...I have been watching some movies I hadn't seen in years or haven't seen until then...which war movies do you like and why?...I'll comment as this thread progresses..the interest came as I was doing a little 'research' about the M1 rifle and the harsh conditions it was used in....I also bought a good book containing comments from veterans from the Korean War and WW2 commenting on their weapons they used then....many weapons were a mix of reviews except for the M1 which nearly everyone praised as to it's effectiveness and reliabilty even in the worst field conditions...but it is the movies I'd like to hear about..
Good war movies & what you like about 'em
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Critter183
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I like We Were Soldiers...
I had read the book, and the movie followed most of the actual battle pretty accurately, except the ending. And they conspicuously left out the parts about the VC killing American wounded. That bugged me a bit. They got PC on the VC.
But all in all, a good movie.
The Battle of the Bulge is another favorite of mine.
I had read the book, and the movie followed most of the actual battle pretty accurately, except the ending. And they conspicuously left out the parts about the VC killing American wounded. That bugged me a bit. They got PC on the VC.
But all in all, a good movie.
The Battle of the Bulge is another favorite of mine.
One thing I like about any particular war movie is one that succeeds in transporting you to that time period for the duration of the film...not all movies do that very well but others are quite capable of that...there are many but one that I had seen again recently, 'A Bridge Too Far', despite it's faults..succeeds in making you forget the time you live in and lets you think it's 1944 again...
sicario103
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War movies..... PLATOON, Full Metal Jacket and Hamburger Hill (spelling?) all the way.
The newer war movies are too BS. Now we get movies like Tears from the Sun? with Bruce Willis.... hmmm we're being attacked by 3000 enemy soldies... let's slow them down by walking (slowly) straight at them and shoot at the same time...... 6? VS 3000 YYEEAAHHH OK. And then the enemy movement and fire seem to fade away allowing the actors to do their dramatical dialogues.... ROFL. HMMMK
Oh yeah.... Some parts of Saving Private Ryan was good too.
The newer war movies are too BS. Now we get movies like Tears from the Sun? with Bruce Willis.... hmmm we're being attacked by 3000 enemy soldies... let's slow them down by walking (slowly) straight at them and shoot at the same time...... 6? VS 3000 YYEEAAHHH OK. And then the enemy movement and fire seem to fade away allowing the actors to do their dramatical dialogues.... ROFL. HMMMK
Oh yeah.... Some parts of Saving Private Ryan was good too.
I liked Tears of the Sun.
As for the SEALs being vastly outnumbered; the SEAL's specialized tactics allowed them to (for a short time atleast) take on a much larger force who would have most likely been rabble spray 'n pray conscipts anyway.
I see alot of people trash the battle at the end of Saving Private Ryan saying that it was impossible that a few Americans could defeat such a large and powerful force.
Huh?
I always wondered if they saw an alternative ending because the one I saw had the American 6 rangers and troopers were pretty much defeated soundly and massacred to last man except for two or three guys.
As for the SEALs being vastly outnumbered; the SEAL's specialized tactics allowed them to (for a short time atleast) take on a much larger force who would have most likely been rabble spray 'n pray conscipts anyway.
I see alot of people trash the battle at the end of Saving Private Ryan saying that it was impossible that a few Americans could defeat such a large and powerful force.
Huh?I always wondered if they saw an alternative ending because the one I saw had the American 6 rangers and troopers were pretty much defeated soundly and massacred to last man except for two or three guys.
Ala Dan
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Another vote for "Hamburger Hill". Very realistic~!
Limeyfellow
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I am one for the older classics. I liked All Quiet On The Western Front which does an excellent job at portraying the WW1 likeness. The Longest Day, Dambusters and others are also some great cinema work as was the Desert Fox.
Then theres the like of Stalingrad which is really good and you actually get the people speaking in the right languages.
The first 15 minutes of saving private ryan were rather good. Went downhill alot after that.
I am one for the good action rompers from the 60s and 70s like Where Eagles Dare, Guns of Navarone, Anzio and so on. Sure they aren't the most realistic but had excellent actors and good stories to them and you can hardly go wrong with the likes of Edward Burton in a movie.
Of course sometimes its fun to watch the likes of Heartbreak Ridge and similar movies for the kick arse amusingness.
Oh and don't forget The Delta Force's soundtrack.
