Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

Directed by	Hironobu Sakaguchi Moto Sakakibara
Produced by	Jun Aida Chris Lee Akio Sakai
Screenplay by	Al Reinert Jeff Vintar
Story by	Hironobu Sakaguchi
Based on	Final Fantasy by Hironobu Sakaguchi
Starring	Ming-Na Alec Baldwin James Woods Donald Sutherland Ving Rhames Steve Buscemi Peri Gilpin
Music by	Elliot Goldenthal
Cinematography	Moto Sakakibara
Editing by	Christopher S. Capp
Studio	Square Pictures
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	July 2, 2001 (premiere) July 11, 2001 (United States)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States Japan
Language	English
Budget	$137 million
Box office	$85,131,830

In the year 2065, a future Earth is infested by Phantoms: alien life forms capable of killing humans by physical contact. The remaining humans living in "barrier cities" all over the world are engaged in an ongoing struggle to free the planet. After being infected by a Phantom during one of her experiments, Aki Ross (Ming-Na) and her mentor, Dr. Sid (Donald Sutherland), uncover a means of defeating the Phantoms by gathering eight spirit signatures that, when joined, can negate the Phantoms. Aki is searching for the sixth spirit in the ruins of New York City when she is cornered by Phantoms but is rescued by Gray Edwards (Alec Baldwin) and his squad "Deep Eyes", consisting of Ryan Whittaker (Ving Rhames), Neil Fleming (Steve Buscemi) and Jane Proudfoot (Peri Gilpin). It is revealed that Gray was once romantically involved with Aki.


Upon returning to her barrier city, Aki joins Sid and appears before the leadership council along with General Hein (James Woods), who is determined to use the powerful Zeus space cannon to destroy the Phantoms. Aki delays the use of the Zeus cannon by revealing she has been infected, and the collected spirit signatures are keeping her infection stable. This revelation convinces Hein that she is being controlled by the Phantoms. Aki and the Deep Eyes squad succeed in finding the seventh spirit as Aki's infection begins to worsen and she slips into unconsciousness.

Aki's dream reveals the Phantoms are the spirits of dead aliens brought to Earth on a fragment of their destroyed planet. Sid uses the seventh spirit to bring Aki's infection back under control, reviving her.

To scare the council into giving him clearance to fire the Zeus cannon Hein lowers part of the barrier shield protecting the city. Though Hein intended that only a few Phantoms enter, his plan goes awry and legions of Phantoms invade the entire city. Aki, Sid and the Deep Eyes attempt to reach Aki's spaceship, their means of escape but Ryan, Neil and Jane are killed by Phantoms. Sid finds the eighth spirit at the crater site of the alien asteroid's impact on Earth. Hein escapes and boards the Zeus space-station where he finally receives authorization to fire the cannon.

Sid lowers a shielded vehicle, with Aki and Gray, into the crater to locate the final spirit. Just before they can reach it, Hein fires the Zeus cannon into the crater not only destroying the eighth spirit but revealing the Phantom Gaia. Aki has a vision of the Phantom home planet, where she is able to receive the eighth spirit from the alien particles in herself. When Aki wakes, she and Gray combine it with the other seven. Hein continues to fire the Zeus cannon despite overheating warnings and unintentionally destroys the cannon and himself. Gray sacrifices himself as a medium needed to physically transmit the completed spirit into the alien Gaia. The Gaia is returned to normal as the Phantoms ascend into space, finally at peace. Aki is pulled from the crater holding Gray's body and looking into the newly liberated world.

