Passchendaele

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Table 5

My favourite non-American war movie was Enemy at the Gates, which focused on the Battle of Stalingrad between the Russians and the Germans. The fact that it did provide an alternate point of view was one of the things that made it interesting for me (Rachel Weisz being cast didnt hurt either).

But it is true though, if there are no Americans or jews in the movie, it's pretty hard to find anything from Hollywood when it comes to war.

Sam Peckinpah's Cross of Iron (not sure if that was what ok, ok,....I get it was talking about in his post)

Still love Band of Brothers.

And thx for the heads up on Three Day Road, I'll have to pick it up.

[burn_this_city]

^^ That bad eh?? I'm going this weekend.. Now I gotta keep an open mind..

[ShaolinFlame]

It is a love movie first and foremost, keep that in mind. Gross was by far the best actor, and luckily he manages to salvage some of the horrible dialogue he wrote. The movie is just way to busy in every regard. Too many problems for all of the characters.

If you don't remember, Paul Gross was the Mountie in Due South.

He also wrote, directed, produced, and starred in Passchendaele.

What was the point of the crazy man? I want to travel around the world in 15 minutes too!

[burn_this_city]

My brother said the same thing.. I sort of figured it was pretty mushy.. Hows the fighting scenes?? Did they at least do them justice?

[Eastern Girl]

I have also been hearing it wasn't very good. I had one friend describe it as a 'terrible made for tv' movie. It's disappointing, but I am still going to check it out for myself.

[ok, ok,....I get it]

Originally Posted by habernac

Sam Peckinpah's Cross of Iron (not sure if that was what ok, ok,....I get it was talking about in his post)

Still love Band of Brothers.

And thx for the heads up on Three Day Road, I'll have to pick it up.

yeah that's the movie....damn my mess tin syndrome!

[MoneyGuy]

I want to see this movie but just had lunch with a friend who saw it and didn't like it. He says he thought they took liberties wiht the facts. I love WW movies except for Pearl Harbor, Titanic ripoff love-story stinker, IMO. I hope there`s no kissing in this movie.

edit: In reading the rest of this thread I see there is loving goin`on here. Oh, well, may see it anyway.

[ShaolinFlame]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

I want to see this movie but just had lunch with a friend who saw it and didn't like it. He says he thought they took liberties wiht the facts. I love WW movies except for Pearl Harbor, Titanic ripoff love-story stinker, IMO. I hope there`s no kissing in this movie.

edit: In reading the rest of this thread I see there is loving goin`on here. Oh, well, may see it anyway.

Imagine Pearl Harbor, but made in Canada. With a more hardcore Constable Fraser.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by ShaolinFlame

Imagine Pearl Harbor, but made in Canada. With a more hardcore Constable Fraser.

Okay, then I'll have to give it a pass. I think Pearl Harbour may be the most over-rated movie ever made.

Tora, tora, Tora on the other hand. Great flick.

[NSFL]

Well, none of your opinions impact my desire to see this movie. Lol. I'm still dying to see it and I finally guilted my best friend into coming with me. Yes!

[First Lady]

I went this week. I was quite impressed. Yes, it is a mix of war / love story; but not a true chick flick. I can't say why I think that; as it would be a spoiler for any who have not seen it.

The scenery shots were incredible. Some of the visual effects used in combination with sound were very moving and thought provoking.

The special effects and stunts ranked up there with a Hollywood made movie. It was a large budget movie by Canadian standards but still a baby one compared to Hollywood and for that it also gets extra marks in my books.

I think Paul did an awesome job considering the number of "hats" he wore to pull off this production.
'course I could be a tad bias in this case ...


I also found it curious that everyone in the theatre stayed right to the very last credit.

[ShaolinFlame]

Originally Posted by First Lady

I went this week. I was quite impressed. Yes, it is a mix of war / love story; but not a true chick flick. I can't say why I think that; as it would be a spoiler for any who have not seen it.

The scenery shots were incredible. Some of the visual effects used in combination with sound were very moving and thought provoking.

