The Red Badge of Courage

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Feb 2, 2019 The best thrilling and inspiring movie ever made! With the best movie character ever portrayed: Audie Murphy as Henry Fleming!

Draco S Jan 29, 2019 John Hustonâ(TM)s version of Stephen Craneâ(TM)s famous civil war novel was famously hacked down to 69 minutes by the studio. In this form, it has a haunting quality â" seemingly showing Audie Murphyâ(TM)s journey from frightened schoolboy to experienced soldier in a single night. Of course, it has been so long since I read the book (junior high school, perhaps) that its details are lost on me now â" it may have focused on a single battle (apparently Chancellorsville, VA, in May 1863). I also remember this to be an anti-war novel and certainly Henry Fleming (Murphy) and his fellow Union soldiers are depicted as full of fear -- and worried about their honour and how they will appear to others if they show this fear. The title refers to the war wound that will demonstrate their courage (which Henry secretly hopes to gain). The book is famous for its psychological explorations of its protagonistâ(TM)s inner thoughts and the movie captures some of this (often with voiceover dialogue from a narrator) -- but the movie does not dwell on the futility of war or the horrible waste of life that it represents. Perhaps this is implicit in the endless battle scenes and the way that bodies (even those of characters we once met) are shown carelessly pushed aside or crumpled on the ground in the middle of the path. Murphy, a WWII hero of incredible renown, plays Fleming as though he is forcing such thoughts out of his mind and perhaps he knew this method through his own experiences. In the end, Huston manages to capture some complicated emotions, a few moments of reverie through the trees, and a lot of smoke, dust, and traipsing about in the fields. One wonders what a longer version of the film would have entailed â" perhaps a clearer message may have come through â" or perhaps we would have entered further into the mind of the soldier and the horror he faces. See more

Luke G Jun 20, 2018 Audie Murphy and John Huston team up for this spectacular look at the power of the group over the individual. It's wartime, and a newbie recruit frets on whether he will perform to group expectation or not when battle time arrives. It's all easier said than done, eh? Huston, obviously influenced by Hemingway, keeps the anxiety quietly amped up throughout the effort but particularly during the battles scenes. Why has no one told me of this exemplary work before?!? See more

Kylo S May 28, 2018 Sure it was Houston's work but it was all the good work from a group of studio players that really help this film work.

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The Red Badge of Courage

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