Queen Christina (released in 1933) - Starring Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Ian Keith and Lewis Stone

This movie is loosely based on the life and times of the Swedish queen Christina. It was an American precode film staring Greta Garbo, John Gilbert and is directed by Edward Mamoulian.
After her father King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden is killed in battle, six year old Christina enters the throne. She accepts the throne as a king of Sweden and is guided by chancellor Oxenstierna. Although in her younger days she support the war efforts, she soon estranges herself from the courtiers by denouncing the war effort. She tells everybody her decision to negotiate peace for her people. Chancellor Oxenstierna exhorts her to marry the war hero prince Palatine Charles Gustavus and do her royal duty of producing an heir. But Christina refuses to marry without love. She flirts with Count Magnus, her handsome treasury secretary. Magnus is ambitious and jealously guards her affections. Soon tiring out of Magnus's possessive nature Christina rides out disguised as a man to the countryside.
Here she encounters an overturned carriage of the Spanish ambassador, Antonio and she helps them to move the carriage. Antonio takes her to be a country man and coolly murmurs his thanks and rides off. But they meet again at the inn and still mistaking her for a man, Antonio engages her in a lively discussion.



Amused by her intelligence and wit Antonio offers to share his room and Christina accepts. But in the confines of the room Christina reveals her true self and Antonio takes her in to his arms. Soon the lovers spend a gay weekend at the inn immersed in themselves and Antonio returns to court after promising his return to the inn.
Christina also returns to court and is confronted by a jealous Magnus. But she rebuffs him and dresses herself as an angel for the presentation ceremony by the Spanish Ambassador. Antonio is surprised to see her as the queen and accuses her of playing with his emotions. But he presents her with his kings portrait and a marriage proposal which she accepts. She spends time with Antonio which enrages Magnus. He spreads rumors of her scandalous conduct and is confronted by an angry mob. After ordering Antonio back to Spain she confronts Magnus and dismisses him off her affections.
She calls on Oxenstierna to confer about her future and informs the heart broken court of her decision to abdicate. She installs another king and plans to meet Antonio at their inn. But Magnus challenges Antonio to a duel and fatally wounds him by treachery. When Christina reaches him, Antonio dies in her arms. Even in her grief Christina realizes that she had found love and resolves to sail to Spain to see her beloveds castle by the sea.
This movie had won the Mussolini cup at he Venice film festival and marks Greta Garbo's return to cinema after a eighteen month long hiatus. The film was well received by all the contemporary film critics. The highlight of the film is its direction where light and shadow is used to create each frame, a work of art. The last scene of Christina returning home is one of the most beautiful movie frames in the history of cinema. Even though a fictionalized account, this movie is a well made film with believable characters.

Conquest (released in 1937) - Starring Greta Garbo, Charles Boyer and Reginald Owen

Conquest is a movie about Countess Marie Walewska who becomes the mistress of Napolean Bonaparte to safeguard the interests of her country. This enigmatic polish countess was the mistress of Napolean and even comforted him during his days in exile.
This movie stars Greta Garbo as Marie Walewska along with Cajrles Boyer, Reginald Owen, dame May Witty and others. The movie was adapted by S. N. Behrman, Samuel Hoffenstein, Helen Jerome and Salka Viertel from the novel Pani Walewska by Waclaw Gasiorowski and it was directed by Clarence Brown.
Marie Walewska is the beautiful wife of the polish count Walewska. In the winter of 1807,the pillaging Russian soldiers over run Eastern Poland, the land of Count and Countess Walewska. They make fun of the aging Count and his young wife and they become mortally afraid of the Russian Army. Marie's brother informs her about the exploits of Napoleon and when Marie briefly meets him at a church she is suitably impressed as he is enthralled by her beauty. After two months she is formally presented to the French emperor at the court and she is grateful that Napoleon makes no allusion about their earlier meetings.



Napoleon is totally taken in by Marie and send her love notes begging her responses. She confides in her husband who tries to take her away. But the Polish leaders, seeing a chance to liberate Poland, urge her to give in to Napoleon. A patriotic Marie gives in and begins to have an affair with Napoleon. Even though she trades her virtue for her country, she slowly falls in love with the charismatic emperor.
Marie's husband leaves for Rome and gets a divorce which enables her to stay with the emperor. Napoleon takes up his quarters within Marie's home and their idyllic trysts are only marred by Napoleon's frequent absences. Soon Marie is pregnant and she awaits the birth of her baby in secret. She leaves to meet Napoleon in Vienna where she comes to know that he is to marry Princess Marie Louise of Austria of the Hapsburg dynasty. He tells her the blue bloodline of the Hapsburg's would enable him to create his own bloodline of rulers.
A devastated Marie returns to Poland and gives birth to a son Alexandre. She never informs Napoleon about his son. Soon the fortunes of Napoleon change for the worst and he suffers successive defeats at the hands of the Russians and the English. After the disastrous campaign of Waterloo napoleon is exiled to the Island of Elba. Marie and her son live with him till he dies.
This movie was one of the most disastrous movie in Greta Garbo's career and was a loss making venture for MGM studios. Actually it is said to have marked the downfall of Greta Garbo's career with her being more and more reclusive. The costumes, cinematography, sound, music and art are to perfection and Garbo looks the part of the ethereal beauty Marie. But it is still a critically acclaimed movie which presents the facts with considerable accuracy. The movie was nominated for two Oscars namely, for the Best Actor in a Leading Role (Charles Boyer) and Best Art Direction (Cedric Gibbons and William A. Horning}.

Mata Hari (released in 1931) - Starring Greta Garbo and Ramon Novarro

Mata Hari is a pre-code (before the introduction of censorship) film loosely based on the life of Mata Hari (the stage name of Margaretha Geertruida Zelle), a courtesan executed for espionage during World War I. This movie directed by George Fitzmaurice stars Greta Garbo in the pivotal role. This movie is one of Greta Garbo's biggest hits and MGM's hit of the year netting a profit of nearly one million dollars. This pre-code movie was released again later and heavily censored, and many a scene was chopped to fall in line with the Hay's code.
Mata Hari is a courtesan who resides in Paris and is a spy for the German armed forces. She seduces many army and police officers passing secrets to enemy hands. With the general paranoia for spies during World War I, French spy bureau chief, Dubois vow to unmask the femme fatale. He keeps surveillance over her activities to nail her with complete evidence.
Mata Hari gets her assignments from Andriani who urges her to get the information of Russian Troop movements along the border. She meets the dashing Russian pilot of the imperial air-force, Alexis Rosanoff who is celebrated for his flight through the German Lines to bring in important messages. Mata Hari does not know that Alexis actually possesses the documents that Andriani had asked her to procure. She falls for the dashing officer and has an affair with him.



Soon she comes to know about the papers and darkens the room distracting Alexis, enabling others to photocopy the papers before returning it to the rightful owner. Andriani is disappointed in Mata Hari's involvement with Alexis. He kill Carlotta, another spy for daring to fall in love with her target. He threatens Mata that the same fate awaits her.
Dubois on the other hand in search of evidence gossips about her affair with Alexis to her ex-lover Shubin. An enraged Shubin confronts Mata Hari and threatens to expose her. Scared of Shubin's anger, Mata Hari even shows the photographs she stole from Alexis. But blinded by rage Shubin places a call to the embassy to have Mata Hari arrested. Mata shoots him and is on the run. She almost boards the plane to Amsterdam, when information about the fatal accident involving Alexis reach her. In-spite of Andriani's warnings she meets Alexis and is duly arrested by Dubois. A blinded Alexis does not know the situation and thinks that Mata is severely ill and is confined to a sanatorium.
Mata Hari is tried and convicted for spying against France. She is condemned to death and her last wish is to see Alexis. A blind Alexis meets her thinking the prison to be a sanatorium. She informs him not to grieve her death and walks out to meet the waiting firing squad. This movie was a huge success and is responsible for the cult following of Mata Hari. This movie is largely a fictionalized account and completely romanticizes the spy she was. Greta Garbo's beauty and talent makes this movie a notch above all.

Ninotchka (released in 1939) - A comedy starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas

This is the penultimate movie starring Greta Garbo and is an all out comedy which is a first for the actress, who was always revered for her tear jerkers. This movie made by MGM is directed by Ernst Lubitsch and also stars Melvyn Douglas opposite Garbo. This movie portrays the communist Russia to be a drab place compared to a Parisian Joie de vivre. It is one of the movies which makes veiled criticism about Joseph's Stalin's autocratic rule.
Three Russian agents, Iranoff, Buljanoff and Kopalski are deputed to sell the confiscated jewels of Countess Swana to raise money for the party. They reach Paris and stay in a posh hotel where they are overheard by one of the waiters Alexis Rakonin, an Impoverished Russian Count. He alerts Swana who is residing in Paris and her lover Count Leon d'Algout promises her the return of her jewels. Count Leon befriends the three men and show them the sights and signs of Paris which makes them wonder at their drab life style. Meanwhile Swana obtains an injunction preventing the sale of the jewels in Paris. The higher ups in the Soviet Union are furious by the turn of events and send their super spy "Envoy Extraordinary" Nina "Ninotchka" Ivanovna Yakushova to bring the three men home and facilitate the sale of the jewels. Ninotchka is a stern woman who thinks of Russia and her duty. After chastising her comrades, she also tours Paris soaking in the architectural wonders. She meets Leon who tries to flirt with her and gets a royal ignore. For Ninotchka he is an example of western decadence and soon learns his identity. Leon also comes to know about her and is intrigued by her persona.



