I admit I only watched the first 30 minutes before I shut it off. 30 wasted minutes.
I don't look for absolute accuracy all of the time, but this was written and directed by someone who has no F'in clue what POW's went through. Dragged by a water buffalo for 50 whole feet for telling the camp commander to F off?? Oh, the humanity.
Don't bother with this drivel.
I thought the same thing...but it gets better. Give it a 2nd chance its worth watching. Not a masterpiece but entertaining. On a side note you shouldn't talk trash about a film until you actually watch the whole thing.
shareI didnt like this movie much it was ok i suppose but really slow moving.
shareYes, I think that at least 30 minutes of the dialogue whilst they were in the camp could have been cut, not least for the sake of brevity and to hold viewers' attention spans. For me the movie dragged and didn't contain enough of the usual fully-charged excitement you'd normally expect from a fairly big Hollywood release. The plot might have been better suited to a documentary type format with narration and interviews helping the viewer appreciate Dengler & co.'s predicament a bit better.
shareHerzog has already done that. Little Dieter Learns To Fly.
Shame, shame. Don't you know ponytails are out this season?
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Your a fool. End of discussion
Masuka: Yeah, the Bay Harbor Butcher has really butchered my online social life.
Dexter: *sorry*
"Your a fool. End of discussion"
And you, dear sir or madam, are an idiot for leaving the apostrophe and finial 'e' out of "you're" and not ending the second sentence with a period (or fullstop as the case may be.)
An insult coming from someone that doesn't even know the difference between "your" and "you're", and how to use them in a sentence, that's pretty funny. Safe to say you just use "there" in every situation that calls for a "they're", "their", or "there" as well.
shareWhy don't you change this Thread name to:
"This movie is horribly bad in the first 30 minutes, but then i stopped watching because i am super elite and know everything about being a Prisoner of War, which makes me even more super elite"
I was a POW jackass.
shareYou got caught because you're stupid.
sharein that case you should have the patients to sit through more than 30 mins of a film. I've been (as a visitor) to the Hanoi Hilton and traveled extensively throughout Laos Thailand and Cambodia and know historically what POW's went through and its pretty acturate. The tourture gets worse after the buffalo towing and Bale lost 1/3 his body weight to play the role. watch the F%$&ing movie then form an opinion.
I think Jeff the sailor took the small boat...
Should he change his occupation from sailor to doctor and begin to amass these...patients you would like him to have, I will be interested in the effect this has on his opinion of the film.
shareI will accept the reasonable feedback from matthew and insane and watch the whole film. I'll reserve my comments until then, like I should have. I appreciate the different perspectives.
shareGood for you man, I think my comment was a little harsh.
shareI agree. Its hard to understand, with all the problems with this movie, that anyone could give it high marks. From the opening scenes where we see our hero in an ill fitting flight suit ( no self respecting Naval Aviator would be seen in), to the terrible continuity editing, to the tired old "really cool fighter pilots bamboozle the stupid inept CIA guys" (in fact, the Navy sent in a SEAL team to bring him back to the carrier). Unlike sailor_jeff, I watched the whole thing, but it was just short of painful to do so.
The fact that it was severely criticized by members of the family of Eugene DeBruin, Dengler, and Pisidhi Indradat, the one other survivor of the group should not be lost on anyone giving this movie high marks. Now just because an adventure flick is based on a true story it does not mean it has to adhere to the truth as long as its entertaining and not hurtful. But for those who are interested enough to comment here they should be interested enough to consider how it must be for DeBruin's family to see their loved one (From all I can find a good guy and a brave man) portrayed almost as a kind of Charlie Manson (a role Jeremy Davies is not unfamiliar with).
What an honest self-evaluating man. Takes some crazy bad remarks, filters out the crap, and gives it a second try. You, sir, are to be commended. If you really were a POW thank you for your service, and the best to you. I have only personally known 1 POW from the Viet Nam war well, he was a helicopter pilot and when I met him at Ft. Sheridan he was as skinny as a rail still. But he was a man who really knew himself, and therefore others. I respected him because of who he was, rather than just because he survived the POW experience. You, sir, remind me of him.
shareI watched it and found it an entertaining movie. Good Bale, very good Zahn, excellent Davies performances under an accomplished direction by Herzog, though not his best.
