Only the Brave (2017)

Tags

Biopic, Disaster, Drama, History, Thriller

In its hearth, the fire crackles,
Warms us from its tabernacle,
And it sinisterly cackles,
Jailed in generosity.

“Soon,” it says between its spitting,
“It won’t be just logs I’m splitting.
Homes and dreams will be more fitting
Feeding my ferocity.

“While I bide here, curbed and cringing,
Brothers have I elsewhere singeing,
None to stop their brutal, binging,
Burning bellicosity.

“Few can stop me once I’ve started,
Once from prison I’ve departed.
Brace your brave and lionhearted
For my animosity.”
______________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Yes, I’m reviewing another disaster movie, but whereas The Hindenburg was about a major historical incident, Only the Brave focuses on a much more down-to-earth disaster which can affect anyone: wildfires. Though I’ve been told only you can prevent them, it’s real-life heroes who do the actual work of keeping them at bay once they get out of control, and one such group of heroes were the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a firefighting team from Prescott, Arizona.

Josh Brolin plays Superintendent Eric Marsh, who believes in his intuition and experience enough to rally his own team of certified Hotshots, firefighters who would be on call to answer both local and national fire emergencies. To that end, he recruits both old friends and new blood, including Brendan McDonough (Miles Teller), a loser by all definitions who finds in this new job a chance to renew his pathetic life. The training, teasing, and camaraderie that come with the Hotshot certification are quite comparable to what you see in military movies, and the successes and failures are likewise felt deeply. McDonough’s second chance at life is also inspiring alongside the ambitions of Marsh, who sees himself in the younger man’s struggles.

The effects recreating infamous fires are brilliantly done, while the excellent cast provide both likable characterization and insight into the methods and struggles of the firefighting business, including the toll it takes on their family, such as Jennifer Connelly as Marsh’s long-suffering wife. I suppose my only complaint (Spoiler!) is that I didn’t know what kind of movie Only the Brave would become by the end and was thus unprepared for a certain tragic turn of events. Those aware of the true story surely knew going in, but let’s just say this is as much a memorial movie as it is a disaster one, and it caught me off-guard, which isn’t even really a criticism since it does both very effectively. It’s a well-acted tribute to the kind of heroism that is all too often overlooked.

Best line: (Duane) “You gotta ask yourself, ‘What can I live with, and what can I die without?’”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
574 Followers and Counting

 

VC Pick: The Hindenburg (1975)

Tags

Disaster, Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller, VC Pick

Surely luxury entails
Safety in its fine details.
Once you’re paying through the nose
You need not doubt the practiced pros.

Once your travel’s well along,
Who’d dare think something might go wrong?
How could pride descend to panic?
Ask the Hindenburg and Titanic.
_________________

MPAA rating: PG

One of the many disaster movies of the 1970s, The Hindenburg will never go down as one of the best of its genre, but it’s by no means among the worst either, despite the pretty scathing reviews it has endured over the years. My VC happens to be quite fond of it, and while her appreciation dwarfs my own, I still consider it a solid film made memorable by its spectacular climax.

One thing everyone should know going in is that this movie is historically inaccurate on many fronts, despite a largely faithful re-creation of the airship itself and a collection of characters based on real people. The main character is Colonel Franz Ritter (George C. Scott), a decorated German air officer who is tasked by Goebbels with preventing a threatened attack on the Nazis’ prize zeppelin, which flies with highly flammable hydrogen rather than helium. While many theories have been proposed on what caused the Hindenburg’s destruction, the movie goes the resistance conspiracy route, which has never been proven but works as a potential reason for what happened.

Scott does well as usual, and the fact that he plays a Nazi is mitigated by his distaste for the regime in light of some recent tragedies. The rest of the cast is full of recognizable names and faces, all of whom are suspects in Ritter’s investigation, including Anne Bancroft as a countess he knows, a young William Atherton as an airship crewman, and René Auberjonois and Burgess Meredith as a pair of gamblers. Having watched a lot of Everybody Loves Raymond recently, I also spotted two recurring stars in Katherine Helmond as a passenger and Charles Durning as the Hindenburg’s captain.

The build-up during the zeppelin’s flight, as Ritter scrutinizes everyone’s motives and opportunity, is unavoidably slow, but the tension does grow as the voyage comes to its historical end. The suspense is a lot like Titanic in that you know generally what will happen and are just waiting for the shoe to drop, and it’s worth it when it does. The Oscar-winning effects are dated but still impressive, and the re-creation of the accident is chaotic and brilliant as the screen fades to black-and-white and seamlessly works in real footage of the Hindenburg’s crash, ending with the iconic radio recording of a terrified onlooker. It’s a case where the last ten minutes makes the rest worthwhile, but you could also just watch the last ten minutes, sacrificing context to save time. Either way, despite being in a film full of historical liberties, it’s an excellent disaster sequence, which alone ought to disprove this film’s harsher critics.

Best line: (Captain Lehmann, ironically as they set off) “I’m to go to Washington to get us helium.”   (Ritter) “I wish we had it this trip.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
574 Followers and Counting

 

The Last Days (2013)

Tags

Disaster, Drama, Foreign, Sci-fi, Thriller

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a memorable family anecdote. Instead of some specific story, I incorporated a few into a societal critique.)

There’s so much that we used to do
When we would go outside.

The sun would bake us at the beach
And leave us peeling for a week,
And kites would soar far out of reach
Until we practiced our technique.
We’d grumble as we walked the dog
And stumbled through the morning fog.
There’s so much we would take in stride
When we would go outside.

The mountain trails would call our name
And leave us awed and insect-bitten.
At the park, we’d choose our game,
Get stuck in trees we thought we’d fit in,
Find we’re lost beyond belief,
Then find our way with sighed relief.
There’s so much that we dared and tried
When we would go outside.

Interiors are now default,
The “Great Outdoors” a memory,
And from our comfort-ridden vault,
A screen eclipses earth and sea.
Although we know without a doubt,
We’re on the inside looking out.
There’s so much that we are denied
When we won’t go outside.
_____________________

MPAA rating: Unrated (should be R due to profanity in the subtitles, maybe PG-13 without that, though there’s still some brief violence and nudity)

When you see deserted city streets littered with abandoned cars and roaming animals, what explanation comes to mind first? These days, it’s probably a zombie apocalypse or maybe an alien invasion, right? The Last Days suggests a much simpler kind of apocalypse, though, one where people don’t dare go outside, but not because of some creature lurking out there; they simply die if they leave shelter.

A Spanish thriller perhaps influenced by the surrealist film The Exterminating Angel, The Last Days (or Los Últimos Días) triggers its apocalypse gradually, with people suddenly contracting severe agoraphobia or fear of open spaces. Walking outside provokes a deadly seizure, so people end up stranded in whatever building they happen to be in at the time. Some viewers may have trouble taking such an epidemic seriously, but it’s revealed gradually through flashbacks and treated with dead seriousness and great realism. In the case of Marc (Quim Gutiérrez), he was at work when it hit and has spent the last three months trapped inside his Barcelona office building, taking turns with his coworkers to dig a tunnel to the subway. When they finally reach this chance to travel to other parts of the city, he sets out in search of his girlfriend Julia (Marta Etura), grudgingly aided by corporate firing specialist Enrique (José Coronado).

The Last Days works well on several levels: as a slow but compelling journey through end-of-the-world encounters, as a grim but endearing buddy movie, and as an outlet for subtle social themes. Of course, the apocalyptic settings are the biggest focus, but it felt unique to have the danger come not from some monster but from other people, some of whom band together to support each other while others compete violently for limited resources. The relationship between Marc and Enrique is an unlikely pairing based on where they started before the disaster, but I liked the way they both relate to each other’s goals and fears, helping each other along the way. The social message I mentioned may come off as obvious in some ways, with people’s fear of leaving their homes taken to an extreme, but there are other understated themes broached, such as the concern of bringing children into a world of doubt and uncertainty.

