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Simply A Masterpiece

hyped garbage

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This film keeps you entertained enough to remain waiting, and waiting and waiting. Then, it's over. Not a great product but not too terribly bad either. William Forsythe is the hard-to-like character highlight and the most renowned actor on this film. Not much action but when it does finally come, it may at least surprise you.

I saw this film at the Dallas International Film Festival last month and thoroughly enjoyed the screening and the Q&A afterwards. The film reminded me of the novella Colomba by Prosper Merimee in the way it deals with revenge and vendetta. Although not an anti-war film, per se, the film successfully places war as the true antagonist in the story and despite being miles away from the fighting it shows the effects it has on individuals and families and in many cases bringing out the worst in them. The acting was top-notch and the award for best ensemble acting at the Dallas International Film Festival was well deserved. One scene that particularly stood out for me was between James Badge Dale and William Forsythe on the porch of the McCluskey home. The performances were understated yet full to the brim, much like the film itself. The direction didn't bring attention to itself, instead letting the story unfold in its own time, a sign of a confident hand at the helm. In that regard it reminded me of The Straight Story by David Lynch. Like all great films, it's their themes that separate them from rest of the crowd and Echoes of War will leave you thinking about its themes long after the film has ended.

When you have made a film as inept as Echoes of War is, perhaps the only way to try and persuade anyone to take a chance on watching it is to post bogus user reviews about it. Case in point: read some of the user reviews with 9 & 10 star ratings and it is glaringly apparent that someone involved in the film has composed them in an effort to hoodwink filmgoers. I mean come on, comparing the director Kane Senes to Clint Eastwood? Really? I think not!Regarding this film, save your cash for a Lone Ranger marathon. The dialog in this was contrived, the scenes as predictable as a TV-movie, and yet the biggest sin was its dull premise with talking heads you don't really care too much about. Who do you blame for a film like this? The actors for not delivering stellar performances, the writers for a flawed script, or the director for not getting the right delivery out of an actor? In this case you can't really blame the cast even though the performances for the most part were non-riveting. The fault lies squarely in the writing which was lame, plus the direction screams inexperience. Putting bodies in period costumes doesn't make a film a Western. And it DEFINITELY DOESN'T make you comparable to Mr. Eastwood!

Insomnia? Haven't been able to get a decent nights sleep in some time? Watch this film! I assure you, you'll be out before you know it. What in the world were the people behind this hot mess thinking? If they were attempting to alienate audiences with an uninteresting plot and bland storytelling, they most certainly succeeded. If they were attempting to keep an audience engaged and invested in interesting characters, they most certainly failed.The first clue should have been that there aren't any star names in this thing, only a handful of lesser-known character actors. That's usually a dead giveaway that a film is either poorly written, poorly produced, and/or both. The crux of the problem here is the writing. It plain and simple isn't good no matter how you cut it. I'm sure these poor filmmakers didn't purposefully sit down to pen the worst western in the history of the genre, but that's exactly what they have unwittingly done. There's nothing wrong with trying to convey your vision to an audience, I just hope that their next effort, if there is one, will keep the audience from dozing.