Favorite WWII movie or movies

[lordhedgwich]

As the title says what are some of your favorite ww2 flicks? For me i would say:

1. Tali-Ihantala

(would love to see a CM game based on the continuation war)

2. Stalingrad (1993)

3. Cross of Iron

[152mmDumbRocket]

Kelly's Heroes. "Woof woof!" + Donald Sutherland + Clint Eastwood + Telly Savalas = win.

[jon_j_rambo]

1) Rambo, First Blood

2) Band of Brothers

3) The Longest Day

4) Deerhunter

5) The Eagle Has Landed

[easytarget]

The Thin Red Line.

[Badger73]

The Thin Red Line.

 

I struggled with that film.  What made it work for you?

[Sickie]

When trumpets fade

 

[BadgerDog]

Here's my favorite seasonally appropriate movie...

 

There's various low quality versions floating around YouTube, but for those that want a an HD version with no buffering problems, we host this full length feature every year for our members, playable in full screen and dolby sound ..

Joyeux Noel (2005) - Full Length Feature Movie (1 Hour - 55 minutes)

Regards,
Doug

ps: Also running Fury full length movie for contributing members..

[John Kettler]

lordhedgwich,

 

Ref  Tali-Ihantala  All that period armor (drool) in a mere three minutes? Shall need new underwear. Permanently. Wow! Talk about spitting range engagements, or are these from foreshortening and the usual need to get everybody in the frame at the same time?

 

Ref Stalingrad  Either my memory is sorely deficient (a distinct possibility since we're talking decades) or this isn't the same Stalingrad film I saw. The one I saw followed a German pioneer unit into the battle. Contrariwise, I do remember this scene. Obviously, the German ATG gunner got lousy die rolls!

 

 

And in this scene from the 2013 /Stalingrad, we can clearly see a technical advisor needed firing--for reasons which should be instantly apparent. Can't speak to the film as a whole though, having never seen it. I will say, though, we need a flying ash and stygian gloom mod. Kind of war movie grim.

 

 

Das Boot  The gold standard of war movies. Came out of the theater wrung out and with a kind of PTSD. Felt like I'd been depth charged! Anglophones need to watch the English subtitled German version, not the (retch) dubbed one. German version clip w/o subtitles.

 

 

Downfall is simply brilliant, with a Hitler depiction clear off the charts. (German with selectable English subtitles)

 

 

 

easytarget,

 

The Thin Red Line drove me, along with my film loving warpig friend, straight up the wall. By the time something finally started happening, we were so deadened by the stultifying travelogue stuff we gave up and walked out. Maybe I'll give it another shot sometime.

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler

Edited January 1, 2015 by John Kettler

[-E]

Das Boot  The gold standard of war movies. Came out of the theater wrung out and with a kind of PTSD. Felt like I'd been depth charged! Anglophones need to watch the English subtitled German version, not the (retch) dubbed one. German version clip w/o subtitles.

EVERY version of Das Boot is dubbed (however, I agree completely that the German language/English subbed version _IS_ the one to watch (at least the first time). (As is the 5 1/2 hour version if you're a real man!)

[Destraex1]

Tali-Ihantala but is it ww2?

Joyeux Noel (2005)  is ww1?

 

My favs:

• Stalingrad 1993
• Battle of Britain
• Das Boot 5hr version
• Kelly's Heroes
• Band of Brothers - looking forward to the air war version! Pacific was good but not as good.
• Dark Blue World
• Saving Private Ryan

If you get to see "white tiger" it has some very good tanks and some very very poor ones.

Edited January 3, 2015 by Destraex1

[John Kettler]

This isn't a favorite, for I've yet to see it. A friend of mine just learned it was on DVD and informed me. What I like about "Sants and Soldiers: The Void" is it's sort of "Fury" but in M18 Hellcats! Here's the trailer.

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler

Edited January 3, 2015 by John Kettler

[MikeyD]

The funny thing is, the further I get from 'Fury' the less I like it in retrospect. Its like some 'processed movie product' that was tasty at the time but left a bad aftertaste. Like you thought you were ordering a steak but instead you got a bologna sandwich.

[Michael Emrys]

Yeah, well that's true of a lot of movies, isn't it, not just war movies? We just notice it more with war movies because maybe we care more and want more from them.

 

Michael

[easytarget]

I struggled with that film.  What made it work for you?

 

I'm a big fan of the director, so I thought his adaption of the book was well done, and I consider the book one of the best ever at capturing the mindset and experience of soldiers on the line. 

 

Most struggle with Malik, his work often produces polarized responses, people either love it or hate it.  So, not to worry, Malik has never asked for nor received a wider audience, the review I link below hits upon why I suspect he's not loved by a general audience, he doesn't tend to make heavy use of plots and American audiences tend to be rather hung up on standard plot arch so they know when to clap and that all has turned out peachy, life and Malik movies don't tend to go that way. 

 

I like his cinematography a lot, his portrayal of nature in the movie reminds me of Conrad's take in Heart of Darkness where man intrudes on the continent as if he's a power to be reckoned with and is shown how insignificant his actions really are in the scheme of things.  I enjoy the ruminations of the main characters narrative.  Really, I could go on and on, but I'll just leave one review on it to hit a few more points:  http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C07E5DC133CF930A15751C1A96E958260

 

res=9C07E5DC133CF930A15751C1A96E958260 , 

 

Oh, had to come back w/ an edit: I do happen to like Apocalypse Now just as much as Thin Red Line, and while I realize it's not WW2, it would seem remiss to leave it out of any list of great war time cinema just because it doesn't fit the time-frame.

Edited January 11, 2015 by easytarget

[Badger73]

I'm a big fan of the director, so I thought his adaption of the book was well done, and I consider the book one of the best ever at capturing the mindset and experience of soldiers on the line. 

 

Most struggle with Malik, his work often produces polarized responses, people either love it or hate it.  

 

<snipped>

 

Oh, had to come back w/ an edit: I do happen to like Apocalypse Now just as much as Thin Red Line, and while I realize it's not WW2, it would seem remiss to leave it out of any list of great war time cinema just because it doesn't fit the time-frame.

 

Your answer explains well.  It seems we have very different tastes in this regard.    I did not like "Apocolypse Now" either! 

For me the "art" in these films distorted reality to dishonest outcomes.  The novels I prefer must tell well a (philosophical) truth in their (nonfiction) lie.   I couldn't sympathize with the "truths" these characters portrayed.  Thank you for your articulate and thoughtful response.

[easytarget]

To each his own.     I will only add that what you perceive as "art" in these two films is actually an attempt to explore and delve into the psychology of warfare down at the ground level, so that "truth" you mention is in fact the exact thing these two movies are looking to uncover.  You don't sympathize with truth, you only catch it out of the corner of your eye when you're not looking.