Military Books

All the recording quality complaints from others are true. This CD plays OK with $30 boombox, but not on a serious Hi-Fi. But the music is really better than I thought. I was thinking French guys are good at love songs, which is absolutely true, but their marching music is even better than the German ones I just got (from the same company called Legacy International).

How bad is the recording? It seems like the music was played from LP, taped in a dark room, stored for 5 years, and then dumped on CD...

How good is the music? I still rate it 4 star even for the 0 stat recording.

It is obvious that whoever produced this record did so by dubbing an old vinyl version onto CD. There was no effort even use a good quality original or to clean up the noise. One track has so much hissing, popping and surface noise you can barely hear the music. From the sound of the band(s) I would guess the original was made somewhere in the 50's or 60's. Also, the varied quality suggests it was sourced from several different records. I have quite an extensive collection of military music and would date the original to that period. The boominess of the drums is because French military bands (and I believe this is such) have a very full percussion section. The reason the drums sound so overdone and the upper brass are tinny is because the whole recording is overmodulated. Again, I have many CD recordings of old analog originals, but this was made by somebody without professional equipment or production technique.

I was severely disappointed in this recording. I love military music of all kinds, but the unnamed group or groups on this recording failed to present this music adequately. On most tracks, the percussion was so loud that it was hard to hear the brass and winds, which was probably a good thing in a way in that both sections displayed serious problems with intonation and rhythmic integrity. From now on, I think I'll stick with recordings by groups which aren't unwilling to put their names on them.

DO NOT BUY.
This is a waste of money. It must have been recorded with a paper bag held over a single microphone. Absolute garbage.
Amazon should be ashamed of selling this.

What would have been an otherwise exciting and stirring recording recalling all the pomp and circumstance of the French Military is completely ruined by loud crackling and popping in some of the tracks. In fact, the first time I listened to this CD (full of excited anticipation), I was in my car travelling down the interstate behind a truck which I thought was throwing gravel up on my windshield. It wasn't--it was the CD. I firmly believe that Amazon.com should contact the producer of this recording and demand that it be done over properly.

One of the most wide ranging knife magazines published in the last thirty years is Knife World, which combines user reports, book reviews, historical articles, and personal experiences. As the magazine is published in tabloid format on newsprint, it is difficult to store and over the years deteriorates. In any case, keeping the whole issue is not usually an option for most of the ads and remisniscences have no residual value to collectors or historians. Thus over the years there have been three selected "Best of Volumes" the last of which appeared in the eighties.
Military issue designs and personal knives carried by service personnel have always been a big collectible interest but until the nineties there was little available except the albums of drawings compiled by M.H. Cole, now deceased. These served and still serve as identification guides but the last one came out in the 70s and they are notorious for mistaken IDs and misattributions.
Though some special books have come out in recent years including the splendid photo studies of M.H. Silvey, John Bruning's OSS Weapons and the now almost unavailable work on Allied Fighting Knives by Buerlein, there has long been a need for more definitive work.
Well, this is not it but it will certainly prove useful to the collector of US blades, both utility pocket patterns and sheath knives. The subjects range from the ubiquitous GI General Purpose Pocket Knife which has been made in the millions through the many sheath knives issued by the Navy for aviators and deck hands to the almost unattainable micro variants of British commando daggers and fighting knives. There is lots more to do but this deserves a place on the shelf of every serious collector of US military patterns.
As to bayonets and other edged weapons (swords and sabres), those subjects have been covered in several highly comprehensive books published in many countries in many languages and are not covered in this publication or indeed in Knife World itself. Edged weapons are to be found in such as the ersthwhile Fighting Knives and the currently issued Tactical Knives as well as in various gun and arms publications.

This book is awesome! I'm a custom knife designer, and I use it as a reference all the time. If you're into military knives, you'll love this book. Lots of pictures and facts.

I thought I was going to get a surplus item, I was wrong. There made brand new in india, its are a small pack but very well made(I dont need to carry everything just what I need for the day)anyway material is excellant cotton canvas, zippers work very well has 2 small pockets inside and is lined with a silk(kind of) material. The leather is a good quality too. Its not water proof but I figure a repellant will fix that. I highly recommend this pack for day use, it DOESNT have 50 zippered pockets or 20 places to hang stuff, its just a well made small pack.

I'm using this bag while traveling around Kyrgyzstan and it helps me keep a low profile while in town. The bag is suprisingly comfortable and roomy. The canvas does absorb water like a sponge but water proof spray may resolve that. I was looking for a very down to earth, casual backpack and this is exactly what I needed.

Whenever reading Shakespeare, I am always in fear that I am missing even some small portion of the plot. Shakespeare tends to pack so many grains of information into his works, that it is easy to overlook some. While "Much Ado About Nothing" is commonly refered to as a comedy, I fail to find humor in the pain. The sharp edged tongues of Benedick and Beatrice often steal the show as other characters manipulate this pair that was apparently made for each other into a compromising position. Yet the central plot seems less humorous.

The story of Claudio and Hero seems much less easy to accept. A manipulative and vendictive Don John implies that Hero was unfaithful to Claudio in the days leading up to their wedding, causing Claudio to refuse Hero at the wedding ceremony. Hero disappears seemingly into death until Don John's guilty accomplice confesses.

The story itself does not seem unrealistic by today's standards, yet I felt as though something was missing from the plot. Known as one of Shakespeare's best comedies, I felt I missed some of the humor in its subtleness.

Much Ado About Nothing was a very well written play. It was a much lighter reading than Antigone and I think I liked and understood it better too. It was still hard to read and understand but I think the movie and actually seeing it being acted out helped a ton. I really didn't understand a lot of what was going on in the garden scene when they are trying to get Beatrice and Benedick to think they both love each other. So I was a little bummed when our group chose that to do the skit. But then as you read and actually break down the words it was actually very easy and fun to figure out what it means.
I think Shakespeare's main point in writing was to show people how funny love is. He has done tons of serious works and I think this was a great piece that kind of gave you a breath of fresh air. I think that was one of the reasons for writing this. To give the people who were coming to see it something a little lighter. I think this because the play focused a ton on the comedy of love. How you can get to people who started out hating each other to like each other.
I surprised myself in this question. I came into this play thinking that I will not like and I would not understand it. Although one of those statements is true the other one was false. I loved this script. In the beginning I thought it could show me nothing about my life or teach me anything and I was completely wrong. From this play I learned to not judge a book (or play) by its cover. I mean this literally. I came into this with a bad attitude and I realized that instead of doing that I should of had a good attitude and I could have enjoyed it more. Also in Beatrice and Benedick's situation they thought they could never like each other and they ended up falling in love. Some of the people I thought I could never be friends with I am very close friends with now.
Another thing it taught me was to not believe everything I hear. When Claudio heard that Hero was having an affair with someone he got mad and disgraced her and everyone thought she was a horrible person. But she never did and she really loved Claudio. I am a very big gossiper and I now realize how much they can hurt people.
I would totally recommend this script to others. Although you may think you can't learn much from it you really can. I would suggest, though, watching the movie after you read each act. It makes them so much easier to understand. Without the movie I think I would completely be lost and not understand the book at all. Also I would go into reading the book with a good attitude thinking that this can help you because if you don't, like me, you will wind up more confused than ever.

This play was a particular relief of your average Shakespeare play, in that it is not a deep philosophical piece of literature. I personally loved reading this play and it does have many interesting values and lessons that one could learn and apply. In several instances I found myself laughing out loud just reading the script. Over all I would say that this is yet another one of Shakespears timeless classics that can still very easily be applied in almost every persons life today. Shakespeare wrote this play, as I believe, to show people how stupid they are and the foolish things that they do when they are in love. I personally do not really enjoy the drama of a love story, but this is a whole different animal.The characters in the story are completely normal citizens of an almost care- free society, but, when love comes knocking at their door they transform into completely zaney lunatics. The characters are, however, people and react in different ways. No matter how they do react it is a far cry from what they normally would do. Indeed, this story shows someone to what great lengths they will go in the name of love. For instance, Benedict, one of the main characters, falls in love with the main female and all of a sudden becomes a quiet, softspoken gentleman, who now cares about his appearance. Whereas before he was an opinionated man, who used sarcasm to get his points across. The story does portray very well what love is, different types of love, and how it is reacted to. This play has taught me many things, especially about women, but most of all it has taught me that there are two very specific types of love and that a person should experience both. One type of love, presented by Beatrice and Benedict is the real heart felt one, where both people know and care for one another and the other was demonstrated by Hera and Claudio. This type is known as "puppy love." Each couple represents their type of love very well and has helped me to realize which sort of love that I have, and have had with other people. This book is well worth whatever they are asking for it. If you really apply yourself you can get alot out of this story. The storyline is very good and lets you feel that you are a part of the story, like you know something that the other characters do not know. It is so involved that I often wanted to strangle some of the characters and tell others some great secret. Then I felt like a retard and stopped myself. This is a very light read and though it is mildly difficult to understand it is easy to understand what point Shakespeare is trying to get across. This story is so good because it teaches so many lessons without having this heavy blanket of philosophy shrouded around it. I would recommend this play to anyone who just simply enjoys a good read. If by chance you read this review, then realize this, I am not exagerrating of making any of this stuff up. This is a really good story without the deep thoughts and questions of life. So, in conclusion, this is just one person talking, but READ THE PLAY! It is really good and worth it, but you do not have to take my word for it.

William Shakespeare's play "Much Ado About Nothing" was an extremely funny piece of literature. I thought that it was very cleverly planned out and humorously executed. With Dogberry and his men constantly mixing up words and their meanings it gave the readers a comic relief. The deceit and mistaken identities added so much humor to the already capturing story.
I believe that Shakespeare's main point in writing this play was to show that many times, people get worked up over simple miscommunications. You mishear something wrong, or in your anger, you tune out someone before getting all the facts. All that we would need to do to fix a certain problem would be going to the source of the information, but many times we take the easy way out. We jump the gun a little and choose to believe whatever is told to us despite our gut feeling that the information is wrong.
An example of this would be when Leonato has heard of Hero's scandalous evening with Borachio. Despite the fact that she is his daughter and he would know her better than anyone, Leonato believes the lies told about Hero. Leonato, being her father and the one who raised her, should have known his daughter well enough to know that she would not dishonor her fianc?nd herself. Especially the night before the wedding that she has been waiting for. Instead of choosing to believe his daughter, who firmly denies any and all sexual relationships, he joins Claudio, Don John, and Don Pedro in disgracing her.
One lesson learned from "Much Ado About Nothing" is never should people automatically assume something to be correct. We should "take everything with a grain of salt"- test everything. People in the world these days are so willing to lie to us and readily do so without a second thought. Many times people are lied to without even knowing that someone has done so. True, sometimes the lying and deceit is all in good fun, but it still has the possibility of hurting someone. Even innocent lying has its consequences.
Benedick and Beatrice both believed almost immediately that what they had overheard their friends saying in the garden was correct and completely true. Neither person decided to test what they had heard. To see if what was said was true. Because both did not check to see if the information they heard was correct, everything worked out. Both assumed what they had heard was true and acted on it. There were no visible consequences. What a mess you would have if Benedick decided that what he had overheard could not possibly be true. Beatrice would have made a fool out of herself while thinking that Benedick felt the same way. The same could be said the other way around.
I would recommend this play to other readers. If people don't like to read, then I would not tell others about it. The combination of not liking to read and the difficulty of understanding Old English would not make a very fun and pleasurable read. Many would miss out on the humor and cleverness that Shakespeare brilliantly displayed to his audience. Readers on the other hand would most likely like this play. The humor and lightheartedness makes it an enjoyable play. I found myself constantly wanting to know what would happen next and how it would end- how Shakespeare would wrap it up. The happy ending was also a nice touch. Yes, the Old English adds a challenge to the reading. The sometimes hard to understand language makes you stop and think about what Shakespeare is trying to say and ultimately makes you stop and realize what he is truly trying to communicate to his audience.

"Romeo, Romeo! Where for art thou Romeo?" Wait a minute, wrong play! In my opinion, Much Ado about Nothing was a very funny book/play and I somewhat enjoyed reading it. The only bad part about it is that it was a chick flick (or in its case a chick play). The old English also took away from the play sometimes. However, for the most part it was understandable. Overall, I believe Shakespeare probably had a reason for writing the play other than just for pure entertainment.
Much Ado about Nothing is a classic Shakespearian type play. It is a comedy about two young couples. One couple is Benedick and Beatrice. At the start of the play they are in love with one another, they just do not know it yet. They are constantly bickering and fighting with each other. The other couple Hero and Claudio, who are madly in love with each other (or so they think) plot to make Benedick and Beatrice realize that they are in love with each other. They also have help in the form of Leanato, Don Pedro, Margaret and Ursula. Meanwhile, Don Pedro's evil brother Don John along with his henchmen, Conrade and Borachio, plot to break up Hero and Claudio. The plan nearly succeeds, and the rather unusual constable Dogberry and his somewhat merry men must come to the rescue of Claudio's and hero's relationship.
As I said before, the main point of Shakespeare writing the play was probably for more than entertainment. I believe he also wrote it because he wanted to show how crazy love can make a person. In the play, Beatrice and Benedick fall in love with each other. After Claudio shames Hero, Beatrice was so upset that she asks that Benedick kills Claudio. Now that presents a problem because Benedick and Claudio are good friends. At first, Benedick is very reluctant to do this. So reluctant that he refuses to do this. After she says she will not love him any more Benedick immediately agrees to kill Claudio. Even though I would probably do the same thing in Benedick's position, it is still amazing what love can make you do.
Surprisingly, I actually learned something from this play. It's the simple fact that assumptions are very, very dangerous. Thanks to Don John and his henchmen's evil plot, Claudio thought that he had seen Hero cheating on him with Borachio. In reality, it was Margaret and Borachio that he saw. Acting on only what he saw, he shamed Hero and "killed" her.
In the end, it was another happily ever after moment. Personally, I expected a better ending, but that's just me. Yes, I would recommend this book but I myself did not love it. Too much love, not enough action and drama. However, it was very funny, especially the constable Dogberry (my favorite character in the book/play). Also the plot was well developed so that kept my interest. Overall, it was good and worth reading. I would give the book/play 8.11 out of 10. You would probably like it so go buy and read it. Great play, but it's just not for me.

Nothing can really substitute for listening to the accounts of the soldiers themselves who fought in war. Much has been written by former soldiers of their trials in combat but rarely are they recorded in an interview. This is an excellent compilation, well recorded and produced, of such accounts from a cross section the various campaigns of WWII. Not many veterans open up to discuss war to their family or anyone so listening to these heroes is a rare exception. My father, a veteran of the ETO, saw horrible combat as he battled through France and into Nazi Germany but never mentioned a word of it to his children. These interviews help fill in some of the gaps in understanding the war from their perspective. Thanks to those soldiers who reopened those painful moments to be recorded for others to hear. Even if you are not a student of history I recommend these just for the inspiring stories themselves.

This is a multi-media computer program for the self-assessment of the deep emotional wounds suffered from combat trauma. It is not a counseling program. Many veterans have deep wounds to the Soul. This program is easy to use, engaging, takes a look at various life experiences, and opens the door to healing. It is a self-assessment process that works for all Vets from WWII through today's Iraq war. The program is done on your own time, in your own space, without the pressures of a counselor. Best of all...it works.

with a alot of information and explaning , it shows you the time period , what led to the blunder , and what happened because of the blunder
enjoyable book

I found this film quite amazing from the first frame that appeared on screen. The story was great, the effects were great, It just was filmed beautifully. Kirk Douglas and the rest of the cast gave incredible performances. Especially towards the end. Honestly I was moved to tears by this film. Stanley Kubrick was a wonderful director and it really shows through his direction in this film. This is a great film that should not be missed , especially by the fans of the director. 10/10

This movie is about France vs. Germany in WWII, and has some strange irony between it and the war in Iraq right now. 3 Frenchmen are made scapegoats and given needless courts martial trials, just as several of the American Troops have been given unnecessarily. Very emotional, and it will help you visualize how Generals and those who seek power will do anything and everything to get it, and then do anything and everything to keep it. Watch this movie! I can't say it was 'enjoyable', but it was certainly entertaining. It's one of those movies like Schindler's List, that will move you emotionally. It's very moving, and I'd give it two thumbs up. If I had more than 2 thumbs, I'd 'up' them too!

And that is saying something. This 1957 film crystalizes everything great about Kubrick: The way his actors state their lines with perfect articulation and syntax. The precision of his shots (check out the way the General inspects the trenches early in the film, the same trenches that will be the site of horrific devastation). The surrealistic and yet overly realistic shot of battle. The clearly revealed shots of morality. And finally, the way he gets people to dole out incredible performances. You will never see Kirk Douglas more powerful, more honest, more convincing than his depiction of the brilliant Colonel, who has to deal with his inferior superiors. It almost makes too much sense today. Well worth the 90 some minutes of your time.

Kirk Douglas was enlisted in the US Navy he saw how pride gets in the way of ownership. He was able to show how a leader supports his men even when the noose is around their necks. Something our current house of representatives and the senate should be watching for the comparisons in the Haditha Marine case. [...]

The prosecutors should be held accountable for the destruction of these Marines lives. as the prosecutor Mike Nifong in the Duke La Cross case is.
Thanks for the good job, Kirk.

Awesome and powerful movie this, "Paths of Glory"...I surfed into Kirk Douglas on an interview show, and he made a statement about why he wanted to star in this movie...his reasoning was because of the Korean War [as well as WW1]...with the clashes between Truman and MacArthur pertaining to positional warfare and static warfare [the attrition of trench/bunker mentality]...Actor Kirk Douglas admired Gen. MacArthur for taking on his President who wanted this "old trend"....to talk peace; yet, wage war with delibating results of years and years of neither side advancing or getting the advantage for a clear/cut victory...Gen. Mac Arthur, all though his illustrious 50 yrs of dedicated service to the American people, fought to perpetuate the American fighting/warrior spirit to achieve VICTORY before appeasement to any enemy...so it unfolds in Kubrick's masterpiece as the French High Command 'fights' the war from the fine-dining and opulence venues of Paris while their loyal troops get chewed up into little bits at the Grinder [ The Ant/Hill]...what is the life, of but 3 'insignificant' soldiers to be scapegoated and executed for returning to their trenches after sustaining prolific/horrendous casualties from withering German machine guns registered-in fields of fire out in No Man's Land...anyone, yes, anyone would withdraw staring at your last day on earth under such lethal fire power...the final scene: as the French troops mock and leer at a young captured German girl...she shows grit/courage as a frighten virgin amongst the enemy French...she turns her sentimental song in their faces so innocently, that the French soldiers start crying at the whims of what war brings to friend or foe...Kirk Douglas is immense as a combat officer who gives a good darn about his enlisted troops and puts his miltary career on the line [exactly like Mac Arthur]...no matter what...at any cost, of decency to save his troops lives instead of the luxuries of the Chiefs of Staff Officers where they indulge, oblivious, to the slaughter of their men in the dank-rat-infested trenches and bunkers for years of no gain..no win...[1914-1918]....this was repeated in Korea by President Harry S. Truman until Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur decided to get in Truman's face...by don't scapegoat our brave troops for appeasement!!...ever think, it might be your son/daughter who dies for nothing!!....this is a cerebral film to ponder....want to compare it to Korea, Vietnam and today in Iraq??.....Semper Fidelis....SSGT CHRIS SARNO-USMC FMF

This cd captures all the energy and excitement of military marching bands that so excites us. As you listen; you can visualize the precision and force of the rows and rows of the marchers with their instruments.

I am a walker..(up to 15 miles per week) Having made this purchase... I now march along with Sousa and the other greats on this fine album....I heartily recommend it to all....as well as Amazon's timely and fairly priced services...

These are traditional American marches well played and stirring. The CD and case are of good quality, and the sound is excellent.

This is an unusual Music CD to a great price.
Something to celebrate July 4 and our nation.
Highly recommended.

I would give this one ZERO.....absolutely waste of money. The sound quality is terrible on my Made in Japan SONY / Kenwood / Panasonic CD / MP3 Players. Also, the collection of the noise is not all that impressive, I have seen much better calming peaceful MUSIC. Do not waste money, I think it is rediculous to have a band for military, How about a band for PEACE?

I grew up with the original version of this book; my father was a navigator with the Jolly Rogers in WWII. This version is a faithful reproduction of the original from the content all the way to the color shading of the photographs. My only reason for not giving it 5 stars is the page size is slightly smaller and the page content was not reduced to compensate. The result is some minor cropping of content on some pages. Overall this is a minor issue and the book gives a fantastic overview of life in the South Pacific for those flying and supporting this highly decorated Unit.

I have an original copy of this book. It is in mint condition and still in the original box it was mailed in on Oct 24, 1945, from the APO (which only costed 7 cents to mail, I might add). I also have the original Black Pirates book, all the same as the Jolly Rogers book.

The inside cover of the ORIGINAL book does state September 1942. That is what the creators of the original had written, therefore it would not take down any value of the book.

If anyone has an information about the value of the original books I have, or any questions, please e-mail me at: [...]

This book is a reprint of a book first published in 1944 utilizing personnel on active duty to put the book togeather. I do not see where the Publisher can claim Copyright on the contents, because the personnel who worked on the book were paid by the Military. In addition, this Group was not known as " The Jolly Rogers " until after July 8, 1943 when Col. Rogers first assumed command, and an enlisted man came up with the designation. The hype about the publicity starting in September 1942 is incorrect and detracts from the real value of the book. In fact, the first combat missions by this group were made in November of 1942. September and October of that year were spent in Hawaii in training and intensive long range patrols, which resulted in no Combat with enemy forces. If those discrepancies were cleared up, then I think any purchasers would indeed be fully satisfied.

My dad was in the 90th bomb group and contributed some material to this publication...he painted the nose art on the "DUDE" which is pictured in the book....it also covers a lot on the B-24 which often took a back seat to the B-17 in recognition....

It is not recent. but is OK. The package is very bad, I made exchane three times still have scrached DVD. I finaly give up.

This DVD had been introduced in 2005 according to the package note, but the sound and image quality are so poor as if they were ripped from VHS counterpart produced earlier.
And if you are a technology geek and buying this product hoping you can put your hands on some cutting-edge technologies, forget about it.
This is all about the images and history, not about how it works, I mean, it's more like a History channel thing than a Discovery channel type.

Making things even worse, although the running time is approximate 60 min. or so, 10-20% of them are just repetitions with different narrations or music.

I graded this DVD with 3 stars only because of the price.

If it's more than $30, definitely out of the buying list.

I'm not a military historian of any type and am in fact just starting to read up on the subject for a project I'm working on. I'm finding descriptions of battles rather boring, but this book is different.

It's mostly 20th century stuff but the first chapter talks about the psychology of what we choose to believe and how to convince the enemy of what you want them to believe. Really interesting stuff. Chapter 2 is examples from pre-WWI history (which is what I was looking for.) Things like the Duke of Marlborough in 1711 tricking the French into destroying one of their own forts for him (he took it, then let the French win it back. The French destroyed it, assuming it was vital to his plans. What was vital to his plans was it's destruction, but he didn't want the French to know that because then they would know what he was up to.) I've laughed out loud at some of the cunning, conniving tricks. This side of strategy and tactics is far more interesting to me that battlefied maneuvers.

London's Weekend Classics 'Sousa Marches' by 'The Band of the Grenadier Guards'compelled me to acquire their CD, The World of the Military Band' They come close to the excellence of the Eastman Wind Ensesmble under Fennel playing Sousa, but are overly loud and brassy on the ...'World of'

For Concert/Marching Band preferences...stick to Sousa

Castle Keep is not exactley a normal war film infact I thought it was realy wierd and some parts just didn't fit in and didn't make any sense. The film plays out like a slow paced drama where some of the soldiers are talking about philisophical stuff and the meaning of life and blah blah ect, things don't get interesting untill the second half when the germans try to infiltrate the fortified castle the cast includes Peter Faulk, Burt Lancaster, Patrick O'Neal and some others. A group of American soldiers take over a very old castle as a stronghold, the castle is owned by an unworldly aristocrat whose major concern is for his priceless art collection which I thought was very strange. The film is a cross between a 1960's art film and war film thats why it has these sureal and bizzare scenes like the one in the brothel that has weird carnival music playing in the background. Despite the unknown status of this film it has been praised by other directors and has become a sort of anti-war film for the vietnam era cause of its messages which is not exactely clear, the film had some slightly boring scenes in it but it does make up for it during the end which you'll just have to see what happens I'm not going to spoil it, I'm not saying that it was bad cause some parts were realy good and interesting. The film overall was average I would give it 3.5/5 stars if your looking for a different and strange ww2 film then this might be what your looking for.

And I thought `Catch-22' was the worst WWII movie ever made.

At least the source of that one - Joseph Heller's best selling novel - is funny and brilliant. Maybe William Eastlake's CASTLE KEEP is a great novel, too. I'll never know, and after watching director Sydney Pollack's take on it I'm none to anxious to hunt it down. A group of American soldiers, led by eye patched Major Abraham Falconer (Burt Lancaster) decamp in a medieval castle that stands between the advancing Germans and Bastogne. The castle is the residence of the Count of Malorais and Therese, a winsome lass with a wandering eye, and contains a Louvre's worth of art.