Leon follows her to a cafe and jokes with Ninotchka to get to know her better. Even though his jokes fall flat, he manages to melt her heart. Soon both enjoy each others company and Ninotchka becomes a changed woman. She dresses and enjoys the opulence of the city and soon falls in love with the count.
A much drunk Leon and Ninotchka return to the hotel and she tries the jewels on Leon before falling asleep. Next day she gets a call from Swana that she had the jewels stolen from her room by Rakonin and names her price for their retrieval – Leon. Ninotchka agrees and goes back home. Leon pursues her and meets her when she reaches Istanbul on her next assignment. He persuades her not to leave and they live happily ever after.
This movie was banned in the Soviet Union for criticizing Stalin and Communism. But it still went on to be one of the top grosser of the year. It also snagged four Academy Award nominations including the one for Garbo, for the best actress.
In 1990, Ninotchka was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It was also included on two American Film Institute lists and was also included on Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Movies.

The Three Musketeers (released in 1948) - Starring Gene Kelly and Lana Turner, based on the book

The Three Musketeers is a fantasy action film adapted from the Alexander Dumas's novel of the same name. Many versions of this tale has been tried out in Hollywood and has been the favorite period drama adapted by the film industry.
D'Artagnan is a superb swordsman who leaves for Paris to join the famous Musketeers and carry a recommendation letter to De Treville, the commander of the Musketeers. On his way he is assaulted by a lady's guard and his letter is also burnt. Artagnan reaches De Treville who recognizes the assailant and allows him to train for the esteemed position. While on the street Artagnan sees his assailant and tries to duel him enraging the Three musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Artagnan challenges them to a duel and while this happens Richelieu's men try to arrest them Artagnan joins forces with the Musketeers and foils the arrest. This act of valor earns him the respect of the musketeers who take him in to their fold.
That night a chance meeting with Constance Bonacieux, the lady in waiting for the queen Anne leaves Artagnan deeply in love. His feelings are reciprocated by Constance. But trouble is brewing as Queen Anne has a lover in the British Duke, Buckingham. King Louis XIII of France presents his wife Anne, a magnificent pair of earrings which she gives to Buckingham as a token of her love.



This exchange reaches the ear of the wicked Richelieu who plots the overthrow of the King. To precipitate the war between England and France to fulfill his nefarious designs he asks the King to have the queen wear the beautiful diamonds for the grand ball. A panic stricken Queen confides in Constance who enlist the support of the musketeers. But Richlieu sends a Femme fatale Milady de Winter to appropriate the jewel from Buckingham.
As the Musketeers battle Richelieu's men to reach the duke, de Winter gets the earrings. But Artagnan who reaches the goal makes a similar copy, thus helping the Queen to avoid a scandal. Richlieu again asks de Winter to seduce Artagnan to enlist him in his force. Athos reveals that de Winter is his evil wife who is a common murderess thus earning her wrath. Richelieu then kidnaps Constance to force Artagnan's hand. But the queen frees her and send her to Buckingham. De Winter reaches there and is promptly captured, but manages to murder Constance.
A heart broken Artagnan gets an incriminating letter delivered by de Winter to Buckingham in which Richelieu had asked for a partnership. He unmasks Richelieu during the grand ball and has him captured. He also captures de winter who begs for mercy and send her to the guillotine.
This movie has Gene Kelly playing the title role of de Artagnan and Lana Turner the femme fatale de Winter. This movie has June Allyson, John Sutton and Angela Lansbury in key roles. MGM to avoid a confrontation with the Roman Catholic Church, omitted the reference of Cardinal Richelieu from the movie. This movie is one of the successful movies of that year and is a good watch.

Clear and Present Danger (1994) - Starring Harrison Ford and Anne Archer, a fight against the drug scene

This movie is adapted from the book by Tom Clancy and is a sequel to the hit patriotic Games. Directed by Phillip Noyce it starts Harrison Ford, Ann Archer, and Henry Czerny. It deals with the struggle of Jack Ryan, the US intelligence chief against the Columbian drug cartels.
Jack Ryan is appointed as the Deputy Director (Intelligence) after his boss is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In the mean time, one of the President's close friends are found murdered by the Deli drug cartel of Columbia. The President considers the drug cartels to be of clear and present danger to the United States and asks the security advisor to bring down the cartels. Cutter, the security advisor selects Jack to head the operations and he is presented with the task of getting congressional approval. Jack gets the approval and the funds required for the operation provided no troops and black ops are used in that country.
Cutter to keep jack out of the loop engages the CIA deputy director Ritter for a parallel operations. Ritter and a secret field operative Clark under take the mission and travel to Columbia to disarm the drug cartels.



The king pin of one of the gangs Ernesto Escobedo looses 600 million dollars due to the freezing of his assets. He deputes Felix Cortex his intelligence chief to sort out the problem. Cortex acts as a romantic interest to Moira Wolfson the secretary of FBI director Emil Jacobs and gets the inside information about Ritter's operations. Cortex has an hidden agenda, as to head the drug cartels himself. To fulfill his ambitions he assassinates Emil Jacobs in a car bomb accident in which only Jack Ryan survives. An enraged United States orders the bombing of the Cartels. In this operation many drug lords and innocent men and women are massacred. Cutter is dismayed but keeps Jack off the information.
Jack and Cortex find out that the the US Government had ordered the killings. Cortex inks a deal with Cutter, to cut down the US operation in return for the lesser degree of drug shipments to the US. He also promises that the drug cartels will give an impression of the US wining the drug war to dupe the public. Cutter agrees and ask Ritter to delete the files.
Jack hacks in to Ritter's files and confronts him about the duplicity. Ritter taunts him saying that he has permission to act from the President himself and Jack would be responsible for all his actions, as he had asked for funding from the Congress. In the mean time the foot soldiers lead by John Clark are ambushed and Jack leaves to save them. He convinces Clark and the soldiers about Ritter's cunning and they decide to unmask him.
Jack provided Escobedo with Cortez's activities and the enraged Escobedo orders his execution. Cortex kills Escobedo and is in turn killed by Clark's men. Ryan and co escape from Columbia with the prisoners and reach the States. Jack confronts the President about his culpability and is offered favors. A disgusted Jack declines and leaves the President to depose before a congressional committee. This was a big box office success and was followed by the prequel Sum Of All Fears in 2002. A good movie for all action buff's.

Patriot Games (released in 1992) - starring Harrison Ford and Anne Archer in a story by Tom Clancy about Jack Ryan and terrorists

Patriot games is a movie released in 1992 adapted from a book of the same name by Tom Clancy. It starred Harrison Ford, Ann Archer and Sean Bean in pivotal roles. Jack Ryan (Ford) is a retired CIA agent who is on vacation to London. He witnesses an assassination attempt on Lord William Homes, the British Secretary of State for northern Ireland. Ryan intervenes to foil the assassination attempt and kills one of the terrorists. He is wounded in the process, but is a hero who earns the accolades for his bravery. He also testifies against Sean Miller, the apprehended terrorist part of the Ulster Liberation Army or ULA who is then sent to jail. Ford is awarded the knighthood for his good deeds and returns to USA. He returns to his mundane life and puts all the excitement behind him.
Sean Miller the captured terrorist is the brother of the slain one (Patrick Miller) and want revenge. While transferring him to another prison the ULA ambush the convoy, kill all the police officers and rescue Miller. Miller and his group then escape to North Africa. Seeking revenge the group follows Jack Ryan to America. Ryan is unaware of these intentions and barely survives an attempt on his life outside the United States Naval Academy. Miller attacks then his wife and daughter while driving and they suffer a horrendous crash. Ryan thus incensed re-joins the CIA and attempt to counter Miller.



Ryan concludes that Miller is hiding with a North African Warlord and send a SAS team to eliminate him. He sends in a SAS team to eliminate the terrorists and watches the slaughter through a satellite feed. He thinks that Sean is among the killed. But unknown to Ryan, Miller and his companions have escaped. Miller reaches the United states and locates Ryan's house. Lord Holmes reaches Ryan's house to present him with the KVCO and is ambushed by Miller. Jack Ryan leads his family and Holmes to safety but many troopers are killed.
Miller, consumed with the feelings of revenge try to follow Ryan. His companions disgusted with his actions persuade him to back off. Miller shoots them and pursues Ryan. After a game of cat and mouse Miller and Ryan face off each other. In a hand to hand fight Miller plunges in to a boat and is killed in the subsequent explosion. Ryan returns to his work and his family who await a new tomorrow and a baby.
The plot of the movie was so considerably different from that of the book that the author, Tom Clancy distanced himself from the film. However it was one of the top grosser's of that year and still continues to be a popular action movie choice. The Prequel of the movie, The Hunt For Red October starring Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan was made. Later the role was re-prised by Harrison Ford as Baldwin was unavailable. This was followed by the sequel Clear and Present danger starring Harrison Ford. This is a must for Action movie fans and followers of Harrison Ford.

