In May: The Warping of Duty, Honor, Country
Review:
SEVEN DAYS IN MAY is a film about the clear relationship that exists between the civilian, elected government of the United States and its military. In this country, the President usually consults with his military on matters of national security, and respects their collective opinion, but when it is time to decide, he has only his own conscience to listen to. All dispute, all disagreement between him and them is supposed to vanish. But what if elements of the military decided to ignore this bit of constitutional law to achieve their goals and circumvent his? That is the premise of SEVEN DAYS IN MAY. To those who believe in liberty and its preservation, such a thought is unsettling. Director John Frankenheimer portrays a contemporary American society not unlike many such past and present ones, one that is sharply split between what the public and the military want but that which the President opposes. General Scott, played with a steely, no nonsense air by Burt Lancaster, is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Scott is convinced that the President (Frederic March) is leading the country to ruin via a foolish disarmorment policy that in Scott's opinion will leave America helpless against the Soviets. He plans a military coup in which he will assume the Presidency, but word leaks out to one of his subordinates, Colonel Casey (Kirk Douglas) who spends much of the movie trying to decide what to do, and having decided that, to convince the President of the validity of the threat. Ultimately, the President, with the aid of some underhanded dealing by Colonel Casey, squashes the threat and forces the resignation of all the top officers involved in the coup.
SDM is a response to the cold war threat of the 50s and 60s that might come not from the barrels of the Russians but from the smoke filled rooms of traitors plotting against the red, white, and blue. As the viewer listens to the reasons given by General Scott as he realizes that his plot has been uncovered, the viewer can sense the hollowness of Scott's arguments. As the President responds that General Scott is free to change the status quo, there are constitutional means to do so. 'Run for office,' the President thunders, 'if you want to sit in my chair.' Scott can make no effective counter as he leaves the room to a forced retirement. This movie asks Americans to question just how far they should go in good conscience when they strongly disapprove of the actions of the elected civilian leaders. The answer is simple: Run for office and change things within the system. To do otherwise would leave a government with an American name but without American ideals.
Rating:
Summary: They don't make films like this anymore
Review: Books used to drive films, and this was from a political thriller popular at the time, one of a set, along with "Fail Safe" and "The Best Man". The task was to strip the film down to the essentials to fit into a two hour (or less) time slot, which is about all 1960's era audiences could go without a cigarette, and get it out while the book was still recent. The script is crisp, the dialogue to the point, the characters few, and the sets are the minimum necessary to get it produced, more like a play on film than a modern movie. This is a movie you can listen to as well as watch. But even though the intent was to do business, not make art, films like this turned out to be definitive. They were made so professionally well that it would be pointless to remake them again; witness disasters like the recent remake of "Fail Safe", a close cousin to this movie. Maybe we don't have the broad spectrum of talent that was available then, or maybe we've just run out of stories, but it seems like the earliest tellings in movie history usually turned out the best; does anyone really think that Scrooge was ever played better than Alistair Sims, for example? Anyway, I've seen it enough times to memorize the dialogue, and while I don't champion it as a great film in any sense, it seems to find my DVD player a few times a year still, and I always enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, subtle
Review: This is a fine movie about the cold war. The interesting thing is that the bad guy was right -- General Scott anticipated the (fictional) cheating of the Soviets. The problem was Scott was willing to overthrow the constitution to keep the USA from being at a disadvantage. A nice foil for every American to think of -- as another reviewer pointed out, the ends do not justify the means. The book is more complex, more developed, but it also is more verbose and posturing. And it doesn't have Burt Lancaster -- perfectly cast as the dangerous, charismatic Gen. Scott. The other casting is okay -- Kirk Douglas was too aggressively likeable as Jiggs, and Ava Gardner was too old for a broken hearted Washington ingenue. But maybe my opinions are a product of modern cinema where everyone is 22. So go on down to your 1950's era bomb shelter and check it out.
Rating:
Summary: Great DVD!!
Review: Sure, it's a terrific film, loaded with great performances. But what makes this DVD a winner is John Frankenheimer's insightful, personal, honest commentary -- on the actors, the script, the set, the camera angles, the shot composition, the works. If you want to learn about filmcraft -- scene by scene -- from an expert, this DVD is for you.
Rating:
Summary: HIGH STAKES IN THE COLD WAR
Review: This is quite possibly the best movie about the cold war ever made. It is not only intelligent but makes the argument that whether or not you disagree with the president's policies...he is still the one in charge! It is "we, the people" who decides the fate of their elected officials and not a single group of individuals. I often thought this movie has a particular insight into the Kennedy assasination, but who can tell? Both Douglas and Lancaster give excellent, believable performances as career military officers who place duty, honor and country as their chief priorities. Unfortunately, Lancaster takes it much too far and believes that he has a divine right to circumvent the Constitution.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST SEE, PERIOD!
Review: ...The truth is this film should be watched once and then again and again until you are willing to get up and do something. Now that the films basic and simplistic storyline have been supported by the now non-fiction book "Body of Secrets" by James Bamford and his surrounding discussion concerning Operation Northwoods. The film shows you how close fiction may have been to fact. In the film the liberal president wins. But in reality what happened to that "liberal President" in the sixties.....Hmmmmmmm watch the film and read the book and don't forget we are only Americans when we are willing to love our country enough to dare to be Patriots. Be safe and God Bless America!!!!!!!
|