I entertained ranking The Last Days as a List Runner-Up, but the ending really put it over the top. For a film with so much depressing atmosphere and tragedy, it ends on a surprisingly uplifting note that in some ways felt like the kind of ending Passengers should have had if it had tried harder. I was also impressed by the quality acting and production values and particularly by one long tracking shot through a scene of chaos. (Have I mentioned I love those kinds of scenes?) Don’t expect a lot of action, but if you can buy into its uniquely subdued form of disaster, The Last Days has much good to offer.

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
559 Followers and Counting

 

2018 Blindspot Pick #1: All Is Lost (2013)

Tags

Disaster, Drama

It isn’t easy to admit
That all my effort was in vain.
I’m not the type to whine and quit,
And seldom do I dare complain.
I gave my all;
I fought the squall;
I beat my chest at each downfall,
Until my lowest point was hit,
My lowest while still staying sane.

Don’t pity me, who did decide
To hold to life long as I could.
Perhaps I’ll fathom, once I’ve died,
That all this effort did no good.
But till my end
By God is penned,
With my own fate I must contend.
All is lost, yet still I tried,
As all beset by struggle should.
____________

MPAA rating: PG-13 (for brief language)

Well, I’m kicking off this year’s Blindspot series a bit late, but what’s a few days’ difference? I was nonetheless eager to see how my Blindspot picks this year would measure up to last year’s, especially since my #1 last year (Shuffle) was the first one I saw. I had high hopes for All Is Lost as well, due to its simple survival narrative that I knew would have echoes of Cast Away. Yet, while those echoes are present and the film overall is well executed, I was rather disappointed in the end product.

All Is Lost is notable for being essentially a one-man show, in which Robert Redford is the sole actor on screen in a straightforward survival tale of man vs. nature. Credited as “Our Man,” Redford barely speaks throughout (though there were a few more words than I was expecting), instead reacting to the various maritime dangers that plague him as a lone sailor, from destructive debris to vicious storms. It’s a credit to Redford’s acting ability that he can hold a movie completely on his own while in his seventies, and his nameless protagonist remains admirably calm through much of his travail, finding clever survival solutions others might not think of while also doing an inexplicable action now and then (like going up on deck in a storm for reasons I didn’t quite grasp).

As an acting showcase for Redford and a no-frills survival story, All is Lost delivers reasonably well, with an understated Golden Globe-winning score and convincing effects and aquatic photography to create the man’s seafaring isolation. But somehow I expected more. My VC pointed out right away that we’re given no details about Our Man, no background or reason to care about him other than that he’s in the plight he is. Again, it’s easy to point to other isolation movies for comparison: In Cast Away or Life of Pi (both favorites of mine), we get to know the main characters before they’re thrown to the elements, strengthening our sympathy because we see what they’ve lost and what brought them to their predicament. Even with an oddly vague opening voiceover, we know literally nothing about “Our Man” except his immediate circumstances; that was likely the successful intent, but it doesn’t keep me as invested as those other films.

Plus, there’s the simple fact that the film was rather boring. I probably shouldn’t have tried to watch it after a long day at work, but I stuck with it still. My Redford-loving VC, on the other hand, gave up after a half hour, despite the fact she once thought she’d be happy watching Robert Redford read the phone book. (I guess that would have more dialogue, though.) I’m sure the lack of dialogue is more realistic, but there’s a reason Tom Hanks had a volleyball to talk to in Cast Away. Wilson allowed for greater character engagement, just as Richard Parker the tiger did in Life of Pi, which also benefited from a consistent voiceover narration. They gave us a glimpse into the mindset of the human character, while Our Man’s actions don’t really reveal anything about him, even though his story is propelled by action and reaction alone. Redford evokes his growing desperation and despair, but those emotions only go so far. Without fully engaging with the character, we’re simply watching what any competent person would do in this situation, and that detachment was a bit of a letdown.

