Best & Worst Second World War Movies ever made?

[FrankH.]

BEST AND WORST WWII WAR MOVIES

Good topic. Here's my thoughts.

All time best WWII movie:

The Longest Day. This movie has it all (just about): attention to detail, panoramic coverage, key historical characters are identified, equal coverage to all participants, a birthday cake, and an equal mix of combat and drama. Perhaps the best scene is Richard Burton's take on the dead, the wounded, and the lost near the end of the film.

Following that, in no particular order, the rest of the best are:

Twelve O'Clock High
Cross of Iron
Battleground
Das Boot
Saving Private Ryan
Schindler's List
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Diary of Anne Frank 1959
Patton

Honorable mention are:

From Here to Eternity
The Thin Red Line
The Heroes of Telemark
The Battle of Britain
Stalingrad
Sink the Bismark
The Tin Drum
Sands of Iwo Jima
Catch-22

The worst that I know of are:

The Big Red One
Force Ten From Navarone

I have ignored the movies (some very good) that are primarily fiction.

Frank

 

[AnewNewbie]

Not a great fan of the Longest Day,altho Battleground really grabbed my attention,It just had that feel of authenticity.
At the risk of getting severely flamed here,The reason I hate U-571 so much is that it conveys the feeling that the USA won the war on its own and only gives lip service to the other Allies.Your average person watching(not us war buffs who probably know the history)will probably come away with a warped view of the facts.
I look forward to getting very warm soon. :wink: :roll:

 

[SamB]

ALL nations give the impression that they won the war alone.

Granted, the USA may be worse than some in this regard, but this is a major problem with all media...

I remember reading that the movie "Pearl Harbor" ended with the Dolittle raid on Tokyo because the movie producers thought it would be a "downer" for the movie to end with the attack on Pearl Harbor. I wonder how that choice played in Japan?? :wink:

Another fault of the move "Pearl Harbor" is this... about 2500 Americans died in the attack - and I think the movie shows each and every one of them dying. A classic example of a movie with too big a budget for special effects. I won't even go into the rediculous plot / love interest.

Sam

 

[AnewNewbie]

Isn't it kind of ironic how,IMHO, the really good ww2 movies are about the Germans or are made by the Germans?and wasn't there one made by the Japanese?

 

[Paul Saunders]

Best and Worst WW2 Films

Best

SPR. I saw this the day it was released in the UK, no film, before or since has had an impact on me the way this film did.

Band of Brothers. Excellent, historic. have the DVD set.

These two are in a class of their own. I doubt they will be surpassed for a very long time.

Worst.

Wind talkers, utter crap from start to finish. sets the genre back about 40 years.
The Big Red One. Rubbish, how 6 men won the war on their own. An insult to the vets who served in the division IMHO.

Cheers

Paul

 

[Paul Saunders]

oops!

Almost forgot Das Boot a stunner when it first came out. Still a great movie today.

U571 the other end of the submarine movie spectrum....

 

[Chris Milne]

Re: Best and Worst WW2 Films

SPR. I saw this the day it was released in the UK, no film, before or since has had an impact on me the way this film did.

I also saw it on the day it was released over here. Big old-fashioned cinema, seats a few hundred in each screen, and it was packed. I don't think I've ever heard such a silent audience in the first few minutes. No popcorn munching, no one going to the toilet. No smart-ass comments from teenagers.

 

[Anonymous]

I saw Windtalkers for the first time last weekend. I wouldn't say it's the worst war movie ever made, but I'd have a hard time arguing that it's a good movie. The basic story could have been interesting, but they focused far too much on the relationship between the code talker and his "protector". The combat scenes were too Rambo-esque as well.

It's too bad, really. A WWII movie with Nicholas Cage should have been interesting.

Speaking of interesting projects, Quentin Tarantino's next project (post Kill Bill) is a WWII movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361748/

"Could you pass me the Thompson over there? It's the one that says "Bad Mother F*cker""

Nat

 

[Zugman]

Winter War, anybody

Just my own 2 cents, though I agree with many of the comments (i.e. Band of Brothers was excellent, Windtalkers and Thin Red Line were just horrible), Winter War was a pretty good movie, portraying the heroic Finns against the godless Russians in 1939. It has more battle scenes than most as well as some poignant scenes to touch the heart-strings.

 

[Stevedeth]

Best movies

One of you movie buffs can help with this. I have spoken with James Bradly twice (author of Flags of our Fathers, Winner best WWII Book) and both times he said that Speilberg was working on the movie. But I have not found any other reference.

SD

 

[TankDawg]

Steve,

they are. Hanks is involved too. Filming starts soon. Cant remember where i saw it, but I did.

:roll:

 

[da priest]

Well of all the movies in all the world---

Where did "I hate this Jeep" come from?

Did ya see "Castle Keep"?

 

[Nat Mallet]

And through the magic of google, I bring you:

http://www.jamesbradley.com/press/dream.htm

Nat

 

[Nat Mallet]

Another tidbid I just found:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374463/

Nat

 

[Brian W]

Anyone seen the new movie based on a group of sonderkommandos? Can't remember the title. . .

 

[Anonymous]

Best & Worst Second World War Movies ever made?

Does anyone remember the old (circa 1956) black & white movie called "Attack!" ? I haven't seen this one on TV since I was a boy. I still do remember the scene where the Jack Palance (?) character nearly gets run over by a panzer. Very chilling and intense. IIRC, he had to fight both the Nazi's (around the Battle of Bulge time...) along w/ his own lousy leaders. I'd love to see this classic released on DVD.

Another memorable WW2 movie was "To Hell and Back" about Audie Murphy.

 

[Chas Argent]

Attack! is on DVD:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008PC0Z/qid=1063718648/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_6/002-8605456-1150455?v=glance&s=dvd

 

[SamB]

I just got the DVDs for "Band of Brothers". I have to say this is - bar none - the best war movie made to date. I base this on several factors...

1. Excellent Acting, Directing, and production values.
2. Its a true story.

As much as possible, the movie reflects the recollections of the survivors as documented in the book (Band of Brothers) by Steven Ambrose.

No silly love story added for "Hollywood". The weapons and vehicles pretty much look like the actual weapons.... fantastic movie.

JMO.
Sam

 

[Brian W]

I'm looking for Marbles all day long

I just got Mister Roberts on DVD and I have to say it may be the best WW2 movie. That may be first time I have seen it in widescreen, which made it all the more enjoyable.

 

[Bryan Holtby]

Im surprised nobody mentioned the movie about the battle in Hurtgen Forest, not that I can remember the name of the bloody thing. I wouldnt rate this in either the top 5, or the bottom 5, but certainly worth watching.

U571 is total rubbish, the Poles deserve full credit for smuggling an Enigma machine out in the early days of the war as this single event likely saved the British merchant fleet from disaster. Distorting facts to make a movie for the sake of making a movie is BS.

SPR gets my highest marks for the pure shock of the first 20 minutes alone, although it too occasionally falls victim to Hollywoods "retarded bad guys syndrome".

One thing I have noticed over the years of watching war movies is this, Hollywood almost always portrays the 'bad guys' as total idiots, doing stupid things, wereas European movies portray both sides more realistically.