Best & Worst Second World War Movies ever made?

Dale Holmstrom

Recruit
Joined
Jul 14, 2004
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Location
USA
Country
llUnited States
My top movies on war in no particular order are:
Cross of Iron
Path's of Glory(?) with Kirk Douglas 1954 or'55 by Kubrick
Bridge over the River Kwai
Patton
Spartacus (hey! here comes 2 legions in full battle order)
Apocalapse Now
A Bridge Too Far
The Longest Day
Guadacanal Diary
Full Metal Jacket
Das Boot

Worst?
Battle of the Bulge
The Thin Red Line
Windtalkers
Pearl Harbor
Castle Keep
Stalingrad
The Big Red One


BTW--Someone mentioned if there was a scenario for "The Eagle Has Landed"---it can be found at Pete Schelling's "Dispatches from the Bunker"
magazine index.
Also---"Where Eagles Dare" was made in the late 1960's. Another great film.
 

NoPrisoners

Member
Joined
May 16, 2004
Messages
30
Reaction score
0
Location
Elk Grove
Country
llUnited States
BEST
Band of Brothers
Saving Private Ryan
Zulu Dawn
Zulu
The Longest Day
12 O'Clock High

WORST
Battle of the Bulge
Thin Red Line
Pearl Harbor


NP
 

Doughboy

Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2004
Messages
1,000
Reaction score
5
Location
Tonto from Toronto
Country
llCanada
Houlie said:
Has anyone ever seen "Armored Attack"? I saw the movie poster on ROAR's homepage:

http://www.jrvdev.com/ROAR/VER1/default.asp

It looks like a real stink bomb, but could be worth some laughs.
Hi Houlie,

here is the review of Armored Attack from allmovie.com:

The North Star -1943 - USA - 108 min. - Feature, Available in Colorized Version, B&W: AKA Armored Attack
AMG Rating
Director Lewis Milestone
Genre/Type War, War Drama, Propaganda Film, Resistance Film
Flags Questionable for Children
Keywords battle [war], invasion, military, peasant, Russia, territory, war, against-all-odds
Themes Life Under Occupation
Tones Stirring
Set In war, World War II
Produced by Samuel Goldwyn Company
Released by RKO Radio Pictures



In this bit of WWII propaganda (designed to boost support of America's alliance with Russia against Germany), Kolya (Dana Andrews), Kurin (Walter Huston), Damian (Farley Granger), and Marina (Anne Baxter) are members of a farming collective in the Ukraine known as the North Star. The hard-working but happy members of the North Star find their way of life shattered when Germany, in defiance of previous treaties, storms the nation and begins a brutal occupation. Dr. Otto Von Harden (Erich Von Stroheim) begins gathering children — who are to be used for blood transfusions and medical experiments. Many of the outraged farmers take to the hills to fight with the anti-Nazi resistance, while those who stay behind bravely destroy precious crops and materiel rather than turn them over to the Nazi war machine. Producer Samuel Goldwyn made The North Star at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (whose son James was an executive at Goldwyn's studio). Ironically, several members of the film's creative team (including screenwriter Lilian Hellman) later found their motivations for making the film questioned by the House Un-American Activities Committee, who declared it Communist propaganda. — Mark Deming

Part of Hollywood's government-abetted effort at rallying public opinion to the side of the Soviet Union during WWII, North Star ironically became a crucial piece of evidence for the fellow-traveling of its creators during the McCarthy era. Although Lewis Milestone's melodrama is a reasonably well-made piece of propaganda, it's a few cuts below the best work of its A-list talent. The film contrasts the bucolic life of the farming village, its saintly physician, and its utterly wholesome young people with the immeasurable evil of the Nazi invaders who have seized the village in order to drain the blood of its children to treat their wounded. These scenes of involuntary blood donation remain disturbing enough that one understands why they were nearly cut by contemporary censors. Among the film's noteworthy aspects are the subtle performances of Erich von Stroheim as the self-exculpating Nazi doctor and Walter Huston, who invests his godlike village elder with a complexity not found in the script. The simple, spacious score of Aaron Copland is also well-adapted to the rural setting. — Michael Costello


Sounds like an interesting piece of Hollywood propaganda well worth looking into. Certainly supports Russia war effort.

