scoop88 Posted December 14, 1999 Share Posted December 14, 1999 Wow! You guys mentioned movies I forgot about years ago and probably should see again. A couple that didn't get any mention: To Hell And Back with Audie Murphy playing himself. A friend who saw it told me how fake it was ... one guy on top of a burning tank stopping a zillion Germans with a 50-cal MG, and when I told him all those scenes were re-enactments of the things Murphy actually did in the war, he just shook his head. The book of the same name is also a great one. Guadalcanal Diary ... One of the best movies made during the war. Some great characters, especially William Bendix and Anthony Quinn. It sticks pretty close to actual events, especially the landing at Matannikau (sp). I didn't see "Thin Red Line," but I'll bet Guadalcanal Diary beats it hands down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berlichtingen Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I didn't see "Thin Red Line," but I'll bet Guadalcanal Diary beats it hands down.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The thing to remember about "Thin Red Line," is that it isn't actually about Guadalcanal. In the Author's forward in the book, he mentions that he only used the name Guadalcanal for the name recogintion... otherwise, the story is pure fiction... and the movie is pure crap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreghorn2 Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 What a great thread! I have to mention a movie that is personally in my top ten all time (any genre); Lawrence Of Arabia I'll never forget Peter O'toole finally succumbing to the intense pressure and shouting 'No Prisoners!!' Tremendous performance. ------------------ 'A mans greatest pleasure is to crush his enemies, sweep them before him, to take from them that which they possess, to see their women and children in tears' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom punkrawk Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 I remember Swing Kids, that was a good movie,and Memphis Bell I must have seen a million times... ------------------ We ain't got no place to go,let's go to a punk rawk show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GriffinCheng Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 For Viet-war film: how about "Platoon"? I think it is the best of Oliver Stone's Viet trilogy. First 25min of SPR and the German sniper scene. It is a tag too long for the rest. Griffin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrodi Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 I’ve already mentioned my favorite WW2 movies: Die Brücke (The Bridge), Das Boot and Come and See. Plus WW1: Paths of Glory and All Quite on the Western Front. But... I think one of the greatest war movies (and actually a WW2 movie) is ALEXANDER NEVSKY! Made in 1938 it’s ostensibly about the legend, Prince Alexander Vasilievich Nevsky that led the Russians to fight not only for their land, but against Teutonic imperialism in 1242. But, in fact, it was commissioned by Stalin himself as a political film the amazingly foreshadows the operation Barbarosa in 1941. He specifically wanted it to alert and prepare the nation against a possible Nazi invasion. It’s directed and scored by two film geniuses: Sergei Eisenstein and Sergei Prokofiev. The final reward is the spectacular final battle where the Russians defeat the Teutonic invaders-the battle lasts almost half the film and is an amazing accomplishment given the time of production. You can well imagine how this was used as a tool after the war started to garner the elan used to defeat the enemy. Perhaps, given the date, it was a detriment by giving the Russians a feeling of invincibility...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paul Roberts Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 I actually liked THE THIN RED LINE, although I suppose this puts me in the minority. It's different from most war movies in that it tried its best to show that the horror of war is not just about bullets and bloodshed, but also about alienation from your fellows. As an approximation of this factor in war, TTRL was (IMHO) a lot more effective than SPR. If you watch TTRL as a unique film, rather than as an attempt to repeat the war-movie formula, it has a lot of strengths. SPR, of course, has overwhelmingly impressive moments (especially the beach landing), but it eventually boils down to just another wartime "buddy movie" with its emphasis on handsome actors. The worth of SPR falls through the floor every time you see another shot of Matt Damon's perfect teeth. James Jones' novel THE THIN RED LINE, by the way, is a masterpiece. It is too often eclipsed by the (also great) other Pacific island war novel, Mailer's THE NAKED AND THE DEAD. Paul Roberts [This message has been edited by Paul Roberts (edited 12-15-99).