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Station 19 (2018)
If they were real firefighters, they would be fired.
It's a pain watching some of these episodes because these characters are utterly incompetent.
Multiple times they don't use their water hoses to put out fires. I don't know if production is going cheap on their budget, or just using a single hose would solve their problem too quickly, and they need to pad out the pointless tension and drama. Instead they try tackling blazes, including huge structural fires, with just fire-extinguishers.
Many cases the characters stand in front of the fire and bicker for a couple minutes, or they stare at the fire not knowing what to do.
In one episode, the fire-fighters ask an employee of an ice rink if they have a ladder they could use. Forgetting the fact that they're firefighters, and they have several of their own ladders back on the truck they just arrived on.
Now the actors themselves are decent. It's not their fault. They are using what they are given by the writers, directors and producers.
It's still hard to take these characters seriously when they're constantly being stupid, forgetting things like protocol and their own equipment, ignoring orders, and being a bigger danger to the public than the fire they have been sent to put out.
Midway (2019)
Shaking my head a lot
This film had a chance to do what the previous version of 'Midway' could not. It had a bigger budget, better technology, and more research. Instead they decided to butcher by cramming as much action in the screen as possible. Add that with a confusing story following too many characters. Then there were so many filler scenes that could have been removed entirely and not alter the story at all.
There were many historical inaccuracies that also stood out for me. The 20mm AA guns that were never installed on the Arizona that were bad prop guns. That the Marshall Islands are portrayed as mountainous as Oah'u when they are heavily wooded and nearly flat. Japanese Zeroes all having the same tail numbers, AII-105. Production had a budget of $100 million. They had the ability to digitally recreate the Japanese fleet, but they couldn't bother to just change some tail numbers?
My biggest grief with the film is how they portrayed the characters, namely Richard 'Dick' Best. In the film he's insubordinate and callous. This is shown in the beginning when he does an unsanctioned dead stick landing on his carrier just to show off. What's worse, this version of Best allows him to get away with these reckless actions because 'he's the best'.
This wasn't how the real Commander Dick Best was. He was a professional officer. In fact, Best had a superior during this time named named, Captain Miles Browning who was much like the film's portrayal of Best. The real Dick Best despised Browning because of that. So, to make Best more like Maverick from Top Gun takes away from the man's historical achievements and character.
Greyhound Attack (2019)
This is plain garbage.
I tried to watch this movie and I just couldn't after less than 5 minutes. That's not an exaggeration. Everything in this film is just cheap, and I mean that there's little effort. The script and line deliveries are silted. Backgrounds are CGI. The set designs and costumes, absolute garbage. The 'cockpit' of an aircraft is just a wall cutout. You don't even see the instruments or stick! In one scene, a fighter pilot's seat is just a piece of flat wood cut and painted. You can still see the nicks caused by the circular saw. They couldn't be bothered to sand it.
This is just a series of poorly made movies by Christopher Forbes. I feel like each one gets progressively gets worse. If he wants to get better he needs to overhaul his game; get a bigger budget, hire real actors, get some better sets, sound design, editors, script rights, and most importantly, PUT SOME EFFORT INTO THE WORK!
Wunderland (2018)
Inconsistent and poorly made.
Saw this was available on Amazon Prime and wanted to give it a shot, despite others telling me not to. Should've listened to them.
This film is inconsistent and copies many points from other movies. First, the film is set within the Ardennes Offensive, during the worst winter in decades, yet there are several scenes where there's absolutely no snow on the ground. It flip-flops from snow to no snow and back again so many times it feels like a time jump from Fall to Winter.
It also copies from Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan, to name few. In the opening scene, the Americans come upon a German position. The Lieutenant sets up a firing line and proceeds to go down the line of men instructing them which German to shoot. "First on the right" "Second on the right" and so forth. This is copied from Band of Brother's 5th episode, Crossroads where Easy Company helps destroy two SS companies. To further copy them, the Germans are Waffen SS and are firing an MG-42 away from the Americans, just like in Band of Brothers.
For the final battle, the Americans know the Germans are coming and pool all of their weapon they remark "Bazooka but we only got three rounds" which is similar to Saving Private Ryan in a similar scene before their final battle, pooling all of their weapons, "Two bazooka but we only got eight rounds left" one paratrooper said.
Another scene taken from Saving Private Ryan, the Americans capture an SS grenadier. Rather than taking a vital prisoner with them that could get information from, the Lieutenant decides to just turn him loose. Why?!