John
 

Doughboy

Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2004
Messages
1,000
Reaction score
5
Location
Tonto from Toronto
Country
llCanada
Probrably a much better film on the same genre is Gregory Peck's film debut as a Russian Guerrila in:

Days of Glory
1944 - USA - 86 min. - Feature, B&W
AMG Rating
Director Jacques Tourneur
Genre/Type Romance, Drama, Combat Films
Flags Suitable for Children
Keywords battle [war], guerrilla, resistance, Soviet, world-war, Nazi
Tones Stirring, Talky
Set In Russia, USSR, war, World War II
Produced by RKO Pictures
Released by RKO Radio Pictures


Like Song of Russia and Mission to Moscow before it, Days of Glory is a paean to the courage and resourcefulness of the Soviet Union during WW2 (this was long before the Russians became the stock villains in Hollywood films!) Producer Casey Robinson took a gamble with the project, casting the leading roles with movie newcomers. Heading the cast is Broadway actor Gregory Peck as Vladimir, the leader of a band of Soviet guerilla fighters. Tamara Toumanova, former premier ballerina of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, costars as Nina, whose love for Vladimir is surpassed by her love for Mother Russia (Toumanova was at the time the wife of producer Robinson). The actors speak in long, lyrical monologues about freedom, sacrifice and the indomitability of the human spirit: fascinating at first, the excess verbiage begins to wear on the viewer after three or four reels. In traditional underground-movie fashion, hero and heroine are obliged to give up their own lives for the sake of their countrymen, in a reasonably spectacular climactic battle sequence. Budgeted at nearly a million dollars, Days of Glory lost heavily at the box-office, though critics and audiences alike were in agreement that Gregory Peck had some potential as a screen presence. — Hal Erickson

Certainly a better picture if you can tolerate Hollywood propaganda, really the value is in the emerging talent that Mr Peck had even this early in his career.

John :wink:
 

Doughboy

Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2004
Messages
1,000
Reaction score
5
Location
Tonto from Toronto
Country
llCanada
The North Star -1943 -

"These scenes of involuntary blood donation remain disturbing enough that one understands why they were nearly cut by contemporary censors. "

Yikes! 1940s Hollywood treading shaky ground! :shock:

John
 

Paul S

Recruit
Joined
Jun 11, 2004
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Location
NJ
Country
llUnited States
Great movie with a great line

Listeroids,

Lots of great stuff listed here.

My favorite is actually more of an adventure movie 'The Wind and the Lion" with Sean Connery and a great cast.

It is a quasi-historical tale of an arab (Mr. Bond) kidnapping of a woman (Candice Bergen) and her kids back in the days of Teddy Roosevelt (played by Brian Keith) who then intervenes by staging a coup. Meanwhile Mom and the kids have some interesting adventures with Sean. The finale has a arab cavalry charge vs German troops and some close in US marine-german fighting.

The best line in the movie is when the US ambassador, navy admiral and marine captain are discussing the coup and one says, " Gentlemen, you realize that if this fails we'll all be killed, and the world may well go to war."

To which the marine replies "Well if this fails and we're all killed, I hope the world DOES go to war"

classic 8)
 

thnorth

Recruit
Joined
Apr 18, 2004
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Location
Brussels, Belgium
Country
llUnited States
CAUTION: long, involved and possibly insane rant ahead. Scroll with extreme caution. You have been warned.

Best war films:

The Bridge: Half a dozen teenage German soldiers c. 1945 ordered to defend a tactically worthless bridge while their older Volksturm comrades scarper, but the kids do their duty and stand their ground, because they feel they have to prove themselves. Up rolls the larger part of a US tank battalion, and after some excellent battle scenes (picture perfect uniforms and equipment, including the tanks), the director leaves you in know doubt as to the absurd obscenity of war. I saw it in the original German, but the quotable quote was from a US major, who protests, “We don’t fight against kids,†moments before he gets whacked with a Panzerfaust.

