Home of the Brave (2006)
Perhaps as a made-for TV movie, Home of the Brave would have been considered solid fare, maybe even supporting enough fine performances by the cast to earn a few choice Emmy nominations. As a theatrical release,...
Perhaps as a made-for TV movie, Home of the Brave would have been considered solid fare, maybe even supporting enough fine performances by the cast to earn a few choice Emmy nominations. As a theatrical release,...
It may be nearly wholly anecdotal material, but Jarhead is a war film not quite like the others, as this one shows almost exclusively what it’s like to be a soldier during those times when there...
1970s / Adventure / Drama / War
by Vincent Leo · Published August 1, 2005 · Last modified May 23, 2019
Winner of Best Picture of 1978, The Deer Hunter was the first major release to deal with the troubling issue of Vietnam head on, with an often unflinching portrayal of the horrors of the war,...
Down Periscope is a comedy without laughs. It’s goofy, light, and amiable, but it’s just not funny. It’s so unfunny, it is actually painful to see just how hard they try to be funny and...
Many of the creative forces behind the hit comedy Animal House reunited for a similar vehicle for Murray, Stripes. This one was a military face, but the formula would be the same, where a group of uncouth...
1980s / Comedy / Musical / War
by Vincent Leo · Published November 22, 2004 · Last modified May 16, 2019
Top Secret! is another laugh-a-minute screwball comedy from the comic minds of Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker, the trio that brought you Airplane! This time out, they skewer a variety of targets, predominantly war films (World War II, generally), musicals, and...
Very loosely based (or basically, as close to complete fiction as one can get without being so) on a real B-17 bomber that fought in World War II, Memphis Belle is a formula Hollywood war...
Director and co-writer Edward Zwick returns back to the thematic territory of his most acclaimed film, Glory, with another rousing adventure full of stirring drama and stunning battle sequences. It’s reminiscent of several other acclaimed films,...
More Rambo than Saving Private Ryan, Behind Enemy Lines hearkens back to the war flicks of the Eighties, with its highly patriotic tone, its glamorization of the fight, and the resolve and diligence of the one-man Army, or in...
Sometimes a film is more than a film. Sometimes it’s an indefinable experience, so gripping and engaging that you soon forget you are even watching a movie. Schindler’s List is one such film. Without a...
Reviews from film writer Vince Leo, covering all eras and genres of films from classics to the latest releases.
Film reviews from Vince Leo, from classics to new releases, since 1996.