BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Kodie Bird True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Uriah43 The American army desperately needs to take a dam in Nazi Germany during World War II. Because it is the closest military unit the assignment is given to Company B of the 3rd Regiment to secure it long enough for the rest of the army to cross to the other side. This particular company, however, is an undisciplined black unit that is completely ill-prepared for this mission. To make matters even more complicated, the decision is made to place a white, southern officer by the name of "Captain Beau Carter" (Stephen Boyd) in command. Anyway, what follows is a basic made-for-television film which contains some decent action mixed with typical racial overtones seen quite often during this time. Overall the film is okay but only because of the acting of Stephen Boyd and the presence of several notable black actors to include Roosevelt Grier (as "Big Jim"), Billy Dee Williams ("Private Lewis"), Richard Pryor ("Jonathan Crunk"), Robert Hooks ("Lieutenant Edward Wallace") and Moses Gunn ("Private Doc Hayes").

jt_3d I consider anything other than a rough plot outline a spoiler so... ***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** I liked this movie. I watched it twice, just to make sure. I'd never heard of it before acquiring it with a lot of WWII films in a 20 pack. Again, the theme of a white 'cracker' being put in charge of a group of soldiers he considers inferior, similar to Go for Broke but more outright racism. Said cracker grows to respect his men, only for this one he only takes seven men instead of the whole company. An odd choice, most likely made by the director, to either focus more on the 'talent', Grier, Williams and Pryor. Or just so he wouldn't have to pay a bunch more actors to be cannon fodder. Whatever the reason, trying to take and hold a dam with seven guys is stupid. As is the lieutenant allowing a deaf guy to go with. I can understand a deaf guy wanting to serve and somehow finding a way to sneak into the army, especially into a so-called service unit. But for the C.O., either one, to allow him on a real combat mission is again, stupid.Anyway, the unit is a mess. This is directly the fault of the commander, a black lieutenant. He's the one who let the men turn into a band of hobos. Lousy assignments or not, these men were supposed to be soldiers. Thus it makes the cracker captain's job that much harder. Still you can see him start to at least consider that he might be wrong as soon as he finds out that the second man he encounters (the first is a rather shiftless Richard Pryor) and threatens for not saluting, is actually an officer and the unit commander. Of course, the lieutenant is still out ranked and should have maybe saluted but since the captain was such a jerk, he didn't really deserve one.But I digress, this is a war movie and war movies should have action. This one does and it's pretty well done. But there's the getting to the mission part, where we encounter a German Frau who is a contact of sorts. She is also the girl from the Star Trek pilot, Vena. Still looking nice. She is wise about war and says stuff that makes the black lieutenant want to give her a peck on the cheek. Naturally cracker captain catches him and scolds him about touching white women. Said white woman proceeds to smack him in the mouth for acting like the racist Nazis she is opposed to. This is really the start of cracker boy's turn around. He apologizes to the black lieutenant and says 'I didn't ask (for this mission) but I expected soldiers'. And as well he should have. Why they assigned this mission to a service unit, who knows. Maybe they were the only unit close enough, maybe they were just expendable. It's never explained. At any rate, they did the job. They took it to the enemy and won the day. Most were lost. Being famous didn't save you in this movie, just like some of the biggies. All in all a solid war film.There is one LOL moment at the end, when Pryor is being helped to the medic jeep. Watch his right hand.

Poseidon-3 Producer Spelling was quite an amazing person. Somehow, he always seemed to have his finger on the pulse of whatever TV and social trends were happening or were about to happen. His list of hit television series (despite a few misses as well along the way) is staggering. Here, he proves himself ahead of the curve in that he co-wrote and produced a form of Blaxploitation before that genre had fully erupted into being. (Spelling's 60's and 70's series tended to be racially-integrated affairs, though that did taper off as the 80's were underway.) Boyd (utilizing a bad southern twang) plays an Army Captain in WWII Germany who is assigned to save a dam from being destroyed by the retreating Nazis. His only aid comes in the form of seven black soldiers who belong to a troop that's been placed in charge of trench-digging and clean-up duty. Their Lieutenant (Hooks) selects six of them (at random!) to join himself and Boyd in the mission. Demonstrating another one of Spelling's talents, which would be using actors who are either famous or on the verge of becoming so, every one of the six soldiers is a black actor of some note. Burly Grier, veteran Gunn, inexperienced Turman, insolent Williams, goof-off Pryor and deaf (!) Whiting make up the unit. The preposterousness of selecting an old, deaf man for a mission of this nature is short-lived as Whiting (best-known as the Barkley's butler on "The Big Valley") is dispensed with early on. The remaining men make their way to Oliver's farm house where she gives them access to a radio for the next installment of their orders. Oliver, sporting an atrocious accent and making no attempt whatsoever to disguise her patently 60's hair and makeup, then has to entertain a Nazi officer in a bid to distract him while the US soldiers move out. The team faces a sniper and full-on German assault as it attempts to secure the dam while racist Boyd butts head with its black members until a grudging respect is finally won (with those who survive the mission!) Although this TV-movie is clearly aimed at showing the ugliness of racial inequality and the benefit of harmony, it still offers up some unattractive qualities within the characters. Practically Hooks' entire platoon is made up of sloppy, lazy, dice-throwing, chain-smoking, buffoonish "soldiers". Yes, they act that way because they are considered second-rate men who aren't given a chance to see combat, but even after they are assigned to an important mission, one of them threatens to desert and two of them get drunk on some pilfered bottles of wine. Another has cigarettes in his belt in lieu of ammunition! Fortunately, some of the men prove their valor by the end of the story. This isn't Blaxploitation proper as the language is toned down for TV (although the "N-bomb" is dropped at least once!) and the clothing and subject matter aren't on par with the later crime/drug/hooker types of flicks that would help define the genre, but it's an interesting precursor that goes down easy thanks to it's all name brand cast and it's brief running time.

marrimac I purchased "Black Brigade" (apparently a re-issue of the original) this week for $3.33 from the previously-viewed bin. Expecting to view a comedy, prepared to laugh, I discovered with mixed feelings, ten minutes into the film, that this is no comedy; it is not "hilarious". Rather, this film sends a realistic message about war. "Black Brigade" ranks well with "The Red Badge of Courage" and "Johnny Got His Gun" in depicting innocence and ignorance under fire. Moreover, "Black Brigade" educates the viewer as to what it must have been like for most black men serving our country in WWII, assigned individually and collectively to menial service slots because of the color of their skin. A classic. Just wish the quality of my copy of the film were better.