franklinmjohnson

I lived and worked through this era in the DC area with one of the first nationwide commercial ISPs. It's why I made a point of watching Valley of the Boom and why I really enjoyed it.

I understand some people's confusion or disappointment with aspects of the series but not the number of low stars or the depth of the nasty reviews. It was much better than that, especially as the episodes progressed.

I admit I was a little put off at first by the "breaking-the-fourth-wall" moments and musical numbers, but I grew to appreciate their function. The little math whiz explaining IPOs and the developer explaining open source with the chicken salad sandwich were spot-on and a much better way to explain them to viewers who don't know about those concepts than through standard exposition.

And the interviews with the actual people involved -- especially the secondary players, whom you would otherwise rarely hear from in a documentary -- were worth watching the entire series for. The acting, too, brought their moments to life in a really credible way. (The actor's characterization of Marc Andreessen was so much like a CTO colleague from that time that it triggered some pretty uncomfortable feelings and memories.)

I haven't thought about those moments from my career or, more accurately, felt like that about them in a very long time. For me personally, that's a good measure by which to judge the success of the series.

Way ahead of its time. Intelligently written, movingly acted, extremely compelling battle scenes for a film of its era. Excellent, realistic performances by Veronica Lake, Paulette Goddard, Sonny Tufts, Walter Abel, Hugh Ho Chang, even George Reeves. I don't understand why this film isn't mentioned among the best of American-made war movies.

Some reviewers here have called it "propaganda," but it is hardly that in the context of the time. I was actually quite surprised by its even-handedness. (Yes, there are non-PC references to "Japs," as with every other American war movie of the era.) Disregard any disparaging critiques posted here and SEE THIS FILM.

I'm really quite shocked by the number of positive reviews posted here and written by professional critics. This was two of the longest, most boring, most pointless hours I've spent in a theater since "Matrix: Reloaded" (or since the five minutes of "Love Actually" that I could stand before walking out). I know this is being promoted as a family-friendly film, but I could not believe how many children were in the theater. This isn't a children's movie, and I'm not even talking about the intense violence. The story line is so far over the heads of anyone teen or under that I can't believe more parents haven't been told to leave the kiddies home. If I were a child, I'd have been begging to leave after 10 minutes.