Negative Views Aside, This is a great movie This is a very interesting movie. This movie doesn't make a hero of Noriega, it shows how evil a man can be as a leader of a nation. The opening sequence clearly depicts the murder and torture associated with his regime and his methods.
There are strong alignments in this movie with other tyrannical historical figures depicted in stage and film, Richard III is a good example. I think that there are three basic lessons in this film:
1) Noriega led a tyrannical life of contasts, his bad behavior upped the stakes to the point that he could no longer control the external forces he stirred.
2) He did seem to have luck. The black comedy depiction highlights just how lucky he was. The depiction of the coup he narrowly escapes in the movie was very real.
3) There are key lessons in this movie about the level of violence tyrants will go to to keep power.
I bought this movie and its a favorite. I hope it will be released on DVD soon with the extras.
For Panama...my life!!! For Panama...my life! That was Noriega's patriotic military shout against the almighty US Army; yet, he didn't defended his country with his life, he ran and took cover behind the skirt of a priest inside the Vatican Nunciatura while his country was being obliterated (literally!) by US bombs. I rented this movie a couple of nights ago in Venezuela (my home country)to see North America's version of Noriega and compared with the similarities we are suffering with our own dictator Hugo Chavez... Even though this film DOES give you a brief and truthful synopsis about Noriega's secret releationship with the US governmet, the CIA, The Iran-Contra fiasco, the DEA and dear Mr. George Bush Sr., at least 70% OF THIS FILM ARE LIES!. First of all, I will like to say that Panama is one of the most beautiful countries in Latin America and I have great friends and memories in it. I had the opportunity to visit Panama when it was considered by the UN as one of the most dangerous places in the world, before and after the invasion. In 1987 I was cought in the middle of a peaceful manifestation that ended up in a bloodbath where many civilians were killed and thousands brutally beaten by the PDF and the now infamous Dignity Batallions , who worked very similar to François Duvalier's genocidal "Ton Ton Macoute" death squad. Today, panamanians remember that horrible day as "BLACK TUESDAY" and the 21 years of brutal dictorship is remembered as "BLACK YEARS". I saw with my very own eyes how that beautiful country was torn to peaces by a very brutal and heartless Dictator who's only goal was to be rich and powerful no matter the cause. It is very hard for me to forget one of the most brutal and cruel sights I've ever seen in my life: A panamanian news camaraman captures how a panamanian civilian was gunned down by a death squad member. The victim layed halfway sitted in the middle of a sidewalk while a Dignity Batallion wrapped him with a "Molirena opposition party flag". The helpless civilian was bleeding to death from a chest wound and started asking the paramilitary for help "Please take my to a doctor, please have a heart and cure me"; the goon looked down at him a replied "You want me to cure you?... Tell Endara (Noriega's political adversary) to come here and cure you!". The civilian died in front of the camara as the death squad member stood still telling the camara "I love this country... I don't sell my "PATRIA!"... It was an ugly sight. I also witnessed how thousands of panamanian civilians used to go down to US Bases asking the north american officers for help. I remember people holding pictures of their family members and a huge lists containing names of countless civilians that were dissapeared, missing or killed, asking american generals to take out Noriega... The US never did anything about it.... and they knew that Noriega was killing and torturing everybody. Well, actually the US did help.... invading the country and murdering thousands of thousands of more civilians. I visited Panama 4 months after the war, the place was OBLITERATED!!!. Buildings were destroyed, bullets holes and burned cars all over the city, every comercial store and bussiness was robbed and destroyed... it looked like Hiroshima... only smaller. The real story of Panama's sad years is not in this film... This film only focuses in a puppet Noriega who is confused, used, brainwashed and political...and in some cases "HUMAN"... Do not take this film seriously because everything looks made up, even though, all the political bla bla bla about Noriega's relationship with the CIA and the DEA is very accurate. I just wonder why they didn't show the real Noriega, the murderer, the executioner, the Tyrant. The cruel Dictator of a one of the most beautiful countries I've ever been in my life! It also very sad that this movie does not show the reality and cruelty of an unnecessary Invasion. Lets open our eyes to reality. If you're a North American, you most know that in 1989, the US ARMY massacred 3000-6000 civilians looking for a man who never did nothing bad to the US... on the contrary, he made the CIA rich!!!. It was a horrible invasion... just like you say 911 was horrible... the only thing is that in Panama during the 80's, everyday was 911, just like it was in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua... places where the United States of America's anticommunist political crap helped tyrant militants take control of the population... Tyrants that murdered thousands in very stupid wars. So if you're a US citizen, you should take concience... and thank the lord you never had to witness this type of agony, sadness and suffering in you beloved country.
