The Stunt Man

directed by Richard Rush (1980)

It starts off with a buzzard hanging around on a pole watching a yellow dog licks his privates.  I'm guessing the buzzard is the audience and the dog is Hollywood, something like that.

The movie is not very good in terms of being a believable story; it's more an arty pastiche of moviemaking.  As long as you're ok with over the top performances and general craziness, it's entertaining as hell, and a pretty great look at behind the scenes action too.  You get to see crane set ups, action sequences outta control and gone wrong, while a helicopters totes a camera are all over the place.  Peter O'Toole in his camera crane is like a mad scientist in his robot creation, overseeing his minions, the dues ex machina hand of god, manipulating everyone in order to get his movie in the can.

Truthfully, the story is really silly, it involves a escaped prisoner or guy with a warrant, (Steve Railsback), I forget why this guy was on the run from the law, but he is, and O'Toole takes him in hiding him among his crew,  as a replacement for a stunt man who's gone missing.  Dude needs a place to duck out from the man,  and the director needs to finish his movie....by any means necessary!  O'Toole is making an antiwar film but it looks trite, lots of battle scenes, and tragic love storiness, but mostly explosions and scenes needing mucho stunt work. It's a fun watching the stunt work, and there's some good dialogue too.  This bit from O'Toole sums up the message of the flick pretty well.


"We're shaking a finger at them Sam, and we shouldn't.  If you've anything to say, it's best to slip it in while they're all laughing and crying and jerking off at all the sex and violence.  You should do something outrageous!"

It was nominated for 3 Academy Awards: best director, best adapted screenplay, and best actor for Peter O'Toole.  It won a Golden Globe for best score.

I liked the movie, and the director says it's about perception, so watch it with an open mind and see what you make of it.

Official site

Das Boot

 

directed by Wolfgang Petersen (1981)

This is the 4:33 director's cut, and holy shit but this is a long movie, already in the start I was thinking, well this scene is completely unnecessary.  I guess it's character development.  I'm thinking particularly of the debauchery at the officer's club.  Sailors gonna drink eh?  Especially with a 1 in 4 chance of coming out alive?  Jesus Christ those are bad odds.  I'd make sure and get my party on too.

Actually it's the 3:28 directors cut.  I was thinking near what seemed like was gonna be the climax, there's another 1:30 to go?  So I checked out the running times and there are FIVE different versions of the movie, ranging from 2:20 to a 6 hour miniseries.  The DVR recorded another show at the end of the movie, which is why I was all confuzzled.

• 150 minutes (1981, 1982) Theatrical
• 209 minutes (1981) unreleased
• 300 minutes (1984, 1988) BBC mini-series
• 293 minutes (2004) Das Boot: The Original Uncut Version
• 208 minutes (1997, 2010) Director's Cut

It's refreshing seeing a military centred flick that isn't outright propaganda for the military.  This isn't jingoistic or glorifying of military life.  It looks rough and barbaric in the sub, with men living on top of each other.  They'd sure be close, everyone aware of how much they depend on one  another.  There's no every man for himself in a sub, they'd all die together, one fate.

Lothar G. Buchheim, the writer of the novel, was upset that the film sacrificed realism for action melodrama, also that it was too glorifying of the U-boat war heroes.  I think his book must have been very antiwar, since I felt it was condemning of the idiocy of armed conflict, but then I bring that attitude and belief along to every war flick I see.  I thought it was life affirming and moral to see a film that depicted the ugliness of wasted resources, manpower, all this effort exerted towards what?  Killing and death and destruction?  Madness!!!

The best part is when the Captain is saying I'm sorry to the journalist.  They're in a tight spot and things look grim.

Lt. Werner: Captain?
Captain: I'm sorry.
Lt. Werner: You think it's hopeless now?
Captain: It's been 15 hours. He'll never do it. I'm sorry.
Lt. Werner: They made us all train for this day. "To be fearless and proud and alone. To need no one, just sacrifice. All for the Fatherland." Oh God, all just empty words. It's not the way they said it was, is it? I just want someone to be with. The only thing I feel is afraid.

I enjoyed it, and I usually don't care much for war flicks, this one is exceptional though.  It's completely understandable how many awards it won.  And Jürgen Prochnow?!!  Whatta man, whatta man, what a mighty good man.  ;) 

My only complaint is very minor.  I didn't like the dubbed voice of the redheaded codesman.  He was all squashed and strangled sounding.  It might have added some to the funny though, since he's the comic relief, cracking wise with cynical aphorisms.  Incidentally, the movie was shot silent because the sub was so noisy.  They could have got anyone to do the voices.  I'm glad Prochnow did his English lines too.