The Ultimate WW2 movie thread

DID YOU LIKE WINDTALKERS

  • YES

    Votes: 5 27.8%
  • NO

    Votes: 13 72.2%

  • Total voters
    18
Joined
Jan 21, 2004
Messages
413
Reaction score
0
Location
Fairfax, Va
Originally posted by Iron Mike USMC
As good as it could be for a 1960's "fill-em-with stars-action-war-movie".

Richard Jaekel was fun as Pvt. Omar Greco, the acrobat.

Anyone know that his first role was in Guadalcanal Diary, Pvt. Johnny 'Chicken' Anderson. He was 16/17 when he played his part. Further, it apparently took longer to film the movie than it did to fight the battle.

other Richard Jaekel war movies of note:
Battleground (1949), Pvt. Bettis
Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), Pfc. Frank Flynn
Naked and the Dead, The (1958), Gallagher
Dirty Dozen, The (1967), Sgt. Clyde Bowren (head MP)

He was in over 70 films, about 20 to 25% war films, manyof them average to forgetable.

He also served in the navy from 1944 to 1948.
I've always liked Richard Jaekel too. He got the part in Guadalcanal Diary because there were very few actors of the proper age that hadn't been drafted and he was too young to draft. Prior to that he had no acting aspirations.
 

RichardS

Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2004
Messages
256
Reaction score
0
Location
Lost in the wilds of Georgia
Country
llUnited States
Re: Gert

Originally posted by panzerboy
Gert, who was your favorite character in A BRIDGE TO FAR??

Thanks


:thumb:
It would have to be General James Gavin (Commanding Officer 82nd Airborne Division) who on landing cracked his back, but still lead his men during the battle. Back injuries are the most painful ones that can be imagined. General Gavin deserved the DSC at least.


Cheers!
:toast:

:horse:
 

Nemesis

Recruit
Joined
Sep 3, 2003
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Location
Albany, NY
Country
llUnited States
Not in any particular order:
- Tuntematon Sotilas (Unknown Soldier). By far the best war-movie ever made (in my 100% unbiased opinion of course ;))

- Talvisota (the Winter War). It's brutal, it's deadly and it's touching. And it uses genuine equipment and not replicas. I have a personal connection to this movie, since the units that fight in the movie are from around my place of birth (yes, there are lots graves of fallen soldiers in the cemeteries there). However, the English translation is pretty poor IMO.

- Band of Brothers. Not a movie, but deserves to be on the list. Best of the new breed of war-movies

- Saving Private Ryan. Gave birth to BoB ;). It's a great movie, but I hate some of the Spielbergisms in it. German tanks rolling in to enemy-occupied town, with supporting infantry advancing BEHIND the tanks? Sorry, but that does not make any sense

- Dab Boot. Really, really, REALLY good movie! I like the fact that it does not have a happy ending (same as with The Winter War)

Movies that should not have been made:

- U-571. Crap. Pure, 100% crap

- Pearl Harbour. If you want a good movie about the attack, watch Tora Tora Tora instead
 

FelixAlicea

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2004
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Pennsylvania
Country
llUnited States
Originally posted by Keef
Right on! By the way A&E distributed several hundred VHS copies of the movie in advance of it's release to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The troops have a system called "Theater in a Box" that lets them watch movies in the field. A&E are good eggs in my book! :toast:
It would be nice if you and your staff would consider having an open forum with a celebrity (spotlight) on WWII, tactics, USCW, or other military operations. It would be a boost to not only the magazine but to the website.:thumb: :toast: :horse: :bowdown: :D :rolleyes: :terms: :cool:
 

FelixAlicea

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2004
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Pennsylvania
Country
llUnited States
Originally posted by Nemesis
Not in any particular order:
- Tuntematon Sotilas (Unknown Soldier). By far the best war-movie ever made (in my 100% unbiased opinion of course ;))

- [url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098437/]Talvisota
(the Winter War). It's brutal, it's deadly and it's touching. And it uses genuine equipment and not replicas. I have a personal connection to this movie, since the units that fight in the movie are from around my place of birth (yes, there are lots graves of fallen soldiers in the cemeteries there). However, the English translation is pretty poor IMO.

- Band of Brothers. Not a movie, but deserves to be on the list. Best of the new breed of war-movies

- Saving Private Ryan. Gave birth to BoB ;). It's a great movie, but I hate some of the Spielbergisms in it. German tanks rolling in to enemy-occupied town, with supporting infantry advancing BEHIND the tanks? Sorry, but that does not make any sense

- Dab Boot. Really, really, REALLY good movie! I like the fact that it does not have a happy ending (same as with The Winter War)

Movies that should not have been made:

- U-571. Crap. Pure, 100% crap

- Pearl Harbour. If you want a good movie about the attack, watch Tora Tora Tora instead
I have to comment on some of your choices. BOB, I agree with you was outstanding.
Saving Private Ryan it was okay, but German tactics did play with infantry (grenadiers) with Canadien units in Normandy and other operations (read "Grenadiers" by Kurt Meyer).

Das Boot - a classic but it became a romantic movie of the bold German sailors in WWII. Only 10,000 out of 300,000 sailors survived the war.

Pearl Harbor - besides the crappy love scenes, the movie highlighted Dorian Miller, sailors trapped in the hull of the Arizona (never knew this until the film came out) and Jimmy Doolittle campaign on Tokyo - it was better than Thirty Seconds over Tokyo - a good film of WWII.

I respect your opinion but many people will comment on your suggestions. :nonono: :terms: ;)
 

RichardS

Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2004
Messages
256
Reaction score
0
Location
Lost in the wilds of Georgia
Country
llUnited States
Re: Movie "IKE: Countdown to D-Day

Originally posted by FelixAlicea


I hope his acting is better than Martin Sheen playing "General Lee" in Gettysburg. (Bad Acting).:spill: :( :laugh:
I actually liked Martin Sheen in Gettysburg. :thumb:

Cheers!
:toast:

:horse:
 
Joined
Jan 21, 2004
Messages
413
Reaction score
0
Location
Fairfax, Va
Re: Re: Ike movie good idea!!

Originally posted by FelixAlicea
It weird they picked Selleck to play Ike (Sorry Ladies, the man had to shave his moustache and head):laugh: :drool:


I hope the previews are good.:terms:
You know if Selleck is shaving his moustache he's taking this VERY seriously.
 

FelixAlicea

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2004
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Pennsylvania
Country
llUnited States
Re: Re: Movie "IKE: Countdown to D-Day

Originally posted by RStory
I actually liked Martin Sheen in Gettysburg. :thumb:

Cheers!
:toast:

:horse:
I liked Robert Duvall (Godfather, Colors, The Eagle has Landed, etc) as Lee in Gods and Generals.:horse: :bowdown:
 

FelixAlicea

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2004
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Pennsylvania
Country
llUnited States
Re: Re: Re: Ike movie good idea!!

Originally posted by Lance Williams
You know if Selleck is shaving his moustache he's taking this VERY seriously.
I wish that he could come onto the Forum. I wonder how he felt playing "IKE".:cool:
 

Alan

Recruit
Joined
Apr 24, 2003
Messages
26
Reaction score
0
Location
USA
Country
llUnited States
I've seen several of the made-for-TV westerns that Tom Selleck did. They were all pretty good in my opinion. I'm looking forward to his portrayal of Ike. I also like the idea of inviting him to the forum. His comments on the making of "Ike" would be interesting.

