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List Price: $14.99 | | Label: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Salesrank: 34791
Released: June 27, 2006 |
| Our Price: $4.69 |
| Used Price: $1.58 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Working-class tough guy Jake Huard (James Franco) gets a chance to make good when he's accepted into the famed Annapolis Naval Academy but his buddies and dad back at the shipyard doubt he'll last a month. The film moves through his first year at the academy culminating in the big boxing tournament which is Huard's chance to get revenge against his stoic-beyond-the-call-of-duty senior officer Cole (Tyrese Gibson). First though the closed-off Huard must learn to ask for help which arrives via a warmly attractive senior officer played by Jordanna Brewster (THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS). ANNAPOLIS's director Justin Lin (BETTER LUCK TOMORROW) brings an unpretentious visual approach to this film; he lets the story flow straight as an arrow sweeping viewers up into the daunting rigors and the developing camaraderie of this challenging environment. A muscular orchestral score by Brian Tyler pushes everything along with maximum heart and impact and the rich cinematography creates an invigorating sense of you-are-there closeness which by the time the story gets to the climactic fight is breathlessly intense. The standout performance is Gibson's--so composed and elegantly tough he's like a coiled spring. Brewster is also good lending a welcome contrast of feminine warmth to the sometimes cold world of military discipline. As an inspiring tale of rising up and beating your limitations ANNAPOLIS makes the grade.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 UPC: 786936293579 Manufacturer No: 04113200
Description of Annapolis (Full Screen Edition):
A boxing movie done up in Naval Academy drag, Annapolis stars James Franco (Spider-Man, Tristan & Isolde) as Jake Huard, a shipbuilder's son who wants to prove to his father--and to himself--that he can cut it as a Naval officer. But at the Academy he runs afoul of a hard-nosed training officer named Cole (Tyrese Gibson, Four Brothers), who does all he can to drive Huard out of the school. They end up settling their differences in the boxing ring during the Academy's annual competition. Annapolis is a bundle of cliches, from Huard's interracial mix of roommates to the lessons he learns about teamwork, but it's an efficient and vigorous bundle of cliches. Director Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow) keeps the pace swift and the visuals snappy, particularly in the boxing scenes. Franco and Gibson work hard to outdo each other's burning gazes; both are handsome men of modest acting talent, but they suit their roles reasonably well. Also featuring Jordana Brewster (The Fast and the Furious), Donnie Wahlberg (Saw II), and the always charming Chi McBride (Roll Bounce). --Bret Fetzer
Annapolis (Full Screen Edition) Reviews:
Movies 
2008-05-20 - This movie had strong acting (with great actors and actresses), the plot could have been more interesting, and the ending was sub-par. This movie is worth watching, but not paying $20.00 for a DVD.
Is This the Navy or the UFC?
2008-03-05 - It is always an interesting thing when one starts watching a movie and expects it to be about a certain subject and then the movie shifts half-way to an entirely tangential subject. From Dusk till Dawn is the epitome of this effect. But whereas it was deliberate in that movie since Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez each contributed to half the script, you can tell Annapolis does this more because the writer or director lost the narrative thread half-way in.
The movie starts out like the flick Rudy, with James Franco playing a blue collar kid who - instead of a steel mill - works in a shipyard and who - instead of Notre Dame - wishes he could attend Annapolis. Unlike Rudy though, Annapolis delves only skin deep into his passion to attend the naval academy and sidesteps the cumbersome process of explaining how hard it was for an average kid with average grades to get in to one of the best military and educational training programs in the US. The first half of the movie progresses with more of the same about how hard it is for a blue collar kid to "make it" when he is thrust into the ring with elites.
The movie shifts about half-way when - for reasons that are largely unsupported - Franco's character decides to focus all his angst on a boxing match with his commanding officer Cole, played by Tyrese Gibson channeling Louis Gossett Jr. from An Officer and a Gentleman. This is where the movie moves from "oh my life is so tough being from the wrong side of the tracks" to - basically - Rocky.
I debated giving this movie two stars, but in the end it isn't atrocious. It is watchable and I didn't turn it off, which I have with other movies. It skirted the line, but it is an ok movie to spend time with if there's nothing else available.
This movie was great 
2008-02-25 - I really liked this movie , the best part of the movie was the boxing scene I thought the boxing scene looked very professional . Great movie recommend to everyone.
An Officer and a Gentleman Redux
2008-02-06 - This is an updated and borrowed version of Richard Gere and Louis Gosset Jr's "An Officer and a Gentleman". This time its about a young welder who finally gets into the US Naval Academy Annapolis and faces off against his commanding officer Cole. Its a hard year and full of the ocassional romance with the requisite female. Annapolis is not bad and has an attractive cast but most fans of this film will be military fans who just love the genre.
Excellent movie
2008-01-21 - I bought this movie for my Hubby for Christmas. How could I lose? Great movie + great price + Cheap shipping = happy hubby (Happy Wallet too!!!!!)
