Category Archives: Military

2021, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Acceptable for teenagers, Addiction, Amputee, Angola, Attempted Murder, Based on true facts, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Bureaucracy, CIA, Cold War, Communists, Complicated, Conspiracy, Corrupt Military, Corrupt Politicians, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Cover-up, Cruelty, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, FADO songs, False Accusations, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Frame someone for a crime, Government cover-up, Historical Fiction, Hostage Taking, International thriler, Invincible villain, Jealousy, Lesbian Theme, Local color, Longsuffering wife, Love Story, Male Chauvinism, Marital Infidelity, Military, Missing Person, Monstrous Father, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder by poison, Mysterious Disappearance, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Pianist, Plot twists, Police Corruption, Police cover-up, Political Intrigue, Portuguese, Portuguese History, Portuguese-Angola War, Promiscuity, Puzzling Ending, Radio Free Europe, Rape, Revenge, Russian Anti-USA Scheme, Russian Spy, Ruthless Killer, Sex Scenes, Sexual promiscuity, Spousal Abuse, Suicide, Surprise Ending, Suspense, Tennis, Thriller, Torture, Traitors, Trust Nobody, Unhappy Marriage, Unwanted Pregnancy, Violent, War, Wife Beating, Womanizing, Wrongful Arrest

Glória (2021)

From IMDB:

In the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, in the small village of Glória do Ribatejo, João Vidal will take on several high-risk espionage missions that could change the course of Portuguese and world history.

From Netflix you can stream the 10 episodes of this Portuguese spy thriller.  Each episode lasts about 45 minutes. In Portuguese and English with subtitles.

RARET is short for portuguese RAdio de RETransmissão (Retransmission Radio).  Think of RARET as Radio Free Europe.  An article in the New York Times suggested this film to me. That article, which is worth reading, begins as follows:

————————————————————————-

Anyone who didn’t live through the Cold War might find the Portuguese Netflix spy thriller series “Glória” improbable.

Deep in the Portuguese countryside, in the tiny village of Glória, a complex radio transmission operation run by Portuguese and American engineers springs up in the 1950s, a branch of a Munich-based news organization called Radio Free Europe.

It broadcasts news and anti-communist messages in languages of various Soviet republics, but, in the show and in real life, that’s only part of its early mission: It’s also a C.I.A. front.

Until 1971, Radio Free Europe was a covert U.S. intelligence operation seeking to penetrate the Iron Curtain and foment anti-communist dissent in what was then Czechoslovakia, in Poland and elsewhere.

João (Portuguese for John) is a Russian spy seeking to undermine the activities of RARET.  Through 10 episodes we watch his masterful deceits while many around him get hurt as a result. To really appreciate the story you might brush up on some Portuguese history such as its imperialism (especially in Angola), the dictator Salazar, and PIDE (the Portuguese secret police).

Because the very ending comes as a complete and puzzling surprise, after finishing the series you can read an explanation.

Do not expect much happiness. But – DO NOT MISS!

2021, Afghanistan, Amazon Prime, Based on true facts, Basically Sad, Bisexual theme, Drama, Explicit sex, Extramarital Affair, Fighter Pilot, Friendship, Gay theme, Homophobia, Inevitable Ending, KGB, Love Triangle, Military, Nudity, Sex Scenes, Soviet military, Suspense, Unhappy Ending

Firebird (2021)

From Amazon Prime:

Firebird follows a handsome, soulful young soldier who embarks on a clandestine sexual affair with a charismatic fighter pilot on a Soviet Air Force Base at the height of 1970’s Communist rule.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 47 minute film in spoken and subtitled English.

This true story takes place in 1977 Soviet occupied Estonia as well as in Moscow. Both the love story and the details of life under Russian (military) rule are interesting.

2022, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime, Anxiety Attacks, Comedy, Dog Story, Failed Marriage, Feel Good Not For Children, Military, PTSD

Dog (2022)

From IMDB:

Two former Army Rangers are paired against their will on the road trip of a lifetime. Army Ranger Briggs (Channing Tatum) and Lulu (a Belgian Malinois dog) buckle into a 1984 Ford Bronco and race down the Pacific Coast in hopes of making it to a fellow soldier’s funeral on time. Along the way, they’ll drive each other completely crazy, break a small handful of laws, narrowly evade death, and learn to let down their guards in order to have a fighting chance of finding happiness.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 41 minute comedy-drama.

