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The effects of war have been a staple of the genre in film since it’s inception, practically; from looking at the emotional and mental havoc it wreaks on people, to the social and political ramifications of war on a larger scale – almost any war film you care to mention will touch on the dehumanisation effect war has at some point. Clint Eastwood’s foray into war film-making attempts to capture the dichotomy of the “War Hero” returning home, with three of the solders who raised the American flag atop Mt Subiyachi on Iwo Jima during World War II returning home as heroes to spruik for money from the public, to fund the ongoing war in the Pacific. Flags Of Our Fathers takes place in flashback form, with the “battle sequences” occurring in the minds eye of our three main characters. It’s a film asking the question of the value of having returning solders idolised as heroes for the sake of the public image – and what effect this has on those very same men.

Help raise the flag – click here for more!!

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Ahh yes, the original. Caught a showing of this film a while back on local TV here in Australia, and thought it might be good to give you my opinion on it. For those unaware, Dirty Harry was the first in a series of five films depicting the escapades of Harry Callahan, a San Fransisco cop whose methods are unusually…. brutal. The Harry films embedded Clint Eastwood into the pop-culture conciousness, spawned a stream of now classic quotes, and gave us the anti-authority police officer archetype, the kind who “don’t take no crap from nobody” and who will bust your ass if you get in his way, in much the same way that he became the definitive cowboy figure from his pulp westerns under the guidance of Sergio Leoni.

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It has been rumoured that this film represents the last time Clint Eastwood will step before the cameras and act. I, for one, am upset with that, if this is the calibre of his work right now. Mr Eastwood has been around the Hollywood system for a very long time, and no doubt could have become the same jaded non-creative clone that many of his contemporaries have appeared as. Eastwood, however, has managed to carve himself a niche career as both a celebrated actor, and award winning director, including recent successes with Mystic River, Flags Of Our Fathers and Million Dollar Baby. Now, with Gran Torino, Eastwood returns to the screen with one of his most powerful performances yet: and the guy is in his 80′s! Incredible. Like a fine wine, Eastwood keeps getting better with age, although I suspect it’s got more to do with his canny ability to cast himself in roles suited to his persona than to stretch himself beyond the hard-boiled alpha male material he made his name with back during the 70′s, in films like Pale Rider and The Outlaw Josey Wales.

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Wonderfully filmed, brilliantly acted, comedy/drama/western starring Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine, Two Mules For Sister Sara is one of the best “buddy comedies” I’ve seen in a very long time. Only just discovering this film on DVD recently, I was surprised at just how good a chemistry Eastwood and MacLaine have on screen, and I’m surprised they didn’t pair up more often. Two Mules tells of a drifter/mercenary (Eastwood) who saves a beautiful woman (MacLaine) from being raped by a gang of thugs, only to discover she’s actually a nun, on the run from French forces trying to occupy Mexico. Together, they journey to a distant town to help some Mexican revolutionaries steal the treasure from a garrison of French troops.

A man meets a woman......

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Anaemic, overly long, and somewhat thin story about a drunkard leading a group of mercenaries on a hunt for a renegade outlaw; Joe Kidd is not exactly the first film that comes to mind when thinking of the Clint Eastwood oeuvre. Rightly so, this mediocre affair will forever be consigned to DVD bargain bins, which is a shame considering the talent both in front of, and behind the camera.

John Sturgess, who directed films such as The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape (yes, that one!), Never So Few and Last Train From Gun Hill, brings his considerable talent to bear on this film, which you’d think would be fairly well developed. Instead, the script, from Elmore Leonard (who wrote such classics as 3:10 To Yuma, Get Shorty, Out Of Sight, Be Cool and The Big Bounce) seems a little flitty, a little sketchy at best. The characters are ill defined, the action is stop-start and aggravatingly slow, and the film’s point is lost in translation somewhere from Leonards brain to Sturgess’ vision. Even the great Lalo Schifrin, whose music scores for films like Bullit, Cool Hand Luke, and Dirty Harry had elevated his status to a Hollywood legend of sorts, seems a little off-key here, with a middling musical effort bordering on boring.

Scowl, pout, grimace... right, that's all I have to remember here....

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Review logo Image Obtained from William Ferriera.

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Thoroughly captivating, if slightly overblown, Man With No Name Western genre entry from Clint Eastwood, returning to the hard-nosed cowboy image he patented in Sergio Leoni’s Dollars Trilogy. Eastwood plays a mysterious stranger who ventures into the beach-side town of Lago, only to find that the inhabitants are hiding a deadly secret, and want him to “take care” of a trio of villainous thugs, who are about to be released from prison. Set against the backdrop of escalating tension and anger within the town, Eastwoods Stranger is given carte blanche to whatever he wants: guns, cigarettes, booze…. whatever will help him kill the oncoming trio of criminals. The townspeople, though, have demons of their own, involving the night-time slaying of the sheriff, a storyline barely expanded upon save for a few moments of brief dialogue.

The Stranger approaches.

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