[molybecks]

At 8.30.

Anyone going to watch this? Looks rather good and i am interested in true-life stories so it should be right up my street.

Anyone?

[newkid30]

Brendan Gleeson won an Emmy for his performance in it, the trailer last night looked good.

[molybecks]

I'm certainly looking forward to it.

[Omah]

"The Gathering Storm" was excellent, almost faultless, in every respect .....

"Into The Storm" may prove to be a disappointment according to this review :

The film, made in partnership between HBO and BBC Films is pretty much a direct sequel to “The Gathering Storm which aired several years ago. “Gathering” was all about the events leading up to World War 2 and Churchill’s warnings of an ascendant Hitler. But it wasn’t just about that – it was about Churchill the man and his relationship with his wife – whom he loved very much. And that’s the strength of “The Gathering Storm.”

The writer of “Into the Storm” (who was the same as the other one) seems to have forgotten about all that and decided to focus on the broad strokes of history.

I think the characterization of Winston Churchill was good – however, I don’t think Brenden Gleeson was a very convincing Churchill. You could hear the actor’s Scottish accent invading his acting and it was distracting. I really believe that Albert Finney played a better Churchill.

The pacing of the film just seemed off. They chose to tell the story in a non-linear fashion that I don’t really think worked as the scenes in Post War France just didn’t seem to have a point other than to show Winston grumbling at his wife and servants.

Another aspect that bothered me was the inclusion of a lot of material related to the Americans and Franklin Roosevelt. It just seemed forced into the movie, especially the scenes that Churchill wasn’t actually in. I suspect this material was inserted to appeal to American audiences whom would not have appreciated a solely British Perspective.

Is it :

Historically accurate and brilliantly written.

or :

historically inaccurate, badly put together

http://www.amazon.com/Into-Storm-Bre.../dp/B002AMUDJY



I'll certainly give it a chance, anyway .....

[arcade fire]

I think the characterization of Winston Churchill was good – however, I don’t think Brenden Gleeson was a very convincing Churchill. You could hear the actor’s Scottish accent invading his acting and it was distracting. I really believe that Albert Finney played a better Churchill.

I thought Brendan Gleeson was Irish?

[Omah]

Originally Posted by arcade fire

I thought Brendan Gleeson was Irish?

You're right - he is .....

..... the reviewer is presumably American .....

[allie4]

I'll definitely give it a go! Too little I want to watch these days...

[Dub1]

Well that was quite enjoyable. Even Brendan Gleeson`s Scottish accent didn`t get in the way of an excellent performance.

[alice45]

I enjoyed it, though I did think it jumped around a lot and at times this got a bit confusing. Gleeson was very good, though I think Finney was even better in The Gathering Storm.

[mike65]

I wasn't sure at first esp as the early part was a sort of Churchills Greatest Hits sequence but I got into it esp the quiet bits with FDR and his own staff (and the King!).

Gleesons SCOTTISH accent wasn't at all apparent to me.

[therightdeal]

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I couldn't understand why they gave so little time to the Battle of Britain considering its overall significance in turning round the war effort.

It was fantastic though. Well put together and very enjoyable. The man that played Churchill was great.

[doom&gloom]

Enjoyable but too much concentration on the speeches. Cringed at the "so much owed to so few, write that down I might use it later".

The impression I got of Churchill from this programme was that Churchill used his great oratorical skills to cover for his military failures.

[RobbieSykes123]

I enjoyed it on the whole, and it got the patriotic juices flowing at times, but it wasn't a patch on The Gathering Storm which told us something we didn't all know. This just felt very Americanised, a potted history of the Second World War, and portrayed Churchill as full of self-doubt throughout - if that really was accurate it's a wonder we pulled through. Where was the bulldog spirit? And was Clemmie really that miserable and seemingly on the verge of walking out on him?

But the biggest problem with this was that Albert Finney gave such a memorable and perfect performance of his life in The Gathering Storm that Brendan Gleeson couldn't hope to match, and it detracted from this follow up a bit.

Good as it was, it just didn't match the scale and overall class of The Gathering Storm.

[Julie1222]

The impression I got of Churchill from this programme was that Churchill used his great oratorical skills to cover for his military failures.

well the last time i looked we in the west actually won the 2nd world war. but of course i could be mistaken and when we stood alone against the nazi's in 1940 that was just an illusion.

