GazerRise Fantastic!

Majorthebys Charming and brutal

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

sol- Hoping to dodge the Vietnam War draft, two teenagers enrol in college, and when study proves too demanding they drive across the country encountering free love, drugs and the hippie movement in this odd little film from the pen of On Golden Pond's Ernest Thompson. The film has several dramatic moments that rival 'Pond' in their intensity, most notably an altercation between co-lead Keifer Sutherland and his gung ho older brother who is excited about being drafted. The tension in the air between Sutherland and Bruce Dern as his war veteran father is well conveyed too. The film trips up though whenever it tries to inject comedy into the story. At its lamest, there is an extended sequence in which co-lead Robert Downey Jr. runs about an auditorium in his underwear after turning up stoned to his sister's graduation ceremony. It is also hard to know what to make of an early played-for- laughs sequence in which the friends hitch a ride with a much older man who only has one thing on his mind. The drama here is really good though, with both leads as well as Winona Ryder in having their fair share of strong moments. The return home sequences are especially memorable in this regard, but with Thompson trying to make his film equally as funny as it is moving, the results are a little mixed, even if the film leaves a favourable impression overall.

haildevilman This would have been better titled "1988 with 1969 fantasies." The opportunity to re-do the sixties idealism to a new crowd was squandered here by stereotypes. It was clear the writers and/or producers got their ideas from nothing but a few library books.While the attempts to not go OTT with the fashions was honorable, they didn't go far enough. A few short dresses didn't cut it.And the older brother becoming an MIA was so predictable it was pathetic.The best thing about this flick was the soundtrack. I could listen to Cream's "White Room" all day.I kept waiting for Keifer to repeat Daddy Don's line from "Kelly's Heroes." "Give me those positive waves." Shaky at best.

cicero The reviews of "1969" as cinema are largely right on--it's a neat "little" movie and a credible directorial debut.But it's subtext, the radicalization of the mainstream view is uncannily germane to our present situation in 2007; the basic theme of the screenplay translates to "dissent is not unpatriotic; indeed, it is an obligation in a democracy..". The "clicheing" of antiwar sentiments in so many other (especially post-1994) films (especially the notion that anti-Vietnam sentiment was the province of drug-clouded hippies and committed anarchists and the Left) is teased apart in a series of "proxy" vignettes about a university building takeover, a draft-office break-in, and a Marine KIA funeral. These are set against a backdrop of not-so cliché themes of value evolution and generational conflict, handled in a manner that warrants re-visitation.I saw this film about 15 years ago, and was impressed by Sutherland (at 19-as 19 !)) and Downey--and Dern. But now, the film has a message. Biggest drawback for me--soundbite use of terrific 1969-era rock for the soundtrack--great music--in bits and pieces....

Colin748 This is a very strange movie but not in a very bad way.Some of the acting is poor and could have been much better.I liked most of the movie but the story is off the road and rather "drunk".1969 is a good movie to view by yourself.A lot of 80's films such as this one are corny but good at the same time.