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THE LIBERATOR (2020)

November 23, 2020 by Craig DiLouie Leave a Comment

Based on the nonfiction book by Alex Kershaw, THE LIBERATOR (2020, Netflix) is a four-part WW2 miniseries chronicling infantry commander Felix Sparks and members of the 157th Infantry Battalion of the 45th Infantry Division, which fought for 500 days during the Italian campaign. The series is compelling, realistic enough that old tropes feel lived in and comfortable instead of saccharine, and emotionally powerful.

The series was originally conceived as a live-action, 11-part series for the History Channel. The daunting cost, however, consigned the project to the file drawer. The showrunner, Jeb Stuart, however, loved it enough that he and his team found a way to produce it as a four-part series and animate it. The result is an extraordinarily powerful drama about war that lacks the excitement and action of say BAND OF BROTHERS but has equal if not more emotional impact.

Interestingly, the story of the 157th is also a diversity story. To get bodies at the front, the services began to integrate. The 157th–the “Thunderbirds”–was an integrated unit made up of white cowboys, Mexican-Americans, and Native soldiers from across the American West. They fought long and hard in some of the most horrific battles of the war and as a result became one of the most decorated American combat units. In the series, the diversity element is handled very well, letting it speak for itself, and rather than present Sparks (played by Bradley James, nailing the role) as a “White savior,” he is merely an officer who believes if the men he’s given command of are simply treated fairly, they would become excellent soldiers, and he was right.

The animation works well and doesn’t detract at all from the show, though I’m not sure it enhances it other than enabling costuming, equipment, and special effects that wouldn’t been allowed by the budget. You can see the lack of budget in the number of people onscreen–at one point, several units are fighting and then surrender en masse, but we never see more than a handful of people on screen. I didn’t mind, mostly because the acting was terrific and the script was fantastic. One phrase that jumped into my mind while watching it was “the banality of war.” The series has a very lived-in feel, making it seem real even with the animation, and most of what we see is the men simply trying to survive. The real drama isn’t from the combat but instead the men we come to care about, particularly Sparks himself, and the way familiar war tropes surface while others are challenged. As for the Germans, they’re presented as real people as well instead of comic-book villains, though sometimes the SS–who were absolute fanatics–are humanized a bit too much for credulity.

In short, I loved it and highly recommend it.

Filed Under: Movies & TV, Submarines & WW2, The Blog

GREYHOUND (2020)

November 4, 2020 by Craig DiLouie Leave a Comment

Wow, now THIS is how you make a war movie. If you’re a war movie buff, especially WW2 movies, you owe it yourself to check out GREYHOUND (2020) ASAP.

Based on the book THE GOOD SHEPHERD by C.S. Forester, who produced the classic Hornblower series, GREYHOUND focuses on U.S. Navy Commander Ernest Krause, captain of the destroyer GREYHOUND and assigned to escort a convoy of supply ships streaming across the North Atlantic to aid besieged Britain. It’s his first operation, and he’s about to be baptized the hard way into the horrors of the Battle of the Atlantic. The most dangerous part of the voyage is a stretch of sea in which the convoy will be unprotected by air cover and under constant threat by German U-Boats. Almost immediately, a wolf pack collects around the ships, intent on ripping the convoy to shreds.

Starring as Krause, Tom Hanks also wrote the script, and he didn’t mess with the accuracy. The movie rolls out like a military procedural. We see the destroyer’s bridge crew work together under his direction, as he is forced to respond to constant threats and make tough choices with barely a break. The film gets everything right–the procedures, the gun battles, the way the crew look at their captain not only for direction and inspiration but to check if he’s cracking under the strain. The tension is terrific, the roiling cold seas a powerful setting, the German U-Boats with their distinctive insignia terrifying as they boldly attack like sharks. Characterization isn’t staged or forced to try to make us care. Good acting by Hanks and his captain’s mannerisms and working style tell us everything we need to know about him and make us root for him.

If you can’t tell yet, I loved this one and highly recommend it. It defies typical Hollywood movie conventions to offer something simple, entertaining, and pure.

Filed Under: Movies & TV, Submarines & WW2, The Blog

MIDWAY (2019)

August 26, 2020 by Craig DiLouie 2 Comments

MIDWAY (2019, streaming on Google Play) is military historical actioner focusing on the experience of bomber pilots in WW2 from the Pearl Harbor attack to the Battle of Midway, considered a major turning point in the war. As my next WW2 series is about carrier aviators fighting in the Pacific, I considered this essential viewing. The film largely got panned by critics, so I expected it to be lifeless, but while the characters are pretty weak, the action and history is pretty darn good, and overall I’d give it a B.

