Men of Honor

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For other uses, see Men of Honor (disambiguation).
Men of Honor
Men of honor ver1.jpg
Original film poster
Directed byGeorge Tillman Jr.
Written byScott Marshall Smith
Produced byBill Badalato
Robert Teitel
Starring
CinematographyAnthony B. Richmond
Edited byJohn Carter
Dirk Westervelt
Music byMark Isham
Production
companies
Fox 2000 Pictures
State Street Pictures
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • November 10, 2000 (2000-11-10)
Running time
129 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$32 million[1]
Box office$82.3 million [1]

Men of Honor (released in the UK and Ireland as Men of Honour) is a 2000 American drama film, starring Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr.. The film was directed by George Tillman Jr. It is inspired by the true story of Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Brashear, the second African American master diver in the United States Navy.

Plot[]

Carl Brashear leaves his native Kentucky and the life of a sharecropper in 1948 by joining the United States Navy. As a crew member of the salvage ship USS Hoist, where he is assigned to the galley, he is inspired by the bravery of one of the divers, Master Chief Petty Officer Leslie William "Billy" Sunday. He is determined to overcome racism and become the first black American Navy diver, even proclaiming that he will become a master diver. He eventually is selected to attend Diving and Salvage School in Bayonne, New Jersey, where he arrives as a boatswain's mate second class. He finds that Master Chief Sunday is the leading chief petty officer and head instructor, who is under orders from the school's eccentric, bigoted commanding officer to ensure that Brashear fails.

Brashear struggles to overcome his educational shortcomings, a result of his leaving school in grade 7 in order to work on his family's failing farm. He receives educational assistance from his future wife, a medical student who works part-time in the New York Public Library in Harlem. Brashear proves himself as a diver by rescuing a fellow student whose dive buddy abandons him during a salvage evaluation. Unfortunately, due to the racism of the commanding officer, the student who fled in the face of danger is awarded a medal for Brashear's heroic actions. Likewise, during an underwater assembling task where each student has to assemble a flange underwater using a bag of tools, Brashear's bag is cut open on purpose. Brashear nevertheless finishes the assembly and graduates from diving school, earning the quiet and suppressed admiration of Sunday and his fellow divers. Sunday is later demoted to senior chief by the commanding officer for standing up for Brashear and allowing him to pass.

The paths and careers of Brashear and Sunday diverge. Brashear rises quickly through the ranks, even becoming a national hero in the 1966 Palomares incident for recovering a missing hydrogen bomb and for saving the lives of Navy crewmen. Sunday continually loses his composure around officers who disrespect his accomplishments, until he is finally demoted to chief petty officer and relegated to menial duties. He becomes a brooding alcoholic displeased with his lowered rank.

The two eventually meet again after Brashear's left leg was so mangled in the Palomares incident that he feels that his only chance to return to active duty and a relatively normal life is for the leg to be amputated and replaced with a prosthesis. Until this time, no Navy man had ever returned to full active duty with a prosthetic limb. Sunday again trains Brashear and aids him in his fight against the Navy's bureaucracy and an antagonistic Navy captain (Brashear's and Sunday's former Hoist executive officer) in order to return to full active duty and fulfill his dream of becoming a master diver. They succeed in getting Brashear reinstated.

In the epilogue, it is noted that two years later Brashear becomes a master diver. It is added that he does not retire from the Navy for another nine years.

Cast[]

Carl Brashear (center) received an Outstanding Public Service Award in October 2000 from actor Cuba Gooding, Jr. and then-Defense Secretary William Cohen for 42 years of combined military and federal civilian service. Gooding portrayed Brashear in the 2000 film Men of Honor.
Producer Robert Teitel, Robert De Niro, and screenwriter Scott Smith in September 2008

Production[]

The film features the classic US Navy Mark V diving equipment used by the Navy from 1915 until 1985. The equipment was custom made by DESCO, who manufactured the gear for the Navy along with three other makers. The helmets used were actually commercial helmets (which have larger glass windows or "lights") on Navy breast plates, allowing greater visibility of the actors. The divers wore equipment weighing about 200 pounds (91 kg).[citation needed]

Reception[]

The film opened at the third position at the North American box office behind Little Nicky and Charlie's Angels, which was on its second week at the top spot.[2]

Men of Honor was met with mixed reviews. It currently has a 42% rating at Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus stating: "De Niro and Gooding Jr. manage to turn in performances that make this by-the-numbers inspirational movie watchable."[3] Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, calling it "an old-fashioned biopic" but criticized Theron's appearance in the film, calling it "professional but unnecessary to the picture".[4]

Historical accuracy[]

While the film portrays a Wisconsin recruit as the only white recruit to remain in Carl Brashear's bunk, the actual individual was a Brazilian diver named Alberto José do Nascimento, who was also dark skinned. Alberto also helped Brashear save a fellow recruit who was trapped underwater during a training exercise.[5][6]

Soundtrack[]

Mark Isham's soundtrack was released as an album in 2000.[citation needed]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Men of Honor at Box Office Mojo
  2. ^ "Domestic 2000 Weekend 45". Box Office Mojo. 12 November 2000. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Men of Honor (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  4. ^ Ebert, Roger (10 November 2000). "Men of Honor movie review & film summary". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  5. ^ "O brasileiro no filme 'Homens de Honra'". Poder Naval. 3 November 2019. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  6. ^ de Souza, Jorge (14 November 2019). "Desprezado por Hollywood, mergulhador lendário do Brasil morre aos 91 anos". HISTÓRIAS DO MAR. Archived from the original on 3 October 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.

External links[]

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