SodaGuy

Sir Ian McKellan and Brad Renfro star in this film about what happened during the second world war through the eyes of a Nazi war criminal. Brad Renfro plays Todd Bowden a student who wants to probe into the life of a nazi war criminal who lives next door to him. Todd uses everything he can to get info from Arthur Dussander played by McKellan. Todd uses blackmail in order to get what he wants but it soon backfires as McKellan reverses the game as he plays with Todd's mind. This movie missed with me because all it did was skate around what happened and instead of taking something away from it, I saw nothing but psychological games being played that didn't quite cut it for me. If I wanted to see better psychological games I could have rented The Silence Of The Lambs. Apt Pupil wasted the talents of McKellan and Renfro with a lame story. It had a lot of room for improvement. This is not a movie I would jump out of my seat and go to the video store to rent the movie again. * out of ****

Edward Norton gives the performance of his career as a reformed Neo-Nazi determined to deter his brother, Edward Furlong, from the life he once held. American History X starts with a bang and ends with one as well. Edward Norton is Derek Vinyard a skinhead sent to prison for murdering two black boys in front of his home for trying to steal his truck. Norton's performance in American History X reminds me of an earlier film called Primal Fear. Edward Furlong plays Derek's younger brother named Danny. Danny, who has always looked up to Derek enters the life his brother Derek led. Derek leaves prison with the knowledge that Danny is in the hateful life he once led and he makes it his mission to get him and his family out of the life. American History X has a lot of detailed scenes of violence, and language that opened my eyes to this awful lifestyle. I thought to myself, How could people be so ignorant as to hate others because of their skin. When this film was first being released in theatres, there was a storm of controversy surrounding it due the violent and graphic content; however, American History X turned out to become even less violent than one of the most violent films of the 1990's Natural Born Killers. American History X was an eye opening, powerful, emotionally moving film that had everything from great acting to good plotlines. This is one of the top movies of 1998. Everybody who watches this film is in for a real treat because there is a twist at the end, which is needed to make the story come complete circle. American History X is a film of the journey that travels from the deepest depths of darkness to peak of doing what is right.

Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Matt Damon, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, and Jeremy Davies star in one of the best war films ever made. Tom Hanks stars as Capt. John Miller, leader of a public relations mission to bring home the last of four brothers Sean, Peter, Daniel, and James who fought in the war. What makes this so hard is that three brothers, Sean, Peter, and Daniel are dead and the mother was going to receive all three letters at once. The opening scene of the old man walking in the war veteran's cemetary with his family a few steps back. Unless people have seen the film before, we don't know who this man is or what significance it has on the film; It gets tied in at the end of the film. I saw Saving Private Ryan twice and the opening scene had such a powerful impact on th rest of the film, but it was one of those things that you must watch it more than once to fully understand it as I did. Saving Private James Ryan turns out to become something more than what Capt. Miller had bargained for. Tom Sizemore is Miller's loyal right hand man Sgt. Horwath. I love the loyalty that Tom Sizemore's character, Sgt. Horwath, holds for his boss Capt. Miller. Wars are one of the worst tragedies of America and to bring it to life with such a realistic view really shocked me. The way Steven Spielberg brought to life the 20 minute war scene at the beginning was eye-opening to say the least. At first, I hated that part since it was so long and drawn out; but, when I saw it the second time just a few days ago I understood why it was done this way. I think Spielberg wanted to bring out emotions and make a statement to the audience that war is something that was devastating and something that should never have happened. Matt Damon was superb as Pvt. James Ryan. Matt Damon continues to produce box office hits as does Tom Hanks and the incomprible legend Steven Spielberg. Saving Private Ryan is one film to savour over and over.