It also shows a strong amount of protagonist armor, meaning the main characters, the lieutenant and his sergeant, are seemingly immune to all the fighting going on around them. In one scene, the lieutenant and sergeant are taking a breather when they're jumped by six Germans. Instead of shooting the Americans, the Germans decide to just bum-rush them and go hand-to-hand, which the Americans defeat them with ease. In another scene, the lieutenant, on his own, comes upon a German group and cuts down all but one SS then decides to have a knife fight. The lieutenant is clearly winning but is then jumped and knocked unconscious by another SS grenadier. Instead of killing the American, in another cliché, the hero is only knocked out.
What's worse is possibly the ending because it's jarring. The Americans are told to hold their position. So they pool their resources and set up their plan. Taking another page from Saving Private Ryan, they use a vehicle, in this case a Jeep, to lure the Germans into their trap. They have their initial clash where a halftrack is set on fire (CGI flames). The SS, rather idiotically, stand in the open and fire at the Americans in their dug in positions. When the Americans suffer casualties, the lieutenant and sergeant take a panzerfaust and sneak around and disable a Mark IV panzer. Things look good and it cuts back to Berenger at his headquarters. He realizes the situation at the front and mobilizes everyone. It's a brief scene. Then it cuts back to the lieutenant and sergeant, and they're suddenly prisoners. What happened between them taking out the halftrack and this point? No really explained except for a throwaway line, "You think the others made it back?" It's never explained how they got captured or how the battle ended.
The film ends with an allusion to the Malmedy Massacre. The American prisoners are lined up and an SS officer shouts something to them then whips around a 20mm cannon on top of a 222 armored car while the grenadiers aim their weapons at the prisoners. Its here that the lieutenant sees the SS prisoner he let go among them. Then it cuts to black. You don't see or hear any shooting, so it's implied the prisoners were killed.
There's a 14 or so minute end credits where they also add the Medal of Honor citations that were earned during the campaign by American personnel. At the very end of the credits, there's a brief scene of the lieutenant rising up from behind a snow mound and making a run. It's not explained but apparently he, somehow, survived the massacre.
The film also has problems with history and what they're dealing with. The Americans use the SCR-536 handie-talkie radio and are clearly communicating with each other. There's a scene where a captain is using it to broadcast to anyone listening that the Germans are launching a counter-offensive. However, no one could hear him because he did not deploy the antenna on the radio which also acts as the 'on-off' button for the 536.
Another aggravating factor, the SS show little to no tactics except standing in the open or rushing. No flanking, smoke, or support.
As for the characters, they're more or less clichés themselves, two men that would do anything for one another, have been together for years. The sergeant just wants to go home, is grizzled and angry. The lieutenant who seems more level-headed and religious, feeling it gives him some protection.
Tom Berenger is shown on the cover but he has no real contribution to the movie. He has one scene at the beginning where he talks to the lieutenant. There one brief scene where he's out rolling around in his Jeep and meets with some retreating Americans before an SS patrol starts shooting and chases him off. And there two scenes of him back at his headquarters. I think he's only in the movie for less than ten minutes and doesn't contribute to the plot. You could cut him out entirely and no miss anything.
I'm giving a three because there was at least some attempt at making this. The reenactors who brought in their own vehicles, weapons, and gear is a real show of commitment. However, it's squandered by this copy and paste movie.
Top Gunner (2020)
The level of stupidity involved hurts.
Another title for this is 'Wingmen Under Siege.' That doesn't change the fact that this is garbage.
Picked this one up at Wal-Mart and I feel ripped off. The cover shows F/A-18 Hornets with an American aircraft carrier under attack with cheap Photo Shop. I was led to believe that it would involve US Navy pilots defending their carrier against a threat. Nope. Instead these are US Air Force pilots, not even pilots-they are training cadets to become pilots.
Review: So, an American 'Special Forces team' of some sorts, are conducting a black operations in Baja California, Mexico. They take down criminals conducting a handoff for a device that I call 'The McGuffin' because that's all it is, it just furthers the plot but has no stakes. It's a biological agent that attacks a person's DNA, but it's never shown doing so. Anyway, the Special Forces seize the McGuffin and evacuate via a CGI stealth plane.
At the same time, a four US Air Force lieutenants are undergoing pilot training at a top secret base that also happens to be in Baja California, Mexico. To train these Air Force pilots, they're using Navy and Marine F/A-18 Hornets? These are cadets and yet they're already flying $30 million aircraft? If they were actual Air Force pilots-in-training they would be flying T-6 Texan II, T-37, T-38 trainers. In addition, why would they be at secret base in Mexico for pilot training? The logic doesn't make sense.
