Michael Emrys Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Well I saw the USS Missouri go steaming down the Admiralty Inlet August 6, 1991. Who among you young'uns can match that! Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 I understand movies are for entertainment, and we can't expect a lot of historical from war movies out of Hollywood, but here are two that I wish more filmmakers would emulate: Flags of Our Fathers Black Hawk Down No chicks, good acting, excellent story well-told, realistic, faithful to the real story, big(ger) picture of events/battles, etc. I know it's gonna bug me if the subplots involve women and are cliches or just done badly, and I am tired of the one-lone-squad/tank/airplane-fighting-an-army trope, but I intend to see Fury next week anyway. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 I will support the WWII movie and have a great time - entertainment. I wonder what the age mix of the audience seeing Fury is. Seeing the actual historical machinery used in the war makes me appreciate what it must have been like. Different than the 'movies' for sure. Lancasters gracing the skies would be very cool to see... as well as USS Missouri an Iowa class battleship would be a BIG treat! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Well I saw the USS Missouri 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 That's hitting below the belt, Jon. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Us whippersnappers aren't known for tact or dignity. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Us whippersnappers aren't known for tact or dignity. Can't argue with that. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSTK Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Lancasters gracing the skies would be very cool to see... Speaking of which...did any of my British Brothers happen to see the "Mynarski" Lanc this past summer in the UK? She made the journey to join the Battle of Britain Memorial flight, where the last of the Lancasters were reunited. Two lucky passengers ponied up the $80 000 Cdn for the ride of their lives during the round-trip aboard "VERA". http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2724404/Dambusters-reunited-Two-Second-World-War-Lancaster-bombers-fly-time-50-years.html 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Currymutton Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Some 20 or 30 years ago a book called Liar's Dice came out that was very interesting and revealing. Surely not the last word on the subject, but interesting reading. Michael Do you mean "Liar's Poker" by Michael Lewis? Oh hello, I am new here! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verulam Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Speaking of which...did any of my British Brothers happen to see the "Mynarski" Lanc this past summer in the UK? She made the journey to join the Battle of Britain Memorial flight, where the last of the Lancasters were reunited. Two lucky passengers ponied up the $80 000 Cdn for the ride of their lives during the round-trip aboard "VERA". http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2724404/Dambusters-reunited-Two-Second-World-War-Lancaster-bombers-fly-time-50-years.html Yes we were at Duxford when they made a joint flypast. It made the hairs stand up on the back of the neck. The engine sounds, wow. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 I saw a Mosquito in formation with a Spitfire and a P-40 last winter. That was ... :cool: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanonier Reichmann Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 As I have stated I like the movie, a lot of good stuff in here.But the final battle seen is so ridiculous, the SS get mowed down ala 1970's Rat Patrol.In no way is it believable that an immobilized Sherman is going to stop an SS battalion,yes Battalion!,lol I haven't even seen the film but from the shorts the thing that struck me was, does this SS battalion not have a single grenade between them? When one of them opens the top hatch to the Sherman surely the first thing that would get lobbed in would be a flurry of grenades rather than poking ones head over the rim to get a face full of bullets! Also, no panzerfausts? No grenade bundles? No means to destroy an immobilized tank at all? This is an SS formation afterall, not a bleeding' Ost formation. Regards KR 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoMac Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 I haven't even seen the film but from the shorts the thing that struck me was, does this SS battalion not have a single grenade between them? When one of them opens the top hatch to the Sherman surely the first thing that would get lobbed in would be a flurry of grenades rather than poking ones head over the rim to get a face full of bullets! Also, no panzerfausts? No grenade bundles? No means to destroy an immobilized tank at all? This is an SS formation afterall, not a bleeding' Ost formation. Regards KR Ehh, It was only a Platoon from each Company from the SS Battalion in action. Joe 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 They did have Fausts and Grenades. They proved "ineffective". 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 This is an SS formation afterall, not a bleeding' Ost formation. It's also April 1945, afterall. The bleedin' SS were about as good as an Ost Bn by then. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorProblem Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Now is it me or was the last scene at the crossroads a little insulting to the tactical level of the SS and being some of their most experienced troops. Ok after initial moment of surprise there would be some casualties but Surely a disabled tank in the road cannot do any harm if you just leave it be and carry on and then just get a squad to wait back with some panzerfausts and wait until the right moment and finish the tank off. That Sherman was not going anywhere. I know its a film but a shame it all had to get out of control artistically. Reminds me of the scene in Where eagles dare death count..check out the link below and keep counting. Maybe Brad Pitt and Clint Eastwood could of won the war together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 As JonS says, many SS formations at the end of the war were very poor. But, the point of the film is that it is entertainment not a History Channel doc (which can be just as silly often). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSTK Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Yes we were at Duxford when they made a joint flypast. It made the hairs stand up on the back of the neck. The engine sounds, wow. I bet. Those Merlins have a distinct rumbling to them. The sound of two Lancs...can you imagine a sky full of 'em? Now that must have been impressive. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Keogh Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Finally got around to seeing it last night. Overall, I enjoyed it. On a four star scale, I'd give it a 2.5 or maybe a borderline 3. I think the acting was pretty good especially Pitt and Lerman. (However, that "Deliverance" refugee was a bit hard to swallow.) Its production values were terrific. And it clearly had a top-notch technical/military advisor as to getting the equipment, vehicles, and uniforms right. We've come a long way from the days when film productions would take a M-47 Patton tank, paint it gray, slap a cross on it, and dub it a "Tiger." Unfortunately, I've seen way too many war movies and "Fury" has the clichés piling up left and right. So, I pretty much saw who was going live or die coming from about a mile away. Two of the more reliable clichés: 1) Dumb Germans. They act like the stormtroopers from Star Wars movies: can't hit a damn thing when it matters and are so tactically inept that they wouldn't stand a chance against Ewok muppets, let alone battle-hardened American combat troops (especially Hollywood American combat troops) and 2) Altruistic "Hollywood hero" American soldiers who sacrifice themselves for "the cause." In reality, the conscript crew of that tank would have abandoned it so fast that you could blink and they would be gone. And it has my biggest pet peeve: World War II was NOT fought by middle-aged men! WWII combat soldiers, like soldiers in all wars, were mostly kids: late teens and early 20's. Anyone over the age of 30 in a combat outfit was invariably nicknamed "Pop" by his much younger comrades. Yet, in "Fury" soldiers under the age of 30 are a rarity and 50 yrs olds are not an uncommon sight commanding tanks and armored infantry companies. We would never stand for Hollywood portraying soldiers of the Iraq War or the Vietnam War as middle-aged men, but we tolerate it for WWII movies even though it's complete BS. I guess it's ingrained in us to believe that WWII soldiers were "older" men due to their being our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 That's an interesting point. I always assumed that WW2 troops were older than in latter day wars. However, Hwd appeals primarily to the teens and 20's (mostly male) demographic and generally everyone in action movies is young. So, it is strange why, when it comes to WW2, most soldiers are portrayed as men in their 30's. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSTK Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Die young; leave a beautiful corpse. At least that was the plan. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poesel Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Paul Hardcastle taught me a long time time ago that the average come back age of a WWII soldier was 26 (IIRC). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 WWII combat soldiers, like soldiers in all wars, were mostly kids: late teens and early 20's. Anyone over the age of 30 in a combat outfit was invariably nicknamed "Pop" by his much younger comrades. Hell, anyone over 26 was thought to be of a different generation. That's one thing that The Pacific got mostly right. The actors in it seem to be in their early or very early twenties regardless of what their true age might have been. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 That's an interesting point. I always assumed that WW2 troops were older than in latter day wars. Nope. Especially if we are talking about riflemen in the front lines, most of them were drafted as soon as they turned 18 and some of them volunteered at age 17 (or even younger, though not legally). In Germany well before the end, there were guy 16 and younger serving in anti-aircraft batteries. Men over 30 who weren't officers were usually senior NCOs or specialists/support personnel. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Die young; leave a beautiful corpse. At least that was the plan. Or, as Joseph Heller once put it; it's better to live on your feet than to die on your knees. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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