The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Having seen a couple of clips on Youtube, I watched:

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024).

This movie claims to be based on true events from Winston Churchill's diaries, but that should be taken with a grain of salt.

Churchill is desperate to do something about the German U-boats, so he tasks Brigadier Gubbins (Cary Elwes), who together with Ian Fleming (Freddie Fox) recruits Major Gus March-Phillips (Henry Cavill). He is a rogue and constantly in trouble, but the ideal man for unconventional commando operations. March-Phillips puts together a team, and they go off to destroy an Italian tanker, the Duchessa d'Aosta, that is supplying the U-boat fleet with carbon-dioxide filters (they didn't use these in real life). The ship is in the Spanish controlled colony of Fernando Po in Africa. Lots of action ensues.

The event in question did happen, and is called Operation Postmaster. It is also true that several high ranking British officers were vehemently against commando warfare, seeing it as well, ungentlemanly. So far so good, but the movie has some problems. When I started watching, I had no idea that the director is non other than Guy Ritchie, who's movie The Gentlemen I recently reviewed with great pleasure. I thought The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare would be a serious war movie with some comedic elements, but it is in fact a pulp action movie with lots of comedic elements. The British commandos are total superhuman soldiers, hitting everything they shoot at even without really aiming. They are almost completely unfazed by the enormity of what they have to do. It gets a bit silly to be honest.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is so full of errors that I don't even want to try to list them all. Some are small issues like how their silenced STEN guns weren't developed until a few years later, that doesn't bother me, but uniforms are wrong (Gestapo officers in army general staff uniforms, military behavior is wrong (Sitting indoors wearing hats), essentially lots of small things that screamed at me when watching.

So what is good about The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare? Well, everything else. It is really nicely made, the action is great, most of the dialogue is good, although there are a few stinkers in this department. The music suits the movie perfectly. Once I understood what the movie is, I could relax and start enjoying myself. Guy Ritchie is best known for his British crime movies, and a war movie is a very different beast.

I couldn't help but compare The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare with SAS: Rogue Heroes, which is also about the birth of unconventional warfare. SAS is a mini series and could thus take it's time and show background issues, and political problems. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a two hour movie and it wastes too much time going in this direction with no payoff. It had been better if it had focused solely on the commandos instead.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes. You may get the impression that I didn't like it, but I complain because I liked it. Watch it as a pulp action comedy, and you will have a good time. Ignore all attempts at viewing it in a documentary light, and it works. I may even watch it again at some point.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

The Highwaymen

I sat down and watched:

The Highwaymen (2019).

Mostly based on facts, this movie shows one part of the hunt for the infamous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde.

With regular law enforcement unable to stop the trigger happy bandits, the governor of Texas, Ma Ferguson (Kathy Bates) empowers retired Texas Ranger Frank Hamer (Kevin Costner) to go on the hunt. He brings along his fellow retiree from the rangers, Maney Gault (Woody Harrelson). Together they head out to bring down the bloody couple.

The Highwaymen is a beautiful movie, lets get that straight. The cinematography and the shot composition is really nice. The acting is good, Costner and Harrelson are veterans who know what they are doing, no problem. The props department also did a great job, the movie looks like 1934, a great job in fact. They kept it as simple as possible and it works.

I love the fact that this movie isn't really about Bonnie and Clyde as such. Yes, they are the focus, but you only really see glimpses of them. Shots focus on feet, blurry outlines and long shots. The way they are talked about, from furious lawmen to adoring fans in the general population makes them seem bigger and more sinister than they were in reality. This is such a smart move and really gives the veteran rangers a tough enemy to hunt. It also removes all the romance from the couple and focuses on their grisly crimes. If you want that side, watch Bonnie and Clyde (1967) with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.

Then there is the other side of the movie. The fact that both main actors are getting pretty old. This is natural and in fact, Costner was offered the role 10 years earlier but felt he was too young then. I can get behind that. But I also feel that the movie spends way too much time hammering home how old Hamer and Gault were. Too old to run down a kid, too old to climb a fence, too old for this and too tired for that. After a while it gets a bit boring, to be quite honest. Especially since after a point in the movie, the fact that they are basically too old and rusty is just ignored.

