Tag Archives: Based on True Events

Braveheart

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This write-up below is based on the TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a write-up for the unedited version of the film would be more negative

It’s time for one of those old war time epics. Get ready for 3 hours of violence and armies colliding. It’s definitely not my kind of film but it’s tough to do this kind of title in general since I’m not a big fan of the old days and wars usually aren’t my thing either. So mix these in together along with max edginess and it comes as no surprise that this would not be one of my top recommendations. If you aren’t too familiar with the war then this is a decent way to learn about it although you might also want to check out a book on the subject.

The film starts by showing us how England violently captured Scotland and began to put barbaric laws on them. They did their best to completely break their spirits and kept on murdering all of the greatest warriors. Well, one day they murder William’s wife and so he decides to finally fight back. He gets some people together and destroys a bunch of soldiers. After that he begins to win more and more fights to the point where a war may actually be something he can pursue. It won’t be easy as they are extremely outnumbered but if he keeps on chipping away then at least he will be closer to a free Scotland.

The movie’s length certainly allows it to build up a lot of the characters over time and then also set you up for betrayals. It’s the kind of movie where you really can’t trust anyone. Most people can be bought for some price or threatened with something or someone that they value more than their life. It’s not enough to just assume your friends will be with you at all times. Then Scotland itself isn’t 100% united either. You have a bunch of characters all with their own goals and ambitions. Some think that they should stop fighting while they are ahead and cut a deal, others want to make a play for power, etc. It makes things really tough on William since he has to deal with drama on two fronts.

Additionally, England made clear in the opening scene that they could not be trusted. So, it sounds like a really bad idea to William when England asks for peace and some people actually entertain it. It shows that some people just don’t learn and will keep on falling for the same tricks over and over again. Not a very impressive moment there. Still, they press on and keep fighting over and over in all of the battles that appear.

The movie is pretty direct about what it’s going for here. You’re going to have loads and loads of fights and it’s going to be very violent. A lot of films at least try to spare the horse but unfortunately not this one. There are a lot of them getting stabbed and murdered amidst all the fighting. The animal violence is through the roof here and of course so is the human violence. It’s all very graphic and detailed, then you’ve got the sheer volume of it which is another story as well. It all adds up to a rather relentless film.

Film based on real life also don’t tend to be able to give you a super happy ending either since that’s not how things usually go. There will be a whole lot of sacrifice and setbacks. Often times the main player doesn’t get to see the ending himself either. This film is no exception although it tries to make the ending as light as possible. It’s a cold comfort to those who are already in the grave but at least it’s something.

I’d say the only way to save a film like this would have been to have cut out a lot of the details. We don’t need to see every grisly death or see every barbaric law placed on the Scottish people. It certainly sets up the rage that they felt but that kind of negative feedback loop doesn’t make for a very fun viewing experience. This is the kind of film that doesn’t have very many happy moments at all since they all inevitably get tainted by the scenes that will be following them shortly afterwards. Death is always right around the corner here.

Although if you play a lot of Fire Emblem, you will have a good time recognizing all of the war terms. In those games you always have to decide where to carefully place your archers, infantry, and calvary. The movie also deals a lot with tactics and that is usually where the Scottish people had the big edge. They were able to outmaneuver the big armies and their endless supply of men with really good strategies. In a war, strategy is absolutely key on any battlefield. A single mistake will cost a whole lot of troops.

Overall, If you are definitely okay with all of the crazy violence here then you might like Braveheart. After all, that is 90% of what’s going on in this film anyway. If you are not big on violence, well then you’re probably watching the wrong film. History is often dark and violent. So many crazy things went on that it can be hard to fathom. At the same time, that can be said of the current days as well. There is always a lot going on around the world here as well. Not a minute goes by on Earth without a tragedy going on and watching this film gives you a way to see into some of that.

Houdini

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Just about everyone has heard of Houdini at some point or another. The guy was a true master of his craft and an escape artist the likes of which we probably won’t see again. How much of it was pure skill and how much of it was the audience not paying attention? The exact amounts are going to be difficult to quantify but without a doubt he had serious skills in order to pull off his achievements without people ever totally figuring them out. The movie does a good job capturing a lot of his big exploits.

The film starts off with showing us how versatile Houdini was as he performed many different tricks and roles. The guy then notices a lady that he falls in love with named Bess. They quickly get married and so now she can be his assistant as he becomes a full fledged magician. Unfortunately this is where their battles begin to occur because he is really into magic to the point where it is taking over his life. It’s a long job that doesn’t really end and has no retirement plan while she wants to be having some fun too. He tries normal 9-5 jobs like working at a factory but he just isn’t able to resist the allure of going back into the magic tricks and being an escape artist. Somehow there must be a way to make it all work…right?

