Rob Fox
Lifetime Total
5+
IMDb Member
23 years
Reviews
Platoon (1986)
Lock & Load!
This Oliver Stone Oscar winner led a wave of gritty Vietnam combat films during the mid '80's. Rookie marine Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) is projected in one leap from the security of middle America to the blood and squalor of a war which can never be won.
Uncompromising in its use of soldier's language and graphic violence, the plot follows Taylor through a hellish baptism in a platoon made up of psychotics, criminals and plain murderers. Initially he is shunned by the veterans, but slowly develops the skills and traits of a combat Marine - having to suspend all thoughts of decent living in the process. Like all around him, the countdown to the end of his tour becomes a fixation.
In this no-rules environment, rivalries amongst the men take on brutish proportions and the domineering Barnes (Tom Berenger) battles with a fellow sergeant (Willem Dafoe) with, as far as Barnes is concerned, only one suitable outcome.
From the chilling silence of the jungle to the thunderous roar of full scale battle, this is a tense film, but with clear moral messages from Stone - war has no winners. A testimony to the horrors suffered by many who were there.
Uncompromising in its use of soldier's language and graphic violence, the plot follows Taylor through a hellish baptism in a platoon made up of psychotics, criminals and plain murderers. Initially he is shunned by the veterans, but slowly develops the skills and traits of a combat Marine - having to suspend all thoughts of decent living in the process. Like all around him, the countdown to the end of his tour becomes a fixation.
In this no-rules environment, rivalries amongst the men take on brutish proportions and the domineering Barnes (Tom Berenger) battles with a fellow sergeant (Willem Dafoe) with, as far as Barnes is concerned, only one suitable outcome.
From the chilling silence of the jungle to the thunderous roar of full scale battle, this is a tense film, but with clear moral messages from Stone - war has no winners. A testimony to the horrors suffered by many who were there.
Angels One Five (1952)
Bandits at twelve o'clock!
Typical fare for post-war British cinema-goers - stiff upper lips versus the might of the Nazi war machine.
Told over a few short weeks in 1940, the plot follows Pilot Officer 'Septic' Baird (John Gregson) as a fledgling Hurricane pilot posted to an operational squadron during the Battle of Britain. 'Septic' struggles stoically in the face of his boisterous comrades, an earnest would-be girlfriend and impossible numbers of enemy raiders. The Station Commander (Jack Hawkins) puts a human face on the RAF hierarchy, burdened by the knowledge that the fate of the nation really does depend on the skill of his young pilots. 'The few' eventually grasp victory but it doesn't come cheap.
Admittedly wooden by today's standards but, through films like this, a whole generation built up their Saturday afternoon understanding of the RAF's 'finest hour'.
Told over a few short weeks in 1940, the plot follows Pilot Officer 'Septic' Baird (John Gregson) as a fledgling Hurricane pilot posted to an operational squadron during the Battle of Britain. 'Septic' struggles stoically in the face of his boisterous comrades, an earnest would-be girlfriend and impossible numbers of enemy raiders. The Station Commander (Jack Hawkins) puts a human face on the RAF hierarchy, burdened by the knowledge that the fate of the nation really does depend on the skill of his young pilots. 'The few' eventually grasp victory but it doesn't come cheap.
Admittedly wooden by today's standards but, through films like this, a whole generation built up their Saturday afternoon understanding of the RAF's 'finest hour'.
The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)
A Train of Events!
A fine example of gentle English comedy, courtesy of Ealing Studios. Led by the local squire (John Gregson), an unlikely cross section of villagers band together to save their threatened railway by running it themselves. Enthusiasm and determination abound in the fight against bureaucracy and the dirty tricks of the local bus company. Watch out for a roguish Sid James and a delightfully inebriated Stanley Holloway. A nostalgic idyll of English rural life which in all probability never actually existed, this is a solid fable of little people beating the odds. If only life was always so straightforward!
Genevieve (1953)
Car comedy that never runs out of gas !
A chirpy British comedy following the fortunes of two overly-competitive friends who enter vintage cars in the famous London to Brighton rally. John Gregson stars as the dour lawyer Alan who, baited by his larger than life friend (Kenneth More), accepts a bet on who will return to London first.
Dinah Sheridan and Fay Kendal provide glamorous and dependable support, with Kendal sparkling as an upper class fashion model with an unexpected capacity for trumpet playing and heavy drinking. Much of the film is typical race and chase stuff, but avoids the usual potholes of over-engineered stunts and tricks. The characters are far more interesting than that!
A brilliant harmonica soundtrack by Larry Adler keeps the tempo and spirits high and the full colour production provides a ready backdrop of 1950's town and country scenes. Escapist entertainment from a period when British cinema boomed.
Dinah Sheridan and Fay Kendal provide glamorous and dependable support, with Kendal sparkling as an upper class fashion model with an unexpected capacity for trumpet playing and heavy drinking. Much of the film is typical race and chase stuff, but avoids the usual potholes of over-engineered stunts and tricks. The characters are far more interesting than that!