Some one also mentioned Ricky Schroeder's in "The Lost Battalion". I also had my reservations about him playing a military figure, but he was actually quite good. He kind of underplayed his role. In any case, I would recommend if you havent seen "The Lost Battalion" to do so.
 

eagle101

Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2004
Messages
91
Reaction score
0
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
Country
llUnited States
Originally posted by Nemesis
Not in any particular order:
- Tuntematon Sotilas (Unknown Soldier). By far the best war-movie ever made (in my 100% unbiased opinion of course ;))

- [url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098437/]Talvisota
(the Winter War). It's brutal, it's deadly and it's touching. And it uses genuine equipment and not replicas. I have a personal connection to this movie, since the units that fight in the movie are from around my place of birth (yes, there are lots graves of fallen soldiers in the cemeteries there). However, the English translation is pretty poor IMO.

- Band of Brothers. Not a movie, but deserves to be on the list. Best of the new breed of war-movies

- Saving Private Ryan. Gave birth to BoB ;). It's a great movie, but I hate some of the Spielbergisms in it. German tanks rolling in to enemy-occupied town, with supporting infantry advancing BEHIND the tanks? Sorry, but that does not make any sense

- Dab Boot. Really, really, REALLY good movie! I like the fact that it does not have a happy ending (same as with The Winter War)

Movies that should not have been made:

- U-571. Crap. Pure, 100% crap

- Pearl Harbour. If you want a good movie about the attack, watch Tora Tora Tora instead
PEARL HARBOR did have a really good attack scene on Pearl Harbor in it. Saving private ryan was good, but was the best scene on the beaches!!

Thanks
:thumb:
 

Eric Weider

Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2002
Messages
314
Reaction score
0
Location
SoCal
Country
llUnited States
Originally posted by FelixAlicea
It would be nice if you and your staff would consider having an open forum with a celebrity (spotlight) on WWII, tactics, USCW, or other military operations. It would be a boost to not only the magazine but to the website.:thumb: :toast: :horse: :bowdown: :D :rolleyes: :terms: :cool:
It's a good idea and we'll try our best to make it happen! Just realize that unless the celebs are actively involved in a promotional tour they are hard as nails to pin down. But I assure you we will try to pull it off! Look for my interview with Tom in our third issue.
We also have some good stuff in issue three about mel gibson in "We were Soldiers" that you might like.
 

Nemesis

Recruit
Joined
Sep 3, 2003
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Location
Albany, NY
Country
llUnited States
Originally posted by FelixAlicea Pearl Harbor - besides the crappy love scenes, the movie highlighted Dorian Miller, sailors trapped in the hull of the Arizona (never knew this until the film came out) and Jimmy Doolittle campaign on Tokyo - it was better than Thirty Seconds over Tokyo - a good film of WWII.[/B]
The problems I have with Pearl Harbour:

- The Japanese were there to bomb the US Navy. Yet they seemed to have enough bombs to spare in order to bomb a.... Clearing in front of a hospital?

- The Japanese pilots of the time were top-notch. Yet they were shot down like flies in the end. Even with small-arms fire from the ground! WTF?

- The movie just couldn't end with an US defeat (like Tora Tora Tora did). No, they had to add the Doolittle Raid in to the movie. After the PH-attack, I was expecting the movie to end, yet it dragged on and on and on.... Doolittle Raid seemed like an unneeded addition that was put there just to satisfy the moviegoers ("no, we can't have a movie, with seemingly unhappy ending, we must add an completely unrelated side-story to the end in order to boost the spirit of the moviegoers")

There were good things in the movie as well:

- The German tectics as described by the guy (what was his name?) who flew in the Battle of Britain were correct

- All in all, the action-sequences were good, as were the SFX.

I don't really think PH is a war-movie. It's a love-story that just happens to take place during WW2. And just because it showed the men of Arizona and Dorian Miller does not IMO make it a good movie.

EDIT:
I respect your opinion but many people will comment on your suggestions.
What's wrong with my suggestions? Even you seemed to agree with them (apart from PH). And besides, we are listing more or less personal opinions. Just because my favourites are not necessarily someone else's favourites does not mean that either one of us is somehow wrong.
 

