New post is for the original Oceans 11 film starring members of the Rat Pack.
11 Men who all served together in the Second World War are about to be reunited. Danny Ocean and Jimmy Foster plan to get the group back together so they can pull of one of the biggest robberies ever. They plan to steal millions from 5 Las Vegas casinos on New Years eve.
They have to try and track down the men and talk them into the plan. This seems easy but the plan has to be carried out to the exact letter and timing or they all face getting caught. Can Ocean and his gang pull of the robberies and can they all make it out of Vegas very rich men?
I have heard of this film but only because of the recent re makes. I never knew it was an old film starring some very famous men. Hubby thought it would be good for me to watch the film and see some of the old style and world famous actors on screen. I did enjoy the film and have heard of the actors but for me I just did not recognise them at all in the film and had to keep asking hubby who was who. I enjoyed the story and found it to be interesting especially as they only really had the use of basic equipment and high tech tools. I did find the slight comedy which was added to the film did make it much easier to watch.
The acting was good for the age of the film and I have to confess that there was only one of the actors who I recognised and that was Sammy Davies Junior. He was great in his role of Josh and bought some good comic moments to the film. We had some of the old big names in the film, Frank Sinatra played the role of Danny Ocean, Dean Martin played Sam Harmon and Cesar Romero played the role of Duke. They were all very good in their roles and made them easy to watch and get to know but I did have a hard time working out who was who and how they fitted into the film. They all seemed to look very similar and dress the same, this was the fashion of the time but it did mean I kept loosing track of who was who. The men worked well with their lines and delivered them with ease, there were a few small moments when I felt it seemed slightly wooden but I think the age of the film played a part in this.
We had a lot of other actors in the film and they included appearances from, Peter Lawford, Angie Dickinson, Richard Conte, Joey Bishop and Buddy Lester. They were all very good and had good characters. I found they did bring a small amount of depth to the story as there were some small side stories involving their personal lives.
The film was made back in 1960 and this was very apparent from the costumes down to the sets. The clothes were all very good and it was nice to see the men all dressed in suits and looking smart with their slicked back hair. The old fashioned cars were good to watch and so too was the way they acted and tried to look cool. The sets were all very made and I loved the shots of Vegas as it looked so basic and small compared to how it has been developed and what it looks like now.
There are a lot of songs in the film, as you would expect with the appearance of some amazing singers in it. I found the tracks Sammy Davies junior sang seemed more natural than the ones Frank and Dean Martin sang. They seemed a little to forced and not fitting into the film naturally for my liking. The vocals were all very good though. There is some comedy in the film and the timing was great. We has some good one liners which the characters managed to work well with and bounce of each other and I loved how they would pay tricks on one of the men as this made the film light to watch.
The special effects which we had were good and fitting for the year this was made. I loved how basic they were and thought they were very in keeping with the film. They would look awful compared to the modern films but as I have not watched the re make of this film I cannot comment on how they have been developed to bring them up to date. There were a few moments during the film when the back drops looked poor and this was mainly when we were seeing shots of Sammy Davies Junior in his rubbish truck but I can forgive these as it was only once or twice it happened.
This is a film only review so there are no bonus features to speak about. The running time of the film is 127 minutes and personally I did find this to be slightly too long. The rate is a PG and I do agree with this. The DVD can be bought now on many internet sites for just a few pounds but personally I would wait for it to be shown on the TV.
I am happy to give this film 3 stars. I found the acting good and the comedy much needed, it is well worth a watch as long as you remember this will not be amazing as it was made back in 1960. Recommended but not worth spending money on.
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