High Camp

Rating: Null/10 (15 November 2004)

If one good thing came out of this production, it's that Mel Gibson met Caleb Deschanel, DP, and the two would go on to make THE PASSION OF THE Christ. But this one was strictly a paycheck effort. Columbia Pictures needed a tent-pole of the summer of 2000. Mel Gibson needed to pay off that Hamptons beach house, or put the finishing touches on his private chapel. 25 million dollars only goes so far these days.
With Emmerich, you pretty much know what to expect. Something along the lines of a low-rent Bruckheimer production, but with more cheese. Emmerich is going to put Leon Rippy in all of his movies. I thought it was funny how most of the British officers are either wig-wearing fags or stiff as cardboard martinets, with the exception of Isaacs. Those eyes burn with intensity! The man could easily become an international superstar.
In war, the terms "good/evil" do not have any application. In war, especially fighting a war where you live, you kill or get killed. But a lot of the action scenes here are awfully contrived. The plot has to go from A, to B, to C, so if you want reality, watch PBS. This movie is fairly entertaining, but it's a work of fiction. Any Englishman who professes to be offended by this movie, is giving the movie far too much credit. I give the movie points for Isaacs, and for the scene when Gibson weeps with unbearable sadness when Ledger dies before his eyes.