Well, Spike Lee took his best shot and...

[gunnergoz]

I recall arguing that Spike Lee had a point about Clint Eastwood under-representing Black Marines in Flags of our Fathers. OK, so now Spike has his chance to prove he can slug it out with Clint as a producer of war films...and it looks like a misfire. Too bad. I'll probably still see it but if the reviewer is even halfway impartial, it looks like a flop and that's unfortunate because Black WW2 veterans still deserve a movie worthy of their sacrifices.

http://www.military.com/entertainment/movies/movie-reviews/movie-review-miracle-at-st.-anna?wh=wh

[GJK]

I crack up when I see the promo's for this movie "...considered one of Spike Lee's best movies of all time.". As compared to what, Jungle Fever????

[John Kettler]

gunnergoz,

I remember that thread. As for the review, if it's even proximally correct, ouch! I think that Spielberg and Hanks, given what they did in BoB and what they're doing in Pacific War, are naturals to do a terrific film on African-American GIs. Either that, or the ones who did Glory and The Tuskeegee Boys, both of which I thought were terrific.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Subvet]

I didn't think Jungle Fever was too bad. I kind of enjoyed it.

[Abbott]

because Black WW2 veterans still deserve a movie worthy of their sacrifices.

No they don't. There have been plenty of WWII movies about veterans. So what if they are black, yellow or white. Hell, I have a brother-in-law who is a veteran and an Indian Jew, I guess they also deserve a movie worthy of their sacrifice!

[mike_the_wino]

Yes, we need more movies about Indian Jew war veterans. Their plight has long been neglected by Hollywood.

[Black Jack Pershing II]

... Indian Jew war veterans ...

To raise the insensitivity factor a bit more, are you talking about dots or feathers?

[mike_the_wino]

Why are you discriminating? Is there a plethora of either? Was there a single Jewish Indian in Windtalkers? Nay, sadly, not a single one.

[Dave H]

Roger Ebert, someone who has seen a few movies both good and bad, has given the film three stars and a wonderful review on his site. I'm sure the reviewer at Military.com can find some other less complex war film to enjoy like the abysmal "Gods and Generals".

Apparently some would prefer to turn their backs on the ugly reality of the million American soldiers who received worse treatment, worse shelter, worse food and worse medical care than the Nazi POWs housed on the same American military bases. Ignoring our history does such a great job of making it go away.

[GJK]

My guess is "Glory" did a better job than this flick, which appears to have WWII/Black soldiers as a side story to some murder/treasure hunt plot.

[GordJ]

its unfortunate that spike hasn't apparently done much research into finding an actual military advisor - the question of worthiness of the subject matter aside (there is no question there are still many, many worthy stories to be told regarding ww2) he's dragged the level of authenticity backwards a few steps with his grey painted m3 halftracks and smokepuffing cannons without recoil, etc. not that it matters if the story is good, but with the level or realism raised by other projects like saving private ryan ect. its a shame that the same high standards can't be maintained - and you would think an 'underdog' so to speak would try that much harder to 'get it right'. the same problem plagued the tuskeegee airmans movie on home box office a few years ago, with p-51 mustangs subtituting for p-40 and other type airplanes, which were used before the black fliars received their mustangs.

[Subvet]

Roger Ebert, someone who has seen a few movies both good and bad, has given the film three stars and a wonderful review on his site.

Ebert is the guy who gave "Die Hard" 2 stars and "Speed 2: Cruise Control" 3 stars (out of 4). Movie fans on IMDB gave "Die Hard" 8.2 out of 10 and "Speed 2" 3.3 out of ten. I tend to believe the general public over so called "experts" when it comes to reviews.

Here's a review from IMDB:

Wow.. where do I start?

In the opening credits you knew something was going to go wrong when you saw "40 Acres and a Mule Production"..

This will be the worst 2 hours and 40+ Minutes of your life.

The bad parts of this movie?

The Screen Play, The Directing, The Acting and the way they dumb down the film.. oh and at most of the times during the film the soundtrack was really bad and inappropriate..

The soldiers you could tell have had very little training to play as soldiers. At one point in the movie where they pick up a stretcher it looks like they are AFRAID to even be on film..

There is a part where two of the lead actors in the film are arguing in the courtyard, the acting is so bad and seem's so forced you almost want to get up and leave the theater.

This might be the only movie where I wish I didn't have to review and blog about it so I could have left the theater.

Yea its that bad.

If you see positive ratings on this movie and reviews from other people about it tell you how great it is.. YOU ARE BEING SCAMMED..

Avoid this movie at all costs. It's not even worth a download..

It isn't worth having on for free on HBO on some Saturday when its poring rain outside.

Nice work spike, you lost your touch.. Thanks for wasting our time and the movie industries money. I am sure you don't care you got yours $$$.

[JonS]

(there is no question there are still many, many worthy stories to be told regarding [insert cause du'jour here])

'Worthy'? Who cares about 'worthy'? If I want 'worthy' I'll donate to a charity.

I go to the cinema to see interesting and engaging stories.

Not charity cases.

[gunnergoz]

No they don't. There have been plenty of WWII movies about veterans. So what if they are black, yellow or white. Hell, I have a brother-in-law who is a veteran and an Indian Jew, I guess they also deserve a movie worthy of their sacrifice!

Since the official US policy at the time was racially-biased segregation and discrimination, it seems only fair and just to me to have the film industry reflect that in their productions...WWII veterans were not treated uniformly for their sacrifices; how they were treated after the war reflected the social norms of the time. Hence the justification for specialized treatments for minority experiences in film and novels. If one were to listen to you, the Jim Crow era never existed and the USA was a paragon of equal treatment and opportunity for all races - everyone got treated the same then and everyone gets praised the same now. To me, your flippant attitude concerning the history and perspective of other groups and minorities seems to reflect a certain personal centrism, i.e. a belief that the experience and recollection of your collective group (presumably white people) is the norm. I think that's plain naive but you are welcome to disagree.

[Panzer_M 2.0]

well Tuskegee with Fishburn(sp) was a 1/2 ass movie too..and just support the redtail myth of them being "crack" pilots.

Yea they were good at busting ground targets, but sinking a destroyer and never losing a bomber on a escort mission are both a stretch of reality.

I am taking my dad to see Spike's WWII joint sunday on 4$day..figured as bad as it is, it might still be better than the low-brow comedies and whatnot that hollywood also makes,

And don't worry boys Hope is coming.

Little Iron Men.

http://www.littleironmen.com/

http://www.littleironmen.com/wmvtrailer.html

The true story of Japanese-American 100th442ndengage in a brutal battle to save a trapped battalion of Allied soldiers in the face of prejudice and mistrust.

[Abbott]

Since the official US policy at the time was racially-biased segregation and discrimination, it seems only fair and just to me to have the film industry reflect that in their productions...WWII veterans were not treated uniformly for their sacrifices; how they were treated after the war reflected the social norms of the time. Hence the justification for specialized treatments for minority experiences in film and novels. If one were to listen to you, the Jim Crow era never existed and the USA was a paragon of equal treatment and opportunity for all races - everyone got treated the same then and everyone gets praised the same now. To me, your flippant attitude concerning the history and perspective of other groups and minorities seems to reflect a certain personal centrism, i.e. a belief that the experience and recollection of your collective group (presumably white people) is the norm. I think that's plain naive but you are welcome to disagree.

WWII vets of all colors have my respect, none more then others, especially in these times when our freedoms are held hostage by the color of someone's skin. If they survived a combat post in WWII then my hat is off to them and they are, have been and will continue to be treated with my respect anytime I come across them. White, black, brown, red or yellow. None more then others.

I slept in a room addition next to my dad's room where a once exterior window was converted to knick-knack shelves which separated mine and my brother's room from our father's room. I spent many nights as a child listening to my father's screams of bombings and his friends dying as he futility yelled for them to seek cover or tried to hold their insides with his hands while they died. Jap bombs will do that to a soldier. The 2 or 3 times my father spoke of his experiences were equally tough. One that sticks with me he said "We were being bombed and I was running for a hole. As I ran I could see explosions off to both sides of me, the next thing I noticed I was up level at the tops of the Palm trees, running in the air. I was still running when I hit the ground, fell to my knees got up, ran and dived into a hole in the ground".

That racist bastage Spike Lee makes it difficult to appreciate anything he does especially after he tried to ride Clint Eastwood's talent as publicity for his work.

Are Sicilians white people?

[von Lucke]

Carter's Army

1970 --- stars Stephen Boyd(!) as a Southern officer assigned to command an all-black infantry unit in WW2 Italy. The troopers are filled out by Richard Pryor(!), Billy Dee Williams, Moses Gunn, and Rosie Greer. A great cast in a so-so story (it was the 1970's, after all), but still better than Spike's bizarre hybrid of war movie / mystical realism / black historical revisionism.

[GordJ]

'Worthy'? Who cares about 'worthy'? If I want 'worthy' I'll donate to a charity.

I go to the cinema to see interesting and engaging stories.

Not charity cases.

i meant "worthY" as in "interesting and engaging"

sorry for the confusion

[Wilhammer]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4853669.ece

"Mr Lee said that the film, which follows the fate of four black GIs, was intended “to restore the voice of black soldiers who fought in the war.” He said that “not all Italians admired the partisans", many of whom had fled to the mountains and left civilians to face the Nazis. “I have not invented anything," he declared. However Giovanni Cipollini, the deputy head of the partisans' association Anpi, at the town of Pietrasanta in Tuscany, said that the film was a “false reconstruction” and a “travesty of history". Didala Gherarducci, the secretary of Anpi at Viareggio, said that her husband had died in the massacre, and that she had written to Mr Lee to tell him that his "false" version of events "weighs on my heart like a stone"."