I can’t impugn Redford’s acting ability or the production values since All Is Lost does what it means to do expertly. It just wasn’t as involving as other survival stories. And it’s not solely because of the sparse dialogue either, nor the lack of character development alone. The Red Turtle held my attention with literally no dialogue at all, while Dunkirk was absolutely thrilling with hardly any character backgrounds. I guess it’s the combination of its monotonous pace and surface-only protagonist that made it feel wanting compared with more engaging films of its genre. While my VC might disagree, it’s by no means a bad film, just one I can’t see myself spending time on again.

Best line: (part of opening lines) “I’m sorry. I know that means little at this point, but I am. I tried; I think you would all agree that I tried. To be true, to be strong, to be kind, to love, to be right. But I wasn’t. And I know you knew this… in each of your ways. And I am sorry. All is lost here, except for soul and body, that is, what’s left of them, and a half day’s ration.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
536 Followers and Counting

 

Deep Impact (1998)

Tags

Disaster, Drama, Sci-fi, Thriller

One day the world will end, they say,
In ice and dark or fiery doom,
And there’s been many a prior day
When men believed such tales of gloom
Would make a certain day their tomb.

If true, then what’s the point of life
If it should be cut short so soon?
The universe with readied knife
Will strike when most inopportune,
And in its wake, our deaths are strewn.

If such you think, make peace with fact,
For die you will someday indeed.
But till I feel my death’s impact,
Such prophecies I will not heed,
For life’s too precious to concede.
___________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

It’s been almost two years since I reviewed Armageddon, so it’s about time I watched the other catastrophic asteroid movie from the summer of 1998. I’ve heard varying opinions on whether Deep Impact or Armageddon is the better film, and I see why now. They’re both great for end-of-the-world spectacle, but they approach the disaster in different ways that make the question of “which is better” simply a matter of preference. Do you want Michael Bay-style cheesiness and frenetic action, or a somewhat more serious take on how the world might react in an apocalyptic scenario (dark cheese, you might say)? The latter is Deep Impact.

Technically, Deep Impact features a world-ending comet rather than an asteroid, a comet discovered by high school student Leo Biederman (Elijah Wood). Once a nosy reporter (Téa Leoni) stumbles upon this government secret, the President (Morgan Freeman) announces a space mission to divert it, as well as some extreme evacuation and protection measures should the worst happen. Like Armageddon, there’s a game all-star cast to elevate the disaster flick, including Maximilian Schell, Vanessa Redgrave, James Cromwell, Jon Favreau, Kurtwood Smith, Denise Crosby, and Robert Duvall as the most experienced astronaut on the earth-saving mission. Together, they provide varied views of the incoming cataclysm, from reporters to politicians to would-be heroes to everyday folks, but the best has to be Freeman as the President we’d all want in such a situation: calm, honest, and willing to invoke God and prayer in encouraging people.

Despite the life-and-death stakes, Armageddon had that Michael Bay action movie quality with strong doses of humor from the rough-and-ready drillers, but Deep Impact has much more weight to it and isn’t afraid to embrace the tragedy of the disaster. I’d heard it was darker, which led me to believe the characters’ efforts would wind up being hopeless and futile. The fact that I was proven wrong was a pleasant surprise and helped me enjoy the movie far more than I expected going in.

It still can’t quite escape shades of the cheesy and impractical. For example, my VC found it totally unrealistic for Leoni’s reporter to get on TV covering the astronaut’s mission and just leave dead air as she stares at the screen with everyone else. Still, it’s easier to take seriously than Armageddon, with good effects and the benefit of being easier on the eyes than Michael Bay’s editing. It also affirms heroism and hope in the face of apparent doom, and on retrospect, I liked how some characters’ seemingly foolish clinging to that hope actually paid off compared with others’ resignation to death. They both have their strengths, but as far as which of the two “asteroid” disaster movies is objectively better, I think Deep Impact gets my vote.

Best line: (President Tom Beck) “Cities fall, but they are rebuilt. And heroes die, but they are remembered. We honor them with every brick we lay, with every field we sow, with every child we comfort and then teach to rejoice in what we have been re-given: our planet, our home. So now, let us begin.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
527 Followers and Counting

 

Deepwater Horizon (2016)

Tags

Action, Disaster, Drama, History, Thriller

(Can be sung to “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”)

The waves lapped the pipes, the sea’s unavailed gripes,
At the feet of Deepwater Horizon,
And no one on board thought this rig of reward
Would be one to have a surprise on.

The oil down below had had nowhere to go
Till a tube tapped the well of the ocean.
And well it had stayed under instruments made
To ensure there was no upward motion.

Till caution was dropped, and the great bubble popped
And laid waste to Deepwater Horizon,
Where before the rig’s throb, busy men on the job
Never thought they would meet their demise on.

Like ink swiftly bled, the well’s sable soul spread
On the waves of the ocean surrounding,
Although the crew tried as eleven men died
And the fire and spill were confounding.

When the morning sun’s light showed the gulf dark as night
Stretching out from Deepwater Horizon,
No worse oil spill from the maw of man’s drill
Had anyone ever laid eyes on.
_______________________

MPAA rating: PG-13 (for intensity and frequent obscenities)

From The Day After Tomorrow to 2012 to Geostorm later this year, so many disaster movies focus on wildly improbable worldwide catastrophes that it’s easy to forget how visceral a real-life disaster can be. Deepwater Horizon may follow the trend of making a movie about any recent event of media significance (like Patriot’s Day, also from director Peter Berg and star Mark Wahlberg), but it’s far from a cash-grab and uses that genuine intensity to remind audiences of just how bad the 2010 BP oil spill was at its start.

The first half has the workaday detail of a documentary, with much resemblance to the docudrama credibility of Captain Phillips. I can’t speak to how close the film is to the actual events, but the re-creation of the Deepwater Horizon rig is entirely convincing and never once had me doubting the truth of what was shown. There’s not an abundance of character development, but it’s easy to identify with the everyman likes of Wahlberg, Gina Rodriguez, and Kurt Russell as the supervisor fondly called “Mr. Jimmy.” True, the beginning threatens to get dull with all the technical jargon, but there’s the constant threat of what we know will happen. And that culmination doesn’t disappoint.

When the actual disaster starts, the explosions rarely let up, and it’s a thrilling and incendiary experience, of course from the comfort of one’s living room. It never was tainted by easily recognizable CGI, and it well deserved its Oscar nominations for Visual Effects and Sound Editing. Even if most of the casualties don’t have the emotional impact of similar films, the loss of life is stressed by the end, with a rare focus on each and every victim before the credits. After the intensity of the accident itself, I also welcomed the relieved prayer that followed the survivors’ escape; it was a believable religious aspect often lacking from other disaster flicks.

Deepwater Horizon offers a cinematic thrill while also making you dislike BP executives more than you thought you did, personified by the smarmy, corner-cutting manager played by John Malkovich, who’s good as usual but a bit overly snide. Like Wahlberg’s character, I wondered if he was on medication. Thanks to its potent realism before, during, and after the calamity, well-executed from start to finish, I’d say Deepwater Horizon is one of the best disaster films of recent years.

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
496 Followers and Counting

 

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Tags

Action, Disaster, Sci-fi

One day when aliens arrive, I wonder how they’ll be.
We’ve seen it all on film and page,
From sudden, savage wars to wage
To peaceful coexistent folk
We must take care to not provoke,
Though they’re the rarer sort we see.

More often, they’re the hostile type, who simply want a fight,
For resources or new terrains
Or guinea pigs to harvest brains.
And when the flying saucers land
For real, we won’t know what they’ve planned,
But likely most will fear the sight.

We’ve taught ourselves suspicion of the sky through new releases,
For not all otherworldly guests are charmed by Reese’s Pieces.
__________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Well, I finally got around to seeing one of the most maligned films of last year, a follow-up to the alien invasion/disaster favorite Independence Day that has been widely derided as a wholly detestable flop of a sequel, but contrary to popular opinion, I liked it all right. True, coming twenty years after the 1996 original, it’s not as good as the first, but it’s not an affront to the original either, thanks to the return of director Roland Emmerich and most of the original cast members, with the key exception of Will Smith.

One thing I liked is the appealing way that the world has risen from the ashes of the first movie’s events. Thanks to remnants of alien technology, it’s more of a sci-fi world with moon bases and flying vehicles, and after facing potential annihilation, the political tensions have subsided in favor of utopian cooperation between countries. Sure, it’s probably wishful thinking, but I found it believable that the Independence Day invasion has become a shared 9/11-style memory for the world. Yet, there are still scars, from the mental trauma of former President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) to the constant worry that there might be an even more insidious “resurgence.”  And guess what? There is, and mankind isn’t the only race to prepare for a rematch!

Resurgence does its best balancing the return of original cast members (Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, even Brent Spiner, whose Dr. Okun apparently wasn’t killed by that surgery scene gone wrong) with newer faces like Liam Hemsworth, Maika Monroe, and Jessie Usher as fighter pilots who have grown up in the wake of the alien invasion. Playing the son of Smith’s character, Usher doesn’t have the same swagger or sense of humor, which instead go to the less memorable Hemsworth, and the ensemble doesn’t really leave room for much depth for any of the characters, with death scenes and the like being such quick tragedies that they leave little impression. Moreover, the higher-tech action tries to exceed the first film for explosive bombast and extensive but barely seen loss of life, just as the alien mother ship here dwarfs the ships from the first invasion.

And for those who hated this movie, everything I just said in that paragraph is a negative, but does it have to be? I tend to think that many have forgotten just how cheesy, rambling, and overblown the first film was; it’s not great filmmaking, but that cheese factor is its appeal. We get to see a wide swath of mankind facing off against alien invaders, with nerds, Air Force pilots, and Presidents banding together to save the world. Resurgence does more or less the same thing, along with many self-conscious tributes to the original formula, from a comment about destroying landmarks to a narrow escape that just has to save the dog.

Don’t get me wrong; there’s plenty to criticize, like character changes (both Smith and Goldblum’s wife are written off as dead from the start, and Okun is revealed as gay for some reason), unoriginal plot developments (another giant alien queen), and a final scene that’s begging for a sequel I doubt will happen. Then again, who thought this sequel would happen? I just feel that there’s still effects-heavy fun to be had for those who don’t expect much. You don’t watch this kind of movie for drama, characters, or emotional involvement, though what there is of those is decent. It’s watchable because it’s a disaster, perhaps in more ways than one, and some people just want to watch the world explode.

Best line: (former President Whitmore) “We convinced an entire generation that this is a battle that we could win. We sacrifice for each other no matter what the cost. And that’s worth fighting for.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
482 Followers and Counting

 

World Trade Center (2006)

Tags

Disaster, Drama, History

 

Do you recall the sirens?
The smoke-enveloped holes?
The billow blurred
And heavenward
Conveyed the victims’ souls.

Do you recall the terror
Of what was next to come,
The utter hell
As bodies fell
And minds and hearts went numb?

I didn’t watch the pictures
Ingrained on every brain.
I’ve seen them since
And felt the wince
That others bore with pain.

Like me, a generation
Has grown up towerless.
The shock and awe
That once was raw
We’ve had years to suppress.

One might regard us lucky,
The way we understand,
A distance free
From history
That many saw firsthand.

Although the blow is muted
For those younger than I,
We won’t let fade
The price once paid
By heroes when they die.
________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Last year, I wanted to commemorate 9/11 by seeing the deeply effective United 93, and this year I did the same with World Trade Center, the slightly less acclaimed film from the same year. Based on the real-life experiences of Port Authority police officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno, who were buried under the rubble of Ground Zero, World Trade Center poignantly recreates the cavalcade of emotions of that infamous day.

From the first scenes, the film conjures the calm before the storm as everyday people perform their morning routines. Neither Jimeno (Michael Peña) nor his no-nonsense sergeant McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) seems notable in their roles, yet when a plane flies into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, neither hesitates to venture into its lower levels. These early scenes highlight the uncertainty of the moment: conflicting reports of the severity of the damage, falling bodies, officers and civilians alike staring in shock at the smoking tower; and most of the scenes of the building seemed to be actual footage rather than a re-creation.