Dr. Strangelove: The ultimate war film, wherein the entire world is destroyed just because some USAF general couldn’t get it up. The funniest of films on the blackest of topics. (Watch it twice and you’ll realize it is actually all about sex, not war.) Wall-to-wall quotes that will live forever in the American lexicon, but my favorite is the SAC Commander, George C. Scott (standing in his underwear), when upon learning over the phone from his staff that an impotent base commander has ordered his wing of B-52’s onto their attack runs inside Russia and a nuclear war is almost certain, says matter-of-factly, “Well, I’ll tellya whacha do ol’ buddy [a loud THWACK as he slaps his pendulous belly pensively]; you better give ol’Charlie and Elmo a blast, bump everything up to Condition Red, and stand by to blow her; I’ll get back to ya.†If you are not peeing in your pants with laughter by this time in the film, you are not human.

- Kelly’s Heroes: Fun from beginning to end, and likely a more accurate portrayal of the moral and motivations of the common US dogface soldier in WWII than any teary-eyed tales spun by Stephen Ambrose or Steven Spielberg. Telly Salvalas as the tough, gritty sergeant (an hard-edged 9-1, if ever I saw one) whose number one priority is the well-being of his soldiers (i.e. plenty of women and booze); Don Rickles as the scheming black marketeer supply sergeant, complaining incessantly; Donald Sutherland as the spaced-out Sherman commander, whose number one priority is to avoid combat unless there are plenty of “positive waves†around; and Clint Eastwood as the steely former LT, who gets to stare down a German Tiger tank in a scene that would have made Sergio Leone proud. Best quote: Oddball (Donald Sutherland) when confronted by the news that he must face three Tiger tanks with his one lone Sherman, says, “The only way I got to keep them Tigers busy is to let them SHOOT HOLES IN ME!†(BTW: best mock-up of a PzKW IVa I have ever seen in a film before Saving Private Ryan.)

- Stalingrad: Accurate, compelling, plenty of action, but DEE-pressing in the end. It still gets a lot of airplay each year on German TV. The early battle scenes are right out of Red Barricades (or vice-versa, if you know what I mean.)

- Das Boot: The recently remastered DVD is wonderful, but I highly recommend getting your hands on the original Bavarian TV miniseries from which the cinema release was cut. I have seen it only in German shops, and they are not remastered into 5.1 channel sound or anything like that, but you get so much more character development and I am certain it will be released in the States sometime, given the popularity of the film and other WWII items. The TV version is up there with Band of Brothers as a gripping, hyper-realistic miniseries, and very loyal to the original book.

- Breaker Morant: I can’t think of another film that has even hinted at covering the Boer War (c.1900), but this one is painfully accurate. A bunch of Australians are let loose upon the South African veldt to hunt down boer commandos only to be betrayed, tried and condemned in the end by their own pommy bastard commanders. Streuth, what’a cracka’….

- Gallipoli: A heart-wrencher of a WWI saga about two Australian friends who volunteer in 1914 for King and Empire to fight against the Germans, only to find themselves dumped on the rocky shores of Gallipoli under withering Turkish machine gun fire, getting screwed over by the same sort of pommy bastard officers. A very young Mel Gibson stars. Again, if you are not sobbing your eyes out by the end of the film (when the Aussies storm out of their trenches into certain death, led by their officer who wouldn’t let them die alone), then you are not human.

- Charge of the Light Brigade: Not the crappy old Erol Flynn monstrosity, but the c. 1970 version with Ralph Gielgud. Pig-headed Victorian military incompetence at its best, as the flower of British manhood is annihilated by Russian canon because Lord Cardigan sent the Light Brigade up the wrong valley at the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War. Wonderful uniforms, perfect historical characterizations, and very accurate as to how the 17th Lancers and 11th Hussars met their bloody, poetic end at the point of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s quill nib.

