I enjoyed Basterds, wasnt a knee slapper, but very good none the less. I did not however, think much of the Apes series. I like Tarantino’s work,and though its not for everyone he gets movies out of the rut they’ve been stuck in for so long.
Yes actually.
Tarantino movies are certainly a matter of taste as I mentioned before in this thread. Calling IB (or the original version of “Planet of the apes”) dim-witted is kind of, well, dim-witted.
The term “dimwitted” was inappropriate and crass on my part and I apologize. I think that it could be taken to imply that that description would apply to the viewer. That is certainly not what I meant to convey. My concern is that such movies take on a sort of “comic book” approach by humiliating and mocking our enemies. I am old enough to remember the World War II generation when they were in their 30s and 40s. My father, who fought in North Africa, Italy, and Austria; and served briefly in Persia along the Soviet-Persian border, had great respect for the German soldier, though he referred to Nazism as the greatest of Earthly evils until that time. When my father later worked in management with a naturalized German-American who was once in the German Army during World War II … just 25 years earlier, there was only a quiet mutual respect for each other as past warriors. Likewise, when I served in the Navy submarine service performing long range Arctic Ocean patrols during the Cold War, we had an urge and determination to win fast and hard in the event of an actual shooting war, but we never made the mistake of belittling or underestimating our Soviet adversaries. More recently, when I served with DoD as a civilian specialist in Iraq during that war. I saw the same level-headed attitude among American teenagers and twenty-somethings who, while tenacious to fight and defeat al-Qaida and reject their cause, respected them as a worthy and effective enemy. Respect for the enemy brings greater respect to the warrior fighting him. Other Iraqis saw that professional attitude and drew closer to the cause of U.S. and Multi-National Forces while al-Qaida lost support in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East. That is the attitude that I experienced from Iraqis who I am certain were once shooting at us earlier in the war.
Very, very, very occasionally one comes across a statement which manages to distil into a few sentences or a paragraph or two all that long-winded politicians and their ilk have managed to miss in trying to deal with the same issue.
The quote above was one such crystal clear and concise statement, and all the more remarkable for covering several decades and several forms of undeclared and declared warfare.
About 40 years ago, and roughly in the era you mention, I had a ride on a surface warship and soon after had a tour of one of our submarines while it was docked (This was one of our old submarines which were fairly reliable, unlike our much more expensive Collins versions which could sink while moored if their mooring capacity was as poor as some of their other capacities.).
There is no way I would even consider going anywhere in a vehicle which does not have a windscreen; which has a driver who cannot see where he is going; and which is not already sunk before it starts hostilities.
I have the greatest admiration for anyone who is prepared to go down in a sub.
As for the film, I saw some trailers for it.
It seems to rank for even faint claims to historical accuracy somewhere below the level of the factually absurd films such as “The Dirty Dozen”, which is sufficient reason why I won’t bother watching it.
Thank you for your kind words Rising Sun. Your response reminds me of the proud and smart looking men and women of the Australian Army that I saw in both Kuwait and Iraq during my short deployment downrange. They can be sharp tongued and hard hitting in a fight, but of true military bearing elsewhere. There was always an air of security when Aussies were around.
Agreed, a movie like this could leave such an impression on the simple minded. On the other hand, highly praised early WW2 movies like “The longest day” created an impression of WW2 being some kind of Wild West showdown (and the producers claimed a certain historic accuracy).
I my opinion this is one of the worst piece of garbage ever imposed to a worldwide cinetographic audience.