Now I would say the romance happened way too quickly and didn’t feel all that realistic but since this is based on true events I can cut the film some slack. Provided that this is how things happened in real life of course but I guess I’ll have to assume that this is the case. It does make sense that they would have a lot of fights though since it’s not like they knew each other for a super long time. In general you tend to be on Bess’ side though. There are several times in the film where they make a deal and then Houdini backs out of it because the crowd riles him up.

Those are moments where he definitely looks bad. I do think Bess was rather hard on him and quick with the ultimatums but once Houdini agrees to them, that’s all there is to it. He should have thought about that more instead of agreeing if he was going to back out. Ultimately the back outs never tend to work out in his favor either. He was just too ambitious and trying to do the impossible. Houdini’s ego was too great to let him refuse a challenge but some things really are impossible to escape from.

The movie has a fun style of humor though and is always moving at a good pace. The writing is on point and the characters are all fun. At its core this is a fun slice of life type film and that’s where the film is at its strongest. You get some good banter between the characters and it’s always fun to see people trying to goad Houdini on into making a big mistake. Some story beats might feel a bit repetitive because of how the film is quickly moving through the years of his life (Breaking a promise to his wife and then regretting it) but for the most part the film keeps moving forward.

The retirement felt the most random for a bit there but at least once he figured out the trick to it, Houdini was able to get over that. Otherwise it would have been pretty crazy for a magician/escape artist to fall for your average spirit medium nonsense. I know he was desperate but that’s definitely not the right place to be turning to.

His partner ended up being a solid character as well even if he arrived rather late into the film. I figured he might be an antagonist or something but then remembered what I was watching and that would have probably been a touch too dramatic. It’s certainly possible to have a saboteur on board or something but it just felt unlikely. Regardless, the film serves as a big reminder on why you would never catch me in one of these magic trick acts. All it takes is a single mistake, a single miscommunication and you could be in real trouble. Even something like the magic saw act. Often times they are using real tools here.

I know the box is made so that you won’t get cut but what if the magician makes a mistake or just decides to have a go at you anyway? From that point on you are already completely helpless and that’s the part that I don’t like. There is just no escape at that point and that’s the problem. I probably wouldn’t even attend a magic show because to me I don’t really see the entertainment in it. Perhaps one that is more of a visual experience like the big shows in “Now You See Me” but otherwise I’d definitely tend to skip all of that. Now if you paid me to be one of those hecklers then I think I would have a rather good time in that role. Heh, yeah now that would be a pretty good time all around.

Overall, Houdini is a pretty good movie. It is a fun ride the whole time which is the important thing even while it does allow some time for the more emotional/serious moments. If you aren’t too familiar with the guy then this is a good way to learn about him and have a fun time too. The tricks are fun to watch and you can try to imagine what the tricks were to escaping them. I always tend to suspect that there is a big trick on the back-end of this but from that point on it is up to your imagination to fill in the blanks on its own. Not an easy task but it gives you something to think about. Being an escape artist or a magician are careers that would definitely not be up my alley but they are fun to watch.

Matewan

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It’s time for a film based on true events. Those always hit extra hard when you don’t really know about the events beforehand. The whole strike was new to me so that made things nice and unpredictable. It’s definitely an intense film where there are no easy victories. We have the heroes holding back for most of the film but eventually once it is time to fight, they do deliver. It covers a lot of ground and so overall I was definitely satisfied with it.

The movie starts with Joe moving into a small town. It’s really in a difficult spot here as the mining company is making people perform back breaking work with no real pay or benefits at all. They are treated as disposable tools who can be replaced at any time. In the movie they even mention how a lot of the miners keep dying left and right. You may wonder why they put up with this but there just weren’t many options available to them at this point in time. They took what they could get and that’s really all that there was to it. There is a union, but it is incredibly weak here and the company has been successful in setting off race wars among the miners so they don’t work together. Well, Joe is here to tell them that there is a better way but will he be successful?

One thing you have to remember about strikes, particularly back in the days is that it was incredibly dangerous. Often times you are up against an entity that is much more powerful than you are. They will have more guns, people, and typically even the law on their side. After all, the legality of striking in general can range from technically being legal to being completely illegal. Then at that point you have to hope you can hold out. So during the course of the film you have people being forced to live in the wilderness since all of their assets and homes were taken away. It’s an incredible challenge for all of them.

Then eventually this escalates into full blown violence and you also have people who will be tempted to go traitor or look out for their own self interests. There are so many factors in place that it makes sense how difficult it is to have everyone on the same page. Some characters can be rather gullible though. At the end of the day it is always important to remember to hear both sides of an argument, especially if you are friends with someone. It’s unfortunately realistic though. Often times you’ll hear someone spreading around rumors and lies about your friend and instead of asking them what’s up, the person will believe this right away and continue escalating.