To add to the funny, I figured before the movie even started that this whole production was done on the cheap, that they would not show the 'pilots' getting into, or out of, or show any other exterior portion of their aircraft and I was correct. In some scenes you can see the engine cowlings behind the cockpit and a single, vertical, tail. The Hornet has two angled tails. At first I thought it was an A-4 Skyhawk, but the position of the engine cowlings is higher and just behind the cockpit. I think it's a Aero L-39 Albatros, a two-seat trainer. This was filmed in New Mexico and Jet Warbird Training Center is in Santa Fe. You can rent aircraft there by the hour to train with, and you can even fly a MiG-15!
To pick on the set design further, all the firearms used are airsoft. The muzzle flashes, discarding shell casings, all of it is cheap CGI. In one scene, the cadets are conducting weapons qualifications with M-16s and CAR-15s. One pilot is standing shoulder to shoulder with a buddy and firing at full auto with the 'casings' spitting out. If it were real, those hot casings would be hitting his buddy in the face or go down his collar and into his uniform. Other aspects, like their uniforms, is not worn properly or not accurate for their rank and branch. I'm guessing the production rented the facilities at the airport, got some friends who are in airsoft-judging by their attire, and raided a local military surplus store to get what else they needed.
Back to the story;
The 'commandos' aircraft's fuel pump is damaged during the escape, and they have two wounded. So they set down at a top secret base called Asan. The cockpit interior for this stealth aircraft is a flight simulator. The exterior of the cockpit is black even though they're landing in broad daylight. The hard landing damages their aircraft, and the commando's commanding officer dies of his wounds from a shot that somehow pierced the aircraft without anyone noticing his wound or a hole in the airframe. The new commando team leader implores the Colonel that they must get the McGuffin to the US within 18 hours. Also, apparently ALL Asan base personnel are away for holiday leave except the Colonel, Master Sergeant, and the four cadets. I mean ALL base personnel, including the Security Police. One of the cadets blows the secrecy of the mission when his cellphone call to the States is intercepted by the Russians.
The Russians mount an attack on Asan with poorly designed CGI aircraft. Their first wave of attackers was, as the Colonel said, four Mi-20 helicopters. Those are transports. However, when the cadets take off in their Hornets to intercept-they are now Mi-26 attack helicopters. In this dogfight, all four helicopters are shot down and one Hornet is damaged.
In the next attack, the Russians use a single Su-57 'Felon', Russia's first stealth aircraft that is somewhat similar in appearance to our F-22 and YF-23. The three remaining Hornets rise to intercept and one is quickly shot down by the Felon. The two remaining Hornets conduct a Thach Weave, crossing paths to lure the Felon to jump on one and enable the other Hornet to get behind and engage. This is the dumbest part of the whole movie, and that's saying something. The Felon takes the bait and jumps onto one Hornet that rapidly climbs. The Felon also climbs. The second Hornet is directly behind the Felon, at point blank range for fighters. This idiotic cadet, his aircraft intact and fully armed, ejects and rams his multi-million aircraft into the Su-57. WHY?! He didn't even try to use his M61 Vulcan cannon, the Felon's stealth abilities are lost in visual range. So we just lost an aircraft worth over $30 million dollars because a cadet doesn't understand how a cannon works. To add to the taxpayer's woes, the baiting Hornet's pilot is equally as stupid. Her aircraft is intact and no longer in danger, so she just bails outs. Yep. Two Hornets, worth over $60 million are lost because two fools at the stick do not know how to fly and fight.
So now there's only one Hornet left, and it's not airworthy. The only 'mechanic' they have, which is one of the cadets, is working on it. The 'Hornet' is inside one of the hangers and they try to crop the shots but you can still see civilian single-engine aircraft in frame.
So the Russians come again, this time they bring in Mi-24 'Hind' helicopters that drop 'Spetsnaz' onto the base. The pilots and remaining commandos take off into the woods to get an extraction. Typical for the military in Hollywood-their extraction is delayed and they 'just hold on a little longer'. Well, the Spetsnaz catch up. So the Americans ambush the Spetnaz by having enough time to set up a Punji trap and is shot. Another gets jumped by the Air Force Master Sergeant and stabbed in the back. The others are shot. One of the commandos is a female sniper, and she's killed in the firefight. They have to leave her body behind to keep going, and they also decide to just leave her with the Barrett .50 caliber anti-materiel rifle that still has ammunition.
