Cheap Cast a Giant Shadow (DVD) (Kirk Douglas) (Melville Shavelson) Price

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Customer Reviews of Cast a Giant Shadow

A great war film that shows how technotactically the "edge" on the battlefield goes to those who can get the best mechanical advantage---the Israelis need a main supply route open to feed Jerusalem (I have actually walked these steep defiles) and tries to armor plate trucks and this doesn't work against ambushers waiting for them. This serves as a warning that the U.S. Army cannot make the same mistake of basing itself on restricted to roads, vulnerable heavy armored cars as some seem lusting for these days. David Ben-Gurion, Israeli Prime Minister knows the "center of gravity" is holding Jerusalem (same is true today) in order to have a rallying point for the new nation. He compels Marcus to find a way to win.

Col Marcus played by Kirk Douglas displays the dogged determination "if you first don't succeed, try, try again" so lacking in today's generation. He reminds the Israelites not to wallow in self-pity over their plight BUT TO DO SOMETHING to make things better. He tries to infantry attack Latrun without tracked armored vehicle fire support and fails to take the walled post (now the IDF tank museum) to bust open the road to Jerusalem. He does succeed in mobile warfare against Egyptian tanks using anti-tank guns mounted on jeeps. Eventually, Marcus finds a way----

I think the women in the film are sexy; Dickinson and Berger and add to the film in that they love their man, Marcus but fear for his safety as he does what has to be done because humanity insists it be done. The film reminds us that the true feelings many people have towards Israeli people would be exctinction as Marcus discovers at the death camps in Germany as a U.S. Army Paratroop officer. This prejudice is depicted well in the film and reminds us that freedom is not a "free" lunch. Someone has to pay for it, and that usually means our men in uniform. It also means helping them do their jobs as the film shows that getting support from your own people is not automatic. Marcus earns the respect of his Army but at a lot of struggle; what if today there are no men of vision willing to go this far to defend freedom?

Cast a Giant CAST
First off, this film contains a rousing score by Elmer Bernstein. It is brilliant. Melville Shavelson wrote and directed this sprawling biographical action picture about (Colonel) "Mickey" Marcus (Kirk Douglas), a West Point graduate and an adviser to President Roosevelt during W.W.II, who, at the request of the Israelis, went to there in the late 40s to re-organize their army. In this account, based on a book by Ted Berkman, Mickey Marcus is the master strategist who leads the Israelis to victory in the war with the Arabs. Melville Shavelson admires him, making him the cool but enigmatic leader. Shavelson is very eager to please the audience enough to throw in numerous guest stars, such as Frank Sinatra and Yul Brynner, and agonizes over Mickey's moral conflict between Angie Dickinson, the wife he leaves at home in the U.S., and Senta Berger, the female warrior he takes up with. Even those willing to accept the hours of incoherence and banality may recoil at the obscenity of being asked to experience the horrors of Dachau as reflected in John Wayne's bleary eyes. It also features Topol, James Donald, Stathis Giallelis, Ruth White, Gordon Jackson, Luther Adler, Gary Merrill, and Jeremy Kemp. Get the soundtrack.

UTTER RUBBISH
I GIVE THIS MOVIE MINUS 5 STARS.
Why do we watch movies? Sometimes its because we like fantasy, or action, or romance, OR THE TELLING OF A TRUE STORY. I guess the idea with cast a giant shadow was to tell the true story of how a group terrorists [Jews] with great might and courage created an independent state of Israel- which of course is all false and utter rubbish. The film is light years away from the telling of a true story. The Jews were not mighty nor courageous, nor passionate. The truth is they were terrorists and with America's help defeated the Arabs. What ever the film potrays of the Jews was wrong and highly inaccurate. There was also some inaccuracies in the portrayl of the Arabs, but not on a grand scale as the Jews. Steven Speilberg wanted to do a movie very close to the truth about the same war, but when zionists saw the script they pressured Steven to drop the idea. Cast a Giant shadow underated the amreican involvement which was the only reason why Israel won that war. If you like a war movie there are plenty that are much better than this. If you are pro-israeli I think you will like it, but remember 80% of it is inccurate. Many people watch and then review a movie at amazon if it is a good ONE. On the basis of that, cast A Giant shadow has only 11 reviews, indicating what utter rubbish of a movie it is.