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berlichtingen Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 Schrodi, Alexander Nevsky is indeed an outstanding movie. Well worth seeing. The Germans also made a couple of movies during the war... Colburg & Der Grosse König (I may have the names wrong... haven't seen them in years). Both have spectacular battle scenes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gespenster Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 Paul, I'm in the minroity as well ... I also enjoyed The Thin Red Line, and I think that a couple of the battle scenes in the tall grass, and when they assault the Japanese Bunker were VERY well done. And is it me, or were the actors playing the Japanese Soldiers perfect? I mean, they looked very underfed, and beat up (which is the way they should've looked) and while I'll agree that sometimes the movie lost you a little bit, I thought the realism made up for it. It was a typical "love it or hate it" flick though, there is no inbetween. ~JT ------------------ "It is well that War is so terrible, lest we grow to fond of it" Robert E. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paul Roberts Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 An interesting note on THE THIN RED LINE: After the village/camp assault scene, there are shots of a tied-up Japanese prisoner sitting on the ground, watching an American soldier pry gold teeth from some of the dead. The prisoner begins speaking in Japanese to the soldier. The soldier clearly does not understand the language, and, since there are no subtitles, neither does most of the audience. My brother-in-law, who speaks Japanese, tells me that the soldier is simply saying, "You will die, you too will die, someday." Somehow, knowing that hidden line of dialogue makes the movie all the more chilling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumbo Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 I have to say I kinda enjoyed the Thin Red Line as well. I found it a lot less jingoistic then Saving prvt Ryan. However I do have a biase I beleive that Speilberg is incompetent at serious issues and is saved only by talented employees (such as the polish camera man who through up the initial landing shots). To me you could take many of the scenes from SPR and put em in an Indiana Jones movie and not be able to tell the difference. Oh well each to his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard III Posted December 16, 1999 Share Posted December 16, 1999 My favorite thing about Alexander Nevsky is the fact that the film as it exists now is missing a reel. Notice how the two main characters just show up without any sort of introduction at all? Evidently one reel was being edited when the movie was first shown to Stalin. They were so terrifed of Stalin that it was decided to destroy the missing reel and pretend it never existed rather than admit that someone screwed up. My next favorite fact is that the ice floe scenes were filmed during unseasonably hot weather, IIRC styrofoam being used to substitue for ice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom Posted December 17, 1999 Share Posted December 17, 1999 One of you mentionned the "7 company" which was one of the worse french movies of the 70's! There is a few very good french movies about WWII, the two best are "un taxi pour Tobrouk" (A taxi for tobruk) and "la bataille du Rail" (The battle for the railway); I have also to mention "Paris brule t'il?" (Does Paris burn?) for the patriotic pride it gives me every time I see it. There is also a very good one about WWI: "la grande illusion" (the great illusion, french is preaty easy tongue isn't it?). I love, like most of you, "Kelly's heroes" (the great song and D. Sutherland as a tankleader is really tremendous!), "Das boot", "the big red 1", "the magnificent dozen" (which french title is stupid: it could be translated "the twelve bastards!") and "cross of iron". The first 30 minutes of private Ryan sound also very realistics. Talking about other movies about war I am very surprised that nobody mentioned "Jonnhy got is gun" which is for me the best movie about war I have ever seen! And the last but not the least, maybe the main reason why I am now a MD: "M.A.S.H.". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom Posted December 17, 1999 Share Posted December 17, 1999 gasp! I have mixted the "magificent seven" and "the dirty dozen"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herr Jung Posted December 21, 1999 Share Posted December 21, 1999 Jeez Gespenster, I couldn't have said it better. Das Boot, SPR, and TRL really rock on DVD, don¡¯t they? DAS BOOT ***** Nummer 1 on my list. Get the DVD. ¡°All you need are good men.¡± STALINGRAD *** One of the rare German POVs. Many great scenes. What¡¯s with keeping this young Russian prisoner? CROSS OF IRON **** Beautifully made. Sgt. Steiner rules. Great barracks scenes (another young Russian prisoner?). "I hate officers." THE WINTER WAR *** Wasn¡¯t there a Russian prisoner here also? TORA TORA TORA! *** Looong, but very educational and surprisingly balanced. Raid on Hickam was great. DIE BR?KE **** Worthy of 4 stars. Panzerfaust scene blew me away. Wonderful details. "Kindergarten!" BATTLE OF THE BULGE -3 stars 3 stars are too much for this pile of dung. What¡¯s with the title? THE EAGLE HAS LANDED ** I always seem to watch the re-runs. Great ending. SAVING PVT RYAN **** Despite the criticisms, this is a dream come true for many. A MIDNIGHT CLEAR ** I like the honesty. Nice winter scenery. WHEN TRUMPETS FADE * Well, the 88s and G.I.s freezing in M41 field jackets were nice. THE LONGEST DAY *** The most expensive movie up to that time? Overall interesting but disjointed. A BRIDGE TOO FAR **** Failed to capture the essence, IMO, but immensely appealing anyways. THE THIN RED LINE ***(I actually liked it I liked it too. Could¡¯ve been better though. Most human-looking Japanese. MEMPHIS BELL *** Nice air battle. What was the other movie with Gregory Peck over Schweinfurt? SCHINDLERS LIST ***** Haunting images. ¡°Is that Bach or Mozart?¡± THE DEVILS BRIGADE ** I can¡¯t believe this is supposed to be a true story. THE BIG RED ONE ** Better than Kelley¡¯s Heroes and the Dirty Dozen, IMO. Some additions: EMPIRE OF THE SUN The scene where the boy encounters a Japanese platoon really scared me. TO HELL AND BACK Very nice scene with Audie Murphy brandishing a captured MG42. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY An aspect of island fighting. Japanese preparing for banzai charges. Herr Jung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPeng Posted December 21, 1999 Share Posted December 21, 1999 Gotta jump in here.... glad there are some out there who enjoyed The Thin Red Line. I forget who was saying something about the guy ripping out gold teeth and the japanese prisoner saying "someday you will die too." but later in the film that same guy is sitting there in the rain with his bag of gold teeth sobbing hysterially at the horror and atrocity he has committed. Did anyone see that? or were you all too bored? Jesus Christ but that was a powerful scene...OK so the other 370 hours of it was pure brain pain... i wigged out on that scene. Hell is for Heros... Steve Mcqueen stars... what the hell else do you want? Fess Parker? James Coburn? BOB NEWHART? he even does one of his comedy phone bits with a radio...!!!! A Midnight Clear. Boys giving their dead buddy a bath and then painting a red cross on him with his own blood... To Hell and Back. Yup, Audie did it. Kelly's Heros. Fionn got it right when he said it is a wife annoyer...needs nothing else to recommend it in my book. that'd be the top 5. next AQWF Longest Movie, I mean Day. Bangalore Torpedoes up Bob Mitchum's Wazoo!!! Patton. "So when you stick your hand in a puddle of goo, that a minute ago was your best friend's face...you'll know what to do." The Bridge at Neretva. A Yugoslav Film about a Yugoslav Bridge. Yul Brenner and a bunch of locals. Nazis and Chetniks Vs. Tito and his Comrades. gotta blow the bridge, or not. whatever. Plenty of Southern European Melodrama as well as somce decent pyrotechnics. Lastly, That dog of a thing that Jerry Lewis made, and for which he should never be forgiven and perhaps stripped to the waist and flogged, publicly. The name is gone, thank god, but i can still picture him in a pathetic attempt to be both profound and funny about the holocaust. Any one have a name for it? please don't tell me. Peng out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gespenster Posted December 21, 1999 Share Posted December 21, 1999 Herr Jung, THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE -3 stars (I didn't give it 3 stars, I gave it MINUS 3 stars Although you hit the nail on the head with "This pile of dung" That is as accurate a description as there is ... Another Fossil I dug up from my endless WWII movie collection ... BRIDGE AT REMAGEN ** ~JT ------------------ "It is well that War is so terrible, lest we grow to fond of it" Robert E. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOS was 71331 Posted December 22, 1999 Share Posted December 22, 1999 In "Bridge at Remagen," I liked the scene where platoon leader George Segal told platoon sergeant Ben Gazarra, upset at having killed a teenage German soldier, that he could loot the body later. I thought the movie went a little far when it had Hauptmann Robert Vaughn executed for not having destroyed the bridge. I don't think that happened. ------------------ Airborne Combat Engineer Troop Leader (1966-1968) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hundminen Posted December 22, 1999 Share Posted December 22, 1999 I have to agree with most of the opinions I've seen here so far. A couple of other movies that nobody's mentioned yet: THE TRAIN - **** (out of 5) (Burt Lancaster at his finest - as a French railroad engineer, he stops a train load of French art being stolen by the Nazi's - a classic). MURPHY'S WAR - *** (Peter O'Toole runs around somewhere in the Mediterranean trying to kill a single U-boat). HEAVENS KNOWS MR. ALLISON - ** (?) (Rock Hudson takes out an island full of Japs, and then falls for a nun-in-training - very high on the schmarmy scale). THE AFRICAN QUEEN - *** (How can everbody forget this Bogey classic? - see the colourized version). KING RAT - *** (Limey in Japaneze POW camp flick - not for everybody. The kind of war movie your wife may actually enjoy more than you). God, am I getting old , or what? Hundminen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted December 22, 1999 Share Posted December 22, 1999 I know this isn't a WW2 movie or even a movie for that matter but it was great. The Tour of Duty TV show. It on on the History Channel in Canada right now and I enjoy a lot. I don't know about tactics for anything although there wasn't a lot of that in Vietnam was there? I also enjoyed Memphis Belle and a movie no one has mentioned call "Mosquito Squadron" about bombing a underground store room that is found to be a prison. They use rolling bombs...hehehe clever. ------------------ "I'm tired of quotes, tell me what you know" -Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berlichtingen Posted December 22, 1999 Share Posted December 22, 1999 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>HEAVENS KNOWS MR. ALLISON - ** (?) (Rock Hudson takes out an island full of Japs, and then falls for a nun-in-training - very high on the schmarmy scale).<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> ROBERT MITCHUM!!!! Rock Hudson was nowhere near... thank god! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hundminen Posted December 23, 1999 Share Posted December 23, 1999 I stand corrected! I couldn't remember exactly, and trying to picture Rock Hudson in that role did seem a little queer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berlichtingen Posted December 23, 1999 Share Posted December 23, 1999 Heaven Knows Mr. Allison is one of my all time favorite movies... that's why the thought of Rock Hudson being it bothered me so.... that and Rock Hudson is not my idea of a Marine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aacooper Posted December 23, 1999 Share Posted December 23, 1999 I'd like to add "Life Is Beautiful" - thankfully, there's a choice to rent it with subtitles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Madmatt Posted December 23, 1999 Share Posted December 23, 1999 A quick list of some of my favorite all time WAR Movies in no particular order.. Glory Nice Civil War movie and a personal favorite do to the fact that I am IN it!!! Well they used alot of stock fotage of the 125th anniversary Gettysburg Renactment which I was part of and you can just make me out during Matthew Brodricks monolouge in the beginning! Also some of the Antietam battle sequence (filmed specialy for Glory) shows many of my old unit (6th Ohio) mates dying, in the background you can see one die TWICE!! He always was a ham! Wind and the Lion What more needs to be said! Brian Keith as Teddy Roosevelt and Ms. Murphy Brown going to town with a shotgun! 5 stars! Lion of the Desert Italian pre-WWI invasion of Libya! Great action scenes including several Italian armored cars doing end over end flips...Highly recommended! Those should hold you over until the end of the weekend! Enjoy! Madmatt... ------------------ If it's in Combat Mission, it's on Combat Mission HQ combathq.thegamers.net [This message has been edited by Madmatt (edited 12-23-99).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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