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Post by obiwan27 on Jul 17, 2019 7:39:28 GMT 12
Hi all, in more movie news the Australian film "Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan" is screening as part of the NZ International Film Festival in August. Christchurch listings are for Wed 14 Aug and 16 Aug at the Isaac Theatre Royal. Link to listing here : www.nziff.co.nz/2019/christchurch/danger-close-the-battle-of-long-tan/I think the trailer was posted elsewhere but here it is, for anyone that hasn't seen it :
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Post by obiwan27 on Jul 18, 2019 14:19:53 GMT 12
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Post by tbf25o4 on Jul 18, 2019 14:30:11 GMT 12
A couple of Kiwi soldiers were involved directly at Long Tan and received accolades for their work
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Post by ErrolC on Jul 18, 2019 14:30:11 GMT 12
I'm going to an Auckland showing, as well as the Apollo 11 screening on Saturday.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 18, 2019 15:29:50 GMT 12
Neither film is scheduled for screening in Cambridge, yet
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Post by nighthawknz on Jul 18, 2019 18:03:18 GMT 12
A couple of Kiwi soldiers were involved directly at Long Tan and received accolades for their work The kiwi gunnery crews and the 2 or 3 kiwi spotters who were directing the fire and was bringing in the gun fire only metres away from themselves... there is a good doco on this some on the youtube machine
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Post by obiwan27 on Jul 25, 2019 14:46:35 GMT 12
Just posted on the FB site for the movie is this short You Tube behind the scenes doco.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 3, 2019 10:10:54 GMT 12
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Post by ErrolC on Aug 3, 2019 10:48:59 GMT 12
This is a bit harsh The only artillery that is shown is the Kiwi unit, ignoring the Aussie and US support - is this an attempt to rewrite history, or a simplfication to aid telling the larger story?
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Post by angelsonefive on Aug 3, 2019 11:00:44 GMT 12
It has been said by some that truth is the first casualty in war. I think truth is the first casualty in war movies as well.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 3, 2019 12:51:24 GMT 12
Have you seen the film Errol? And is that reviewer mistaken?
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Post by ErrolC on Aug 3, 2019 13:02:47 GMT 12
I have. I assume their facts are correct (and that the film is based on an interpretation of incomplete and in places contradictory accounts), but the spin looks to me to be a double standard.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 3, 2019 13:32:20 GMT 12
I have been reading comments about this article on the New Zealanders At War Facebook group and it seems the reviewer is full of it.
So, is he film as good as it looks/promises?
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Post by angelsonefive on Aug 3, 2019 13:56:14 GMT 12
Something jumped off the page at me as I read that article : "... widely regarded as the great mea culpa of Australian and New Zealand efforts..."
"mea culpa" ? I have little Latin, but as far as I know those words mean " I am guilty " or " I am to blame ".
Whisky Tango Foxtrot ?
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Post by ErrolC on Aug 3, 2019 13:56:47 GMT 12
Yes, very good film, with the normal issues of simplified story and actors grouped too close together etc. I only have a vague knowledge of the 'facts', which I know are disputed. I'm sure there are better places to examine the controversies, but there were clearly issues within the Australian Army at the time that are 'discussed'. Very effective credits using contemporary newsreel etc, an approach I'm sure isn't unique, but certainly gives a punch.
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Post by Mustang51 on Aug 3, 2019 14:42:51 GMT 12
For all you Latin students - or not - mea culpa is "Through my fault...." How about something novel......why not actually see the movie before going into print? Would that be a novel suggestion? When you actually read the entire series of accounts of the battle none are exactly definitive due to what was actually happening. There was no impartial, independent witness sitting in a rubber tree keeping score and making notes in the margin. Kiwis did a magnificent and pivotal job in that action. Reviewers are reviewers. Its is often said of them that they cannot "do" so they criticise. If they don't criticise and get a name then they fade - as most should - into the oblivion they deserve.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 3, 2019 15:09:25 GMT 12
That could be said of any battle too Ando. Every individual taking part has their own experiences and often it may differ wildly from someone down the front line a bit. You see some historians who see a newly publicised account of a well known battle and scoff that it could never have happened as it was not in the history books. That does not mean it didn't happen.
A good case is the revered Aussie scholar who reviewed the excellent Aussie TV series Gallipoli (2015), and he picked up on several things he reckoned never happened. One of them was the Maori haka before a big push. That and the other things he picked up on actually did happen, he'd just never read about them so they were not in his own subjective view of the battle. A rear case where the film makers got it spot on and the historian made a dick of himself.
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Post by Mustang51 on Aug 3, 2019 16:53:32 GMT 12
Dave, You are spot on there. I have spoken to three pilots all involved in the same action flying P.40s in the Pacific and each had a slightly different but totally coherent view of what happened. When you are trying to stay alive and take out the guy who is trying to do the same to you clinical 50 year hindsight is the last thing you are trying to achieve. Lets just watch the movie before there is judgement based on the self-promoting views of some "critic". I have spoken to survivors of the Long Tan Battle personally and each has the same view...….they were bloody lucky against overwhelming odds.
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Post by baz62 on Aug 3, 2019 17:09:24 GMT 12
Don Simms and his wife Sharee, myself and Teresa, Obiwan27 and Johnnyfalcon are off to see it at the Issac Theater on the 14th so we will report back on what we thought. To start out and keep the military flavour we are going to have a meal at the Christchurch RSA first. Haven't been there before so looking forward to it.
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Post by Mustang51 on Aug 3, 2019 18:56:41 GMT 12
Well done Baz. I'll be doing the same at the RSL at Cronulla before I see it
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