The Longest Day (released in 1962) - starring John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Robert Ryan, Sean Connery and many more - the attack on Normandy

What can you say about a war which killed and robbed the young men of their most valued possession, their future? The Longest Day is the story about that day where men and women gave their lives for peace. It tells you about the intrigues, planning, objectives, military strikes which leads to the ultimate Normandy landings to defeat the Germans.
Longest day is adapted from the book by Cornelius Ryan who did the screen play for the movie. Directed by a series of directors like Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki and Darryl F Zanuck, the movie boasts of a stellar cast of John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Robert Ryan, Sean Connery, Rod Steiger, Mel Ferrer, Robert Wagner, Eddie Albert, Edmond O'Brien, Richard Burton, Kenneth More, Peter Lawford, George Segal, Richard Todd, Red Buttons, John Gregson, Leslie Phillips, and many more.
The opening scene of the film shows us the young soldiers indulging in a play of cards and the camera pans to reveal the large number of them concentrated in the barracks ready for the fighting. Then you can see the German soldiers and officers debating the possibility of the attack. Many Germans do not anticipate the attack on Normandy. Then comes the scene where a German soldier distributing tea to the officers looks up to the horizon seeing almost five thousand ships and just gasps. And then the ships start firing.



The Paratroopers are airdropped into the enemy territory with of them stuck on a steeple forced to watch the battle from above. Long shots of French troops running in to battle with German planes mowing them down is one cinematic spectacle. There are real poignant situations where allied and German troops march side by side with out even knowing and the murdered and wounded in the streets of Normandy helped by the locals.
This movie also shows the German point of view, with their war preparedness as well as their Bureaucratic wrangles and indecisiveness. The Germans expecting an attack on Calais (Hitler was expecting an attack there based on a skilled program of deception), are caught unawares at Normandy. The film depicts the desperation of German officers like Rommel who understands that the war is fought and won on the beaches.
All the officers like General Eisenhower, Theodore Roosevelt Jr, Norman Cota, John Howard and all soldiers are almost accurately pictured. Another interesting feature is that all the soldiers speak their own mother tongue which is delivered to the audience through subtitles. I feel that this is more of an anti-war film because it does not show the battle but the men who sacrifice a lot through battle. At the end of the movie you are overcome with respect for the dead irrespective of the nationality for they did what you wouldn't do.
This movie is shot entirely in black and white to give you the stark picture of the war. It was one of the box office successes too. It won the Oscars for best cinematography and special effects. Also nominated for 5 other awards including the best picture it has raked up numerous other awards too. See it for the men who fought for to keep civilization from going under the rule of tyranny.

Kundun (1997) - Directed by Martin Scorsese, a film about the Dalai Lama

Martin Scorsese is persona non grata in China, and will never be allowed there. But I guess he would have expected that if he made a movie about the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama, the 14th in line, is the spiritual leader of the people of Tibet and the administrator before the Chinese invaded the region and took complete control of Tibet (declaring that Tibet was always a part of China and another province); the Dalai Lama now has a base in the northern Indian town of McLeodganj and no longer supports the concept of Tibetan and independence, instead asking for more autonomy for Tibet inside China. However, China, mindful of the position of the Dalai Lama in the minds of the people of Tibet, considers the Dalai Lama as a separatist leader and refuses to try and let him get any legitimacy. Any film maker who makes a movie on the Dalai Lama that does not position China's viewpoint will be viewed with hostility by the Government of China; and that is what Martin Scorsese has faced (in fact, the first studio that was to make the movie, Universal backed down once it became clear that China will be openly hostile; the second one, Disney refused to back down).
The movie is called Kundun (another title for the Dalai Lama, which means 'The Presence') is made very beautifully, but for a movie with drama and wonderful scenes, the movie did pretty badly at the box-office, earning only around $6 million. The movie was written by Melissa Mathison, and is based on the life and stories of the Dalai Lama.