If you are actually friends with someone, then you should face them and ask about what’s going on. It’s the only way to avoid misunderstandings like this. One of the heroines here definitely made a huge mistake there. I also thought the traitor got off super easy here but I suppose depending on what we know about him from the real life event, it’s not like the film could really just make something up. I mean it could, but probably not a good idea if you’re trying to really be a full adaption that is true to life.

The best character by far is the sheriff though. He was a true standout from the start. I figured that he would be useless at best and an ally to the company at worst. Fortunately neither of those two options happened and he really looked after his people. He wasn’t about to be overpowered in his own town and really fought to the end. The fact that he could actually fight was also good since it showed that he wasn’t just all talk. The climax is very impressive and ended things on a high note. Every scene with the sheriff in it was quite good.

The mayor was not nearly impressive though. Even by the end he’s whining about how he just wanted to talk but it’s obvious that this wasn’t an option. He’s the kind of character who will still be talking as he’s getting shot. In some cases you have to make the first move because if you don’t, then you’ll end up being dead. It’s one of those topics that i shard to debate though because everyone is pretty firm on their sides. I’d just say that for my take, in a life or death situation you can’t afford to wait.

This is my issue with Joe at times here. He keeps telling everyone to be patient and keep on waiting but after a while it’s clear that this is not working. The mining company is not above breaking the law and doing whatever they want. If you wait too long then you will eventually fold. There are times when waiting is good to be sure and Joe does help on different occasions but he does start to get annoying by the end. You can only stick to the same plan for so long before it starts to become a burden. Joe didn’t really adapt with the situation and that’s what held him back here.

At the end of the day, the film reminds you that a union is only as strong as its members. To stand up to a whole group like this, you need a lot of fighters and muscle to back them up. If the sheriff didn’t have his guns, then all of Joe’s tough talk wouldn’t have mattered at all. The villains made it clear that they would have just shot him and had the whole situation done with. Joe doesn’t seem to factor that part in though which is when you shake your head.

I will say that the movie also doesn’t hold back on just how rough corporate is. They literally go around slitting throats and burning churches. It may almost seem cartoonishly evil to an extent but I have no doubt that these things would have happened. The company would act almost like the mafia to get its way. Even nowadays we see mass firings when different places try to start a union. Sure we may be past the point of rifles and everyone being shot on sight but corporate has never lost sight of trying to stay on top of things.

Overall, Matewan is definitely an interesting film. I’d imagine it was a pretty faithful retelling of events as it wasn’t pulling any punches. The film didn’t mince words on how much the miners suffered even as they got their licks in. There was a ton of collateral damage but at least they did change the system in the end. Change often comes at a high price after all, it’s not something that just happens. If you are interested in the situation then you should definitely check out the film. Just remember that it is an intense journey all the way through.

Murder in Coweta County

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It’s time for another film based on a true story and this time it’s about a big murder from back in the day. We get to see the importance of the death penalty and how it prevents you from making an escape and also how hard it can be to track down proof for a single murder. In the end law enforcement is a very difficult career and not one for the faint of heart. However, when you can solve the case it definitely feels good.

The film starts off by introducing us to Wallace who is one of the most powerful people in the country. He basically has an unofficial empire by which he can rule the masses and escape any kind of justice. One day, someone tries to steal his livestock as revenge for being chased out of town and Wallace murders him. The murder occurred in the territory of Sheriff Potts though and he is not having any of that. Wallace made a big mistake coming onto this guy’s territory and now Potts is eager to have Wallace destroyed for it. Potts will have to assemble the evidence and fast because if Wallace is let go on any kind of a technicality, he’ll never be caught again. The stakes are high!

Wallace is one of those villains who is quite unremorseful. He really sees himself as the good guy in all of this and believes that his status and power makes all of his decisions absolutely above judgement. It’s definitely a very bold point of view to be sure. That’s what makes him a fun villain though. He heavily overestimates how persuasive he can be in a conversation. Sheriff Potts never even entertains the guy for an instant yet Wallace continues to talk and talk and talk. It’s really quite something. It’s also fun to see how one by one everyone starts to betray them and he realizes that this is actually happening. He absolutely did not count on this happening but at the end of the day most people will look out for themselves when the chips are down. That’s just how it goes.

Meanwhile Potts is a super solid character right from the start. He’s putting everything on the line to solve this case and using all of the resources that he’s got. After all if he can prove the case here he will have shown that nobody is above the law. He will have dealt a great blow to injustice everywhere and that’s just what he did. In the epilogue it’s extremely impressive to see that there were no unsolved cases during his tenure. That is crazy, I doubt very many sheriffs can say the same.

Meanwhile this was a film where there were a lot of other helpful characters as well. You had the two who attested to the murder, you had the deputies questioning everyone, local towngoers who were doing their part, etc. It was nice to really see everyone come together and it was a nice optimistic look at the world. We tend to see the more negative side of things in most cases so I really appreciated this. The movie generally has a good vibe about it. It acknowledges that a lot of bad things tend to happen in Wallace’s kingdom but we don’t see anything more than we have to. The film focuses more on things getting cleaned up than what was there.