There's some convoluted reason why, the Americans go back to base that's been overrun, and are quickly captured by the Russians. The McGuffin is taken by them and the Russians leave in their helicopters. Instead of just executing their prisoners and leaving, the remaining Russian guards are jumped and overwhelmed by said prisoners whom then take the supposedly disabled Stealth aircraft from the beginning and give chase. They catch up to and shoot down the Russian 'Boss'. Once more, typical of Hollywood, the plummeting of several thousand feet in a burning helicopter doesn't kill the Boss on impact. He staggers out of the wreckage and is chased by one of the cadets. The pair have their mano a mano fight, and, of course, the cadet wins.
The McGuffin is secured and handed over to the Spooks, who wear Russian gas-masks even though they're suppose to be Americans. Blah blah, patriotic narration and flying jets in formation with cheesy uplifting music. The end.
This film's logic was so painful that I had to stop and come back to it several times to ensure that I wasn't making all of this up. Nothing in this film makes sense, the plot, the characters, the set, nothing adds up. I was so fed up that I mailed my copy back to the distributors because Wal-Mart doesn't accept DVD returns.
Search and Destroy (2020)
It was terrible that I could only watch five minutes.
This film is terrible, and not a 'so bad that it's good' kind of way. I'm thinking the production was trying to make a throwback to the 80s action movies, complete with the upbeat techno-like music.
A synopsis; a US Ranger team was sent to the coast of Africa to rescue a VIP and his family, only to be surrounded by a terrorist leader and his heavily armed militia.
The Lieutenant calls for air-support to cover their escape. Two American pilots respond to his call, except, they're taking off in Russian MiG-35 Fulcrum F fighters. American pilots, flying Russian aircraft, in Africa. To add to the woes, the Fulcrums have no external ordnance. When they conduct their bombing run, the Fulcrums turn into Su-25 Frogfoots, a close-air-support aircraft, and who possess no external ordnance either.
Another thing I noticed during the shootout; most of the explosions used are stock footage or taken from other movies. As proof of this, there's a 1-2 second clip that I recognized as from the final battle in Rambo (2008), you can clearly see the Burmese soldiers, not even their uniforms were altered.
Three years later, now retired and living off the grid in Pennsylvania, the lieutenant is approached by his former commander to do one last mission.
That's where I stopped it because everything up to that point was bad, the final nail was the General's uniform-it's not even American at all! It has Russian pins and medals. They're so cheap they cheap they couldn't buy some proper ribbons and medals. More evidence that they're cheap, I went back to see the film's trailer, someone throws an M67 grenade and it goes off despite the spool still being attached to it.
This film is just terrible. The casting is terrible, production, set design, they take footage from other movies and they're so cheap they don't even bother getting proper uniforms or weapons.
It's so bad that I sent my DVD copy back to the production company because Wal Mart wouldn't accept returns.
The Alamo (2004)
A flawed but still great film
Growing up in Texas, I was always fascinated by the Texas Revolution, the Alamo in particular. When the film was released in 2004, I watched it in theater and was eager.
The film got many things wrong but many things right. In comparing this to John Wayne's Alamo (1960) there is a lot of humanizing of characters. General Anna is shown as a brutal man by executing prisoners but also as a charismatic and intelligent officer.
Crockett, Bowie and Travis are also developed as flawed men who came to Texas to start new lives because their old ones failed, Travis ran out on his pregnant wife, Bowie was a land swindler, and Crockett because his political career ended.
General Houston is also more developed than John Wayne's version as a man fighting other officers and politicians as well as General Santa Anna. There was so much infighting with the Texian government and military that it nearly destroyed it and that is shown here.
The film gets many things right, the final assault being a night battle, the layout of San Antonio and the Alamo as it was in 1836. The only real gripe I have is having the Alamo chapel abreast of the convention "Long Barracks" when it was 50 or so feet behind it to make a small courtyard with the palisade manned by Crockett and his Tennesseans. The uniforms, weapons, mannerisms and characters are also more accurate than Wayne's version, though smaller in scale. Wayne used thousands of extras to form the Mexican army. Here they had a only a few hundred. Here though, the 2004 version went the extra mile getting uniforms, weapons, and even drill right. In the Behind the Scenes feature it's shown the production crew found a period manual for the Mexican army and used it to drill their troops. Quality over quantity.
Billy Bob Thorton bears an uncanny resemblance to the actual Crockett. He was made for this role. He steals each scene he's in.
