Reviews

How wonderfully surprised I was to see this film.. I felt as if I had stumbled into an art film house in the seventies. It's an instant classic. These film makers went back to a very simple and trusted idea that modern films have wholly forgotten – "it's the script stupid!" Tell me a story. A good story is entertainment all by itself. Forget all the hoopla about special effects, and explosions, and blood – nudity. Tell people a good story, and that's how you make an instant classic. As far as sci-fi/sci-fantasy goes, it's up there with "Metropolis," "THX 1138," "2001 A Space Odyssey, "Blade Runner," and "Millennium." I thought the art direction was fantastic; it looks like the Moon. Great job guys! There are so few modern films worth watching in a theatre – go see this one.

There are three great war movies. This film is at the top of the list. You will not be able to get these images out of your thoughts. I would not categorize this film as anti-war; rather, I'd say it takes a realistic look at the battle/conflict it portrays and does not flinch at failing to romanticize any part of the story. You might see the narrator's story somewhat romantic, but the loss suffered here justifies the actions of the character. All in all a brilliant story of war like you have never seen it before. The story also examines bureaucratic Japan after the war – that's where the story really packs a punch.

There is beautiful scene involving a last meal that puts this writer/screen writer and this director at the top of my list. Great movie.

By the way, the other two great war movies are, "Battle of Algiers" and "Queimada."

The problem with a comedian posing as documentarian, or posing as an intellectual in pursuit of knowledge, is that he is unaware of what a boob he is in the hands of the film maker and editor. Bill Maher is front and center as the cheerleader in the Christian holy war against Islam. He is the star of a film that justifies the xenophobia of the current thinking that pits the Christian World against the Muslim World. The film starts with the goal of showing the irrationality of religious faith, but spends a considerable amount of time portraying the Christian faith and Islam locked in the final battle of end times, ostensibly supported by verses from the New Testament and the Haddiths. Great job Maher. You start out with a diatribe about self-fulfilling prophesies but you participate in a movie that does just what it warns us about. I suppose you believe you struck a blow against irrationality – you didn't -- instead you've made a propaganda film that supports the war parties' irrational views for a 100 year war. You beat a very old drum that dates back to the crusades.

When you see a great movie like this one, you wonder what happened to the country that made these great films? Have all the good screen writers of today been precluded from a voice in Hollywood or were those writers and directors of yesteryear just that good? Mahin did a great job in adapting the story for the big screen. I liked the changes he made to the story. I'm at a loss to adequately describe the great efforts made here – I'll just say that this film is first rate at all levels. This film is part of the gold standard – this is how you tell a story on film. While watching it I felt that I was on that boat; that I had been transformed by the story. This is movie making and story telling at its best.

Manuel Fidello lives!

Even 70 years later I have to congratulate all involved in the making of this film. What a treasure.

I recommend this film for viewing. The film maker was able to obtain direct interviews with some of the soldiers involved in this chapter of American history. I don't think it's unfair to say that it is an important record concerning the events at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq during the American occupation. As such, it should be viewed by anyone interested in this subject.

I credit the film maker with allowing the soldiers involved to present some part of their story and also allowing one soldier to point out that only soldiers at lower levels would suffer prosecution.

The film would be better if it addressed the White House's views on torture and the legal documents giving rise to the same. Also, the film should have presented more opinions from the legal community regarding accepted standards of care for prisoners, prisoners of war, enemy combatants and the like.

Nonetheless, I found the film informative. I would not classify most documentaries as objective, and therefore, I don't mind the slanted view on the screen, but as far as film goes, the film maker did try to give the soldiers some opportunity to tell their story -- and their side of the story (that superiors were responsible for the policy) has some merit.

I'm saddened that these events were committed by Americans. As one of the soldiers pointed out – others actions have occurred that are more troubling – but nobody took pictures.

We as citizens of the US rely on our elected representatives to direct the foreign affairs of our country. Our Congress has oversight authority concerning these matters. Don't give up on the American system.

I did chuckle at the score during the human pyramid scene – truly stuporous.

European museums are filled with antiquities from all over the world. Did the Louvre hide those treasures, or were they forgotten by the German Army – or by these film makers in the editing room?

The truth is that "war-booty" is a common European cultural heritage. Change the subject to the art and artifacts of conquests and murders in the past and the debate is very different. The New World Peoples have their religious artifacts strewn throughout European museums. When will they be returned? That's not the subject of the film some would say. Wrong! That's exactly the subject of the film, but we see only the part of the debate the film makers want to show us, as if the German army invented "war-booty," as if European "art" were the only valuables in the subject museums.