I think I am one of the few people in the world who actually liked Three Kings. Don't understand why but I do. I feel a bit ick admitting that.
Then theres the like of Stalingrad which is really good and you actually get the people speaking in the right languages.
The first 15 minutes of saving private ryan were rather good. Went downhill alot after that.
I am one for the good action rompers from the 60s and 70s like Where Eagles Dare, Guns of Navarone, Anzio and so on. Sure they aren't the most realistic but had excellent actors and good stories to them and you can hardly go wrong with the likes of Edward Burton in a movie.
Of course sometimes its fun to watch the likes of Heartbreak Ridge and similar movies for the kick arse amusingness.
Oh and don't forget The Delta Force's soundtrack.
I think I am one of the few people in the world who actually liked Three Kings. Don't understand why but I do. I feel a bit ick admitting that.
Eightball
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Saints and Soldiers--Great charachter development
Platoon, Full Metal Jacket. Why? They seem to be pretty realistic.
Black Hawk Down--for the same reasons mentioned above.
Tears of the Sun was one of the most unrealistic movies ever, IMHO. "We are SpecOps who can PWN thousands of enemies, and get saved at the last minute". If they were that well trained, they wouldn't have deviated from the plan in the least, would be my bet. Could be wrong.
Rough Riders--okay, so it's more about Teddy Roosevelt, but the war scenes seem pretty nifty--points out the differences in weapons quite well.
SPR is just an entertaining movie.
All Quiet on the Western Front was an excellent movie.
Band of Brothers.......... What does anyone really need to say whose seen that? It's amazing.
Platoon, Full Metal Jacket. Why? They seem to be pretty realistic.
Black Hawk Down--for the same reasons mentioned above.
Tears of the Sun was one of the most unrealistic movies ever, IMHO. "We are SpecOps who can PWN thousands of enemies, and get saved at the last minute". If they were that well trained, they wouldn't have deviated from the plan in the least, would be my bet. Could be wrong.
Rough Riders--okay, so it's more about Teddy Roosevelt, but the war scenes seem pretty nifty--points out the differences in weapons quite well.
SPR is just an entertaining movie.
All Quiet on the Western Front was an excellent movie.
Band of Brothers.......... What does anyone really need to say whose seen that? It's amazing.
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Glockman17366
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My all time favorite is "They Were Expendable". Just a superb flick on all counts, IMHO.
outofbattery
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My favorite all time war movie is still Cross of Iron.
sicario103
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Posted by bthest86
Don't get me wrong, I believe a SEALs team or any other special force can take on a much larger force but that scene that I was commenting about in Tears from the Sun is waaayyyy BS. Correct me if I'm wrong (I'm sure that I'm not), but when you are being tailed by like 3000 enemy soldies, you don't use tactics (if you can even call it one) like rush them head on and just trade bullets with them.
Like I said Saving Private Ryan was very good. But certain parts are abit iffy like at the ending when Ryan refuses to leave because he feels this moral issue to stay and fight and they all like "hmmmkk let's all stay and fight". Personally, I would either dragged him butt home and/or shoot him dead lol.... I loose half my men to get him back and then he feels "moraly obligated to stay". And the funniest part, he crouches down and start balling like a little baby by the bridge on the last fight scene. lol I actually like that part since it's so damn funny.
Oh yeah, what was that Vietnam movie with Shawn Penn and Michael J. Fox? Wasn't much action but did portray some of the ugly parts of war.
Don't get me wrong, I believe a SEALs team or any other special force can take on a much larger force but that scene that I was commenting about in Tears from the Sun is waaayyyy BS. Correct me if I'm wrong (I'm sure that I'm not), but when you are being tailed by like 3000 enemy soldies, you don't use tactics (if you can even call it one) like rush them head on and just trade bullets with them.
Like I said Saving Private Ryan was very good. But certain parts are abit iffy like at the ending when Ryan refuses to leave because he feels this moral issue to stay and fight and they all like "hmmmkk let's all stay and fight". Personally, I would either dragged him butt home and/or shoot him dead lol.... I loose half my men to get him back and then he feels "moraly obligated to stay". And the funniest part, he crouches down and start balling like a little baby by the bridge on the last fight scene. lol I actually like that part since it's so damn funny.
Oh yeah, what was that Vietnam movie with Shawn Penn and Michael J. Fox? Wasn't much action but did portray some of the ugly parts of war.
I'm not sure but I remember watching Brovo Two Zero and the British SAS squad rushed Iraqi troops through open desert with half the squad covering while the others advance. The naration explained that while it seemed crazy, rushing them was actually somesort of tactical move. Maybe someone else could explain more. Or it may be just complete bunk.
I cite it because the scene was very similar to Tears of the Sun and is based on a true story unlike Tears of the Sun.
Cosmoline
Member
Talvisota (1989)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098437/
A masterful Finnish film about a unit as it was ground down by the Winter War in 39/40. It's notable for a very deadpan, graphic, and matter-of-fact style. It also follows a very strict adherence to realism. There is a lack of any big chested Hollywood heroism in the film, just as in real life. It's from this film and similar European classics that the first scenes from "Saving Private Ryan" are drawn. But this film is much, much better than that one.
Rukajärven tie (1998)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162625/
A more recent Finnish film about the Continuation War. It follows a squad of their famous bicycle infantry as it probes around the Karelian countryside trying to figure out where the Rooskies are. A little more romantic and traditional than Talivsota, it's still a great film.
Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo (2004)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386064/
This is the great Korean War epic that's about the most famous film out of S. Korea this decade. It's typical of Korean films in that it includes a good deal of what we would consider melodramatic acting. But it couples this with excellent and HIGHLY energetic combat scenes the likes of which you could never do in Hollywood anymore owing to the insurance problems. Casts of thousands stab at each other and fire rifle blanks into each other. I'm quite sure the real med clinics were kept busy through the whole shooting. There's lots of Garand vs. Mosin goodness. And you have to remember, the Koreans and Chinese fought the battles with enormous emotional intensity. They really would charge, screaming, at each other.
Zulu (1964)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058777/
Probably the greatest war movie ever made. It follows the real events of the battle of Rorke's Drift, where few fought against many. The action is realistic but not bloody. They could not get away with showing what one of those Martini slugs did to a man back in the mid 60's. But that's a small point. The acting is excellent and script nearly perfect. It's everything "Black Hawk Down" failed to be--focused, tight and well directed.
The Thin Red Line (1998)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120863/
I know, everybody hates this film. But it does have some strikingly realistic battle scenes and holds its own as a war movie. It also features some rather deeper waters about the nature of life and death, which I suppose irritates people who want a straight-up combat picture.
EXCELLENT choice! This is an often-overlooked John Ford war movie. It's unusual among wartime productions in its rather somber and understated tone. There's no chest thumping in it, and it has a pretty bleak ending.
Second Milus' "Rough Riders"
I've always had a soft spot for "Ice Station Zebra"
"Tears of the Sun" is only marginally less bad than Michael Bay's "Pearl Harbor." The cast and directors of both should be taken out and shot.
The problem is, the director falls back into the tried-and-true Sillywood standards. You may not notice if you haven't seen many war movies, but the Germans inevitably act like complete idiots and charge into the American guns to get slaughtered. At the same time, the Americans are amazingly resistant to German bullets. In SPR, the Germans in the final fight act like idiots. Instead of using their tanks to blast the American positions apart from the junction (well within their range) they barge down the street like idiots even after it becomes clear there's an ambush waiting for them. And suddenly Tom Sizemore can take a few 8x57JS rounds in the back and complain about getting the wind knocked out of him. Have you seen what those do to STEEL PLATES? His chest would have been opened up like a spam can, esp. at that range. It's a load of dren.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098437/
A masterful Finnish film about a unit as it was ground down by the Winter War in 39/40. It's notable for a very deadpan, graphic, and matter-of-fact style. It also follows a very strict adherence to realism. There is a lack of any big chested Hollywood heroism in the film, just as in real life. It's from this film and similar European classics that the first scenes from "Saving Private Ryan" are drawn. But this film is much, much better than that one.
Rukajärven tie (1998)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162625/
A more recent Finnish film about the Continuation War. It follows a squad of their famous bicycle infantry as it probes around the Karelian countryside trying to figure out where the Rooskies are. A little more romantic and traditional than Talivsota, it's still a great film.
Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo (2004)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386064/
This is the great Korean War epic that's about the most famous film out of S. Korea this decade. It's typical of Korean films in that it includes a good deal of what we would consider melodramatic acting. But it couples this with excellent and HIGHLY energetic combat scenes the likes of which you could never do in Hollywood anymore owing to the insurance problems. Casts of thousands stab at each other and fire rifle blanks into each other. I'm quite sure the real med clinics were kept busy through the whole shooting. There's lots of Garand vs. Mosin goodness. And you have to remember, the Koreans and Chinese fought the battles with enormous emotional intensity. They really would charge, screaming, at each other.
Zulu (1964)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058777/
Probably the greatest war movie ever made. It follows the real events of the battle of Rorke's Drift, where few fought against many. The action is realistic but not bloody. They could not get away with showing what one of those Martini slugs did to a man back in the mid 60's. But that's a small point. The acting is excellent and script nearly perfect. It's everything "Black Hawk Down" failed to be--focused, tight and well directed.
The Thin Red Line (1998)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120863/
I know, everybody hates this film. But it does have some strikingly realistic battle scenes and holds its own as a war movie. It also features some rather deeper waters about the nature of life and death, which I suppose irritates people who want a straight-up combat picture.
EXCELLENT choice! This is an often-overlooked John Ford war movie. It's unusual among wartime productions in its rather somber and understated tone. There's no chest thumping in it, and it has a pretty bleak ending.
Second Milus' "Rough Riders"
I've always had a soft spot for "Ice Station Zebra"
"Tears of the Sun" is only marginally less bad than Michael Bay's "Pearl Harbor." The cast and directors of both should be taken out and shot.
The problem is, the director falls back into the tried-and-true Sillywood standards. You may not notice if you haven't seen many war movies, but the Germans inevitably act like complete idiots and charge into the American guns to get slaughtered. At the same time, the Americans are amazingly resistant to German bullets. In SPR, the Germans in the final fight act like idiots. Instead of using their tanks to blast the American positions apart from the junction (well within their range) they barge down the street like idiots even after it becomes clear there's an ambush waiting for them. And suddenly Tom Sizemore can take a few 8x57JS rounds in the back and complain about getting the wind knocked out of him. Have you seen what those do to STEEL PLATES? His chest would have been opened up like a spam can, esp. at that range. It's a load of dren.
Anybody ever see "the Beast" or "Beast of War?"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094716/
About a Soviet tank lost in Afghanistan? Very good movie.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094716/
About a Soviet tank lost in Afghanistan? Very good movie.
Cosmoline
Member
That's a good one, though I've heard there are better Russian ones that haven't made it stateside yet.
"Prisoner of the Mountain" is good.
"Prisoner of the Mountain" is good.
Of course he was stone dead seconds later. Which may be accurate or not. If I go on the couple of deer I've shot, then I would think it is accurate. I would also think, no offense, that steel reacts differently to bullets than flesh and bone.
But you do have a point about the Germans walking into an abush.
Dr. Dickie
Member
The one movie I always watch is "The Longest Day." Don't know why, for some reason that movie is just great to watch. I think it must be the vastness of the movie (that and it made a huge impact on me the first time I saw it--which was when it was released--I think that was the first time I really realized what folks had done for this country).
"Battle of the Bulge," is great.
Haven't see "Full Metal Jacket," in a lot of years, but I remember it being alternatively good and bad (typical for Kubric).
I did like the movie "Boys of Company C," I think it was called. Not great, but interesting to watch.
"Band of Brothers," of course. I have the DVD (and I only have about three DVDs).
"Battle of the Bulge," is great.
Haven't see "Full Metal Jacket," in a lot of years, but I remember it being alternatively good and bad (typical for Kubric).
I did like the movie "Boys of Company C," I think it was called. Not great, but interesting to watch.
"Band of Brothers," of course. I have the DVD (and I only have about three DVDs).
Glockfan.45
member
Full Metal Jacket. Not only one of the best war movies but one of the best movies of all time. Some of the best lines ever in a movie.
Better quotes than than but I dont think Arts Grammaws little old heart could take them .
Better quotes than than but I dont think Arts Grammaws little old heart could take them
.sacp81170a
Member
One of my favorites is "Go Tell the Spartans" with Burt Lancaster. GREAT flick about about military advisors in Vietnam. I'm surprised nobody's mentioned "To Hell and Back: The Audie Murphy Story." Sure it was sanitized, but it does have the virtue of being a fairly accurate depiction of Murphy's exploits.
For realistic battle scenes, "Band of Brothers" gets my vote.
For realistic battle scenes, "Band of Brothers" gets my vote.
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