Charlie Wilson's War

In the montage where the Mujahideen shoot down Russian planes and helicopters, four of the aircraft (an A-6 Intruder, an F-4 Phantom, a UH-1 Huey helicopter, and an F-16) are American-made, and would never have been used by the Soviet military.

After Gust removes the bug from the bottle of scotch, the position of the label sealing the bottle changes between shots.

In some scenes showing Hinds on the ground, various Mi-35s are shown.

They are very modern derivatives of the infamous Mi-24 Hind-D, with distinctive engine casings.

During the first scene with two Russian helicopters en route to attack, their rocket pods are empty; you can see daylight through them.

When Charlie is in his office meeting with Gust, the epaulet on his right shoulder is unbuttoned during several shots.

Later it is buttoned.

In a scene set in early 1980, Crystal Lee mentions the TV show _"Falcon Crest" (1981)_ (qv), which premiered in 1981.

The presentation in the airplane hangar before the Clandestine Service has a series of flags from the intelligence community in the background.

One of the flags bears the distinctive seal of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which was reorganized on November 23, 2003.

Before that, it was the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) with a completely different seal.

In one of the opening scenes where 'Charlie Wilson (X)' (qv) is receiving the award, 'Joanne Herring' (qv) is shown clapping in close up, wearing black gloves.

In the subsequent wide shots showing the entire audience, she is gloveless.

In Gust's first scene, he fights with his boss about who owes whom an apology.

The window that Gust had previously broken has just been replaced.

As the fight continues and he's ordered out of the office, Gust breaks the window again, leaving shards of glass in the frame.

In subsequent shots, most of the shards are gone.

When 'Charlie Wilson (X)' (qv) and 'Joanne Herring' (qv) meet for the first time in the film, they tilt their heads to the right as they kiss.

In the subsequent shot when they break the kiss, their heads are tilted to the left.

The bill in the Langley cafeteria, with a large faced president, was not available in the 1980s.

When the strippers are asking Charlie what he does for a living while they're in the hot tub, Kelly's position keeps changing back and forth from leaning against the side to sitting up straight, depending on which camera is being used.

Towards the beginning of the movie, Charlie is at a Vegas Club in April 1980.

The next day, he is back in Washington to meet with his constituent about a Christmas display.

Later that evening, Charlie is with a young lady who sings along with "Angel of the Morning.

" However, the cover version by 'Juice Newton' (qv) was released in 1981.

When Gust Avrakotos and 'Charlie Wilson (X)' (qv) talk in Charlie's office after Gust removes the bug from the scotch bottle, Gust sits down next to a table that has a picture of a B-1B Lancer bomber with a gray paint scheme.

B-1Bs were introduced in 1985.

Until the mid-1990s, they were painted in a green, dark green, and grey "European I" or "lizard" paint scheme.

Larry Liddle complains about a problem with a crèche in Nacogdoches, in east Texas.

Charlie Wilson represents the 2nd Congressional district, in southeast Texas near Houston.

However, that was the result of redistricting in 2003.

In the 1980s, the second district included Lufkin and Nacogdoches.

The modern digital thermostat by the door in Joanne's bedroom was not available in 1980.

When Charlie is watching TV in the bath tub, a stripper puts cocaine down on the edge of the bathtub, and her hands are empty.

In the next shot, she is shooting cocaine up her nose.

When Charlie and his aide come back from Pakistan the first time, a shot of the outside of their 747 shows winglets.

They first appeared on the 747-400, which was introduced in 1985.

During some helicopter attack scenes, bodies that were shot at instantly disappear, as if they were deleted from the screen.

During the talk with Larry Liddle, when Charlie's assistant hides his mug of whiskey in a drawer, she lifts the mug with her left hand.

In the next shot, she holds the mug in her right hand before placing it in the drawer.

Doc Long's secretary uses a lint roller.

They were invented in 1956, but they weren't widely used until the late 1980s, and didn't replace lint brushes until almost 2000.

Following a montage depicting events of 1987-1988 in Afghanistan, 'Charlie Wilson (X)' (qv) celebrates his reelection, and Gust tells him that Doc Long is going to be defeated.

Long was defeated in 1984.

