Blame it on the masters if you want, or chalk it up to the pent-up rage of domestication. Whatever the cause, here's a cinematic pooch troop that's not about to fetch or play dead for anyone. Previously played by such American mainstream actors as Douglas Fairbanks, Tyrone Power, Guy Williams and even George Hamilton, the masked avenger is now portrayed by Spanish native Antonio Banderas. While Banderas has been on the fringe of major mainstream stardom, his casting is not without risk, and significance. It reveals the movie industry's increasing realization of a growing and lucrative market.
Most people think actors are show-offs.
But often the opposite is true. They're as graphic, and as disturbing, as anything put on screen, so disturbing even Spielberg backs off from what they reveal. As landing craft packed with soldiers drift toward Omaha Beach in the eerie still of morning, we gaze upon the stony, frightened faces of men preparing for battle, their nervous stomachs unable to keep down their breakfasts. Before they've reached shore, the boats become easy targets for German gunfire. Bullets spray the uncovered craft, killing many of the defenseless soldiers.