Military & War - Page 49

Manufacturer: Ifc Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS

In this historical drama, two brothers find themselves on opposing sides in Ireland's struggle for freedom from Britain. Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, this gripping drama by Ken Loach (Raining Stones) is set during the early days of the Irish Republican Army, when British occupation of the Irish radicalized many a citizen and caused some to take up arms. Cillian Murphy plays Damien, a medical student on his way to London when he witnesses a couple of atrocities committed by British troops. Instead of becoming a doctor, he turns into a leading and respected figure in an IRA division led by his brother, Teddy (Padraic Delaney). The film provides some fascinating historical insight into the nascent resistance movement as it was in 1920, and Loach brilliantly conveys the profound emotional transition young men had to make to become saboteurs and killers. Loach's realistic style is absolutely mesmerizing, with many scenes built around the dynamics of large groups: contentious meetings, torture sessions, battles, celebrations, and the like. One has the sense of history as a pool of energy, and one also develops a kind of Renoiresque appreciation for the fact that different people on opposing sides of a life-or-death issue have their reasons for believing what they believe. As the story moves along, subtle shifts in the perspectives of men and women who had once agreed to be absolute in their fight for freedom results in a tragic yet understandable schism among Irish patriots. The final half-hour of The Wind That Shakes the Barley says a lot about how the Irish, including people who had known one another all their lives, turned their wrath on one another for so many decades. This is an outstanding film, featuring the best performance yet by Murphy (Red Eye). --Tom Keogh

Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Brand: Warner Brothers

Waterloo BridgeAcademy Award winner Vivien Leigh stars as a ballet dancer who finds her greatest happiness and deepest sorry, her life and her death on London's Waterloo Bridge.Returning from the front during World War II, Captain Roy Cronin (Robert Taylor) remembers the woman he loved. Myra Lester (Leigh--Gone With the Wind, A Streetcar Named Desire), a corps de ballet dancer stole the heart of the wealthy officer, and the two planned to marry. But when Myra misses a performance to say good-bye to Roy as he goes away to fight, she loses her job with the ballet. And then hearing that Roy has been killed in battle, Myra is left penniless and alone--and descends into a life depending on the kindness of gentlemen who frequent the bridge, a dependency that takes her self-respect and, ultimately, her life in this heart-wrenching romance.]]> Mervyn LeRoy's 1940 remake of Waterloo Bridge, based on the play by Robert E. Sherwood, stars Robert Taylor as Scotsman Roy Conin, a middle-aged officer in the British army who reflects--on the eve of Britain's entry into World War II--on lost love during the last Great War. Told in flashback, Roy's ill-fated romance begins in a chance meeting with ballerina Myra Deauville (Vivien Leigh) during a London air raid. In less than two days, Roy's near-obnoxious, aristocratic self-confidence and boyish exuberance sweep Myra off her feet and she agrees to marry him before he ships out for duty in Germany. But there's no time for the wedding, and during what should be a happy first meeting with Roy's mother (Lucile Watson), Myra receives mistaken information that Roy is dead on a battleground. From there, Myra spirals downward into poverty and prostitution, until cruel fortune reveals that Roy is quite alive. While a tearjerker, Waterloo Bridge also says something about wartime conditions where women are caught between pressures of survival (especially where and when women have few options) and social values that condemn them for staying alive by any means. Told as delicately as possible, ...

Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD) Brand: MGM

Red Dawn opens with one of the most shocking scenes ever filmed; on a peaceful morning, through the windows of a high school classroom, students see paratroopers land on the varsity football field: the invasion of the United States has begun! As their town is overrun by foreign nationals, eight teenagers escape to the mountains. Taking the name of their high school football team, the Wolverines, they wage unremitting guerrilla warfare in defense of their parents, their friends and their country. Powerful, chilling and absolutely gripping, this outstanding film features some of today's most popular stars, including Patrick Swayze (Ghost), Charlie Sheen (Platoon), C. Thomas Howell (The Hitcher), Lea Thompson ("Caroline in the City"), Jennifer Grey (Dirty Dancing) and veteran actor Harry Dean Stanton (Alien). When it comes to thrilling entertainment, Red Dawn wins the war with a vengeance! Audio: English: Stereo 2.0 / Spanish: Mono / French: Stereo Language: Dubbed: French & Spanish / Subtitled: French & Spanish Theatrical Aspect Ratio: Widescreen: 1.85:1 Disc 1: Widescreen Feature Film Carnage Counter: This feature on the DVD will keep a running tally of violent acts - deaths, bodily injuries, shots fired, etc. - at the top of the screen so that the viewer can keep count as the film plays. Disc 2: Special Features: Red Daw Rising - a retrospective look at the making of the film. Building the Red Menace - what it took to make "World War III" Military Training - this piece explores the extensive training that the actors had to go through in order to become convincing guerilla fighters WWIII Comes To Town - This piece goes back to Las Vegas, New Mexico and finds out from locals and extras what happened when 'Red Dawn' came and turned their hometown into the fictional town of Calumet, Colorado and the center of World War III.

