No contest: The Trial of Billy Jack. To cash in on the success of the original, they just tripled everything–including the length–and the points that were laid on with a trowel in the first were laid on with a steamshovel in the sequel.
The National Guard doesn’t just fire on students, they shoot a little kid. Not just a little kid, but a little crippled kid. Not just a little crippled kid, but a little crippled kid holding a bunny rabbit … And every scene does that!
Contrary to some opinions, I think American made movies about WWII bend over backward to be nuanced and show multiple sides. They are positively genteel compared to many European movies which really go to the edge in their portrayal of Germans - films like this and this
What with all this talk of Nazis, how about the CAPTAIN AMERICA movie?
Despite repeatedly being stamped 4F, he makes it into basic training by indicating that he doesn’t want to kill anyone but is just, y’know, anti-bully. That’s why he’s in position to earn super-powers by selflessly throwing himself on a grenade to save his buddies; as is helpfully spelled out, the serum only amplifies one’s character, which is why the bad guy who got dosed is hideously deformed, and why a good man’s compassion gets mirrored by good looks.
How bad is the bad guy? Even the Nazis are shocked – “Berlin is on this map!” – upon realizing Germany is as much a target as NYC. “His target is everywhere!” But our POW-liberating hero and his happy scrappy multiethnic band of brothers come through and the day is saved, with Captain Humble Politeness unhesitatingly sacrificing himself to foil a last-ditch attack on endangered civilians.
Subtlety? Who needs subtlety? Chris Evans plays it straighter than Christopher Reeve played Superman, which I didn’t actually think was possible.
Well. in Captain America, the “too small” Chris Evans was, in reality, about the correct size and weight of an average American GI coming off of ten+ years of Great Depression dieting, so exactitude and logic weren’t things they were going for.
The Invention of Lying.
Nude Nuns With Big Guns. What’s my prize?
When creators of singing poo find a nationalistic voice, the answer is Team America for least subtle film.
The movie was silly, no question. But there was a moment when the Wolverines were about to kill the kid that was forced to swallow the tracking device and the others were saying “if we do kill him what makes them different than us!” and the guy shots and says “we live here”.
I don’t think current Americans, as a culture, understand real sacrifice. It’s great that they don’t have to learn it. But as silly as that movie was it showed a small window into the minds of what other nationalities are experiencing even today.
To American’s invasion is so absurd that any possibility in even a movie is obnoxious, but the point was (in a 1984 movie) to get Americans to understand occupation.
So yeah, not a good movie, but as subtle as it’s subject could be.
Ok, that’s an excellent choice. It’s not Nude Nuns…, but what is?
Starship Troopers deserves at least Honorable Mention.
As much as I adore Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell and their beliefs / politics, the movie Hit and Run was so abashedly shameless in its heavy-handed approach to liberal causes that it made me uncomfortable and embarrassed for them. Geez, guys, beating someone over the head like that just makes you look like a knee jerk reactionary. I can only hope their subtlety and nuance improves with age.
What about it? There are no Nazis in Captain America. It’s all “Hydra” troops.
I just rewatched this and can’t recall - is there a single swastika or authentic Nazi emblem anywhere in it? Or SS flashes?
My point is, we’re shown how bad Hydra is: the Allies and the Axis agree that these are bad guys. (How bad? They heil with both hands!)
There’s no ambiguity. There’s no subtlety. There is only – VILLAINY! Which must be OPPOSED!
Which was perfectly fine. IMHO, that was the right approach for that specific movie to take.
Seriously, it’s Captain America. If it weren’t stark black & white FREEDOM vs TYRANNY it would have completely missed its mark.
I happened to watch the Captain America movie last night. Hydra was presented as the research division of the Nazis, though as the movie progressed, they sort of broke away to do their own thing free of Hitler’s influence. There were plenty of shots of swastikas during the infodump at the beginning, where the bad guy’s history was being introduced.
Have you seen the movie?
Because the Japanese are really not so bad. The boy idolizes the Japanese pilots and never stops. He makes friends and becomes disenchanted with the Americans.
Possibly a little OT, but does anyone else think this would be a good scene for a hypothetical Schwartzenegger movie…?
Arnie: I need your gun.
Guy: You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
(Arnie breaks guy’s neck and picks up the gun. As he does so, he briefly checks guy’s hand.)
Arnie: Huh. Still warm.
There is almost the same scene in Men in Black, when the alien tells the farmer to drop his gun, and the farmer uses the famous phrase. The alien responds, “That is acceptable”, kills him, and uses his skin as a disguise.
True, and I thought about that, but it’s not so much of an Arnold-type quip. It’s a lot more clever, for one thing. 