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Kateada (4 KP) rated Dunkirk (2017) in Movies
Dec 10, 2017
A Historical Perspective
If you're looking for a hero or the traditional emotional connection to the characters, you'll not like this movie. I found it a brilliant look into what happened, the prejudices, the sacrifices, and humanity itself. I highly recommend this movie to everyone wanting to learn more about war, humans in war, or WW2 itself.
Sky Sharks (2020)
6.0
Rate It
Movie
A team of Arctic geologists stumble across an abandoned laboratory in which the Nazis developed an...
ClareR (5603 KP) rated Friedrichstrasse 19 in Books
Jun 11, 2023
Friedrichstrasse 19 is 6 stories set in the same building over its lifetime. We see Berlin through the eyes of those that lived in the building between 1906 and 2019, and there are some serious historical moments as well as cultural highlights: a woman in the RAF (Rote Armee Fraktion) in 1986; a photographers apprentice in 1906; an unhappily married Jewish woman who meets an actress pre-WW2; the Berlin Airlift post WW2 era, when the actress is trying to find her Jewish lover (she knows there’s little chance); 1969 and a photographer finds a young GDR escapee and decides to help her; 2019, a divorcee originally from the East, who met her ex-husband on the night that the Wall fell.
All intriguing characters and stories that give a glimpse into urban life in Berlin, as well as its history. It probably helped that I was familiar with the history of Germany generally (thanks to a German degree many years ago!), and I make a point of reading fiction set in Germany when/ if I come across it. And this is a pleasure when I come across books like Friedrichstrasse 19!
All intriguing characters and stories that give a glimpse into urban life in Berlin, as well as its history. It probably helped that I was familiar with the history of Germany generally (thanks to a German degree many years ago!), and I make a point of reading fiction set in Germany when/ if I come across it. And this is a pleasure when I come across books like Friedrichstrasse 19!
British Private Aircraft 1946-70: Volume 2: An A to Z of Club and Private Aeroplanes
Book
The second volume in a two-part series on post-WW2 British light aircraft, this book describes and...
James Koppert (2698 KP) rated Hitler's Secret in Books
May 31, 2020
Exhilarating
Pace. This book has it, the most brilliant, non stop, don't put the book down pace. Despite finding WW2 fascinating I never thought of liking a spy thriller set then but actually it worked incredibly. Imagine being an enemy in an evil fascist state full of vile nazis and corruption, it is tense from start to finish, never letting up easing off. It will have your heart racing and reading just one more chapter every time. Extraordinarily exhilarating, Hitlers Secret is better than Bond.
The Craggus (360 KP) rated Overlord (2018) in Movies
Nov 7, 2018
Formulaic WW2 action horror Overlord (2018) is Nazi movie you may be expecting. #Review
Much less of an out-and-out horror film than the trailers would suggest, “Overlord” is, in fact, a brutal and tense World War II action adventure which belatedly takes a horror turn in its final act.
As stylish as it is, it doesn’t stray very far from the ‘big book of war movie tropes’ as rewritten by Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” and much of its sound and fury war-is-Hell big moments have already appeared in the marketing...
FULl REVIEW: http://bit.ly/CraggusOverlord
As stylish as it is, it doesn’t stray very far from the ‘big book of war movie tropes’ as rewritten by Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” and much of its sound and fury war-is-Hell big moments have already appeared in the marketing...
FULl REVIEW: http://bit.ly/CraggusOverlord
rebeccareadsyt (8 KP) rated The Tattooist of Auschwitz in Books
Jan 17, 2019
Absolutely heart-wrenching yet beautiful at the same time
I picked this up last summer when it was first released, as I am a sucker for war fiction, particularly anything to do with WW2 and the Holocaust.
I really liked that the author took the time to get to know Lale, his history and then write about it with such care. The characters were captivating, and you really did feel almost every emotion going when reading.
Read in under 24 hours, an impressive feat for me!
I really liked that the author took the time to get to know Lale, his history and then write about it with such care. The characters were captivating, and you really did feel almost every emotion going when reading.
Read in under 24 hours, an impressive feat for me!
Erika (17788 KP) rated Hacksaw Ridge (2016) in Movies
Sep 30, 2019 (Updated Oct 1, 2019)
While this movie was pretty good, it wasn't as good as everyone thought it was. I imagine if you're a fan of faith-based films, this might be something you're interested in.
The main character is conscientious objector during WW2, but he wants to help people. Obviously, this is going to cause issues, which the film showed.
I think this movie had pacing issues, and was too long. Some of the scenes were drawn out way too much. It's not something that left a huge impression on me, and I'm not planning on ever watching it again.
The main character is conscientious objector during WW2, but he wants to help people. Obviously, this is going to cause issues, which the film showed.
I think this movie had pacing issues, and was too long. Some of the scenes were drawn out way too much. It's not something that left a huge impression on me, and I'm not planning on ever watching it again.
David McK (3245 KP) rated Fatherland in Books
Dec 20, 2022
Robert Harris's best-selling alt-history novel, basically asking what the world would be like if the Nazis had won WW2, and following the investigation by a police officer in the 1960s when a naked body is found floating in a lake on the outskirts of Berlin just ahead of Hitler's 75th birthday, leading to the uncovering of a vast conspiracy...
A conspiracy covering up events, in the 'real' world, anyone with even the slightest knowledge of WW2 history would know about. And rightfully so.
That, I felt, was my biggest problem with the novel - there was just no sense of mystery or intrigue, no real 'what-will-happen-to-the-characters-next?' that made me really want to read on - indeed, there were times that I had to force myself to continue rather than starting another book.
From a personal POV, I think I would have preferred more emphasis on the the alt-history portions of the story (how did Germany win the war? What happened in the UK? To name but two ...) than on the central mystery: to me, at least, the balance is out of whack, favouring the mystery over the little nuggets of such information carefully doled out throughout the course of the novel.
I'm also not that much a fan of cliff-hanger endings, personally ...
A conspiracy covering up events, in the 'real' world, anyone with even the slightest knowledge of WW2 history would know about. And rightfully so.
That, I felt, was my biggest problem with the novel - there was just no sense of mystery or intrigue, no real 'what-will-happen-to-the-characters-next?' that made me really want to read on - indeed, there were times that I had to force myself to continue rather than starting another book.
From a personal POV, I think I would have preferred more emphasis on the the alt-history portions of the story (how did Germany win the war? What happened in the UK? To name but two ...) than on the central mystery: to me, at least, the balance is out of whack, favouring the mystery over the little nuggets of such information carefully doled out throughout the course of the novel.
I'm also not that much a fan of cliff-hanger endings, personally ...
Madbatdan82 (341 KP) rated Overlord (2018) in Movies
Mar 12, 2019
Gore - what is it good for?
I don't think it's spoilery to say don't come to this film expecting a typical WW2 film. Yes it's set on the eve of D Day but most people know by now this is a bloody horror film not a war film. It's gory - oh so gory! There is one scene in particular that is so good that I was cringing and laughing at the same time - and yes you will end up laughing as this is not a serious film. But it doesn't try to be. It's Nazis getting very violently dispatched and honestly who doesn't enjoy that.