Customer Reviews

Year That Trembled [VHS]

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

 

 

The writer's passions show through in this great novel's screenplay adaptation. It is great to see that literary artists are still out there writing from the heart, not trying to create something strictly for salability to Hollywood and the public.

If you want a "thinking person's" movie you will be satisfied. This can be as deep as you want it to be and those who can remember that time will surely have old feelings stirred and the current generation will get insight into what their parents felt and how controversial a time it was.

Made me take stock in my own life and served as a reminder of how precious life is and how valuable friendship can and should be! Make it a part of your library and flag it for annual viewing! Check out the original Novel as well!

War protests, Vietnam, Kent State. This Indie film tries to capture the time through actual footage of the events taking place and through the eyes of young men facing the scariest rite of reaching manhood - the draft - and almost succeeds. Deduct points for the whole thing being too clean and pretty. It wasn't either.
The acting ranges from awful to outstanding, but the stiffness of the younger cast members improves as the movie progresses, especially in scenes with veterans like Fred Willard, Martin Mull and Henry Gibson onscreen to steady them down. Marian Hinkle is quite good as the teacher who is fired for her anti-war sentiments. Even better, is Jonathan M. Woodward as her husband, a decent guy who is systematically betrayed by his government, his employer and his wife. Although not one of the stars, Woodward's performance carries the film, and it is a mystery why his name doesn't appear on the front cover of the DVD at all. Bill Raymond is also excellent as a bitter disabled vet who offers practical, if not legal, advice to the young men, and it's a shame he isn't seen more.
Biggest letdown comes when the life-shattering effects of dodging the draft are reduced to a happy ride to Canada on a motor scooter and the decent guy pays the price for doing the right thing, but since sympathy in the film lies with the dodgers and not the men who did their service, this is not surprising.
The DVD has no extra features, and no commentary, which is unfortunate, because you really will wonder what they were thinking when they shot certain scenes.

Remember it's a low-budget, independent film, so don't expect too much - see it for its great moments, forgive it for its flaws.

Films about the 1960s are always difficult -- some go no deeper than the familiar media images, others fail to capture the tone of that unique time. This one does something a little different by looking at the end of the 1960s, following the lives of several high school graduates sharing a house near Kent State after the 1970 shootings. They represent a cross-section of young America at the time, with the late Jonathan Brandis our point-of-view character, aspiring writer Casey Pederson: politically & culturally a bit left of center, but no hippie or radical. (His tragic death shortly after making this film lends it additional poignancy.)

Casey & his friends are waiting for the first draft lottery, which hangs over their summer like a black cloud of potential doom. Having endured the same horrible wait back then, I can attest that the ominous feeling is captured perfectly, as well as the sense that the optimism & ideals of the earlier 1960s were fading away. We all sensed that things were going to be very different in the 1970s, nothing like the golden future of peace & understanding we had envisioned -- and the film conveys this with precision.

The low budget gives it a sort of ramshackle feeling, and at times the quality veers into made-for-TV territory. The script & acting are a bit uneven, especially at first; but as the story continues, a certain emotional power builds up. Characters are forced into narrowing corners with fewer & fewer choices, and several make the wrong ones, both politically & personally. Casey's brooding & uncertainty, his unspoken but obvious need for something genuine, for fidelity & love & faith in the future, is superbly portrayed. It rings just as true today as it did then. And Marin Hinkle gives a warm, wonderful performance as the fired high school teacher who is both guiding mother figure & troubled woman.

Sometimes the necessary intensity or insight is lacking ... but on the whole, this film is a reminder of a time when teenagers thought about more than mass market fads, and considered their place in the world & their need to make something better of it. The cost of bearing that weight, which led to both self-betrayal & rising to idealistic heights, is depicted well. They were all so terribly young.... The film will leave you with a bittersweet afterglow, and a realization that its message is all too relevant again today. Recommended!

I've been a Jonathan Brandis fan since the days his face adorned the cover of BOP and Tiger Beat magazines. I followed his career with glee and taped every episode of SeaQuest in order to see his baby blues peeking at me from the depts of my tv. And when I found out that he had ended his life I was both heart-broken and outraged.

So when I happened across this movie, I jumped at the chance to buy one of the last films he appeared in. And I wasn't disappointed in the least. I enjoyed seeing "Andy" from Dawson's Creek and "Knox" from Angel, as well.

The trials and tribulations of college-aged kids, trying to grow-up yet still being controlled by the adults around them was enough to make me thankful my childhood was spent without too much home threats of war.

I recommend this flick to any and all who :
1. Love Jonathan Brandis (a line in the movie will break your heart, though: "I could just die right now..." Cuz - ya know - he's not living...)
2. dig a love triangle as complicated as Bermuda's, and
3. oppose War and all it has to "offer."

Not a big fancy film, but very good for a small independent film. The cast as a whole gave a great performance; Jon Brandis, in one of his last projects, was excellent. I wish this film had been given the wider theatrical release it deserved.

Found that parts of the movie dragged on but overall, not a horrible movie; just dull in some areas. It's currently sitting in the back of my DVD collection collecting dust since I will most likely not watch it again.

"The Year That Trembled" is a retrospective, anti-war, post-hippie-era period-piece that works at saying a lot, but never brings it all into a working whole.

THE GOOD: The cast isn't all that bad. There are a lot of recognizable faces and they all seem to do what they need to do. The script has all the points that should be there for what the director is trying to pull off. The story of young people facing the possibility of being drafted into the Vietnam war is an interesting thing to build characters around.

THE BAD: It just doesn't work. You're never drawn into the story, you don't really feel for anyone, and you'd be equally as happy walking out of the room and taking a bath. The "draft-and-war are bad" message is hammered into place and shoved down your throat. You aren't left to make up your mind about the Vietnam war or the draft; it's expected that you feel the same way as the director and the film just sits there and screams "rah! rah!" in support of that belief. Because of this, the actors become speech-makers rather than real characters with feelings that you can sympathize with. As a whole, the movie ends up with no heart.

THE VERDICT: There's nothing wrong with the acting or the formula or the ideas behind this film. But it's preachy opinions are so heavy-handed that it feels like an anti-establishment propaganda piece more than a genuine drama. Maybe rent it or watch it on TV, but it doesn't need to be purchased unless you (like many of the other reviewers here) are a Jonathan Brandis fan who wants an exhaustive collection of his material in the wake of his passing. 1½-stars out of 5.

I was an extra in this movie and I must say the end product does not do justice to the experience. Being just down the road from the site of the Kent State shootings, I don't think it is possible to portray the reality of the feelings of that era on a television screen. The actors were wonderful to work with and my pride for them blends over into my viewing of their performances. My favorite, by far, is Jonathan Woodward who played "Charlie", the ill-fated all-American young man who accurately represents the situations of many of the drafted soldiers. I enjoyed the various perspectives as we see the citizen who so earnestly believes in his country only to be betrayed by it (Charlie); the draftdodger who escapes to Canada (Hairball); the protester thrown in jail (Judy); the teacher who lost her job over her opinions (Charlie's wife); and the various other character studies throughout the movie. The only sad part was that we spent four hours filming a five minute scene for a section of the movie and it was left on the cutting room floor! I wish there would have been a section on the DVD for extras such as history bites, cast interviews, and definitely those deleted scenes!

This movie was really great. I could not take my eyes off of the television. I usually fall asleep during movies but, not this one!
This is about Issac, the undercover FBI character was a complete confusion of motives and suggested unintended multiple personalities. Clips of Bobby Kennedy and MLK are injected into the middle of the film to substantiate the popular call for a lottery based Draft. Martin Mull as a lead FBI agent does an great job!
the film is has 17 songs from that era and the songs are awesome.