While not exactly fit for children, this dog story has moments of fun, sadness, and eventually redemption.  Definitely a feel-good film.

2022, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Action Film, Action Hero, Amazon Prime, Based on a Book, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Bullying, Cancer theme, Car Chase, Contract Killing, Corny at times, Corrupt Corporation, Corrupt policemen, Corrupt Politicians, Corrupt Prison Guards, Could Be Hard To Watch, Counterfeiting, Country Music, Cover-up, Crime thriller, Detective, Disturbing Image, Dog episode, Extremely Violent, False Imprisonment, FBI, Fist Fight, Forensics, Gory, Greed, Gritty, Hostage Taking, Invincible Hero, Lee Child, Martial Arts, Maudlin, Mayhem, Military, Mother-son relations, Murder, Nudity, Physical fighting, Police Corruption, Police Investigation, Prison, Psychopath, Romance, Ruthless Killer, Sadism, Suspense, Thriller, Torture, Violent, War Veterans, Wrongful Arrest

Reacher (2022)

From Amazon Prime:

When retired Military Police Officer Jack Reacher is arrested for murder he did not commit, he finds himself in the middle of a deadly conspiracy full of dirty cops, shady businessmen and scheming politicians. With nothing but his wits, he must figure out what is happening in Margrave, Georgia. The first season of Reacher is based on the international bestseller, Killing Floor by Lee Child.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 8 episodes of season 1. Each episode lasts about 50 minutes.

Lee Child’s hero Jack Reacher is supposed to be a big, powerful, imposing man that can intimidate his opponents. Alan Ritchson amply fills that bill (as opposed to Tom Cruise who is much smaller). Ritchson played the superhero Hank Hall in the TV series “Titans”.

Violence is the dominant theme. Part of that violence involves gruesome scenes of torture such as nailing a naked man to a wall followed by much worse. Children should NOT watch this series.

Sad to say, violence in the form of watching Reacher beating and killing villains was for me a satisfying vicarious pleasure.  Making the criminals truly repellent is an effective way to rationalize enjoying such a slaughter.

Reacher never misses a shot, wins every hand-to-hand combat, is always the smartest person in the room, and is a multi-decorated war hero. Have I missed anything? Oh, yes – Reacher speaks Farsi.

In to make this epic a bona fide adolescent entertainment,  Reacher must fall in love with Roscoe the female cop but, of course,  is ever the loner who must eventually move on (so that the series can have another season). Expect many maudlin scenes.

Against my better instincts, WATCHING WAS A LOT OF FUN!

2015, Afghanistan, Anxiety Attacks, Cover-up, French Soldiers, Kanopy streaming, Military, Missing Person, Must suspend disbelief, Mysterious Disappearance, Panic Attacks, Paranormal theme, Psychological Tension, Religious Theme, Sheep Farmers, Slow, Suspense, Taliban, Unexpected Ending, Unusual

Neither Heaven Nor Earth (2015)

From Kanopy:

French Army Captain Antares Bonassieu and his squad are assigned to monitor a remote valley of Wakhan, Afghanistan on the border of Pakistan. Negotiating control of the region between local shepherds and possible Taliban sympathizers grows more and more tenuous for them as men from all sides start mysteriously disappearing. Unable to explain this eerie phenomenon, the soldiers find themselves embroiled in an existential nightmare, desperate for their own safety.

From Kanopy you can stream this 105 minute complete French film with English subtitles.

Films involving some paranormal occurrence are often second-rate. But in this military themed film, there is nothing cheesy about the paranormal disappearances of both soldiers and Afghans.  What is palpable throughout is the increasingly desperate frustration of Captain Bonassieu (played by Jérémie Renier) and his men to explain what is happening.  Even if the solution suggested to the soldiers by a young Afghan shepherd seems implausible, it hardly matters to the story.  More important and really central to the drama is the mounting tension, its psychological effect on the troops, and how to explain the disappearances to their loved ones back home. Bonassieu’s final act of self-sacrifice is clever and unexpected.

Slow moving and clearly a genre that may not appeal to everyone, this film presents, nonetheless, a rather unique and possibly moving plot.

2018, Acceptable Sci-Fi, Basically Sad, Bloody scenes, Drama, Dystopia, Father-son relations, Government human experiment, Military, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Remarkable Body Transformation, Violent

The Titan (2018)

Leave a comment

From Netflix:

On a bleak future Earth, a soldier endures a radical genetic transformation to save humanity. But his wife fears he’s  becoming more creature than man.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 37 minute sci-fi drama.

Because Earth is doomed,  the U.S. government has decided to try to populate Titan, one of Jupiter’s moons.  Titan’s environment (air, temperature, water) is harsher than that of Earth. Consequently a (mad?) scientist (played by Tom Wilkinson) has devised a radical restructuring of a body’s genome so that the resulting person can thrive on Titan.  Among the group of volunteers is Rick Janssen (played by Sam Worthington) whose wife Abi (played by Taylor Schilling) loves him dearly and is terrified by the treatments, suffering, and changes taking place in her husband.

Rather than full-fledged sci-fi, this is more a minor drama about how impending planet disaster affects a marriage.

Ignore the improbable details (how many people does populating a new planet require?), enjoy the yarn and the personalities.

2019, Acceptable for teenagers, Anti-Semitism, Attempted Rape, Attempted Suicide, Bloody scenes, Bullying, Career Competition, Conspiracy, Corrupt Military, Detective, Drama, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Forensics, Jewish Culture, Mental Illness, Mild Torture, Military, Military Corruption, Military School, Mother-son relations, Murder by poison, Old-Fashioned, PBS Masterpiece Streaming, Police Politics, Portraiture, Possibly upsetting ending, Psychopath, Psychotic Attacks, Sadism, Self-harm, Spiritualist, Suspense, Vienna of 1900, Violent

Vienna Blood (2019)

Leave a comment

From PBS Streaming:

A student of Sigmund Freud and an Austrian detective team up to solve some of the most mysterious and deadly cases in early 1900s Vienna.

From PBS Masterpiece Streaming you can watch 6 episodes, each lasting about 45 minutes.  Each of the three stories encompasses 2 episodes.

Changes were happening in 1900s Vienna.   Oskar Reinhardt is an Austrian detective who, when the series begins, is used to old-school methods that can involve using violence against suspects.  Little by little he adapts to using the newer methods of Max Liebermann. Max is a doctor working in a hospital run by a bully that is fond of using electrotherapy.  Max, as a student of Sigmund Freud, is more attuned to using psychological methods for understanding and curing his patients.

One important theme is Vienna’s virulent  antisemitism.  Max is the eldest son of an observant Jewish family.  As a subplot, Max is engaged to one woman (a Jewess) but falls in love with one of his patients (a gentile) whom he cured using Freudian methods.

Oskar is in constant mourning over the death of his young daughter. As a result his wife has at least temporarily left him.

In each of the 3 murder cases, Oskar stands fast against the prejudices and rush to judgement of his superiors.  Similarly Max stands fast against the malpractice of his own superiors.

Be at least warned that the third story leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Old-fashioned and well-done drama.

2014, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Action Film, Action Hero, Assisted Suicide, Based on a Book, Bloody scenes, British History, Chick Flick, Child abuse, Child Molestation, Coarse manners, Could Be Hard To Watch, Disturbing Image, DO NOT MISS, Explicit sex, Explicit sexual discussion, Father-son relations, Flirting, French Culture, Frontier Life, Gaelic, Gay theme, Good Brother - Bad Brother, Historical Fiction, Husband leaves wife, Illegitimate Child, Improbable details, Magic, Marital Infidelity, Medical Theme, Melodrama, Military, Murder, Murder by poison, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Personal Betrayal, Prison, Rape, Revenge, Romance, Sadism, Scottish, Sex Scenes, Sexual Tension, Smallpox, Sociopath, Suspense, Torture, Various Romances, Violent, Vulgar

Outlander (2014)

Leave a comment

From Wikipedia:

Outlander is a drama television series based upon author Diana Gabaldon‘s historical time travel book series of the same name.  It stars Caitriona Balfe as Claire Randall, a married former World War II nurse who in 1946 finds herself transported back to Scotland in 1743. There she encounters the dashing Highland warrior Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and becomes embroiled in the Jacobite risings.

There exist or will exist at this writing 5 seasons of this very successful series. From Netflix you can stream 3 seasons. Starz is offering  at least 4 seasons. Season 1 has 15 episodes. Seasons 2,3,and 4 have 13 episodes. Season 5 is promised by Starz but not yet available today (Jan11,2020).

Summarizing a plot that goes on forever is pointless. If this type of adventure soap opera appeals to you, then you just emerse yourself and plow through.  Personally I could not stop watching probably because like all good potboilers our hero and heroine repeatedly get caught in some dilemma only to eventually extricate themselves.

