WW-2 Movies, another Top-10 list by Rambo

[jon_j_rambo]

Thanks for all the great comments, facts, & thoughts regarding my blanket one-liners on a previous thread. Thanks for being kind & not "tearing me another ass" since my history knowledge comes from watch the boob tube. Therefore, this brings me to my Top-10 list of the genre (that's a fancy French word?) in War movies.

My rankings of movies is a general system. I give higher rankings to movies that can be re-watched. Note: Must be WW-2 movie, any front.

1) Band of Brothers --- This was absolutely awesome watching this last Fall on HBO! Every Sunday a new episode was aired. It was very realistic, historical, & done with great class. I got goose bumps hearing the real life people protrayed when they were interviewed & taken back to actual battle locations. No politics, no slanted views, no B.S...a great tribute to Easy Company. God Bless them.

2) Enemy at the Gates --- Those opening scenes & the city of rubble gave a great picture of Stalingrad. The sniper 'Vassili' vs 'Ed Harris' was a great story. The accounts of the Factory Works took me back to my childhood playing the original Squad Leader scenarios.

3) The Longest Day --- On June 6, 1944, the Allied Invasion of France marked the beginning of the end of Nazi domination over Europe. The attack involved over 3,000,000 men, 11,000 planes, and 4,000 ships, comprising the largest armada the world has ever seen. Who could do it better than Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Richard Burton "He has his boots on backwards", Sean Connery, Red Buttons, Robert Ryan, etc.

4) Stalag-17 --- William Holden as Sergent JJ Septen. Director Billy Wilder started out the prisoner of war craze with this classic. Nothing like a warm blanket, the whole day to yourself, & a bowl of nuts to watch this one.

5) A Bridge Too Far --- Michael Caine, Gene Hackman, Elliott Gould, Ryan O'Neal, Robert Redford, etc. do a good job here. Something about them paratroopers keeps me re-watching this one. Running around with the Brits & blowing whistles as the Panzers roll into town.

6) Objective Burma --- Errol Flynn takes us against the Japs in this old one. The fighting team spirit makes you feel part of the action.

7) Desperate Journey --- I bet you haven't heard of this one! President Ronald Reagan made his only "A" ladder film here. The smiling face of commando Ronny was great.

8) Pearl Harbor --- I slip in another "newbie" because of the battle scene. I confess, I even liked the love story. This was well done! How else could you make it, when everybody knows the story?

9) Force 10 From Navarone --- Harrison Ford, Robert Shaw, & Carl Weathers go to blow-up a Dam/Bridge. Nice action & good one-liners. Lets not forget seeing Barbara Bach's tits. I like this one!

10) Where Eagles Dare --- Rounding out my Top-10 is Clint Eastwood & Richard Burton is this adventurefest. A bunch of great chase scenes & it took some thought about what the hell was going on. (there mission that is)

Honorable mention (these are good, but don't have the re-watch factor):

Battle of the Bulge --- Sgt. Guffy is a trip

Cross of Iron --- Germans running from Russians

Kelly's Hereos --- Nice theme song

Battle of Britain --- Plenty of dogfights

Bridge of the River Kwai --- a little slow

Patton --- I can only take so much Patton worship

Midway --- Tough to re-watch naval battles

Night of the Generals --- More of a mystery thing

Great Escape --- Stevie & his motorcycle

Windtalkers --- Most gore available

Saving Private Ryan --- Good story

I look forward to all your reponses, this should be a fun thread. God Bless.

jon_j_rambo

[mwenek]

Yes, good movies all.

But have any of you guys ever seen "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp"?

Don't let the title fool you. This was one of those "we feel good about ourselves" movies the Brits put out right after WWII. It was about an old-school British General from the Boer War who found himself having to change his gentlemanly way of fighting a war in the face of the Nazi threat. VERY good movie. Always got 4-5 star ratings on the web sites.

Just MY $0.02

[Kuniworth]

Seriously you mean that neither "Stalingrad" or "Das boot" gets a spot in your list???

Man you must high or something...

Top 3

1. Pekka Parrikas "Winter war"

The best warmovie ever made in my opinion. Absolutely chocking insight in the war in Finland 1939-40.

2. Das boot

3. Stalingrad

(Only way you can rate this film lower than Enemy at the gates must be because you havent seen it yet)

4. Run silent, run deep

5. The thin red line

[DutchStorm]

My favorite is devinitively Stalingrad(The German movie)!

[jon_j_rambo]

You're right, I haven't seen Stalingrad (The German version???). I forgot about Das Boot...which one? The black & white or the re-make?

[Norse]

Originally posted by jon_j_rambo:

Patton --- I can only take so much Patton worship

Yeah, Patton is a really good movie... like when the German tanks just roll over their own German infantery, yeah... of course it is all true... definately not a propaganda movie... Definately the best movie I have ever seen!

~Norse~

[82ndReady]

Hey how about these good movies:

The Big Red 1

Empire of the Sun

Hart's War

U-571

Enigma

The Fat man & Little Boy (Manhattan Project)

all of these for sure need nods !

- Heith

[ November 14, 2002, 03:13 PM: Message edited by: 82ndReady ]

[jon_j_rambo]

Thanks for the additions 82ndReady, those are winners. Hell, there's alot of war flicks out there. I guess the only to get "proper coverage" for "props", you'd have to goto www.reel.com or something & do a search.

[Flash Gordon]

Originally posted by Norse:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by jon_j_rambo:

Patton --- I can only take so much Patton worship

Yeah, Patton is a really good movie... like when the German tanks just roll over their own German infantery, yeah... of course it is all true... definately not a propaganda movie... Definately the best movie I have ever seen!

~Norse~</font>

[Norse]

Originally posted by Flash Gordon:

They had a scene like that in Patton? That's interesting because there because at one point in the Normandy landings, American tank drivers had to drive their tanks over wounded American infantrymen in order to get their tanks to safety. Basically, it something they had to do - they didn't have time to clear the wounded out of the way and they had to preserve those tanks as they were crucial.

Das Boot was damn good.

Stalingrad was amazingly depressing.

Iron Cross was...interesting...

Yeah. There is a battlescene in northern-Africa. Patton leads his forces to meet the Germans, and the Germans are moving up towards Pattons forces.

Patton stands with binaculars and takes a look at the axis, and he see this. German infantery is walking at a given pace, wearing their uniform, equpiment and weapons. The tanks are driving among the axis infantery, and the tanks are driving at a slightly faster pace than the infantery. So the infantery just walk there like lemmings, and the tanks just roll over them.

Then Patton sigh's, and says "what a waste of human life".

Patton as a general deserves all the respect he can get. This movie does not even deserve to have the name "Patton".

~Norse~

[RicKhan]

WarMovies that i will make time to watch or have playing in the background during gaming session.

1. "Hell to Eternity",

True Story about a US Marine that is fluent in Japanese, and is able to talk Enemy soliders into surrendering during the Battle of Saipan.

2. "Castle Keep",

Different kind of Battle of the Bulge movie.

3. "Bridges at Toko-Ri"

Korean War, Carrier Flight ops, Why we fight questioned.

4. "The WarLover",

The Body) name of B-17, Steve McQueen the pilot, Bombing the Riech.

5. "Attack!"

A study of Cowardice,

Eddie Albert (Capt.), Jack Palance (LT,),

Lee Marvin (COl.)

6. "The Naked and the Dead",

Who is really in charge? Alpha Males in conflict.

7. "Cross of Iron",

East Front, Great Characters

8. "All Quiet on the Western Front",

Original B&W

9. "A Walk in the Sun",

Salerno landings,

Last wartime film made in WWII, excellent.

10. "Pork Chop Hill",

Korean War during Peace talks

and 1 more, my favorite pacific war movie,

"WarKill"

Hard to find anywhere.

There are others, but these deserve mention and I did not include any of the latest Warmovies, cuz they are so recent. Tried to keep it at 10.

I failed.

