The Reenactor Post » Films

Documentry Film Site

Jim Barnes — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:39:30 +0000

I received this email from Liz Cook regarding an internet site which allows viewers
to watch documentary films for free. I checked it out and it looks fascinating. There
may be something there that interests you:





Hope this email finds you well.  As you can see from my email, I work for SnagFilms, an
online library of free documentaries for anyone to watch and share on their own sites
with their readers. We are about a year and a half old now and have expanded our library
to 1000 so far. One of the films I have come across recently is the film,
"Darkon." The film follows warrior knights, role-playing gamers whose
live action battlegroundis modern-day Baltimore, Maryland, re-imagined as a
make-believe medieval world named Darkon. These live action gamers combine the physical
drama of historical re-enactments with character-driven storylines.

It has done very well on our site and I wondered if you think your readers would be
interested in this film as well.  Again, it is free to watch and embed on sites. Thanks
very much for your time in advance, I really look forward to hearing your thoughts.

http://www.snagfilms.com

Movie Review – 36 Hours

Jim Barnes — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 01:29:55 +0000

If we run short of new historically-based movies to review, there are always plenty great old ones to rediscover. This is one that I had somehow missed but recently was pleased to pick up. It was made in 1965 and stars James Garner, Rod Taylor and Eva Marie Saint. Shot in black and white, it has a nice period feel to it.

If you haven’t seen the movie, it involves a German plot to kidnap U.S. Army major, Jeff Pike (Garner,) and fool him into thinking that the war is over, so he will reveal the Allied plans for D-Day. I’m not giving anything away, because this is revealed in the first 20 minutes or so of the film. The dramatic tension is created by the question of whether Pike will figure out what is going on and what will happen if he does. It is a tight, suspenseful story with some interesting twists and is well-acted by a strong cast. Garner is at the top of his game and Taylor’s German doctor is a suprisingly complex character. Interestingly enough, John Banner (I know nothiiiinnnng!) shows up in a small, but important role as a Volkssturm gruppenfuehrer which is quite reminescent of his Sgt. Shultz character.

I really liked this film. I think that Jim Garner kind of gets overlooked in conversations about dramatic actors these days, but he always gives solid, understated roles that never fail to deliver. (I just watched him again in The Great Escape this weekend and he still manages not to get lost in a very stellar cast.) You may want to pick this one up.

http://www.amazon.com

http://www.netflix.com

A Reenactor’s Christmas List – Cyber Monday Deals

Sarah Barnes — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:59:50 +0000

If you are looking for something to buy a reenactor or you’re wanting to offer suggestions to people who may be buying for you, we thought we’d point you to some deals we’ve seen online for Cyber Monday.

Civil War

Civil War Reenactors and enthusiasts might enjoys these deals from Amazon:

The Civil War – A Film by Ken Burns
Amazon has Ken Burns’ The Civil War for $50.99. Normally it’s $99.99. This is a great film that I would daresay redefined the documentary style of film-making.

Gettysburg (Widescreen Edition)
If you were holding out for a great deal on 1993′s “reenactor classic” Gettysburg is available for on $5.49 and in Widescreen!

World War II

The War – A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
Another great Ken Burns film is The War – A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Amazon also has it for $50.99. It’s regular price is $129.99, so this is an even better deal!

Sergeant York (Two-Disc Special Edition)
The 1941 Gary Cooper classic is on sale for a mere $8.99. Normally it is $26.

Empire of the Sun (Snap Case)
One of my personal favorite movies, Empire of the Sun, featuring a very young Christian Bale is on sale for half-price at $6.99.

The Wild West

Deadwood: The Complete Series
If you’re like me and can’t get enough of Al Swearengen swearin’ up a storm, you definitely need to snap up this great deal on the complete Deadwood series. It’s $97.49 where it’ll normally set you c**ks**kers back $179.00.

Blu-Ray Movies

If you have a Blu-Ray player, there are also some really great deals. Here is a link to the Blu-Ray discs that might be of interest to reenactors: Amazon.com Blu-Ray Cyber Monday Deals

I noticed they had The Searchers [$7.99] (which probably looks AMAZING in Blu-Ray), Valkyrie [$14.99], The Last Samurai [$10.99], Alexander, Revisited – The Final Cut [$7.99], Wyatt Earp [$7.99], 10,000 B.C. [$14.99], Gettysburg: The Battle and the Address [$6.49], How the West Was Won (Blu-ray Book) [$20.49], Lonesome Dove (2-Disc Collector’s Edition) [$11.99]

These are only deals I found for Cyber Monday, but I am sure there are lots of other great gift ideas for reenactors. What do you want for Christmas?

20 Years of “Glory”

Jim Barnes — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:54:10 +0000

This morning I came upon a site that reminded me that this year marks the 20th anniversary of one of the best Civil War movies ever made and one that motivated a lot of baby boomers to go out and buy blue or gray wool uniforms and start reenacting. That movie, of course, is “Glory” starring Denzil Washington, Morgan Freeman and Matthew Broderick. The film recounts the struggles and exploits of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first African-American infantry regiments to be raised during the Civil War. Raising a regiment of black soldiers was a controversial move at the time and was only done with the stipulation that the officers be white. This is a pretty good telling of that story.

If any of you haven’t seen the movie, pick up the DVD. It is a well-told tale with good actors and a better-than-average attention to historical detail for Hollywood, despite a few (see below) negligible miscues. I was in my first year of reenacting when I first saw the movie in the theater and I was highly impressed. If nothing else, it is a treat to see this particular cast working together (also check out Cary Elwes as Broderick’s boyhood friend and second-in-command.)

You can read the article in ‘National Parks Traveller’ by Bob Janiskee to learn about the Fort Sumter National Park’s 146th commemoration of the assault on Fort Wagner by the 54th Massachusetts. You can also learn how Hollywood moved the Atlantic Ocean! :

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2009/07/make-glory-hollywood-moved-atlantic-ocean

Amazon has the movie:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_d?url=search-alias%3Ddvd&field-keywords=glory&x=16&y=15

You can also rent it from Netflix:

http://www.netflix.com

‘Defiance’ Movie Review

Jim Barnes — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 01:47:16 +0000

Last Saturday, I saw ‘Defiance’ at the Cinema here in Morgantown along with one of my sons and a fellow reenactor. It was money well spent. Daniel Craig (the latest James Bond) and Liev Schreiber head a talented cast in an intense and well-made film. They portray two of the four Bielski brothers, who set up a forest refuge for Jews escaping the Nazi ghettos in surrounding Belorussian towns and cities, as well as conducting partisan raids against the German rear areas sometimes in concert with Red Army partisans. (The 1980s Soviet movie, ‘Come and See’ also dealt with partisan activities in Belorussia.)

According to the Internet Movie Database, the film was shot near the actual scene of the Bielski camp, but over the border in neighboring Lithuania. There is certainly no glamorizing of the partisan life here. These people are frequently cold, hungry and sick, but they manage to maintain the resolve to resist.

For reenactors, the film definitely has an authentic feel. Special effects are good throughout. The costuming and accouterments look good and the equipment is on the money. The Bielskis start out with a small accumulation of captured German weapons and some Mosin-Nagants. Later on, they acquire Ppsh-41s and the odd DP-28. Those would be my picks under those circumstances! Also, for the German reenactors out there, check out the Pzkw III which shows up near the end of the movie. I’m guessing that it is a reproduction but I think it looks pretty good.

I recommend this movie. One reviewer seemed disappointed that it had elements of a traditional war movie. I don’t think any of the readers here are going to have a problem with that. Actually, there is a lot in this film for a variety of viewers and I think the director and cast packed in about as much character development and underlying themes as possible without making the movie four hours long.

I liked it!

Come and See (1985)

If you are interested in ‘Come and See,’ check out these links:

Jewish Partisans

For more information on Jewish partisans (Thanks Stacy!) see: http://www.jewishpartisans.org

Movie Review: Valkryie

Jim Barnes — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:30:48 +0000

Alright, I went to Valkryie. I did so with some trepidation mostly due to the casting of Tom Cruise as Claus Von Stauffenberg. Also, I generally expect Hollywood to screw up historical subjects, so I was doubtful about this one. Oddly enough, I found that I actually enjoyed it.

The supporting cast is excellent. In particular, Bill Nighy does a fine job as General Olbricht and Kenneth Branagh is a scene-stealer in his small role as General von Tresckow. The film is suspenseful, even if you do know pretty much what happens (most people probably don’t) and generally sticks to the basic facts. I was also pleased that there were no glaring anachronisms. Reenactors who do German impressions may see more in this area than I did, but I didn’t notice anything that jumped out. The short African sequence showed a fair amount of trucks, tanks and other heavy equipment, and I thought it looked pretty good.