The Dalai Lama is typically selected by a test where a young child (often as old as 2-4 years) must satisfy a group of experts that the child is the incarnation of the previous Dalai Lama,and so it was with the 14th Dalai Lama; the regent Reting Rinpoche had a vision, and based on that, senior lamas go to the location of the vision, finding a young child who is able to identify objects that belong to the previous Dalai Lama. On completion, he along with family come to the Potala Palace in Lhasa (the traditional headquarters of the Dalai Lamas); once he comes of age, then he will be enthroned.
The Dalai Lama is a young child after all, and passes through some emotional trauma including becoming homesick, but is comforted by the regent (regent Reting however loses a power struggle and is imprisoned), with the Dalai Lama becoming more active. However, this is the same time in which the Communists have taken over China and claim Tibet to be a part of China. They soon invade, and after some initial reconciliation, the Communists are recognized as oppressors. The Dalai Lama even meets Mao in Beijing, but the Dalai Lama will not fit in the overall plans of the Communists and is seen as a powerful influence against the interests of China. When he is threatened, the Dalai Lama makes his escape to India through a difficult journey ahead of the pursuing Communists.

300 (Released in 2007) - Historical battle and valour

The ancient world was replete with fights and wars. Armies travelled long distances to fight, and warfare was often with massive casualties. One of the most famous kings of the ancient times was Xerxes The Great (Xerxes 1 of Persia), and he was involved with one of the most famous battles of historic times. This was the Battle of Thermopylae (wikipedia), where a much smaller contingent of Greek troops led by the King Leonidas I of Sparta fought till the end to hold off a much larger contingent (in the millions) of Persian troops led by King Xerxes. This was a battle that is part of modern strategy because of the use of terrain planning to level the odds of superior armed forces. King Leonidas was also fighting a rear-guard battle with his Spartan council to get them to support him over this battle, and he wanted to shame them with his valiant sacrifice to take action. In the end, he was betrayed by a traitor (Ephialtes) from within the Greek citizenry who revealed a small path that allowed the Persians to outflank the small Greek army.



The movie is a copy of a graphic comic-book style novel by Frank Miller (with the novel having the same name), and is not a re-telling of the actual battle. It is a heavily dramatized telling of the story, and hence also became controversial. In Iran, the movie was heavily criticized because the movie did not portray the Persian army and its King in a very positive light. The movie was directed by Zack Snyder. The movie was also shot in a novel way, with the characters acting against the background of bluescreens in a Studio (shot in a digital backlot technique). This was seen as very innovative and got a lot of publicity. The score of the movie was also controversial because after release, it started becoming clear that the score seemed to be heavily inspired from other movies, and was eventually acknowledged by Warner Bros. Pictures in an official statement.
The movie is about the conflict between King Leonidas of Sparta and the Persian Emperor Xerxes. Xerxes wants the Greeks to acknowledge their submission to him, something the proud Spartan king refuses to accept. Leonidas now anticipates war, and wants the support of the Council of Sparta and the priesthood (Ephor), but the Ephors do not support him (they have been bought over by the Persians). Without this support, Leonidas sets out with a small force to fight at a superior terrain where we can fight and hold off the numerically many times superior Persians. And hence the battle starts at Thermopylae. where Leonidas refuses riches by Xerxes and promises to make him bleed. The Spartans used their tight formations to defeat the many thrusts by the Persians, but look set for defeat when they are betrayed and a secret path is shown to the Persians.
In Sparta, the Queen is trying to rally support, and eventually manages to get the Council united in battle against the Persians. Eventually, the Spartans are beaten by the sheer force of the Persians, but by this time, the Greeks send in a force that has a much higher number of warriors. With memories of losses against 300 Spartans, the Persian army is low on morale, and eventually lose the final battle, the Battle of Plataea (Wikipedia).

The Last Samurai (2003) - starring Tom Cruise

The Last Samurai is set during tumultuous times in both the United States and Japan. The movie is set during the 1870's, a decade after the American Civil War, a time when the United States fought an intense internal war between the forces of the Union and the Confederates. Similarly, there were dramatic changes going on in Japanese society at that time. The 'samurai' (warrior class) that were a major elements in Japanese society were losing their position and influence, and a proper military was starting to form. This was the time of the Meiji Restoration of 1867-1868 (wikipedia).
The story of the movie is about an old warrior, named Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), who is a veteran of the Indian wars (where the United States Army fought the Native Indian tribes), and who is traumatized by his role in a massacre of Native Indians. He is wandering around pretty aimlessly, making a living by recounting his adventures in gun shows, something that earns him a living, but does nothing to enliven his life.



