VideoHound's War Movies: Classic Conflict on Film

VideoHound's War Movies: Classic Conflict on Film
Customer Review: Hit and Miss Book
This book is really a hit and miss when it comes to the quality and understanding of the reviews. On one hand, there are some good reviews that put insight into the background of a film as well as the meaning behind it. I particularly enjoyed the review of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" as well as the review of "Yojimbo," and I commend Mike Mayo for speaking against the racism and bland nature of "Gone With the Wind." On the other hand, some of the reviews make me raise an eyebrow. For example, in the review of "Hamburger Hill" Mike Mayo puts down the film because seemingly it wants to put handsome men on the screen with out their shirts off. Yeah, OK Mike...that was like five minutes of the film. It sounds like you're hiding some repressed feelings. I didn't walk away from "Hamburger Hill" with the same feelings I did when I left "Wild America." The very fact he includes some films like "Yojimbo" makes me wonder what he considers a war film. There is nothing war-like about "Yojimbo," except for the fact it is a "war" between two rival merchants. But then if he considers that to be a war film, why not include the movie "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre," which was about the war between two rival gangs in Chicago. Including Yojimbo and not a film like "Heaven and Earth," a great Japanese film and one of the best for the Sengoku Jidai period, confuses me and frankly disappoints. So in the end, I wouldn't say this is an aweful book, but I don't rate it too highly.
Customer Review: Great Expectations . . . Sorry Results
Always being an avid follower of Combat/War Films, I thought that this book would aid me in being very selective concerning purchases and objective reviews. As a neophyte, I trusted that this title "WAR MOVIES" would be comprehensive enough to give me a great scope of the films in this genre. If nothing else, this book made me seek out the GREAT films that this volume never covers . . . this volume is severely in need of an overhaul and update!!! Trust me! I could never understand the misuse of close to 100 pages of cast names and useless cross references to other useless data at the conclusion of the book. Face it - this book is a good start, but it is not COMPREHENSIVE! Bring down the price or make a revision - at this stage I could redo the thing!!! I do not regret buying the book, but sometimes one has to admit that you have purchased a 'READER'S DIGEST CONDENSED VERSION!'