GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Tockinit not horrible nor great

Console best movie i've ever seen.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

dougdoepke Hard to believe that much of this spectacular was filmed around greater LA— Chatsworth, Agoura Hills, et al. The final charge across open spaces is remarkable for its time. Where, I wonder, did Warners get enough horsemen to fill out the screen. In fact, the entire movie is bursting with massive troop movements that remain impressive. Still, many of those sudden horse plunges during the fabled cavalry charge were brought about by trip wires sending horses and men head over heels. Dramatic, yes; but even crueler since many of the mounts were killed as a result. Thankfully the practice was discontinued largely as a result of the body count here.The storyline fills in a background to Tennyson's famous poem, taking the usual Hollywood liberties with the original. Here it's not just the Russians opposing the Empire: it's also perfidious west Indians. Likely what we would now call Pakistan. Here they ally with the Russians after massacring civilians from the British fortress who believe they're being given safe passage. Of course, this sets up the brigade's desperate cavalry charge in revenge.Certainly, Flynn is at the peak of his swashbuckling career. In my book, he's never had an equal, and a much better actor than he credited himself. De Haviland has only an ancillary role, mainly to provide a little relief from all the guys and inject a little romance and plot rivalry between brothers (Flynn & Knowles). I still don't know how they did the desert fortress. It looks so real I couldn't spot a hint of matting. But did they build it, in addition to all the other expenses. All in all, the production is a marvel, never losing the human element that is always a risk with the new-fangled digital.Anyway, in my little book, it's a look back at vintage Hollywood hitting on all eight even if the message is "rah, rah, British Empire".

OldFilmLover The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) is a beautiful, polished epic film.The cast is superb, and the script and editing are so well-done that even at over 115 minutes the film never drags. This is one of Errol Flynn's best roles, and one of Patric Knowles's best roles as well. Flynn is brave and daring as usual, but without the flippant characterization of some of his other roles -- and the more serious performance is suited to the gravity of the story. The supporting cast of fine British and American actors is just right, with Spring Byington turning in her usual sparkling performance, and Nigel Bruce, C. Henry Gordon, David Niven, Donald Crisp, and Henry Stephenson making real contributions as well. Olivia de Havilland is fine in her role as the love interest of two brothers, doing as well as her role allows in a film which is basically a film about men.The photography, set design and music in this film are beautiful, state of the art for the time, making the experience of watching it enjoyable even if one is not paying much attention to the plot or dialogue. The final battle scene is stunning.Why this film was not nominated for more Academy Awards, I have no idea. I'm also stunned that its IMDb average is only 7.1. A grade of 7.1 implies mediocrity. This is not a mediocre film, but a great one. Anything less than 8 out of 10 would be a gross injustice, and a case could be made for 9 out of 10. It was the equivalent in its day of the "blockbuster" films of our day, but unlike those of our day, it did not rely on computerized special effects, but on fine craftsmanship in every aspect of the film-making. In a vacuum, I would probably rate this film as an 8.1 or 8.2, but I give it a 9 here as a sort of counter-balance, because 7.1 is ridiculously low. It would help if IMDb allowed half-stars; in that case I would have gone for 8.5. The film is available in a slim-case DVD edition in one of the 5-DVD Errol Flynn collections. This edition has the full 115+ minutes of the film, as well as some interesting period extras in the Warner Night at the Movies feature. The image and sound in this edition are very good.

The_Other_Snowman This is Hollywood History at its best. It has nothing to do with the real Crimean War, the Battle of Balaclava, or the Charge of the Light Brigade. It has everything to do with Errol Flynn, Olivia deHavilland, Michael Curtiz, and Max Steiner. Basically, this is a quintessential Warner Bros. adventure film of 1936, one of the best of the breed.The story starts in Southern California -- or rather, Northern India -- on the outskirts of the British Empire. This setting had been picked up and dusted off after 1935's "Lives of a Bengal Lancer", and would be recreated for "Gunga Din" a few years later, with the same locations and similar plots. Flynn leads a company of British lancers in skirmishes with the local rajah, the villainous Surat Khan -- you can tell he's the villain because of his evil goatee -- and a betrayal and a massacre leads to a mission of vengeance, which reaches its climax in Tennyson's Valley of Death in the Crimea.Opposite Flynn is, naturally, Olivia deHavilland, without whom Flynn would be lost. Patric Knowles, who played Will Scarlett in Flynn's "Adventures of Robin Hood", is Flynn's brother; David Niven is his sidekick; and Henry Stephenson, Donald Crisp, and Nigel Bruce are the top brass. Director Michael Curtiz brings out another energetic performance from Flynn, although his character here lacks the depths of the heroes of "Captain Blood" or "The Dawn Patrol". Max Steiner's score complements the action perfectly."The Charge of the Light Brigade" is quite an epic production, and notorious for the number of horses killed in the battle scenes. That knowledge puts a bit of a damper on the excitement, but it also led to the safety restrictions in place today, banning trip-wires and ensuring the well-being of animals in movies; so, ultimately a good thing. No such measures were ever taken to protect history from the ravages of Hollywood screenwriters: Surat Khan and the country of Suristan never existed, nor did Flynn's 27th Lancers, and although there was indeed a charge at Balaklava, it didn't happen for the reasons depicted in this film. But Flynn and Curtiz didn't care, and neither should the audience.

Beam Me Up I give it a decent grade for action and drama. But like the poem of the same name, the movie glorifies a fine example of stupidity. The charge accomplished nothing militarily. While the brigade was not completely destroyed, it suffered terribly, with 118 men killed, 127 wounded and about 60 taken prisoner. After regrouping, only 195 men still had horses. The futility of the action and its recklessness prompted the commanding French Marshal Pierre Bosquet to state: "It is magnificent, but it is not war. It is madness." The Russian commanders believed that the British soldiers were drunk.So, the next time someone says, "Ours is not to reason why, ours but to do & die," remind them that it's from a poem about a military suicide run.