MovieChat Forums > Reds (1981) Discussion > Reds is the greatest film ever made

Reds is the greatest film ever made

posted 10 years ago by FedRev
18 replies | jump to latest

If I were to show aliens from outer space a film that would best represent human cinema as a whole, I would show them Reds (1981). This film is everything. It's an epic, but it's intimate. It's a bio-pic, but it's about a huge cast of characters. It's a drama, but it's also humorous. It's a romance, but it's not contrived or formulaic. It's a feature film, but it has documentary elements. It's overtly political, but tells a compelling narrative. It has major Hollywood stars, but the actors fully embody their characters. It's highly artistic, but fully accessible to a mainstream audience. Everything about the film is done to the highest degree of quality, from the cinematography and the writing to the musical score and acting. And most importantly, the story is about something and proves that the best films are the ones that challenge our way of thinking, fully engaging our minds in the process of entertainment. It's a film that challenges the status quo, and succeeds with flying colors. In my book, Reds represents the best of what has been achieved in cinema so far and is the greatest film ever made.

A Progressive Review of Mass Media and Culture: http://fedrev.net

[–] dannieboy20906 8 years ago

It is a very well made movie and it has loads of historical value. People who watch it with an open mind and add some independent research will understand better how a dark curtain of oppression closed over nearly half the world for over seventy years. The amazing thing is that here we are, twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union due to its own excesses and many people seem to be desperate to resurrect communism and all of its evil.

Of course, the movie glosses over several topics that do not aid its point of view. There is no mention of how Lenin, having been exiled from Russia, returned. We know that he was smuggled back into the country by the Germans in exchange for his promise to take Russia out of the war. Of course, he also had to throw in Brest-Litovsk. There is also no mention of how the Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority," even though they made up less than half of the Russian Communist party) seized control of the revolution from the people. The movie does a great job of showing an empty headed, ignorant left wing journalist presume to speak for all the American labor class. Carry on Progressives!

The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.

[–] BobbyDupea 8 years ago

So...you claim that all progressives are ignorant while showing your ignorance in stereotyping progressives? That makes a lot of sense....

My real name is Jeff

[–] dannieboy20906 8 years ago

You obviously do not know the definitions of the words you use. Read a dictionary starting with the word "ignorant." I'll give you a hint, it's the word with your photograph next to it.

The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.

[–] BobbyDupea 8 years ago

I have several excellent dictionaries and use them frequently. You, on the other hand, keep doing what you accuse others of doing - including using words incorrectly. Look up the word "hypocrite."

My real name is Jeff

[–] dannieboy20906 8 years ago

I explored your posting history a little. You obviously consider yourself a "progressive." I am sure that you think you are more learned, more open minded, more experienced, etc. than people like me. Let me assure you that I consider you another empty headed, self righteous, ignorant, left-wing "progressive."

I would bet dollars to doughnuts (well, not quite the odds advantage that it once was) that you've never lived in country outside your own, that you've never studied a socialist country in any depth, that you know next to nothing about the history of 'Marxist Socialism' (aka: Communism), and that you think the United States is guilty of bringing the terrorist attacks on itself. Since you no longer have a Soviet Union to apologize for and the PRC is trying hard to pretend to be a Western Europe style capitalist state, I am sure that you have turned your attention to apologizing (making excuses) for every terrorist and terrorist state in the world. I don't expect to change your mind, or the minds of people like you. But I will call you on your stupidity and vapid dishonesty. You may fool yourself, but you won't fool me.

The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.

[–] BobbyDupea 8 years ago

I explored your posting history a little. You obviously consider yourself a "progressive." I am sure that you think you are more learned, more open minded, more experienced, etc. than people like me. Let me assure you that I consider you another empty headed, self righteous, ignorant, left-wing "progressive."

Wow - a whole paragraph full of vapid stereotypes. Even for the IMDB boards, that is a lot of nonsense in one post. All of your assumptions about me are false.

I would bet dollars to doughnuts (well, not quite the odds advantage that it once was) that you've never lived in country outside your own, that you've never studied a socialist country in any depth, that you know next to nothing about the history of 'Marxist Socialism' (aka: Communism), and that you think the United States is guilty of bringing the terrorist attacks on itself. Since you no longer have a Soviet Union to apologize for and the PRC is trying hard to pretend to be a Western Europe style capitalist state, I am sure that you have turned your attention to apologizing (making excuses) for every terrorist and terrorist state in the world. I don't expect to change your mind, or the minds of people like you. But I will call you on your stupidity and vapid dishonesty. You may fool yourself, but you won't fool me.

Now you not only spew an even larger paragraph of ridiculous stereotypes painted in the broadest strokes, you also claim to be reading my mind and my thoughts, you claim to know what I have read and my education level regarding Marxist Socialism, and also claim to know about my actions. All of your assumptions are incorrect.

And your attacks on my character and your stereotypes reflect very poorly on you - not on me. Other than pointing out the obvious, childlike assumptions you are making, and their invalidity with regard to any issue discussed in this forum, I generally avoid wasting my time with people who engage in empty-headed personal attacks and rely on assumptions and stereotypes to form their arguments.

My real name is Jeff

[–] Ismailov (165) 4 years ago

We know that he was smuggled back into the country by the Germans in exchange for his promise to take Russia out of the war.

Do we? Where is this agreed-upon "exchange"? The Germans evidently knew that Lenin was against World War I, but the sealed train he was put on also contained numerous other revolutionaries, not all of them Bolsheviks.

Of course, he also had to throw in Brest-Litovsk.

Brest-Litovsk was forced on the Bolsheviks by the invading German armies. There is not a shred of evidence anywhere on earth that Lenin had made any "deal" with Germany prior to the October Revolution about signing such a treaty.

There is also no mention of how the Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority," even though they made up less than half of the Russian Communist party) seized control of the revolution from the people.

The Bolshevik party grew rapidly in the course of 1917, and according to anti-communist historian Dmitri Volkogonov, "on the eve of the October coup, eighty per cent of the Petrograd Bolshevik organization consisted of workers. . . Writing to Pavel Axelrod on 19 November 1917, Martov admitted that 'nearly the entire proletariat is on Lenin's side and expects that the coup will lead to their social emancipation'." (Lenin: A New Biography, 1994, pp. 330-331) Note that Axelrod and Martov both belonged to the Mensheviks (i.e. the "minority.")

[–] Musashi94 8 years ago

I disagree. It's the sort of overwrought, self-indulgent vanity project popular around the late 70s and early 80s that's rather tedious to sit through. It's rather similar to Heaven's Gate in a lot of regards and neither has aged very well at all.

[–] tmanqz 8 years ago

So you would enjoy putting aliens asleep.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 4 years ago

^ This! Took the words right out of my mind.