Believe it or not, I had never seen Das Boot. Despite war films being my favorite genre, despite not being intimidated by subtitles, despite everything, I just never took the four hours to see it.

I now regret that, because I have discovered the wonder, the genius that is The Boat. It's rightfully a classic, full of man-to-man repartee, suspense and action that elevates it above any generic war flick about submarines (U-571, I'm talking to you).

That it's told in the point of view of the Germans is all the more intriguing, because of the sheer numbers they lost during World War II as the aggressors. 40,000 young men served aboard Nazi U-Boats, and only 10,000 returned home alive. That is a staggering number, and helps you understand why the sailors would be so apt to get drunk and have lots of sex before shipping out to almost certain doom.

This is certainly an anti-war film, as it's not so easy to see the glory of the Fuhrer when you're losing boats and men by the hundreds in the North Atlantic.

The score is fitting for tense moments, if rare in order to get the feel of the silence and crew noises. The positive moments, though, have music that made me giggle, sounding like something off of NFL Films.

The verdict:

Raging Bull
1980, 2 hrs 9 min., Rated R. Dir: Martin Scorsese. Cast: Robert De Niro (Jake La Motta), Joe Pesci (Joey La Motta), Cathy Moriarty (Vickie La Motta).

I don't care if Raging Bull is No. 24 on the AFI Top 100 list or nominated for an Oscar and De Niro won a Best Actor Academy Award, I didn't like this picture. If I don't care one iota about the characters, then I'm not going to like it; actually when I think about it the same reason Dad gives for hating The Bonfire of the Vanities. I am my father's son.

Sure, De Niro was great in his depiction of champion boxer Jake La Motta. Yes, Joe Pesci gave a great performance as brother and manager Joey. Of course, Cathy Moriarty was pretty good and definitely sexy as wife Vickie. But I didn't like any of the characters. I only finished the movie because I had to.

What I did think was fantastic were the boxing scenes. The black-and-white film added to this picture, because with color we would've been drawn to the amounts of blood in the ring, but without color we focus more on the hits and why La Motta never falls down but willingly takes numerous hits as personal punishment. The smoky air of the ring is eerie, and the magic shot of the movie for me was when Sugar Ray Robinson was pummeling Jake and stands back for a second that lasts ten, with his face blending into the dark background and smoky air behind before unleashing an astonishing blow that ends the match with a standing technical knockout.

But the movie was not about boxing, those were just the parts I enjoyed most. Because I didn't want to see the main characters act like idiots. Of course, sometimes they mumbled so much I couldn't understand what they said anyway, but I didn't care.

If you want a view from someone who actually like the movie, then here's excerpts from Roger Ebert's review:

Raging Bull is not a film about boxing but about a man with paralyzing jealousy and sexual insecurity, for whom being punished in the ring serves as a confession, penance and absolution. It is no accident that the screenplay never concerns itself with fight strategy. For Jake La Motta, what happens during a fight is controlled not by tactics but by his fears and drives.

From Leonard Maltin's review:

Extraordinarily compelling look at prizefighter Jake La Motta, whose leading opponent outside the ring was always himself. That such an unappealing man could inspire so vivid a portrait is a tribute to the collaboration of Scorsese, De Niro, and writers Paul Schrader and Mardick Martin. There's not a false not in characterization or period detail. De Niro and editor Thelma Schoonmaker won richly deserved Academy Awards.

The Right Stuff
1983, 3 hrs 9 min., Rated PG. Dir: Philip Kaufman. Cast: Chuck Yeager (Sam Shepard), Barbara Hershey (Glennis Yeager), Scott Glenn (Alan Shepard), Ed Harris (John Glenn), Mary Jo Deschanel (Annie Glenn), Dennis Quaid (Gordon Cooper), Pamela Reed (Trudy Cooper), Fred Ward (Gus Grissom), Veronica Cartwright (Betty Grissom), Charles Frank (Scott Carpenter), Scott Paulin (Deke Slayton), Lance Henriksen (Walter M. Schirra), Donald Moffat has (Lyndon Johnson), Jeff Goldblum and Harry Shearer (recruiters).

This is certainly the right film to see after visiting Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center, like I did with my father in mid-December. The film is like a continuing education on what I've learned on top of what I already knew. Sure there are a few errors in the historical facts, but not enough to subtract from the the overall value.

Starting with Chuck Yeager's (played by Sam Shepard) breaking the sound barrier to Hot Dog Gordon Cooper's launch in 1963, the telling of the start of America's space program, The Right Stuff is full of cocky and brash young men looking to punch a hole in the sky. You have to be arrogant, brave or just plain crazy to pull these unpredictable stunts of breaking all the 'rules' to break the sound barrier and reach beyond our atmosphere. Dozens died in the pursuit, and many a man and family had their fair share of stress in just not knowing what to expect.

There's a big cast to fill the substantial shoes of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, including Scott Glenn (Alan Shepard), Ed Harris (John Glenn), Dennis Quaid (Cooper), Fred Ward (Gus Grissom), Charles Frank (Scott Carpenter), Scott Paulin (Deke Slayton) and Lance Henriksen (Walter M. Schirra). On the sidelines includes Barbara Hershey (Glennis Yeager), Mary Jo Deschanel (Annie Glenn), Veronica Cartwright (Betty Grissom) and Pamela Reed (Trudy Cooper).

Donald Moffat has a fun time with then-VP Lyndon Johnson, and Jeff Goldblum and Harry Shearer have bit parts as comedic relief, searching for the right pilots to take the plunge into space.

Harris, as Glenn, shows him as a politician in training, a Dudley Do Right who may be the only one doing the mission as a favor to his country. Veep Johnson is treated as a comic book spaz in search of personal glory (which is pretty accurate, actually).

Little things matter most in this adaptation of Tom Wolfe's best-selling novel, such as Alan Shepard having to urinate badly while waiting on the launch pad for hours on the first manned flight. Don't know if it really happened, but it is sure likely.

Between the moments of exhilaration among the men's exploits, the film pauses for bits of personal time with the people, usually between husbands and wives dealing with a dangerous and ultimately lonely (wives not allowed to live with astronauts) profession.

I also like that the movie doesn't just leave Yeager behind when the Mercury astronauts begin their work - Wolfe and director Philip Kaufman realize that there are still other achievements and barriers within our atmosphere that also have the 'right stuff'. The movie never actually says what the 'Right Stuff' is, but it also doesn't need to.

We've certainly come a long way from cramped rockets, especially since Shuttle flights to an International Space Station are almost routine, and rich folks fly into space with the Russians for a price tag of $20 million.

Still, we'll never forget the glorious achievements of the original bunch, the pioneers to "How the future began."

FYI: The Right Stuff won four Oscars, including Best Film Editing, Film Effects, Sound and Original Score. It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Sam Shepard), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration and Best Cinematography. Trivia: The real Yeager has a cameo role as a bartender.

The verdict: