Hope and Glory

WWII=good times. Seriously, this film is frustrating. Although well-shot and generally pleasant, the upbeat and light-hearted manner in which it treats the matter of war is sometimes even enraging. I get that this is supposed to be presented through a child's viewpoint, but still the utter lack of seriousness (even when tragic things are happening) vexes me. The horrors of worldwide combat reduced to a bunch of annoying British kids searching in the debris for loot.

Loved Ian Bannen as the cantankerous old grandfather.

There's something about this film, both positive and negative.

Uncle Oscar needs to explain, if he was keen to choose a war-time story informed from a child's POV in 1987, why oh why did he pick this over EMPIRE OF THE SUN, or RADIO DAYS? You have got to be kidding me.

The overacting simulates the distortions of memory but makes it a little hard to watch.

Generally appealing but not too accurate reminiscences of an exciting and emotional time.

Not the usual thing one expects from Boorman, as it's not about sweaty men spewing testosterone all over the screen, but instead an almost gentle reminiscence of growing up in the early years of WWII. It's really delightful and full of life. It's a war movie that cheered me up immensely. NOW I feel that I must snag the sequel, QUEEN AND COUNTRY.

This is a film I admire more than like, and a lot of this comes down to my not really connecting to the film's sense of humour.

The "through a child's eyes" approach comes off rather weird. It's a good movie but it has some odd tonal shifts, especially during serious moments.

A nice little coming of age story with a WWII backdrop, has a melancholy tone with a sprinkle of laughs. It's well made but it's not really my thing.

John Boorman shows us how bad he is at writing dialogue

Entertaining, affectionate view of war through a young boy's eyes.I feel that it portrays quite accurately how some trivial events seem important to a child and how the 'adult concerns' almost pass by without thought.

Young Bill (Sebastian Rice-Edwards) is having the time of his life in Blitz-era London, playing in the ruins and fantasizing about battle--all while his family goes through crises, serious and trifling, of their own. A warm, imaginative reminiscence by John Boorman, who tells his story with a series of vignettes that encompass light-hearted fantasy and painful reality, all with equal skill. Superb production design and cinematography. Ian Bannen steals the show as the crotchety grandfather.