Where are the flaws? It's not what's in the film. It's what was left out of it.
For a story this complex with so many events and characters, it's obvious that many things be either condensed or removed for the sake of moving the plot. I possess the film's official companion book. In it is a that includes a copy of the screenplay. It shows that so many characters and development was left out of the finished film.
Many characters and key moments were whittled down or removed from the final film. Alamo survivor Susannah Dickinson is left with just one line of dialog. James Butler Bonham, who left and returned to the Alamo with messages, had all his lines removed and is in only two scenes, one is his death, and sense he has no name and no development, his death is overlooked by the audience. General Cos was Santa Anna's brother-in-law, the officer that surrendered San Antonio and the Alamo in 1835, retook it in the final assault, and was later captured after he fled the San Jacinto battlefield. In the finished film, I think, he appears in two scenes and has no dialog.
The young Mexican soldier that is shown shooting and killing Travis is fictional though in think he embodies much of Santa Anna's army. His name is Jesus and the screenplay has him being forcibly conscripted before the siege. In the scene leading up to Crockett shooting off General Santa Anna's empulette, the General speaks with the reluctant soldier who bravely accused the General of hanging his father when he was fighting the Spanish.
Another fictional character was virtually eliminated from the final film was another boy named Matthew. He's briefly scene when Houston is drinking in the store at Gonzales pushing a broom. The screenplay has Matthew joining Houston's army after the Alamo and fighting at San Jacinto. As the Mexican camp is overrun, he and Jesus run into, shoot, and mortally wound each other.
Some scenes are available on the DVD version, Santa Anna marrying a young woman in San Antonio, complete with his aide Batres posing as a priest for the wedding. General Cos and his army leaving San Antonio after their surrender in 1835. But these are just a fraction of what is missing. If you want to see it for yourself, go get the companion book it's well worth it.
I pray that a director's cut is released of this film, restoring the lost footage and giving us a larger story. If that ever happens, I'll charge into the store to get it.
Company of Heroes (2013)
A cliched and dull film.
First, the cover, it's misleading for two reasons; No Tiger tank ever appears in the movie. Second, Neal McDonough (whom played Lt. 'Buck' Compton in Band of Brothers) is listed and his face shown-he only appears in the movie for about five minutes, at the beginning and very end. Yet he takes up more space on the cover than the main character, Burrows, on the far left.
Plot: Ardennes of 1944. A group of American soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division (Indianhead) are sent to supply their unit's forward observation posts with K-rations when they're ambushed by the Germans.
Losing their vehicles and many men, the Americans make a stand but are forced to flee on foot into the woods. As they plot a course to return to their battalion, they hear a strange howl noise in the forest. The source of that noise is from the Germans experimenting on their version of an atomic bomb that failed to detonate fully. The Americans follows the noise, reasoning that it could be their front lines.
The problem is, the test-site is labeled as 'Leidenfeld, Germany'. The movie doesn't state where the Americans start, but if they're trying to follow their historical positions, the 2nd Infantry was in and around St. Vith, Belgium during this time. However, in a short time from their ambush to following the sound, they suddenly appear in Leidenfeld, Germany *perhaps 200 miles away from St. Vith and deep in Germany!*
In another skirmish with the Germans, the Americans encounter a Russian named Ivan who escaped from the camp earlier. They join forces and find this camp as the enemy is leaving. They wait till after dark to venture in. There they find a dying member of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) whom was sent on a covert mission to find and sabotage this weapon. As he dies from 'burns', the agent hands over his satchel of information for his mission, including where to meet his contact in Stuttgart via train. He also warns the Americans they must disable the bomb otherwise the Germans will finish it and unleash it on the West Coast.
The Americans go on this mission, infiltrate a train depot, only to unwillingly expose the OSS contact in the car next to theirs. Ivan directs them to a train heading to Stuttgart. As the train leaves the Germans open fire and the American lieutenant decides to, for some reason, sacrifice his life so they can escape, leaving a guy named Burrows in command.
The train they board turns out to be full of prisoners-of-war. At first the POWs think they're being rescued, only for the 2nd Division guys to say that they're not here for them. One of the prisoners, an Royal Air Force airman, elects to join them either way.
When the train arrives in Stuttgart, the Germans are waiting. Opening their boxcar, the Americans open fire and make a break for it, that also allows some of the prisoners to run away.
