Barbara B.'s Reviews

Watched it expecting it to be like other Charlie Chan features. This one is campy and I cannot finish it...
Review Date: 8/31/2019

This is another of those movies that aspires to represent the United States military (in this case the US Navy) and fails miserably.

Gerald McRaney is a very good actor and possibly so is Casper Van Dien, however, being retired USN, the errors glared.

1. The Submarine Service pin is not as gaudy as depicted in this film. It is too large and the tails of the dolphins do not protrude down as they do here. It looks fake because it is.

2. Gerald McRaney not only plays an Admiral, he is supposed to the the head of the Squadron of submarines. His uniform has gross errors.
a. His ribbons, while in the proper order were not researched sufficiently. He has the Liberation of Kuwait Ribbon from Kuwait but not the Southwest Asia (that I saw) nor the Liberation of Kuwait from Saudia Arabia. You cannot have one without the other. Someone ran down a shopping list and did not know the requirements for them.

3. ADM Justice (Gerald McRaney) does not wear submarine service (SS) dolphins, however, according to the pin on the pocket under his ribbons he made at least one patrol on a submarine. No ADM would have been promoted if he could not have obtained SS qualifications.

4. Casper Van Dien is far too young to have command of a submarine.

5. The Chief of the Boat (COB) or Command Master Chief is shown with four ribbons. NO E-9 would have reached that rank OR the CMC or COB billet with only four ribbon, particularly when one is the National Defense given to EVERY Sailor who was in service at the time and that was the third of the fourth, the last is even more worthless in the advancement scheme.

Submarines possess underwater telephones, etc for communications, if nothing else the submarine that was sent to search for the missing boat WOULD have been able to communicate in some fashion. Another commanding officer of a vessel in the USN would not arbitrarily attack a fellow submariner without attempting every means possible to reach them first. This is most likely the reason why there was no USN support for the film.

Having been aboard submarines many times, the interior, particularly when the crew could be seen running through the passageways when attempting to help the captain reassume command are WAY too big!

Where were the knee knockers? A submarine, as every other USN vessel has water tight doors that must be stepped over. Ladders are narrow, one person wide, and cramped. Space is a premium, especially aboard a submarine so space is not wasted on passageways and ladderwells.

Also, there is a scene when the captain is on the conning tower (outside the top of the sub underway) with the second in command, executive officer or XO. He tells the XO to clear the bridge but he goes down first. The CO is the last one down when in this position to ensure everyone is off the bridge before the boat submerges.

There were some scenes that seemed reminiscent of Crimson Tide scenes.

For those who are unfamiliar with the workings of the US military, this movie may seem believable and possible, however, please do not be fooled by movie magic into thinking this is how the U.S. Navy actually is.

By the way, the Sailor who whigs out from claustrophobia? He would NEVER have made it aboard to begin with, testing would have shown this prior to his assignment.
Review Date: 3/3/2009

An outstanding movie about life in the projects. Reeves stars as a sports gambler that looses way more than he wins. When he needs a loan, a condition of getting the loan includes a stipulation he has to coach a children’s baseball team. He is less than enthused in his new role, but meets the kid’s teacher and tries to impress her.

The kids are interested in going to the ‘ship (Championship) match. Through it all, they must overcome an opposing coach who will win at almost any cost. He gets the league to prohibit their pitcher from wearing earphones while pitching. The music gives him a rhythm that makes his pitches awesome!

As Reeves has to overcome these challenges to his team, he learns to like his coaching role and the kids.

Tragedy strikes and the team must learn how to,handle it and move on.
Review Date: 10/23/2019

This movie, even though animated, has had great pains taken with it to ensure authenticity of the Hawaiian customs and traditions.

From the instruments played to the performance of the hulas, Disney made a great effort to ensure accuracy.

The movie plot is quite simple, an evil scientist (David Ogden Stiers) creates a life form #626 (#1 - #625 were failures) that is indestructible yet cute and fluffy.

When 626 escapes from the planet and engages the hyperdrive on his stolen ship, he is thrown into Earth's atmosphere were he crashes on the Island of Kauai in Hawaii.

While his home planet tries to regain control, he is mistaken for a dog and adopted by a lonely little girl who has difficulty making friends since her parents were killed. She lives with her older sister and that life is in jeopardy when the social worker (a former CIA agent) threatens to remove Lilo from Nani's care when Nani looses her job.

Add in a boy trying to get Nani's attention, a little Elvis Presley music and you have a wonderful story the entire family can enjoy.

It is also recommended to view the extras, see the choir of Hawaiian children who help provide the soundtrack, how they studied for the drawing of the hula scenes, and many other aspects of making the movie.

Watch the opening credits closely for the fish swimming with his sandwich.

Delightful, easy to watch over and over, come along for the Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride!
Review Date: 3/3/2009

This was filmed in Romania and the UK. It was painfully obvious there was no US Military influence in it.

The factual errors begin as soon as Van Damme appears. His uniform is grossly incorrect.

When he arrives at the embassy a Gunny Sgt approaches wearing a uniform with a shirt that fits like a potato sack. This film does an injustice to the US Military with their poor portrayal of the appearance of the Marines.

Marines are as fanatical in their appearance as they are in their job and if they appeared in public as these did, they wouldn't be Marines long.

If you can overlook that, there are still other areas. For a former SEAL, he is not very assertive and does not carry himself with the quiet grace usually found in SEALs. He would not have easily turned over his command to the sniveling civilian that ultimately resulted in the death of so many. He would have stood up to the civilian and most probably would have invited him to leave the embassy. Another point is that Van Damme's character arrives only hours before, yet during the heat of battle, he seems to be so familiar with the embassy (secure the windows and metal shutters roll down), put the president in the bubble, that he would seem to have been there for years instead of hours. Not a believable scenario.
Review Date: 2/23/2009

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