A Midnight Clear | | Cast : | Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon | | Director : | Keith Gordon | | Studio : | Columbia Tristar Hom | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Full Screen | | Released Date : | April 24, 1992 | | DVD Released Date : | October 07, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | May 31, 2005 | | Summary | More truthful and profound than the critics will admit | Content
 | "A Midnight Clear" is far more truthful and thought provoking than other movies that manipulate ("Saving Private Ryan") or outright lie ("Blackhawk Down") to make their point.
From Page 11 of the William Wharton novel on which the movie is based:
"When I say lost, I mean killed. Nobody in the army ever admits someone on our side is killed. They're either lost, like Christopher Robin; hit, as in a batter hit by a pitched ball, take your base, or they get 'it,' as in a hide-and-seek, or, maybe, 'get it,' as with an ambiguous joke."
These lines are just about identical to naration in the movie.
Will Wharton served in US Army Intelligence in WW II. He moved to France after the horrors of WW II and he became disenchanted with American life. "A Midnight Clear," while fiction, is also autobiographical. To suggest that it is "unrealistic" is just false. The man wrote (and the movie depicts) much of what the man experienced! (His book "Franky Furbo" explores some of the same fiction and biographical themes but in a far more fantastical way.)
As a former US Army Intelligence Analyst myself (1980s) I have to say that this is probably the best military movie I've ever seen. It shows both how naive the young intel soldiers are and how brutal the Army can be when dealing with those who even remotely challenge the system. In the end it shows the futility of it all - not just war, but also the actions of the intel unit that thought it could live a different life than what the Army wanted for them.
I can see why the rah-rah types might hate this movie. It challenges the status quo, the idea of the "good war" and the whole "suck it up and deal with it" military attitude. This doesn't make the movie and book unrealistic. Rather, it is dangerous to those who want to paint a different kind of picture of what war is like. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 15, 2005 | | Summary | Excellent Cast, Disappointing Story | Content
| Excellent performances by strong ensemble cast. Heavy-handed moralizing hurt this film. Technical military flaws also detract from the story but not the performances. 2 stars only. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 22, 2005 | | Summary | The more you think about it, the worse it is | Content
| I believe the best war movies are the ones that show the agony soldiers must endure. As I mature, I care less and less for the 'guts and glory' war films that used to be plentiful. War films are now judged by my gold standards such as BlackHawk Down, When Trumpets Fade, and Platoon. With that said, this movie does a fair job showing the pain of war. But the behavior of the soldiers on both sides is complete nonsense. The way in which the Germans contact the I&R squad, the "plan", and even the "disaster" (which any thinking person saw coming a mile away) were so difficult to believe as to ruin the rest of the movie. The way in which the soldiers set up their position makes anyone who has military experince realize the film is going to be silly before it gets REALLY unbelievable. The officers in this film are direct from the "BAD OFFICER STEREOTYPE" bin, so uncaring and malicious as to be ridiculous. I wanted to like this film. I just could not. It is bad. Really bad. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 16, 2005 | | Summary | Truly one of the best World War II movies ever | Content
| There must be hundreds of movies out there set in World War II, and I've seen more than I can count. This one truly stands alone as one of the most outstanding war movies from any war. By focusing on one small squad of troops isolated from their unit, this movie succeeds brilliantly in developing the characters and placing them in a very moving story that doesn't get lost in the bigger spectacle of war like many other war movies do. I was lucky to stubmle upon A Midnight Clear many years ago on VHS. War movie buffs like myself are sure to enjoy it (unless all they're looking for is a mindless blood and guts action movie), but the thing that makes this movie so great is that it also appeals to viewers who aren't enthusiasts of the war movie genre. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 03, 2004 | | Summary | A Midnight Clear | Content
| Not a typical war movie and difiniteley not a "feel good" story.
This is not a war movie crammed with unlikely battle scenes, heroic "citizen soldiers", or wisecracking warriors. The action is sparse and concentrated in just a few, brief minutes of the film. The casting is near perfect as is the acting and photography. It is definitely an anti-war movie, but the producer and writer do not hit the viewer over the head with this message. It is a very powerful movie in spite of what must have been a relatively low budget. Highly recommended for the serious, thoughtful, viewer. |
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