- Ran: Alright, before any of you read any further, drop down on your unworthy knees and thank your version of the Creator for the fact that you happened to have been born within 100 years of the life of the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. Ran is a masterly rendition of King Lear, set in medieval feudal Japan and the time of the samurai, and has the best battle scenes you will see outside, well, a Kurosawa film. Every man amongst the thousands of extras has the air of a disciplined warrior who has lived for this moment to die for his chosen master, with honor if not glory. All that is left in the end is a blind man, teetering on the edge of a precipice, representative of all mankind at the mercy of war. (Note: Kurosawa = God)

- Cross of Iron: Great battle scenes, in-depth characters, gripping plot, real T-34/85s, and a grizzled, war-weary James Coburn as the German NCO named Steiner, carrying around PPS instead of an MP-40. Way cool. Sam Peckinpah’s original version of this film was deemed so violent that the movie censors back in the 1970s insisted on giving it an “X†rating (this was before the days of the artful “NC-17†rating), so the poor guy had to cut it down in order to make some money. I have often wondered whether they’ll ever release the “director’s cut†and let us see the original. However, if it is any more disturbing than seeing that jerk Nazi’s schwanstucker being bitten off by a female Russian soldier, then perhaps I could give it a miss. And I second the motion as to why there is no 10-3 German leader named “Steinerâ€â€”or no 6+1 named “Stranskyâ€â€”in the ASL counter mix.

- Full Metal Jacket: Stanley Kubrick at his military best. Lee Emory is THE Marine Drill Instructor, spewing out the most vituperative, non-stop stream of degrading obscenities at his privates, driving them to the brink of insanity. One of the most popular films for those of us in the military. I would try for a quote here, but there are probably children reading these posts.

- Zulu Dawn: A much more accurate, and dare I say, “mature†prequel to the Stanley Baker’s “Zulu†when it comes to historical accuracy. Once again, Victorian military hubris comes to the fore and the British squaddy is yet again on the wrong end of the latest bungle from high command, and they are butchered by the thousand. The main difference between the two films? Having spent many a year in the field, there is no way on earth anyone can keep a pristine white topical helmet so clean and perfect, like in Zulu. At least in Zulu Dawn they were stained a suitable brown, with dirt, coffee grinds, manure, etc. Quote of the film: the British light horse officer near Islandlwana, when presented with the panoramic view of a valley below him seething with tens of thousands of Zulu warriors, all streaming towards him, saying to an orderly, “Kindly inform Lord Chelmsford that we’ve found what he is looking for.â€

- Paths of Glory: (There is a Kubrick theme in this rant, isn’t there?) Kirk Douglas is a valiant WWI French colonel who follows orders and leads his men over the top and into disaster. The withering German fire drives them back, but the only thing waiting for them is unit-wide court martial led by a maniacal general bent on making an example of them all for their “cowardiceâ€. A courtroom drama in the end, much like Breaker Morant, but still a great war flick.

Worst Films:

Enemy at the Gates (Stalingrad): Woof! What a stinker! Let’s take a third-rate love story and wrap it around the appalling carnage that is the Battle of Stalingrad and market it as the feel-good-movie-of-the-summer. I feel nauseous...

Apocalypse Now - Redux: I loved the original film, one of the best ever, but you can easily see why Copolla left those deleted scenes on the cutting room floor. The French plantation scene is cool, but who freekin’ cares about some story about some guy shooting an ARVN officer because he stole his Playboy? And what is the point of the finding the Playmates again up river? I suppose Copolla needed the money...

Pearl Harbor: Don’t get me started. Only Disney could spend $100 million on special effects, wrap it around a $5,000 script, and still try to pass the resulting disaster off as an accurate historical docu-drama. Titanic (another budget buster) was crap as a story, but at least it was historically accurate.

But I refuse to close this rant without insisting on another category. “Best†and “worst†are so limiting as categories, so how about “All those cool films you loved when you were a kid, but are now embarrassed to say you like, even though you bought special edition director’s cut DVD bonus pack, which you keep hidden in a trunk when you have company over.†Well, he said excitedly, licking his pencil:

- A Bridge Too Far: Beleaguered British paratroopers in 1944 Holland, fending off panzers with little more than dismissive scorn. Wall to wall stars, Robert Redford leading a suicidal river crossing, and real German actors playing real German generals speaking real German. I loved it! It was the main reason I bought the original Squad Leader in 1979 (for the absurd price of $14.95!) I couldn’t wait for the British module to come out. Now we have a whole historical module tied around the disaster at the bridge! I can die a happy man...even though the film was crap in the end.

