Men of Honor (2000)

Director:

George Tillman Jr.

Writer (WGA):

Scott Marshall Smith (written by)

Release Date:

10 November 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

History is made by those who break the rules.

Plot:

The story of Carl Brashear, the first African American, then also the first amputee, US Navy Diver and the man who trained him.

Plot Keywords:

Navy | African American | Determination | Training | Racism

Awards:

9 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Robert De Niro	...	Chief 'Billy' Sunday
Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Chief Carl Brashear
Charlize Theron	...	Gwen Sunday
Aunjanue Ellis	...	Jo
Hal Holbrook	...	'Mr. Pappy'
Michael Rapaport	...	GM1 Snowhill
Powers Boothe	...	Captain Pullman
David Keith	...	Captain Hartigan
Holt McCallany	...	MM1 Dylan Rourke
David Conrad	...	Lt. / Cmdr. / Capt. Hanks
Joshua Leonard	...	PO2 Timothy Douglas Isert
Carl Lumbly	...	Mac Brashear
Lonette McKee	...	Ella Brashear
Glynn Turman	...	Chief Floyd
Dennis Troutman	...	Boots

Also Known As:

Men of Honour (UK)
Navy Diver (USA) (working title)
The Diver (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

129 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Malaysia:18PL (uncut) | Malaysia:U (cut) | Philippines:PG-13 | Brazil:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Chile:TE | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #37764)

Filming Locations:

Cathlamet, Washington, USA

Company:

Fox 2000 Pictures

Trivia:

In the hearing to determine if Senior Chief Brashear can remain a diver, his insignia is gold and Chief Sunday's is red. Chief Sunday has had a record of bad conduct. Gold chevrons are used if an enlisted man has a good conduct record of at least 12 years.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The scenes that supposedly take place in Bayonne, NJ, have mountains clearly visible at times even though there are no mountains anywhere near Bayonne.

Quotes:

Jo: Don't you see? I'm not like you. The things I want...
[Jo sighs and takes Carl's hand]
Jo: The things I want are smaller. If I just work hard and keep my head down...
Carl Brashear: Your whole life will pass you by.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: The Making of 'Men of Honor'" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Win

Conduct Unbecoming An Oscar Winner

The Oscars would be much more interestintg if, every year, they made at least one previous winner give back their award. In this case, the revocation could be "shared" between Oscar winners, Gooding and DeNiro, who should have their trophies revoked first for putting their names on this piece of crap, and then treating it like it were a good movie. It is too bad the rating system doesn't go into negative numbers, because that's where this film belongs.

You might get the impression from the above paragraph that I did not enjoy this film, and that may be because not only did I not enjoy this film, I still consider it one of the greatest wastes of two hours that I have ever endured. Being put "on hold" or stuck in traffic in a car without air conditioning on a hot summer day would have been more productive and enjoyable.

Carl Brashear did great things; too bad that those making the movie about him did not. Brashear was a black Navy diver in the 1950s, who encountered racism, overcame it, became a hero while losing a leg saving the world from communism in a rescue mission, and struggled to reclaim his position as a diver.

Perhaps one day they will make a movie that does the man justice. This was not it.