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Saving Private Ryan [1998]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > War and Westerns
starring: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg
directed by: Steven Spielberg

November 06, 2000
Entertaining first 20 minutes, well, on the Big Screen anyway, as on a TV screen sins the surround sound its merely ok!
And viewing it again - YAWN!

Apart from that? your typical American Tosh! Uncle Sam kicks ass, uncle Sam saves the day! - but it's entertaining though - everything from the bible bashing Super Sniper, Vin Diesel, a small group of yanks taking a brigade of crack German Grenadiers and Tiger Tanks on, your Yank superiority - and a dose of Brit dissing.

Is this a classic? NO! Best war film ever? NO! Historically accurate? NO (apart from some good props and use of the Tiger Tank) Are there better war films out there? YES! Many!

If you want some decent action and a couple hours entertainment, ... Read More:

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A Bridge Too Far/The Great Escape/Battle Of Britain

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > War and Westerns
starring: Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Christopher Plummer, Michael Caine, Edward Fox
directed by: Richard Attenborough, Guy Hamilton, John Sturges

October 16, 2006
There is nothing I can add to the reviews for each of the individual films which rate as classics in the war film genre. I'm of that generation that can remember it being a really big event especially at Christmas when the Great Escape was on the telly and like many people can remember it scene by scene but still feel its better than most modern films relying on computer generated effects. Myself an ex RAF man its always thrilling to see the aerial scenes of the Battle of Britain made ironically with the help of the then fascist Spanish air force who where still flying Heinkels, Dorniers and Meschershmits a left over from Franco's friendship with Hitler. A bridge too far made in 1977 came later but is true to Corneleus Ryans book being historically accurate in ... Read More:

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Once Upon a Time in the West -- Special Collector's Edition (2 discs) [1969]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > War and Westerns
starring: Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson, Gabriele Ferzetti
directed by: Sergio Leone

October 06, 2003
Once Upon A Time in the West is Sergio Leone's masterpiece. Not only does it feature classic Leone figures, the silent gunman (Charles Bronson), the cruel hitman (A suprising turn from Henry Fonda) and the charasmatic rouge (Jason Robard), it is the only Leone film and one of the few westerns to have its central figure be a woman. It also pays homage to many great westerns, in particular High Noon with the films brilliant opening, and is also intellegent, many critics interpreting it as a parable on capitalism. As well as brains, it has muscles though, with terrific set pieces and landscapes, exciting action and, as ever with Leone's films, enough suspense to make you heart skip a beat. The music is also great, and it, like Leone's previous films, makes the audience ... Read More:

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Das Boot - The Mini Series (2 Disc Uncut Version) [1985]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > War and Westerns
starring: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch, Martin Semmelrogge
directed by: Wolfgang Petersen

May 17, 2004
Sorry if this is an 'anorak' review. If you never seen it before then read the rest of the reviews and go and buy it.

I bought this because I had the original BBC broadcast on VHS,but with half of one episode missing! I also have the Director's cut on DVD and whilst this is still good, it doesn't create the tension as well as the full series (as several others have said). I really hoped it was going to be exactly the same as the BBC broadcast but I don't think it is. I think a few scenes have been shifted around (the party after escaping from the destroyer) and I'm sure some of the scenes of the aftermath of the attemped Gibralter breakthrough have been shuffled and some cut. I think this spoils some of the relief you feel as they start to control the leaks. ... Read More:

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The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - 2 Disc Special Edition [1966]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > War and Westerns
starring: Eli Wallach, Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè, Luigi Pistilli
directed by: Sergio Leone

April 26, 2004
This is by far the best western i have ever watched and will ever watch running for nearly three hours The Good The Bad And The Ugly is a must have for any collector of fine movies.

Ennio Morricone's unforgettable soundtrack provides the pacing for the film and Clint Eastwood's acting provides and supports Eli Wallach's comments and cristicisms throughout the film.

