Powerful & Sobering
Added 4/12/2009
I believe this movie should be more widely known & seen. I picked this up in a large lot of movies I bought on eBay. I had never heard of it & had low expectations. I thought it was one of the most powerful movies I've seen, particularly because it is based on a true story that is no longer widely known. I thought it was well made & particularly well acted. The start was a bit rough & the budget circumscribes the range of the movie a little but otherwise it was excellent. Very appropos of the current dialogue on immigration. But especially poignant as a case study of injustice, corruption & the mob mentality. The end is quite chilling.
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Attention to detail?
Added 2/18/2009
I enjoyed this film, but the someone should have told the propmaster that whiskey bottles at the turn of the century (the previous century) did not have barcodes!!
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Vendetta DVD Review
Added 6/17/2008
This HBO film is based on true and tragic events, which is well-made and interesting. The DVD is in 1.33:1 aspect ratio with high quality picture and sound.
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Not as polished as it could have been
Added 5/12/2007
Walken is a joy to watch, but the whole movie is bland. There is no cohesive feeling of a city and its people. We do not get a flavor of the population in and out of New Orleans. The violence is too contrived and meaningless. We see no real port, just a market where the central action takes place. This is a very low budget film and it shows. The history involved is not accurate.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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America--home of the brave and the bigoted
Added 4/12/2005
African-Americans and Jews were not the only ethnic groups to bear the brunt of violent, narrow-minded bigotry in the land of the free. In the late 19th century, Italians in New Orleans were lynched for a trumped up charge based on the pure greed of the "city fathers". Greed, said Gordon Gecko in the movie Wall Street, is good. Wrong, Gordon.
Greed is corruption. Corruption is inextricably and inevitably linked to violence. When some people are greedy, other people get hurt. Or die. That's what happened. This made-for-HBO film, Vendetta, is a well thought out depiction of the events culminating in the terrible slaughter of Italians at that time. Although Christopher Walken is the marquis player--and he is, as usual, really good--credit should also go to the supporting players, all of whom were well cast here. Kenneth Welsh, Edward Herrmann, Bruce Davison, Clancy Brown, Richard Libertini, and the younger actors whose roles are the Provenzano brothers and Gaspare Marchese are all excellent.
Many people, including myself (Jewish), did (or do) not know about this horrific event. It is to HBO's credit that they dramatized this telefilm under the direction of Nicholas Meyer (The Seven-Percent Solution, The Day After). Credit should also go to writer Timothy Prager whose script is rock solid. HBO has produced many well-crafted cable TV films and this is certainly one of them.
Will greed in America ever go away? This film says no. And I think that's true. It will certainly continue to be in place with the man currently running things in a white office that not quite circular, circa 2005. He's not a tree, he's a (fill in the blank).
Definitely recommended.
5 out of 12 people found this helpful.
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