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53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Dreamlike Presentation of War's Harsh Reality, March 20, 2004
As I saw this film and Castle Keep again recently, I thought about Stanley Weintraub's book Silent Night in which he discusses a brief period prior to Christmas in 1914, on the battlefields of Flanders, when German and British soldiers spontaneously agreed to declare a truce and suspend fighting, thereby defying their commanding officers. Centuries ago, knights and their attendants would work with their enemies to clear a field for combat the next day. Such cooperation had an obvious practical value. That's not what interests Weintraub as he examines a temporary truce during one of the bloodiest wars ever fought. It had little (if any) practical or tactical value but it did (and does) suggest a human need which transcends military obligations. However, war is war. After a brief respite, the carnage inevitably resumes.
A Midnight Clear was directed by Keith Gordon and is based on William Wharton's autobiographical novel. Rather than featuring a star such as Burt Lancaster (as in Castle Keep), the lead roles in this film are played by those normally seen in supporting roles. For example, Kevin Dillon, Ethan Hawke, and Gary Sinise. They and all others in the cast are first-rate. Basically, here's the situation. An elite U.S. Army intelligence unit is given a reconnaissance mission in the Ardennes Forest in December of 1944, just before the Battle of the Bulge. The men in the platoon may be far from home as Christmas approaches, lonely and miserably cold, but they retain a certain playful spirit comparable with what Robert Altman celebrates in M.A.S.H. They encounter a German unit and then....
While seeing this film the first time and then again recently, I felt as if I were dreaming that I had returned to the 1940s in a time machine, to Belgium near the end of World War Two. Credit Tom Richmond's cinematography with creating an uncommonly beautiful setting for the savage combat which occurs there, as does John Mathieson during the "Hell Unleashed" sequence early in Gladiator. The dreamlike atmosphere continues throughout as the men suspend and then resume their own involvement in the war. This is a haunting film, at times an exquisitely lovely film, but also one which raises some serious questions. Why not throw snow balls instead of grenades, then treat each other to a round of drinks? Why not celebrate Christmas together, exchanging gifts and singing carols, as their ancestors once did on Christmas Eve in 1914, on the battlefields of Flanders? Doesn't all that make much more sense than killing each other? Of course. It's just that....
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47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Still "Reformatted To Fit Your TV" (FULLSCREEN), October 29, 2003
The latest DVD release (Fall 2003) is *still* presented in fullscreen/pan'n'scan format, despite technical information to the contrary on Amazon. Twice released on DVD, twice modified from its original widescreen format. Shameful. This is especially appalling, given that the packaging utilizes *widescreen* stills from the film alongside its synopsis -- scenes you will never see in such state should you view the enclosed disc.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Is it a war movie or isn't it?, December 20, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: A Midnight Clear [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This movie can be used as an example of what cinema is supposed to be. Yes, I have read some of the other reviews with their negative comments about the language and the depiction of American soldiers, but in this film's defense it WAS wartime and I'm certain that there were some soldiers who served bravely but nevertheless did not embrace the luster that the "last good war" was giving off on the homefront. What this film is trying to do is show the smaller, less significant aspects of World War II and the human side of the soldiers, a number of years before Saving Private Ryan. The plot is a little slow and it takes a while to develop, but this is balanced nicely by some interesting character developments. Sometimes you have to accept what is happening at face value and wait for its meaning to be explained later, but that's a minor point. The cast are not huge names (except for, I guess, Ethan Hawke & Gary Sinise but this was years before either really took off) but the acting is pretty good. Not fantastic, but good enough. One of the more appealing aspects of this film is that it isn't in-your-face movie-making, but is instead probably the quietest war movie you'll ever see. The word that springs to mind immediately is "competent", which doesn't sound like too much of a praise but it is exactly what makes this movie worth it. On a personal level, I found it fascinating to question actual World War II veterans about events similar to what was in the film. It wasn't until then that I could put my finger on what this movie's overall appeal was, but I think it is because most of us would probably behave similarly were we to be placed in the same circumstances the film depicts.
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