Black Hawk Down

Directed by	Ridley Scott
Produced by	Jerry Bruckheimer Ridley Scott
Screenplay by	Ken Nolan
Based on	Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden
Starring	Josh Hartnett Eric Bana Ewan McGregor Tom Sizemore William Fichtner Sam Shepard
Music by	Hans Zimmer
Cinematography	Sławomir Idziak
Editing by	Pietro Scalia
Studio	Revolution Studios Scott Free Productions Jerry Bruckheimer Films
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	December 28, 2001 (Limited) January 18, 2002 (Worldwide)
Running time	144 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$92 million
Box office	$172,989,651

Synopsis
In 1993, famine and civil war have gripped Somalia, resulting in over 300,000 civilian deaths and a major United Nations peacekeeping operation. With the bulk of the peacekeepers withdrawn, the Somali militia loyal to the warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid have declared war on the remaining U.N. personnel. In response, U.S. Army Rangers, Delta Force soldiers, and 160th SOAR aviators are deployed to Somalia to capture Aidid,who has proclaimed himself president of the country. To cement his power and to subdue the population of Somalia, Aidid and his militia seize Red Cross food shipments, coercing the cooperation of the people, while the U.N. forces are powerless to directly intervene. Outside Mogadishu, Rangers and Delta Force operators capture Osman Ali Atto, a warlord selling arms to the militia of Aidid. Shortly thereafter, a mission is planned to capture Omar Salad Elmi and Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdiid, two of Aidid's top advisers. The U.S. forces include experienced men as well as new recruits, including Private First Class Todd Blackburn and a desk clerk going on his first mission. When his Lieutenant is removed from duty as the result of a seizure, Staff Sergeant Matthew Eversmann is placed in command of Ranger Chalk Four, his first command.

The operation is launched and Delta Force operators successfully capture Aidid's advisers inside the target building, but the Rangers and helicopters escorting the ground-extraction convoy take heavy fire, while SGT Eversmann's Chalk Four is dropped a block away by mistake. When Blackburn is severely injured after falling from one of the Black Hawk helicopters, three Humvees led by Sergeant Jeff Struecker are detached from the convoy to return Blackburn to the U.N.-held Mogadishu Airport. SGT Dominick Pilla is shot and killed just as Struecker's column gets underway, and shortly thereafter Black Hawk Super-Six One, piloted by CWO Clifton "Elvis" Wolcott, is shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) and crashes deep within the city. Both pilots are killed, the two crew chiefs are wounded, and one Delta Force sniper on board escapes in another helo that makes it back to base. The ground forces are rerouted to converge on the crash site, but the Somali militia throw up roadblocks, causing LTC Danny McKnight's Humvee column to lose its way, while sustaining heavy casualties. Meanwhile, two Ranger Chalks, including Eversmann's unit, reach Super-Six One's crash site, setting up a defensive perimeter to await evacuation with the two wounded men and the fallen pilots. In the interim, Super-Six Four, piloted by CWO Michael Durant is also shot down by an RPG, crashing several blocks away.

With Cpt. Mike Steele's Rangers pinned down and sustaining heavy casualties, no ground forces can reach Super Six Four's crash site, nor reinforce the Rangers defending Super Six One. Two Delta Force snipers, SFC Randy Shughart and MSG Gary Gordon are inserted by helicopter to Super Six Four's crash site, where they find Durant still alive. The crash site is eventually overrun, Gordon and Shughart are killed, and Durant is captured and taken to Aidid. McKnight's column gives up the attempt to reach Six-One's crash site, and returns to base with their prisoners and the casualties. The men prepare to go back to extract the pinned down Rangers and the fallen pilots and MG Garrison orders the 10th Mountain Division, including Malaysian and Pakistani forces, to mobilize as a relief column.

As night falls the Somali militia launch a sustained assault on the trapped Americans at Super Six One's crash site. The militia is held off throughout the night by strafing runs and rocket attacks from AH-6J Little Bird helicopter gunships of the Nightstalkers, until the 10th Mountain Division's relief column is able to reach the site. The wounded and casualties are evacuated in the vehicles, but a handful of remaining Rangers and Delta Force soldiers are forced to run from the crash site back to the stadium, in the UN Safe Zone.


The closing credits detail the results of the raid: 19 American soldiers were killed, with over 1,000 Somalis dead. Durant was released after 11 days of captivity. Delta Force snipers Gordon and Shughart were the first soldiers to be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. On August 2, 1996, Aidid was killed in a battle with a rival clan. General Garrison retired the following day.

