Amazing Essays

Where Eagles Dare: film review

By Ethan Gibson-Booth - Year 8 Media Studies

Forbidden peaks high in German territories, beautiful spies, non-stop action and a rousing plot makes ‘Where Eagles Dare’ a movie that’s hard to keep your eyes off. This Alistaire Maclean action adventure, directed by Brain G Hutton was made in the 1960’s and set in WWII. Seven British soldiers with the aid of American, Lieutenant Schafer, played by the young Clint Eastwood make up a team of commandos led by Major Smith, who is played by Richard Burton. It starts off with the commandos parachuting out of a plane where they must complete ‘mission impossible’ by infiltrating an invulnerable alpine castle called Schloss Adler (Castle of Eagles) guarded by Nazis and German secret forces. But wait, what other agendas does Major Smith have on his list? With the film’s range of plot twists and clever cinematography that helps create feelings of mystery and tension, ‘Where Eagles Dare’ hooks the audience in for an intriguing and complicated film. 

‘Where Eagles Dare’ is a movie that will continuously keep you on the edge of your seat with its diversity of scheming twists that will leave audiences confused at times and guessing about its unpredictable ending.

Whether it’s the suspense filled moments when a character dies or when Major Smith has to find out his true allies and enemies it will definitely leave you both intellectually and emotionally rattled while it has you cheering for the violence and action. Who doesn’t like seeing Nazis get blown up? This movie is definitely directed at an older audience, one that likes mystery and a complicated plot that gradually builds suspense as it manipulates the emotion of the audience; not a surprise coming from the author that brought us ‘The Guns of Navarone’. The younger viewers on the other hand may be unappreciative of the movie’s physiological trickery and plotting, as well as its old fashioned action and use of effects compared to modern day movies with all their computer generated images.

The action film uses a variety of different shot types, cleverly edited together to provide the audience with a sense of mystery as it helps lead the audience through the plot. ‘Where Eagles Dare’ is definitely a movie that you will have to experience more than once in order to unravel the deeper layers of meaning. After the commandos parachute out of the plane the film presents you with a close up of the impenetrable fortress waiting ahead of them. Viewers are bound to think ‘wow, they have to get into that?!’ Another example of the film’s use of clever shot types and editing is when Major Smith is fighting on a sky rail and one of his Nazi enemies meets a grisly end. The way this scene is shot adds to the climactic tension that engages the audience in a highly effective way.

After weighing up the evidence the film ‘Where Eagles Dare’ intrigues the audience through its use of complicated and surprising plot twists, magnificent scenery and its variety of shot types and clever editing. It all adds up to tension and mystery. It’s truly a movie that won’t leave you disappointed.

The imposing & impenetrable ‘Schloss Adler’.

Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief is a film that explores power, friendship and revenge. Discuss.

The film Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief (Chris Columbus, 2010) is about a teenager that has discovered that he is Poseidon's son while struggling to get his mother back from the underworld. Revenge is a theme throughout the film as Percy is challenged by Medusa, a Hydra and many others. Power is a major theme in this movie as Percy and his friends face powerful figures when collecting pearls to bring back his mother from the underworld. Friendship is a key idea as Percy and his friends look after themselves, and each other along the way.  

Revenge is a theme throughout the film as people hunt Percy for the Lighting Bolt. When trying to collect the pearls, Percy had to face Medusa, Luke and other mythological beasts, including demigods. Mrs Dodds, a substitute teacher, who turned into a fury, attacks Percy and accuses him of being the thief: 'Where is the Lighting Bolt?' When trying to bring the Lighting Bolt back to Olympus, Percy's "friend" Luke who had betrayed him by trying to conceal the Lighting Bolt in the shield, demonstrated his desire for revenge when he claims to " ...want Olympus crumbling down!"  

Power is a major theme in the movie with characters hoping to have the power to defeat Percy for the Lighting Bolt as they believe he has stolen it. Percy has the power of exploding water as his defence as he is Poseidon son. When Hades was looking for Percy he said "Percy show yourself" and Hades showed him his kidnapped mother. Luke desires power as he wanted Olympus to have a fight of the gods that would lead to war, as he said “I want Olympus crumbling down!" When Percy was leaving to go to Olympus and hand back the Lighting Bolt. Percy hoped to stop the war of Greek Gods and Goddess after Luke had betrayed him.  

Friendship is a key point with Percy Jackson and his friends, as they  look after each other throughout the film. When Percy had just found out that he was Poseidon's son after he was attacked by Gabe his stepfather, Grover said" I would give my life to protect you Percy". Percy also has a "friend" named Luke that turned out to be a deceitful person as he wanted the gods and goddess to have a war.  

Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief shows themes of revenge, power and friendship. Percy's power to control water allowed him to defend himself and the ability to defeat others; Annabeth and Grover supported Percy throughout his struggles and difficult times with beast and demigods. The three themes that are demonstrated throughout Percy's treacherous quest to return Zeus' powerful lighting bolt. 

By Ryan Hibbert 

The Science Fiction genre prompts us to think about what it means to be human through hypothetical situations. Discuss with reference to the film I,Robot.

The 2004 Sci-Fi film I-ROBOT, directed by Alex Provas, is a movie based off the future predictions that robots will become a part of our everyday life. It presents us with the story of a future society where robots are involved thoroughly. It makes us consider what it means to be human, the difference between mechanical and biological, or how we differ to robots with logic and emotion, or if us humans have free will or our actions are determined by our past experiences. It makes you think, but is there really an answer?  

The definition of mechanical is 'operated by a machine or machinery', and machine is defined as 'an apparatus using mechanical power and having several parts, each with a definite function and together performing a particular task'. Robots are considered machines, but when is a human considered a machine? Can a human even become a machine?  In the movie I-Robot, we are exposed to Detective Spooner having a mechanical arm, and three ribs. This prompts us to consider what it means to be human, when will Spooner be considered as a robot? What if Spooner lost more than just an arm and a few ribs? What if he lost his whole lower body, making his legs machine? Would we still consider him human? Or would the mechanical aspects of him overrule his biological features? Technically, a human would become a machine when all biological features are gone, for example the soul or human skin/body. What if all emotion was lost? Wouldn't that mean that we would lose what basically makes us human? The loss of all emotion could be considered as becoming a robot. There's a saying when people are acting cold heartedly or emotionlessly, that they are acting like robots. What if that is taken literally? What if we lose all emotion, the prime reason why we are human, would that make us machine? Machines don't have feelings or emotions, if we lose that aspect of us, what would that make us? People consider the soul to be the holder of our emotions, but where and what is the soul? Where is it and why does it exist? The movie makes us consider if robots could evolve and form a soul. They talk about "Ghosts in the machine, random segments of code that have been grouped together to form unexpected protocols. What might be called behaviour. Unanticipated, these free radicals engender questions of free will, creativity and even the nature of what we might call the soul..." Unexpected programming that forms unexpected outcomes, what if our body, mind and soul worked like that? Robots are seen as "all lights and clockwork" but no heart/soul, but if that is so, how did Sonny have emotions? Was it them evolving, or an unexpected protocol formed by ghosts in the machines? And if so, would they become biological beings?

In the movie, Sonny is portrayed as a robot with emotions. We believe that he was created by Dr Lanning with a secondary emotion processor. He acts on logic, like all robots, but he can also act on emotions and feelings. This makes us think about how humans act, and what they act on. Are humans more logical or more emotional? We act on both emotion and logic, but are we more logical or emotional? Wouldn't you agree that most decisions that humans make are based on emotion? With the situation that Spooner was in, a human would've saved the girl, purely based on emotion. But the robot saved Spooner because he had a higher chance of living.m

Do you believe that our actions are caused by our own free will, or do you believe that we are all programmed by our experiences? It's confusing to think about, but what if we don't have as much control as we think? We believe that we do whatever we want, what if we are completely wrong? What if we have no control over what we choose to do and how we act on certain things? It seems insane to think about, almost even scary, that we could have no immediate control over our actions, and they are based on our past experiences being "programmed" into our mind, making them almost impulse in a way.

In conclusion, the film I-Robot makes us consider what it means to be human. It makes us think about what makes us human, like our biological features compared to a orbits mechanical. Or the fact that we have emotions and logic, whilst robots only have logic, and whether we have free will or our actions are determined by our past experiences. These are all good questions, some with no answers.

By Cloe Buick

The Science Fiction genre prompts us to think about what it means to be human through hypothetical situations. Discuss with reference to the film I,Robot.

The 2004 film I, Robot, directed by Alex Proyas, is a Sci-fi/ thriller set in the year 2035, where robots, programmed with the Three Laws to keep humans safe, are part of society. The movie follows the story of Del Spooner, a technophobic police detective, investigating the death of U.S. Robotics founder Dr. Alfred Lanning. He suspects a robot named Sonny murdered him and with the help of robotics expert, Susan Calvin, they realise this robot may not be everything he appears to be. The film explores questions of free will and what it means to be human as well as ideas regarding logic vs. emotion.

