Southern Comfort (1981) review

Southern Comfort is a criminally underrated gem of a film, it's a movie I really wish people talked about more.

Southern Comfort follows a squad of National Guardsmen as they head into the Louisiana Swamps for a weekend exercise, however stuff goes wrong when one of the Guardsmen decides to play a prank on the locals living there and soon sparks a war between the two sides.

Southern Comfort takes place in 1973 and is often viewed as an allegory for the Vietnam War, however director Walter Hill denies this connection and told the cast and crew "I don't want to hear anymore about it"

I really liked the way the characters were written, there is a lot of depth to them and you will be questioning their every move and motive. Some of them are flawed but still seem like decent guys whist others are total psychopaths and soon they start fighting amongst themselves and it's all very intense to watch. Especially when one of the other guys nearly gets a bunch of them killed....then stops talking to anyone, leaving the squad confused on how to deal with him.

The movie is stunning to look at, I watched it on a budget DVD but I can imagine the movie looks gorgeous on a Blu-Ray. The film crew went through hell to film this thing and they did it all on location in Caddo Lake, Louisiana,

Ry Cooder's soundtrack is also gorgeous, it's one of those soundtracks that I will just listen to randomly whenever I'm doing a task to relax...it's great stuff.

I've heard about an ANTI-US Iran version in which it's said they guys in the movies have committed crimes in the Vietnam War so they've been sent into the swamps with only blank rounds to fight some angry hostiles but they don't know it. Also the ending was altered slightly.....weird

Southern Comfort is an outstanding film, it has a great cast, beautiful cinematography, a compelling story and an amazing soundtrack. Go see it

 

Collide (2016) review

Collide kinda came out very quietly and was a total bomb at the box office...which has me really sad as I thought this was a pretty damn good little movie. Sure it's not high art, but for a home viewing on a rainy evening it works extremely well.

The movie follows Casey, a Drug Runner forced to take up on final job to get the money needed for his girlfriend's kidney transplant operation...however things go South pretty damn fast and it's a non-stop chase for Casey to save the love of his life.

The script is pretty cliché and corny in a lot of places, however the strong and talented set of actors manage to rise above it and make the story and chain of events very fun and enjoyable to watch. Ben Kingsley and Anthony Hopkins are clearly having fun in their roles, Nicholas Hoult is a good leading protagonist and Felicity Jones is always good in her roles due to her likeable and charming personality.

The action sequences are very well done, those who are worried the movie has any shaky cam or quick cut bullshit will be pleased to know that none of that is present in this movie. Everything is presented very well here, it moves at an exciting pace so you aren't bored but it doesn't give you a goddamn headache either. Lots of very intense and fun car chases although you will laugh at the cliché of the bad guys being the dumbest villains ever as they have numerous chances to kill our hero but decide to monologue instead...giving our hero plenty of opportunity to just punch them and escape...oh well...it's still fun.

I saw a lot of reviews calling the movie boring, but I highly disagree with this. Sure the first 20 mins may be a little slow but around the half-hour mark..the movie is a non-stop chase with Hoult out running psycho thugs and I was never bored at all.

Collide is a lot of fun, if you want a good action movie to relax with it gets a very positive thumbs up.

The Hunley (1999) review

The Hunley is a made for TV movie released in 1999 starring Armand Assante and Donald Sutherland and tells the story of the H.L. Hunley, the first military submarine to sink an enemy in combat.

In 1864, Union Naval ships had Charleston trapped by their blockade and were shelling Charleston constantly, desperate to break the blockade of ships, the Confederates decide to launch an experimental diving torpedo boat.

The movie opens up with the second test-run going horribly wrong, this section of the movie is particularly hard to watch and we constantly cut to the crew screaming and panicking in horror as the submarine fills with water and drowns them.

Despite the damn submarine being a goddamn hazard to the Confederate army, Lt George Dixon (Assante) is convinced he can make it work, so General Beauregard (Sutherland) let's him take command of the sub.

After some trouble, Dixon recruits a new crew and they start training on their mission to sink and kill the Union, saving Charleston!

The Hunley is a very well put together film mostly due to a very strong ensemble cast and very well executed cinematography. The submarine is sometimes a CGI creation and it looks fine, I understand it would have been extremely hard to depict some of the sequences piratically.

The filmmakers did a brilliant job capturing the horrible claustrophobic environment of the submarine, the movie was made just before the real submarine was found, so there are some inaccuracies (the submarine in the movie was actually slightly roomier than the real thing!)

Armand Assante knocks it out of the park, through out the movie you learn more about his character and his backstory.

The supporting cast is a mixed bag, none of them are terrible but we don't really get to know the rest of crew that well except for some basic characteristics eg (One is a hotheaded arsehole, one is a gentle giant, one is a weird dude who can catch fish with his hands and another is a crazy teen who is desperate to be on the sub)

Hell there are 2 guys who I had to look up who their names were after the movie was over.

Sebastian Roche, Michael Stuhlbarg and Frank Vogt were the highlights of the crew.

Also this movie kinda portrays some of the Union soldiers as absolute morons, which I don't understand why they did. I get we are supposed to feel for these guys trying to survive while their city is being reduced to rubble, but that doesn't mean the Union soldiers have to be dumb blithering idiots.

The Hunley is not going to sit-well with everyone, this is a movie that honors the bravery of the Southerners who volunteered to operate the submarine, the people bothered with how the South should be remembered will probably not enjoy the movie.

Also if you are in any way claustrophobic, don't watch this movie...you will shit your pants.

In conclusion, The Hunley is a very nice little historical movie that effectively captures the brutal siege on Charleston in 1864 and the terrifying claustrophobic environment of a 19th Century Submarine.

If you are a Civil War buff or just want to watch an very chilling submarine thriller....this a pretty good one!

Ardennes Fury review

So this movie was made to be a mock-buster of the Brad Pitt film "Fury" surely it sucks right? Well actually I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy this little film.

The film follows a Tank crew during the Battle of the Bulge, they have to make it to an extraction point before the American bombers destroy the area but after they find out an orphanage is in danger they quickly make a last minute decision to save them and try their hardest to make it out alive.

A major disappointment is the lack of tank battles, there is a 5 minute battle sequence as the film opens but the characters spend the majority of the film sneaking around the forest on foot, not that matters as I still really enjoyed the battle scenes and sense of adventure despite the low budget effects. Also people who like to nit-pick things like 'Those are the wrong rifles' or 'That tank is firing the wrong shell' should probably avoid this.

The actors are unknown but they do a really good job, the lead  Tom Stedham as Sgt. Lance Dawson is a very likable character, the whole film he wants to do the right thing and save as many people as he can. Even though Bill Voorhees' character Private C.K. Luinstra starts out as a jerk, I grew to like his character and loved seeing him get his "Crowning Moment of Awesome" at the end.

Ardennes Fury is definitely low budget and has it's silly moments but it's the kind of movie I watch and enjoy anyway. I know I keep saying phrases like "But I still enjoyed it" but it's true, so long as a movie is entertaining and fun to watch....I call it a good movie.

Since the people behind this film (The Asylum) are much more well known for movies like Sharknado. It's very likely Ardennes Fury will get ignored by most film audiences but in my opinion it's one of the better films they have put out

I really enjoyed Ardennes Fury and give it a positive thumbs-up!