However, he is a perpetual drunk, and is finally fired from his job; now he has pretty much no options other than to accept an offer to train the Imperial Japanese army (part of the growing western influences in Japan post the Meiji Restoration). This offer is made to him by his former commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Bagley (Tony Goldwyn). Algren pretty much blames Bagley for his transgressions during the war, and has no love lost for him. This offer from Bagley is made on behalf of a Japanese businessman who has stakes in the restoration, called Mr. Omura (Masato Harada).
Algren goes about this task, training peasants and farmers in how to handle rifles as part of this training. However, in their first conflict, they come into battle with a group of rebel samurai warriors, led by Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe); the army is unequal to the battle and gets defeated by the samurai. One of Algren's colleagues is killed in this attack, and Algren himself fights valiantly, defeating and killing the brother-in-law of the samurai leader. In this fight, he uses a spear with a flag of a white tiger, and Katsumoto believes that to be an omen, and spares Algren's life and takes him prisoner.
Algren is now prisoner at a remote village, living in the house of Hirotaro, whom he had killed. In this village, Algren finally starts to become more at peace him himself, and also starts to really learn the art of wielding the samurai sword as well as learn the Japanese language. In a fight with ninja assassins who had attacked the village, Algren fights along with the samurai, and manages to give a good account of himself even though the samurai take several losses.
With spring, Algren is now back in Tokyo, but now refuses to support Omura in his battle with the samurai, and at the same time, Katsumoto is arrested even after offering advice to the emperor. Algren manages to help Katsumoto regain his freedom, even though in this effort, Katsumoto's son, Nobutada (Shin Koyamada) is killed. After regaining his freedom, Katsumoto learns that a better equipped army unit is going to attack a much smaller samurai force, and it is there that Algren recalls the Battle of Thermopylae, where a much smaller force used better technology and the advantage of terrain to defeat a much larger army.
This comes true as the samurai are able to lead the larger army into a trap, however, soon the samurai realize that the army will get backup units, and another such battle will mean defeat. They resolve to make an attack of their own. However, they face canon fire, something that proves murderous, and then a second unit of infantry. In a battle, Algren kills Bagley when Bagley attacks Katsumoto; but then the second line of Gatling guns hit the samurai as they advance. The Japanese army, then ceases fire in respect of the samurai. Katsumoto ends his life.
In the end, as the emperor prepares to sign a deal with American ambassadors that would make the US as the exclusive dealers for firearms, Algren presents Katsumoto's sword to the emperor; the emperor understands the message and refuses to sign the deal, and also reduces Omura's powers and influence when he objects. Algren returns for the peace he finally found to the small Japanese village.

Track listing:
"A Way of Life"– 8:03
"Spectres in the Fog"– 4:07
"Taken"– 3:36
"A Hard Teacher"– 5:44
"To Know My Enemy"– 4:48
"Idyll's End"– 6:40
"Safe Passage"– 4:56
"Ronin"– 1:53
"Red Warrior"– 3:56
"The Way of the Sword"– 7:59
"A Small Measure of Peace"– 7:59

Nixon (1995)

It is very rare that an American President gets impeached, and leaving aside the case of Bill Clinton (who was almost thrown out for lying about Monica Lewinsky), Richard Nixon was the US President who would most certainly have been the one who was impeached if he had not resigned. As it is, at the of his resignation, he was a most polarizing figure in the nation, one who a large section of the population hated, and whose own men had started to resign rather than follow through on his orders.
This was a movie that was hard to make. Oliver Stone had 2 other projects in mind, but they fell through, and he then decided to make a biopic about the Former President, and it gained impetus since Nixon had died in 1994. The studio was hesitant in making the movie (commercially, they were justified in the end since the movie never made its budget in its hall releases), and given that the character being portrayed was one who was almost drummed out from the Presidency, there was always going to be a set of people who would not be happy with the scenes from the movie. And so it proved, since Nixon's family heavily criticized the movie, and many critics also panned the movie (and as always, some other critics praised the movie).



The movie was nominated for 5 Oscars,
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Anthony Hopkins),
Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Joan Allen),
Best Music,
Original Dramatic Score and Best Writing,
Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Richard Nixon was a complex personality. He did a lot for the United States, it was in his terms that the United States finally withdrew from the mess in Vietnam (although he also tried to succeed militarily, but finally gave up that strategy as flawed), he was the proponent of the immensely strategic opening up to China, it was during his term that a lot of the civil rights desegregation was enforced and the US became a lot less racially separated, he was the President under whom all the successful lunar missions took place. And yet, he was the President who was finally done under due to the arrogance of trying to believe that he was above the law when his involvement in the efforts to break-into the Democratic 1972 convention and then to try and brazen his way out of the investigations into the same incident. He eventually quit when it was clear that he was frozen out. He did a lot more after he resigned in terms of becoming a respected elder statesman, but in the end, Richard Nixon will be remembered for Watergate, the only President of the United States who resigned. And Anthony Hopkins did a great portrayal of this role.