I guess the thing that impressed me most of all was that as I got into the movie, I kind of forgot that it was Tom Cruise that I was watching. That came as a pleasant surprise. The screenwriting was tight and the action moved quickly. It definitely succeeds as a suspense thriller. That it was beautifully filmed on location doesn’t hurt anything.

Overall, if you can get by Cruise being in the lead role, I would recommend it.

Some other reviews:

Tony Dayoub on BlogCritics Magazine (positive)
Cruise Loses in First ‘Valkyrie’ Reviews (so-so)

Review: The Battle of Shaker Heights

Jim Barnes — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 01:29:07 +0000

I recently rented a movie titled “The Battle of Shaker Heights” which I had heard was about reenactors. As most of us know, movie companies use reenactors in their productions, but actually making movies which feature reenacting as part of the plot is a fairly recent development. So, I was curious to see what this one was about. I was vaguely aware that the filming was part of an HBO reality series produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

The film starts out well enough with what appears to be a WWII battle with GIs and Germans engaged in fierce combat with explosions all over the place. Eventually an American captures a German and dresses in his uniform to infiltrate German headquarters and save a captured GI. He no sooner shoots a couple of the Krauts when a cell phone goes off and one of the Germans comes back to life to answer and tell his mother that she is calling at a bad time and could she come to pick him up around 3:00. Okay, this is funny, farby from a reenactor’s viewpoint, but funny.

Unfortunately, the film goes off in a different direction from this point. The central character, Kelly, is a disaffected teen who is bitter at most things in his life because his father is a recovering drug addict who apparently doesn’t work except as a volunteer with other junkies. (The adults in the film are all pretty two-dimensional.) Kelly complains to his mother about the family’s poverty, but he has a period jeep and a full airborne kit with a garand, just for starters.

This bitterness leads him into conflicts with his inept history teacher and the teacher’s son, who bullies him. (the bully is smaller than the protagonist and is usually alone, so you have to wonder why he just doesn’t stand up to him?) His best friend, Lance, is a spoiled rich kid who only reenacts because he thought it would look good on a resume’!! (Can’t say it has ever helped me get a job.) Predictably, the kid gets even with the bully and experiences some life changing events which result in him completely changing his world view. Part of his resolution is to quit reenacting and live in the real world.

Overall, the movie seems like one of those painful-to-watch 80′s teen angst movies with a dose of ninties social relevance (the junkie dad) thrown in. The sceenwriter and director may have talked to a few reenactors (probably the extras) to have some sense of the hobby, but not much. Overall, they really don’t seem to like reenacting much, or for that matter, history at all, hence dumping the hobby as part of Kelly’s healing. As a general movie, its okay, I guess, if you are a fan of movies about self-absorbed teenagers. As a movie about reenacting or reenactors, it’s a stinker.

So, Matt and Ben’s project aside, I can’t say that I recommend this one. Still, if you are curious, you can rent it from Netflix or buy it from Amazon.

If anybody out there has recommendations of other ‘Reenactor Movies,’ post them, I will be happy to check them out and give my admittedly biased review.

A Sharpe Idea

Jim Barnes — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 13:03:48 +0000

Some time ago, I began getting the Sharpe series from Netflix. If you are not familiar with this British production, it concerns the adventures (military and romantic) of Major Richard Sharpe, commander of the 95th (Rifle) Regiment of Foot in Wellington’s army during the Napoleonic wars. Sean Bean (Boromir in Lord of the Rings) stars along with a good supporting cast. Production values are generally very good with a fair amount of historical detail thrown into each episode. There is a goodly amount of camp life shown which should appeal to military reenactors in general and Napoleonic reenactors in particular. I am not terribly well versed in the era, but there doesn’t seem to be the sort of ‘dumbing down’ that Hollywood usually utilizes with historical subjects. Sharpe and his men, for instance, proudly wear the dark green uniforms of the real regiments rather than traditional British red.

The British army’s experience in the American Revolution taught them a lot about the value of sharpshooters using rifles as an adjunct to the main body of soldiers carrying smoothbore muskets. As a result experimental rifle companies were finally formed in 1800 and used thereafter. (Wikipedia) I even found a sutler who sells repros of the lethal Baker flintlock rifles used by these soldiers. Also, you can get the whole collection of DVDs at Amazon.

The show was filmed in the ninties and you occasionally get guest stars who show up for an episode or two, such as Elizabeth Hurley or Pete Postalwaite. Overall, the discs are very entertaining and I believe I am addicted. Hope the mail gets here soon!

Jim