Murphy's War
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Movie Reviews of Murphy's War
Movie Review: Murphy's War
Summary: 4 Stars
The dvd is in excellent condition as it should be since it is NEW. An all time favorite of mine!Movie Review: Lawrence of Arabia takes on the Kriegsmarine
Summary: 3 Stars
MURPHY'S WAR is an amusing World War II story in that it takes place far from Europe, the North Atlantic, or other venues where we are used to seeing the Allies battle the Germans. In this film we find a German U-Boat hunting targets off the coast and along the inlets of tropical Venezuela. The war in Europe is mere days from ending, yet the U-Boat commander shows no hint of reigning back his attacks. Against this submarine threat is one man, Murphy, with a thirst for revenge.
Peter O'Toole stars as the sole surviving crewman of a torpedoed merchant ship. After sinking the ship the U-Boat Kapitanleutnant orders the machine gunning of the survivors in an attempt to keep his submarine's location a secret. Murphy survives the massacre and makes it to shore where he is nursed back to health by a missionary. Already seeking revenge against the Germans for the demise of his crewmates, Murphy declares his own private war against the Kriegsmarine when an armed U-Boat shore party kills another surviving, though still seriously injured, pilot from the sunken ship.
The remainder of the film becomes a cat-and-mouse game between Murphy and the U-Boat. Murphy becomes so obsessed with the U-Boat that he eventually succeeds in destroying the submarine at the sacrifice of his own life.
The premise of the movie is actually based on real events. In 1944 U-Boat U-852 torpedoed a Greek steamer in the Indian Ocean. The U-Boat commander ordered the machine gunning of the survivors in an attempt to prevent anyone from disclosing the presence of a U-Boat in the Indian Ocean. However, there are often survivors from all massacres and one rescued individual had quite a tale to tell. The German submarine was subsequently attacked and forced to beach near Somalia where the crew was taken prisoner. The U-Boat commander was later tried for war crimes and hanged.
As such, the first few minutes of MURPHY'S WAR are believable. From that point the film moves into pure fiction. The problem is that the Germans scour the local fishing village for survivors of the sinking eventually executing one injured pilot. For some reason U-Boat men ignore that fact that if there was one survivor in the village the U-Boat, merchant sinking, and massacre story were probably already well known throughout the village.
We are presented with a lone village on the coast of (or somewhere near) Venezuela made even more isolated by the German destruction of the sole radio transmitter. For all intent and purpose the missionary, oil company caretaker, and the villagers are in virtual isolation until the end of the war. Do not bother torturing yourself with rhetorical questions as to why nobody set off through the jungle or along the coast for help. In order to accept the story you have to buy into a scenario where this tropical speck of the world is all that exists.
The film does not immediately give us a time frame for the story. It is not until the latter part of the film that it is disclosed that the war is nearing, and then arrives at, its end.
No matter what film I see him in, Peter O'Toole will always be T.E. Lawrence from LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. In many of his films he tends to play flighty-eccentric characters and MURPHY'S WAR is no exception. Murphy's final charge with the rusty barge against the heavily armed U-Boat reminded me his similar "No Prisoners" attack against the Turks in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA.
This is another of those films that you have to enjoy from beginning to end without interruption. The aerial U-Boat hunting scene, with Murphy as the self-taught pilot, is classic.
Movie Review: Orinoco Flow
Summary: 3 Stars
"Murphy's War" follows Murphy's Law as far as movies are concerned. Everything that can go wrong does. Spectacularly. An Irishman with an awful Irish accent? Check. Hammy acting from said Celt? Check. Plodding action? Check. Embarrassing floppy hat on the lead? Check. It's about an Irishman, Murphy (Peter O'Toole) who miraculously survives a U-Boat attack in Venezuela. In the midst of the jungle, he becomes an obsessive madman... not unlike the other movies being filmed in South America at the time, Werner Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo" and "Aguirre, Wrath of God." Director Peter Yates decided to make "Murphy's War" into an anti-war statement about the Vietnam War. Murphy's quest for revenge is self-destructive. He's willing to constantly fight (yawn) despite the fact the Germans are ready to hoist the white flag and declare a truce. (At this point, Fitzcarraldo's Indians dragging a ship over an Amazon mountainside is more exciting)
There's also a pacifist Quaker nurse (O'Toole's then-wife),mirroring Grace Kelly's character in High Noon. She either gets to see Murphy shirtless (giving this movie three stars rather than two) or shout to him from long distances. "Murphy's War" is an inaction movie. Murphy learning to fly a plane, or endlessly pursuing the U-Boat with his French friend (Philippe Noiret),are dragged out. Painfully. **SPOILER ALERT** There are tons of explosions at the end. Murphy AND the U-Boat are drowned. But they aren't surrounded by howling monkeys.
"Murphy's War" ranks as a Pretentious Art Film. It's wonderfully bad. O'Toole's hammy acting (he manages to reduce the Irish accent-astonishingly- to corned beef) makes it watchable. Enya's "Orinoco Flow" would've made the soundtrack memorable. "Murphy's War" is a Bad Movie We Love.
Movie Review: The Wrath of O'Toole
Summary: 3 Stars
Peter O'Toole plays Murphy, one of the sole survivors of merchantman destroyed by U-Boat late in WWII. In a swampy and remote chunk of South America, Murphy finds asylum among a group of missionaries. The U-Boat however, won't leave him alone. Having little more than a barge, a seaplane and his hatred for the U-Boat and its crew, O'Toole presses on a private war that looks to outlast WWII. As those around Murphy begin to realize how his war has turned into an obsession, we in the audience begin to realize that we're watching an updated version of "Moby Dick", with some diferences that don't amount to an improvement. For one thing, the U-Boat isn't content to be the hunted one - it returns to exact a revenge when one of Murphy's ideas doesn't pan out. Also, when we get a look at the guys driving the U-Boat, we're in for a nasty shock of our own - they look less like steeled seawolves in search of a target than some obnoxious brats who need a bad shave, but otherwise could care less about Murphy once it looks like the war's over. (At least in "Moby Dick" and "Wrath of Khan", there was the implication that the obsession was mutual.) O'Toole acts with the same sort of epic sweep of "Lawrence of Arabia" - which seems ironic given the movie's "private" setting and less than epic scope.
That said, it's still a watchable movie - one of those that's most memorable for its final scene. Like "Wicker Man", the parting shot is one that connotes fury, futility and most of all, finality.
Movie Review: futility of war,(ww2) good transfer,peak o`toole
Summary: 3 Stars
o`toole and his plane are the show.The color is good and overall transfer is very good, considering its age and the rock bottom price.But it is very slight in content with the theme of revenge and the futility of war its touchstone.As someone said , the ending is a bummer and sort of ruins what fun there was before; but it was made during vietnam and i guess they had a message to put out.The flying sequences are top notch,however, and the transfer showcases them well.Worth the price. A strong 3 stars.