Sunday, December 28, 2008

Men in Uniform

Ieemmmmmm back! We took a needed vacation to Washington to visit my favorite lady, so I apologize for being a bit behind. Updates are not very filling as we mostly just laid back and relaxed during our stay, but we did go out and see Valkyrie on Christmas. I will NEVER do that again, ever! We walked in before previews or anything like that, and we were stuck down in the front row pretty much staring at the ceiling to try and watch the movie. My background on the movie was limited as I saw one mini preview commercial, and didn’t have a clue what time during the war it was about, or even the character outline... but I did remember seeing Tom Cruise in uniform, and every Oprah commercial I see he is guest on... so it was obvious what kind of direction the movie would be in, and that it would have absolutely no understanding for the movement so I wasn’t very excited that we would be paying to watch Hollywood pump out another waaa-waaaa story, but I didn’t have a choice.



At opening for the movie I was excited thinking that it would be played out in German as the subtitles were already pressed, but it quickly faded to English so I was disappointed. It opens to Colonel Claus (Tom Cruise) writing in his diary his regrets to partake in the war, and how he is torn between defending his country for his family and following guidance from a man that he viewed as evil, being Adolf Hitler. Moments after closing his journal the area is bombed and under gun fire and he is left crippled on the ground later resulting to an amputated arm, several missing fingers on his working arm, and a missing eye. With pride he attempts to follow his place in the group regardless of his injuries, but he soon is in final decision that Hitler must be brought down from power and the war needs to be pushed to its end.

I have mixed feelings in regards to the war, but to keep from offending the vast majority of people from misunderstanding I will keep most under wrap and not get to blunt. One thing that really gets under my skin about this Hollywood produced piece is that anybody who understood Hitler’s view and defended their land were marked as villains. I will again admit that I do not agree with some aspects of the war, but Hitler was picking up the pieces of his fallen country and trying to group his men to honor the land again. Life isn’t a Disney movie and sometimes you need to pull up your boots.

Ahem, anyways… The gore and battle wounds in this movie amazed me. I was very impressed with the work done, even the CGI touchups and usually I am dead set against any use of ‘Nerd Gore’(You like that B.W?). The costume department also did a nice job and definitely worth noting, it kept me and mah lady Winter squirming in our seats with enjoyment (at least SOMETHING kept us happy). One thing that I got excited about in the movie is when they started talking about Mussolini coming for a visit, but they never even showed an actor portraying him. I was pretty heart broken because I like seeing impersonators, they amuse me. I was also irritated because they went on a Dago trip and started with the ‘Greasy Italian’ shit.

I am sure most of the people will run out and see this because it is imprinted that the war was horrible and Hitler was a bad man. I would not recommend this to most, but in a visual way I think it was beautiful (uniform, backgrounds, gore, etc). So don’t rush out and spend office price, but if you have interest I think this would make an entertaining rental.

10 comments:

Kimberly said...

I agree! The uniforms & sets were just gorgeous. Unfrtunately, the storyline was thin. I really hoped for another Schindler's List, but nothing's ever going to compare. Yes, it is the best he's looked... next to Lestat de Lioncourt! haha

Balberith said...

Yeah it seemed like they filled in the beginning with even distribution, but the end just fell in my lap. Oh god, him and Pitt were to die for in Interview... -=purrrrr=-

Kimberly said...

I forgot to mention I was really disappointed it wasn't subtitled! The first few minutes were awesome with the chant & subtitles. And noone had accents! One of the characters sounded gay as well. Pitt as in Brad Pitt? Did I miss him? I'm not a huge fan, so maybe I mentally blocked him out.

Kimberly said...

Nevermind! I am retard! I forgot I mentioned Interview with the Vampire. Their costumes were amazing in that movie. I still stand my ground that Brad Pitt is unattractive, but the clothes & hair made him look good. One of my theories on gothic men... take away the clothes, hair, and makeup and they look like hell. Just like the rest of us. ;)

Balberith said...

Haha! It sounds like you have the same sickness as Winter.. I think I will have to do a Tom Savini blog just for you two :)

Kimberly said...

Haha! Then you can post the photo of him in his undies... it will drive Winter up the damn wall.

Balberith said...

Its tempting... really tempting...

beedubelhue said...

Everytime I see the trailer for this while around people,I say the same thing..."spoiler alert...the military coup FAILED,Hitler survived,and the conspiritors were all executed.The end!" and people look at me like I RUINED it for them!!!???C'mon,it's well-known history by now,wouldn't you think??

Balberith said...

Hahaha, yeah after a few minutes in the movie it was pretty obvious what the motive was and then I knew the ending would be the 'good guys' going down leaving the audience in tears and again giving supporters a bad name. I mean good god, anybody that knows anything about the war knows how things went down... hopefully by you saying that nobody wasted their money to support the film haha

Anonymous said...

oh yeah, i got so carried away on the long hair on guys topic that i forgot to agree with you that they did a great job on the costumes, gore, scenery, buildings and cars. that mercedes made me cream myself. you can tell the costume designer in particular really did his/her research, and even the buildings were perfect. I drank in every architectural detail haha.

The two parts of the story I DID like were when Hitler says "One cannot understand National Socialism if one does not understand Wagner," and when someone says "Long live Sacred Germany!" I forget whose line it was but I got goosebumps :)