UNderrated


Absolutely

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Say, good to see Marlon and the Duke on the same page. Brando's eyes burned with patriotic fervor when he said:

"Why, you little ingrate! I happen to love those stars and stripes -- and they've been pretty good to you!"

That could not have been acting. Bravo, Marlon. You never should have turned down (with reluctance) Duke's role in THE GREEN BERETS to make REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE. Wayne just wanted to direct, like his ALAMO intention.

Sounds like a twisted thorny post, doesn't it?


"Howdy, Bub"

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Worst ever is Ugly Thorn -- I mean Ugly American? thornbutt, doesn't that negate several on your recent "epics" list? That worst ever is starting to pile up down there.

"I think it would be fun to run a newspaper"

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I liked the movie - as a movie - very much.

As far as Brando was concerned, however, I remain unconvinced. In my opinion he was totally miscast. He showed not an iota of evidence of how an ambassador - a country's statesman - should act, speak or comport himself.

Perhaps, instead of taking acting lessons, he should have taken diction lessons. In the case of this movie, it might have benefited his role quite considerably.

I can visualize the likes of Laurence Harvey as the ambassador, and the picture would have been better for it.

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There's a game I play with myself:

After watching a movie but before turning to IMDB, I try and guess what the rating is going to be. Don't get me wrong - it's not the rating I think it should be ... it's the rating I think will be on the IMDB page. Sometimes I'm way off, but more often then not I've surprise myself by how close I am. For example, for this movie I guessed '6.8'. The IMDB rating was '6.7'.

Try it. It's fun!

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Underrated indeed. A sophisticated film for its time, and that by such an unknown director.

It's a rare case of Hollywood taking an honest and serious look at the (post-/neo-)colonial politics of the US. Most likely the first American film to do so, and rarely matched since. The film was made possible, in part, by the enthusiasm that President Kennedy had for the book it's based on, expressed by the fact that he had copies sent out to every US Senator. The political honesty of the film, made in the year that Kennedy was assassinated, was very much of the Kennedy era. Some of the themes touched upon are still relevant today, like the US propping up loyal dictators and denying other countries the independence that it fought for itself in the 18th century. Plus ça change...

Overall the film manages to stay remarkably clear from cultural stereotypes. Asian characters are played by Asians instead of "yellowed-up" Western actors. It's a joy to see an American film taking place in a non-Western country, in which the local people actually have some will and agency of their own, and can formulate it in an intelligent manner, rather than being mere passive instruments for Western ex-pats to project their thoughts and emotions onto.

Brando gives a fine performance, one of his best even. I loved the symbolism of the turtle retreating into its shell, standing for MacWhite retreating from his humanitarian nuance into the stubborn rhetoric and ideology required for his profession.

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I didn't know what to expect when I saw this film on dvd recently, but I was amazed at Brando, one of my favorite long-time actors ever. The rather low rating made me a little suspicious, but I was not disappointed. Brando was a master at expressing emotion internally, and expressing anger when needed, but without blowing it. The last scene with the guy watching tv was strange, but I see the point.

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It was filmed with the adviser escalation. They use a fake name, how the North (Communists) would take over, with Russia and China providing weapons, which is exactly what happened in America.

Notice the final scene, the man turns off the TV, doesn't wanna hear about it.

It's pathetic and ignorant to use a term used to denigrate anything. I loved the line "You see Communists in your dreams"

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