A brilliant harmonica soundtrack by Larry Adler keeps the tempo and spirits high and the full colour production provides a ready backdrop of 1950's town and country scenes. Escapist entertainment from a period when British cinema boomed.
The Cruel Sea (1953)
Torpedos off Starboard Bow
Archetypal British WW2 fare which is very clearly a cut above the rest. Jack Hawkins steers HMS Compass Rose, a small escort ship, through the perils of convoy duty and the ever present risk of U-boats.
Hawkins excels as the exhausted Captain in this no frills account of men battling against a constant and ruthless enemy - the sea. A melancholic soundtrack and the distinct lack of jingoism create a forlorn atmosphere as the ship's company endures periods of grinding boredom interrupted only by the sudden terror of U-boat attacks. In the tensest of scenes, during a rare heady pursuit, the radar gives Hawkins his firmest ever indication of an enemy submarine. "There are men in the water just there" he murmurs, realising that as Captain he is alone in making an agonising decision - whether to drop depth charges and risk killing a group of British survivors floating ahead of him. The attack is pressed home, killing the defenceless men but failing to hit the U-boat, and leads to a moving scene where Hawkins' resolute professionalism crumbles in a brief but heartfelt show of drunken emotion.
The trips to sea are punctuated by tableaux scenes on shore, where the tribulations of officers and crew are no less fraught with threats and worry. In a country under siege there can be no escape from air-raids or even an adulterous wife. "It's no-ones fault" says Hawkins "It's the war, the whole bloody war." A strong supporting cast, includes 'youngsters' Denholm Elliot, Donald Sinden and Stanley Baker.
This is a film that succeeds in telling how dangerously close to the edge the British came during the Battle of the Atlantic and of the enormous impact it had on ordinary individuals. The closing scene leaves the audience with a real sense of how, after five long years of war, a nation was left exhausted and emotionally drained.
Hawkins excels as the exhausted Captain in this no frills account of men battling against a constant and ruthless enemy - the sea. A melancholic soundtrack and the distinct lack of jingoism create a forlorn atmosphere as the ship's company endures periods of grinding boredom interrupted only by the sudden terror of U-boat attacks. In the tensest of scenes, during a rare heady pursuit, the radar gives Hawkins his firmest ever indication of an enemy submarine. "There are men in the water just there" he murmurs, realising that as Captain he is alone in making an agonising decision - whether to drop depth charges and risk killing a group of British survivors floating ahead of him. The attack is pressed home, killing the defenceless men but failing to hit the U-boat, and leads to a moving scene where Hawkins' resolute professionalism crumbles in a brief but heartfelt show of drunken emotion.
The trips to sea are punctuated by tableaux scenes on shore, where the tribulations of officers and crew are no less fraught with threats and worry. In a country under siege there can be no escape from air-raids or even an adulterous wife. "It's no-ones fault" says Hawkins "It's the war, the whole bloody war." A strong supporting cast, includes 'youngsters' Denholm Elliot, Donald Sinden and Stanley Baker.
This is a film that succeeds in telling how dangerously close to the edge the British came during the Battle of the Atlantic and of the enormous impact it had on ordinary individuals. The closing scene leaves the audience with a real sense of how, after five long years of war, a nation was left exhausted and emotionally drained.
The Blue Lamp (1950)
It's a Fair Cop
A classic British drama depicting an unfeasibly decent police force getting to grips with the emerging post war phenomena of teenage delinquency. The main character Sergeant George Dixon and actor Jack Warner later featured in a long running British TV series, Dixon of Dock Green.
Interesting today more for its documentary-style sequences of an austere and bomb damaged London rather than the moralistic tone of the plot. A young Dirk Bogard features as a restless young thief, finding himself out of his depth and in possession of a gun. With girl in tow, his path inevitably crosses that of the benign and grandfatherly figure of PC Dixon with disastrous consequences. Naïve by modern standards, but the gunning down of an unarmed police officer doubtless shocked audiences of the day.
The disgust of police colleagues and the Cockney underworld are clumsily overstated to add spice to the pursuit, but the final scenes where Bogard is cornered in a greyhound track generate tension of the highest order.
Interesting today more for its documentary-style sequences of an austere and bomb damaged London rather than the moralistic tone of the plot. A young Dirk Bogard features as a restless young thief, finding himself out of his depth and in possession of a gun. With girl in tow, his path inevitably crosses that of the benign and grandfatherly figure of PC Dixon with disastrous consequences. Naïve by modern standards, but the gunning down of an unarmed police officer doubtless shocked audiences of the day.
The disgust of police colleagues and the Cockney underworld are clumsily overstated to add spice to the pursuit, but the final scenes where Bogard is cornered in a greyhound track generate tension of the highest order.