- The Dirty Dozen: Lee Marvin at his best, where he didn’t have to worry about the Germans, but his own men, a who’s-who of tough guys: Charles Bronson, Telly Salvalas, Errol What’s-his-name, Donald Sutherland, etc. Nothing but machinegun fire, a two-dimensional script, and lots of dead Nazis. Way cool.

- The Green Berets: Because Vietnam was such a tragedy for all concerned, this is possibly the funniest movie ever made. The coolest of war flicks, but completely devolved from reality. What was John Wayne thinking? I loved it when, while giving instructions to his men, he gestures and points the muzzle of his loaded M16 nonchalantly at everyone’s faces. Try that in Iraq today and you’d get a butt stroke to the head on general principles. Best part of the flick: When the DC-3 gunship opens fire on the enemy-occupied camp and cuts all them dirty communist heathen in half. (Note: the only reason Lee Marvin starred in the Dirty Dozen was because John Wayne has already agreed to direct and star in the Green Berets. Think for a moment if their roles had been reversed. I solemnly believe that America would be a very different country today.) Quote of the film: Bulldog 6’s tough sergeant-major, when asked how many .50-cal machine guns they had on hand, says, “Hell, I’d give up a ticket home just for the smell of a fifty.†We still use the M2 today in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I can speak from personal experience that the 8-16 ROF 3 for the “ma-deuce†is well deserved and very much historically accurate.

- Where Eagles Dare: A first-person shooter film, forty years before its time. Richard Burton plays the perfect British commando officer, going behind enemy lines to sort out a spy mess back home, and winds up in an hour-long firefight with the entire Gebirgsjaegerkorps. Clint Eastwood plays the icy cold US Army Ranger who goes around shooting and/or blowing up hapless Nazi soldiers inside the modern equivalent of Sleeping Beauty’s castle. Quote of the film: I still have dreams where Richard Burton is yelling desperately into a radio circuit: “Broadsword calling Danny Boy! Broadsword calling Danny Boy!â€

- Is Paris Burning?: A personal favorite since having to watch it for my high school French class. Anthony Perkins as a US soldier helping to liberate Paris in August 1944, stumbling around with his rifle pointing everywhere except towards the enemy, saying things like, “Hey, isn’t that the Eiffel Tower over there?†much to the disgust of the French partisan leader who is trying to lead him towards the German headquarters. Tank sighting: probably the only war flick ever made with original PzKw V Panthers. (France used all the captured Panthers she could find in her own armed forces until the mid-fifties, when the film was made. No frogs were hurt during the making of this film.)

- The Longest Day: Quick! Name an actor who did NOT appear in The Longest Day. Stumped so quickly? Here’s an even better question: which actor appeared in both the Longest Day AND the other Cornelius Ryan-inspired war movie, A Bridge Too Far? The best quote of the film: John Wayne, the 82nd Airborne regimental commander, after the medic tells him he just broke his ankle on the drop, says, “Well, put the boot back on…and lace it up! Tight!†Gotta love the Duke.

- The Sands of Iwo Jima: Speaking of the Duke, who can’t sit back and laugh in utter amazement as a six-foot-two tall American can lumber a hundred meters slowly through withering Japanese machinegun fire, only to toss a demolition charge perfectly into a Japanese bunker? Dice roll anybody?

- Combat! (the original TV series) One question: Why did Vic Morrow get to wear that cool Marine helmet all the time?

- Castle Keep: Burt Lancaster playing a one-eyed US Army major on a .50-cal mowing down countless German soldiers trying to storm across a castle moat using captured French hook-and-ladder fire trucks. What’s not to love about that?

- Hell is For Heroes: Steve McQueen as the loner US Army soldier, recently busted from Master sergeant to private, helps keep the rest of his dysfunctional squad alive in the face of overwhelming Nazi opposition. Highlight of the film: a cameo by a very young Bob Newhart doing one of his hilarious one-sided phone conversation bits, trying to trick the eavesdropping Germans into thinkin they are facing a whole battalion of GIs. “No, General, sir, we don’t need any more guys up here. We already have five men per foxhole, and any more would just be embarrassing.â€

(This rant was brought to you by Duvel Blonde beer, the choice of the discriminating Belgian-based ASL grongard.)
 

