Thirteen Days

Pros: Story, Direction, Acting
Cons: More people need to see this

”Never… was so much owed by so many to so few.” Winston Churchill Thirteen Days (2000) When I was a kid back in the late fifties and sixties the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union was a very real fear. New ...

Pros: Very well written; good acting by a fine ensemble cast
Cons: Kevin Costner's acting (as usual); questionable historical objectivity

Thirteen days. Thirteen days of fear and tension. Thirteen days of crisis. Thirteen days in October 1962 when the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics stood "eyeball-to-eyeball" in a confrontation that brought the world...

Pros: It's a fascinating account of the Cold War's most perilous crisis.
Cons: It doesn't fit into the average moviegoer's notions of a "must see" film.

It is October 1962. A Strategic Air Command U-2 recce aircraft is flying high over Cuba on a classified photo recon mission. Over San Cristobal, the pilot looks through his viewfinder and sees signs of unusual yet familiar activity: the Soviets are ...

Pros: Good acting and presentation of events
Cons: "Thirteen Days" needs a greater sense of tension

One October morning in 1962, a pilot in a U2 spy plane took pictures of activity over Cuba. The photos he took made a disturbing discovery - the Soviets were building nuclear missile sites in Cuba. Over the course of the days that followed, President...

Pros: The Cuban Crises was much more serious than I thought in 1962.
Cons: The importance of the Kennedys may be overblown here.

Thirteen Days is certainly one of the best movies of 2000. As a person who lived through
these terrible days, I wondered if a movie could maintain the suspense that existed in
1962. The answer is yes.

Kevin Costner stars as...

Pros: ::Interesting story. Infinifilm Extras::
Cons: ::Costner's horrible accent. Pacing, some dialogue::

Now-a-days, America is looking for patriotic movies that capture the victories as well as hardships of this country. Thirteen Days was released a little more a year ago about events that happens close to forty years ago, but our interests...

Pros: This is history made entertaining.
Cons: Those obnoxious Boston accents, especially Costner's.

Once you get over the bad Boston accent, Kevin Costner moves this story along. Costner portrays Kenny O'Donnell, Special Adviser to the President, and of course he becomes the pivot point that drives the whole movie. He does a good job...

Pros: Marvelous direction, suspense, realistic detailing of the times, ensemble.
Cons: Costner; some black and white sequencing that was a little confusing.

The Cuban Missile crisis, so dubbed, refers to thirteen days in October, 1962. Reeling from the failure of a CIA operation (the so-called “Bay of Pigs” operation) to invade Cuba and assassinate Castro, then president John F. Kennedy’s hand ...

Pros: Good portrayal of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Cons: Some invented history, role of O'Donnell, portrayal of RFK.

1962 saw one of the most dramatic political and historical scenarios in history, The Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was one of those “close calls” in history where we found ourselves at the brink of nuclear war. It was one of the most...

Pros: Well-crafted script and solid, understated performances.
Cons: Long, will not hold the attention of the action/adventure crowd.

In my high school history classes, we never made it to the Cuban Missile Crisis. We were lucky to get as far as the American Civil War.

In college, I found myself drawn to the classes dealing with ancient history.

So I grew to...

Pros: Decent movie, a lot of suspense
Cons: Kevin Costner's accent

I wasn't alive then, so I don't have a good recollection of what was going on in that period of our history. But let's see if I get the jist here - at least the director's version:

1. The Russians gave big bombs to Cuba
2. They knew...

Pros: A great, largely true story. Some good action sequences. A few effective performances.
Cons: A slow development. Some performances are ineffectual.

Shortly after President John F. Kennedy took office in 1961, he allowed the CIA to carry out a plan to invade Cuba (developed in the latter days of Eisenhower). The failure of that plan led to the events chronicled in THIRTEEN DAYS. Under the cover of...

Pros: Political thriller, Great acting by Greenwood especially, Creates interest in the conflict.
Cons: Costner's fake Boston accent is dreadful, representing public reactions through Costner is ill advised.

After years of practicing silly Duck and Cover drills in elementary school and indoctrination that the Soviet Union was bent on destroying us with repeated video clips of Khrushchev banging his shoe at the United Nations, I was among many who were...

Pros: Tightly scripted, tense and believable
Cons: Kevin Costner's Boston accent

On October 14, 1962 a United States spy plane flying high over the island nation of Cuba took a photograph of a chilling sight: a military encampment being run by a group of Soviet army personnel. The Russkies were busily installing medium range...

Pros: Sticks to plot and storyline, good casting, great suspense
Cons: Bad and predictable ending, Kevin Costner's accent

I have heard rave reviews about the movie Thirteen Days for as long as it has been out, but when I went to see it, the movie definitly didn't live up to my high expectations. It's a great historical account of the Cuban Missle Crisis, and helps give a...