Getting away themselves, the group's next move is to meet their next contact at the city's opera house. Ivan procures German uniforms by overwhelming the gunners of a flak gun. The group then interrupts a group of Waffen SS men as they're dining and wipe them out, but spare their cook.
Two of the Americans, Sizemore and Burrows, venture into the city in enemy uniform to meet the Contact at the opera house. The contact is the daughter of one the leading scientist of the atomic program.
Hunkering down in a house, Ivan shows his true colors by abandoning the group with papers of the program. His plan is to infiltrate the base, capture the doctor, and turn him and the papers over to his country so they will have a crucial advance in the atomic bomb program.
Going through with their own plan, the remaining group and the daughter infiltrate the base the next day, liberating the doctor and free several prisoners held inside the base.
When they're exposed, they have a run and gun battle with the Germans until they're cornered and captured. Put in front of a firing squad, the German officer taunts them then brings up his pistol to shoot the daughter before Burrows takes the bullet meant for her. Before they could continue, the air-raid sirens wail. This distraction allows Ivan to return and kill the officer and the Germans around them. Now free, Ivan makes an offer-the Americans keep the scientist, he keeps the paperwork, and go their separate ways. They agree.
As the group flees to avoid the bombing, they board a truck and have high-speed chase with the Germans. They are saved by a P-51D doing a strafing run on a German car. Sizemore's character is killed in the exchange.
At the end, the survivors wake up in a hospital back in friendly lines. They are told that, while grateful for their contributions-not only for the scientist but also bringing with them the trigger-mechanism for the bomb, the mission is top secret. They cannot speak of it nor gain any awards despite everything they've done.
And that's it.
Good: The Germans were indeed working on an atomic bomb during the war, but they were being constantly thwarted by Allied bombing and by commandos whom destroyed their supplies of heavy-water needed. That's pretty much the only good thing I can say of it. But at this point, it's become a rather overused plot point of Germany trying to develop some sort of 'wonder weapon' even in the final months and a small group must stop them.
Bad: Most of the movie is laughably bad. The 'German' tanks are Soviet-made T-34/85s and a SU-85 self-propelled gun. This movie was filmed in Bulgaria, so it's Soviet surplus.
Most of the effects in this movie are cheap CGI, from muzzle blasts to rounds striking metal that spark but don't leave holes. I saw in one battle a German soldier's K98 bolt-action turn into a semi-automatic! Most explosions and all the aircraft are CGI as well.
The characters don't have much development so they're forgettable. I only remembered Ivan's character because they used an easy name and Burrows because they mention it at the end as I was writing this.
Sizemore's character, I can't remember his character name, once was an officer. He landed on Omaha Beach and succeeded in a objective without losing many men. So he was given another mission except it was botched when artillery landed short on a platoon of Rangers, wiping them out. As punishment, he was busted to cook. Sizemore has a moment talking to Burrows where Sizemore asks 'Who know how many men I've lost under my command?". This is similar to a scene in 'Saving Private Ryan' Sizemore played Sgt. Horvath and Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) asks him the same question.
Weapons are also terrible. Most of the Germans appear to be using Mp-40s. Not only that, I don't recall a single time that that weapon's stock is extended-they're always locked forward. One German fires his Mp-40 that's drawn up to his face with the stock not deployed.
In the first battle, the Americans flank and cut down down a German mortar team. The battle is over and they just walk away from the mortar and its ammunition-so the Germans can just go back and use it again. The Americans also have a Bazooka at the beginning they used to knock out a 'German' tank. When more tanks appear, they just drop it and run. Smart.
Most of the battles are run-and-gun style, Americans firing from the hip and still hitting their targets while the Germans only hit those that don't have plot armor. Also, the Germans stand in the open, in clusters to increase the body count. I don't recall ever seeing the Americans reload their weapons. That's because most of their fire is CGI.
This cast had many big-league members, Tom Sizemore, Neal McDonough, Vinnie Jones, and even Jurgen Prochnow! And they're wasted in this empty, cliched, CGI-fest. You're better off playing the game 'Company of Heroes'. At least they actually have a Tiger tank in it.
Doom: Annihilation (2019)
Not much related to the game it's based on.
Golly this movie was infuriating to watch as it doesn't respect the source material. It's essentially a rehash of The Rock's 'Doom', except there's a visit to Hell in this one-whew!
Summary;
A company called UAC finds a portal linking Mars' moon-Phobos-to Earth that is several thousand years old. The portals are made of an unknown material. Also found is text similar to Sumerian that dates to around 2,000BC, meaning that life on Earth started elsewhere in the universe.
