jhagg30346
Joined Aug 2001
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jhagg30346's rating
I have just returned from seeing this film.
Very brief plot synopsis (the one provided by IMDb is probably better):
A team of US Navy SEALs is sent into the Nigerian jungle to extract an American citizen working with a Catholic mission before it is overrun by the forces of the Muslim general who has taken the country over by a military coup.
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing." -- Edmund Burke
This is a very powerful story of good men striving to do something about the evil that is besetting a group of people who have no advocates in the world arena. It doesn't start out that way; it starts out as a job, and only when they see the extent of the atrocities perpetrated on their fellow human beings do they realize that they can't simply walk away. As Cole Hauser's character, Red, puts it in the film "I simply can't see them as 'packages' anymore."
That is what gives this story its power, and its integrity. We come to care about these characters because they come to care for others; they become, in essence, "their brother's keeper." Some things about the film may require some stretch of the imagination -- Bruce Willis may be the world's oldest living SEAL lieutenant -- but his talent, and his clear emotional investment in the role make him not only believable, but heroic.
OK; now for the more-or-less political soapbox.
I strongly suspect, that in light of the current international situation, this movie will be VERY controversial, and will gather plenty of 3s and 4s (or less). I suspect that plenty of viewers will judge this movie through the lenses of their ideological glasses. I certainly have done so; I suspect that it is not in human nature to judge truly controversial subjects objectively. But I would urge denizens from all camps to see this film. If it invokes dialogue (however heated) it has succeeded beyond the confines of a mere movie; and we at least will be able to speak freely.
Very brief plot synopsis (the one provided by IMDb is probably better):
A team of US Navy SEALs is sent into the Nigerian jungle to extract an American citizen working with a Catholic mission before it is overrun by the forces of the Muslim general who has taken the country over by a military coup.
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing." -- Edmund Burke
This is a very powerful story of good men striving to do something about the evil that is besetting a group of people who have no advocates in the world arena. It doesn't start out that way; it starts out as a job, and only when they see the extent of the atrocities perpetrated on their fellow human beings do they realize that they can't simply walk away. As Cole Hauser's character, Red, puts it in the film "I simply can't see them as 'packages' anymore."
That is what gives this story its power, and its integrity. We come to care about these characters because they come to care for others; they become, in essence, "their brother's keeper." Some things about the film may require some stretch of the imagination -- Bruce Willis may be the world's oldest living SEAL lieutenant -- but his talent, and his clear emotional investment in the role make him not only believable, but heroic.
OK; now for the more-or-less political soapbox.
I strongly suspect, that in light of the current international situation, this movie will be VERY controversial, and will gather plenty of 3s and 4s (or less). I suspect that plenty of viewers will judge this movie through the lenses of their ideological glasses. I certainly have done so; I suspect that it is not in human nature to judge truly controversial subjects objectively. But I would urge denizens from all camps to see this film. If it invokes dialogue (however heated) it has succeeded beyond the confines of a mere movie; and we at least will be able to speak freely.
It has been many years since I've seen "The Apple War," but it still sticks in my mind as one of the cleverest, sweetest films I've ever seen.
If I remember correctly, the sequence with Mr. Von Sydow dancing to the beat of his drum was truly something to behold (and certainly very well done).
I'm really sorry that it doesn't seem to be available on tape or DVD.
If I remember correctly, the sequence with Mr. Von Sydow dancing to the beat of his drum was truly something to behold (and certainly very well done).
I'm really sorry that it doesn't seem to be available on tape or DVD.
