Author of adventure/thriller and horror fiction

  • Home
  • The Blog
  • Email List/Contact
  • Interviews
  • Apocalyptic
  • Horror
  • Military Thriller
  • Sci-fi/Fantasy
  • All books

SAS: ROGUE HEROES

December 19, 2022 by Craig DiLouie Leave a Comment

Based on the book by Ben Macintyre, Steven Knight’s SAS: ROGUE HEROES is a BBC historical drama series about the formation of the British Army Special Air Service during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II. Infused with modern elements and plenty of energy, the series is a lot of fun, despite the lack of empathy I had for most of the characters.

In the early days of World War II, Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany, and one of the main theaters of the conflict was North Africa, where General Rommel outclassed the British at maneuver warfare and pushed them to Tobruk, now under siege. When British attempts to relieve the siege fail, British officer David Stirling conceives of a special commando unit that would fight in the enemy’s rear and disrupt supply lines through sabotage and general mayhem. An intelligence effort was underway to convince the Germans the British were doing just that, so populating a fictitious unit with real soldiers seemed a good way to make the intel operation stick. The thing is, the SAS fought well, assaulting multiple airbases and inflicting high losses, resulting in it being recognized as a very real regiment and given broad agency to accomplish its goals by whatever means necessary.

The series is set in a specific period of history, though it feels contemporary, particularly through the use of a heavy metal soundtrack that punches up the action and sets the tone. The war they fight feels lived in and real. The desert landscapes are stunning, the action scenes exciting. As for the soldiers, they’re recruited from among the most violent and cunning misfits the British Army had on hand, men who disparaged regulation and acted on their own initiative. These men were certainly daring, resourceful, cunning, and utterly committed to putting a hurt on Rommel. This makes them a fun bunch to watch in action, though with some reservations, notably that two of the main officers, Stirling and Paddy Mayne, are supposed to be larger than life personalities but act like self-pitying, petulant, and petty man-babies, and while they come across as great commandos, they’re horrible as commanders. Often, they seem to succeed despite trying to fail. Another issue I had with the series is history doesn’t always make great fiction, as characters die or other events happen that nail broadly true events but seem oddly placed in a story.

Overall, I liked the series a lot and look forward to Season 2, which unfortunately from what I hear may not come out until 2024. Mixing a lot of great elements, it offers a historical drama that feels fresh and fun. A perfect diversion after a hard day.

Filed Under: HISTORY, MEDIA YOU MIGHT LIKE, Movies & TV, Submarines & WW2, The Blog

STRIKE Released!

March 11, 2022 by Craig DiLouie Leave a Comment

STRIKE, my new WW2 novel, officially releases today at Amazon!

Written as a follow-up to my WW2 fiction CRASH DIVE and ARMOR, STRIKE is a standalone novel about a dive-bomber pilot serving in the Pacific during the Second World War.

In December 1941, Ensign Harry Hartmann reports for duty at Pearl Harbor. He’s a “nugget,” a dive bomber pilot about to start his first deployment aboard the USS Enterprise.

Hell rains from the skies as the Japanese launch a surprise attack. With the Bombing Six, Harry takes to the skies seeking vengeance and finds himself fighting for his life in breathless, high-speed aerial combat over the Marshall Islands.

After the Doolittle Raid rattles Tokyo, the Imperial Japanese Navy embarks on a bold plan to draw America’s aircraft carriers into the open, where they can be destroyed. Their target: Midway Island. But the Americans have cracked the Japanese codes and have prepared their own trap.

With the call, “Pilots, man your planes,” Harry will join the carrier strikes that aimed to turn the tide of the Pacific War.

STRIKE tells a powerful and exciting story about this pivotal battle—examining courage in the face of impossible odds, the demands of honor, and whether one man can make a difference.

The novel is available as a Kindle eBook and trade paperback. The audio edition is coming soon.

I hope you enjoy the adventure. Thanks for reading!

Filed Under: Books, CRAIG'S WORK, Strike, Submarines & WW2

CATCH 22 Series

February 13, 2021 by Craig DiLouie Leave a Comment

Based on Joseph Heller’s classic antiwar novel CATCH 22, the 2019 Hulu series of the same title lovingly adds depth and dimension to Heller’s absurd world but tonally sacrifices the dark humor. I enjoyed it but found myself unfavorably comparing it both to the novel and the brilliant, tightly written 1970 movie starring Alan Arkin and many other great actors.

Produced by several people including George Clooney, who also directed and stars in several episodes, the six-part series describes the tribulations of John Yossarian (Christopher Abbott), an Air Force bombardier serving in Italy during World War II. He hates being there and wants to go home, but his brutal commander keeps raising the combat missions quota, making him wonder who the real enemy is.

The book is packed with absurdity to a Monty Python level. The tone shifts from dark comedy to just dark by its last act, with the horror closing in on Yossarian until he makes the ultimate choice to save himself. The series takes a different tack, playing it serious for the most part and sacrificing most of the books’ humor, but punctuating the otherwise serious story with absurd comedic moments that feel disjointed and not very funny. There’s a ton of filler plot stuff that doesn’t seem to go anywhere, and a lot of shots of Yossarian moping. The ending doesn’t really end.

That being said, the cinematography is lavish, as is the attention given to historical detail. The story starts off really well and is basically enjoyable, the acting is good, the potential of the story eventually hitting its stride is inviting. So in the end, I liked it, though I wanted to love it. I just ended up feeling like the show couldn’t decide what it wanted to be.

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

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

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 10
  • Next Page »

Categories

  • APOCALYPTIC/HORROR
    • Apocalyptic
    • Art
    • Film Shorts/TV
    • Movies
    • Music Videos
    • Reviews of Other Books
    • Weird/Funny
    • Zombies
  • COMICS
    • Comic Books
  • CRAIG'S WORK
    • Armor Series
    • Aviator Series
    • Crash Dive Series
    • Episode Thirteen
    • One of Us
    • Our War
    • Strike
    • Suffer the Children
    • The Alchemists
    • The Children of Red Peak
    • The End of the Road
    • The Final Cut
    • The Front
    • The Infection
    • The Killing Floor
    • The Retreat Series
    • The Thin White Line
    • Tooth and Nail
  • GAMES
    • Video & Board Games
  • HISTORY
    • Other History
    • Submarines & WW2
  • MEDIA YOU MIGHT LIKE
    • Books
    • Film Shorts
    • Interesting Art
    • Movies & TV
    • Music
  • POLITICAL
    • Politics
  • SCIENCE
    • Cool Science
  • The Blog
  • WRITING LIFE
    • Craig at Work
    • Interviews with Craig
    • Reader Mail
    • Writing/Publishing

Copyright © 2023 · Author Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in