Manufacturer: Discovery - Gaiam Brand: GAIAM INTERNATIONAL

The U.S. Navy SEALs are members of one of the world's most elite, most successful military commando forces. They are a highly trained unit of tenacious, intelligent and fearless soldiers. What does it take to become the best of the best? Find out as you follow Class 234 in a rigorous six-month training course that will push the men to extreme physical and emotional limits. The punishment never ends from the first day to the course's end when only 17 of 83 men will succeed as they face the most demanding training of their lives. Disc 1 Welcome to BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) - From "The Grinder" to "Surf Torture," the training begins with a punishing series of physical and mental tests that will push students to their limits. And this is just the first day. It Pays to Be a Winner - With a one-mile bay swim in frigid water, the best students rise to the top...and half the class drops out by the end of the first week. Disc 2 Two Weeks and a Long Day - Week One is over, and the remaining students of Class 234 are battered, bruised and exhausted. See how poor teamwork results in one candidate's injury and how two team leaders cost their crews serious punishment. Hell Week - This is the eliminator. For 24 hours a day, six days straight, candidates are put through a brutal set of tests designed to bring each of them to his breaking point and challenge him to push beyond it. Disc 3 The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday - Students must combat fear and panic underwater as they learn advanced scuba and breathing techniques. Those who make it must undergo a simulated combat dive that demands extreme levels of precision . The Home Stretch - This is the training's most dangerous phase. Using real explosives and live ammunition, candidates learn demolition tactics, land navigation and combat maneuvers. The final hurdle is a nighttime, live-fire mission on a simulated enemy base.

Manufacturer: PBS Brand: WGBH BOSTON VIDEO

Although the fighting lasted for only six days in June of 1967, the effects of the Six Day War are still apparent today. On its 40th anniversary, the region remains trapped in conflict and is every bit as explosive as it was then. Shot on location in Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Moscow and Washington, this powerful film takes us through the weeks that preceded the war, its six days of fighting and its aftermath that lingers today.

Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Brand: Warner Brothers

Barry Lyndon (DVD)Ryan O'Neal and Marisa Berenson star in director Stanley Kubrick's lavish adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's classic 18th-century novel about the rise and fall of a sensitive and dashing rogue, The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq.. Forced to leave Ireland after killing an English officer in a duel, handsome young Redmond Barry (O'Neal) seeks his fortune as a soldier in Prussia, as a spy then as a gambler living among the elite of Europe. He changes his name and marries an aristocrat (Berenson) for her wealth, but the acceptance he seeks finally eludes him.]]>

Manufacturer: Cinequest

The Conscientious Objector is a multiple award-winning documentary which tells the incredible true story of Desmond T. Doss, a World War II hero who never once touched a firearm. An inspiring and life-affirming account of a peaceful man whose religious beliefs spurred him to renounce all weapons and, in the process, allowed for him to save countless lives as a medic on the front lines and, eventually, to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.When sold by Amazon.com, this product will be manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Manufacturer: HBO Studios Brand: HBO HOME VIDEO

Elizabeth I (DVD) (Amaray)Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons star in Elizabeth I, a two-part HBO Films miniseries event that explores the intersection of the private and public life of Elizabeth I (Mirren) in the latter half of her reign, offering a personal look at her allies, her enemies and her suitors as she struggles to survive in a male-dominated world. Part 1 explores Elizabeth's tempestuous relationship with the Earl of Leicester (Irons) as it survives a French suitor, war, treason, and illness. Part 2 follows Elizabeth through her later years, during which she had an equally passionate affair with the young, ambitious Earl of Essex (Hugh Dancy), who had been raised, ironically, by his stepfather Leicester. In the end, Elizabeth I sheds light on one of the most popular members of the monarchy who held absolute power over everything... except her heart.]]>