God save Mrs. Mopp and good old Mother Riley.

God save the George Cross and all those who were awarded them.

God save Fu Manchu, Moriarty and Dracula.

Little shops, china cups and virginity is right.

God save Tudor houses, antique tables and billiards.

And just for grins, the George Cross "was instituted in September 1940 to recognise civilian heroism at the height of the Blitz. King George VI created the award for the men and women of the Commonwealth whose courage could not be marked by any other honour. The simple silver cross, bearing an image of St George slaying the dragon and the words "FOR GALLANTRY", was designed by Percy Metcalfe and is struck at the Royal Mint." (http://www.gc-database.co.uk)

I now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion.

I have never seen any of those, so I guess I'm lucky!

I have a lot of favorite movies (favourite for you Brits and Canucks out there), but I hesitate to try to rank them:

"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (perhaps the greatest movie of all time, literally bitch-slapping pretenders like "Citizen Kane" and "Birth of a Nation". Phtew! I fart in your general direction.)

"Casablanca" (not only a great movie, but combine this with a good bottle of red wine and...."He shoots, he scores!")

"The Maltese Falcon" (Bogey, Lorre, Greenstreet, Elisha Cook---what else could you possibly need?)

"Spartacus" (maybe Kirk Douglas' greatest movie, but certainly his most inspirational)

"Tora, Tora, Tora" (the best theatrical rendition of Pearl Harbor ever, which unlike "Midway", at least had the Japanese speaking their native tongue)

"Battle of Britain" (saw it first run in '69. All-star cast, Spanish Air Force ME-109s and HE-111s, accurate depiction of events. One of the greatest air war movies ever).

"All Quiet on the Western Front" (The original. Still amazing more than 70 years later. I read "Im Westen nichts neues" (auf Deutsch) back in high school for my German 3 class. The movie is true to the spirit of the book and times in which it was written. Great anti-war film against a war that never should have been fought.)

"The Lighthorsemen" (hard to find, but wonderful movie about the last cavalry charge of WWI, by a regiment of ANZAC mounted infrantry against Turkish fortifications at Beersheba, Palestine. AWE-freakin'-SOME)

"Nosferatu" (Again, the original, with Max Schreck.)

More thoughts later, but what do "yinz" think?

I have been watching the AFI Top 100 Films lately (actually I started a long time ago, but some are really hard to track down). But I actually watched Birth of a Nation. I can't BELIEVE I sat through all 4 hours of that crap! What the hell is it doing on that list?

I know that there have been some great innovators of film. Some films have "elements" that have never been done before. But does that really qualify it for standing the test of time?

Citizen Kane, for example, did a lot for cinema, is it still a good film? But I can accept Citizen Kane (if I must). But Birth of a Nation? What did THAT ever do for cinema!? I was honest-to-God less unhappy when I was getting a root canal! Seriously!

Thanks, now the odds are in my favor that I'll be mumbling the right words as I warble off-key.

Scott

God save Mrs. Mopp and good old Mother Riley.

God save the George Cross and all those who were awarded them.

God save Fu Manchu, Moriarty and Dracula.

Little shops, china cups and virginity is right.

God save Tudor houses, antique tables and billiards.

And just for grins, the George Cross "was instituted in September 1940 to recognise civilian heroism at the height of the Blitz. King George VI created the award for the men and women of the Commonwealth whose courage could not be marked by any other honour. The simple silver cross, bearing an image of St George slaying the dragon and the words "FOR GALLANTRY", was designed by Percy Metcalfe and is struck at the Royal Mint." (http://www.gc-database.co.uk)

I now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion.

And when I feel
Like the world's too much for me...
I think of the Big Sky
And nothing matters much to me...

Sorry, I don't log on as foten as I should.

Scott, I see you got the words you wanted, great song though aint it?

Lisa, thank you for your support, no I hevn't seen the Changeling but I will watch out for it DVD or whatever.

I heard that that was one of the worst movies ever. Not the worst horror movie, or the worst movie based on a book, the worst movie ever, in general. I haven't seen it yet though.

I first saw this movie with my Uncle and Brother. It became a family classic. We are big fans of Tangerine Dream, Jurgen Prochnow, Gabriel Byrne, Ian McKellen and Michael Mann. The movie has a whole dark feel to it. At least that was correct and in-line with the book. I never even realized there was a book of the movie (or rather a series) until about 4 years ago when the Keep was released in paperback again.

I have since devoured the Adversary Cycle and await each Repairman Jack. I even managed to snag a first print copy of The Keep in hardcover (not the Borderlands Press copy either).

