SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Console best movie i've ever seen.

MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

yazeek I couldn't get past the horribly awful, unauthentic Mississippi accents that most of the main actors used. The dancing routines of the young girls is a highlight of the entire film. The war scenes are not believable and Kevin Costner is highly overrated as an actor Elijah Wood is far and away the star of the cast. The overly confident attitudes of the little girls is completely unrealistic. I wanted to like this movie but it's just not very well done. The narration style is nothing new and this version of it seems like a wanna-be knock-off. If "the tree" is a real, live tree, it is a magnificent specimen and another highlight of an otherwise lackluster film.

ironhorse_iv "The War' is one of the best emotional father and son films, I ever seem. The relationship between Kevin Costner and Elijah Wood is just wonderful. The film deals with a lot of social issues such as the cause of war and the aftermath of it, failure in life, classism and poverty lines, racism and dealing with death. Family is a strong theme in this movie. Kevin Costner plays Stephen Simmons, a returning Vietnam vet who seeks to build a better life for his wife and children in 1970's Mississippi. Costner is great as the tortured soul trying to teach his young son the value of lessons he had learned during the war. There is a bit of Atticus Finch in his performance that mirrors Gregory Peck. Kevin Costner is brimming with positive lessons on social consciousness, but struggles to be a breadwinner for his family due to post-traumatic stress disorder from his service in the Vietnam War. While this is going on, Simmons children, Stu (Elijah Wood) and Lidia (Lexi Randall) are feuding with an even poorer family of neighbors, the Lipnickis, over access to a tree fort that Stu and Lidia built. Elijah Wood is not bound to his cuteness which is proved very well by his performance here and in numerous other movies as well. Elijah was such a great child actor here. No one like him these days as far as child actors, he just had that natural passion that exudes when he performed. This young man has his own battles and demons to face in an ongoing feud with a family of roughnecks and bullies. The talk between him and Kevin Costner are amazing. There are countless scenes which a parent can take out to teach their children about life lessons. One example would be the 'cotton candy' scene. Lidia is a smart girl whose imagination is fully developed. She processes her experiences and her father's wisdom in an essay that celebrates love, courage, and caring. She sports a great narrator. There is a sub-plot in the film dealing with Lindia in summer school dealing with an over the top racist teacher. Christine Baranski played the racist teacher, but her performance is so cartoony, but without her. We wouldn't have one of the best scenes in the film. The only other noticeable supporting child character would be Elvadine (LaToya Chisholm) and this is where she shines. Elvadine did a fabulous job on her monologue, but it is the last few seconds that gets me. I thought Elvadine's speech and cadence, gave such a great performance for an actress so young. Elvadeen is a hoot. While this story defers the movie from its main story-arch, it's a brilliant stand-alone plot line. The Linicki's children are brutal. The amount of child to child violence might alarm some parents. That's how mean people are. They thrive on making others feel bad so they can feel better about themselves. Seeing how the Lipnicki's father is, you understand why. I think the one thing the Lipnicki kids were jealous of was that Stu and Lydia had a father that couldn't give them much, but he gave them his love unconditionally. The Simmons and Linickis are fighting against each other over a tree fort. It's serves as a MacGuffin, protagonist and antagonist willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to pursue, protect or control, often with little or no narrative explanation as to why it is considered so important. It's represent how much people are willing to battle each other, over something so simple. The gut- wrenching whole story is amazing, sad but true that bad things happen to the good people. Pretty much shows how unfair life really is. Still it's the richest, most realistic and revealing story ever made about the moral challenges of parenting. The lyrical and spiritually resonant screenplay by Kathy McWorter presents the engaging portrait of a father who, through bad times as well as good ones, shares with his son and daughter the ideals he believes give life meaning and purpose. In addition, his compassionate deeds create a legacy that goes beyond wealth or words. This whole movie is great it really makes me realize the things I take for granted. I will definitely recommend this movie to friends. Fabulously written and portrayed scene from a very much underrated movie. Oscar worthy performances from the predominantly child cast. The music is great as well. Thomas Newman never fails to impress, capturing that emotional feel in every movie he composes and love hearing those 1960's pop hits. Parents are often hard-pressed in the midst of dealing with life's unrelenting problems to find the right time and the right words to pass on to their children the values they cherish. It's nice to see a movie that deals with teaching the children about morality.

aussie movie fan Overview I admit to being a big fan of this movie, although I know it can be a bit 'preachy' at times. The War is set in the summer of 1970 in Mississippi. Steven Simmons (Kevin Costner) has recently returned from Vietnam and is trying to fit back into life as he once knew it. However his time in Vietnam has left its scars (both physically and emotionally), and has placed strain on his relationship with wife Lois (Mare Winningham), and his children Lydia (Lexi Randall) and Stu (Elijah Wood), who are 12 year old twins. While Steven is trying to re-build his own life, Stu and Lydia are spending the summer building a tree house with the help of their friends, while trying to avoid the Lipnicki children, who take on the "local bullies" role. The acting by most is natural and convincing. Elijah Wood's portrayal of the intense but likable Stu is very well done. Kevin Costner, in what must be one of his best (yet lesser known) roles, is very understated and brilliantly cast as Steve. Lexi Randall, as Lydia, also shines at times, although she is almost overshadowed by the wonderful performance of her best friend Elvadine, played by Latoya Chisholm This movie has a similar feel to that of Fried Green Tomatoes (both films are directed by Jon AvnetPicture The overall picture quality of this HD DVD is very good. For the most part the image is sharp and the colours are vibrant. The lush greens of the forest and the bright blue sky in some scenes look fantastic. There are some close-up shots of the actors' faces that are so detailed I just said 'wow' out loud when I saw them, and the scenes filmed in the forest display an incredible depth. At times this transfer looks brilliant - almost on par with the best looking HD DVD titles out thereThere is some noticeable grain in night scenes and some sequences filmed indoors. There is also the odd occasion where the picture looks slightly soft and out of focus, and while contrast is fine in daylight scenes, blacks tend to look more dark grey at night.Being very impressed with the overall picture quality of this HD DVD, I dusted off the DVD version and gave it a spin for comparison's sake. The difference between the two is so great, I now find the DVD unwatchable. You do not realise just how much better the remastered HD DVD looks until you compare it with the original DVD transfer. From the first 30 seconds of this movie, as the camera pans around a large oak tree that is to become a central part of the movie, the difference between the two formats is like chalk and cheese. The DVD looks dark and out of focus, colours are muted and you struggle to make out any finer details of the tree and its surroundings. There is also constant and irritating grain. In comparison, the detail of the tree's twisting branches and bark on HD DVD is much more evident. After comparing the remastered HD DVD to the DVD, this has to be the greatest improvement I have seen when comparing the two formats and the same movie. Hats off to Universal! Audio First up, I was surprised when The War was announced on HD DVD by Universal, and even more surprised to learn that it would come packaged with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack.This movie is primarily dialogue driven, therefore the majority of the soundtrack comes out of the front three speakers. However the rear speakers are employed almost constantly in a subtle way for most of the movie. You are constantly aware of the chatter of insects buzzing through all speakers – typical of what you would experience in the Deep South in the middle of summer. It is a wonderfully immersive mix that draws you in to what is happening on-screen There are some loud and impressive sections in this soundtrack where all speakers are used to great effect. Flashbacks to the Vietnam War, and scenes at a water tower and marble mine are the audio highlights of the movie. These scenes are mixed at a high volume in comparison to the rest of the soundtrack, adding to their impact. Bass is strong and tight without becoming overpowering. Sure, the discrete sound effects are not as convincing as those on well recorded and recently released action movie, but once again it is an impressive mix for a 13 year old movie The War soundtrack includes a mix of classic songs from the 1960s and 1970s (Cat Stevens, Credence, The Supremes, Aretha Franklin), and also boasts and interesting and varied score that is especially moving in some scenes. In comparison to the DVD (which contains a 5.1 Dolby Digital track), the HD DVD Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus soundtrack is a noticeable step up in quality, but not as great as the improvement in picture. The DVD soundtrack is actually not that bad to begin with (and is mixed about 4dB higher than the HD DVD), but the HD DVD version is more immersive during the quieter scenes, and definitely more powerful during the action sequences. The difference between the Dolby Digital Plus and TrueHD mixes are slight, with ambient noises and dialogue sounding clearer on the TrueHD mix. Summary Being familiar with The War already, it was a real treat to see a movie I enjoy viewing so much being resurrected to look and sound this good. If you want to see just how good 13 year old catalogue title can scrub up, pick up a copy of this HD DVD.

jparker-20 As a teacher of scriptwriting I am using this film to demonstrate the art of dialog writing in a setting students and viewers don't see often. The dialog is authentic to the deep south, believable, has just the right amount of profanity and colloquial terminology, and is character specific. You can't easily exchange the speeches between characters and have scenes that work despite the fact all the characters are from the same rural community--try it and you'll see what I mean. In addition, the structure of the film is a fascinating study with its multi-layered plotting and casual way the story begins to unfold. At first, it seems this is a film without a plot--just a series of character studies--but the plotting eventually becomes apparent and its complex structure involves the viewer without grabbing you with a hook or obvious "problem to solve." Overall it's a fine example of how to write an involving, insightful message film.