The Battleship Potemkin (1925)

The Battleship Potemkin is a classic Russian movie, released in 1925. It is a silent movie, also known by another name 'he Battleship Potyomkin' as well as by the Russian name of 'Bronyenosyets Potyomkin'. The movie was directed by Sergei Eisenstein, and was based on the real life story of the actual crew of the Russian naval ship of the same name during 1905, oppressed by the naval officers of the Tsarist regime that was ruling Russia around that time.
The movie has been so famous that the history of the ship is defined more by the movie rather than by history books. The movie was famous also for its graphic violence (not seen in movies of that time) as well as to be a propaganda movie to get sympathy for the crew of the ship. This attempt worked so well on viewers that the Nazi propaganda spinner, Joseph Goebbels, was very admiring of the movie for its attempt to sell a political story in a simple yet powerful way.



The zeal of the movie director to sway audiences imparted a revolutionary approach that caused the movie to run afoul of sensors in many countries, with the movie either banned or scenes cut; it was only over a period of time that the movie was restored with cut sections to audiences all over. The movie had some classic scenes, but the most striking was the scene of the Czar's Cossack soldiers marching down steps (the Odessa steps) and firing into the crowd of civilians who had come to watch the ship arrive.
The movie takes the true story of the rebellion on board the Russian naval ship Battleship Potemkin in the year 2005. There was discontent against the oppressive officers of the Tzar, and there was a plan to have an uprising. However, the uprising was started earlier on the battle-ship when the sailors protested against having to eat maggot infested meat that the ship's officers and doctor had certified as being fit for human consumption. This was the first element of the movie, with the movie being essentially divided into 5 parts:
1. Men and maggots
2. Drama at the harbour: The sailors rise up and their leader, Vakulynchuk, is killed
3. A dead man calls for Justice: The civilians at Odessa mourn the dead
4. The massacre of civilians at Odessa where the Czar's soldiers kill the civilians on the steps
5. "The Rendez-Vous with a Squadron where the squadron joins the sailors instead of crushing them
After the mutiny, the sailors go different ways. The ones who returned or were induced to return were executed or jailed, and the others went to different countries such as Romania, Argentina and Ireland.

Mr. Smith goes to Washington by Frank Capra

This is another great movie by Frank Capra; one that is not so famous right now, but very famous and controversial in its time. Because it was about corruption in Washington, in the seat of Government and in the legislature, the Washington Press and Congress members labeled the movie as a movie pandering to Communist interests and against American interest. This was not only a US politician reaction, with the other dictatorships (Nazi Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union, Fascist Italy and Spain under Franco) all banning the movie as well. Other countries took liberties in the dubbing of the movie to alter the tone of the script and the dialog.
The movie was well-received (it got 11 Academy nominations after all - not a small number by any standard, although it did not win any of the major ones, and in fact won only one Academy award, for Best Screenplay).



The movie was released in 1939, and starred James Stewart in the lead role (the movie also had the effect of giving a major filip to his career); it had some well know stars of that era such as Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee, Charles Lane, and Thomas Mitchell. The movie was based on a novel called 'The Gentleman from Montana' (by author Lewis R. Foster), with the script of the movie written by Sidney Buchman.
The movie is about a guy called Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), who is the head of the Boy Rangers and seen as a non-corrupt guy. When a senator for a US state (the state is not specified in the movie) dies, the Governor, Hubert "Happy" Hopper (Guy Kibbee), has to balance between the public demand for a honest person to be the next Senator vs. the demand from the political chain to have another corrupt and connected politician. Eventually, the Governor decides to select Smith to be the next Senator; soon, he is condemned by the Washington Press as not being like a Senator, more of a bumpkin.
Goaded into making a name for himself, Smith decides to float legislation for getting Government money to buy land for a boy's camp, with the money coming in from donations by kids all over America. Unknown to him, politics and corruption is already involved in this bill. Soon, things are manipulated such that Smith is soon shown to be owning the land, and Smith decides to run away. However, he is beseeched by his formerly cynical aide / secretary to try and do a legislative tactic called a 'filibuster' (wikipedia) to stall the vote to expel him. He tries to stay the course, and starts drawing support while he is talking non-stop (and the political opposition clamps down on the media to prevent his statements from being displayed). His tactic is to continue speaking, and he does so to the point of exhaustion; when he faints, the Senator who had manipulated him, Senator Paine, has remorse and confesses all.