[pierre_gustave]

Winston Churchill grew up in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire you know, so Gleeson's accent was authentic.

[stateofgameplay]

I thought it was excellent. It was 90 minutes discovering the man himself. Anyone who knows the history of the man knows that his oratory skills DID cover up what the people got to know. The fact was that Churchill did have issues with his doubts, and confidence over the war, and did make some huge mistakes and hated himself for it and that his marriage did go through several hiccups after the war, but they remained together and very much in love despite this.

Just because you cannot relate to the private man when you know the public man, doesn't mean that it was inaccurate or untrue.

The movie wasn't about the war itself, it was about Churchill during the war, and people are seemingly forgetting that. It was his reaction to Dunkirk, both publically, in cabinet, and privately that we were watching. It was accurate to the situation, though obviously at times dramatised.

Also doom&gloom... Why would you cringe at something that was actually historically accurate to the situation? That whole situation with Churchill coming up with the line at RAF Uxbridge was accurate.

[ayrshireman]

Winston Churchill grew up in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire you know, so Gleeson's accent was authentic.

Coatbridge?. That would make him Irish!....

[doom&gloom]

Originally Posted by Julie1222

well the last time i looked we in the west actually won the 2nd world war. but of course i could be mistaken and when we stood alone against the nazi's in 1940 that was just an illusion.

He was a hopeless military leader, almost as bad as Hitler, and was responsible for the Gallipoli disaster in WWI as well, every time British troops engaged in battle with Germany or Japan they were defeated until America joined the war, he just got lucky when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. We should thank Tojo for the fact we don't speak German.

[Verence]

Originally Posted by doom&gloom

He was a hopeless military leader, almost as bad as Hitler, and was responsible for the Gallipoli disaster in WWI as well, every time British troops engaged in battle with Germany or Japan they were defeated until America joined the war, he just got lucky when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. We should thank Tojo for the fact we don't speak German.

I rather think Joe Stalin may have had something to do with it as well

I thought Clem Atlee's Scottish accent was perfect!!!

[ironjade]

Originally Posted by Verence

I rather think Joe Stalin may have had something to do with it as well

I thought Clem Atlee's Scottish accent was perfect!!!

Good to see scary Alexei Petrenko again as Stalin. He seems to be making a career of it.

[Verence]

Originally Posted by ironjade

Good to see scary Alexei Petrenko again as Stalin. He seems to be making a career of it.

If it keeps him in work I doubt he's complaining after all Anton Diffring made a career out of playing Nazi officers in British war films in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

[pierre_gustave]

Originally Posted by ayrshireman

Coatbridge?. That would make him Irish!....

Maybe Gleeson is Irish then!
My heavens!
I think you have cracked it

[ayrshireman]

Quote:
Originally Posted by doom&gloom
He was a hopeless military leader, almost as bad as Hitler, and was responsible for the Gallipoli disaster in WWI as well, every time British troops engaged in battle with Germany or Japan they were defeated until America joined the war, he just got lucky when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. We should thank Tojo for the fact we don't speak German.

Firstly, we DID defeat the Germans in both Commando raids and in a major battle (Operation Crusader) in 1940 and 1941.

Secondly, Japan didnt attack us until 8th Dec 1941, AFTER Pearl Harbour!.

Thirdly, you ignore the land and naval crushings of the Italians by us in 1940 and 1941. In the Middle East, Ethiopia and at Taranto.

Fourth, you ignore:
victory by Anglo-French forces in the Levant in 1941
the successful Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941
the successful British crushing of the pro-Nazi revolt in Iraq in 1941.

Not to mention the Battle of Britain and victories in the Atlantic.

And the first British victory over Germany was May 1940, at Arras, before even Dunkirk or the Battle of Britain.

[stillrockin]

I thoroughly enjoyed this. I thought it was an excellent portrayal of Churchill's cantankerous character delving below the surface to show a man riddled with self doubt and insecurity.

[tanstaafl]

Originally Posted by ironjade

Good to see scary Alexei Petrenko again as Stalin. He seems to be making a career of it.

I was going to ask if it was the actor from "Behind Closed Doors", a truly excellent series. Now I know.