We also get a pretty detailed look at the trial proceedings which I always enjoy. I love a good trial and this is definitely the way you’d expect it to be done. It’s all handled very professionally with lots of suspects and exhibits of evidence. Then you have Wallace really shooting himself in the foot even as he tries to prove his own innocence. It’s why you always want the lawyer to speak for you. People often think they can just go in and say what they want, but that’s a good way to make yourself look guilty. Even if you are actually are innocent, often times the last thing you want to do is go in without letting the lawyer represent you. They are professionals at what they do after all and know the ins and outs of the process.

As the film’s storyline is fairly straight forward there’s not a whole lot more to say about this one. At the end of the day it’s a pretty direct story and that’s why I give the film a lot of props for keeping it very interesting and engaging at all times. I imagine it would have been easy for this film to have been boring under the wrong hands. For a film like this you absolutely need good writing and they pulled it off.

Overall, Murder in Coweta County is definitely a good film. We’ve got some strong writing throughout and a good cast of characters. This is one of those old films that has really withstood the test of time in all areas. It’s a movie that has good pacing throughout and a pretty satisfying conclusion. It’s an event that I wasn’t too familiar with from what happened in the real world so it made the film extra fresh the whole time. That definitely adds to the entertainment value big time. I’d recommend watching this if you’re interested in the court proceedings or in seeing some justice being enacted in general. For a film like this it all comes down to the ending of course so I was glad that it really landed without any issues.

The Pride of the Yankees

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It’s time for a Baseball film with a lot of hype but also one that deals with tragedy later on. After all the movie is about Lou Gehrig who was well known for getting quite sick at one point. It definitely put him through a lot but most of the movie happens before that at least. They do a good job of showing Lou to be a really nice guy and the Baseball scenes are fun. So all in all there’s not a whole lot to dislike about the film.

It starts with Lou growing up as a big Baseball fan even though he plans to be an Engineer when he grows up the way that his Mom wants him to. Baseball is just not something you really aim for because so many people end up crashing out early. Well, he’s scouted for the Yankees anyway and ultimately ends up going for it. He becomes one of the best Baseball players out there and gets married to Eleanor. The two of them get to have many good times before he eventually ends up passing.

There’s not really an antagonist in this film at all. Sometimes a film like this may try to at least have a really tough reporter or someone like that to shake Lou up but that doesn’t really happen here. There is one heckler who tends to bet against Lou but it’s never really played in a mean spirited way. The guy struck me as being competitive but not actually nefarious. He was actually pretty entertaining the whole time. Meanwhile Lou’s mother was a tough customer about Baseball and then being jealous of his wife for a while but eventually she got better. I was glad that Lou stuck up for Eleanor there and helped her out.

At the end of the day your wife is supposed to be the head of the household when it comes to decorating, equipment, and any of the rules there. Lou’s mother was nice enough in most instances but even if she was to have been perfectly kind, it’s just not her place anymore. Eleanor ultimately should have been a little more determined and stuck up for herself too though. Allowing herself to be on the backfoot the whole time definitely didn’t help matters. It made her look a bit too timid the whole time. If you’re not able to have an honest conversation with your husband then the relationship doesn’t feel too sound.

That’s where I have to criticize Lou as well though. When he gets sick, he tells everyone not to tell his wife so she won’t worry. I would consider this to be selfish in the highest degree. She absolutely has a right to know, particularly since others already do. To be the only one left out like that is pretty awful. Yeah she figures it out pretty quick but I think he owed it to her to tell her directly rather than her having to confirm with alternate sources.

The writing is pretty solid and the script is always on point. Lou can appear to be a bit naive at times but that’s how it goes sometimes. The film is long and it does feel long so perhaps the pacing isn’t perfect but they did have a whole lot to cover. I would say that by and large they did manage to cover a whole lot of it excluding the Baseball parts which was definitely more on the unfortunate side. We definitely got to see that Lou really had a lot of support among his fans and friends to the very end though. The montage of everyone rooting for him was rough even if he ultimately could not end up beating out the illness. Sometimes you just are not able to overpower it like that. Particularly since this is based on true events it’s not like they could change the ending. So instead I’m glad that the film doesn’t dwell on it for too long.

I feel like a modern movie might try to milk that part a bit more. Letting us see the main character in tears on multiple occasions or something like that. Bringing up the sad music and everything to amp things up to the next level. I definitely prefer the more subtle touch, it’s the way to go since you still feel the sad impact without it absolutely taking over and starting to drown out the happy beginning. After all Lou still got to live a very complete life with a whole lot of highs so I imagine he would still have been pretty satisfied with the end result.