The funny thing is the action is so good that if this came out before say SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, I might have loved it for that alone, but films are the product of their times, and you can’t rely on action alone to make a lovable war movie these days–you need strong characters and a strong script.

The film follows an ensemble cast with some good actors, focusing mostly on Dick Best, a bomber pilot; Layton, an intelligence officer; and Admiral Nimitz, who replaced the scapegoated Admiral Kimmel as commander of the Pacific Fleet after the Pearl Harbor attack. None are particularly interesting. Layton fights with “Washington” (the senior military leaders), believing his intelligence is more accurate, and while he’s right, this is hammered over and over and in a sanctimonious way. Dick Best has the strongest character; for the first half of the film he’s not likeable–cocky is one thing, constantly belligerent is another–but he learns some humility along the way, which by the end makes him somebody we can root for. Nimitz is the most human and likeable, though we never really see the tough and brilliant commander he was, and after the midpoint, he functions mainly to clap Layton on the back.

Historically, the film is pretty accurate, covering all the major movements and battles of the carrier ENTERPRISE during the first months of the war. The sweep of time and events is cool for history buffs and is supposed to be epic, though it may be too ambitious, as a lot of it feels rushed and without depth, including a diversion to cover the Doolittle Raid that ends with a few scenes in China probably to satisfy the film’s Chinese financiers. Because of this rush, a lot of the dialogue feels way to pointed, such as a senior officer–I think it’s supposed to be Admiral Kimmel–telling Layton during the Pearl Harbor attack, “You were right! I should have listened to you!” Of particular interest is showing what’s happening among the Japanese battle commanders during Midway, which lends some gravitas and weight to the story.

So overall, it’s no SAVING PRIVATE RYAN–which though heavy handed combined incredible action with a simple story and a small cast of characters we can get to know and root for–but overall, hell, I have to say I liked MIDWAY. Regardless of its flaws, it’s a fast-paced actioner that makes a big effort to stick to historical accuracy, has great action, and is just plain fun to watch.

Filed Under: Movies & TV, Submarines & WW2, The Blog

DOWNFALL (2004)

August 6, 2020 by Craig DiLouie Leave a Comment

Depicting Hitler’s last days in his besieged Berlin bunker, DOWNFALL (2004) is a powerful character study not only of Hitler himself but the Nazi mentality in general. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though it may drag for some viewers due to its length and bleakness.

It was the movie that launched a thousand memes, as a scene depicting Hitler ranting over failure of one of his generals to break the siege turned up on YouTube again and again with fresh subtitles having Hitler complain about various setbacks in American politics, pop culture, and everyday life. Some of these are pretty amusing, but I avoided the movie because the last thing I needed was to watch Hitler mope around a bunker for 2-1/2 hours. I finally decided to give it a go and I’m glad I did, as the movie really has something to say.

The story is based on firsthand accounts from several people, notably Traudl Junge, a young woman chosen by Hitler to be his personal secretary in 1942. Starstruck, she is all too happy to serve the Fuhrer. Fast forward to 1945, Hitler’s birthday. The Soviets are shelling Berlin, and soon tanks are broaching the city. As the writing on the wall becomes clear, Hitler decides to go down with the ship instead of flee his capital, and the top cadre of the Nazi Party unravels between those who stay at his side to the end and others who flee like rats.

The film was controversial for its depiction of Hitler as, well, human. I had no problem with that, and by the end, I hated Hitler and everything he represents even more. Yes, the Nazis weren’t monsters, they were ordinary people who did monstrous things because of ideology and a yes-man echo chamber that created an alternate reality, and that’s even more terrifying and provides an even greater warning to us now. As the Soviets bring that alternate reality crashing down, we see what everybody is made of, and yup, they’re horrible.

Hitler comes across as the leader of a death cult–personally charming, believing he can change events simply by wishing it so, throwing followers under the bus whenever convenient, blaming everybody but himself, brainwashing kids to pointlessly fight and die, and ultimately killing himself and expecting everybody else to die with him. And like a cult, many of his followers are all too happy to die with him. All the Nazis in their stark uniforms, they look more like dangerous cult members wearing drab costumes than actual political and military leaders of a feared and aggressive nation. Even now at my age, I still expect the Nazis to at least be grand due to all the pageantry and discipline, but they’re just pathetic.

Though we’re shown several people who are somewhat sympathetic, such as Junge, a military doctor, and the general in charge of the city’s defense, they’re only sympathetic by omission of certain truths about them and contrast against those even more monstrous. Honestly, there’s not a single truly likeable character in the film. The only characters I was truly rooting for were the children, and seeing them follow the same fate as their parents was painful. Seeing most of these people go along with Hitler’s desire for the whole country to die, Hitler requiring old men and children to fight to the last, and the Nazi leaders having Bacchanalian parties while their subjects suffer a horrific struggle to survive–yeah, you kind of look forward to them exiting the world, and good riddance.

Overall, DOWNFALL is an excellent character study of Hitler and portrayal of the Nazis, warning about blindly following extremist ideologies, and a raw and believable account of Hitler’s last days.

Filed Under: Apocalyptic, Movies & TV, Submarines & WW2, The Blog

THE WHITE TIGER (2012)

July 11, 2020 by Craig DiLouie Leave a Comment

THE WHITE TIGER (2012) is a Russian war film based on the novel TANKIST by Ilya Boyashov about a Red Army tank commander obsessed with finding and destroying a mysterious German Tiger tank that appears out of nowhere to wreak havoc on the Soviet forces. I thoroughly enjoyed this one as virtually unique among war films.

Normally, I take Russian war movies with a grain of salt, as they’re often over the top and ridiculously gung-ho. Probably the best I’d seen was TANKERS (2018), which had a lot of good elements and a grounded, lived-in atmosphere that pulled me in. WHITE TIGER is even more detailed, grounded, and immersive visually but takes a completely different approach to the storytelling, focusing on a fantastical element as the central plot: a Russian tanker and Nazi ghost tank seemingly created by the war and bound to each other as enemies.

The film begins with the aftermath of a horrific tank battle. In a burned-out T34, a Russian tank driver is discovered horribly burned but somehow alive. He miraculously recovers from his wounds unable to remember who he is and able to “talk” to tanks. Meanwhile, intelligence officer Fedotov learns about the White Tiger and that the Germans themselves don’t know what it is or who commands it. To counter the White Tiger, he gives the driver his own tank, beginning a mythic fight set against the backdrop of the war.

Visually, the film is incredible, with amazing sets, diorama views of the Russian advance, and an enormous attention to detail. The action is solid. The characters are engaging if not particularly deep, and the plot if very simple and somewhat inconclusive, with plenty of attention given to other things going on in the war, such as the German surrender at its end. This may put off some viewers but I enjoyed the juxtaposition between the eternal, mythical fight between the Russian tanker and the White Tiger (similar to Captain and the White Whale in MOBY DICK) and the grounded, realistic depiction of the actual war.

The complete film is watchable on YouTube, which I normally wouldn’t encourage, but I couldn’t find it anywhere else. Check it out if you enjoy war movies and are open to something different and strange.

Filed Under: Movies & TV, Submarines & WW2, The Blog

ARMOR Audiobook Now Available!

June 15, 2020 by Craig DiLouie Leave a Comment

Available at Amazon, Audible, and iTunes, ARMOR: The Complete Series chronicles the journey of a tank crew through the Second World War, from North Africa to Berlin. Action-packed, authentic, and filled with flawed but tough men of the Greatest Generation, ARMOR drops you straight into the horror, brotherhood, and triumph of armored warfare. Enjoy the complete series as an audiobook available now–22 hours of entertainment–narrated by Garrett Michael Brown, who did an amazing job with the narration, characterizations, and a sprinkling of martial sound effects.

Listening to this book, you’ll fight alongside the crew as they go head-to-head with Tigers at Kasserine Pass, race to Palermo in Sicily, land during the horrific first assault wave at Omaha Beach, crash against the Norman hedgerows, make a stand against Hitler’s last blitzkrieg in the Battle of the Bulge, and batter their way into the heart of Nazi Germany. All the while, you’ll live with the crew in the cramped, noisy, and vulnerable fighting machine that was the American Sherman tank.

ARMOR: The Complete Series puts together for the first time all five episodes in my historical military fiction action & adventure series: The Battle of North Africa, The Fight for Sicily, Fortress Europe, The Bulge, and Reich’s Fall.

The eBook will launch June 26, and the omnibus paperback will launch around the end of the month. Thanks for reading!

Check it out here!

Filed Under: Armor Series, Books, Submarines & WW2, The Blog

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