Best & Worst Second World War Movies ever made?

AnewNewbie

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There hasn't been anything posted in here for a while,so I thought I'd ask everyone for their opinions on what they reckon is the best and worst.

The best for me:Cross of Iron & the first 30 mins of SPR

The worst:Windtalkers(utter rubbish) followed by U-571(tries to change history)

What do you fellas(& fellesses)reckon?
 

syfaulk

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Best:
1. (If taken as one big ol' movie) Band of Brothers.
2. Das Boot
3. Saving Private Ryan

Worst:
1. Windtalkers- I totally agree, Woo goes way over the top with the slow-mo, doves flying, sappily dramatic cutscene crap. Plus, what's with the Japanese not being able to hit anybody with those rifles?
2. Thin Red Line- Overly involved and overly...zzzzzzzzzzzz.
3. Von Ryan's Express- I mean really, who wouldn't recognize Sinatra? :D :wink:

Honorable Mention:
The Great Escape- You think of Steve McQueen you think of the motorcycle stunts in this movie and the Mustang in Bullitt.
Kelly's Heroes- Tiger killing lessons from Oddball.
Tuskegee Airmen- Lighter made-for-tv fare, but honestly made and you get to see Theo Huxtable shoot down Nazis.


YMMV,
Scott
 

TankDawg

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Best:
Saving Private Ryan
Battleground
A Bridge Too Far
Longest Day
Kelly's Heroes
Band of Brothers
Great Escape
Schindlers List

worst:
Battle of the Bulge
'Patton' Battle scenes
refuse to see Thin Red Line and Windtalkers
 

Chris Milne

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Always a fun topic:

In my top 5 (but no particular order):

Cross of Iron
SPR
Stalingrad
Das Boot
AB2F (for childhood memories)

BoB would get in if counted as a film. Schindlers List would if I thought of it as a war film. Thin Red Line is an excellent film, but not best viewed as a war film, any more than Lawrence of Arabia or A Bridge over the River Kwai should be.

I'll not consider the worst. Whatever I've seen, there are bound to be worse out there :)
 

syfaulk

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Chris Milne said:
Always a fun topic:

In my top 5 (but no particular order):

Cross of Iron
SPR
Stalingrad
I forgot about Stalingrad. Personally, I like the first two-thirds of that movie, up until the 6th gets surrounded. I would recommend the DVD so you can cherrypick the battle scenes, which are straight off the Red Barricades board.

-Scott
 

Pitman

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Cross of Iron is pretty mediocre, in my opinion.

High on my list of Hated War Movies is Enemy at the Gates. I also hated The Thin Red Line. I loved George C. Scott in Patton but hated virtually every other thing about it, from clinging Karl Malden doing Bradley's masturbatory self-portrait to the Bulge in Spain.

I like, in no particular order, A Bridge Too Far, The Eagle Has Landed, Saving Private Ryan, Sands of Iwo Jima, The Longest Day, A Walk in the Sun, Band of Brothers, Schindler's List, The Guns of Navarone, Mr. Roberts, The Caine Mutiny, Casablanca, Stalag 17, and Bridge Over the River Kwai.
 

AnewNewbie

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Man,I forgot Band Of Brothers and I was even going to be an extra in it!(lived in London for 4 years,thought it might be fun,but my bloody flatmates never passed on the message from the agencywhere to go etc. :evil: )
 

Hubbs5

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I heartily agree that "Band of Brothers" is one of my all time favorites along with most of the others mentioned. But I disagree with some of the worst movies mentioned.

First of all before anyone gets their panties in a wad I know that Windtalkers wasn't historically accurate and was kind of cheesy and I just got finished watching U571 and it also wasn't historically accurate but it never claimed to be. At the very end of the movie it lists three incidents and their dates that enigma materials were taken off of German U-Boats and in no way does it try to say it re-enacted any one of them.

They have movies that are historically accurate and they are called "documentaries". Many times the documentaries are extremely boring to all except the most avid history buff. My wife watched both U571 and Windtalkers with me and really enjoyed them. She, like a lot of other people, never realized that the Navajo Indians were used as codetalkers in the Pacific theatre. She never had even heard of the Enigma code and she thought that it was very interesting to learn about. She asked me how much of those movies was true and I had a chance to tell her the way things really happened.

The point here being that if some of these historically inaccurate movies can get more people interested in history then that is a good thing. I know some people only like to play historically accurate ASL scenarios. I enjoy these scenarios immensely and it is great to get a feel for what the commanders and troops had to deal with. But I also like scenarios that are tactical simulations that take a historic time and give you a situation that never occurred. In this way you get to test your own skills as a commander and not just second guess someone elses. While I am sure I will get flamed for this post it doesn't matter. It is just MHO and you can take it for what it is worth.
 