Overall, The Pride of the Yankees is definitely a celebration to Lou and they do a really good job of that. Fans of him should be pretty pleased with his portrayal and of course the Yankee fans will like seeing all of the home runs and the glory days here. I would have liked to have seen more of the actual Baseball action myself considering how long the movie was though. They definitely should have been able to squeeze in at least another 45 minutes or so right? Especially if you play it like an extended montage you could have squeezed many more scenes in. Ultimately this is more about the man than the ballplayer although it hits both to an extent. Either way it’s a film worth checking out.

Machine Gun Kelly

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It’s time for a film about Machine Gun Kelly, or as he’s called near the end, Pop Gun Kelly! That was probably one of the best insults that I’ve heard in a long time. That was absolutely great, I was cracking up there. The cops got to have a good laugh and it was just such a clever line you know? This film does a good job of chronicling the events of what’s going on here and establishing Kelly as an all bark no bite kind of character. I don’t always think what the characters were doing would make any sense though.

Kelly ends up robbing a big bank and showing the world why he is to be feared. He has quite a bit posse of men around him and his girlfriend is particularly impressed with his antics. She likes to flirt with everybody to rile Kelly up and cause some chaos. Definitely one of those really crazy relationships and it only gets worse from the intro. The cops need to grab Kelly but it’s hard to find him. So for now they will wait and ponder their next move. They have all the time in the world while Kelly is bound to make a mistake sooner or later.

It’s honestly pretty easy to see how Kelly and the gang were caught in this movie with how much they were fighting. Someone was constantly getting beaten up and thrown around. Imagine losing your arm to a lion/tiger and not getting revenge right? Kelly definitely underestimated the guy there. I think the main problem with some of their actions is ultimately for moments like this though. Kelly is having a breakdown so his girlfriend starts pulling moves on his friend so he could go and beat Kelly up. The guy does so…and then doesn’t finish Kelly off? So naturally Kelly grabs his machine gun and gets the upper hand.

At several points in the film the characters get beat up and just go back to working for Kelly. Then some have absolutely no situational awareness. One of Kelly’s friends starts laughing and making fun of Kelly for being scared…while Kelly is right there. So obviously the guy is beaten up for a while. Another guy tries to steal some of the money…and so naturally he gets beat up, etc. None of the villains seemed to be any smart and hey sometimes they aren’t but this felt a little extreme at times.

Even the tough girlfriend who was calling the hots and messing with everybody. Laughing as much as she was while getting in Kelly’s face was not a good move. How about the cabal of fighters who threatened to murder Kelly but then they were just gambling in a room so he shot them all? A lot of the events in the film just come across as being rather bizarre so I can see why this is a fairly loose adaption. I imagine things definitely didn’t play out quite like this in a lot of ways. The important thing though was to get across just how scared Kelly was the whole time and I would definitely say they succeeded in that. The guy was extremely afraid of everything death related. Put him next to a skull or anything like that and it was curtains for the guy. He was definitely not coming back from that.

He was also shown to not even be a villain with an honor code. He was very quick to betray his girlfriend for some random ladies and had no real remorse about it. He’s rude to everyone and Kelly is always making a bunch of threats. As tough as his girlfriend was acting near the end, I do think there’s a few times she could have come close to being bumped off. She may claim that Kelly didn’t have the guts but in a fit of rage I definitely wouldn’t take that for granted. This is the kind of guy who could absolutely pull that off if he needed to.

Then you have the little girl who was being held hostage and the caretaker. The whole thing was definitely a rough spot for them. Both of them held themselves together fairly well I’d say. The caretaker went through a lot but I was glad at least in this case Kelly wasn’t about to let things go any further. I’ll take what I can get in terms of moral character. It may not be a whole lot but at least it’s something.

For a film called Machine Gun Kelly, he doesn’t actually use the weapon all that much though. I think it might have been good to see him using the gun a few more times against some random gangsters at least. You can’t do it at the end because it would not match the ending’s message so I get that, but doing it earlier would have been a really good idea. It would make the ending hit all the harder. Honestly Kelly’s rationale also makes a lot of sense. Why fight a battle that you know you can’t win and you would die for rather than surviving another day even if it’s in prison. It’s not quite so simple of course as continued survival can be rough in its own way but yeah dying for no reason is not really a tempting offer to anyone.

Overall, Machine Gun Kelly is an entertaining film. Sometimes perhaps not for the reasons that were originally intended but it will definitely keep your attention the whole way through. The final line alone is really worth the watch but it’s generally a good time either way. The only bad scenes I’d say involve the lion and Kelly really poking fun at him the whole time and teasing him by throwing rocks. I could definitely do without all of that so those were the weakest scenes. When it was the gangsters all fighting and trying to get on each other’s nerves things were way more exciting. The film never forgets to remind you how they’re all villains and I appreciate that. You’re rooting for the cops to take them down the whole time.

Escape from Alcatraz

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It’s time for a movie about one of the most dangerous prisons out there. If you land on Alcatraz then it’s all over in most cases. It’s a life term where you may try to find a way to break out but it’s not likely to happen. Of course when you piece together the title with how this is based on true events you may start to think about some things but lets not worry about that for now. Escape is supposed to be impossible.

The film follows a guy named Frank who gets sent to the jail. He’s had a history of escaping from many such prisons over the years but the warden is confident that he’ll break Frank. In this prison he makes the rules after all so whenever Frank starts to get friendly to someone, the Warden will move them away. He allows fights to start so he can punish both prisoners and then he also does random inspections to make sure nothing is being smuggled into the cell. Well, Frank is confident that there has to be a way out and he won’t rest until he pulls this off.

I’ve seen quite a few prison break films in my day and if you count sequences in a film not about that, then add that number up even more. That said, this one has to be a lot more toned down and realistic than those to try not to make you suspend your disbelief too much. So the prison doesn’t have fancy laser barriers or anything like that. It’s basically just a normal prison that is super disciplined but when you think about it, that’s all a prison really needs. You’re in a cell where you can’t easily plan things out with all of the interruptions and what you see is also so narrow that it’s difficult to really map everything out in your head.

Getting out of your cell is just the first part. You have to remember that you’re surrounded by water and have to get past a ton of guards who are all armed while you aren’t. So you need a boat, supplies, and basically a lot of luck on your side. Without that it’s game over. It’s also functionally impossible to do this on your own so you’re going to need some friends. Only problem is that these friends are also crooks and may not be the most trustworthy sort in a pinch. Worst case, one of them will rat you out in the end in the hopes of some kind of reward and then you will really be out of luck.

Now it’s hard to say just how accurate the film is to what happened because even in real life I don’t think we know exactly what happened. It’s why the ending is so vague, did the escapees really survive or did nature take them out? It would be nice to know but I suppose it’s anyone’s guess. The fact that they could break through was the important thing. Now, based on how soon after Alcatraz closed down, I wouldn’t be shocked if things had started to get lax around the place which made the job easier.

When the Warden changes, typically a lot of personnel will change and a ton of protocols will be updated. It’s possible this guy didn’t really know what he was doing and left a lot of openings to be exploited. It does seem like a bit of a stretch to give inmates axes, hammers, and other weapons for construction but it sounds like that’s been the case for a long time so I guess you just roll with it.

Frank does well as the lead character here and plays a large role in making the film entertaining. He’s the kind of guy who always stands up for himself and doesn’t let anyone mess with him. It’s easy to picture him breaking any kind of law if someone was inconveniencing him or just if he felt like it. The scene where he takes out the bully who was preparing to attack him was great.

Most of the side characters don’t get quite as much to do. The only other standout was English who did good in preparing Frank for what was coming and really giving him a chance here. It does feel like Frank would not have made it without him and the exposition the guy had at the ready. The cellmate with the rat also seemed like a good guy. Perhaps not the strongest ally physically but he had a lot of connections which is important here. I always find it interesting how a prisoner gets so much influence and materials to barter with but apparently there is a whole underworld economy going on so those things just happen.

The film can be a little intense but not nearly as intense as you would expect. Given the rep of these maximum security prisons you often expect to see a whole lot of inhumane stuff going on and everyone being crazy but that’s not really what happens here. Yes, you do see some stuff but the details aren’t extremely vivid and the film doesn’t dwell on it which is good. You know enough to reason out the rest which is the proper approach.

Overall, Escape from Alcatraz is a pretty solid prison film. It keeps you engaged all the way through and also shows you what a rough place Alcatraz is without getting needlessly dark at times like in Shawshank. You understand exactly why Frank needs to get out of there as soon as possible. While you are an inmate there you don’t have your basic human rights and privileges. So you need freedom at any cost and as many know, freedom can be worth the risk of death. The whole process of planning out the escape is pretty interesting so you should definitely check it out if you’re wondering how this went down. Perhaps not exactly the way the film presents it but probably close enough.

The Bible: In The Beginning

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It’s time for a pretty big epic. This is easily one of the longest films that I’ve ever seen and as a result it is able to cover an impressive amount of content. It starts from the actual start of the Bible and covers 22 entire chapters. Most impressive I have to say and it’s rare to see films be so long even nowadays so the length still holds up. It’s a great way to continue to spread the gospel and hopefully get more people to tune in and experience the events.

Of course the first big event involves Adam & Eve as they were in the Kingdom of Paradise but ultimately Eve gets tempted by the servant and then tempts Adam into sin. With the two of them thrown out, human history is really able to begin. We get to see the Earth flooded during the days of Noah, Sodom getting obliterated along with the lady who ended up looking back, there’s the Tower of Babel where humanity was scattered, and of course the offering where God tested Abraham to see if he would slay his only son.

A lot of pretty heavy subjects here and the movie isn’t really toning any of it down. So it keeps the same amount of power you would expect to see here. The movie did a good job of staying very faithful to the original source material and it’s easy to understand so even if you haven’t read the Bible you will know what is going on. Of course in that case the ending isn’t exactly definitive as there would have been sequels to cover more ground. Regardless you would need to read the Bible at some point so this could be the launch pad into doing that.

Of course that also means this film can be a little on the violent side, some parts can be a bit disturbing, etc. Films based on true events are often treated very leniently on the ratings scale. A documentary in particular could be rated G when it’s got more content than would ever be allowed in a PG-13 for example. This one isn’t like that but just to say you always want to keep your guard up for those films. The message is important so it’s worth watching regardless but if it does sound too intense you could always just use the Bible. That way you avoid all of the other extra details and keep things as simple as possible. After all in the end there is no source better than simply reading the Bible itself.

The most focus here is probably given to the events of Noah or at least it felt that way. We really see what effort it took to get all of the animals onto the ship and then to take care of them. They all behaved rather well but it’s still a ton of manual effort as you have to get the food and drink ready and do this at a good time for all of the different species which have different eating habits and everything. Throw in the fact that you’re all trapped in a boat and it will also fray the nerves after a while. No matter how big the boat is, you will want to rest on solid ground after a while. Noah’s faith was ultimately found to be strong enough to get past this though, he never wavered.

All of the greats had one thing in common which was an unwavering faith in God. They would serve him no matter what and never questioned the orders. Abraham had the toughest challenge by far in having to prepare to murder his own son as well. Even across the whole Bible there aren’t many challenges or trials that were more difficult than that. Abraham came out on top though and he is remembered very concretely for that reason. Even many books later he would still be mentioned which shows just what a pivotal role he had in the Bible.

Overall, I definitely haven’t seen a film that dove into Genesis in quite as detailed as this one did. It really held nothing back and made full use of the long run time. It’s a film you really want to absorb so don’t hesitate to pause or take a break whenever you need to do so. The writing is on point and while the film will get really intense at times, it’s the kind of thing you need to know since these are all very important events from the past. Hopefully some day they will be able to make a Movie series that covers the entire Bible. It’s so long that it would certainly be a daunting task but surely at some point someone will be able to pull it off. In the meantime at least we have had a lot of movies over the years covering different parts so that is a blessing in itself.

The Last Full Measure

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This breakdown is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a breakdown of the unedited version would likely be more negative.

It’s time for a film based on true events during the Vietnam war. This movie shows how important the Medal of Honor is and why it’s not just any ole award for anyone who received it or to those who never got one. It’s part of the character arc for the main lead and in the end this makes for a solid war film. Most of the events take place after the war but we do get flashbacks scattered throughout the film.

The movie starts with Scott getting ready for a big promotion. His career has been going very well so far but then he is given a task to try and help get William a posthumous medal of honor award. This request was brought forth by his partner in the unit, Tom. He believes that William earned the medal and Scott has to figure out why he didn’t get one. Scott isn’t very interested in this task because it seems incredibly difficult and the chances of success are slim. Still, his boss tells him he needs to do this. Scott’s co-worker says Scott should just procrastinate since the section is being closed down soon anyway but it certainly would not be the honorable thing to do. As Scott gets more invested in the case he finds out that there may be a bit of a conspiracy going on.

As you can imagine Scott isn’t the nicest character at the beginning of the movie. He really would have dismissed Tom’s case entirely if he wasn’t forced to do it and then later on he has to get even more encouragement to pull through with it. Ultimately it is a tough case for sure so it’s no walk in the park but not giving it your all is always the wrong move. No matter what the task, you can only complete it if you are giving it your 100% effort.

Tom gets a lot of credit for bringing this case up and sticking with it for a long time. He calls in favors and pulls as much weight as he can to keep trying to get this completed. It wouldn’t have been easy and I’m sure he faced some pushback of his own but he kept on going. He was really a loyal friend and never forgot what William did for him. It’s not likely that you would forget it when someone saved your life on a big battlefield like that.

As we see more and more of William’s heroics in the flashbacks you really come to appreciate just what a good guy he was and exactly how much hard work he put into the task. It would have been easy at many times to do things by the book or even just run out of there but William helped everyone he could see. Those scenes during the war were all very intense but it was an interesting perspective to have them as flashbacks so most of the film takes place in real time. We get to see more of the political side of things once the war was over and how the awards part was handled.

Each of the veterans do their best to help the case with their testimonies as well. It isn’t easy as many of them suffer from PTSD in different ways. So even going to the award ceremony was a bit of a battle but they did it for their old friend. As a whole this is a very inspirational type film about how the platoon really did stick together through thick and thin. They weren’t going to leave anyone behind and in this context that means ensuring that William did not get cheated out of his medal.