The portals are activated and a person is sent through. The person arrives morphed into a zombie. Thinking it was only a setback, the lead doctor of the experiment goes through. (Why did they send a human in first and not an inanimate object to test it, or a probe?)
As expected, things go to Hell fast.
As luck would have it, a squad of UAC Marines arrive at the base. The unit is being sent as punishment for a foul up one member, Lt. Joan Dark, did prior by ignoring orders and releasing a terrorist.
When the base goes dark, the team are ordered to secure the base reactor, server room, and any survivors. They encounter zombies that pick off several members.
Finding two survivors, including the lead doctor, the team retreats to the ship, losing their Captain as well. The ship's AI becomes infected and refuses to cooperate.
Then demons arrive in the form of Imps that shoot incredibly weak energy spheres that just knock people around. (I think they are 2016 Doom-universe based Argent energy powered Imps.)
More members die. The six remaining survivors go to the reactor and restore it. Now with power, the lead doctor turns out to be a turncoat for the demons and goes to restart the Gate.
Now down to two, Lt. Dark and her ex-boyfriend, Dr. Bennett, find the BFG 9000, some grenades that harness energy like the BFG, and go hunting. Bennett is killed and Dark confronts the turncoat doctor who knocks her into the Gate, sending her to Hell.
There, she sees the Overlord or what I'm guessing is their leader that I'm just going to call Boss. This form of Hell is not the Fire and Brimstone we're familiar with. It's more of a dark moon with large pillars, pools of water-yes, there's water in Hell. No flames. More Imps emerge as the Boss gives its monologue-humans bad and are a plague that must be destroyed. Now we get to finish what we started so long ago-blah blah blah-rather than just killing Dark laying at their feet and going through the portal. Dark has a flashback and starts shooting the BFG 9000 then runs back through the gate and finds herself on Earth.
The puzzled staff sedate her as the Gate reactivates and the screen cuts to black with a growl, also known as Sequel Bait.
As said before, this is essentially a rehash of the previous movie. What infuriated me, THERE IS NO DOOM GUY! He is never seen or mentioned. I would be fine with, the team finds him in a chamber or sedated deep within the labs as part of a top secret archaeological find. They could free or reactivate him and DOOM GUY rips and tears his way out similar to the 2016 game. Or, we could go retro and have one of the UAV Marines, the quiet guy, find his team dead, the base overrun, and he goes full-mental and tears his way through the base and into Hell to seal the gate. I'm fine with that as well. But, it's not to be.
They never explain just who made the gates. Which is fine for the mystery. They mention fast travel between Phobos and Earth. Did the demons make the Gates? It's implied they did. However, if they did, how did they get stuck between gates?
Also, the BFG 9000 is pathetic here. The original weapon was a room-clearer, able to wipe out squads of enemies in a single blast. In this movie-a single shot knocks down and kills an Imp. It takes three shots to kill three enemies. Again, pathetic. Of course, that changes when confronting the Boss. That's where it's-one shot evaporates the Boss. After that, it goes back to one shot-one knock down. To also anger the audience, when the BFG runs out of plasma, Dark just drops it and runs. PICK IT UP! YOU CAN GET MORE AMMO FOR IT!
The only Hell demons seen are Imps and zombies, other than the Boss. I think the Boss here is movie only. The fights are more Hollywood martial-arts and often in the dark that it's hard to see clearly with a lot of jump cuts and close ups that interrupt the flow.
There's a lot of Hollywood and military cliches; the lead woman is forced to work with an ex-boyfriend.
A member hears a strange noise in the dark and goes to look without telling anyone. Leading to a jump-scare of bumping into a friendly.
The leader is killed forcing a junior member to take control, but there's hostility between them for something happened before the movie.
The military doesn't guard their charges properly, allowing one to either attack or runaway when they're gawking at something.
(My favorite) Protagonist Armor. If a monster attacks someone without this kind of armor, they're killed quickly. But, if they have it-they're just knocked around or knocked out and come back. That happens here at least twice.
Also, main character is thought to be dead, only to be knocked out.
And last, squad of trained personnel all picked off until only one is left to finish the movie.
The costumes are generic and uninspiring, black tactical gear. The Imps are in one-piece rubber suits. The CGI is sometimes cool, but mostly cheap. One Imp energy blast hits a wall and does no damage to it.
What also hurts, the video-game creators had no input or influence with this movie, and it shows.
American Confederate (2019)
An incoherent mess.
