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Sent my nom in to Speling. It's Russian and on our favorite Russian Streaming Site.
Redbox.
Movie Forums Top 100 War Movies - Group Watch
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Nomination #6
Fortress of War (2010, Alexander Kott)
Deadline to Watch It: April 2
Nominated By: edarsenal
Fortress of War (2010, Alexander Kott)
Deadline to Watch It: April 2
Nominated By: edarsenal
A war drama set during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, in which Soviet troops held on to a border stronghold for nine days....IMDB
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As I mentioned to Speling there is an excellent link with subtitles on the Russian Streaming Site.
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As I mentioned to Speling there is an excellent link with subtitles on the Russian Streaming Site.
Am I right?
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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes
~Mr Minio
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King Rat (1965)
First off, this was like a dream ensemble of secondary, small roles; actors at every turn kept my complete attention in this - well, [email protected], pretty riveting and entertaining film. Can easily see this going into Heavy Rewatch for me. Can't remember who remarked on it, but I do agree this feels more like a European film and not out of Hollywood.
It's interesting, for me, that for all the characters, it's the thwarted Grey that I most sympathized with. Which I am pretty [email protected] sure is a first for such a character. Perhaps because most times the portrayal is comedic, and this was, well, heartfelt, perhaps. Truly felt for the guy when he got his proof and saw it buried and ordered to forget about it.
Segal's arc as King Rooster to once more, a nobody Corporal gave some nice layering to the Money Man hustler—his band of hungry dogs waiting on scraps. The most clinging of them all, turning on him when peace is declared. Marlowe's true but sensible gentleman was a great addition.
I paused to read the list of Bad News to be told to prisoners of war. How's that for jarring? You're finally free. But, um, well. . .
Yeah, definitely loved this one. All the Pathos played out by so many "I know that guy from--" favorites at a great pace. BRAVO.
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King Rat (1965)
First off, this was like a dream ensemble of secondary, small roles; actors at every turn kept my complete attention in this - well, [email protected], pretty riveting and entertaining film. Can easily see this going into Heavy Rewatch for me. Can't remember who remarked on it, but I do agree this feels more like a European film and not out of Hollywood.
It's interesting, for me, that for all the characters, it's the thwarted Grey that I most sympathized with. Which I am pretty [email protected] sure is a first for such a character. Perhaps because most times the portrayal is comedic, and this was, well, heartfelt, perhaps. Truly felt for the guy when he got his proof and saw it buried and ordered to forget about it.
Segal's arc as King Rooster to once more, a nobody Corporal gave some nice layering to the Money Man hustler—his band of hungry dogs waiting on scraps. The most clinging of them all, turning on him when peace is declared. Marlowe's true but sensible gentleman was a great addition.
I paused to read the list of Bad News to be told to prisoners of war. How's that for jarring? You're finally free. But, um, well. . .
Yeah, definitely loved this one. All the Pathos played out by so many "I know that guy from--" favorites at a great pace. BRAVO.
First off, this was like a dream ensemble of secondary, small roles; actors at every turn kept my complete attention in this - well, [email protected], pretty riveting and entertaining film. Can easily see this going into Heavy Rewatch for me. Can't remember who remarked on it, but I do agree this feels more like a European film and not out of Hollywood.
It's interesting, for me, that for all the characters, it's the thwarted Grey that I most sympathized with. Which I am pretty [email protected] sure is a first for such a character. Perhaps because most times the portrayal is comedic, and this was, well, heartfelt, perhaps. Truly felt for the guy when he got his proof and saw it buried and ordered to forget about it.
Segal's arc as King Rooster to once more, a nobody Corporal gave some nice layering to the Money Man hustler—his band of hungry dogs waiting on scraps. The most clinging of them all, turning on him when peace is declared. Marlowe's true but sensible gentleman was a great addition.
I paused to read the list of Bad News to be told to prisoners of war. How's that for jarring? You're finally free. But, um, well. . .
Yeah, definitely loved this one. All the Pathos played out by so many "I know that guy from--" favorites at a great pace. BRAVO.
