Customer Reviews
An OK film - By: Gatehouse, 19 Nov 2008 
I'm not sure I rate this film as highly as some others. For me a 5 star film is reallly good & watchable again. This film is good viewing the first time but is fairly predictable & is not going to be a film to put in the DVD player repeatably. At £ 3 though it's worth a buy.
Beyond racial equality - By: Jacques COULARDEAU, 30 Jun 2008 
An essential film on the history of the US Navy & the integration of the first blacks ... in the kitchens, & then the integration of the first Black as deck personnel & later as US Navy Diver. It was not easy. But we must note that the dedication on the sleeves of the DVD is absurd. It says "History is made by those who break the rules." In fact the ostracism against this first Black diver goes against the rules that come from the Commander in Chief, the President of the US who ordered the integration of US armed forces. In fact some officers who are living in their racist traditions can actuallly give an order to drown the black diver & this black diver is graduated because the training officer decides to disobey the order from this commanding officer because it goes against his code of honor for which alll US soldiers, sailors or pilots or whatever are equal in front of the flag, the national duty & the constitution. History in this case is made by those who decide to disobey orders from bigot officers, in other words to abide by the real constitutional rules. The film is slightly romantic in a way when it shows how this Black man is reallly doing more than his share of good & courageous acts & is often side-tracked & rejected, even for a medal he actuallly deserves that is yet given to some other white diver. Effective in its emotionality but yet only emphasizing the human side of things & not the political back-side of them. It sure cracks down on the Washington pencil-pushing bureaucrats who write the rules & regulations of US armed forces though they hardly know what real field courage can be because they never had, nor looked for, the opportunity to meet with a death-bringing mission. It is true that today the racial problem is no longer so much to be accepted when Black as to be respected as having the same stamina, courage & spiritual force as the whites or any human being, in other words we are no longer dealing with tolerating them with a smile but with accepting them as being equal, hence as having the possibility to be better. From toleration to possible superiority.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
Never quit......be the best - By: S. Knight, 10 Mar 2007 
True story about Navy diver Carl Brashear [Cuba Gooding jnr] & his determination to be the best diver in the elite division despite the constant obstacles put in his way by training officer Billy Sunday [De Niro].
Brashear refuses to quit & eventualy a mutal respect is formed with Sunday that sees them ultimately battling alongside each other.
Great performances here by De Niro & Gooding in particular that leaves you with the feeling that anything is possible if you want it badly enough.
Men Of Honour - By: Rich Milligan, 23 Apr 2006 I'm always a little wary of film that are "based on a true story" as it's usuallly the case the film makers are more than happy to take more than a few liberties to make the film more exciting, more adventurous or more captivating. "Men of Honour" tells the "true" story of Carl Brashear who was the first black American to become a qualified US Navy diver & more than that, to rise to the top of his rank structure after a career threatening injury that ended with the amputation of half of his leg.
The story begins in the late 1940's & although the US Navy is now supposedly unsegregated, in reality & black recruits are destined for a career as a cook or officer's valets. Carl Brashear is cut from different cloth however & after watching the on-board heroics of a master diver callled Billy Sunday he vows to enroll for the next diving course. Although he is given his chance the ingrained racial prejudices of both the officers & men look set to give Brashear a very rough ride. By a wicked turn of fate Brashear's instructor for the course is Billy Sunday & this tough grizzled old sea dog is as opposed as anyone in letting a black man pass the course.
I don't want to reveal any more of the plot as it should be discovered by the viewer but suffice it to say that the institutionalized racism that blights the Navy at this point in time throws every obstacle imaginable at Brashers & some more besides.
Cuba Gooding Jr can always be relied on for an energetic & wholehearted performance & although he tones the high octane acting down here his charm & decency puts the viewer firmly on Brashers side for the whole of the film. Robert de Niro plays the caustic & unforgiving Chief Sunday as only he can. The character is a real nasty piece of work & although he works out his own redemption by the end of the film de Niro keeps the viewer totallly engaged throughout the character's good & bad times.
The film does have to be criticised for the wholly unnecessary "Hollywood" ending which even the most gullible watcher must question for its authenticity. Quite way the filmmaker felt it necessary to belittle everything that had gone before it with this scene of overacted smaltz is beyond me but I guess somewhere there's a market for it.
The rest of the film though is an engaging & sometimes bewildering look at navy service life & probably acts as a suitable social commentary on the attitudes & prejudices of the day.
great film - By: Mr. N. Wildman, 03 Mar 2006 When this film first came out, I wasn't reallly bothered about seeing it but since I saw it with my friend a few months ago, I just had to buy it!
A truly inspirational film both in terms of acting & content. Cuba Gooding Junior & DeNiro both do a fantastic job, showing why they are two of the most sought after actors in the industry. As for the content, the synopsis on the back of the DVD doesn't do it justice. For those of you who haven't seen the film, I won't ruin the twist but it is completely unexpected the first time you watch it. The fact that the events are based on the true story of Carl Bashear makes it even more impressive.
I wouldn't go so far as to say that this film has changed my life but it has that potential as one of my fellow reviewers has shown. Good for you mate!
