Path To War

Starring: Donald Sutherland, Michael Gambon Director: John Frankenheimer Original UK Premiere: 2002 Dvd Release: 28th July, 2003 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: PAL, Region 2 Encoding

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Path to war, says it all really. It is quite simply a look at to how vietnam went from a stage of conflict to an all out war.

Michael Gambon plays the role of LBJ wonderfully, not only is he able to put on a strong texan accent, but there is a similarity also to the real LBJ.

Supported brilliantly by Alec Baldwin & Donald Sutherland as his main advisors, it does amplify the problems during the 1960s & the subsequent no way out syndrome that ultimately led to the vietnam war going on into the 70s.

The opening & closing sequences of the film was executed brilliantly. Starting from winning a land-slide victory in the 1964 election, to his speech address in 1968 announcing his resignation.

Sadly this was John Frankenheimers final project & although it was the first film to look at LBJ & the Vietnam War, it doesnt come even close to the classics that he made earlier; like Seven days In May or the Manchurian Candidate.

Whether it follows the real-life history of the LBJ administration, I cannot say. However, I got the impression that the film tried to lay the blame on his advisors; rather on LBJ, & that it was LBJ who became the innocent victim

Watch out for a cameo of Gary Sinise playing the role of George Wallace, whom he played in John Frankenhimers production of the same name.

Donald Sutherland is a Canadian actor. He was born in Saint John, New Brunswick & studied in Toronto at Victoria College where he was expelled from residence for throwing a sink out the window. He got his start at age 14 at CBC Radio in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He then went to London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art, then he started gaining some popularity as an actor in horror films & thrillers. Sutherlands great success arrived however with The Dirty Dozen & Robert Altman s M*A*S*H. With Jane Fonda he co-produced FTA. a movie containing quite explicit messages against the Vietnam War. Two of his best performances were displayed in Ordinary People & Eye of the Needle. He played Norman Bethune, Canadian physician & humanitarian & a national hero in China, in two separate biographical films more than ten years apart. He was formerly married to Shirley Douglas, an actress & the daughter of Canadian democratic socialist / social democratic statesman Tommy Douglas. Kiefer Sutherland, his son with Douglas, is a director & prominent actor himself. Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All. Posters Of The Assignment

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Sir Michael Gambon is one of Britain s foremost actors, knighted for his services to the theatre - despite having been born in Dublin, Ireland. In his youth, Gambon played romantic leads, notably in the early 1970s BBC television series, The Borderers, in which he was swashbuckling Gavin Ker. However, his craggy looks soon made him into a character actor & it was not until Dennis Potter s The Singing Detective that he became a household name. Even after this success, for which he won a BAFTA award, his career was patchy, with big hits such as the 1989 film, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover interspersed with less notable work. In recent years, films such as Dancing at Lughnasa & Plunkett & Macleane, as well as television appearances in series such as Wives & Daughters, a made for TV adaption of Beckett s Endgame & Perfect Strangers, have made him one of Britains most sought-after actors, as well as revealing his talent for comedy. He was last seen as the successor of Richard Harris playing Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban. Posters Of The Singing Detective

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John Michael Frankenheimer was an American film director. He was born in New York City, New York. While serving as an Air Force Lieutenant during the Korean War, Frankenheimer became interested in directing. He directed service films & then began directing live television productions. He directed over 140 including one that starred Ronald & Nancy Reagan. Frankenheimer directed his first theatrical film, The Young Stranger, in 1957, but did not direct another until 1961. 1962 was a pivotal year for the young director, he directed three films All Fall Down, Birdman Of Alcatraz & The Manchurian Candidate that were all box office hits. The Manchurian Candidate is the directors best known work & was recently named as one of the top 100 films of all time. It was pulled from circulation but re-released to great acclaim in 1988. Frankenheimer directed Seven Days In May & The Train in 1964 that were also well received. However, his career took a downward spiral shortly thereafter. Posters Of Ronin

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