[Search for users] [Overall Top Noters] [List of all Conferences] [Download this site]

Conference bookie::movies

Title:	Movie Reviews and Discussion
Notice:	Please do DIR/TITLE before starting a new topic on a movie!
Moderator:	VAXCPU::michaudo.dec.com::tamara::eppes

Created:	Thu Jan 28 1993
Last Modified:	Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1249
Total number of notes:	16012

345.0. "The Charge Of The Light Brigade" by 42721::IVES_J (One i-node short of a file system) Mon Oct 04 1993 13:33

    On saturday night the BBC showed the Tony Richardson version of
    "The Charge Of the Light Brigade".
    
    My dad took me to see this when it came out (circa 1968) and I'd not
    seen it since. It supposedly killed off the British film industry of
    the 60's as it cost a lot and did'nt do very well at the box office.
    
    It was far better than I remember, though as a child of 4 I was bored
    for the first 1 1/2 hours until the charge it self started. I'd
    completely forgotten the short animated sequences describing the
    political map of Europe at that time.
    
    If you're not familiar with the historical background it's rather like
    Gallipoli or Custers last stand, in that the elite of the British
    cavalry were sent to their graves due to incompetent officers and poor
    communications. A war was fought between Britain, France and Turkey on
    one side and Russia on the other over the Crimea in the Black Sea. This
    was around 1850. This culminated in the Battle of Balaklava where this
    famous charge happened. The cavalry were told to charge the guns, but
    as the instruction was'nt clear they charged the guns which were able
    to fire directly at them rather than the guns in a different valley
    that were being transported and were hence unable to fire.
    
    A famous poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson recalls this event and its
    futility.
    
    Much of the film is spent showing the different conditions endured by
    the ordinary ranks and the officer, who with the exception of captain
    Nolan are mostly idiots.
    
    cast includes
    
    John Gielgud : Lord Raglan
    Trevor Howerd: Lord Cardigan (yes these really were their names!)
    David Hemmings: Captain Nolan
    Vennesa Redgrave.
    
    
    The action scenes were particularly well done, and thankfully the BBC
    showed it in letterbox format.
    
    A cautious reccomendation due to the odd style and length but worth
    seeing

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
345.1	Close attention to real history	TLE::JBISHOP		`Mon Oct 04 1993 16:21`	11
	As I remember this movie, it closely follows Cecil Woodham-Smith's book _The_Reason_Why_. Great moustances on Lord Cardigan, by the way! The sweaters are named after the lords, so that's the reason why the names sound odd. I saw it in the theaters and liked it. -John Bishop
345.2		51219::GARLICK_N		`Wed Oct 13 1993 12:06`	17
	I saw this film when it came out (I was 15) and it completely bowled me over. I walked around in a daze for the rest of the day, totally wrapped up in its atmosphere. And it was, I think, probably the film that started me going to the movies regularly. I remember thinking that if one film could have that much of an effect on me then I was going to go as often as I could. 24 years later I still am. And even after all this time, so much it still stays with me: Cardigan and Lucan continually insulting each other; the floggings; the cartoon interludes; Nolan's death (the shell bursting overhead and his scream) and the final shot of the dead horse as it changes into a cartoon and the way the buzzing of the flies fills the soundtrack. Great film. Nick
345.3		3270::AHERN	Dennis the Menace	`Fri Oct 29 1993 14:27`	12
	This was a great movie that I have wanted to see again for many years since it was released, but it has never been put on video, nor released again in theaters, I'm told, because of some legal dispute. Such a pity to lose this film. That the BBC has shown it may mean that it has the possibility of being re-released theatrically. One scene I remember well is just after the troops have landed and they start marching off to pipes and drums. Before long they are all burnt out and flagging, yellow with pallid sickness of one sort or another. The transition is as striking as Kubrick's bone to space shuttle cut in "2001: A Space Oydessy".
345.4	its on video in the UK	42721::IVES_J	One i-node short of a file system	`Mon Nov 01 1993 09:46`	6
	The film is definitely available on Video. Its on one of the more Art-house labels as part of a series of British films of the sixties.I think 'performance' is one of the other in the series. The cover picture is of Nolan dying, which I think was the original poster art. I have seen it at my Local W H Smith (UK newsagent and video/music store)
345.5	It's magnificent.but it isn.t war	CHEFS::COOPERT1	I'm not a schizo.....Nor am I	`Wed Jul 12 1995 03:36`	8
	After the charge and the cavalry has been devastated by the Russian cannon, the few survivors limp back to thier starting point. One cavalryman says to his officer... "Go again Sir....?" Brilliant.
345.6	I guess I saw a different movie	HOTLNE::SHIELDS		`Sun Dec 29 1996 00:50`	8