GreyinBeard Reviews

Fate Is the Hunter (1964)

Good movie, but not "Fate is the Hunter"

[5/10 · 26 June 2005]

This movie's fairly good in it's own right, especially the last 15 minutes or so, but to me the only thing it has in common with the Mr. Gann's book is the title.

The story line appears to be based more on his story "Band of Brothers" (same title, but nothing to do with the WW-II mini-series), where a group of friends don't believe a crash was due to pilot-error and launch an investigation into the true cause, than to "Fate is the Hunter".

Actually, considering the time span the book covers, an HDTV mini-series would probably be the best way to do "Fate is the Hunter" and get it right. And, if 'The History Channel' and the response to 'The Aviator' are any indications, I'll bet people would actually watch a well done story covering the early days of aviation.

GreyinBeard

Voices of a Distant Star (2002)

A visual 'haiku' on love, separation, and war.

[8/10 · 5 November 2003]

Not the typical 'smash and blast' mech-warrior tale. And those looking for one will probably be disappointed, even though there are a few battle scenes.

A written haiku can give the fullness of something in a few words. The evocative images, minimalist dialogue, and soundtrack of this short file capture the full essence of two people in love, separated by war, in the same way. I don't believe a longer film could have done this.

Black Hawk Down (2001)

Only the smells are missing...

[26 August 2003]

Having "Been there, done that, got the T-shirt" during Tet 68, my feeling is that, like 'We Were Soldiers Once...' and 'Saving Private Ryan', the combat scenes are are about as close as you can get on film outside of a documentary.

The only thing missing from all of three are the smells. But then again, the smell of blood, guts, and cordite mixed together wouldn't help sell much popcorn at the theater.

My only real complaint is they didn't get into President Clinton refusing to let the on scene commander use any armor, or AC-130 gunship, support enough. Making tactical level decisions from Washington was a critical mistake then, as it was in previous conflicts.