Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic and Great in a Classroom Setting.
Review: This is a great video. The actual footage from news reports and commentaries is fabulous. Students learn the true origin, development and spread of the HIV Virus. I recommend this video to all, especially teenagers.
Rating:
Summary: I only wish there were more stars to praise this MUST read
Review: Absolutely the greatest work dealing with the AIDS epidemic ever published. It deals with everthing from the early science behind the epidemic to how it deeply effected a whole people. After reading this book, your thoughts and feelings about the tragedy of AIDS will never be the same. END
Rating: 
Summary: And the Band Played Good.
Review: 'And the Band Played On' is an excellent film about the true story of the discovery of the AIDS virus from the late 1970s' into the 1980s'. It has an All-Star cast that bring delight to the screen. More interesting than 'Philadelphia'.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent for opening discussions with students
Review: I teach high school biology in Los Angeles. One of the California state standards for the course is to teach them to about AIDS and its effect on the immune system. The first time that I taught the material, I realized that my students lacked insight into the history of the disease. The next time the subject came up, I showed them this film. While some of the subject matter may be considered risky, this is the most accurate historical film about AIDS available, and it definitely pertains to Biology. I highly recommend this film to Biology teachers, as well as parents who want to raise well-informed children. If we forget our past, we are doomed to repeat it. Awareness is raised by this film, and can be discussed on multiple levels afterwards. What a great film!
Rating:
Summary: Moving Inside Story of What Happened Behind the Headlines
Review: Those of us who were old enough remember the headlines about AIDS in the 1980's. I remember the confusion about the blood supply, that this was a "gay" disease, that it could be contracted through common household contact, the controversy over safe sex, and when Rock Hudson's diagnosis was announced, and when he died.
The facts about AIDS that we take for granted now - that it is not a "gay disease", that it is a virus, that safe sex can prevent its spread - were not seen as obvious facts in the early and mid 1980's.
"And the Band Played On" is the story behind the headlines, rumors and misinformation of that time.
When I say behind the headlines, I mean the activities most Americans were oblivious to - the small number of health professionals realizing in 1980-1981 that people were dying of seemingly suppressed immune systems; the realization in the gay community that their members were becoming ill; and the search by the CDC to study the disease in terms of who was becoming sick, how the disease progressed, the determination that it was a virus, and plotting its course and victims.
The movie is extremely well-done and well-acted. While much of the book was left out of the movie (i.e., the activities of the gay community in NYC), I think this had to be done so that this could be a movie and not a mini-series.
As with the book, periodically through the movie the "Butcher's Bill" metrics are displayed ... for this date in 1984, so many cases have been diagnosed in the U.S. For the same date, so many people have died in the U.S.
I watched this movie's premier on HBO. Later, when I met my husband, we came across it on HBO and watched it. He was very favorably impressed by the movie, and was struck by the periodic displays of the "Butcher's Bill". He's told his teenage son and daughter about it, we purchased it, and we've all watched it together.
I highly recommend this movie. Even more highly, I recommend the book. It is one of the best works of nonfiction I've read.
Rating:
Summary: This is not a gay issue. This is a human issue.
Review: A real-life story about the discovery and destructive nature of AIDS, And the Band Played On is a gripping drama that not only takes you to the front line and behind the scenes of the HIV virus. To the bath houses in San Francisco to the research labs at the Center for Disease Control, there is no area that is not shown in this film. An all-star cast also creates the ambiance to this film. Powerful actors giving the performances of a lifetime. Richard Gere, Angelica Houston, Ian McKellan, Steve Martin, Alan Alda, Phil Collins, and even Matthew Modine are just a few of the actors who deserved Academy Awards for their work. While most of their parts were small, they were not unforgettable segments. Each cameo actor had a crucial role in leading us to the next segment and life of the HIV virus.
We are first introduced to Modine when he is trying to help a tribe with the destructible Ebola virus. Then, just as quickly, we are in mainstream San Francisco. The booming gay community and the political figureheads that were pushing for rights. It is the beginning of 1980, the Democrats are pushing for a more liberal stance, while Regan is being sworn into the White House for his first term. The world is happy, yet timid. The gay community is growing, and discovering that a dark fear is lurking behind them. While the United States is beating a dead horse about closing bath houses and stopping the gay community, the French are looking at it outside of a sexual disease. Possibly a blood disease. While they research their ideas, America begins to see the full effect of AIDS. These scientists are predicting that in the next several years the fatality rate will be 100% if you contract AIDS. Ronald Regan has just had his second term and has still not mentioned AIDS in public. While the French work day and night to stop their public from dying, we begin shunning the gay community. Creating a phobia due to lack of education. We even see a well respected doctor steal the discovery from the French just so that he can credit the monetary value of this disease. While the ending to this film is very sappy, it still was powerful enough to not only be enjoyable, but also educational. A film that if you have not seen yet, you should...and if you have seen it, see it again.
This powerful two and a half hour epic was the most entertaining informative film I have seen in ages. I rented it not knowing anything about it. I first picked it up for the actors to see what they could do in such small roles. Little did I know I was about to see everyone in the performances of their lifetime. Richard Gere proved once and again why he is an actor. It befuddles me why Modine has stopped working, because after seeing him in this film I would have liked to see him move further in the Hollywood community.