Interesting that you rooted for Grey. I loved his character and the actor did wonders with it but for me I was always on George Segal's side. Segal's character reminded me of another fav of mine Tyrone Power in Nightmare Alley (1947)...I don't know why but I like those kind of characters
BTW my wife is the one who picked King Rat, it's one of her favorite war films.
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Just finished Fortress of War. Not quite settled on a rating yet, but I thought it was okay. It contained far more action than I expected it to (at least in the first half), which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but given the somewhat Zack Snyder-y feel to the action (usages of slow motion and the occasional over-the-top set piece), it felt rather tiresome and senseless. The second half fared better for me though since the pacing slowed down a bit, it developed the characters more, and had a strong focus on the hopelessness of the Russian soldiers. I wouldn't say there's anything great about the second half (I've seen at least a few dozen other war films which implement hopelessness better than this one does), but it did make up for the first hour and kept me mostly on board. Curious how the rest of you will respond to this.
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Interesting that you rooted for Grey. I loved his character and the actor did wonders with it but for me I was always on George Segal's side. Segal's character reminded me of another fav of mine Tyrone Power in Nightmare Alley (1947)...I don't know why but I like those kind of characters BTW my wife is the one who picked King Rat, it's one of her favorite war films.
BTW my wife is the one who picked King Rat, it's one of her favorite war films.And tell your wife, [email protected] fine call!
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Just finished Fortress of War. Not quite settled on a rating yet, but I thought it was okay. It contained far more action than I expected it to (at least in the first half), which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but given the somewhat Zack Snyder-y feel to the action (usages of slow motion and the occasional over-the-top set piece), it felt rather tiresome and senseless. The second half fared better for me though since the pacing slowed down a bit, it developed the characters more, and had a strong focus on the hopelessness of the Russian soldiers. I wouldn't say there's anything great about the second half (I've seen at least a few dozen other war films which implement hopelessness better than this one does), but it did make up for the first hour and kept me mostly on board. Curious how the rest of you will respond to this.
I snuck in the first couple of minutes when I went with this Blind Grab; glad to hear you enjoyed it somewhat.
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Fortress of War (2010, Alexander Kott)
I dread writing this review because I hate to be negative about one of our war movie choices, but I need to be honest...I actively disliked Fortress of War.
In one word the movie felt amateurish, with all the cliche war scenes done over and over again. There's the blood soaked cigarette, the blood soaked family photo, the blood soaked white surrender flag, bodies pulled in heaps every few inches. Then there's the endless action scenes with the choppy-video reduced frame rate look. I wasn't a fan of the voice over narration either. Usually in dramas an omnipresence narrator can add to the story. But here in a deadly war battle the calming voice of the narrator was just jarring.
You know during the war countdown people are going to say films like Saving Private Ryan are nothing but American propaganda and when they do I'm pointing to Fortress of War as the most heavy handed, one sided war propaganda film I've seen. The German army aren't invading soldiers they're mustache twirling cliche movie bad guys while all the Russian army are bravely heroic and noble. Hell even the Russians have friendly dogs while the Germans have mean dogs. John Wayne war films made during WWII presented a more balanced approach than this film did.
It's worth noting that this film presents Brest Fortress as a place where a small group of Russian soldiers along with their families live in idyllic peace. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fortress was Polish territory that was conquered and seized in 1939 by the German army. Under the German Soviet peace pact which divide Poland, the Soviets got 52% of Polish lands including the Brest Fortress. In the movie which is set in 1941, the Germans have broke their peace pact with the Soviet Union and are retaking the fortress held by Russian troops who were occupying Polish lands. In reality both sides are about as heroic in their actions as a bomb dropped on a nursery. I read that the German army took 6800 Russian army POW, I could find nothing that said the Germans massacred the POWs or the families that surrendered as shown in the movie. I can understand a nation wanting to portray their fallen servicemen as heroic but Fortress of War was too propagandist to enjoy for this reviewer.
Sorry Ed, but at least this was a blind nom and not your all time favorite war film.