Where is the concern about the "plundered" antiquities in Iraq? The film makers look at the past and make no comment about the "plundering" occurring today? These film makers believe the entire world is blind and in doing so show their own blindness. Return all antiquities/art to the countries from which they were removed.

"If you had told me twenty years ago that I was going to see people with green hair and bones through their noses..."

If you had told me twenty years ago that a movie denouncing the deteriorating culture of the United States would focus on blood and guts and gratuitous violence...

It seems esoteric and almost stupid to write about a standard or an ethic the writer will not meet in his film. "The greatest screen villain of all time" – that, is the only film on the screen, and yet it makes some pretense at being more than that, or even some sort of denouncement of violence. Make your gore films, but don't try to tell others it's more than that. This is a simple formula film with an ambiguous ending.

It was well acted all around.

It's a small story about "small" people. If you like films about real world people, see this film. It's a film that doesn't flinch in showing small town New York. It's a great achievement in American film – I'm sure no one will notice. Maybe the audience doesn't exist for these films anymore, but that shouldn't prevent the making of them. Make them for the audience of the future.

Give this film some time and people will come to it. The score was noteworthy – very nice. Somebody did a great job putting this film together. It flows they way a good story should – just enough humor and just enough pathos for a complete story. Do you like the films made after the fall of the Hollywood system and before the rise of the Lucas/Spielberg juggernaut? This one is good enough to play with the big boys.

Like the film characters, these film makers are some of the last hold-outs in making film stories the way they should be made -- character driven, and about something.

Do you like music? Do you like the sound of the conga and the timbale? Go see this film. I don't know if it accurately portrayed Hector and his wife as they were, but I do know the music rocked! Can it be true that this music is rooted in the Puerto Rican experience in America? An amalgamation of styles – the sounds of America? Is America the sounding board for the music that makes the world dance? I was dancing in the isles while the movie was playing – the sound was fantastic (props to the sound engineers) and Marc Anthony rocked the house. Yes, the story was everything you'd expect from a life in the fast lane, but the music rose above it, as it should, and framed the story with it's sublime poetry. I left dancing, happy to have seen this musical slice of life in New York, U.S.A. Keep on dancing! There is also fun in the U.S. of A!

I counted 5 musical numbers in the film. All of them were seamless; they flowed in and out of the story. I am no fan of musicals, but as I was watching this film it occurred to me what I don't like about American musicals – I don't like the "Broadway Show Tune" music. Somehow this music seemed appropriate to the film; the story is "over the top" and fits the music of this Bollywood musical. I was actually tapping my foot to the musical numbers.

As far as I'm concerned this film is what a musical should be. The action scenes are great, but for me, the musical scenes were better. For those of you who may say there is no singing in an action film, go see this one to see how it's done. Singing, dancing -- and guns! Hooray for Bollywood!

I rented the restored version of this film. The restored version contained Capra's ending. There isn't that much difference between the two endings, but Capra's is better. Capra creates saccharine films that get in the way of the story, or maybe that's just a 2006 viewpoint. I still enjoyed this film. Others on this board have referenced the darkness in the book, and have peaked my curiosity about the book. Maybe Capra just isn't inclined to show darkness in his films. No matter, it's a wonderful film.

I certainly would not classify this movie as an old movie, because there is nothing else like it. I would suggest the High Lama's main speech is a radical interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount, and you don't find many movies with similar themes. The restored version contains those portions of the speech that were edited in other versions. The liner notes reference the film as too much of a peace statement at the time of its making. It's too much of a peace statement in 2006. The commentary included in the DVD states the film was first show at a length of 3 ½ hours. I would have liked to have seen all that footage.

Unfortunately the restored version was pieced together and we see variations in the footage, variations that call attention to the difference. Too bad. Joseph Walker's and Elmer Dyer's filming is beautiful. These "black and white" guys new what they were doing. There work is timeless. Thank you all (Robert Gitt of UCLA and Sony) who patiently restore their work. For me, movies LIVE in 35 mm, black and white. This one did not disappoint, although as mentioned, some of the original negative has been lost. Fitting, really, for a movie titled, "Lost Horizon". I see Capra's last shot – it's beautiful!

Well maybe it's not all history. The screen writer may have inserted the love story. However, the love story did not get in the way of the history. What a wonderful slice of history. I rented this movie and enjoyed the extras that were included in the DVD. Why aren't there more movies like this one? See this film. It's just a good film made in the way films used to be made. No twists and turns, no funny camera angles, no cartoons (known as computer generated special effects to some); it's just a straight up story. Some might complain at the portrayal of the Japanese, but according to the survivors interviewed for the DVD extras, the film maker got it right.