AnewNewbie

Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2003
Messages
211
Reaction score
1
Location
Wellington
Country
llNew Zealand
- A Bridge Too Far: Beleaguered British paratroopers in 1944 Holland, fending off panzers with little more than dismissive scorn. Wall to wall stars, Robert Redford leading a suicidal river crossing, and real German actors playing real German generals speaking real German. I loved it! It was the main reason I bought the original Squad Leader in 1979 (for the absurd price of $14.95!) I couldn’t wait for the British module to come out. Now we have a whole historical module tied around the disaster at the bridge! I can die a happy man...even though the film was crap in the end.
ABTF is one movie that I think still holds up post-SPR/BoB.I can ignore the Leopards dressed as Panthers and other anachronisms simply because (in my eyes) its so well told.

- Gallipoli: A heart-wrencher of a WWI saga about two Australian friends who volunteer in 1914 for King and Empire to fight against the Germans, only to find themselves dumped on the rocky shores of Gallipoli under withering Turkish machine gun fire, getting screwed over by the same sort of pommy bastard officers. A very young Mel Gibson stars. Again, if you are not sobbing your eyes out by the end of the film (when the Aussies storm out of their trenches into certain death, led by their officer who wouldn’t let them die alone), then you are not human.
There's no denying it's impact.I remember watching this when I was a little fella and the very final scene where one of the lead actors gets a burst in the chest haunted me for weeks but it gets it's facts wrong.
The following quote is from The Anzac Experience By Chris Pugsley,
A former NZ Army officer now a historian and lecturer at the Sandhust Military Academy in the UK who wrote Gallipoli:The New Zealand Story.

"There is a scene in Peter Weir's film Gallipoli in which the AIF runner,a young Mel Gibson,is in the presence of an Australian general, in a headquarters on Anzac Cove,with a request that after the bloody failure of the first attempt any further attacks at The Nek be cancelled.Plainly harrased,the general turns to his signallers and asks for a report on the British landings at Suvla,only to be told that the British soldiers are ashore and are drinking tea.Blame for the failure of [the] August [offensive] and the sacrifice of the men of the 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade at The Nek is clearly established.It is another British blunder that the dominion forces have paid for with the blood of their brightest and best.However,it is important to remind ourselves that, despite the passionate beliefs of generations of Australians and New Zealanders who have seen this film,Weir got it wrong.The first-light attack at The Nek was not to support the Suvla landings ,which was a subsidiary operation, but rather to support the main purpose of the August offensive,which was the assault by Major-Genaral Sir Alexander Godley's NZ&A Division onto the critically important heights of the Sari Bair range.

Weir would have been more correct if he had his signaller say that the NZ Infantry Brigade was some 500 yards short of the crest of Chunuk Bair[the main objective],but had stopped for breakfast on Rhododendron Ridge while their Brigade commander,the NZ- born Brigadier-General F.E. Johnston, vacillitated as to whether he should attack or not.New Zealand soldiers sheltering between the thorny ilex and rhododendron bushes that covered the spur were witnesses to the destruction of the Australian Light Horse attacking...After the failure of the August offensive,Lt-Col Hart of the Wellington Infantry Battalion (NZ) recorded that the Australians had now christened The Nek 'Godley's Abbatoir'.As the old saying goes,you cannot fool children or soldiers.After the August failure Godley was a far more justified target for criticism than the 61-year-old General Stopford and his untried .....divisions... that landed at Suvla."