Scott’s co-worker plays the role of the main antagonist here. He starts out subtly by giving Scott bad advice but by the end he is going directly into blackmail and trying to sabotage things every step of the way. Fortunately Scott still went ahead with his plan so even if he didn’t start out as a very good character, he ended up in a good spot. I’d say by the end that he had earned the right to be considered a quality character. He took some big risks of his own by the end.

Overall, The Last Full Measure does a good job of showing just how difficult it is to try and lead a normal life after being involved in a war. You just see a lot of things that you’ll never forget even after it ends. There are a lot of tragedies going on even after the war as well as the deeper Scott gets into the story, the more he sees how many lives were affected. The film can perhaps get a little too detailed in some aspects during the war and you certainly see the horror of battle but it feels like an accurate depiction of the events that happened. I can’t say I’m familiar enough with the records to say for sure if anything was missed but anyone wanting to learn more about William’s story with the medal of honor and the Vietnam battles should enjoy this film. It may be quite serious but it’s ultimately got a happy ending and should leave you satisfied.

The Nativity Story

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It’s time to check out The Nativity Story. Considering that this one got to claim this title you can say that it’s seen as the definitive film adaption of this moment in time. It’s definitely got very solid production values and they did well to adapt everything here. There’s a lot of attention to detail throughout each part of the movie and no corners were cut here. The movie has definitely aged well and of course it’s always nice to see the events of the Bible played out on the big screen.

The film really focuses a lot on Mary and her coming to terms with all of this. Initially she did not even know Joseph and the whole arranged marriage came really suddenly. Mary was understandably not a fan of this but ultimately goes along with it so as not to disappoint her family. What makes matters tricky for her is that she ends up being pregnant with Jesus despite not having any affairs. It is difficult to actually convince anyone of this though so her reputation is shot. It’s definitely a rather difficult burden that she has to bear in the meantime.

Same with Joseph as he is pressured by the customs to out Mary and have her stoned. He decides not to do this of course and makes the heroic choice of keeping this to himself but for a while he doesn’t totally believe her either. It’s definitely something that is tough to believe, particularly since he was well aware that she was not happy about the marriage initially. Fortunately things turn out for the best and they manage to finally get along by the end. Usually in the films we cut to the end when Jesus is born and the 3 Wise Men appear so this was a bit of a change of pace with how the focus was on the earlier events. The birth doesn’t happen until near the very end of the film and isn’t the main subject this time.

So I would say the main theme of the film was faith. Ultimately each character needed a whole lot of that to survive here. Joseph had to have faith in Mary telling him the truth and overcoming the dreams he would have. Mary had to have faith that she actually saw the angel and everything was as foretold, etc. Without faith none of the characters would have been able to make it to the end. Even the Wise Men needed this or else they may have lost sight of the star and ended up giving up on the journey halfway.

They are the comedic plot of the film as they bicker a lot and have a lot of fun on the way there. You can tell that the 3 of them are good friends and are close enough to mess with each other like that. Fortunately they’re also wise enough not to tip off the king about exactly where Jesus was and just keep on moving. I’ll give the film credit for not making the King quite as obvious about how evil he was compared to other adaptions. He also felt like a very imposing figure with how he threatened his only son and showed how he has stayed in power for so long. Definitely not someone you want to get in the way of.

This is an adaption everyone can be proud of. It sticks close to the scriptures and I wouldn’t say any of the scenes felt like they didn’t belong. Naturally the film does need to expand on some scenes and throw in a lot of extra moments to pad out the runtime, but it was never anything that made you feel like the writers were messing things up. I get the feeling they did a lot of research here and likely collaborated with scholars to learn more about the customs and how a day to day life would have been like. There are a lot of people who make a career out of that so you could definitely get some good background elements this way.

While the events in the Old Testament were massive and living through them would have been quite the experience, it’s also abundantly clear that it would have been a very difficult age to live in. The film shows in detail just how tough life was on everyone there. Food was scarce and you could always count on thieves and soldiers showing up to erase all of your hard work. There were no modern conveniences and walking for miles was a normal thing. There was no part of daily life that was easy and it’s really something to think about. We have the privilege of knowing everything from the future as opposed to living through it. We all face trials and they would be different in the past compared to the present but I’m personally glad I’m in a future era. Naturally it’s moot since if I grew up back then I wouldn’t know the difference since it would seem normal to me but I’m rather used to this era.

Overall, The Nativity Story is a really solid Christian film. It’s a good adaption of the birth of Jesus Christ and serves as more of a prequel compared to most adaptions. There’ a lot going on here and each of the characters gets a lot of development. They spared no expense on the visuals and soundtrack throughout the film. It’s all a very impressive production here and with Easter quickly approaching it’s always a good time to reminisce about the birth of Jesus Christ. That would ultimately lead to the Resurrection and then bring us up to the current date. Now’s a great time to watch the film as well as any time. Just as it has held up over all these years, I expect it will continue to do so as the years go by. It’ll be difficult to make a more detailed adaption of the Nativity.