Some of the events were changed for some reason. Gault is shown to be unemployed and a bit down and out, which he wasn't when he went on the hunt. Other things are exactly as happened, including the fact that the scene where Bonnie and Clyde are gunned down, is shot on the same road where it happened for real. A scene where Hamer walks into a gun store and buys an arsenal that includes two Tommy guns and an automatic BAR is questioned, but you could actually do that in the 30's.

So, do I recommend this movie? Sure. The Highwaymen is good, but it is too long. At a little over two hours, I'd say it's about 30 minutes too long. Had it been tighter, I think it would have hit harder. As it is, it wanders about a bit too much and wastes time on things it doesn't have to. Overall I had a good time and the movie is absolutely worth watching at least once.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

What I have learned so far.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about my No Hit Sniper Elite 5 challenge that I invented. This challenge has consumed me and I have played it as much as my stupid flu has allowed, so I want to share a couple of things I have learned.

I have started seeing the game with new eyes. Since it is so critical to eliminate enemies as safely as possible, I have noticed multiple places where you can in fact snipe soldiers without them being able to retaliate, like inside a cathedral. It has been a huge learning experience.

When enemies are alerted to your presence, they are either in Combat, Enemy Hunting, Investigating or Clear modes. Combat means they know where you are, they can probably see you and bullets are whizzing around. Enemy Hunting means they know you are (or were) nearby and are trying to find you. Investigating is them reacting to a noise or perhaps they saw a glimpse of you, either way they are mobile and alert. When Clear pops up, it means that no enemies are looking for you anymore. This could be because you killed them all, or that they can't be bothered chasing you any further. When Clear hits, they normally go straight back to their patrol area and resume doing what they were doing. But there is a catch. Some enemies won't move when Enemy Hunting is up. Instead they will freeze in place and cover an area. On rare occasions they have even remained so when Clear hits. What this boils down to is that when you are in hiding waiting for things to calm down, do not move just because Clear hits. This is a very dangerous time, since some enemies will travel a surprisingly long distance, and it will take a long time for them to return to where they were. This is when you turn a corner and come face to face with a well armed soldier with his finger on the trigger...

If you know an area is clear, it means you only think it is clear. If you think an area is clear, it isn't. I have lost count of how many times I've been so sure that there can be no remaining enemies in an area, only for some clueless twerp to come along, blissfully unaware that you have just killed a dozen of his friends and your day is ruined. Treat every area as unsafe at all times and the challenge will be a bit easier.

Another thing I have learned is to use more traps. Cut off areas and secure choke points with mines. Of course, you can only carry three mines so I've had to start using shu-mines. They are non lethal, but an unconscious enemy is still out. I also learned that the shu-mine can be set with a timer that makes a noise that lures enemies in. Super useful when you don't want to risk being shot.

Focus mode is your best friend and sometimes your worst enemy. Focus mode lets you see the outline of enemies through walls and is obviously incredibly useful. But it has a shorter range than you might think. Just because you scanned an area and found nothing, doesn't mean no one is there. Trust me...

Finally, use different ammo types. Sniping at a longer distance? Soft point bullets are your friend, as they cause bleeding. This will take out an enemy that you only managed to wing. Is it crucial that you take out an enemy wearing a helmet with the first shot? Armor piercing ammo to the rescue. It is worth the extra time it takes to reload, it really is.

Finally finally, you need to have all the patience. Mark all the targets. Wait for that one enemy to return rather than dealing with him later. When things go wrong (and they will) run away. Don't stick around to be a badass, run! The further away you can go, the safer you are.

As of writing this, I just managed to clear Mission 3 The Spy Academy. I can't believe how cocky I was when I came up with this idea, it has been so much harder than I thought, but at the same time so rewarding. I'm sure there are other games that could work with a similar challenge if you think your favorite games are getting stale.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

What is Warhammer 40.000?

The Warhammer 40.000 IP has seen quite a few successes lately, with the Space Marine 2 game being the latest. 

But what is Warhammer 40.000 or as it's also known, 40K? For those of you who didn't grow up with it as one of your favorite settings, I have the answer. Or rather the Youtuber/live streamer Bricky has the answer. He has a really funny and informative two part video called Every single faction explained as well as a good one that explains the timeline. Keep in mind that the 40K setting was created in the 1980's and has been expanded on, retconned and developed for about 40 years. Bricky's videos can only scratch the surface, but they are so worth watching. 

Faction Part 1

Faction Part 2

Timeline

 

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!