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kbridgman
Reviews
Believe in Me (2006)
Wonderful Hometown Story
When I first heard about this movie what intrigued me most was that it was about a legendary basketball coach from Oklahoma...my home state. At first I thought it might be a Hoosier's formula movie, but after watching it for the first time, I realized that it stood on its own merits as a great story about dedication, trust, and how believing in yourself and having someone else believe in you can transform lives to inspirational levels. It is a moving story where a rag-tag group of small-town girls basketball players begin to believe in themselves because their coach believed in them. It is one of those "stand up and cheer" movies that will leave you feeling inspired...you will find yourself cheering for those girls.
Red Tails (2012)
Action packed adventure
It appears that Red Tails was not intended to be a boring historical documentary of WWII events surrounding this group of men. If that is what you expected, then you may be disappointed. But, if you are looking for a reasonably accurate portrayal of the fighting exploits of the Red Tails, then this movie is exactly what you are looking for. The CGI effects are amazing and emerges the audience into the cockpits of one of the hottest fighter aircraft, the P51 Mustang, to come out of WWII. Certainly, some of the action was embellished...primarily for entertainment value, but also to show at least a measure of the intensity of air combat over Europe. In that regard, it does an excellent job. This is the kind of war movie I've been wanting to see for a long time...one that explores and touches on, but does not dwell upon the racial politics of the day, but emphasizes the bravery, friendship, and integrity of the fighting men known as The Red Tails. It's the kind of movie that makes me want to revisit my youth and say once again..."When I grow up, I want to be a fighter pilot!"
Forever Young (1992)
The kind of Movie you can watch over and over...
The first time I watched this movie was because I enjoy aviation related movies and most things with a 1940's atmosphere. By the time it was over it became my favorite Mel Gibson movie of all time. He is totally believable in an unbelievable situation...and a wonderful story about courage, morals, values, coming to the rescue, commitment, and yes...love. Great action scenes converge with a truly touching story. One of the more subtly sad and warming, often lost sub-stories, is when it is revealed that Daniel's best friend Harry died trying to save him during a fire which ultimately lead to the 'Experiment' being lost in time. Everything about this story moves along at a wonderful pace...all the pieces believably fall into their alloted time line, yet there is enough mystery and surprise to keep it interesting and riveting. Often overlooked is how much the marvelous soundtrack adds to the effect of the movie...absolutely wonderful movie...and this comes from a guy who normally doesn't care much for the warm fuzzy mushy kind of picture shows.
Lonesome Dove (1989)
You must watch it all, before the full impact can be experienced
I kept hearing about Lonesome Dove and how great it was but never took the plunge to watch it until a few years ago. What peaked my interest was one day while visiting the Cowboy and Western Heritage museum in Oklahoma City, I watched a documentary about the history of American Western movies narrated by Tom Seleck, one of the great all time cowboy actors. Near the end of the documentary the final scene from Lonesome Dove was shown where Woodrow walks off into the sunset as the pesky reporter fills him with questions. I was hooked at that moment and within a few days had watched the entire mini series. The one thing that impressed me the most as the series started to wind down to that final scene was how as a viewer, I realized that I didn't experience the full impact of the show, until I watched that final scene within the context of the whole story. It was at that moment the wonderful sense of just how good this story was came to me. The realism of the costumes, the scenarios, the cattle drive, the tough nature of the characters, the courage it took for the real life cowboys to partake of such things suddenly became real. There were Cliché's, but they were done so well I didn't notice or didn't care. That final scene where Woodrow walks into the sunset...it just doesn't get any better than that...a cliché...yes...but a wonderful ending to a great movie.