I'll Remember April
by Bob Clark (III)
(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Haley Joel Osment, Mark Harmon, Pam Dawber, Pat Morita, Trevor MorganDirector: Bob Clark (III)
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: Pan & Scan, 1.33:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-01-16
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
DVD Reviews of I'll Remember April
DVD Review: Family movie
Summary: 4 Stars
Although not an Oscar winner,this is a good film that speaks to family and kindness. Good neighbors stand up for each other and their principles. This is a nice change compared to much of the crap being filmed lately. There is even an oportunity for children to ask why and parents to give good answers.DVD Review: I Taut I Taw A Pwetty Wah
Summary: 2 Stars
It had to happen. Someone in the well-meaning, simple-minded Hollywood Liberal community heard about the reparations paid to Japanese Americans whose property was stolen before being shipped into camps that were less nightmarish than the camps of Europe but not exactly fun either. These reparations happened not long ago, too late to help most of the poor, innocent souls whose lives were destroyed by this crackpot bit of social engineering. So, in that dreamy way of theirs, they looked out at the underpaid Japanese gardeners trimming their trees and watering their lawns and thought, "What a perfect opportunity for some mawkish, emotionally manipulative revisionist history." The result is this goopy, ponderous greeting card of a film in which America's war years are indistinguishable from lazy family picnics in summertime.
As is so often the case, excellent production value and cinematography fail to conceal a multiplicity of flaws. The picture is a symphony of war era automobiles, all in perfect condition and all recently detailed. (Apparently the war did not impede car care!) Likewise the neighborhoods, interiors, period costumes, and accessories are lovingly assembled, the overwhelming sense of place is stunning - rather like watching Leave It To Beaver - in color - without the drama. Nice to see Pam Dawber looking great, how she survived years of working across from Robin Williams in full-blown mania I will never know. Mark Harmon also looks good and is perfectly cast as an ineffectual nebbish. Haley Joel Osment nearly steals the film, not because his performance is so noteworthy, it isn't, but because his name and face remind you that outside this schmaltziness, in the larger world, are movies that matter. Pat Morita also wanders in and out, for reasons known only to his accountant.
I won't trouble you with the plot - (boy, it was hard to seriously apply that word) - because I like you. The script on this love letter is so thin it must have been written on wax paper. Suffice it to say that Director Clark would have us believe that the mean old government hatched this "internment" thing but the God-fearing local citizens - who actually did business with Japanese people and Americans descended from Japanese - thought the whole thing was "not very nice" and cleared their throats aggressively before acquiescing and buying up abandoned homes for a dollar. Like so many movies desperately searching for value, since they have brought none with them to the party, this film begins by telling you that the story is "based on true events". I'm certain that this is true, to the extent that during those times Japanese Americans breathed air, walked erect, and consumed food and water. I'm guessing that's where the similarity to anything remotely resembling reality ends.
DVD Review: Oldie needs to come out on DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a precious story of boys in California during WWII who catch a "prisioner of war".
I believe it is based on facts.
Enjoyable for the whole family.
DVD Review: Spectacular!
Summary: 5 Stars
My 7th grade social studies class watched this movie this year while studying WW2. This movie was a pleasure to watch because it was very exciting and it showed you what life would have been like during WW2 on the homefront. This movie is in my opinion the best WW2 based movie for children.DVD Review: I'll Remember April
Summary: 4 Stars
One of the many problems that occur when politicians declare war, even "just" war, is that people are harmed right where they live. And they are simply everyday people. This movie makes that very clear -- and makes it clear that "the enemy" are simply everyday people, too. Perhaps only politicians should fight wars.
Description of I'll Remember April
Although the horrors of WWII are far removed from the Pacific Coast community where adolescent Duke Cooper (Trevor Morgan) and his three best chums play soldier, experiment with swearing, and earnestly patrol the beach for Japanese submarines, the realities of the war are about to come crashing down around them. Not when a Japanese soldier, stranded and wounded when his sub quickly dived, washes ashore; his capture by the foursome merely allows for more playtime and thoughts of becoming heroes. It's coming because Duke's older brother is on some island awaiting combat and the black sedans with military tags have already begun rolling through town to deliver their grim announcements. And Duke's Japanese American pal Willie Tanaka (Yuki Tokuhiro), all three feet and 55 pounds of him, has suddenly become a threat to national security, so he, his mother, and grandfather are soon to be shipped away to an internment camp. For a children's film, these are strong, potent themes to discuss; unfortunately any kid will be put off by I'll Remember April's obviousness and condescending tone in a heartbeat. The script by Mark Sanderson assumes its audience needs every point spelled out twice: Duke and his friends (among them Haley Joel Osment, top-billed on the video box despite a smallish role) have the strange habit of repeating ad infinitum their conclusions about the unfairness of it all. Composer Paul Zaza apparently finds that insufficient, since his score hammers home each preprogrammed emotion without mercy. Director Bob Clark has made wonderful movies (A Christmas Story, Murder by Decree) and awful ones (Porky's, Rhinestone); this one falls somewhere in between, sincere and blessed with a clutch of good child actors, but crassly manipulative and too intent on educating its audience to realize it is talking down to them instead. --Bruce ReidGeneral DVDs
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Bestsellers in General DVDs
Twilight (Two-Disc Special Edition)Universal; Release date: 2009-03-21; DVD
Best price: $15.88
Price in other shops:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Full-Screen Edition)Release date: 2009-12-08; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Lost: The Complete Fifth SeasonRelease date: 2009-12-08; DVD
Best price: $36.99
Price in other shops:
The Proposal (Single Disc Widescreen)BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2009-10-13; DVD
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
![Angels & Demons [Blu-ray] Image](/images/Angels-Demons-Blu-ray-B002O5M4SU-X.jpg)
Angels & Demons [Blu-ray]SONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2009-11-24; DVD
Best price: $18.90
Price in other shops:
Four ChristmasesNEW LINE HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2009-11-24; DVD
Best price: $12.66
Price in other shops:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Two-Disc Limited Special Edition + Digital Copy)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2009-12-08; DVD
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops:
Julie & JuliaRelease date: 2009-12-08; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Angels & Demons (Single-Disc Theatrical Edition)SONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2009-11-24; DVD
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Widescreen Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2009-12-08; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Sweet Bird of YouthTango; Release date: 2006-05-08; DVD
Best price: $0.50
Price in other shops:
Summer School (Life's a Beach Edition)PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2007-05-22; DVD
Best price: $7.44
Price in other shops:
Magic in the WaterSONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2005-01-04; DVD
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops:
Edges of the LordBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2005-01-04; DVD
Best price: $0.59
Price in other shops:
Worth WinningTwentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2005-06-07; DVD
Best price: $5.17
Price in other shops:
The PresidioParamount; Release date: 1999-12-14; DVD
Best price: $2.49
Price in other shops:
Local BoysRelease date: 2003-07-15; DVD
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops:
Stealing HomeTeam Marketing; Release date: 1999-11-23; DVD
Best price: $2.31
Price in other shops:
Ann Rule's And Never Let Her GoWELLSPRING/GENIUS; Release date: 2007-10-16; DVD
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Acts of ContritionHARMON,MARK; Release date: 2007-05-08; DVD
Best price: $3.28
Price in other shops: