Your favorite war movie?

Xracer
Moderator
Posts: 686
(7/27/01 4:29:46 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del All Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is your favorite war/military movie, and who was in it?

Mine: The Enemy Below with Robert Mitchum and Kurt Jurgins.

Of course seeing Ginger Rogers saving the White House paintings during the war of 1812 has gotta be a close second!

WyomingSwede
Moderator
Posts: 63
(7/27/01 6:00:51 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I liked "Full Metal Jacket" directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Matthew Modine & R.Lee Ermey. Well that is ...I liked the first half of it...the basic training stuff really got to me.The rest was stupid.

I liked "Memphis Belle" with Matt Modine also. And don't forget "12 O'Clock High with Gregory Peck. 'Saving Private Ryan & The Longest Day" too.

regards swede
Wyoming Swede

44rugerfan
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 78
(7/28/01 11:02:43 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del
ezSupporter
Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh man, "Saving Private Ryan", "Patton", "The Big Red One", "Tora Tora Tora", "The Dirty Dozen", take your pick. Wait, does "Braveheart" count?
The Trademark Of Reliability

kdubaz
Moderator
Posts: 395
(7/28/01 11:57:38 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Without a doubt - PATTON!!!!
Keep below the ridgeline!

polishshooter
Senior Chief Moderator Staff
Posts: 1404
(7/29/01 6:08:14 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Saving ..."was probably the best done effects-wise, but be serious, PATTON? They didn't even ATTEMPT to make the M48s look like Tigers or Panthers...

The one close to my heart is "Kelly's Heroes..." at least the Tigers LOOKED like Tigers...

And while not really a 'War" flick, you gotta love the use of Springfields, M1911s and the M1917 watercooled (Along with the Model 97 and 12 Riot guns!) in "The Wild Bunch..."
Eibar Pimp. "Pssst! 'Ay Meester..."

kdubaz
Moderator
Posts: 408
(7/29/01 10:00:30 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PATTON - PATTON - PATTON!!!!
Keep below the ridgeline!

WyomingSwede
Moderator
Posts: 66
(7/29/01 10:50:10 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Polish...you touch my heart..."The Wild Bunch" is one of my favorite movies. regards swede
Wyoming Swede

cointoss 2
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 26
(7/30/01 10:02:09 am)
Reply | Edit | Del
ezSupporter
Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm with you Polishshooter on "Kelley's Heroes", but "Stalingrad", has to be one of my favorites for realism.
cointoss2

LIKTOSHOOT
Senior Chief Moderator Staff
Posts: 1647
(7/30/01 10:41:42 am)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gotta say, though not a war movie...The Wild Bunch, the original long version, with the slow motion action shots. I would not pitch Saving Private Ryan, outside of the graphic bullet holes in people.....the movie was little more, and to know that Hanks cries about the hard fought freedoms Americans gave they`re lives for, then funnels millions to remove those very rights from American`s. I consider him as two faced as they come. LTS



ps/ "The Great Escape" wasn`t bad either.........COOLER!!! 30 days........
"am not" R2

Edited by: LIKTOSHOOT at: 7/30/01 11:43:29 am

rayra
Member
Posts: 35
(7/30/01 11:59:28 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del
ezSupporter
Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
man oh man, will be typing for hours...

Kelly's Heroes
Wild Bunch (just on AMC the other day)
The Longest Day
Great Escape
Stalag 17 (#?)
Bridges at Toko Ri
Von Ryan's Express
Guns of Navarone
The Blue Max
Midway
Sands of Iwo Jima
In Harm's Way
Sayonara (no combat, more 50s social commentary, but great 'Film')
Patton (for the grandeur of it)
A Bridge Too Far
Private Ryan

man, I'll be back to this

and for anyone who doesn't already know about it, the Internet Movie Database is a great online movie resource - us.imdb.com

rich

edit - ooh! Battle of the Bulge!

double edit - ooh! ooh! Away All Boats & Merrill's Marauders (Jeff Chandler was in a few good ones)

Edited by: rayra at: 7/31/01 1:04:12 am

Xracer
Moderator
Posts: 705
(7/31/01 7:50:57 am)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well.......actually it's a play within a movie, but...."Springtime for Hitler".

"Springtime for Hitler and Germany...

winter for Poland and France...."

17th FA Bn
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 11
(7/31/01 11:32:23 am)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Did any body see the remake of "All Quiet on the Western Front" staring the guy who played John Boy Walton? I think it was a made for TV movie in the late 70's or early 80's. My history prof. really capped on it but I thought it was much better than the original which was to much like a play. I may be wrong but I believe the original won the 1st academy award for best picture.


I thought "Saving Private Ryan" was pretty good, the action scenes were great, but why they ( the U.S. troops) did some of the things they did didn't make much sense. People tell me they had a hard time watching the battle scenes. I can see or here anything and not get sick (pissed off is different). Now if they had smell a vision it would have been different.

The two scenes that choaked me up were:
1. When the staff car pulls up to tell Mom that the boys are dead, Mother Ryan looks out and sees the car pull up and collapses. In W.W. II any body who had boys in the service new what that meant. My grand father worked on the R.R. in WW II. They told him at work that my uncle had been killed in action, and he was supposed to tell my grandmother when he got home. It took him three days to tell her, he just didn't know how, she knew something was wrong.
2. At the end of the movie when the now elderly Private Ryan collapses at the grave of Captain (the officer played by Tom Hanks?) and asks his wife "have I been a good man?" That is something all of us could think of in our daily lives. Think of all the sacrifices made for each of us, not just those of our service men, but our parents, and others who gave up much so we all could have a good life.

