Herr Jung Posted August 22, 1999 Share Posted August 22, 1999 In the thread started few days ago, 'Los' shared some of his film sources as follows: RE: Those documentaries I mentioned The Panzer's Marsch can be obtained here: http://www.jjfpub.mb.ca and the FrontSchau (and some other good documentaries, should be available here: http://www.scholarsbookshelf.com/ I thought I would do the same. Check out 'International Historic Films' at http://www1.viaweb.com/ihf/index.html They have all kinds of foreign movies and rare documentaries. Few days ago, I received 'The Bridge (Die Bruecke)', 'Winter War (Talvisota)', 'Men Against Tanks', and 'Sniper: The Invisible Enemy.' My brief comments are as follows: 'The Bridge' - one of the best war films I've seen, glimpse of German small town life, what boys think of war and service, unusual look of joining and experiencing the German army, great MG42 scenes, etc. 'Winter War' - very good war film, on par with 'Stalingrad (93)' and 'When Trumpets Fade (HBO)'; didn't know Finns used Nazi-style helmets; dissappointing to not see ski troop action and daring hit-and-run tactics, though Russians were portrayed as being unbelievably dumb it was hard to understand how the Finns held out with their poor weaponry; where are the Maxim-type HMGs mowing down the Russian juggernaut?; could've been better 'Men Against Tanks' - WWII German training film shot like a movie; real captured T-34s & KVI in action; Germans use magnetic mines, AT mines, smoke grenades, bundle grenades, explosive charges, burning gas cans to destroy tanks; never seen anything like it (except some in 'Stalingrad'); though much of it is fantasy, super documentary though I wish there were more on panzerfaust/shrecke use (solved me a long-standing Q: what happens to infantrymen in foxholes/trenches when tank tracks roll over) 'Sniper' - German WWII sniper training film, incredible 1 hr package on ABC of being a German sniper, camo/movement technique, hand signals, battle recreations, dummy tricks, using terrain; you have to see it to believe it, till now I only heard about the aggressive use of sniper teams by the Wehrmacht; does justice where SPR failed There are more videos from IHF that I intend to purchase eventually, including "Sieg im Westen', 'Fortress Europe: Behind Enemy Lines on D-Day', 'Die Frontschau', Leni Riefenstahl films, etc. [This message has been edited by Herr Jung (edited 08-22-99).] [This message has been edited by Herr Jung (edited 08-22-99).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tss Posted August 23, 1999 Share Posted August 23, 1999 I just went through the other thread and nobody seemed to mention 'A Walk in the Sun', which is about the invasion of Sicily. It is, IHMO, one of the best American-made war films and it is surprisingly realistic, given that it was made in '45. This is the first time I try quoting on this forum, so the following may be mangled a bit. <it>Herr Jung wrote about 'Winter War': didn't know Finns used Nazi-style helmets;</it> Well, techically those helmets are not 'Nazi-style', since the Germans introduced them already in WWI, in 1915 or 1916, IIRC. Finnish army bought a couple of hundreds of thousands of helmets from Germany in early 20's and I believe more were manufactured on licence. And actually, Finnish army used just about every helmet type in existence at the time. I've seen a photo of a single infantry squad taken some time in '41. In the photo there are _four_ different helmet types (German, Russian, Italian, and one that I cannot remember). <it> dissappointing to not see ski troop action and daring hit-and-run tactics, </it> That's the price of historical accuracy. The ski troops were used North of Lake Ladoga, and the movie is situated in Karelian Isthmus. The warfare at the Isthmus was WWI style trench war. <it>though Russians were portrayed as being unbelievably dumb </it> The individual Russian soldiers were not dumb, but their commanders certainly were. During Stalin's purges military capability and initiative were not among the major survival traits of Sovier officers, but the 'Stalinist selection' favoured officers who just switched their brains off and shouted loyal slogans, instead. The incredibly dumb tactics were result of this process (disobeying orders of clueless comissars is also not a survival trait). <it>it was hard to understand how the Finns held out with their poor weaponry; where are the Maxim-type HMGs mowing down the Russian juggernaut?; </it> Yes, Maxims were very important for the defence. I'm not certain why they were left out, but possibly because in Finnish army the MMGs were assigned to specialized MG companies which were then detached where needed. As the characters of the movie serve in a rifle company, they wouldn't have any MGs of their own. (Actually some rifle units had unofficial MGs that were captured from Russians. In one occasion two Finnish corporals slipped into the Soviet trench in the cover of night and stole _three_ Maxims from straight under the nose of guards. BTW, a Maxim and its carriage weighs over 50kg...) -Tommi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolColJ Posted August 28, 1999 Share Posted August 28, 1999 Att there is an interesting program on SBS tonite (AUstralia) - the TV guide says a Show called Secret Weapons of the 3rd Reich is on in half an hour I'll tell everyone about it after I check it out, I might tape it - CM has me all crazed about all things WW2. I went and hire every WW2 movie at the local video store this week!! There are some curious oddities I must say CCj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risc Posted August 28, 1999 Share Posted August 28, 1999 The best WW2 movie (not documentary) I have ever seen is "Stalingrad", I got the DVD. Who didn't see it yet go rent it you will not be dissapointed. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los Posted August 30, 1999 Share Posted August 30, 1999 Though I personally wouldn't rank Stalingrad near the top of a best films list, (SOmething about the lack of technical accuracy in the infantry actions mostly), I have not seen the DVD version. Have more scenes been added in? Is there any reason to get it if one already has the VCR version (other than better picture/sound quality?) Thanks in advance. Also I got a chuckle out of Herr Jung's observations of Winter War but I see tss has already set the record straight. Having read several books on the Winter War, the Finns were severly strapped for almost all weapons and equipment. Maxims were in short supply. (There are some MG scenes in the flick) One of the points of the film is to see how these guys dealt with massed Russian numbers (Albeit moroniclly led) using a few automatic weapons (inc the rare Lahti (sp?) automatic weapon they show in the film) and virtually no anti-tank weapons. With a little reading and research you will see that the Winter War is a pretty accurate film of a specific part of the WW. Both equipment wise, tactically as well as the overall situation. (Probably because it wasn't made in Hollywood it skips over a lot of typical war movie conventions) ANyway I'm glad the IHF site was posted. They also have "Die Frontschau" there, which I spoke about before. Cheers... Los Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolColJ Posted August 31, 1999 Share Posted August 31, 1999 I agree I found Stalingrad too 90s technicolor for my taste! I prefer the period colour treatment of Saving Private Ryan, it has the right washed out look. Plus the battles in Stalingard remind me of CC3 skirmishs, ie small, its not what I picture Russian Front battles to be like. Its a bit arty for my tastes. It does remind me of some SVen Hassle novels I read in my teen years though CCJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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