war movies

Although the great Burt Lancaster has been dead for over twenty six years his movies hold a special place in my heart as one of the true film legends of the screen, an iconic presence, cheeky smile and steely eyes that could melt or pierce a heart at a thousand paces : starting his career back in the late 40s in Robert Siodmak’s fantastic noir film The Killers Burt Lancaster went on to have a glorious movie career acting with Hollywood legends such as Kirk Douglas, Gary Cooper, Deborah Kerr, Lee Marvin, Claudia Cardinale and so many more : my absolute top four is a small sample in the excellence of his work and in truth I could name so many more movie gems that I consider bonafide classics, films such as The Professionals with the great Lee Marvin, 1968’s The Swimmer, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral alongside Kirk Douglas, Sweet Smell of Success with Tony Curtis, Sydney Pollack’s wonderful Castle Keep and John Frankenheimer’s The Train : my absolute favorite and it’s a Burt Lancaster film I’ve watched more than any other is 1960’s Elmer Gantry directed by Richard Brooks, the film went on to win 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Burt taking home the Best Actor that year : so if you’ve not seen many of his movies and fancy a trip back to time when acting legends were truly that then take a peek at some of the films mentioned : Hope you enjoyed another of my Absolute Top Four till the next one….

LONE SURVIVOR (2014) – Movie Review ★★★★½

Lone Survivor stars Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Taylor Kitsch, Eric Bana & Emile Hirsch – Based around the true story of “Operation Red Wings” a failed mission in 2005 – Four Seal members enter enemy territory to capture or kill Taliban leader Ahmad Shahd but find themselves fighting for their lives when their mission goes wrong – VERDICT Since watching 1998’s Very Bad Things I have been a big fan of actor/director Peter Berg, even the critically panned Hancock and Battleship both got favorable reviews from myself, he’s a talented filmmaker that presents the viewer with a visual, exciting experience and his latest LONE SURVIVOR is no different – Berg spent over five years trying to make this film a reality, armed with a $40 million dollar budget and a bunch of actors working at a discounted rate the outcome of the picture is immense – Peter Berg nails the brutality of war-fare, his authenticity and touching account of these four guys fighting for their lives after making a questionable decision by allowing a couple of farm hands to live is explosive and at times an extremely hard watch – I love also the fact that during the first twenty minutes or so of the picture you get introduced to the SEALS, not just as fighting warriors but as real people, guys with families who fight to keep our country safe – overall LONE SURVIVOR is a movie packed with realistic and relentless action scenes, top notch acting by all on-board and to the Armed Forces a show of the utmost respect by Peter Berg and his crew – superb!….