Reviews

Considered one of the greatest love stories of all time, Gone with the Wind is a classic romance tale from 1939. A story of love and loss during the Civil War era the star crossed lovers Rhett Butler and Vivien Leigh, attempt to survive Atlanta as the Union Army approaches. It was originally released in black and white but was later rereleased in 1969 in color. It was well known for its iconic wardrobes and clothing, it had over 1,500 extras in huge scenes (with around1,000 dummies since there weren't enough extras at the time) and it actually had three directors during filming that its almost alarming that the film made it to editing let alone theaters. It even made one of the first historic slips through the Hays Code at the time, the iconic line "frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" almost wasn't in the movie due to the word damn but after much convincing the director at the time was able to get the censors to allow it. Probably the only huge issue with the film was it's usage of racism from the Civil Way era, although historically accurate it was a little raunchy even for 1930's folks.

Premiered in 1939, The Wizard of Oz was ahead of it's time for a number of reasons. It was one of the first films made with technicolor AND in black in white giving it both a past and futuristic feel. Although not talked about often it also had no main male hero, the Scarecrow, the Lion and the Tin man were all considered to be "common man" roles whereas the main character is Dorothy and the only real powered figures in the film were the White Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West. No movie prior to this had made the most powerful and most revered character a woman

Filmed in 1974, Death Wish was a good movie for its time. The cinematography was sub par and the plot was decent however the lesson it's trying to teach us is sublime! The main character's wife has been murdered and he decides to do something about it as a vigilante. He begins going out and posing as an easy target for criminals only to shoot them dead when he's provoked. Criminals can't do anything to stop him and through the majority of the film neither can the cops. The lesson we learn in 1974, just before the end of the Vietnam war that has divided americans young and old, is that a happy medium is needed in order to move forward as a nation. The older generations sense or law and order is still relevant however it needs to be more flexible, whereas the younger generations free spirited way of life is immoral and must have some type of boundaries.

George Lucas had vision...and it included light swords, space battles and giant lasers! Seriously though, Lucas was ahead of his time due to several points that helped shape movie making today. First off was his interpretation of what a dog fight in space would look like, both from an aerial view and from the view of the cockpit. Lucas also wanted to make the the fighters dive zig zag and spin. And of course a film featuring futuristic technology couldn't be complete without a technologically advanced camera. Lucas used the the Dykstraflex, which was the first digital motion control photography camera system...seriously look it up, it's something out science fiction. It allowed for more smoothly filmed space battles with less errors on the cameras behalf.

This classic western pulls the viewers in with the weirdest plot twist, you're supposed to fall for the villain of the picture. This wasn't heard of often due to the fact that the Hayes code prohibited the villain of the film from winning at the end, they had to meet justice one way or another. The significance of the film is most likely that the villain, no matter how likable or how much we may want them to come out on top, should get what they deserve. The historical significance for the time period this film came out in was that of post war Vietnam, which had been going on for Americans for close to fifteen years, was very much so to reinstill Americans with hope for a brighter day even when things seem hopeless.

To Kill a Mockingbird brought to light the injustice of racial segregation during a time in America in which it couldn't have been needed more. It shows how even when a black man is proven without any reasonable doubt to be innocent of a crime how he can never truly receive fair treatment. Rather, due to his skin color he is found guilty of the crime anyway and later is killed for it, though not executed by any legal means. This only exemplified the way America viewed Blacks during the Jim Crow Era, as second class citizens or to some much more racist groups, animals. The movie was entertaining to a fault and shows how to a child, everyone is equal and that it is a child's innocence that makes them unique. As odd as that is to see in a movie, when a child sees the good in someone when everyone else refuses to or the child makes a grown man feel ashamed for doing something wrong it makes the film that much better!

The two most significant things this movie portrays is what some may say is animal cruelty, and the second being (though much less pronounced) is the dangers of alcohol. At one point in the movie, while being hunted, the character of Bob who is a hunter himself says he now understands how the animals he hunts feels. At this point he had been shot at with a rifle, arrows, and was chased up a tree by dogs. We as humans see hunting as a sport though the animals we kill see it as playing with their lives. The second significance is the dangers of alcohol, with prohibition still being in full effect in America it isn't surprising that alcohol is seen as a negative influence. Bobs friends make a stupid decision at the beginning of the movie that costs them their lives. We see alcohol as a danger to these characters for a second time when Armstrong becomes drunk, annoying, and the Count chooses him to become his next victim, whereas the sober Bob is able to survive his trials even though the Count tried to offer him a drink on numerous occasions.