Some of the subplots are a bit over the top. When the couple escape to Paris from somewhat bleak and primitive Scotland, they suddenly are dressing to the hilt and acting like socialites.  In fact you have to suspend disbelief in the details. Just enjoy the superstitions and magic.

Expect to see much violence, wounds, blood, and lashings. Some of the scenes are cringe-worthy.  Especially BEWARE season 1 episode 15 “Wentworth Prison” in which the evil Black Jack (played to sadistic perfection by Tobias Menzies ) tortures and rapes Jamie.

As a further reward, this series has some of the best sex scenes I have ever seen.  These scenes are successful because they hinge on real emotions and are truly not pornographic.

Bets are on that once you start watching, you will not be able to stop.

DO NOT MISS

 

 

Amazon Prime, Amnesia, Clever Plot, Conspiracy, Drugs, Ethical struggles, Government cover-up, Government human experiment, Harmful Medicine, Military, Paranoia, Psychological Thriller, PTSD, Suspense, Uncategorized, War Veterans

Homecoming (2018)

Leave a comment

From Amazon Prime:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes, including Best Drama Series. Good intentions. Erratic bosses. Mounting paranoia. Unforeseen consequences spiraling out of control. Heidi (Julia Roberts) works at Homecoming, a facility helping soldiers transition to civilian life. Years later she has started a new life, when the Department of Defense questions why she left Homecoming. Heidi realizes there’s a whole other story behind the one she’s been telling herself.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 1 season, 10 episodes of this complete story.  Each episode lasts approximately  a half hour.

Julia Roberts  ( age 57) is no longer a young romantic figure. Instead she does a credible and serious job as a woman unwittingly caught up in a sinister plot that takes awhile to reveal itself.

Bobby Cannavale  (age 48) does a superb job at portraying an amoral and smooth operator in the destructive enterprise.  Here is a man who can put a verbal deceptive spin on whatever scheme his corporation is concocting.  We see a lot of this  behavior nowadays (in plots and political life and military life): characters that convince you that everything is just fine and legitimate using standard business world speech patterns. Meanwhile, in reality, nasty things are happening.  Vietnam?

Stephan James (age 25) is somewhat of a newcomer.  His role here as one of the many victims is well done and convincing.

However, of all the characters I most admired  how Shea Whigham presented Thomas Carrasco, a determined and humble Department of Defense cog-in-the-wheel who stubbornly refused to stop investigating.

Because the episodes are so short, it is easy and compelling to binge straight through to the end.  When you have finished, ask yourself if such a thing could really happen.

2010, Abduction, Acceptable for teenagers, Boating, Cold Cases, Corruption, Detective, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Ethical struggles, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Flirting, Forensics, Interest in cats, Jealousy, Lesbian Theme, Love Story, MHz Choice, Military, Murder, Murder Investigation, Nudity, Romance, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish crime series, Swedish Detective

The Sandhamn Murders (2010)

Leave a comment

From IMDB:

Viveca Sten’s popular novels come to life in “The Sandhamn Murders”, a perfect mix of Nordic crime and the beautiful surroundings of the outer Stockholm archipelago.

Addendum: There are now 8 seasons on MHz Choice. Whereas the first 5 seasons were not too harsh,  the remaining 3 seasons could be tense and wrenching to watch.   Nora’s marriage choices are surprisingly bad while her true love interests change from season to season.

From MHz Choice you can stream this Swedish mystery and romance series. Each of the 5 available seasons consists of 3 episodes, each lasting approximately 45 minutes. There was a season 6 produced in 2018.

Recall that MHz Choice offers only foreign language programs with English subtitles.

Of all the many characters, only the two main characters appear consistently in all the episodes. Thomas the detective is played by Jakob Cedergren whom we mentioned in the review for “Those Who Kill”.  Nora is played by Alexandra Rapaport.  Thomas and Nora are strongly attracted to each other.  Thomas starts out as a divorced and grieving father. Nora starts out in an unhappy and picture-perfect marriage.  Throughout the series the theme is “will they get together or not?” which adds to the soap-opera-as-mystery-series.

Stories are good. Acting is just fine. Scenery is appealing because the filming takes place always in the summer holiday islands.

Here is a human series without a lot of gore. Not a serial killer in sight. Suitable for teens.