Despite the potent depiction of familiar events, most of the film is concerned with the aftermath, from McLoughlin and Jimeno struggling to stay alive beneath the debris to their worrying families. While a few scenes are confusing and the pacing becomes a bit paralyzed during their wait, the story still holds a relatable force in each family’s agonizing anticipation and the relieved cheer at any good news. Both Cage and Peña deliver excellent performances, as do Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal as their respective wives, and the ordeal is compelling enough that tears are probable by the end. (Also, Lost alert for William Mapother or “Ethan” as a Marine.)

World Trade Center is an admirable tribute to the first responders of 9/11, an impartial testimony thankfully free of the political messages for which its director, Oliver Stone, is known. I especially respect the religious overtones so often absent or limited in disaster movies; here, they extend to desperate prayers, God-led duties, and even a literal manifestation of Jesus. Even so, with its recognizable stars and anxieties common to most disaster films, it feels like a 9/11 movie, whereas United 93 felt like observing the actual events. Nonetheless, both are worthwhile commemorations of the courageous sacrifices made fifteen years ago.

Best line: (McLoughlin) “9/11 showed us what human beings are capable of. The evil, yeah, sure. But it also brought out the goodness we forgot could exist. People taking care of each other for no other reason than it was the right thing to do. It’s important for us to talk about that good, to remember. ‘Cause I saw a lot of it that day.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
407 Followers and Counting

Everest (2015)

Tags

Disaster, Drama, History

 

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was inspired by Earth Day, which I incorporated as a mountain-shaped acrostic below.)

 

Everest:
As ladybugs climb,
Reaching toward the apex,
Toward the one place from which to fly,
Humans will strive for the summit, but do they know why?
Do we know why we cherish a challenge, perhaps our muscles to flex?
A conqueror’s motives are not so complex, and yet the worst danger or risk he expects is stoking his soul to the sky and arms him with courage to live or to die.
Your trials, O Nature, are hopelessly high, and yet mankind eagerly seeks to defy and, foolish or fearless, adventurers try and search for what you have next.
____________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

I haven’t seen many mountain-climbing movies, but the 1996 Everest disaster is such a fascinating example of human hubris gone wrong that it has warranted several books and films on the subject. My VC is well-versed on Jon Krakauer’s bestselling account Into Thin Air, and I somewhat remember the 1997 TV movie Into Thin Air: Death on Everest with Christopher McDonald. In light of more recent deadly incidents, like last year’s avalanche caused by the Nepal earthquake, the 1996 events seemed like a timely tragedy worth giving the big-screen, star-studded Hollywood treatment, and this is one example of the Hollywood treatment doing it right.

One of the shortcomings of the Into Thin Air movie and one of the causes of the deaths in the first place was the sheer number of climbers involved. The original film had so many characters whose faces were usually covered by necessary goggles or masks that I had trouble telling them apart. Everest fixes that problem by sacrificing some realism; I was much better able to distinguish between actors, but that was because they kept illogically removing their masks. My VC pointed out that impracticality, and considering the extreme cold endured by everyone, it became more noticeable yet still forgivable from a movie standpoint.

The presence of many famous actors didn’t detract the overall believability at all, from rising stars like Jason Clarke as expedition founder Rob Hall to better-known A-list actors like Jake Gyllenhaal as second team leader Scott Fischer or Keira Knightley as Hall’s pregnant wife, who gets the most emotional scenes. As for the climbers, we get to know the most important with some well-paced calm-before-the-storm introductions: Josh Brolin’s adventurous family man Beck Weathers; John Hawkes (Lost alert!) as desperate-to-summit Doug Hansen; Naoko Mori as Yasuko Namba, who has only Everest to complete her climbs of all Seven Summits; and a host of other amateurs and professionals (Sam Worthington, Martin Henderson). While the introductions aren’t thorough, it’s fair to say that everyone is worth liking and rooting for, and my ignorance of who survived and who didn’t made the eventual tragedy all the more potent.

