SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

vincentlynch-moonoi If there is negativity to be found, we can always trust that Spike Lee will find it. Usually it's the negativity of racism...and of course, there's lots of that is this film. But Spike Lee tops himself in this film by finding the negativity of man's inhumanity to man during war. The film is a blood bath. And it's unnecessarily drawn out to be a very long blood bath -- 160 minutes. Has Spike Lee ever heard of editing? And the miracle? Geez...hundreds die in this film, mostly mowed down by evil Nazis (rather cliche), and then the miracle -- reserved for the last 3 minutes of the film -- is that one boy survived because of magic statue head that fell off a bridge being destroyed????? I've watched perhaps a dozen Spike Lee films over the years, and he rarely fails to disappoint. Oh yes, a gem here and there, but more disappointments (including in recent years at the box office) than successes.The sadder thing is that there's a pretty decent cast here. Derek Luke is, in my view, a much underrated actor. I try to catch him in most films he makes, and he never disappoints. Michael Ealy, whom I think is a very good actor, is getting a little too good at playing creeps (as he does here); he might want to rethink his silm strategy before he gets typecast. I'm really not that familiar with Laz Alonso, although I thought he did rather nicely here. Omar Benson Miller played his role here (as the Chocolate Giant) in a very touching manner. Valentina Cervi -- also a good performance.A bomb at the box office, a failure in the eyes of most critics. And rightfully so.

mistermassive I can't say enough about this movie. Firstly, your dealing with the people who (since day day one) always play the part of pawn, cannon fodder and war dog. Often found walking point, cleaning toilets, fixing trucks you find the black guys in the military. But when it counts in "the clutch" and lives are on the line it's when these men have often risen above the rest. So as the cream rises to the top this move is rich with STORY (you know lacking in most movies any longer).Intertwined storytelling and excellent dialogue makeup the bulk of the acting scenes. The lighting, coloring schemes and overall appearance are lively and always seem to provide wonderful depth. Often I was surprised at how playful the soundtrack and audio was for this film considering rather dark content (no not the actors you racists).But with high caliber props, thoughtful and expertly filmed action sequences (on par with anything I call a keeper for my collection), vehicles and WWII memorabilia. Enough eye candy for any WWII buff. The high points for me are literally too many to nail down. I am not lying when I say it was as "pretty" as "Band of Brothers" with the acting (spoken dialogue) of a top notch mafia movie; all executed so very well, bravo guys! I would honestly love to see many many more black guy war movies (IT'S ONLY FAIR Hollywood!)- Budget is important and so is teamwork. This film to me represents something that could kick off top grade future movies with heart, bravery and lovable moments. Time to find more moves by this director and team! Oh me? - White 40-50, Denver, Colorado, Pot Smoker and lover not a fighter :)

sheleasesmith So...what made me review this movie is all the horrible reviews this movie received. I am almost sure that most of these people didn't see the movie, but gave a horrible review because it was created by black men. There...I said it and I am not afraid of you. This movie was a great movie and makes me appreciate our service in WWII. My father-in-law is a 93 year old WWII Veteran, Buffalo Soldier. He actually fought in the war...unlike some of your grandpappy's. He was a sniper and fought and caught the enemy. Then came back to a country that hated him and didn't look at him as a man. Not to mention he was an inventor...which the Army took the patent. So y'all can miss me with these BS reviews.

Theo Robertson Spike lee ? Rings a bell somewhere . Let me guess . He's the black writer/director who basically single handedly proved that if you've got ambition and talent in America you can pursue the American dream very well . Started off making low budget indie features that cost very little , got met with great critical acclaim and spearheaded independent film making in general and independent black film making in particular . I'm just trying to think when was the last time the name Spike Lee became associated with a movie he made . The only time I remember Lee's name making headlines is when he accuses other film makers of being racist . Indeed Spike Lee has something of an attitude that goes beyond parody similar to the militant black guy character from BALLS OF STEEL who sees racism in everyday life that doesn't exist . In many ways his career mirrors the last days of the Third Reich with shrieks of racism at every opportunity while blowing up bridges . It's safe to say Lee has burnt enough of his own bridges in Hollywood with his own shouting . If that wasn't bad enough his own film making skills indicate he's blown it anyway Films like SAVING PRIVATE RYAN , THE THIN RED LINE and FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS means you have to bring something new to the world war 2 genre in the 21st century and " Epic " is not the same as overlong . MIRACLE AT ST ANNA isn't an epic war film , merely a very overlong one and shows the faults of what happens when you give too much resources and budget to someone whose roots are in indie cinema The film starts in New York in 1983 where a war veteran who is black watches John Wayne in THE LONGEST DAY and bitterly laments that " I fought for this country too " . Maybe a bad idea to include John Wayne as a fellow war veteran of the second world war since he never actually fought in the war , perhaps a better choice might have been James Stewart even though he was in the USAAF or Richard Todd even though he was British or Rod Steiger even though he was in the US Navy but there was plenty of decorated war heroes who were movie stars none of whom were John Wayne The story then cuts to the post office where a man with a foreign accent asks for a stamp , stops to stare in amazement at the cashier then is shot dead by him . Later a newspaper reporter turns up at the crime scene and a detective takes him back to the cashier's flat where he finds a head of a female statue who turns out to be worth millions of dollars . This makes headlines across he world including Italy where due to a couple having an argument an Italian man finds this headline suddenly appear on his table Baring in mind the title of this film miracles do indeed happen . In fact they happen all the time in the first half hour of the movie so much so that if something miraculous doesn't happen then it is a miracle of sorts . One can't even begin to describe the contrived nature of all this and considering the audience are supposed to be watching a war film New York in 1983 isn't much of a battlefield , not unless you're watching DEATH WISH 3 . Thankfully Lee then has the decency to have a flashback to Italy 1944 half an hour in to the running time which now means we have two hours and ten minutes to go before the end credits This quickly sums up everything that's wrong with the movie . There's enough material here to keep a studio executive in work for a whole decade which has been the exact problem with every Spike Lee movie since the turn of the century . There is a total lack of brevity to the storytelling and every single overlong scene is accompanied with the most intrusive and manipulative music possible . THE MIRACLE OF ST ANNA flopped at the cinema and no doubt Lee will scream he's a victim of some sort of prejudice but the truth is that people are - regardless of ethnic background - prejudiced against overlong , manipulative , boring movies which MIRACLE OF ST ANNA is