A very well made independant film!!!!! And two of my favourite subjects rolled into one: Vietnam and Jonathan Brandis!!! Well done!!! I phrase Jonathan Brandis' performance. he was really good. I wish he had been given the oppotunity to take his career forward. I have for the past few months been thinking about Jonathan Brandis and his tragic death. I received news of his death on my birthday. 'What a way to turn 20? finding out that my teen idol who I admired both as a crush, role model and older brother had taken his life.' I thought at the time. 'Is if I didn't have enough issues to deal with.'
It's sad. There have been speculations that he was depressed about his career, if that was the case, I feel if he had just held on and been patient, his time would have come. I have noticed that the peek of most acting careers seems to take place when actors are in their late twenties, early thirties. Look at Matt Damon for example. He was only 27 at the time when he became popular and that was just after Good Will Hunting. I think after the release of the movie that he did with Harvey Keitel might have opened a few doors for him if he had held on.
It's funny. It's been nearly four years since his death, so many great movies have come out and when I focus on a particular character, I always think to myself: 'God, Jonathan Brandis would have been great in that role.'
No offence to the actors who have played these roles, but I think he would have been great as the scarecrow/Jonathan Craine in Batman Begins, Ryan Reynolds' role in Smokin Aces and believe it or not, I feel he would have blowin people away of Thomas Gabriel (The cyber terrorist villain) in Die Hard 4.0. It would have been a huge contrast to his role as Lucas on seaquest. It's weird since I've seen Die Hard 4.0., I have been thinking about Jonathan Brandis.
I always felt he was very good as a villain. He always had that chilling, sadistic and seductive nature as a villain, not to mention he always had that sexy voice. I mean can you remember him in Aladdin and Fall Into Darkness? God that voice of his always brought a chill down my spine.
I still mourn his tragic death. What is worse is that no one will ever know why he did it and what was going through his mind. Something that angers me to this day about his death is that various articles were published quoting that his friends said that Jonathan talked about killing himself, that he was lonely and drank heavily. I feel sorry for his parents, they had enough to deal with losing their son, let alone hearing all that rubbish about him. He was their child for god sake. Whether is true or not I firmly believe you don't say things like that about your friends, especially if they have died under tragic circumstances. My heart goes out to his parents, family and friends. I especially feel for his parents.


I have for the past few months been thinking about Jonathan Brandis and his tragic death. I received news of his death on my birthday. 'What a way to turn 20? finding out that my teen idol who I admired both as a crush, role model and older brother had taken his life.' I thought at the time. 'Is if I didn't have enough issues to deal with.'
It's sad. There have been speculations that he was depressed about his career, if that was the case, I feel if he had just held on and been patient, his time would have come. I have noticed that the peek of most acting careers seems to take place when actors are in their late twenties, early thirties. Look at Matt Damon for example. He was only 27 at the time when he became popular and that was just after Good Will Hunting. I think after the release of the movie that he did with Harvey Keitel might have opened a few doors for him if he had held on.
It's funny. It's been nearly four years since his death, so many great movies have come out and when I focus on a particular character, I always think to myself: 'God, Jonathan Brandis would have been great in that role.'
No offence to the actors who have played these roles, but I think he would have been great as the scarecrow/Jonathan Craine in Batman Begins, Ryan Reynolds' role in Smokin Aces and believe it or not, I feel he would have blowin people away of Thomas Gabriel (The cyber terrorist villain) in Die Hard 4.0. It would have been a huge contrast to his role as Lucas on seaquest. It's weird since I've seen Die Hard 4.0., I have been thinking about Jonathan Brandis.
I always felt he was very good as a villain. He always had that chilling, sadistic and seductive nature as a villain, not to mention he always had that sexy voice. I mean can you remember him in Aladdin and Fall Into Darkness? God that voice of his always brought a chill down my spine.
I still mourn his tragic death. What is worse is that no one will ever know why he did it and what was going through his mind. Something that angers me to this day about his death is that various articles were published quoting that his friends said that Jonathan talked about killing himself, that he was lonely and drank heavily. I feel sorry for his parents, they had enough to deal with losing their son, let alone hearing all that rubbish about him. He was their child for god sake. Whether is true or not I firmly believe you don't say things like that about your friends, especially if they have died under tragic circumstances. My heart goes out to his parents, family and friends. I especially feel for his parents. It's really creepy, I have just seen Fall Into Darkness, Bad Girls and The Year That Trembled and it seems to me that these films seem to foreshadow his untimely and tragic death, especially when he remarks in The Year That Trembled: 'I could die now.' How's that for irony?