In one word the movie felt amateurish, with all the cliche war scenes done over and over again. There's the blood soaked cigarette, the blood soaked family photo, the blood soaked white surrender flag, bodies pulled in heaps every few inches. Then there's the endless action scenes with the choppy-video reduced frame rate look. I wasn't a fan of the voice over narration either. Usually in dramas an omnipresence narrator can add to the story. But here in a deadly war battle the calming voice of the narrator was just jarring.
You know during the war countdown people are going to say films like Saving Private Ryan are nothing but American propaganda and when they do I'm pointing to Fortress of War as the most heavy handed, one sided war propaganda film I've seen. The German army aren't invading soldiers they're mustache twirling cliche movie bad guys while all the Russian army are bravely heroic and noble. Hell even the Russians have friendly dogs while the Germans have mean dogs. John Wayne war films made during WWII presented a more balanced approach than this film did.
It's worth noting that this film presents Brest Fortress as a place where a small group of Russian soldiers along with their families live in idyllic peace. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fortress was Polish territory that was conquered and seized in 1939 by the German army. Under the German Soviet peace pact which divide Poland, the Soviets got 52% of Polish lands including the Brest Fortress. In the movie which is set in 1941, the Germans have broke their peace pact with the Soviet Union and are retaking the fortress held by Russian troops who were occupying Polish lands. In reality both sides are about as heroic in their actions as a bomb dropped on a nursery. I read that the German army took 6800 Russian army POW, I could find nothing that said the Germans massacred the POWs or the families that surrendered as shown in the movie. I can understand a nation wanting to portray their fallen servicemen as heroic but Fortress of War was too propagandist to enjoy for this reviewer.
Sorry Ed, but at least this was a blind nom and not your all time favorite war film.
Last edited by Citizen Rules; 03-31-23 at 01:18 PM.
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Wow, sorry for the bad pick, everyone.
I couldn't think of any favs that everyone hadn't seen, and loving the previous choice of rare films, I went blind.
I couldn't think of any favs that everyone hadn't seen, and loving the previous choice of rare films, I went blind.
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Wow, sorry for the bad pick, everyone.
I couldn't think of any favs that everyone hadn't seen, and loving the previous choice of rare films, I went blind.
I couldn't think of any favs that everyone hadn't seen, and loving the previous choice of rare films, I went blind.
Have you watched it yet? I'm interested in your reaction.
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Wow, sorry for the bad pick, everyone.
I couldn't think of any favs that everyone hadn't seen, and loving the previous choice of rare films, I went blind.
I couldn't think of any favs that everyone hadn't seen, and loving the previous choice of rare films, I went blind.
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I watched Fortress of War today. I thought it was fine. Not everything worked, but there were some good action sequences and a few effective dramatic moments. I liked the cinematography. I did think that it was too long though.
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My wife sorta liked Fortress of War and as a result of watching it I learned some history that I wasn't familiar with so those are pluses.
Have you watched it yet? I'm interested in your reaction.
Have you watched it yet? I'm interested in your reaction.
She "sorta liked" it, huh? LOL Tell her that was VERY diplomatic of her
No worries. I didn't hate it per se, and I probably wouldn't have heard of the film otherwise, so I'm fine with it being nominated.
Going to start this up tonight. I promise this time!
I watched Fortress of War today. I thought it was fine. Not everything worked, but there were some good action sequences and a few effective dramatic moments. I liked the cinematography. I did think that it was too long though.
I had two other Blind Grabs; one, a South Korean film during the Korean Conflict, seemed a heavy-handed action, and the second was made in '77 from, I believe Sweden or thereabout with a young Rutger Hauer playing a College student gone Resistance Fighter during WWII. That one felt like it needed a pre-watch beforehand, which I may do before I nominate another later on. However, I may also go with a favorite that rarely gets mentioned next time. We'll see. It's always a gamble either way.
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I had two other Blind Grabs; one, a South Korean film during the Korean Conflict, seemed a heavy-handed action, and the second was made in '77 from, I believe Sweden or thereabout with a young Rutger Hauer playing a College student gone Resistance Fighter during WWII. That one felt like it needed a pre-watch beforehand, which I may do before I nominate another later on. However, I may also go with a favorite that rarely gets mentioned next time. We'll see. It's always a gamble either way.
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