Johnny Got His Gun

This classic from 1971 is one of those movies that most people have probably never seen, though many Metallica fans may know. Many clips from the movie were used in the video for the 1988 song "One" off of the And Justice for All CD. In fact, the video was ranked 38th on the MTV Top 100 Greatest Videos.

Johnny Got His Gun stars Timothy Bottoms as Joe Bonham, a young man who joins the military during World War I and is sent to the trenches in France. Soon after getting there, Bonham is hit by a shell and ends up in a hospital, only to realize that he has lost his legs, his arms, his sight, his hearing, and his lower jaw, though the song declares that he lost these from a landmine. He now has no way to communicate to with the outside world.

The movie then becomes a series of flashbacks, visits with a helpful spirit played by Donald Sutherland, and dialog with himself in his mind.

As the movie progresses, Joe must learn to adapt to his surroundings. He figures out how to keep track of time. Meanwhile, a friendly nurse has a feeling that there's still a person inside, and she communicates with him through touch.

After a visit to the spirit of Donald Sutherland, he figures out that he can use Morse code to communicate by thrashing his head in code. Doctors soon figure this out, but they do not like the message.

Jason Robarbs stars as Joe's father in this movie that flashes between black and white and color. The movie was directed by Dalton Trumbo, also known for Papillon, Exodus, Spartacus, and probably his most famous work being Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.

The movie is not the greatest quality, nor does it contain the greatest acting, but it's one of those subjects that really makes you think, "Wow, that would be terrible if that really happened" and perhaps it did. And now when I see the video for One by Metallica, I can say, "I saw that movie!"

Johnny Got His Gun is rated PG as some material may not be suitable for children. I know that the black and white footage of the armless, legless, faceless man were disturbing to me....and I'm 36!

Because of the novelty of this movie I give it movie 3 stars.

Convoy

One of my greatest interests as a young child was tractor trailers. I had a shiney folder for school that displayed the new 1979 Peterbuilt trucks. This was my favorite folder ever. Needless to say, Sam Peckinpah's 1978 movie hased on C.W. McCall's song Convoy was one of my favorite movies.

The movie stars Highwayman member Kris Kristofferson, who I learned dated Janis Joplin and was married to Rita Coolidge (We're All Alone). Also in the movie is Ali MacGraw, Ernest Borgnine (known to kids today as Mermaid Man from Sponge Bob Square Pants), and Burt Young, most notable as Paulie, Adrian's brother in the Rocky movies.

The movie is a classic trucker movie, though there seem to be many parallels between this movie and the 1977 Smokey and the Bandit movie, except that Convoy was not a comedy. Kristofferson plays "the Rubber Duck", which is his CB handle. He picks up MacGraw at a truckstop after a full fledged fight with the police, most notably Sheriff Lyle Wallace, the "Cottonmouth", played by Borgnine. Sheriff Wallace is a corrupt racist cop that demands cash payments for tickets and is always out to get truckers.

The rest of the movie sees the truckers racing out of Arizona to escape the law. However, the Sheriff gets the Governor and federal officials after him. There's plenty of smash-em up, crash-em up scenes. And the trucker lingo is great.

One of my favorite lines in the movie is when one of the trucks overturns after turning left on a road. The lady driving the truck, nicknamed the Black Widow, is a black woman. She gets out of the truck stomping on the ground yelling, "This piece of white shit! I knew I should have bought a black truck!"

Another great line was when Ali MacGraw was questioning the Rubber Duck about his mission. He basically said that he wasn't on a mission, just running from the law. She says that there was a mile of trucks following him. He turned and corrected her. "There not following me. I just happen to be in front."

And finally, when asked why he was called the Rubber Duck, he repsonds, "Because it rhymes with "luck." See, my daddy always told me to be just like a duck. Stay smooth on the surface and paddle like the devil underneath!"

The movie is a little under 2 hours long and is rated PG, which is deceiving because it's a 1978 PG. At the beginning of the movie, it said it was rated PG for some adult content. I figured this to mean adult situations. No. This meant lot's of cussing, though no F-bombs, lots of fighting, a nice pear of breasts in the sleeper cab, and some sexual situations.

This movie has more sentimental value for me, so my rating is probably bias. I gave this movie 4 stars. It has trucks, country music, pretty girls, and fighting. What more could I guy ask for?

Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo

I have fond memories of Herbie the Love Bug from my childhood. The lovable and funny car was part of a family-friendly series of movies.

So last week when my kids were browsing through the children's DVD's and picking out some of the worst stuff they could find, I gently directed them to some Disney classics. I said, "How about this one?!!!" "Yeah-Yeah!!!!" Oh, how easy it is sometimes to manipulate children!

On Friday my son had a friend over. They decided to watch a movie. My son suggested the Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo movie.

His friend said, "What is that?"

"Oh, it's this movie about a car that comes to life."

"Oh!!! Cool!!! Just like Transformers?!!!"

Uh, maybe we shouldn't watch this movie. Finally we watched it on Friday night. In this timeless classic from 1977, Dean Jones and Mr. Furley (also known as Don Knotts) work together to qualify for the race across France. They run into the beautiful Julie Sommars. Herbie falls in love with her car and has to be coerced through the movie to concentrate on the race.

In the meantime, a gem heist has occurred at a local museum and the gem was hidden in Herbie gas line. One of the bad guys is Roy Kinnear, also known as Veruca Salt's father in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

As with all Disney movies, the good guys win in the end. As far as quality movies, this one is far from the top. However, for a good child-friendly laugher, this one quite neatly fits into its niche.

I give this movie 3 stars. It serves its intended audience well.