| Overall Grade: |
A- |
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| Story: |
B+ |
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| Acting: |
A |
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| Direction: |
A |
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| Visuals: |
A+ |
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Journey to the ends of the Earth
by Michael (movies profile)
Mar 12, 2008
16
of
18 people found this review helpful
Not so much about the war in Vietnam as it was both a mesmerizing prisoner tale and a suspenseful survival story.
A dramatic recount of the life of a naval combat pilot whom is captured in Laos at the onset of the Vietnam War.
What makes the movie so believable was the erratic, awkward, not smooth way circumstances play out, such as the torturing sequences, the way the prisoners were held captive and the plan of escape.
Also realistic were character interactions inside the prison camp. They are suffering but that is not primarily manifest. They are also joking around being a little silly and going a little crazy. It is humorous, in a kind of loony bin, crazy character sort of way and the prisoners are not the only silly ones, the Laotian captors are also characters. The Laotian soldiers are idiosyncratic, some are a little crazy, such as the one that does backflips for no reason. This is very different from other Vietnam War movies where the vietnamese are faceless nondescript identical. In this movie the characters were more believable and interesting because they weren’t cliches.
It is engrossing to see the step by step process the lead character takes to try and escape.
It was also a survival story both in the prisoner camp, they must deal with extreme meager rations, and especially in the jungle. The story of survival in the jungle was a real adventure story and transportation to a hostile, distant and foreign world. The cinematography and scenes of the lush jungle were plentiful and beautiful.
The acting is excellent especially of the two supporting American actors in the camp. The main character also looses a tremendous amount of weight from beginning to the end of the movie further enhancing the realism.
I thought more could have been done to the end but overall one of the bests in a while. |
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