The special effects and stunts ranked up there with a Hollywood made movie. It was a large budget movie by Canadian standards but still a baby one compared to Hollywood and for that it also gets extra marks in my books.

I think Paul did an awesome job considering the number of "hats" he wore to pull off this production.
'course I could be a tad bias in this case ...


I also found it curious that everyone in the theatre stayed right to the very last credit.

That footage was the most historical thing in the movie....

[NSFL]

Ok, so dialogue was a little bit bad and it was a lot more romance than I was expecting. But visually, the whole thing did look pretty good.

[Aeneas]

Saw it yesterday. "Passion"dale disappointed if you were expecting a movie about the battle(s). Being forwarned regarding the amount of love story versus war film, I managed to mostly enjoy it.

Was nice to see Calgary and region playing Calgary. Enjoyed the look into Calgary life a century ago.

Not enough in this film showing the courage and ingenuity of our soldiers. The teasers of that were far too few.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

I saw it last night, never really knew what to expect.

Personally I loved it. Yes there was some bad dialogue (I have to go now), however I thought he captured the politics that was going on at the time very well (ie: guns stalling in the trenches, marriage blessing granted and asthma magically cured so Mann could go off to war (. . . and never come back) plus I loved how Sgt Dunne loathed any and all praise. One thing I never really understood about my grandfather who served in WWII was how he absolutely despised any and all praise for serving overseas. He believed that war was nothing to celebrate over. I think Paul Gross conveyed that extremely well.

On another note I'm curious what the reference to the Sgt Dunne's superior officer's serving in Africa was about. I know it was a subtle shot at him, but I don't know why. Any insights from the history buffs out there?

[Resolute 14]

He was referring to the Boer War (1899-1901), but as to why it was a subtle shot, I couldn't guess.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

according to Wikipedia most Canadians never saw action. Maybe it was reference to the fact his superior officer never saw battle, and he was shell-shocked from WWI?

[FurnaceFace]

Just saw this this afternoon. I went into it expecting more story than war. I also had read someone's review of the movie where they gushed about how amazing the war scenes were and how much like Private Ryan it was.

Most of the reviews/opinions above are fair. Comparing it to Pearl Harbor is an injustice - Pearl was painfully cheesy, this wasn't in that realm. Comparing it to Pt. Ryan is also poor, it was no where near the calibre. Pt. Ryan is a war movie where the relationships are developed throughout a number of battles. Here the relationships are built away from the war scenes. This movie is better compared to a movie like A Very Long Engagement.

- The majority of the this movie is set in Calgary, not France. [edit: Belgium, thanks Icarus for pointing out my failure.]
- The focus is on the relationship(s) developed not on the actual battle
- The politics in the movie are not too in your face, they fit in well
- The battle scene was very well done and from everything I've read or watched historically seemed to captured the crazy conditions

Final Verdict? Worth renting. I don't think the battle scene would lose too much on a smaller screen which would be the only reason to watch this in the theatre. Good for the historical value and local connection.

Most people stayed in the theatre through the credits to watch the historical footage and to see exactly where it was filmed.

[icarus]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

according to Wikipedia most Canadians never saw action. Maybe it was reference to the fact his superior officer never saw battle, and he was shell-shocked from WWI?

I haven't seen Passchendaele yet, but perhaps the shot about the Boer War was in reference to the savagery of the British forces. There were a lot of actions conducted by British and colonial forces against civilian Boer farmers and the like that no one should be proud of. Does that seem to fit the context of the film?

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

- The majority of the this movie is set in Calgary, not France.

Not to be picky... but I will be. Passchendaele is in Belgium, not France.

[FurnaceFace]

Bah, Belgium, yes. My screw up.

The Boer War reference was not due to the savagery, it was a definite dig at the major's service in a "lesser" war. It also becomes clear later in the movie the major had not seen any true combat and was probably a backroom leader during the Boer War. He never got his hands dirty so how would he know what it would be like to be shell shocked.