The Texas flag in 'Charlie Wilson (X)' (qv)'s office is upside down; the white field should be at the top.

When 'Charlie Wilson (X)' (qv) is in Las Vegas, the date on the screen is April 6, 1980.

The next day, back in Washington, Larry Liddle visits Charlie to complain about a problem with a crèche in front of a firehouse in Nacogdoches, TX, stating that it's Christmas time.

While Larry Liddle talks to Charlie about a firehouse crèche in Nacogdoches, TX, they both refer to Nacogdoches Township.

Texas does not have townships.

When 'Charlie Wilson (X)' (qv) returns to Washington to cast his vote, he enters the House floor from an adjoining room.

Several times, he enters that same side room from the hall outside his office, which would be impossible.

The interior architecture of Charlie's office indicates that his office is in the Rayburn House Office Building, across the street from the Capitol building.

FLIPPED SHOTDuring the Red Square military parade, the army vehicles and the soldiers move southwards, with the Kremlin wall on the right.

Suddenly, the parade changes direction, and the Kremlin wall is on the left.

The Pakistani Army helicopter used to take Charlie Wilson to Peshawar had a Pakistani flag from edge to edge on the vertical tail fin and the green circle insignia on tail boom.

In real life, the helicopter has a significantly smaller Pakistani flag (with or without white stripe) on its vertical tail fin, and the green circle insignia is on the cabin's body, just before the tail boom.

It is also a much lighter color.

I wasn't surprised that a movie directed by Mike Nichols and written by Aaron Sorkin would be smart and entertaining that's pretty much a given. I was surprised by my enjoyment of Tom Hanks, who thankfully ditched his typically noble characters for someone more interesting a dissolute congressman who decides to help Afghanistan against the Russians.

Obviously has deficiencies in terms of the preferences regarding the political stance of the writer, but the movie has an extraordinary script full of wit and insight, thus promising an immensely entertaining time. Sorkin, the writer, has won my admiration with those ingeniously crafted fine details (despite my reservations on the bias & now-familiar perception manipulation issues.

Affable, self-important, womanizing congressman cares about Afghan children after being enlightened, in exchange for sex, by a self-important, rich lady (Is it me, or has Julia Roberts' acting always been as bad as an outbreak of cholera?).

Charlie Wilson's War (2007): Dir: Mike Nichols / Cast: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Emily Blunt: Provocative drama about one man's journey into overthrowing the Soviet Union. Congressman Charlie Wilson embarks on a quest to send arms to Afghanistan whom are at war with the Soviets.

This is a great movie telling of the behind the scenes of what US did to end the Russian invasions in the Middle East. 97% of the movie covers the steps leading up to the end of the invasion.

Well....fine .....

This movie presents extremely one-sided view on the Afghan war. I don't know if this is normal for the North American take on the situation, but for me it looks incredibly ignorant.

Directed By Mike Nichols Of Who Did The Comedy Film "The Birdcage", Comedy/Drama Film "The Graduate" The Plotical Satire Film "Primary Colors" And The Adult Drama Film About Love And Break Up Relationships in "Closer" And Screenplay By Aaron Sorkin Who Wrote The Military Court Room Drama Film "A Few Good Men" Now Comes Film About a Congressman Named Charlie Wilson Who Help The CIA To Ship And Deliver Weapons To The People Of Afghanistan To Shoot Down And Kill The Soviet Union Russian Gunships That Are Destroying And Killing Of Millions Of Afghans including Children. This Film Charlie Wilson's War Which Stars Tom Hanks As The Main Title Character And Along With Helping Tom Hanks Are Great Supporting Cast Which includes Julia Roberts, The Late Tatalented Academy Award Winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Ned Beatty, John Slattery, Denis O'Hare And Emily Blunt Who Has a Sexy One Big Scene With The Hank's Character And Who's Trying To Seduce Him.

Yes, portraying the soviets as pure evil is something belonging to the previous century, and yes portraying Charlie Wilson as the helper of the Afghan refuges is something anyone in his right mind will probably call bulls**t immediately, but once ignoring this Hollywood, all American, Anti-Communist, Christian propaganda, this movie is pretty good.Some people complain this movie does not give enough emphasis on the fact the US support is what brought on 9/11, but it was basically the ending note of the movie.