Hubbs5

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I heartily agree that "Band of Brothers" is one of my all time favorites along with most of the others mentioned. But I disagree with some of the worst movies mentioned.

First of all before anyone gets their panties in a wad I know that Windtalkers wasn't historically accurate and was kind of cheesy and I just got finished watching U571 and it also wasn't historically accurate but it never claimed to be. At the very end of the movie it lists three incidents and their dates that enigma materials were taken off of German U-Boats and in no way does it try to say it re-enacted any one of them.

They have movies that are historically accurate and they are called "documentaries". Many times the documentaries are extremely boring to all except the most avid history buff. My wife watched both U571 and Windtalkers with me and really enjoyed them. She, like a lot of other people, never realized that the Navajo Indians were used as codetalkers in the Pacific theatre. She never had even heard of the Enigma code and she thought that it was very interesting to learn about. She asked me how much of those movies were true and I had a chance to tell her the way things really happened.

The point here being that if some of these historically inaccurate movies can get more people interested in history then that is a good thing. I know some people only like to play historically accurate ASL scenarios. I enjoy these scenarios immensely and it is great to get a feel for what the commanders and troops had to deal with. But I also like scenarios that are tactical simulations that take a historic time and give you a situation that never occurred. In this way you get to test your own skills as a commander and not just second guess someone elses. While I am sure I will get flamed for this post it doesn't matter. It is just MHO and you can take it for what it is worth.
 

Joe W.

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favorite war films

Good topic, reminds me of films that I would like to see again.
My favs in no particular order:
Stalingrad
Band of Brothers
SPR
Das Boot
12 O'clock High
Thin Red line, despite the moralizing and slow progression of the story line, the hill assault thru the kunai and the believeable Nick Nolte as the BN commander were great.

My Dogs:
Pearl Harbor
Enemy at the gates, after the 1st 15 minutes
Battle of the Bulge

Some great ones in their time:
Sands of Iwojima
The Longest day
Cross of Iron
Platoon
Tora Tora Tora
 

Chas Argent

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My Faves (in no particular order):
-Battleground
-Band Of Brothers
-Sahara
-Casablanca
-Bridge On The River Kwai
-Kelly's Heroes
-The Longest Day
-The Sands Of Iwo Jima
-From Here To Eternity
-The Pianist

Most Hated:
-Thin Red Line
-Windtalkers
-Saving Private Ryan
-Battle Of The Bulge
-Pearl Harbor
-Captain Corelli's Mandolin
-The Big Red One
 

Jazz

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I simply CANNOT believe that a discussion of best/worst WWII movies, and nobody has mentioned....

WHERE EAGLES DARE!!!!

Its the X-Games meets WWII.

Its got Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood backed up by 2 beautiful yet competent blonde agents. No sex, but enough of a hint to sell (after all it was made in the 70's). The sadistic token SS officer who is too damn blonde and blue-eyed to be true.

Parachuting into the dead of winter and wallowing in crotch deep snow out of a high valley to the quaint alpine burg below, overshadowed by the ominous castle on a cliff (TM).

It's got plot within plot within plot....

The ultimate in B(?more or less?) Shtick war movie. Whats not to love/hate?

"Some people are sooooo serious about movies"
Jazz
 

Brian W

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Jazz said:
I simply CANNOT believe that a discussion of best/worst WWII movies, and nobody has mentioned....
Midnight Clear.
 

Chas Argent

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Yes, I missed that one too; quite fond of it. Unfortunatly the DVD is the "full screen" version; I wonder if a wide screen copy will ever be released...
 

AnewNewbie

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Anyone seen Partisans?I watched this as a little fella and remember it being about partisans v Chetniks but thats about it.
 

Jazz

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Chas Argent said:
Yes, I missed that one too; quite fond of it. Unfortunatly the DVD is the "full screen" version; I wonder if a wide screen copy will ever be released...
Somehow, a letter box version (wide screen is letter box right?) just don't seem right....

"I need to get out more..."
Jazz
 

Chris Milne

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Brian W said:
Midnight Clear.
Izzat the one with the Germans trying to surrender to some GIs in the Bulge? If so, saw it recently for the first time and enjoyed it - would make my top 10, but I can see how it might not be memorable to some.

I'm disappointed though, that my childhood enjoyment of many war 'B' movies has been destroyed! Tuned in to Guns of Navarone on Sunday, by chance, and couldn't stop wondering why the Germans had captured a shipload of US tanks from the future and parked them in a neat line along the waterfront of a Greek island...

Do love Where Eagles Dare, though. The theme music still gets me excited :)
 
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