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Memorial Day (2011)


Ricardo
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Memorial Day (2011)

Two generations. Two wars. One story.

 

Memorial Day, 1993. When 13-year-old Kyle Vogel discovers the World War II footlocker belonging to his grandfather, Bud, everyone tells Kyle to put it back. Luckily, he ignores them. Although Bud has never talked about the war, he finds himself striking a deal with his grandson: Kyle can pick any three souvenirs, and Bud will tell him the stories behind each one. Memorial Day not only takes us on a journey into Bud's complicated wartime past, but also into Kyle's wartime future. As the two men share parallel experiences in combat, they co

 

 

Great movie!!! :thumbsup:

 

Br, Ricardo.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I watched this movie last night. Although some of production values weren't as good as what you might see in a bigger budget movie I thought a pretty good attempt was made to make things look authentic. A nice touch was the inclusion of real members of the NG unit (34th Inf Div) for the portions of the film set in Iraq. I think the main point of the movie was conveyed predominantly well and the juxtaposition of the older and younger war experiences lent an effective vehicle for that. [spoiler alert] I am confused as to why (in the end) the grandson would want to leave the captured Walther at the gravesite - I thought the crumpled water bottle might have been more fitting both for the story and in the interests of public safety! The movie implies that Memorial Day 1993 was the only time the younger and older Vogel talked about the souvenirs - if it was me I'd be onto 'Opa' at least every Memorial Day from then on to explain the rest of the chest! James Cromwell does a great job as the ratchety old veteran and his son John (unsurprisingly) looks convincingly like a young version of his father - he needs a few more acting lessons to catch up to the old man though ...

 

Militaria speaking, it was interesting to note that the 82nd Airborne platoon sergeant held onto his M1942 jump uniform for the 'Market Garden' jump when everyone else had gone to the OD M1943. It was good also to see a plethora of not-often-seen real military hardware from M-16 AA half tracks to P-38 Lightnings (although it might have been more accurate to just go with two Mustangs for the ETO 1944-5). I'm sure there's much more that I missed!

 

In summary, a movie worth seeing, not necessarily for its military details and battle depictions, but for its heart.

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