Customer Reviews

No Drums No Bugles [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I first saw this movie as Child it left a big impression on me.I recently purchased the Direct Source VHS version and the story and acting still stand up pretty well. Still One of my all time favourites. Martin Sheen doing an early rehearsal for Apocalypse Now.
The film which features Martin Sheen for the most part is the only actor onscreen. Most of the other characters are filmed at a distance or photographed from Sheen's perspective. An interesting tool in filmmaking.
Sheen's performance has never been bettered and he's given some standout ones over the years.
The VHS copy is a little washed out at times but overall it didn't spoil my enjoyment. I look forward in this Digital age to seeing a DVD copy with commentaries from Director/Actor.Anyone in the business, take note.

Probably no film captures more realistically and poetically the joy, sorrow, simplicity and freedom of isolation. As well as the yearning for human contact and man's spiritual bond with nature. This is unlike any movie I have ever seen. Sheen is the only person in the movie that you actually see fully. Other characters are seldom shown. Instead we only hear them or see them partially. This brings the viewer to feel the alienation Sheen undergoes in his self-exile from society. The music is beautiful and carries us along gracefully until the climactic and unforgettable ending.

In this 1971 Movie,a young Martin Sheen does a superb job on portraying a cocientious objector(Ashley Gatrell) during the American Civil War which is essentially a one man show filmed in the Hills of Doddridge County West Virginia.Cylde Ware also does a superb job of directing(Writer of such TV series such as Gunsmoke and Bonanza).Filmed at the peak of the Vietnam Anti-war movement,this film should prove to be a cult classic!!

This low budget film starring a very young Martin Sheen isinteresting... This film is so low budget in fact, that Martin Sheen is virtually the only human character you ever really see on screen. But somehow this odd approach actually works and thematically it fits into the film very well.

"No Drums, No Bugles" is loosely based on the life of Ashby Gatrill, a West Virginia "legend" (actually, very few people from WV have ever heard of him), who hides in the mountains to avoid serving in either army during the Civil War. Yes, there was an Ashby Gatrill, and yes he did carve his name on a cave-like rock formation in central WV, and yes he was hiding out to avoid military service, but it was during World War I, not the Civil War. I've seen the actual rocks he carved his name on and it reads something like this "Ashby Gatrill: 1917-1918". But anyway, that's Hollywood for ya.

A must for Martin Sheen fans and anyone interested in seeing a forgotten low budget anti-war film from the Vietnam era.

A very well done, yet low budget film, about one man's refusal to fight in the Civil War. I was a 12 years old when it was filmed and spent most of the summer of 1970 on the set during filming. My uncle was a high school friend of Clyde Ware (the director) and many of the scenes were shot on his farm in Blandville, WV. I remember filming the bear scene and how the bear "got away" for a few minutes -- quite exciting.

A piece of trivia, David Nelson of Ozzie and Harriett fame, was a camera man on the film.

I re-watch every year of so and always enjoy. Great family film.

Please release this interesting early Martin Sheen classic on DVD in the not so distant future!!

Martin Sheen does his best acting job on this 1971 Movie which is essentially a one man show potraying an American civil war concientious objector(Ashley Gatrell) hiding out in the hills of Doddridge County West Virginia.Cyde Ware,the director(writer of such series as Gunsmoke,Bonanza)also does a superb job!!

In No Drums No Bugles, Martin Sheen plays a confederate soldier who has been in hiding and doesn't know that the war is over. There's a great scene where he has it out with a bear who wants to move into the cave Martin's character has been living in. It's been several years since I've seen this movie, and I was really glad to find it here at Amazon!

This movie shows the impact of isolation over a long period of time, in this case of a civil war deserter living in a cave for 3-4 years and how he copes with the extreme loneliness both mentally and physically.Filmed back in 1971,A young Martin Sheen does a superb acting job that's much better than Tom Hanks"Castaway"especially considering that Martin Sheen did the movie on a very much lower salary and that's probably an understatement and budget!!So Get your money's worth!!

This movie shows the impact of isolation over a long period of time, in this case of a civil war deserter living in a cave for 3-4 years and how he copes with it both mentally and physically.Filmed back in 1971,A young Martin Sheen does a superb acting job very similiar to Tom Hanks in the recent movie Castaway.Fans will enjoy it!!