Watched 'American Confederate'. Terrible movie. It tries to focus on a rebel captain of Hampton's Legion and a Union officer-Captain Falstaff of the 2nd Indiana Cavalry. The rebel captain is shown to be aggressive yet caring while Falstaff is painted as a butcher by shooting rebel wounded and prisoners. This would make for a simple plot, these two officers finding and clashing with one another on various battlefields that could turn into a vendetta. Except the two characters don't really cross paths in the movie other than Falstaff shooting two prisoners of Hampton's Legion at the beginning. It largely drops Falstaff from the movie. When he does it is random. In fact, the two officers don't confront each other at the end for a final duel.
From there the film just meanders from character to character doing something, but not driving a coherent plot. There's mention of a captured wagon train, but its quickly forgotten. The capture of Atlanta and its burning, but we don't see it other than a glow on the horizon.
The major problem with this movie was its lack of a coherent plot. Instead it just feels like a series of vignettes poorly tied together as many of these scenes don't compliment the next scene. Perhaps a major rewrite to the script is in order. You could have Falstaff and the rebel captain, I don't remember his name-that's how bad it was, set during the Siege of Atlanta. Falstaff is sent to intercept a Confederate train loaded with supplies bound for Atlanta. The rebel captain is tasked to guard it. You can have these two officers challenging each others wits and discipline in many encounters. Since Falstaff is shown to be a butcher, you can have him threaten or even execute prisoners if the rebels don't surrender, which they would refuse. And the movie can end with the train approaching the outskirts of Atlanta and one final attempt is made to destroy it. The train can make it into the city and helps the defenders hold out for four more months or it can be destroyed necessitating the decision to evacuate Atlanta. Either scenario would work. It would be a simple plot but a coherent plot.
Other production problems:
The battle of "Gettysburg" is shown with Falstaff ordering the evacuation of a hospital filled with Union wounded-except there are no wounded shown and the 2nd Indiana Cavalry, Falstaff says he's with, wasn't at Gettysburg. They were in the west for the Tullahoma Campaign. Also, the hospital is shown to be in the same position for Atlanta and the end of the war. In 2 years, it never moved!
The movie states that just after the battle of Resaca, Atlanta was captured and burned. It wasn't. It held for 4 more months.
The last is General Sherman. He is shown on the cover. With the name 'American Confederate' and his image, one can be confused as to its meaning. Perhaps they mean General Sherman is a rebel by breaking the normal conventions of warfare of the time by going to the heart of the South. But the movie is not about him, really at all. In fact, he only appears in the movie for, perhaps, two scenes totaling five minutes. So it's misleading as to whom the 'American Confederate' is.
Rocket Hunter (2020)
Terrible movie both inside and out.
Found this movie at Walmart for cheap and decided to give it a chance. Bad idea. First, the box cover; the image on the back of the DVD case is a Bf-108, a period-accurate trainer, though clearly not an Bf-109 fighter. Not only that, the image of Bf-108 has tracer fire emerging from underneath the fuselage from weapons that don't exist in the image. The biggest laugh came with two of the other aircraft in the same image, one is an American AT-6 trainer dressed as a Japanese Zero fighter. The other aircraft is clearly a Japanese B5N 'Kate' torpedo-bomber with a torpedo slung underneath. Keep in mind, this is suppose to be January 1945, Germany we're in!
The movie itself;
I could only watch ten minutes of it before turning it off. The production value is poor. The aircraft on screen are radio-controlled aircraft kept at a distance. The acting is stilted. Line deliveries are poor with no real attempt at accents. What frustrated me was the set design. It was clearly done on the cheap. The 'cockpit of the B-17' is just a black cutout. If you look behind the pilots, you can see where the facade ends.
From what I understand of the story, the Germans are moving a train loaded with materiel for their rocket-powered Komet and jet-powered Me-262 facilities. Intel has intercepted where the train is going to be at a point in time and want the train destroyed with precision bombing. So they send a lumbering B-17 bomber with just two crew-members, only one is an actual pilot, a fighter pilot in a P-38 squadron. The other is his brother, a trail gunner in another bomber squadron. And both decide to go on this mission together because-reasons. Why not send P-38s or other fighter-bombers to go after this target? Well, the squadron is out on another mission.
Then ask another fighter-squadron if they can do it! Why send a single B-17 into Germany with no fighter support and only two crew members? This may be January 1945, but Germany is still putting up fierce resistance.
That's where I ended it. I couldn't go any further. If they're not going to put forth the effort, why should I?