Movie Reviews
Film and television reviewed the way I’d want to read them — with a rating that means something, an honest accounting of what works and what doesn’t, and craft notes for writers who want to understand how the machinery operates.
Each review includes a craft notes section for writers — specific observations about structure, character, world-building, and what the film does that you can actually use. Not theory. Technique you can steal.
World War II (15)
May 13, 2026A Bridge Too Far (1977) — Review
Richard Attenborough's massive ensemble WWII epic about Operation Market Garden. Legendary cast across Allied and German command. Substantial scope. 8.5/10.
May 13, 2026Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) — Review
Clint Eastwood's Japanese-language masterpiece. Ken Watanabe as General Kuribayashi. Companion to Flags of Our Fathers. One of the greatest war films ever. 10+/10.
May 13, 2026Midway (1976) and Midway (2019) — Review
Two substantial adaptations of the Battle of Midway. 1976 ensemble approach with Charlton Heston and Toshiro Mifune. 2019 contemporary CGI with Ed Skrein. 8/10.
May 15, 2026My Way (2011) — Review
My Way is the most ambitious Korean war film ever produced. Kang Je-gyu spent twenty-five million dollars making it. The film was the most expensive Korean production in history at the time of release. It follows a Korean marathon runner across four armies and three continents from 1928 to 1944....
May 13, 2026Patton (1970) — Review
Franklin J. Schaffner's biographical war film. George C. Scott's foundational performance. Coppola screenplay. Won seven Academy Awards. Slows in middle. 9/10.
May 15, 2026Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) — Review
Run Silent, Run Deep is one of the great American submarine films and one of the most accomplished collaborations between Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. Robert Wise directed. John Gay wrote the screenplay from the 1955 novel by Commander Edward L. Beach Jr., a decorated American submarine officer....
May 13, 2026Saving Private Ryan (1998) — Review
Steven Spielberg's WWII masterpiece. Omaha Beach opening is the best war scene ever filmed. Tom Hanks anchors. Slows in middle. Earned 10/10.
May 13, 2026Sisu (2022) and Sisu: Road to Revenge — Review
Jalmari Helander's Finnish WWII revenge thrillers. Jorma Tommila as Aatami Korpi against Nazi forces in 1944 Lapland. Substantive cultural foundation. 10/10.
May 13, 2026The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) — Review
David Lean's POW masterpiece. Alec Guinness's career-defining performance as Colonel Nicholson. Won seven Academy Awards. Slow but cool. 9/10.
May 10, 2026The Devil’s Brigade (1968) — Review
William Holden, Cliff Robertson, and the true story of the joint US-Canadian commando unit that earned a German nickname. The Devil's Brigade reviewed at 9/10.
May 10, 2026The Dirty Dozen (1967) — Review
Lee Marvin, the famous misfit-unit war film, and the anachronistic line that broke it. The Dirty Dozen reviewed honestly at 5/10 by a viewer who stopped watching.
May 13, 2026The Great Escape (1963) — Review
John Sturges's perfect ensemble war film. Steve McQueen and the legendary cast. Stalag Luft III mass escape. Bernstein score. 10+++/10.
May 13, 2026The Longest Day (1962) — Review
Foundational D-Day epic. John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Sean Connery, Richard Burton. Authentic multilingual. Black and white. 9/10.
May 13, 2026Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) — Review
Foundational dual-perspective Pearl Harbor film. Equal substantive treatment of American and Japanese forces. Won Best Visual Effects Oscar. 9/10.
May 13, 2026White Tiger (2012) — Review
Karen Shakhnazarov's Russian Eastern Front tank film. Soviet T-34 hunting mysterious phantom German Tiger. Authentic tank warfare and metaphysics. 8.5/10.