Movie Review(s): Bridges… at Ramagen (1969) and One Too Far (1970)

Classic War Movies about Bridges (7/10)
… or anti-war movies: bracketing the antiwar movement

Bridge at Remagen (1969)

Bridge at RemagenWritten by Roger O. Hirson
Screenplay by Richard Yates
Directed by John Guillermin

George Segal … Lt. Phil Hartman
Robert Vaughn … Maj. Paul Krüger
Ben Gazzara … Sgt. Angelo
Bradford Dillman … Maj. Barnes
E.G. Marshall … Brig. Gen. Shinner
Peter van Eyck … Generaloberst von Brock
Joachim Hansen … Capt. Otto Baumann
Sonja Ziemann … Greta Holzgang
Anna Gaël … French Girl (as Anna Gael)
Vít Olmer … Lt. Zimring (as Vit Olmer)
Bo Hopkins … Cpl. Grebs

Gen. Von Sturmer: General von Brock, you must prepare to destroy the Remagen bridge at the earliest possible moment.
Gen. von Brock: Destroy? We have 75,000 men who would be trapped on the other side of the Rhine.
Gen. Von Sturmer: And if the bridge falls to the enemy, are you prepared for the consequences?
Gen. von Brock: These men are all that’s left of the 15th Army. Their only hope of salvation is that bridge!
Gen. Von Sturmer: The 15th Army will stand or die. Hitler has ordered that not one foot of our sacred soil will be yielded to the enemy.
Gen. von Brock: Herr Feldmarschall, if orders won wars, we wouldn’t now be fighting with our backs against the Rhine, we’d be dancing at the London Savoy!


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Movie Review: War, Inc. (2008)

“When it comes to war, America means business.”

Written by Mark Leyner and Jeremy Pikser and John Cusack
Directed by Joshua Seftel

War, Inc.John Cusack … Brand Hauser
Hilary Duff … Yonica Babyyeah
Marisa Tomei … Natalie Hegalhuzen
Joan Cusack … Marsha Dillon
Dan Aykroyd … Mr. Vice President
John McLaughlin … Himself
Montel Williams … GuideStar Voice (voice)
Ben Kingsley … Walken / The Viceroy

Walken: Every empire is summed up in Rome. The Romans, Hauser, dudes of the human race, torchbearers of culture! You and I are centurions, on about to defend civilization against the barbarians!
Brand Hauser: Let’s cut the shit, Walken! I like killing people as much as the next guy, but I signed up to kill the bad ones! Health clinics, trade unionists, journalists, agricultural coops, Catholic liberation theologians, impoverished Colombian coffee farmers, these are the barbarians that are opponents of civilization? We turned Central America into a fuckin’ graveyard! Whoever momentarily interrupts the accumulation of our wealth, we pulverize! I’m just not feeling good about that anymore, sir! Continue reading

Movie Review: Avatar (2009)

Flags of our fathers… and our brothers _ 11/10
AvatarReviewed by Brian Wright


Jake Sully: The Sky People have sent us a message. That they can take whatever they want, and no one can stop them. But we will send them a message. You ride out as fast as wings can carry you, you tell the other clans to come, you tell them Toruk Makto calls to them, and you fly now, with me, brothers, sisters, and we will show the Sky People, that they cannot take whatever they want. That this… this is our land!


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Movie Review: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Bette Davis’ favorite movie of all time __ 9/10
Review by Brian Wright

The Best Years of Our LivesFred Derry: I dreamed I was gonna have my own home. Just a nice little house for my wife and me out in the country… in the suburbs anyway. That’s the cock-eyed kind of dream you have when you’re overseas.
Peggy Stephenson: You don’t have to be overseas to have dreams like that.
Fred Derry: Yeah. You can get crazy ideas right here at home. Continue reading