Source :  en.wikipedia.org

Enemy at the Gates

Title : Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad
Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud
Produced by Jean-Jacques Annaud, John D. Schofield
Written by Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard
Based on Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad by William Craig
Starring : Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins, Ed Harris
Music by James Horner
Cinematography : Robert Fraisse
Editing by Noëlle Boisson, Humphrey Dixon
Studio : MP Film Management, Swanford Films, Little Bird Company, Repérage Films
Distributed by : Paramount Pictures (USA), Pathé (UK)
Release date(s) : March 16, 2001
Running time : 131 minutes
Country : Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, United States, France
Language : English, German, Russian
Budget : $68,000,000
Box office : $96,976,270

Synopsis
In 1942, Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), a shepherd from the Ural Mountains who is now a soldier in the Red Army, finds himself on the front lines of the Battle of Stalingrad. Sent on a suicidal charge against the invading Germans, he uses impressive marksmanship skills-taught to him by his grandfather from a young age-to save himself and commissar Danilov (Joseph Fiennes). Nikita Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins) arrives in Stalingrad to coordinate the city's defenses and demands ideas to improve morale. Danilov, now a Senior Lieutenant, suggests that the people need figures to idolize, and publishes tales of Vassili's exploits in the army's newspaper that paint him as a national hero and propaganda icon. Vassili is transferred to the sniper division, and he and Danilov become friends. They also both become romantically interested in Tania (Rachel Weisz), a citizen of Stalingrad who has become a Private in the local militia. Danilov has her transferred to an intelligence unit away from the battlefield.

With the Soviet snipers taking an increasing toll on the German forces, German Major Erwin König (Ed Harris) is deployed to Stalingrad to take out Vassili and thus crush Soviet morale. A renowned marksman and head of the German Army sniper school at Zossen, he lures Vassili into a trap and takes out two of his fellow snipers, but Vassili manages to escape. When the Red Army command learns of König's mission, they dispatch his former student Koulikov (Ron Perlman) to help Vassili kill him. However, König tricks Koulikov into revealing his position and kills him with a very skillful shot, shaking Vassili's spirits considerably. Khrushchev pressures Danilov to bring the sniper standoff to a conclusion.

Trailer taken from YouTube.com


When Tania requests to be reassigned to the sniper division, Danilov asks Vassili to discourage her. Vassili attempts to do so, but relents when Tania tells him how her Jewish parents were murdered by the Germans. Danilov recruits young local boy Sacha Fillipov (Gabriel Thomson), who idolizes Vassili and does small jobs for the Germans in exchange for food, to act as a double agent by passing König false information about Vassili's whereabouts, thus giving Vassili a chance to ambush the Major. Vassili sets a trap for König and manages to wound him, but during a second attempt Vassili falls asleep after many hours and his sniper log is taken by a looting German soldier. The German command takes the log as evidence of Vassili's death and plans to send König home, but the Major does not believe that Vassili is dead. He tells Sacha where he will be next, suspecting that the boy will tell Vassili. Tania and Vassili have meanwhile fallen in love, and the jealous Danilov disparages Vassili in a letter to his superiors.

König spots Tania and Vassili waiting for him at his next ambush, confirming his suspicions about Sacha. He kills the boy and hangs his body from a pole to bait Vassili. Vassili vows to kill König and sends Tania and Danilov to evacuate Sacha's mother (Eva Mattes) from the city, but Tania is wounded by shrapnel en route to the evacuation boats. Thinking her dead, Danilov laments his jealousy for Vassili and his resulting disenchantment with the communist cause. Finding Vassili waiting to ambush König, Danilov intentionally exposes himself in order to reveal the Major's position and is killed. Thinking he has killed Vassili, König goes to inspect the body, but realizes too late that he has fallen into a trap and is in Vassili's sights. He turns to face Vassili, who then kills him. Two months later, after Stalingrad has been liberated and the German forces have surrendered, Vassili finds Tania recovering in a field hospital.

Source : en.wikipedia.org