Escape to the Movies: Act of Valor

[Waaghpowa]

I respect the hell out of the military, too, Bob. I also know I respect them best by admitting I don't belong anywhere near them. Awesome review.

The respect should go both ways. We should respect the people in the military for the risks they are taking to protect our nation while they should respect other peoples decision to not join the military whether it be because we don't belong, don't believe in violence, not wanting to fight what they don't believe in etc. Every now and then I get a military guy at work who is disrespectful in that regard.

 

[bravetoaster]

Having served in the military (US Army) myself, I can tell you that the real job of the military is actually the complete opposite. The job of the military is actually to save lives, and to defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic ...first and foremost.

Yes the military does teach you to kill and most of my combat training centered around becoming more efficient at it, but the real goal of the military is always defense first, and to kill only as a last resort.

That's all well and good as a theory (well, kind of. Killing humans is wrong no matter what the circumstance, but at least killing as a final resort in the defense of oneself/others is understandable, if not forgivable), but has that ever actually been practiced by the US military? If so, when?

I'm genuinely not trying to be antagonistic or anything here, I just don't see how or when the US military has actually served as a defensive force (at least not in my lifetime, probably not my parents' or grandparents', either).

 

[anthony87]

Was that little stab at people who think it's in poor taste to call fans of the Transformers movies idiots really necessary?

Seems kinda petty if you ask me considering Bob obviously saw the comments in the last video but rather than actually address it he just makes a snide little remark at the beginning of the next video.

Real fucking mature.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

Not a video comment: MODS I AM SORRY, I DID NOT MEAN TO PUSH THE REPORT BUTTON

 

[conanthegamer]

I don't know if Movie Bob actually reads this, but I have a half @$$ apology for him. He was making comments in the reviews of Transformers 3 and Immortals about militarism. Which I consider highly suspect of an argument. With the rise radicals who would call the military "baby killers", maybe I was a little sensitive about it. I have an older who is in his late forties that his all sorts of medical issues due to his service with the rangers. My younger brother served in Uzbekistan and Afghanistan as an Air Force fire fighter. And my mother gave 21 years of her life as an Air Force nurse. As a kid my mother, step father, older brother, and I lived over in Ankara, Turkey (my younger brother was adopted while over there). Also had 2 uncles who were in the Marines. I was the black sheep of the family. I didn't go in and after 9/11 happened my back was to much of a problem to enlist. So when some one attacks the military I will confront, I don't care who they are (or who they think they are). When I seen the pic for the review, I looked at it for a minute debating if I want to see it. And said the heck with it. I have to say it was a fair review.

P.S. I'm pretty sure we don't see eye to eye on much. Like your review of The Iron Lady. You commented on her union "busting". But forgot to mention that before she became prime minister of England. The country was referred to as the sick man of Europe and after she left England rebounded from it's fiscal sickness.

 

[daxterx2005]

Rita repulsa in a bob review?
Epic as shit!

 

[Madcat75]

Why do people keep saying that just because the SEALS and Delta are American they are the "best in the world", they are not even close, the best in the world are the British SAS and SBS and the Israeli Sayeret.

 

[hermes]

This review is awful. Yeah, I get that Navy Seals are bad asses, but he is here to talk about the movie. He spends more than half of the video giving a disclaimer about them being awesome and then repeats the point several times in case someone miss it.

But, you know what? A lot of people work in movies after they worked on honorable works, and a lot of people work in movies that could kick my ass all the way to south america, but that is independent of the work they do in the movie and the quality of the movie itself. I don't expect him to go "Spy Kids 4 is not so terrible because Danny Trejo is a rehabilitated drug addict and a lightweight champion", nor "Ice-T and Micheal Caine were in the army and even fought on wars; so I guess Goldmember gets a pass". If they are not good actors or are in a bad movie, that is it, period. Games like Call of Duty employ several real army and seal veterans as consultants, yet that doesn't prevent him to make a cheap shoot at them.

And then, when he is actually talking about the movie (instead of apologizing to the people in it), we realize its no different than 1.000 other war movies out there: a Tom Clancy story, dialogue sucks, "slow motion closeups, buddy cop small talk, gravely monologues about fathers and sons, legacy and honor, a bad guy working out on a yacht with bikini models, and a terrorist attack out of 24 fan fiction". The real soldiers in it are more like a gimmick.

 

[Hungry Donner]

OT: Moviebob seemed to be upset in the quick facts at the end because the US military doesn't rent out its stuff unless people make them out to be the good guys. I'm curious, do you think ANYBODY would contribute to a film that makes them look bad?

But does ID4 make the military look bad?

Stargate SG-1 created the NID because the Air Force didn't approve of their original plan: a corrupt group of airmen. This makes sense to me, but it seems rather silly for the military to object to ID4's portrayal of the Roswell coverup.

 

[uneek]

This review is awful. Yeah, I get that Navy Seals are bad asses, but he is here to talk about the movie. He spends more than half of the video giving a disclaimer about them being awesome and then repeats the point several times in case someone miss it.

But, you know what? A lot of people work in movies after they worked on honorable works, and a lot of people work in movies that could kick my ass all the way to south america, but that is independent of the work they do in the movie and the quality of the movie itself. I don't expect him to go "Spy Kids 4 is not so terrible because Danny Trejo is a rehabilitated drug addict and a lightweight champion", nor "Ice-T and Micheal Caine were in the army and even fought on wars; so I guess Goldmember gets a pass". If they are not good actors or are in a bad movie, that is it, period. Games like Call of Duty employ several real army and seal veterans as consultants, yet that doesn't prevent him to make a cheap shoot at them.

And then, when he is actually talking about the movie (instead of apologizing to the people in it), we realize its no different than 1.000 other war movies out there: a Tom Clancy story, dialogue sucks, "slow motion closeups, buddy cop small talk, gravely monologues about fathers and sons, legacy and honor, a bad guy working out on a yacht with bikini models, and a terrorist attack out of 24 fan fiction". The real soldiers in it are more like a gimmick.

But he thought that if he didn't bring it up, people might complain about it. He just can't win can he?

 

[uneek]

Was that little stab at people who think it's in poor taste to call fans of the Transformers movies idiots really necessary?

Seems kinda petty if you ask me considering Bob obviously saw the comments in the last video but rather than actually address it he just makes a snide little remark at the beginning of the next video.

Real fucking mature.

At least he shows that he read them.

 

[Coreless]

Having served in the military (US Army) myself, I can tell you that the real job of the military is actually the complete opposite. The job of the military is actually to save lives, and to defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic ...first and foremost.

Yes the military does teach you to kill and most of my combat training centered around becoming more efficient at it, but the real goal of the military is always defense first, and to kill only as a last resort.

That's all well and good as a theory (well, kind of. Killing humans is wrong no matter what the circumstance, but at least killing as a final resort in the defense of oneself/others is understandable, if not forgivable), but has that ever actually been practiced by the US military? If so, when?

I'm genuinely not trying to be antagonistic or anything here, I just don't see how or when the US military has actually served as a defensive force (at least not in my lifetime, probably not my parents' or grandparents', either).

I was merely trying to convey to you how people in the military feel about their job. Unless you have served in the military I wouldn't expect you to see that or to understand it in the same way. You obviously feel a certain way about the military and from what I gather from your response you have strong views regarding wars past and present. With that said, I think it would be best for me not to give my opinion on the matter because really its all going to boil down to how you personally feel about all those conflicts and the subject matter as a whole.

 

[thekingofcuba]

Fun fact: the best possible anagram of "Act of Valor" is "Taco Flavor".

And now this movie is making me hungry.

 

[Krion_Vark]

Wasn't there this big horror film this month about a guy trying to sell a haunted house? Because he mentioned it in is article but hasn't mentioned it in these videos.

That was The Woman In Black, and it's North American release was a couple weeks ago. It's pretty good if you want real old school creep factor horror and don't need blood guts and gore to make something "scary."

Are you sure they're not thinking about Silent House, which isn't scheduled to release until the 9th?

No, I don't know for sure. I just checked out the trailer for Silent House and it looks really good. It's tough to say which one was on the poster's mind, but both deal with haunted houses and more traditional horror type scares. I don't recall Bob mentioning Silent House anywhere, but I'm sure I could have missed it. Good catch though as I now want to see Silent House lol

I'm pretty sure its silent house seeing as how in the first 20 seconds of the trailer the girl mentions her dad is renovating the house for sale. Doesn't actually say that its a haunted house though. I got the feeling that someone was in the house when I saw the trailer.

 

[emptyspace]

my bad just saw the trailer and it was just an editing problem. Odd

 

[hermes]

This review is awful. Yeah, I get that Navy Seals are bad asses, but he is here to talk about the movie. He spends more than half of the video giving a disclaimer about them being awesome and then repeats the point several times in case someone miss it.

But, you know what? A lot of people work in movies after they worked on honorable works, and a lot of people work in movies that could kick my ass all the way to south america, but that is independent of the work they do in the movie and the quality of the movie itself. I don't expect him to go "Spy Kids 4 is not so terrible because Danny Trejo is a rehabilitated drug addict and a lightweight champion", nor "Ice-T and Micheal Caine were in the army and even fought on wars; so I guess Goldmember gets a pass". If they are not good actors or are in a bad movie, that is it, period. Games like Call of Duty employ several real army and seal veterans as consultants, yet that doesn't prevent him to make a cheap shoot at them.

And then, when he is actually talking about the movie (instead of apologizing to the people in it), we realize its no different than 1.000 other war movies out there: a Tom Clancy story, dialogue sucks, "slow motion closeups, buddy cop small talk, gravely monologues about fathers and sons, legacy and honor, a bad guy working out on a yacht with bikini models, and a terrorist attack out of 24 fan fiction". The real soldiers in it are more like a gimmick.

But he thought that if he didn't bring it up, people might complain about it. He just can't win can he?

I don't have a problem with him talking about it. He often gets meta explaining the history of a movie concept and this was a rather big elephant in the room. However, I found the apologetic, pandering disclaimer that lasts almost half the video unprofessional.

The quality of the movie and the nature of the people working in it are two different matters and, as a movie reviewer his job is to talk of the first. Besides, its not the first movie or game to employ real war veterans in several roles of the production, yet he didn't had a problem attacking those (case in point, Transformers).