Need I say more

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Jarhead [2005]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > War and Westerns
starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Wade Williams, Matthew Atherton, Jamie Foxx, Peter Sarsgaard
directed by: Sam Mendes

May 15, 2006
"Gripping, intelligent and amazing" is the pull quote on the back of the DVD sleeve and it's the closest opinion to my own.
If you want an all action war film, this won't be at the top of your lift. Jarhead is one of the only (in my brief viewing of the many war films out there) 'intelligent' war films out there thanks to it being based on the main character's personal experience in the Gulf.

The casting is spot on with Jake Gyllenhaal in the role of Swoff, whose face looks every part a seasoned Marine the moment it appears. Jamie Foxx plays Staff Sgt. Sykes, who I can't help but feel rings of Samuel L Jackson at points...

The film, though, feels disjointed. The intro of the film begins with a salute (no pun!) to Full Metal Jacket's intro. Swoff's narration ... Read More:

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The Dam Busters [1954]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > War and Westerns
starring: Richard Todd, Michael Redgrave, Ursula Jeans, Basil Sydney, Patrick Barr
directed by: Michael Anderson

January 08, 2007
This film was exciting when I saw it in 1956 in Holland, and it is just as exciting now. How can one miss with the superb talent of Michael Redgrave, the stirring music of Eric Coates, and a gripping yarn that happens to be true? Much of the fascination of this film stems from its depiction of Barnes Wallis's process of planning and perfecting the bouncing bomb, and persuading Whitehall to go along with his eccentric idea. Equally interesting are the various makeshift devices, such as the range-finding lights and the home-made bombsight.

"The Dam Busters" tells the story of ingenuity and courage during wartime. In the wrong hands, such a topic might be heavy handed, but one of the things that British filmmakers of the 1950s did so well was to deliver their patriotic messages with ... Read More:

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The Magnificent Seven (Special Edition) [1960]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > War and Westerns
starring: Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn
directed by: John Sturges

June 25, 2001
A regular hotpot of western entertainment. Throw in a handfull of stars -established and up and coming from the stage and screen of their day. A heap of on screen chemistry, and a rousing score that stirs the soul then bring it to the boil over 125 mins. This format has been imitated over the years through many a genre but rarely bested. If you love westerns -then you've seen it (what the heck are you readin' this for?), if you're dipping your toe into the genre -get it'n'watch it, if you're wondering what all the fuss is about -get it'n'watch it. Get it? Adios.

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Where Eagles Dare [1968]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > War and Westerns
starring: Clint Eastwood, Richard Burton, Mary Ure, Patrick Wymark, Michael Hordern
directed by: Richard G. Hutton

June 01, 2006
This badly contrived 1968 romp of a war movie brilliantly casts two acting giants from different sides of the Atlantic. Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton were at the top of their game at this stage of their careers, and they helped make Where Eagles Dare a hilarious, thoroughly enjoyable boys own adventure.


"Broadsword calling Danny Boy, come in...."

I will never forget that voice and those words. It reminds me of Christmas day TV. Anyhoo, the plot to Where Eagles Dare is incredibly contrived and implausible, the coincidences are staggering (as much that we're expected to believe them all as anything) and the reality deeply flawed. But who cares?? I love this movie, and 'Where Eagles Dare' school of WWII action sequences: submachine guns blazing away in corridors and ... Read More:

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Battle of Britain - Definitive Edition [1969]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > War and Westerns
starring: Laurence Olivier, Trevor Howard, Michael Caine, Edward Fox, Ralph Richardson
directed by: Guy Hamilton

April 23, 2007
This film is a winner on three counts. It brings together most of the best actors of a generation, it uses the real aircraft which took part and it was overseen from a historical perspective by pilots who flew in the battle, (Stanford Tuck, Douglas Bader and Adolph Galland amongst them).
It tells the story of the summer of 1940 with peerless aerial photography (no naff pearl habor CGI) and superbly well staged ground action such as the London Blitz and the airfield attack. I found all of the central characters thoroughly believable with the performances of Sir Larry as 'Stuffy' Dowding and Robert Shaw's Squadron leader being outstanding. This is a film I can drag out and watch every 18 months or so and it never fails to enthrall and move me. There should have been more Hurricanes than Spits and the ... Read More: