One way I catch/watch movies is to take a director who is critically acclaimed and start watching his/her movies. This works better than choosing an actor and watching his/her movies. Maybe using an Internet portal like IMDB is a better way of choosing movies if the number of movies you watch is limited and you don’t have all that much time.
Stanley Kubrick more than qualifies as a well acclaimed director and so, I have been watching a few of his movies of late. (He is a celebrity director in fact) This movie in particular was suggested by quite a few people. I have seen 2001: A Space Odyssey by Kubrick earlier. I liked the movie, but as all critically acclaimed movies, I did not get up after the movie with a smile all happy and pleased feeling good about myself or feeling pumped up and motivated in life.
Well, I did not recognise anyone in the cast while I was watching the movie. Adam Baldwin I seem to have heard off somewhere. Matthew Modine who narrates the tale as Pvt.Joker I later on found out has acted in Transporter 2 and Notting Hill. While I have watched both movies, I have no recollection whatsoever of me having seen him. Maybe he looked different and I did not recognise him. Oh,wait I didn’t know him when I saw those movies and hence would have ignored him as just another character in the movie.
Coming to the movie itself, it is the tale of a Marine, his training and later his experience in Vietnam. As a former student of an Army school (though not as intense as he movie portrays), I was able to confirm and appreciate the going ons inside the training centre. That’s how they really work.
As for the Vietnam part, it was very brief and well done. The sniper towards the very end and what happens when you disobey a direct command is portrayed wonderfuly-you endanger your life and also others’ lives. People who play games like Counter Strike should be able to appreciate the strategy of having a lone sniper hidden in a deserted location.
The ending like with the other Kubrick movie I have watched was not one with a message or an inspiration. It was just a normal ending to an otherwise beautiful movie. Watch the expletives though. They are many in number.
a-17
