Film Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Film Project - Essay Example The discussion below analyzes some important scenes in the two films thereby portraying the similarity and differences in the two. The two films have simplistic yet realistic plots. The last detail, just as the name portrays shows laxity in the operations of marines as an executive officer of the marine sends two petty officers Billy "Badass" Buddusky and Richard "Mule" Mulhall to escort a young convicted prisoner Larry Meadows who is facing eight years imprisonment. The two officers travel from Norfolk Virginia to Portsmouth New Hampshire as they escort the prisoner and put him in one of the most adventurous journey of his life. When they arrive in Portsmouth, the soldiers learn that the executive officer had to cover the detailed paperwork and that the two had not been sent on any mission, at least not according to the paperwork. Coming home, on the other hand, is a love triangle. In the film, Sally is a wife of a soldier, Bob Hyde. When Bob goes on a mission in Vietnam, Sally meets and falls in love with Luke Martin her former classmate and a soldier returning from Vietnam. The story shows the adverse physic al and psychological effects of war on the soldiers as the conflict between the three heighten. The summary of the plots shows some preliminary similarities in Hal Ashby’s works. Both plots show the lives of soldiers. While one can argue that the occurrence is coincidental given the independence of both scripts, Ashby employs similar features in building the legitimacy of the story line. He uses appropriate characters who possess the physique and mental alertness of soldiers. Characters enhance the success of a film. Characters should possess the appropriate traits that help bring out the best in the personality required for every character. In The Last detail, he uses Jack Nicholson as "Badass" Buddusky, Otis Young

The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished in the United States Research Paper

The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished in the United States - Research Paper Example You feel the excruciating pain, each and every nuance of the agony, which comes with the heart-stopping effect of potassium chloride, but you cannot call out because you are completely paralyzed. This is, indeed, a possibility, and a very common one, facing those on death row in the United States today. The issue of death penalty is a contentious one, with very vociferous opinions on either side. However, the death penalty should be abolished in the United States, as it is cruel and unusual punishment. The fact is that the lethal injection, the current mode of implementing the death penalty, is carried often, if not always, carried out by untrained prison staff, without the presence of a doctor. There are a lot of mistakes made, regarding the ratio of the concoction to be administered as well as correctly inserting the IV line. This causes undue pain, as well as downright tortuous pain, to the person condemned to die via the lethal injection. The concoction, if not administered in th e correct ratio, causes paralysis and not unconsciousness, leaving the punishment open to being considered torture (Drehle 2). It clearly makes out a good case for cruel and unusual punishment. ... The recent case of the execution of Teresa Lewis, a borderline mentally retarded woman, in Virginia can be quoted as a good example in this regard. As long as the capital punishment is carried out in the United States, events like this are bound to occur one day or another, where a mentally challenged person is condemned and handed down capital punishment. John Steinbeck, in his novel Of Mice and Men, also pointed out at this flaw in our capital punishment law. Even though the mentally challenged person, Lennie, is killed by his friend George as an act of kindness, however, it is clear that had George not done this, Lennie would have been executed, either by the law or by the lynch mob. This brings us to another factor against capital punishment. There has been a history of mob lynching in the United States, there is, one can say, a sort of mob mentality, where the enraged mob often goes looking for culprit. Often, in this rage, reason is forgone, and emotions become the rule of the day. The truth is often obscured in such cases. The story the Lynching of Jube Benson by Paul Laurence Dunbar points at this flaw, where Benson was lynched based on flimsy evidence, and only because of riled up emotions. Though it is argued that our justice system is not akin to mob lynching, however, it is good to remember that even during trials emotions often run high. Reason and logic are often the first casualties of such emotionally driven trials. It is, therefore, not a good atmosphere for carrying out justice to the accused, who are sometimes not even guilty. So to leave room open for the death penalty is not wise. The justice system in United States is not