And the Band Played On

Rating:
Summary: And the Band Played Good.
Review: 'And the Band Played On' is an excellent film about the true story of the discovery of the AIDS virus from the late 1970s' into the 1980s'. It has an All-Star cast that bring delight to the screen. More interesting than 'Philadelphia'.

Rating:
Summary: And the Band Played Good.
Review: 'And the Band Played On' is an excellent film about the true story of the discovery of the AIDS virus from the late 1970s' into the 1980s'. It has an All-Star cast that bring delight to the screen. More interesting than 'Philadelphia'.

Rating:
Summary: This is not a gay issue. This is a human issue.
Review: A real-life story about the discovery and destructive nature of AIDS, And the Band Played On is a gripping drama that not only takes you to the front line and behind the scenes of the HIV virus. To the bath houses in San Francisco to the research labs at the Center for Disease Control, there is no area that is not shown in this film. An all-star cast also creates the ambiance to this film. Powerful actors giving the performances of a lifetime. Richard Gere, Angelica Houston, Ian McKellan, Steve Martin, Alan Alda, Phil Collins, and even Matthew Modine are just a few of the actors who deserved Academy Awards for their work. While most of their parts were small, they were not unforgettable segments. Each cameo actor had a crucial role in leading us to the next segment and life of the HIV virus.

We are first introduced to Modine when he is trying to help a tribe with the destructible Ebola virus. Then, just as quickly, we are in mainstream San Francisco. The booming gay community and the political figureheads that were pushing for rights. It is the beginning of 1980, the Democrats are pushing for a more liberal stance, while Regan is being sworn into the White House for his first term. The world is happy, yet timid. The gay community is growing, and discovering that a dark fear is lurking behind them. While the United States is beating a dead horse about closing bath houses and stopping the gay community, the French are looking at it outside of a sexual disease. Possibly a blood disease. While they research their ideas, America begins to see the full effect of AIDS. These scientists are predicting that in the next several years the fatality rate will be 100% if you contract AIDS. Ronald Regan has just had his second term and has still not mentioned AIDS in public. While the French work day and night to stop their public from dying, we begin shunning the gay community. Creating a phobia due to lack of education. We even see a well respected doctor steal the discovery from the French just so that he can credit the monetary value of this disease. While the ending to this film is very sappy, it still was powerful enough to not only be enjoyable, but also educational. A film that if you have not seen yet, you should...and if you have seen it, see it again.

This powerful two and a half hour epic was the most entertaining informative film I have seen in ages. I rented it not knowing anything about it. I first picked it up for the actors to see what they could do in such small roles. Little did I know I was about to see everyone in the performances of their lifetime. Richard Gere proved once and again why he is an actor. It befuddles me why Modine has stopped working, because after seeing him in this film I would have liked to see him move further in the Hollywood community.

It is not everyday that you find a gem as this film. If I was a superintendent of schools and I just saw this film, I would push with every ounce of strength to get this film into my schools. I learned more about AIDS than I ever had in my education career. It not only brought out a text book style of education, but it also brought a very humanistic approach to the disease. It also brought out a very dark political side that perhaps the general public is not as familiar with. Not only that, but it also brought out the dark side of human nature. In times of plagues, we rely to heavily on science to be our savior. While it will be the backbone to our cause, we do need to have a feeling for those that already have the disease. We, as a nation, need to look past social standings, sexual preference, and color of our skin to realize that we are all humans. If this is a "human" disease, then we need to research every venue, not just the most obvious ones. If this film doesn't scare you, I don't think any horror film will.

Like all great films, it did have some horrible sides to it. McKellan's story was too cliché. The story of the homosexual politician who looses his lover because he is more involved with politics than his social life, who eventually reunite when it is discovered that McKellan has AIDS. Modine's flashbacks were unnecessary. I felt that we did not need to be reminded why he believed in human nature, and I don't think that we needed to be reminded by seeing a scene where he throws bodies into a fire. Something more substantial would have been nice. Finally, the ending was too much for me. I don't think it needed to have an Elton John (prominent homosexual figure in entertainment) singing one of his songs with flashing pictures of famous people, straight and gay, that we have lost to AIDS. Perhaps a more poignant picture would have been less famous people (every day Joes) who have died from the disease.

Overall, the good well out weigh the bad points that I just mentioned. I guarantee that you will be surprised, educated, and emotionally enthralled by this film.

Grade: **** out of *****

Rating:
Summary: I only wish there were more stars to praise this MUST read
Review: Absolutely the greatest work dealing with the AIDS epidemic ever published. It deals with everthing from the early science behind the epidemic to how it deeply effected a whole people. After reading this book, your thoughts and feelings about the tragedy of AIDS will never be the same. END

Rating:
Summary: Best Docu-Drama of all Time
Review: Absolutely wonderful movie. I watch it once or twice a month, every month and still find it compelling. Makes you want to strangle Alan Alda! The ending with Elton John singing in the background is heart-wrenching. So many people have died needlessly of this disease. This movie should be required viewing for every High School student in America. I highly recommend this movie to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Weak and Uninspired
Review: Although the film will be an eye-opener for viewers who know little if anything about the factors which encouraged AIDS to move from a disease afflicting the few to a full blown epidemic, to any one in the least knowledgeable it will prove singularly uninspired.

Based on the powerful book by Randy Shilts, And The Band Played On had the potential to be one of the single most galvanizing films (and not to mention a fascinating story) ever made. Instead, we receive a watered down, fairly sanitized version of everything which make the book such a knockout.

See the film if you must, but you're much better off with the book. If you are interested in the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, I also recommend the film Longtime Companion, which traces the impact of AIDS on a circle of friends living in New York when the disease first began to spread.

Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking but Eye Opening
Review: Even though this film may not have had the full impact of it's original version found in type, it had all the necessary ingredients to help one understand the impact of AIDS and it's debut into our society. Without films of this type, people may never understand that AIDS is not predjudice to race, religion, gender or sexual preference. No one is immune from this horrible disease and in my opinion, the purpose to educate people was accomplished. There may be other films that are more graphic or less watered down, but in the end any film about AIDS has value and should be viewed as a valuble learning tool.

Rating:
Summary: For those who dared to make a difference.....
Review: First off, this is one very real and very sobering story of maybe the biggest plague we may see for a long time to come (AIDS)and how it affects so many people in so many ways. The story evokes a myriad of emotions in you in the way that the plot is developed and how the actors bring it to life.

This is also a story of how our govenment and other high scale institutions decided to avoid what they believed to be "a sensitive issue" that did not deserve the importance it actually needed. The bureaucracy, by not acting in an intelligent and timely matter, delayed precious time and funds needed to research this disease and help those with AIDS that were literally crying out for support.

Enter Matthew Modine as the CDC researcher Don Francis who dared to stand up to the system only to have that system censor him, hamper his research and continually quell the urgency of his mission. On the other hand, we have Alan Alda playing another doctor who, seemingly on a mission to also help fight AIDS, is only out for glory and does more to hurt the fight than help it. This is really sad when you consider such an esteemed doctor could have given so much but did not see the bigger picture....the plight of the many outweighs the need for this one doctor to glorify himself.

The cast in this movie is absolutely stellar and provides for such a diverse aura of talent that shines throughout. How can you go wrong with Matthew Modine, Alan Alda, Richard Gere, Steve Martin, Angelica Huston and Lilly Tomlin to name just a few?

To finish off, the movie closes with a very heart wrenching picture montage of famous celebrities who have died of AIDS over the years. This montage is simultaneously done with an incredible Elton John song in the background, "The Last Song", that will completely floor you. I almost broke down during this part of the movie. Those who have seen the movie will know exactly what I mean. A very impressive and excellent movie worth watching time and again.

Rating:
Summary: Not abysmal, BUT...
Review: For heavens sake, read Randy Shilts' book instead of watching this mediocrity! The man wrote like a dream and covered the beginning of the AIDS era like no one else could.

Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing evidence that demands a verdict.
Review: From the very first time I sat through this movie, my awareness of AIDS versus politics, and the gay rights movement versus gay peoples' self-examination into their personal activities and morals, increased 10 fold. The various band members portrayed -- "fast lane" homosexuals, the bathhouse owners, the San Francisco Health Department, Blood bank operators, Homosexual Rights Groups, and the Media, Public Health Authorities, and the Reagan Administration -- show a stunning portrayal of the responsibility we all share in the face of a crises that ultimately affects us all on one level or another.

Though not as thorough as the book upon which the fact-based movie is based (And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic; By Randy Shilts, St. Martin's Press), this made-for-cable film poignantly testifies to those few who fought desperately to get the band's attention and those who died horribly while it continued to play.

The movie proves that the issue does not necessarily surround, (in Shilts's paraphrase), "society's responsibility to find the medical technology to prevent all sexually transmitted diseases rather than the gay community's responsibility to keep sexuality in line with what medical technology can cure."