Donald White (donaldwhite1)

The Usual Suspects R

On the surface this is a good crime/gangster movie. It's a good story with good action. What sets it apart from other action movies is the surprise ending. Kevin Spacey got an Academy Award for his role; however, he was also in the movie "Se7en" the same year. I think he got the award for both movies but was only nominated one that wasn't as disturbing. I first saw this movie on VHS tape at home. I have the DVD now.

Metropolis PG-13

Pioneering Science Fiction Movie.
This is one of the first Science Fiction films. I have the 1998 DVD. It was made from a poor copy and you can't see a lot of the pictures. It has poor contrast and a lot of the pictures are so faded you can't make out what's happening. I also got the restored Authorized Version. It's 100% better. The pictures are clear with good contrast compared to the 1998 un-restored version. It is a silent picture that makes it hard to follow since it's too long. Since the new version has restored some lost scenes that makes it even longer. There are lots of classic scenes that are used in TV and modern movies since the film was in the public domain for many years. There is also a scene not shown on TV, a topless scene where the android does an exotic dance in a night club. The new version has been digitally restored and missing scenes added. What looks like a topless scene in the un-restored version turns out to be large pasties that can't be made out in the faded out version but can be seen in the restored version. The restored version added text descriptions of the scenes they couldn't find. They found some new footage in South America but wasn't in this 2001 version. Now there is a "Complete Metropolis" CD out. It flows much smother when the lost footage added even though the quality of the lost footage is pretty bad. They copied the robot for C3PO in Star Wars. The German director was inspired by a trip to New York. However his wife wrote the script and she was a socialist who later became a Nazi. Her vision of the 21st century looked a lot like the world Hitler tried to create. This was supposed to be Hitler's favorite movie. This shows what the Germans were thinking in the 1920's. They believed they lived in a world where the people were cogs in a machine and the planners lived in luxury. All that was needed for a perfect world was a savior to set things right. This was the theme of the movie. When Hitler came along the German people latched onto him as that savior. The director Fritz Lang later realized how stupid the story was years later. When Hitler came to power he split Germany and moved to the United States to make movies in Hollywood while his ex-wife stayed behind and became a loyal Nazi.

The Guns of Navarone Unrated

This is the action adventure movie all others are compared against. The story is set in an exotic Greek island location during World War II. A small group of commandos on a desperate mission to destroy a set of German coastal guns that stand between the British Navy and thousands of outnumbered British soldiers trapped on a Greek Island near Turkey about to be captured by the Germans. The movie is set in the spring or early summer of 1941 after the British had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Germans in Greece and Crete. It is a true fact that the British barely were able to evacuate their defeated troops to Egypt before they were taken prisoners. The rest of the story is fiction. There is no Island of Navarone and the Germans never installed any big guns in Greece. Unlike many war movies, the Germans speak German to each other, not English. The violence is quick and brutal. There is no waste of ammunition for the sake of typical Hollywood action. The bullets don't explode, they just poke holes in people killing them. The special effects were good in 1960 but today it's obviously done with models. The story explores the morality of war and the duty of a soldier. When the mission commander breaks his leg his second in command must choose whether to sacrifice the life of his friend or the success of his mission. Later when a traitor is found in their mist they must decide whether she should live or die. I first saw this movie on TV when I was a kid. I have a Laserdisc version that was made with a faded copy of the film. I later bought the DVD which has a crisp cleaned up picture and is in wide screen format with much better sound. Best quote, "Are you sure it will work?" "No guarantee but the theory is perfectly feasible."

Apocalypse Now R

This movie is long and intense. It starts out good with an excellent battle sequence at the VC village. However, as they move upriver the historical accuracy gets lost. I don't think the American servicemen were as undisciplined as depicted in this movie. I also doubt that the Southeast Asian people were as primitive as shown in the movie. But this story was about 19th century Africa and not Vietnam. The ending on the DVD is not what I remember from the movie theater. I first saw this movie at the Cowboy Mall in Stillwater, OK. It was a strip mall north of the OSU campus that was new at the time and was the first multi-screen theater in Stillwater. This movie came out about the same time as Star Wars and is as dark and depressing as Star Wars was fun and uplifting. Redeux is Longer version of a good movie This version is longer and just as intense. Added a little sex left out of the original. The discussion about the history of Vietnam is interresting and reminds the viewer that this is a Vietnam War movie and not an African adventure film. This movie is worth watching more to remind people what was going on in the late 70's than during the real war. Oh Yea, the music is excellent.