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Seven Days in MayRating:
Release Date: 13 May, 2003 Retail Price: $19.98 OUR Price: $14.99 You SAVE: $4.99! Cast: Complete Cast (21 total) |
Seven Days in May Reviews
7 days in 2 hours
A well written and well casted political thriller drama. The characters are quite believable. The tension gets so thick you can cut it with a knife. At issue is the attempted takeover of the government by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs fo Staff. The motivation of these characters is not personal glorification, but loyalty and patriotism. This movie has philosophical weightiness to it but does not beat you over the head with it.
A STRONG ARGUMENT FOR THE CONSTITUTION
IN A NUTSHELL:
This is an absolutely compelling Cold War fable which dramatizes what might have happened had the President adopted a disarmament treaty which threatened the security of the United States in the minds of many Conservatives, including the military.
WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT:
A popular Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Scott [Burt Lancaster] is not about to comply with the terms of a seemingly-disasterous nuclear disarmament treaty. Scott is willing to take immediate action to prevent this from happening and has enlisted a wide variety of "patriots" to assist him in his "conspiracy to overthrow the government". But who are they?
One of Scott's aides and a close friend, Colonel Martin "Jiggs" Casey [Kirk Douglas], discovers hints of a possible plot and brings them to the attention of the President, Jordan Lyman (Fredric March), a "liberal" who Scott later accuses of being a "criminally weak sister".
The film is all about getting solid evidence of a conspiracy, acting on it in a political/legal manner, and avoiding a military coup, which seems imminent throughout the film. How this is averted is what the film is all about. The idea of civilian control is dramatized, emphasized, and re-emphasized through a number characters and scenes. Colonel Casey's repeated assertion that once the decision has been made [by the civilian authority], "we have to go along with it" (despite the widely held view in the Pentagon that the treaty is not a good one), is lucidly presented throughout the film.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
This is a terrific film that emphasizes dialogue and a thought-provoking plot over action. Rod Serling's characterizations are powerful and reminiscent of the Twilight Zone which he also created. Some of the theories, such as Lyman's insistence that the Soviets would immediately attack the United States if the military took over the government, are perhaps scare tactics in much the same way that Scott asserts that the Soviets would violate the treaty, as they have violated all their agreements [according to Scott--NOT history]. Since both viewpoints are dramatized and biased, this balance keeps the film from becoming a political platform representing one side or another. Instead, it emphasizes the absolute necessity of maintaining the civilian government that the Constitution outlined and that we have adhered to ever since.
QUITE A CAST:
This film features a cast reminiscent of Oliver Stone's JFK in its use of very charasmatic figures to credibly suspend disbelief. It was ably directed by John Frankenheimer and written by Rod Serling.
Burt Lancaster - Gen. James M. Scott
Kirk Douglas - Col. Martin "Jiggs" Casey
Fredric March - President Jordan Lyman
Ava Gardner - Eleanor Holbrook
Edmond O'Brien - Sen. Raymond Clark
Martin Balsam - Paul Girard
George Macready - Christopher Todd
Whit Bissell - Sen. Prentice
Hugh Marlowe - Harold McPherson
Richard Anderson - Col. Murdock
Andrew Duggan - Col. "Mutt" Henderson
John Houseman - Adm. Barnswell
LAST WORD:
You get a lot of movie for $2,000,000!
ABOUT THE DVD:
This is an excellent Widescreen transfer in Black and White. There are available Subtitles in English and French plus available Audio Tracks in English in Dolby Digital plus Commentary by Director John Frankenheimer. Naturally, it includes the popular "Scene Selector" feature as well.
More Customer Reviews (20 total)
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