It is not everyday that you find a gem as this film. If I was a superintendent of schools and I just saw this film, I would push with every ounce of strength to get this film into my schools. I learned more about AIDS than I ever had in my education career. It not only brought out a text book style of education, but it also brought a very humanistic approach to the disease. It also brought out a very dark political side that perhaps the general public is not as familiar with. Not only that, but it also brought out the dark side of human nature. In times of plagues, we rely to heavily on science to be our savior. While it will be the backbone to our cause, we do need to have a feeling for those that already have the disease. We, as a nation, need to look past social standings, sexual preference, and color of our skin to realize that we are all humans. If this is a "human" disease, then we need to research every venue, not just the most obvious ones. If this film doesn't scare you, I don't think any horror film will.
Like all great films, it did have some horrible sides to it. McKellan's story was too cliché. The story of the homosexual politician who looses his lover because he is more involved with politics than his social life, who eventually reunite when it is discovered that McKellan has AIDS. Modine's flashbacks were unnecessary. I felt that we did not need to be reminded why he believed in human nature, and I don't think that we needed to be reminded by seeing a scene where he throws bodies into a fire. Something more substantial would have been nice. Finally, the ending was too much for me. I don't think it needed to have an Elton John (prominent homosexual figure in entertainment) singing one of his songs with flashing pictures of famous people, straight and gay, that we have lost to AIDS. Perhaps a more poignant picture would have been less famous people (every day Joes) who have died from the disease.
Overall, the good well out weigh the bad points that I just mentioned. I guarantee that you will be surprised, educated, and emotionally enthralled by this film.
Grade: **** out of *****
Rating:
Summary: And the Band Played Good.
Review: 'And the Band Played On' is an excellent film about the true story of the discovery of the AIDS virus from the late 1970s' into the 1980s'. It has an All-Star cast that bring delight to the screen. More interesting than 'Philadelphia'.
Rating: 
Summary: Lies and lying liars who tell them!
Review: I actually got this from a blog from Dean's World (Dean is a liberal) who nailed the problem with this movie:"Reagan had an excellent record on gay rights issues--to the extent that anyone at that level of office in that day and age could be said to have such a record, anyway, since he had publicly supported gay rights measures and, while he did ally with some conservative Christian forces, never once backed any anti-gay legislation and was always personally gay-friendly. While it's true that there were things his administration could have done better about the early AIDS crisis, this is true for just about everyone in the 1980s--gay rights activists, local and national elected officials of both parties and at all levels of government--responded poorly. If any of you saw that execrable HBO movie And The Band Played On, you should be aware that it gave a horribly politically slanted accounting, but the book it was based on, And The Band Played On by Randy Shilts, was a much fairer and more damning book. Shilts would never have approved that attrocious movie. The book is must-reading, for Shilts (who was gay, lived in San Francisco, and himself eventually died of AIDS) documents in excruciating detail how local government officials, gay rights activists, judges, and career civil servants in many cases conspired to keep the plague from being recognized and to prevent government from even getting involved. Shilts was unsparing in his indictment of everyone at all levels and in both parties, and if he was sometimes harsh on the Reagan administration, he was usually even harsher with others, including gay rights activists he personally knew and who were responsible for preventing government from taking direct action to stop the plague in its tracks. It's great reading. And a good supplement, by the way, is David Horowitz' autobiography Radical Son, because in the last half of the book Horowitz talks about how he befriended Randy Shilts and saw himself how radical left-wing gay activists fought tooth and nail to prevent government from taking any action to stop the plague or even recognize that a plague was spreading. And how gay men who tried to act against it were often attacked as liars and traitors and sellouts to "the fundamentalists." It's powerful reading. Oh, and by the way, there is also a consistent rumor floating around parts of the gay community that the Reagan administration wanted to put AIDS victims into concentration camps. Just so you know, that too is a myth. It's remarkable what some people think they know that simply isn't true."
Rating:
Summary: If You Know Someone
Review: If you have younger friends who were not there while millions died buy this DVD and let them see it. I worked for some time with a youth group and we watched this DVD together. I had to pause it dozens of times to explain what was happening. The younger people up to age 30ish simply have no understanding of this horrific epidemic. Believe it or not I think every school in North America should have this DVD as a class project. I work closely with the AIDS community today and find it difficult to see 16 to 28 year olds now testing positive. This movie gives out a lot of information and the list of people in it will get anyone of any age to watch it... and then watch them cry at the end. This DVD is a gift of life for a friend you may love.
Rating:
Summary: AndThe Band Played On
Review: I watched the movie in it's entirety. This showed how the blood industry and the politicians and the owners of the Bath Houses
were willing to care more about the money they would lose testing
the blood supply and closing the Bathhouses than saving lives and
fighting for the right thing. It shows the selfishness of Dr.Gallo and the misconduct that was involved. They didn't even
test the donors before letting them donate blood. Thus, people
who recieved transfusions got sick and died as a result of an
infected donor. The end tribute where all of the victims of aids
were remembered along with a touching musical tribute from Elton
John, and also they showed the AIDS quilt, commemorating those
who lost the battle of AIDS.
|