Suffering in a Beautiful Country I lived in Panama from 1985 to 1988, and remember quite well some of the events portrayed in the movie. Of course a movie of 2 hours can not be expected to tell the entire history of Panama and the actions of General Noriega. Since I speak Spanish and knew many local people, I was able to understand current events. I thought the murder of Dr Hugo Spadafor was a terrible thing, as well as the suffering of the Panamanian people. From the time of my arrival to Howard AFB, we were instructed to respect and obey the laws of Panama as well as the PDF and local police. We were not allowed to carry guns nor wear a military uniform off base. As military personnel, we were taught that we had no right to intefere in the local politics. I thought that the United States building the Canal and our presence was a good thing, since we supported the economy and made many local friends. Therefore, it is my opinion that the movie was a reasonable brief synopsis of the life of Gen Noriega, although it left out many details of the suffering of the Panamanian people, and could have been much improved had it revealed more of the facts.
More brainwashing garbage for an ignorant world. I lived the black years. I'm a witness and a martyr. Two of my older cousins were murdered in cold blood in the middle of a peaceful manifestation in one of the most populated streets of Panama. They were gunned down by paramilitant forces dressed up as civilians. A few months later, one of my father's bussines partners was found dead in a beach along with other four persons. After the executions, my family was persecuted and we were forced to flee to Costa Rica. On the border, panamanian police arrested my father and tortured him for 2 hours. They forced him to sit with his bare rear (back side) in a huge block of ice. The ice burned his skin and his genitals so badly, that even today he suffers from severe traumas. He was also beaten with a stick called "manguera" (hose) which is made out of hard rubber, it's even more painful that a wooden stick...but the "manguera" does not break bones, yet, it causes serious damages to veins a muscles. He was forced to give information about bank accounts and some people in the "Cruzada Civilista". He was released two days later and his passport was confiscated. After that, he managed in join us in Costa Rica. Why they did this to my father? He knew people that was against Noriega, my father never hurt nobody, and neither did the thousands of innocent civilians that were murdered, executed, tortured and raped during Noriega's Tyrant dictatorship. There's very sad documentary made by a Panamanian tv reporter titled "Nunca Jamás" (Never Again). This documentary gives the the horrid truth of the panamanian struggle...from the begining. It features horrible unseen footage of the PDF,Death Squads and Dignity Batallions brutalizing and murdering our country. Noriega's regime was based on executions, beatings, tortures, concentration camps, shootings etc. This documentary shows the truth in detail and has not being seen by the world .All this things that I'm mentioning are being denied by the US government. American sources claims that only 200 persons where executed during Noriega's regime. There are accounts of thousands of dead civilians and political prisioners. The US government reason for denial is sad...they where stationed in the same city while Noriega was murdering, dealing, robbing, training "contras" guerrillas, doing moneyloundry, drug traffic... all of this was aided by the US. If you think you will see any of that in this film... don't waste your time... this is an excuse to clean a political mess that ended the life of thousands. Our country still mourns our dead...the world does not knows about it and the US denies that any of this happened....what a wonderful world! If you want to see this film, then take my story as a source. This film only fosuses with Noriega's drug connections...there is nothing about our country's struggle for survival. Noriega will die like all of the other great tyrants in history... alone.
Is this science fiction? This movie aired a few days ago on Panamanian national television and right now, no one can't stop talking about it. My first reaction to film was ???, the second was laughter. I started wondering, what will be the reaction of the world when they see this silly movie?. I came to realize that the director of this film has to be Noriega's wife, a lover or a very close friend. But then, I started to think in deep detail what I just saw and I finally got what this is all about...A FILM TO MAKE THE NORTH AMERICAN GOVERMENT LOOK GOOD! This is a cinematic excuse for the US to clean up their image, to look like saints and saviours, to look like the police of the world against a villain who sents drugs to the poor little kids of the USA. Was that really Noriega's crime? Well, in this movie it is. Why? because the US can't mention that they let Noriega get away with murder while the southern Command Army was stationed in Panama since 1914. The US invented Noriega, Noriega used the US to become a Dictator, the US helped Noriega built a powerful drug empire that had chains with the CIA and the DEA and to dear MR. George Bush Sr. Noriega made the US goverment rich, Mr Noriega started to get too greedy and spoiled...and then LET'S START A WAR! A war that ended the life of 6,000 civilians to trial a man for drugs, not to get a man that was murdering and brutalizing his countrymen for years... It was a war to save the little children of the US from drugs!; ain't that stupid and unbelievable? To this day, every year, thousands of families gather in places to ask information about their relatives that are still missing since 1968, victims of the various dictatorships that were finnanced by the US government, innocent victims that fell in the murdering hands of a brutal Dictator that got away with the murder of thousands...the US denies the amount of victims of the Torrijos/Noriega regimes, the US lies about the amount of victims caused by the Invasion. This film has nothing to do with reality and it's of very bad taste to try to clean up a mess with a ultra low budget film that give the world more lies about the Dark Years and Noriega. This film is a complete work of science fiction. But the actor that played Noriega was funny..and better good looking!
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