It could be said that Spooner is part robot and for this reason we could say that he is not fully human. After Spooner loses his left arm in a car crash, he becomes part machine. This acts as a constant reminder to him that he is not fully human, thus causing self-loathing and part of his technophobia. Self-loathing, meaning self-hatred, can be seen in most scenes where technophobia is show, as both terms have a strong link. Fear and hatred of one’s self is shown when Spooner fights with the robot at the highway. The fact that Spooner had to use his left arm in the fight as a last resort meant he had expose himself to prejudice later on, when the two officers were staring at him. It could also be said that Spooner is not proud of robotic arm by the fact that he hides his can of synthetic skin when Dr Calvin visits him. Even though his arm acts as a burden, on the other hand, it allows him to drive by hand; something other humans cannot do. This brings up the question of whether or not Spooner is considered ‘human’. Judging by the fact that Spooner is sentient and aware of his own existence, we could agree that despite being part machine, he still processes qualities which would qualify him as ‘human’. Qualities such as selflessness and empathy can be seen in the car crash scene, while other qualities such as prejudice and persistence as shown while investigating Dr Lanning’s death. Beings that do not possess these qualities, i.e. Robots, are not considered human, so we can safely say that Spooner remains human. So are all robots emotionless? Well, that seemed the case in I, Robot until Sonny came along. “Sonny has the three laws, but he can choose not to obey them.” The ability to have free will meant Sonny could do anything, but as Spooner and Dr Calvin learn, it also means he develops emotion. Being ‘human’ does not necessarily mean flesh and bones, as Spooner and Sonny prove, it means being able to feel emotion and have free will.

The film I, Robot, makes us consider what it means to be human by highlighting the opposing ideas of logic and emotion. Logic, defined as reasonable and scientific thinking, is used by humans and robots. Robots are believed to work on logical processing alone while humans use both logic and reason. We see examples of this in the film such as when VIKI tries to ‘save’ humanity. Her intentions are debatably positive but the fact that she had no emotion to guide her caused the sentient beings, Sonny, Spooner and Calvin, to destroy her. “It just seems too heartless.” Beings that do not have emotion are seen as a threat because they are not capable of making emotionally based decisions; such as saving a girl from drowning rather than saving the ‘logical’ choice, the one with a higher survival rate. “11% is enough. A human would have known that.” Thought without emotion is dangerous, as VIKI proves, but is it possible to create artificial intelligence with emotion? Emotions are known to be expressions of the soul, so how can a robot experience them? Dr. Lanning suggested that one day robots might naturally evolve and develop a soul, “One day they’ll have secrets. One day they’ll have dreams.” This all seemed fantasy until Sonny, a robot with free will, makes an appearance. He claims to have dreams and overtime develops a broad understanding of the world. I, Robot highlights the importance of logic and emotion, giving us an understanding of what ‘human’ supposedly is. Humans learn much needed emotion and reason through interaction, making us wonder if robots may very well one day develop the same intelligence we have today.

The film highlights the importance of free will and determinism, which prompts us to ask the question: Are humans programmed or do we have the nature of free will? Robots, like all other machinery, are programmed to perform certain tasks, as seen in ‘I, Robot’. They have limited actions, which are pre-determined, and do not possess the nature of free will due their lack of emotion. A human, on the other hand, possess both logic and emotion. This brings up the question of whether this can be seen as free will or determinism. Free will is defined as ‘the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate’ while determinism means ‘the doctrine that all events are ultimately determined by causes as external to the will’. The idea that all actions are pre-determined makes us wonder, maybe robots aren’t all that different to humans; and Sonny is a perfect example. His programming enabled him to learn human emotions, allowing him to experience things through a ‘human’ perspective, giving the impression of free will. In fact, Sonny could very well be a human if not for his robotic appearance! So does that make us robots? Are we programmed with free will, like Sonny? The answer varies from person to person, and determinism vs. free will is now a common debate amongst philosophers. Some argue that every decision we make can be pre-determined based on past experiences, and therefore, there is no such thing as free will. Free will may be one of things we humans lack the knowledge and capability to understand.

As you can see, the film prompts us to consider what it means to be human through hypothetical situations. ‘I, Robot’ highlights the opposing ideas of free will vs. determinism, logic vs. emotion and mechanical vs. biological. Our current reliance on technology could potentially bring up a lot of issues if robots, like Sonny, become sentient. Can robots that develop a soul be considered human? Will they possess free will? Hypothetical situations in films such as ‘I, Robot’ may hold the answers to many of life’s big questions regarding the past, present and future of our society.

By Joanna Nava Orozco