A wonderful film

Rating: Null/10 (29 June 2001)

Normally, I HATE Joel Schumacher. I think most people do. For those of you who have no idea who I'm talking about, he's the guy who directed Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, among other crap. He's my least favorite direct. I hate him. But I love Tigerland.
Yes, it's true, Schumacher directed an independant movie, called Tigerland. It's is and it isn't a Vietnam movie. It takes place during Vietnam, it's about Vietnam, but it doesn't take place IN Vietnam. It takes place in Tigerland, a fierce boot camp where the army tries to simulate Vietnam the best they can.
This is one of the biggest surprises of the year. Platoon was a personal story about the boys in Vietnam. Apacolypse Now was a plot driven movie about the horror of Vietnam. Platoon was about character, apacolypse Now was about Atmosphere. Tigerland has more in common with Platoon.
Honostly, as much as I love this movie, I hate the way it was shot. The camera jerks around too much and none of the takes are more than three seconds long. I hate it when people do that. I am not a fan of handheld shots. Why don't they have long, swooping shots any more? Is there a steady-cam strike I didn't hear about? Joel Schumacher is a horrible director. It's a good thing he got GREAT talent to act the movie and the script is tip top. I also like how the film has a kind of faided yellow tint to it that makes it look like a documentary from Vietnam.
This is a real HUMAN story about a man who hates the army and wants out, while helping others to their freedom on his way. This year has been pretty absent of any character movies. We've seen mostly big budget, special effect crap. But I really want you to see this movie, all of you. I loved it. It is a truly wonderful and entertaining movie. It makes me angry that movies like this never come to my town, but crap like Tomb Raider does. Hell, even my mom liked it, and she isn't the war-movie-type-person.
9/10