This might make more sense if you understand that the Light Horse Brigade that attacked The Nek was part of the NZ&A Division(funny how they don't mention that in the film.Aussies serving under Kiwis?Can't have that.:wink:) and Godley was widely hated by his men because of his incompetence as a Divisional commander.I also find it funny that one of the few mentions of the New Zealanders in the film is when a British officer remarks to one of his fellow officers about the general drunken state of the Australians.The reply is,"You should see the New Zealanders", :D :D when in fact it was the other way round!(Or should I say,it was pretty even.)
 

thnorth

Recruit
Joined
Apr 18, 2004
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Location
Brussels, Belgium
Country
llUnited States
Oh,yes; don't get me wrong. I am well read in the incompetence that commanded the carnage that surrounded that particular bit of the Anatolian Peninsula way back when. The Light Horse were ordered forward in a desperate attempt to keep the momentum of the offensive going after nearby units took an "operational pause." But while I prefer war flicks with razor-sharp historical accuracy, those films that balance historical fact with just enough human emotion to make all moviegoers shift uncomfortably in their seats, on the verge of fearful tears; they are what defines a good war film.

I don't mean to sound high-minded or pretentious, but I am in the U.S. Army Reserve, and since 2001 have served a year both in Afghanistan and Iraq. While we all push our cardboard men around the hexa-world of ASL, shouting with joy as we roll another pair of "eyes", I implore you as fellow human beings to keep in mind that, while it can be fun, ASL is only, I say again, only a game, played at a safe historical distance from the present-day version of the horrors of war. People say ASL is historically accurate, but believe me when I say that, as a window to the world, it has nothing to do with reality.

My apologies, but that sounded rather morbid, and way off topic. We were talking about cool war flicks. Have you guys ever seen "Battleground"? There's this scene, where this WWII GI is watching this curvatious French girl walk down the stairs, his eyes swinging right-to-left-to-right as her hips negotiated a tight turn, and suddenly...

Respectfully,
 

M Faulkner

Disgruntled Democrat
Joined
Feb 1, 2003
Messages
1,451
Reaction score
510
Location
Formerly The Ghetto
First name
Michael
Country
llUnited States
A little late but here are my lists:

Best WWII
The Devil's Brigade
SPR
ABTF
Kelley's Heroes
The Dirty Dozen
1941 (it is a hoot!)

Worst WWII
Thin Red Line
Pearl Harbor
The English Patient (The best part of this whole movie was Kristen Scott Thomas getting into the bathtub and exiting the bathtub) :shock:

Non WW II Best
MASH (not really a war film but close)
The Light Horsemen
ZULU
We Were Soilders Once...and Young (loved Sam Elliot's character)
Black Hawk Down
 

GROGnads_USA

Recruit
Joined
Aug 25, 2004
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Location
In YOUR conscience
Country
llUnited States
Can I get a mention on these?

Okay, what about "The Dambusters", and another I believe was "501 Squadron"(sp?)? I too remember going to the Theater to see "The Battle of Britain" when I was a kid and it was wonderful! Just a few years ago and every few years, they would 'fly' a He-111 and a B-17 into our local Airport and I got to go inside of them! I couldn't believe how cramped they were, especially the He-111, and I marveled at 'how' those guys could stand to be in them for the amount of time that they had to. Oh yeah, hows about "Catch-22"? I swear that there's a character like Jon Voight's in EVERY Army everywhere, as well as those "C.O.s" & "X.O.'s" from that!

I have to agree with those about the Errol Flynn "Charge of the Light Brigade" Movie-too sappy! It even STILL surpasses the latest "Pearl Harbor" Movie with it's plot-less-ness and where's the "Charge" part of it? They could have just called it "Errol Flynn, in NO particular Historically based representation except to flount his being in this and riding a Horse!" Movie and kept the folks from getting disappointed in that! "Gunga Din" may be somewhat dated, but for the 'action' in it, I didn't mind. Then there are the "Beau Geste" ones, and especially the one with Gene Hackman & Terence Hill in it, I don't recall it off hand, but it was pretty decent I felt.
 
Last edited:

cujo8-1

The Earl of Burgundy
Joined
Jul 7, 2004
Messages
1,565
Reaction score
31
Location
ThunderDome
Country
llUnited States
GROGnads_USA said:
Okay, what about "The Dambusters",
Liked the Dambusters movie, but loved the book.

Best: The Longest Day.