I'd like to add

Victory at Sea

Historical Film footage and Music

&

Sharp's Rifles

Napoleon era, With Wellington in Spain

No wargamer should be without these.

[Andre Bolkonsky]

A couple you left out.

"Sargeant York"; greatest feel-good war movie ever.

"In Harm's Way"; I cannot recommend it more highly, extremely well done, perfectly casted. A script so good even John Wayne can't screw it up.

[jon_j_rambo]

Sgt. Alvin York is a GREAT MOVIE!!! I own it! I limited my selections to WW-2. Gary Cooper did a great job. York's religion conversion made the flick. "give me that old time religion" after the lightning hit the tree & melted his gun. "I reckin' the Lord has put us da here, for more than just killin'" Quoting bible scriptures while popping rounds.

Praise the Lord & pass the ammunition

[Andre Bolkonsky]

Considering Sgt. York was made in the opening stages of WWII as a virtual recruiting peice, maybe you can slide it into your list on a technicality. No?

[KoopaTroopa]

1. Winter War

2. The Longest Day

3. Das Boot

4. Stalingrad

5. The Uknown Soldier (1955)

6. Pearl Harbor

...

99. BoB

100. SPR

Edit: Forgot The Uknown Soldier.

Edit 2: Same happened to Stalingrad. Forgotting things on evening...

Edit 3: AND NOW PEARL HARBOR! (%¤¤¤#=/"#! Buy me new brains!

[ November 16, 2002, 10:31 AM: Message edited by: KoopaTroopa ]

[Compassion]

OFf the top of my head and in no particular order-

Bridge Too Far

Stalingrad

The Bridge (available from Belle & Blade subtitled and letter boxed (kind of))

Night & Fog

Kelly's Heroes

Triumph of the Will (Ok, a pre-war movie, but if more had seen it, I think that the complacency of letting the corporal run wild might have been tempered a bit).

Cross of Iron (damn the distributer for releasing it pan & scan)

When Trumpets Fade

Battleground (a crime that it's not available on DVD and that POS Battle of the Bulge is)

Das Boot - any version

[Ecthelion]

My favourites (ww2 only)

A bridge too far

Cross of Iron

Battle of Britain

Saving Private Ryan

Dark Blue World

Stalingrad(both)

Also i remember "The bridge" ,the one that is about a group of german recruits triying to defend a bridge.This film was good but i have never seen again.Someone knows where i can get it?

Curious about Winer War too

[JerseyJohn]

Some excellent choices, most of which are not considered good movies by the general public but because of our special interest they get an added star or two!

"Walk in the Sun" is my favorite. It had the guts to depict Battle Fatigue, which was still something of a taboo subject during the war. What's even better, the guy suffering it is a hero by any definition who's just seen too much.

The John Ireland character's ongoing mental letter to his sister is fantastic. The novel is also good, but the movie is better! Another good point is the use of real equipment, love the remark about how, 'the closer we get to Germany the more you see they're older stuff.'

Also, nothing beyond what the characters see is revealed. If the viewer knew nothing about the Salerno landing they wouldn't know the Americans were winning. Everything is up for grabs and the soldiers depicted aren't even sure where the rest of the army is! The whole war, for them, is a single Italian farmhouse somewhere up the road.

Then there's Richard Conte's recurring line, "nobody dies" and in the end, "why can't they leave us alone!"

For me the only reminder that this flick is not eternal is the antiquated bouncing ball on the song lyrics. That was old fashioned and out of date even in 1945, when the film was made.

In "A Bridge Too Far" my favorite line is the German Fieldmarshal (Kluge? Model?) looking up from his HQ to see a deluge of open parachuttes -- "But there's nothing of value here?" then he thinks a moment, --"I'm valuable, they're all being sent here to capture me!"

Haven't seen "Stalingrad," will watch for it.

Prefer "Tora-Tora-Tora!" to "Pearl Harbor"; hated all the non-essential plotting. Love "The Great Gatsby" and other romances, but not in a "war movie." Liked the special effects in "Pearl Harbor" very much.