Anyway, I thought the movie was good. Maybe not great but there is lots that I do like about it. The scene where there is the huge pan down to the interior of the crypt is stunning. I cannot believe that this movie hasn't made it to DVD. I understand that there is some huge dispute over rights and it is the only Michael Mann movie that hasn't been released on DVD. This has also held Tangerine Dream from releasing their music for the film. Bootlegs can be had but it's tough and expensive.

I have had to rent the VHS version several times to get my 'fix'. Maybe I'll have to dub it one of these times. I just cannot make myself buy a copy on VHS. This was a particularly interesting role for Ian McKellen. It was neat to see him years later in X-Men, Apt Pupil, Gods & Monsters and Lord of the Rings and say to myself, "hey, where have I seen that guy before? Oh yeah!!"

I understand that the Production Company got heavily involved near the end and made a bunch of changes to the film that has made it unpopular with fans of the book. I have read that if and when it gets released on DVD, that Michael Mann has plans on restoring some of the chopped footage and hopefully make the movie more palatable. There is always an element of what is lost in translation from book to film.

One last note, I did send a letter to Paramount begging them to resolve this and get the movie out. Maybe one day they will...

I just finished the book and I have now just finished watching the movie ...
The first thing that comes to my mind is that so much of the book was lost....
almost too much.I think that if I didnt read the book first, I would have hated this movie.but then again, that little fact could also be the reason I dont care for it. most movies are never as good as the book, and that was one hell of a good book It is not the worst movie I have ever seen, but I am just too dissapointed in it to give it any praise
not quite the horrific car accident that I thought it would be..... more like a fender-bender... take a quick look and be on your way LOL
am I wrong ??? what do you think ????

I first saw this movie with my Uncle and Brother. It became a family classic. We are big fans of Tangerine Dream, Jurgen Prochnow, Gabriel Byrne, Ian McKellen and Michael Mann. The movie has a whole dark feel to it. At least that was correct and in-line with the book. I never even realized there was a book of the movie (or rather a series) until about 4 years ago when the Keep was released in paperback again.

I have since devoured the Adversary Cycle and await each Repairman Jack. I even managed to snag a first print copy of The Keep in hardcover (not the Borderlands Press copy either).

Anyway, I thought the movie was good. Maybe not great but there is lots that I do like about it. The scene where there is the huge pan down to the interior of the crypt is stunning. I cannot believe that this movie hasn't made it to DVD. I understand that there is some huge dispute over rights and it is the only Michael Mann movie that hasn't been released on DVD. This has also held Tangerine Dream from releasing their music for the film. Bootlegs can be had but it's tough and expensive.

I have had to rent the VHS version several times to get my 'fix'. Maybe I'll have to dub it one of these times. I just cannot make myself buy a copy on VHS. This was a particularly interesting role for Ian McKellen. It was neat to see him years later in X-Men, Apt Pupil, Gods & Monsters and Lord of the Rings and say to myself, "hey, where have I seen that guy before? Oh yeah!!"

I understand that the Production Company got heavily involved near the end and made a bunch of changes to the film that has made it unpopular with fans of the book. I have read that if and when it gets released on DVD, that Michael Mann has plans on restoring some of the chopped footage and hopefully make the movie more palatable. There is always an element of what is lost in translation from book to film.

One last note, I did send a letter to Paramount begging them to resolve this and get the movie out. Maybe one day they will...

I like the movie, too. It is not the greatest movie ever, but it is FAR, FAR, FAR from the worst. Just the cast is enough to make it worth watching. Jurgen Prochnow is the man! It misses many points of the book. Yeah, most movies adapted from books do. It goes with the territory. It is such an overused excuse for not liking a movie that I usually disregard it. The Return of the King movie omitted many parts of the book and yet it is universally loved and won an OSCAR for Best Picture (11 Oscars total, a sweep). Basically, I think the movie takes an undeserved beating, especially from people on this site - Even from FPW. Though he has a much different perspective on his own work than even the biggest fans on this site do, so I won't begrudge him his opinion.

Finally saw this film today!! I couldn't find it in any video stores around here and was lucky to catch it today on Starz. Have to agree with jimbow, I've seen much worse. I didn't know who was in the cast and was very surprised. I didn't see the vampire connection that I'd heard about. Where did that come from anyway???

I didn't see the vampire connection that I'd heard about. Where did that come from anyway???

Hmm. Have you read the book?

I'm one of those that hated the movie. And it wasn't because I read the book first, blah blah. I saw the movie and hated it. I didn't read the book for a really long time, mostly cause I disliked the movie so much. It was a shame too, cause I really like Jurgen Prochnow, Gabriel Byrne and Ian McKellan.