Worst: Pearl Harbor (with the embedded love triangle :dead: ).
 

piero1971

Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2003
Messages
739
Reaction score
0
Location
geneva
Country
llSwitzerland
movies

my pick:

Best:
Enemy at the Gates
Lion of the Desert
Band of Brothers (long movie, ok)
Das Boot
The Winter War
(does Starship Troopers count?)

worse:
U-571 (scandalous! - send the producer to Abu Graib on the spot)




just learned that:
Videos of "The Great Battles series" from Henri de Turenne are finally out in DVD!!!! check on amazon.fr on "Les Grandes Batailles" or at www.fnac.fr - great WW2 (B/W) footage and interviews!
 

Dicke Bertha

Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2003
Messages
1,567
Reaction score
0
Location
Stockholm
Country
llSweden
Zugman said:
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.
Winter War is good, good effects. There are several good Finnish films. I think "Unknown Soldier" (?) has been filmed several times (based on a book by Väinö Linna?) and is very good. I have seen the B/W version, I think it is from the 50's. There is another more modern film too which I thought was very good, the title evades me at the moment, about a Finnish platoon in the continuation war.

A film about the fighting of Infantry Regiment 61 was released this summer. Haven't seen it yet, but it is supposed to be good, about Finnish patrols behind enemy lines. The title in Swedish is "Framom främsta linjen" (=beyond the forward line).
http://www.framomframstalinjen.fi/etulinja_laajakaista.mov
 

BigDog

Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2003
Messages
69
Reaction score
0
Location
Tuskegee, AL
Country
llUnited States
Hard to add to this list. But I will throw in my two cents anyway.

WWII

Memphis Belle. I am suprised this has not been mentioned. Real footage mixed in and deffinitly some pucker factor.

1000 Plane Raid. If I saw it again today it would probably be cheesy but I remeber watching it several times and enjoying it.

Das Boot. What needs to be said.

SPR. The first 30 minutes give them free pass for anything else. When I saw it there were WWII vets weeping and women and children puking and leaving. With the hand held cameras and the dolby it realy managed to capture compression waves and the fog of war.

Cross of Iron. Classic and yeah why aint there a Stiener counter?

Where Eagles Dare. Why dont they make movies like this anymore. Oh wait they probably can't find actors of this talent anymore.

A Bridge Too Far. Another classic.

Catch 22. If you have seen it what needs to be said. If you havent go get it.

Kelly's Heroe's. Man IF YOU HAVE EVER BEEN IN THE SERVICE you know these caracters are real!

The Dirty Dozen. Ok so it fails on the reality aspect but with that cast it still rates. Another one of those flicks that make you wonder who can fill those shoes. I mean if fillmed today we are looking at Arnold, Segal and Vin Diesel. Just not the same bunch of hard asses is it?

When Trupets Fade. I liked for capturing mortar rounds in woods.

Thin Red Line. Could have been so much more but does have some decent scenes as mentioned.

Bridge Over The River Kwai. While not totally acurate it is a good flick.

I am sure I have left out some that were probably already mentioned anyway.
 

Belisama

Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Messages
22
Reaction score
0
Location
US Midwest
Country
llUnited States
Favorites in no particular order:
Enemy At The Gates
Cross of Iron
Band of Brothers
Bridge Over the River Kwai
Empire of the Sun

Least favorite:
Pearl Harbor

Outside of WW2, my favorites are The Beast, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Last Emperor and The Patriot. Least are Three Kings and Green Berets.

em
 

Tim

Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2002
Messages
80
Reaction score
0
Location
Vancouver, B.C.
Country
llCanada
The worst films are the Italian ones.That have english speaking leading actors with their voices being dubbed. Rock Hudson was in one with a bunch of partisan kids. He did not have his voice dubbed.

The English WWII movies "In Which We Serve" with John Mills
"Battlion" with David Nevin were good for their time.
"One of Our Planes Are Missing" not a war film but made about the same time is okay.
"The Young Lions" I remember it being good movie when it saw as a kid.

There is one movie that had second rate American actors playing male and female Yugoslav partisans. Does anyone know the Title of that movie?
 

CPangracs

Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2003
Messages
1,589
Reaction score
2
Location
Within My Means
Country
llUnited States
The best so far:
Band of Brothers
Saving Private Ryan
The Big Red One
The Great Escape
Schindler's List


The worst so far:
The Thin Red Line
Patton
Battle of the Buldge
Midway
 
Top