Most of the others, such as "Midway" and "Battle of the Bulge" seem a bit drawn out to me, though I liked some of the characters in Bulge, especially Telly Savalas. It's unfortunate the producers of those movies didn't doctor the tanks a bit to make them look more WW II vintage; wooden fittings on the "German" tanks could have made them look more like Tigers and less like post war U.S. models.

Did anyone mention "Slaughter House Five" -- it's hard to classify it as either SF or war, more a parody, but the war scenes and the destruction of Dresden are all done very well.

"Sahara," starring Humphrey Bogard, from 1943, is also good though very heavy on the propaganda. If you just watch it as a movie and ignore the Germans offering themselves for target practice -- it's pretty enjoyable.

Another good wartime propaganda movie is "Seven Graves to Cairo." Pure nonsense but Erich von Stroheim as a wicked Rommel is a hoot -- and great acting, if it were someone else and not Rommel the acting would have more effect.

Erich von Stroheim is also good as a corrupted army surgeon in "North Star" later butchered into "Armored Attack" with numerous good actors such as Walter Huston, Dean Jaeggar, Walter Brennon, Dana Andrews and numerous others as supports. Fine wartime propaganda film to evoke sympathy for our Russian Friends in the U.S.A.. Some corny scenes, one really terrible song and lots of 1941 Germans still wearing oversized WW I helmets (not the top spike model, the ones they wore in Sgt York, which is probably where they were gotten from).

[ November 15, 2002, 08:33 PM: Message edited by: JerseyJohn ]

[Compassion]

Originally posted by Ecthelion:

Also i remember "The bridge" ,the one that is about a group of german recruits triying to defend a bridge.This film was good but i have never seen again.Someone knows where i can get it?

Curious about Winer War too

Take a look at the post right above yours!

[Ecthelion]

Upssss!

Thanks for the info ,Compassion.

[BriantheWise]

Well, Mr. Rambo, I like most of your choices (by the way, aren't I kicking your er, well aren't I kicking you in a pbem game? I think Poland is going to take Berlin, but it's too soon to tell), but what about "A Bridge over the River Kwai"? I found that an immensely moving and ironic movie (Alec Guiness in one his best roles).

And what about "Pearl Harbor"? Kidding. Don't shoot me. I'm kidding. Cuba Gooding, really did make me laugh (but I don't think I was supposed to).

[jon_j_rambo]

Yeah, Brian. "Pearl Harbor" is a new movie & all that...a little mushy...but even Rambo needs some mush. A Bridge of the River Kwai did make honorable mention. "Put them in the Hot Box", I think "Cool Hand Luke" got the box too.

Check your e-mail for my move. Poland & Denmark are toast, but you have a couple of nice juicy U-Boats to sink.

I use this type of naming convention, since I've got many games going on at once.

15oct39_vs_Brian.sav

Anymore takers? I'll play either side.

Rambo

[Rouge]

1. DEFINATLY Das Boot

2. Enemy at the gates (gold old ed)

3. Blood oath (aussie movie about the execution of australian pilots by japs)

4.Stalingrad.

"Once we hit the surface all ahead full we are going right up their asses!" - Das boot (when they are going through Gibralta)

[Nippy]

Man, I'm starting to think I'm the only person in the world that saw:

"Once Upon a Midnight clear"

Oh, and don't forget "The Keep"* and "Zone Troopers"

*I read the book and it made me want to give up reading (and living) all together. How on earth did ol' Jurgen get sucked into that crapfest of a movie version?

[Kuniworth]

Originally posted by KoopaTroopa:

1. Winter War

2. The Longest Day

3. Das Boot

4. Stalingrad

5. The Uknown Soldier (1955)

Forgotting things on evening...

Thank you for regognizing winter war as the best movie. I´m absolutely stunned that so few have seen it. It´s a finish movie made in the 80´s, with no unecessary dramatizing just plain realism. This is THE BEST OF THE BEST WARMOVIE EVER MADE.

BELIEVE IT guys. Buy it or get it from the internet. I just have it with swedish text but it should be an englishh version somewhere.

TRUST ME THIS IS THE ONE.