Revolution (1985)

Beautiful, moving film.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

I have never understood why this film is so mocked regardless of 'accents' used it is a decent attempt to depict the American Revolution from Howe's successful attack at Brooklyn Heights through Cornwallis' defeat at Yorktown.Pacino, Kinski et. al. give a good performance and regardless of the 'coincidence' of their successive meetings they also are separate enough to give strength to the film.Sutherland is very good as the Sgt. who abets his commanding officer's perversion rather than be court-martialed for disobeying an order - The point of that particular scene was the same it has been since the Tower Of Babel - morals are for the 'hoi polloi' - we the elite have no need of such.The opening defeat of Washington's army on Long Island is well done showing what a rabble the American rebels were in 1776 but just as 'Tom' grows from a coward to a man to respect the scenes of his 'epiphany' are telling as he has lost everything and now must find his and his son's way amidst events he wants nothing to do with so too the Continental Army slowly becomes a force to be reckoned with.The pivotal scene of Tom's rescue of his son and the subsequent rescue of he and his son are well staged. The final scene, the end of the war, where he separates from his son and his son's new found bride and one hears a black soldier asking about his 'rights' and being told to shut up - portent of another conflict 80 years hence (1781-1861).Enjoy this film and note the black humor as Tom is made to substitute as a 'fox' for the merriment of the English officer corp.

Revolution is a very different war movie. Its a film based on war from the very bottom line of the war-front. Its not from the general or the leader but from the everyman... The sort of people at that time who where pushed to take a side and fight in a war over something that they never really understood. The great thing is that you watch this film and at the end of it come out no better a political understanding of the war, but rather an understanding of a characters struggle and failures during it. This i believe (i work in film as a camera assistant) is one of the best war films shot in terms of cinematography. The whole film is hand-held and rugged (ground breaking at the time) giving it a realistic feel. The production values, grubby set designs and thousands of extras in costumes and make-up deserves the large depth of field given in the shooting style so that we can appreciate this all on the screen. Obviously shoot on film it has had a beautiful push process giving a gritty and noisy look on screen...Its basically looks like a series of John Trumbull paintings of the war on celluloid.I have had the pleasure of meeting the director Hugh Hudson many years ago on the board of a panel when joining the industry as an apprentice cameraman. He was a kind and knowledgeable man of the film industry and was proud to be part of the British film industry and talent and was all for the fruition of this. I find it unfair that he is put to blame for the failure of this movie and the British film industry of the 80's and early 90's. This movie is no way as bad as so many other films out there and has aged well! Sadly its anti-war message mixed with a release in a cold war era in America.... Bad publicity and press due to a then confused audience topped off with a British man directing a film based on American history meant that it was destine for failure.

'Tom Dobb' (Al Pacino) and son arrive in New York harbor to be greeted by street urchin Annie Lennox.... Annie Lennox?.... who immediately conscripts Dobb's boat for the war effort, and then instructs an Army captain to give Tom a receipt for it. Apparently, American Army officers took orders from random tramps in the 18th century.Soon, Dobb meets 'Daisy' (Nasty Kinski) who berates Tom and his son for running away from a battle after the British begin blasting them with bits of chain-link fired out of a cannon. "I thought you might have stood your ground, Mr. Dobb", says Daisy. Fortunately Daisy's brashness didn't prompt Dobb to knock out all her teeth. Mostly boring Revolutionary War drama complete with time-filling digressions including a 'foxhunt' in which Dobb flees from a lace handkerchief-wielding English captain (Richard O'Brien) while tied to an effigy of "poor ol' Georgie Washington".Another Hollywood film which depicts the British people as evil incarnates. Do you ever wonder why Hollywood keeps doing that?

This is one of my favorite movies on the revolutionary war. I was lucky enough to travel to the states and retrace many of the old haunts in this movie and I must admit, that the feel of this movie was authentic. Pacino...of course excellent. This movie is visually stunning and "dirty" in the port cities just as you would expect and port city to be. Remember, no running water, no electricity, no sewage. That is why this movie is epic in my opinion. It shows what was at stake for the average man who could just as easily sided with the British and no lose as much as he did in the revolt. Let me assure you that history will be kind to this movie. You will see....