In addition to the talented ensemble (who filmed on location only as high as base camp), the vision of Everest itself is immense and thrilling, with cinematography that easily could have earned an Oscar nomination. Sadly, disaster movies are no longer the award magnets of Irwin Allen’s day, and save for a lone SAG and Saturn award, Everest has been mostly snubbed. Even without the physical accolades, Everest deserves the positive reviews it has earned, and I rather wish I’d been able to experience it on the big screen. It is a sad story open to miracles that reminds us just how dangerous a sleeping giant can be.

Best line: (Doug Hansen) “I’m climbing Mount Everest… because I can… because to be able to climb that high and see that kind of beauty that nobody ever sees, it’d be a crime not to.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput

383 Followers and Counting

 

The 33 (2015)

Tags

Disaster, Drama, History

 

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a san san, in which three words or ideas are repeated three times each in a eight-line rhyme scheme of a-b-c-a-b-d-c-d. Since san san is Chinese for “three three,” I thought the perfect film for this was last year’s The 33 about the Chilean miners.)

 

The sun was swapped for stone, above our heads and in our hearts.
With patience, we awaited news from those who thought us dead.
We lived within our hollow grave, refusing to be still.
How many lack the patience that a hollow grave imparts,
No choice but to bemoan in hope the stone above our heads?
Anticipating sky again, we found our patience heaven-sent
And looked beyond the stone above our heads, as doomed men will.
Arising from a hollow grave is not without its precedent.
__________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

I’m sure most recall the rollercoaster of emotions that accompanied news of the Chilean miners who were trapped by a cave-in for 69 days in the San Jose mine. The international rescue effort and the strong faith of the miners turned the 2010 mining accident into one of the most inspirational true-life stories in years, and as soon as the last miner reached the surface, I knew it was only a matter of time before a movie dramatized the incident.

Honestly, I thought it would be much sooner than five years, but here we have the based-on-a-true-story film for which we’ve been waiting. I expected it to be great, but I’m content that it’s good. The filmmakers succeed in presenting a comprehensive account of what happened before, during, and after the accident, and it’s hard to fault their efforts. The beginning introduces the most notable of the thirty-three miners: Mario Sepúlveda (Antonio Banderas), who acted as the leader of the buried miners; Luis Urzúa (Lou Diamond Phillips), the danger-conscious foreman; Álex (Mario Casas), the family man with a baby on the way; Darío, who is estranged from his sister (Juliette Binoche); Yonni (Oscar Nunez), whose extramarital affair comes to a head during the crisis; and numerous others who aren’t given enough screen time to make an impression. It’s easy to confuse the characters at first, but time and some earnest character moments help to distinguish the most important.

Above ground, the drilling plans are spearheaded by both professionals (James Brolin; Gabriel Byrne, who I never would have considered for a Hispanic role) and politicians (Bob Gunton, also pretending to be Latino; and Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro, known to me as the much-maligned Paulo on Lost). After the search effort turns into a rescue effort, the details of the operation are prudently depicted through real-life news reports.

I suppose the worst thing I can say about The 33 is that it feels inconsistent. The actual accident is spectacular, if a bit hard to see in the dark, but then the emotions and tensions of the subsequent waiting and anticipating come in fits and starts depending on which miners are on-screen. One potentially powerful final meal strikingly captures the men’s hopes and fears, but the tone oddly drifts between heavy and light.

Despite the inconsistencies, The 33 triumphs where it matters most, that climactic rescue that had people around the world wiping tears from their eyes. The ending will come as no surprise to those who know the story, but the film manages to give its audience further understanding of how the miners and their families felt and represents the solidarity both below and aboveground. It may not be the Oscar-worthy powerhouse I feel it could have been, but the pre-credits depiction of all thirty-three real-life miners ends the film on the highest note possible.

Best line: (one of the miners, answering why he doesn’t hate an outcast) “Hate is for children.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput

380 Followers and Counting