Sailor, do bear in mind that Hollywood does not stick to portray factual history details but to impress (most) viewers; their only responsibility is getting cash for the box office. I could have complained about the latest Indiana Jones as I am from Peru: watch it if you want a *beep* of history / geography inexactitudes.
No offense, but are you a herzog groupie? This film was 1 star above meandering, pedestrian nonsense. You think this was “good bale” or anyone else for that matter? Well the midget was cool. I watched the whole movie, something I can say I will never do again, and my jaw slowly hit its lowest point in concert with the agonizing amazement at how little acting talent bale possesses. I really believe I found an actor with a narrower range than Ben Afleck. Zahn did a plausible job, and Davies I found laughable. And please do not get started on the direction. <shutters> This was amateurish at best, and no... I don't care who the director was...it was amateur. I've watched far too many great POW movies to think this is anything but drivel.
share[deleted]
So being a POW makes you an expert on someone elses experiences?
sharePictures or it didn't happen
share[deleted]
sailor jeff is a liar, or extremely inept at humor.
90% of all military claims online are fake.
hows that for drivel, jeff the fraud ???
The issue with me is OP claims he is a veteran who was a POW and we have to take his claim at face value. This is the internet anyone can make things up.
The OPs main complaint was the film did not reflect his view of a life as a POW. Well this was based on Dieter's version not his. I think different POWs had different experiences.
It's that man again!!
"Why don't you change this Thread name to:
"This movie is horribly bad in the first 30 minutes, but then i stopped watching because i am super elite and know everything about being a Prisoner of War, which makes me even more super elite""
Well said.
regardless you guys should respect a veteran, especially a POW
but being a military man myself its hard to watch military movies, because you can easily pick up on things that dont belong, my suggestion is stop watching war movies...
theres only a few worthy war movies anyway
I think we all miss the point, it is a movie, not a documentry. Of course there will be things that will make you go wtf that's bs
HEY NOW!
respect a veteran? why? because they're white trash that were too stupid to go to college or a tech school so they joined up with the military out desperation and self interest? this serving my country crap is bs. few care about their country, and if they really do, than that's pathetic. actually it's fascist: patriotism is just fascism. me, i'm a citizen of the world as thomas paine said: "The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion." and he did more for the us than all the thousands of white trash pissants running around in trenches because they were too stupid and lazy to get real careers or not courageous enough to go to jail or leave the country and start over in the case of a draft, or were ignorant fascists who think the us is the best country in the world (lol, not by far by many standards). no, veterans deserve to be pitied at best, and usually reviled for the ignorant worthless animals they are.
and yes i live (unfortunately) in the us.
"and yes i live (unfortunately) in the us."
You can always move. Unless you are to *beep* i n g stupid or broke to do so. We won't miss you.
Or, you could just kill yourself.
Not cool. So not cool. Never, ever tell people to kill themselves. Seriously.
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Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
I was just watching this on DVD and stopped to look up some quick facts, and then I saw this thread... I'm missing the movie now - this is far more entertaining! But seriously, it’s entertainment first right? And even though it's not a life changing, politically-correct statement of some kind, it is entertaining.
However I am more interested in what Dieter Dengler ‘s family and the other families think of it? Bottom line – I could watch Steve Zahn in just about anything!
And by the way, "arete" should leave the US if he really feels this way. Unfortunately, there are some that feel the same about "The world is my country..." and they think that their "religion" is right (i.e. Adolph Hitler). I'll leave this one to another vet.
carpe diem
J.R.S.
And you probably also cheer when a bomb goes off in a crowded disco with service men or when water engineers get beheaded because they are such "imperialist pigs". From your racist ranting about "white trash" filling up the army ranks, I gather you must be differently coloured and full of self-hatred because of it. This is your weakness. The evil in you is taking your shortcomings out on a whole race. Thomas Paine my ***.
shareNicely put, my dear sir. If your fellow Americans come after you for this comment, you can stay at my crib here in "the old Europe".
"Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious" - Oscar Wilde
To the loser Arete 1.
Respect your veterans, maybe you want to think about that you live in peace and have the life you possess because of our veterans. Do you think the veterans who served in WWII to stop Hitler were white trash too? Not to say the Vietnam War was right but in any case there's no reason to disrespect our veterans who served to protect us. You probably think the cops are useless too because we would all live in peace with each other if they weren't there. Many of our soldiers are educated unlike you, did you know they have an officers program for college graduates, better yet they offer help with going to college after serving, wake up from under your rock buddy. You're a citizen of the world, actually you're an idiot because you're a citizen of the U.S., why don't you take a trip to North Korea and see how welcoming they are. I think we might enjoy seeing that so you should bring a camera for us. I wonder how much of Thomas Paine you would quote to the guards if you were a POW. Anyways that's as much typing as I'll waste on you.
Thanks to those who serve our country and all the veterans. If it weren't for you I wouldn't be headed to law school in August and able to pursue my dreams. I would probably be dead, living under fascism and tyranny, or waiting for the next bomb to drop. Thanks again to the OP and all the other men and women who have served.
Arete1
I tell you one thing, you sure picked a bad day to make your post. It's on my birthday, and one day BEFORE Dieter Dengler was rescued in Laos. I consider that the highlight of my career. I was the radio operator who received the initial call of Dieter being spotted. I got off at noon, and found out that evening that he had escaped from a POW Camp. I didn't find out who he was until 1997, and I got a chance to talk to him in the same year.
Dieter started out his career in the Air Force, but, he was determined to be a pilot, so when he got out, he switched to the Navy after going to college. In survival training, the other students remarked that if Dieter was ever to be captured, he would find out a way to escape. He only weighed 90 pounds when he was rescued.
Now, that being said, are you a veteran? Many people don't realize that veterans share a certain comraderie, hardly found in the private sector. You need to thank the veterans who are serving their country, or have served.
You need to go to a military cemetery or a civilian one that has veterans buried there.
This sounds like back in the 70's where Vietnam Veterans were called baby killer, dope heads and worse. FINALLY the veterans are being treated the way they should have 30 years ago. My hats off to every veteran who is serving or has served.
There were many veterans who did go to college in the 70's, were drafted and placed where the Army needed them. Many joined to serve their country.
Where else can you serve your country, get an education, and even see the world.
Oh, by the way I am a Retired Vietnam Veteran (66, 67-68, 69), all with the US Air Force, but, attached to Army units.
and yes i live (unfortunately) in the us.
Arete and Brain Gremlin - Its sad to read what you have written.
Its true that most military men join up because they find no better prospects elsewhere, because of their limitations. But that being said, they did fight and some of them did die, so that you could lead a better life.
Please stop this 'citizen of the World' crap. You can make such utopian statements only because your borders are protected by the same people you despise. If it were not for them, citizens from other countries of the world would have raped your women and killed your children.
I'm an Indian and I respect all soldiers, even the Pakistani ones which I wish dead. Please respect Veterens and Soldiers. Spend only 90 seconds to see this very touching youtube clip. ( its called Veer Jawan - Social )Its the only one time in my life I cried on viewing something.I hope you change your opinion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXCOwueEbGw
Darkness lies an inch ahead
Should us non-Americans also respect your "heroes"?
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Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
Yes. Why wouldn't you?
shareThe question is why I would.
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Sad story. You got a smoke?
No, the question is: Why wouldn't you?
shareAs long as you think soldiers of any nation are worth respect. Someone who killed for your country earns no respect from me unless doing something I find particularly commendable.
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Sad story. You got a smoke?
And why is that?
shareAh, I see. You're not being serious. My bad.
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Sad story. You got a smoke?
Your observation is incorrect; I am being serious. So far you have given no reason why American veterans do not deserve respect from you, regardless of what country you are a citizen of.
shareBecause they were just killers from where I'm standing. They weren't attacking me, they weren't defending me. One group of people killing another; where my respect for them should come in, I know not.
But I don't know if my initial comment was even relevant. I can't remember if any of the sort was suggested, but I believe my point was: when talking on this forum, you aren't just talking to Americans. You could be telling people non-allied with the US they should respect the soldiers of your wars. That doesn't wash.
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Sad story. You got a smoke?
Then I guess you're an *beep*?
You should respect every person unless given a reason not to.
*beep* that. He specifically told us to respect veterans, not people in general, saying we should respect them for what they did. I don't. The lack of respect I have, in the end, is for a group of people I don't know in any way, shape or form. I'm disrespecting hypothetical people.
It's just a view.
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Sad story. You got a smoke?
Then your view is that you shouldn't give veterans extra respect.
shareYes, it is indeed. But that's exactly what the commenter I initially replied to was suggesting; that they deserve more respect than others.
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Sad story. You got a smoke?
This commenter?
regardless you guys should respect a veteran, especially a POWshare
but being a military man myself its hard to watch military movies, because you can easily pick up on things that dont belong, my suggestion is stop watching war movies...
theres only a few worthy war movies anyway
I didn't like it very much either. I got to 1hr 15mins.
share[deleted]
[deleted]
You do realize that army/navy/marine/air force pilots are officers, right? In order to be a military officer you must have a bachelors degree from an accredited college. Most pilots have engineering degrees (most difficult bachelor). Not everyone in the military is a grunt. But there are infantry officers who have bachelor's degrees. Do some research before you open your mouth (well before you "type" anyway).
shareDo you think the US would put retards on their borders to defend the millions of citizens living in the country? ...No matter what theories you have of the U.S, its quite understandable that soldiers and troops, whether they're fighting for themselves or for the betterment of their country, are fighting for all of us. I can't see how you can be so illogical when something such as "protecting your country and its people" has no logic. It's principle...
I'm sure if a "retarded" or "lazy" soldier was 10 feet away from you and certain death at the end of an assailant's barrel, would you just take a shot in the head without pleading for his assistance. You and that other idiot only talk out of your A$$ because you grew up in a society where the people that matter aren't appreciated. No one cares about the past and how they got here, and that goes for most, if not all races. The few that do are the ones that are sensible enough to know the difference between an idiot and a smart person. IQ doesn't mean sh!t if you don't even have common sense to begin with.
If you love Jesus Christ and are 100% proud of it copy this and make your signature!
[deleted]
I thought it was good. Your criticism is HORRIBLE.
Just don't bother criticising it since you have no clue what POW's in Vietnam went through either.
Chuck Norris is Luke Skywalker’s real fathershare
I saw the film when it came out in theaters and I thought it was really really bad. It was on tv again recently and I only caught like the last 20 minutes which werent so bad, but then I remembered that I didnt watch the previous 110 minutes this time. I think I didnt like this film for the same reason I didnt like Thin Red Line.
I am Jack's complete lack of surprise
This movie was amazing. Thoughtful, complex, and with really interesting and unique characters, not like what we see in most movies. Congratulations to all the naysayers: you're going to look mighty silly in a few years' time when this movie's rep goes up and up, just like so many of Herzog's other movies (which are now considered classics even though they weren't at the time of their original release). The reception of this movie was no different to the reception of all of Herzog's early feature films. Real originality and real genius always confuses people who are used to being spoonfed easy answers.
I also enjoyed this movie. Some of the scenes are a little stitled which I would blame on the editing but all in all the performances were credible and the suspense believable. Without knowing a great deal of knowledge in reference to the real events I enjoyed the movie as an separate entity. I wish people wouldn't politicise things.
sharei love the movie because it's different,it talks on someone who was naive and optimist on the world. It's true ,there is no explosion,no robot,no Megan Fox :only good actors and the jungle!
share