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City of Life and Death Review

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(More customer reviews)As far as definitions for Hell on Earth go, the assault on the Chinese city of Nanking by the invading Japanese army in 1937 is certainly on a par with the horrors of the worst of the Nazi concentration camps. Ruthlessly and systematically wiping out of the Chinese army soldiers defending the town, the abuse, torture and mass execution of citizens and the notorious rape and murder of the city's women engaged as "comfort women" for the Japanese troops is one of the darkest moments in the history of modern war crimes.
It's a harrowing subject with material of such a degree of obscenity that, despite it being a popular subject for film with several documentary attempts and another film about John Rabe released around the same time as this one, it's a difficult one to approach within the limits of what a conventional war movie can show. Appropriately then, Lu Chuan adopts a style and approach similar to Steven Spielberg in Schindler's List, shooting in eye-catching widescreen black-and-white, taking in multiple viewpoints that chart the complete breakdown of any recognisable human qualities into barbarism on an unimaginable scale. Initially, there's the view from the Chinese soldiers defending the city, as well as the view from a young Japanese officer Kadokawa. The city taken, the view switches to the "Safe Zone" (which in reality is far from safe at all) established by the Nazi representative in the town John Rabe, seen mainly from the perspective of his Chinese assistant Mr Tang, his wife and family.
City of Life and Death is an exceptionally well-made film, a true war epic, although, like Schindler's List, it could also be accused of being much too attractively photographed in glossy black-and-white, effectively glamorising a subject that should simply be unwatchable. It's hard to imagine however how else a film about the Rape of Nanking could be made. What matters is how honestly and effectively the film approaches the subject and the historical reality, and while it spares us graphic detail of the worst abuses, the full mounting horror of what occurred and the impact it must have had on individuals caught up within it is unquestionably fully felt. A powerful and moving film then and essential viewing, but like Schindler's List, perhaps not one you'd want to come back to watch very often.

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Title:City of Life and Death Blu-RayStarring:Liu Ye (Curse Of The Golden Flower), Fan Wei, Gao Yuan Yuan, Nakaizumi Hideo, John PaisleyRegion A - Ensure that your Blu-Ray player plays Region A discsLanguages:Cantonese, MandarinSubtitles:English,Traditional Chinese, Simplified ChineseAudio:7.1, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital 5.1Running Time:135 minutesFormat:NTSC (Please ensure your BD player is compatible)SynopsisChina, December 1937.The country is at war with Japan. Beijing and Shanghai have already fallen. Japanese troops arrive at the doors of the capital, Nanjing. Following weeks of bombardment, local and foreign officials have fled the city in ruins.Lu, a charismatic Chinese General intensely determined to repel the enemy, leads his men in defence of their capital, street by street. They have little ammunition left as they face the Japanese tanks, but they refuse to leave.Mr. TANG is guardedly optimistic as he and his family flee to the International Safety Zone, where a growing number of Chinese civilians find shelter. Operated by the city's few remaining foreigners, the zone has become a large refugee camp. Miss JIANG, a young Chinese teacher with a strong sense of mission, coordinates life in this crowded enclave, attempting to protect as many individuals as she can.

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Windtalkers (Special Director's Edition) (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)Windtalkers is the story of two American soldiers (one played by Christian Slater, the other played by Nic Cage) who are assigned to protect two Navajo soldiers who work as windtalkers, transmitting messages past Japanese codebreakers using their code based on Navajo language.
Yes, there's a lot of violence. Yes, it's grim. The bodyguards, Cage and Slater, are instructed to kill the windtalkers rather than let them fall into enemy hands.
This is a big war movie, not quite on the scale of Saving Private Ryan, but somewhere between something that grand and magnificent and, say, Behind Enemy Lines. Cage and Slater do a good job with their parts, which aren't very fully fleshed out characters.
Woo's direction used to be so over-the-top and artsy... the fight scenes used to be like cartoons, with bad guy and good guy blazing away at each other with two pistols... the most violent scenes were often preceded by or accompanying flocks of birds taking to flight, and bullet-riddled bodies always seem to pirouet in slow motion before they fall down dead. Woo has left a lot of the old personal director's style out of this one, actually. There ARE a lot of bullets, and a lot of the fighting scenes are very unrealistic (true to old Woo there), and there is one scene very reminiscent of old John Woo, where a butterfly floats gracefully above a river then suddenly a bloody body falls into that river, destroying the gorgeous image, juxtaposing a graceful natural image with a gory violent one, etc.
ANYWAY, mostly this is a shoot 'em up war movie, and the old John Woo style is MOSTLY absent.
The story has that one feature going for it, the protection of the Navajo codetalkers, but otherwise it's a very standard war movie, in terms of plot. Still, this movie comes off surprisingly well.
If you're a fan of the American John Woo movies, like Broken Arrow, or Mission Impossible II or Face/Off, or you liked some movies recently like Black Hawk Down or Behind Enemy Lines, you ought to take a look at Windtalkers. It's not the best war movie of the last few years (I'd vote for Saving Private Ryan for that), or the best action movie, but it is entertaining and memorable...

