'71 (2014)

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Good concept, poorly executed.

A different way of telling a story

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Shot mostly in Northern England but depicting Belfast in the year 1971, during the Northern Ireland conflicts. Directed by Yann Demange, have a big cast led by English actor Jack O'Connell.A British soldier, Gary Hook, left in the streets of Belfast after separated from his unit during a riot struggle to find his way back to safety.It is a decent movie, where we can clearly see the three acts structure, simple and straight to the point and the best word I can find to describe it is "Solid". However, its pros is the same as its cons, and its simplicity make the movie not remarkable.The acting is solid as well, nothing over the top as we see in "give me the Oscar" performances, but still good. We can name Jack O'Connell, Barry Keoghan, Sean Harris, Richard Dormer and Charlie Murphy (not the comedian, R.I.P).I was disappointed we could not see more of Valene Kane, who plays a rioter... and that's it, she gets slapped in the face I guess.(Post originally: https://ulvenreviews.blogspot.com.br/2018/02/71-2014-movie-review.html)

In the early days of The Troubles, a group of young soldiers are sent to support an RUC search for weapons. The situation spirals out of control, and one greenhorn ends up separated from his comrades and gets left behind. There then follows a long night in Belfast, as SAS, young Provos, UVF and senior IRA men all come across the soldier and try to manipulate him for their own agenda. "We take care of our own," say senior officers, but the film shows the truth to be anything but. This is a low-budget film that does an excellent job of exceeding its fiscal limitations to fashion a taught, gritty thriller. In essence it is one long chase movie on foot, but it never flags, and all dialogue and period detail is plausibly authentic. I would have liked to know more about the soldier, to be more emotionally invested in his character. There is a relationship with a younger brother that bookends the film, but it is an under-developed part of the story. A tale of one man's fight against horrible odds, and no knowledge of Ulster's history is required to enjoy this. The folly of war, and man's cruelty to man vividly dissected.

This action drama is one of those that starts out slow then is a non- stop roller coaster. You think you know a lot about the problems in Ireland? Well this was an eye opener for me.I did not realize how much of a 'hot' 'war' it really was until I watched this film.The harrowing experience of the soldier brought out the confusing nature of this war. It was a war. So confusing to go from safe to dangerous by location, simple which place you were. I think Vietnam for the US may have been a similar experience, that is you think you are somewhere safe and civil to find out those around you are with the enemy. While I sympathize with the overall circumstance of the North, I was shocked about the real life methods of the IRA. I guess I didn't really understand and never really looked at it this closely.I can't imagine being a soldier in this circumstance. At battle with civilians. Awful.I have a new respect for both sides in the conflict after viewing this film.

Movies about the IRA and the troubles in Northern Ireland have a few problems. Since due to the nature of this conflict people on different sides tend to look and often sound alike they need to be distinguished very clearly. Unfortunately with the fog of the thick accents and the actors who aren't that different looking from each other coupled with 2 factions of the IRA this movie turned out to be hard to follow.The basic story is a British soldier gets left behind in hostile territory in Belfast. He is chased by the IRA. Then there are some rather complex deals between factions. The bombing was scary and well done. But after that things got too hard to follow. Jack O'Connell of Unbroken is a good actor and he looks like he suffered in the role.Don't bother