Taking Chance
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Movie Reviews of Taking Chance
Movie Review: 5 stars for the film, which I trust will be treated respectfully on DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this excellent film on HBO when it aired, with both my wife and I watching it somberly. I had long since read the preview information and knew exactly what to expect in the film, though I must say I was even more pleased with how respectfully the film treats all of the subject matter it covered. What could have been political wasn't, and instead simply and poignantly concentrates on the process that the military uses for handling the casualties of war and military service that are inevitable in times of conflict.
This film makes a great companion for another film that HBO also aired: Section 60 (Arlington National Cemetery). If you can only see one then I'd be hard pressed to recommend which of the two you should see as both were of such top quality. Both also serve as fine examples of why HBO tends to clean up during award seasons, and I'd be shocked if Taking Chance doesn't win HBO a few more awards to add to HBO's trophy case.
Have a hanky or kleenex handy when you watch this film as you'll likely need 'em to wipe away a few tears as this film progresses. Sadly what we get to see in this film is just one example of a process that has happened too many times over the last several years. May the future find the needs for such service and ceremony greatly lessened, though at the same time may we never forget the great service that these heroes perform for their country.
Movie Review: An Emotional Gut Punch
Summary: 5 Stars
I wasn't sure what to expect when watching this but found that I could not make it through the movie without pausing it periodically to recompose myself. The movie stirred up some serious emotions that I had forgotten I had. Having briefly served (very briefly) in the Marine Corps. the movie was perhaps more personal for me than it would be for others. Bacon, of course, plays the perfect Marine; and this is shown in several scenes. One of the best was where his character is asked by snotty TSA employees (when going through and airport metal detector) to take off the jacket of his service uniform with all of the ribbons; to which he replies..."I will not disrespect this uniform..." The emotional aspect of the film comes through what the audience does not see as opposed to other techniques. The opening scene we see a Dover AFB specialist washing the L.Cpl's feet and in another we see someone using a steamer to clear the dried blood off his watch and in another we see the L.Cpl's boots with a splash of dried blood covering them. These scenes come together and the imagination does the rest. The film crosses a kind of barrier one that successfully forces the viewer to concede that this is real and not simply another movie. For those who've served, first thank you for your service, second I recommend to watch this movie alone as it may stir up forgotten emotions for you as well.Movie Review: Simple, timeless, heartbreaking, and ennobling.
Summary: 5 Stars
There have been few tributes to fallen soldiers more moving than Ross Katz's film "Taking Chance." It wastes no time in posturing on war, either for or against, or on false sentimentality. It tells the story of Marine Lt. Col. Michael Strobl (Kevin Bacon), a guilt-ridden Desert Storm veteran, and how he serves as escort for the body of PFC Chance Phelps, a 19-year-old Marine who died a hero's death in Iraq, for burial at his home in Wyoming.
Based on the actual journals of Strobl, who co-wrote the screenplay with Katz, "Taking Chance" is as simple as it could be, and all the more powerful for it. It begins with an audio tape over the opening credits of the actual skirmish in which Phelps died, and ends with photos and home movies of him. Phelps--as presented in reminiscences both by characters in the film and by his real family and friends in the "Special Feastures" section--was a remarkable young man, whose high spirits and goofy sense of humor barely masked his ferocious courage and loyalty.
"Taking Chance" is a masterpiece of restrained, dignified emotion, and the performances--particularly Bacon's as Strobl--are in keeping with the film's laconic yet poignant tone. In eulogizing one young soldier, it serves as a tribute for all young men and women who died for this country, and a searing reminder of how one life touches many.
Movie Review: Don't watch this one on a weeknight
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the most powerful movies I've ever watched. I sat through the DVD twice. To some extent, it's a documentary of how fallen soldiers are treated, because we are taken behind the scenes at Dover AFB. But it's the story of a journey that captures viewers. I was especially moved by the scene on the mountain roads where a trucker, realizing what's in the hearse and who's in the rental car following, slows down and creates a procession of cars with lights on,
leading the warrior home.
Kevin Bacon's character asked for escort duty because the young man was from a town near his own home town. But it turned out the family was now in Wyoming, in a small town reached by arduous travel. Normally a PFC would not be escorted by a senior officer. It wasn't planned, but it turned out that PFC Chance was a real hero. The bonus material tells us Chance was actually promoted to Lance Corporal but the orders didn't arrive before his death.
The movie actually understates the drama. An article about the movie reveals that Chance's sister, a navy petty officer, worked for an admiral in the Pentagon. The admiral apparently flew out to the funeral with other navy members.
It's a beautiful story of how military people in general, and Marines in particular, bond together over what's really important.
Movie Review: very heart breaking movie
Summary: 5 Stars
i seen this movie a couple of days ago and this movie should be seen by all americans in the u.s. my last command was in somalia, and i've been shot at and had to do some shooting back. from men to little kids. the feeling that i had to do was in the best intrest of my country. i seen alot of marines wounded, but none has died. thanks to god! when i came back to the u.s. i had to do what the lt.col had to do. we had one officer and three enlisted men ( 2 ssgt's and 1 gysgt ) and i was one of them. all of are marines came back from somalia o.k. but we were givin instruction on how to do what the movie is all about. after seeing the movie, it broke my heart and had some tears. all should see this movie. when i retired from the marine corps, i had nightmares for about two years. i feel the same way that the lt.col felt. i should of died in battle with honors. i've always took care of my marines. my wife use to tell me that i'm crazy for volunteering for all the conflicts that the marines were in. hell, i was never home half the time. go to work at 5:00am and stay until 9:00pm. pt with the troops in the morning and so on! i apologize for telling the story of my life. i just get to carried away. the movie is well written and Kevin Bacon did a go job as a lt.col.
once a marine, always a marine! semper fi, devil dogs