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In the brutal World War II Battle of Saipan, Sergeant Joe Enders (Academy Award(r) winner*Nicolas Cage) guardsand ultimately befriendsBen Yahzee (Adam Beach), a young Navajo trained in the one wartime code never broken by the enemy, the Navajo Code. But if Yahzee should fall into Japanese hands, how far will Enders go to save the military's most powerful secret? John Woodirects this "exciting" (Premiere),

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Windtalkers (2002) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Windtalkers is the story of two American soldiers (one played by Christian Slater, the other played by Nic Cage) who are assigned to protect two Navajo soldiers who work as windtalkers, transmitting messages past Japanese codebreakers using their code based on Navajo language.
Yes, there's a lot of violence. Yes, it's grim. The bodyguards, Cage and Slater, are instructed to kill the windtalkers rather than let them fall into enemy hands.
This is a big war movie, not quite on the scale of Saving Private Ryan, but somewhere between something that grand and magnificent and, say, Behind Enemy Lines. Cage and Slater do a good job with their parts, which aren't very fully fleshed out characters.
Woo's direction used to be so over-the-top and artsy... the fight scenes used to be like cartoons, with bad guy and good guy blazing away at each other with two pistols... the most violent scenes were often preceded by or accompanying flocks of birds taking to flight, and bullet-riddled bodies always seem to pirouet in slow motion before they fall down dead. Woo has left a lot of the old personal director's style out of this one, actually. There ARE a lot of bullets, and a lot of the fighting scenes are very unrealistic (true to old Woo there), and there is one scene very reminiscent of old John Woo, where a butterfly floats gracefully above a river then suddenly a bloody body falls into that river, destroying the gorgeous image, juxtaposing a graceful natural image with a gory violent one, etc.
ANYWAY, mostly this is a shoot 'em up war movie, and the old John Woo style is MOSTLY absent.
The story has that one feature going for it, the protection of the Navajo codetalkers, but otherwise it's a very standard war movie, in terms of plot. Still, this movie comes off surprisingly well.
If you're a fan of the American John Woo movies, like Broken Arrow, or Mission Impossible II or Face/Off, or you liked some movies recently like Black Hawk Down or Behind Enemy Lines, you ought to take a look at Windtalkers. It's not the best war movie of the last few years (I'd vote for Saving Private Ryan for that), or the best action movie, but it is entertaining and memorable...

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In the brutal World War II Battle of Saipan, Sergeant Joe Enders (Academy AwardÂ(r) winner*Nicolas Cage) guardsand ultimately befriendsBen Yahzee (Adam Beach), a young Navajo trained in the one wartime code never broken by the enemy, the Navajo Code. But if Yahzee should fall into Japanese hands, how far will Enders go to save the military's most powerful secret? John Woodirects this "exciting" (Premiere),

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The North Star (1947) Review

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(More customer reviews)North Star a fictional Soviet Village on the edge of the Polish/German Border. Life could not be more peaceful or serene for townspeople who are so happy that they often have occasion to break into song. And in this village all the songs are by Aaron Copland and Ira Gershwin. Far from being the "Evil Empire" of the Regan era, the villagers here are boisterous children, loving parents, devoted friends and neighbors. All of them get some opportunity to express how much they love each other and their nation. This bucolic bliss is rudely shattered when the German's begin their blitzkrieg invasion of the region in the Summer of 1941. The village bands together to fight off the tanks and planes of the enemy with horse cavalry and ingenuity. The only hope for the town to repel the invaders is a cache of arms and munitions being delivered by some local teenagers.
For its historical value this really is a must see movie. And if you can find it in the 2.99 bin at the video store, I would urge you to buy it and have a showing with all of the history buffs you know in attendance. Some of my favorite points are :
*The complete glossing over of the Soviet-German Non-Aggression pact or 1939
*The movie mentions that the Germans have occupied Poland but never makes mention of the fact that Russia immediately occupied the other half of Poland thus cutting the German's spoils in half.
* Officially the Soviet Union was a nation of atheists. The movie makers skirt around this potential fault by having some of the characters assume a praying type of posture (head down hands clasped together) as they silently work up the strength to make the needed sacrifices.
Other than as a period piece this movie has nothing to recommend it. The script is so flat that I recall once reading that Lillian Hellman tried unsuccessfully to have her name removed from the credits. The characters are wooden and lifeless manikins who mouth only patriotic platitudes. The songs would also stand a better chance if they too were more than just grist for the propaganda mill.
What is great is to see so many Hollywood stars doing there bit for the war effort. Ann Baxter, Dana Andrews, Walter Huston, Farley Granger, and Jane Winters (later to win fame as Josephine the Plumber) are all featured. They sing and dance and cavort around in regional costumes. In fact every effort is made to ensure that we are left with the opinion that except for the odds names and the quaint outfits, the kids of North Star are just like the kids back in the good old USA. A script like this one makes it very easy for me to believe that Dana Andrews and Farley Granger could be the boy next door !

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Item Name: North Star; Studio:Reel Enterprises

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