Having established a promising plot the movie promptly abandons it and spends nine-tenths of its remaining time standing around talking. Oh, Major Burt makes a heavy move on Therese, Captain Patrick O'Neal moons over the art, the enlisted men spend some time in a cat house in town and, inexplicably, Sergeant Peter Falk takes up residence with a widowed baker's wife. And wild-eyed Bruce Dern, with choir, pops into the movie every now and then as a hymn singing conscientious objector. But most of the time it's just tedious, pretentious, impenetrable talk. For instance, at one point Therese and the Count share this exchange - "They planned this war because there was something they hadn't yet smashed." "Who are we, Henri?" "We are the keepers."

I think CASTLE KEEP is supposed to be a serio-comic response to Vietnam, but this absurd depiction of the futility of war is subverted by its ponderous arrogance and leaden pacing. Static and deathly boring.

In the pantheon of Great War movie such as "Patton" and "The Sand Pebbles" I rank "Castle Keep" right along with them. Castle Keep starts off with a sense of "Look out, folks, this is uncommon rabbit hole." And it is. But this isn't an ordinary WWII war movie as the narrator of the movies starts: "Eight walking wounded chanced upon a castle..." Its premise is uncommon: its art and history vs. theory and practice. Who will be the victor? Can there be a victory? Almost immediately I'm reminded of the bombing of Dresden. Does that metaphor carry any weight in the film? Whether it does or not it's still a weighty film. It's a film about misfits, about baker's dozen and The Lost Boys. About make-shift prophets and a buffalo riding on a horse. It's about catching your breath and the Red Queen's whores. For these weary soldiers they suddenly find themselves in a world of shell shock and storybook fantasy. But the business of killing persists. With the Germens reaching and breaching the walls of Castle Keep it's every man and connoisseur for himself. It's a battle that every players of this movie can't afford to lose regardless of the outcome, of motive. Above all one of the soldiers is a writer. From the lowly troop to the top major they all request one thing from him: write the truth. When the ashes of war settles the storyteller alway rises. Without storytellers there are no war stories. Oh, yeah, there's the Countess of the castle. You'll going to have to see this movie to know more about her. After viewing this movie I think I'm going to read the book.

If you're expecting a traditional WWII action film, you may well be puzzled or put off by this film, which completely upends the idea of traditional heroism ... yet without disparaging it, either, which is no mean feat. Clearly an allegorical, symbolic film that speaks to Vietnam as much as to WWII, deliberately & gleefully anachronistic, it remains timely to this day. As long as there are wars, the absurdity, black humor, destruction & loss depicted here will remain relevant. In a way, it revises a notable statement from Vietnam & asks, "Will it become necessary to destroy civilization in order to save it?"

It's a visually stunning film, thankfully released in widescreen at last, which it needs & deserves. There's a fairy tale quality to many of the shots, accentuated by the then-contemporary pop music soundtrack by Michel Legrand, very Swingle Singers at times, always haunting. Yet other scenes have a surreal, garishly surreal quality to them. And the battle scenes are brutally realistic & bloody, a harsh & effective counterpoint to the earlier fairy tale quality.

The ensemble cast is wonderful, with Burt Lancaster rightfully leading the pack. He's a stolid, realistic, undeniably brave man -- and short-sighted for that very reason, seeing only the mission, willing to sacrifice everything to fulfill it. Yet what other sort of man would be able to go on fighting an implacable enemy? That's one of the things I especially like about this film: it asks difficult questions & doesn't take the easy way out by unfairly demonizing one viewpoint.

The rest of the cast is equally good, from Al Freeman's Ishmael-like novelist ("And I alone am escaped to tell thee"), to Patrick O'Neal's tortured, sensitive art historian, so desperate to preserve the endangered beauties of the castle, to Peter Falk's earthy sergeant, who would rather bake bread (the staff of life) rather than bring more death to the world. Yet in the end, death will inevitably overtake all but one of them.

The script is a writer's delight, filled with dark jokes, poignant reveries, wicked one-liners. It's a literate script, from a more literate time, and well worth hearing more than once. Again, this is a film that's meant to be fully experienced in the viewing & then thought about & discussed at length afterwards. It's a welcome addition to the film collection of any discerning viewer. Most highly recommended!

Rec