Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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90 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly Good Hollywood Take On Murphy's War, July 22, 2000
The single biggest reason to watch this movie is that the star himself was in fact the single most decorated war hero of World War Two, and he is convincing here playing himself with dignity, sincerity, and humility, which, of course, Audie Murphy always had in spades. The movie was adopted from his best-selling autobiography, which my Mom let me read after blackening out all of the four letter slang (as she called it). Perhaps it shows that he was my childhood hero, and I still have a personalized autographed photo somewhere reading "Thanks, Barry, for being my fan" that a friend's mom got for three or four of us ten year olds at the time this movie was released in the mid 1950s. It was the first movie I saw ten times. And I wasn't alone; Murphy was a national icon. The movie truly is a classic; tightly directed, poignant, honest, accurate, and showing gripping combat without being gory or maudlin. It sometimes decends into travelogue movie-theater type newsreel moments, but these are thankfully rare and forgiveable. On the other hand, this is an interesting and absolutely true story of a common and uneducated boy from rural Texas who wanted more than anything to be a soldier and serve his country, and his subsequent deeds and patriotism above and beyond the call of duty inspired a whole generation of us who wanted to imitate his call to country. Unfortunately we walked into another time and the miasma of Vietnam. But that's another story for another time. Escape back to a time when the moral choices were clearer, and a real live hero was available to act his way memorably through an accurate recounting of his extraordinary if abbreviated military career. He may be gone too soon, the victim of a plane crash in the early 1970s, but his lifetime admirers remain. Enjoy!
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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gutsy performance by star, November 23, 1999
This is one of my favorite war films for several reasons. One is that it is always fascinating to see how a book is translated into film, and in this case, Murphy's story is told very well. And I can't remember many other films where the author plays himself! Though not the best war film ever made, it does tell the story the way Murphy wanted it told, through the eyes of the everyday soldier. What makes the film stand out to me is that Murhpy gives a more gutsy performance than most people can realize. It was learned many years later that he suffered from recurring nightmares about the horrors he saw in war, and one can only imagine what it was like to have to recreate so many painful memories, especially the scene where his best friend(played by Charles Drake) dies in his arms. Though the character had a different name, the scene is almost exactly the way it happened. Perhaps what I take from this is how war can so drastically change a person. Murhphy entered the war as an underage oprphan who initially was thought unfit for combat, and went on to become our most decorated combat soldier. While it does get a little cliched at times, this movie is enjoyable because it allows us to see the real hero is the common foot soldier, without whom the war could not have been won.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'm embarassed, September 29, 2003
I have to say that after I saw this movie, I was a little embarassed that I had never heard of Audie Murphy before, especially since I'm 37 years old. This guy epitomizes the term "war hero" and his story needs to be retold. I'd love to see this remade so that more generations of people would know about him. The current version was great, especially because Audie plays himself. A must watch, especially for anyone who doesn't know anything about him.
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