Too much of everything

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This film scores on every measure... Possibly the most beautiful film I have ever seen. Critics must have been seeing it through the lense of race, which the movie itself did everything to remove.Spike lee is a genius, but this must be his triumph

I can't say enough about this movie. Firstly, your dealing with the people who (since day day one) always play the part of pawn, cannon fodder and war dog. Often found walking point, cleaning toilets, fixing trucks you find the black guys in the military. But when it counts in "the clutch" and lives are on the line it's when these men have often risen above the rest. So as the cream rises to the top this move is rich with STORY (you know lacking in most movies any longer).Intertwined storytelling and excellent dialogue makeup the bulk of the acting scenes. The lighting, coloring schemes and overall appearance are lively and always seem to provide wonderful depth. Often I was surprised at how playful the soundtrack and audio was for this film considering rather dark content (no not the actors you racists).But with high caliber props, thoughtful and expertly filmed action sequences (on par with anything I call a keeper for my collection), vehicles and WWII memorabilia. Enough eye candy for any WWII buff. The high points for me are literally too many to nail down. I am not lying when I say it was as "pretty" as "Band of Brothers" with the acting (spoken dialogue) of a top notch mafia movie; all executed so very well, bravo guys! I would honestly love to see many many more black guy war movies (IT'S ONLY FAIR Hollywood!)- Budget is important and so is teamwork. This film to me represents something that could kick off top grade future movies with heart, bravery and lovable moments. Time to find more moves by this director and team! Oh me? - White 40-50, Denver, Colorado, Pot Smoker and lover not a fighter :)

I love good movies and this one is at the very top of my best ones. I can't believe how it is ranked so low. I read some reviews that criticized the director about racism but i believe that the people that say that they actually be the ones that may be "guilty" in some part... The fact that someone show a reminder about bad things doesn't mean that they can possible be bad themselves, the same thing goes on the other way around..., by the way, it isn't for this that good movies are made for?Very beautiful history, excellent actors and acting, movie picture, movie direction with backwards. Amazing. All stars, for this one.

When in 1984 a seemingly ordinary black postal clerk kills a client with a German Luger, a severed head sculpture, which was part of the Ponte Santa Trinita, a Florentine bridge destroyed by the Nazis during the II World War is found in his apartment. Soon a young journalist Tim Boyle (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) attempts to find the nitty gritty details behind this peculiar murder, organising a meeting with the culprit - one Hector Negrón (Laz Alonso), recipient of the Purple Heart for valour shown during the war. From their the story moves back to a long flashback to 1944 and the segregated Buffalo Soldiers 92nd Infantry Division. During an offensive cut short four soldiers, Staff Sergeant Aubrey Stamps (Derek Luke), Sergeant Bishop Cummings (Michael Early), Corporal Hector Negrón and Private Samuel Train (Omar Benson Miller) found themselves cut off deep in enemy territory forced to search haven in a nearby Italian village. Meanwhile the seemingly beaten Italian forces are preparing for an offensive...Currently watching Spike Lee's body of work I feel inexplicably roller-coasting between movies on the verge of brilliance and those characterised by sloppiness. Somehow after the pivotal Spike Lee productions like "Jungle Fever" or "Do the Right Thing" the director has seemingly said his share on race relations with each following venture into this territory laden with oversimplification, pretence and miscued dramaturgy. Nowadays Lee's best movies seem to be aside from the racial context, like the brilliant "The Perfect Job" or "The 25th Hour", seeming to suggest that he has moved from being simply first and foremost an Afroamerican director.Spike Lee's attempt at a war epic, much in the vein of "Saving Private Ryan", deals strongly with non-race based issue, the Buffalo Soldiers feature widely with several clumsy flashbacks within the flashback attempting to instill the under-appreciated rogue status of the infantry. Moreover racial quips are rampant throughout, mostly however unsuccessful and shallow, rarely working up any true insight. These racial overtones, mostly miscued and scripted with strong conviction, but little subtlety, actually take away from the dramatical impact, while frustratingly expanding the runtime. And it must be stressed that at almost three hours duration Spike Lee delivers a cumbersome piece rife with soapish elements not well attuned to the dark subject matter. Not only racial contexts drag the movie, but countless other everyday life sequences in the village, which could well be edited out with pure benefit for watching pleasure.The biggest issue however is the total misdirection of clunky flashbacks and some significant script issues, which make certain elements of the movie totally illogical (like the infantry commander driving into the village, which is supposedly surrounded by enemy forces). Spike Lee also seems cumbrous with his pathos, as if copy-pasted from a Spielberg template, but with little to no conviction. Additionally albeit actors are generally strong the gentle giant Omar Benson Miller at times seems achingly unsuited for the role, coming off like someone more akin to Typer Perry comedies, than a poignant World War II drama.The saving grace does however come with the closing act, when the story slowly starts falling into place and delivers an attack on the village by German forces. Characters are essentially well presented, so when the drama finally starts clicking the viewer feels emotionally engulfed by the action, admittedly sobbing at several junctions. And that's despite the glaring script inconsistencies and poorly dealt with continuity. Somewhere behind this fictional war movie was material for a classic, but only after heavy rewrites and a strong refocusing of the story.