FelixAlicea

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2004
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Pennsylvania
Country
llUnited States
Originally posted by Keef
It's a good idea and we'll try our best to make it happen! Just realize that unless the celebs are actively involved in a promotional tour they are hard as nails to pin down. But I assure you we will try to pull it off! Look for my interview with Tom in our third issue.
We also have some good stuff in issue three about mel gibson in "We were Soldiers" that you might like.
Celebrities that played leaders in USCW movies like Martin Sheen, Sam Elliot, Tom Beringer, and others are into military history. I hope you guys pull it off. It would make a great boost to the magazine. Here's to your success!!!:thumb: :banana: :toast: :bowdown: ;) :cool: :terms:
 

FelixAlicea

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2004
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Pennsylvania
Country
llUnited States
Nothing wrong with your opinion on the movies but some guys like things and others like different things. Take care.:thumb: :toast:
 
Joined
Feb 24, 2004
Messages
1,181
Reaction score
0
Location
Staten Island, NY
The Doolittle radi was a direct response from the Pearl Harbor attack. I agree it was not necessary for the movie, but it does have its place.

The Japanese did not have extra bombs. They were not there just to bomb the Navy, they were there to attack the US. The Pearl Harbor attack was warfare. Warfare is not perfect, things happen. Errant bombs fall where they may. Also, the attack had been so successful to that point, that targets were gatting hard to find, considering the amount of smoke and aircraft flying, that pilots looked for targets of opportunity.

Small arms fire did take down some Japanese aircraft. They lost more than one would have thought, so thoroughly did they catch us with our pants down. However, the Japanese aircraft did not carry the armor and self-sealing fule tanks carried later in the war. This made them more susceptible to being shot down by any projectile.
 

RichardS

Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2004
Messages
256
Reaction score
0
Location
Lost in the wilds of Georgia
Country
llUnited States
As I was going through my DVD collection looking for a DVD to loan my brother; I came across another movie of merit that I didn't mention before. Soldier of Orange is the true story of a Erik Lanshof and his friends during the WWII.,
Definetely worth a rental.

IMDB info on the movie:
http://imdb.com/title/tt0076734/

Cheers!
:toast:

:horse:
 
Joined
Jan 21, 2004
Messages
413
Reaction score
0
Location
Fairfax, Va
Well it was better than "Windtalkers".......not that that's a great compliment. The action scenes were pretty well done and the terrain seemed fairly accurate, but it was slow with way too much dialogue. Nick Nolte's character in particular was WAY over the top. How it was ever nominated for an Academy Award is beyond me.
 
Joined
Jan 21, 2004
Messages
413
Reaction score
0
Location
Fairfax, Va
Originally posted by FelixAlicea
Pearl Harbor - besides the crappy love scenes, the movie highlighted Dorian Miller, sailors trapped in the hull of the Arizona (never knew this until the film came out) and Jimmy Doolittle campaign on Tokyo - it was better than Thirty Seconds over Tokyo - a good film of WWII.
) [/B]
Pearl Harbor had three battle scenes totalling about one hour of a three hour movie that were well done. The rest of it was just pathetic. The acting is marginal except for a few characters (Tom Sizemore to name one) and the historical liberties are simply to many to overlook.

They couldn't even get the spelling of Mitchell Field right. Probably the biggest historic gaff was sending Ben Affleck's character off to fight with the British. It simply would NEVER have happened. It was illegal due to the Neutrality Acts. Those who did fight for the British prior to the US's entry into WW II resigned their commissions and had to dodge FBI agents at the border just to enter Canada on their way to England. Most had faked Canadian passports. They LOST their citizenship so there was no way he could just return to US military service. Even the Flying Tigers (that were covertly supported by the US government) had great difficulty returning to their original units.

Thank God I only bought the DVD and didn't have to sit through it in a theater.
 

last_cav1971

Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2004
Messages
160
Reaction score
0
Location
West Virginia
Country
llUnited States
Couldnt quite get into it....................liked Nolte's character.......other than that..............Nah........

Mark
Deo Vindice
 
Top