Like I said before the action scenes were great but:
1. Why leave your sniper and observer in the tower after the action gets going? A fundamental rule of action is don't stay in one place to long.
2. If you are trying to stop the tanks why fight on the far side of the river? When the enemy shows up blow it up and make your stand with it to your front and not your rear.

rayra
Member
Posts: 37
(7/31/01 2:03:42 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del
ezSupporter
Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
thought in the movie they were trying / supposed to hold that bridge, and blowing it was a last resort?

watching "Flying Leathernecks" right now.
Not the best, but being a Former Marine, I gotta watch

rich

polishshooter
Senior Chief Moderator Staff
Posts: 1413
(7/31/01 10:21:02 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My problem at the end was the sitting around reminiscing, and then when they hear the tanks, start scrambling to finish working, wiring the charges, and running ammo around. And why not have the belted .30 already AT the only two 1919s they had, instead of running around on the ground???

And with like 5 rounds left for the bazookas, why weren't they in action FIRST before the "sticky bombs?"

The 60mm mortar rounds as grenades was cool though, that actually happened enough to be not uncommon.

When they charged the MG though, to "get it when the barrel overheated" was pretty hokey... ESPECIALLY making your sniper leave the 03A4 behind and make an assault...seems to me he could have helped in support...

But you gotta admit, IMA did a great job with the MG42s, even if they had to put mikes on the floor to catch the sound of the links, That creaking cooling barrel was a nice touch...
Eibar Pimp. "Pssst! 'Ay Meester..."

rayra
Member
Posts: 38
(7/31/01 10:47:35 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del
ezSupporter
Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Those were some of the most compelling things about Private Ryan - the 'depth' of sound.
Just close your eyes during the first 10mins, and listen to the veritable hail of bullets striking steel girders, helmets, flesh, etc. Chilling, even without the gore.


Go For Broke!
&
Battle Cry

were also decently made, if 2-dimensional (hey, you said 'favorite', not 'best'


AntiqueDr
Moderator
Posts: 561
(8/1/01 6:07:15 am)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank God! According to my wife, I am the only living person who likes "Kelly's Heroes." Thanks, folks!

Oh, and "The Fighting Seabees" with John Wayne.


We Buy Guns! 1 - 100, Antique or Modern!
www.apaxenterprises.com

Mesen
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 184
(8/1/01 7:30:35 am)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Dogs of War" good movie, great realism except for the bogus John Wayne scene where they charge the main gate of the compound and let loose a few mags full-auto for the cameras all clustered and in the open
IF YOU VALUE YOUR FREEDOM, THANK A VET!

reedbuster
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 142
(8/1/01 10:07:57 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gettysburg for me, Awesome on the big screen on the third Day. When those Virginians step out of the woods and begin the mile walk into the Union lines, the whole time under fire from the Union long artillery. Also like the action in the Devils Den and Lil' Round Top Where Col. Chamberlain and his Co. of Maine Vols. hold back wave after wave of Southern offensive and then charge!!!!! And Ya Gotta love Sam Elliott as Col. Bufford on the first day. All Star cast,
Martin Sheen, Tom Berringer, Sam Elliott



Also Enjoyed the AMC Theater production of Andersonville. (Book by MacKinlay Kantor, also wrote Spirit Lake, a must read for Iowans)



MO JENKINS
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 59
(8/4/01 7:57:51 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cross of Iron, BABY! I can't believe none of you guys even put it on your lists! And then of coarse, Sam's other masterpeice, The Wild Bunch! Followed by Enemy At The Gate, The Seige of Fire Base Gloria, Platoon (so what if Stone's a commie lib, it's still a great movie) ,Apocalypse! Heck I could go on long after you guys were fast asleep!
MO JENKINS

17th FA Bn
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 12
(8/6/01 7:37:37 am)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reedbuster I also loved "Gettysburg". My only complaint with it was Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee. He is a good actor, but doesn't have the look of Lee. I see Lee as a respected older Uncle, and Sheen is to much of a pretty boy. Sam Elliot as Col. Bufford has the look of a hero.

boeboe1
Member
Posts: 7
(8/9/01 7:07:34 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Your favorite war movie?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17th AF Bn, Maybe the fought with their backs to the bridge because they were trying to save it for our equipment to come across...but the sniper and observer, I have no clue.

Be interesting to see what "Band of Brothers" will be like.

obelix2
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 231
(8/11/01 7:23:41 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del Things get a little complicated
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
when you've been away for a while, but here are my modest 14 comments:

Xracer: The Enemy Below -- Works well as a game of chess between Mitchum and Jurgens. They gave Mitchum a real DE (though the original was a British corvette, as in The Cruel Sea (recommended). Note that, as in all WWII movies that portray decent Germans, there has to be a despised Nazi around.
The Producers: One and one are two.
Two and three are four.
And I'm feeling so blue
'Cause I'm losing the war.

Wyoming: Full Metal Jacket. While it doesn't have the impact or the unity of the two Oliver Stone Vietname films, I agree with you about the first episode. Brings back some unpleasant memories, now diluted.

44ruger: Braveheart. If it IS a war movie, I'm with you. A fine effort at truth, not discounting the impossible liaison with the Princess of Wales. But you've got to have some uplift in the ending -- ie your hero can't be drawn and quartered without some recompense -- and I've seen much less effective films with more distortion of history.

Kdub: Patton. I hate to agree with Richard Nixon, but it is one of the finest war films ever made, due much to fine performances by George Scott and Karl Malden.

Polish: Patton. The tanks are false, but the picture isn't. The Wild Bunch (arguably a Mexican Revolution film): Love the weapons, too. Ryan: I wondered about that ammo carrier myself. He wasn't even needed. There's a scene where Hanks effortlessly translates an Edith Piaf song. So what was he there for -- to show a nice coward turning into a mean one? Also, I'm really uncertain about those sticky bombs. Is everyone sure that Spielberg got that right? He was definitely wrong about bullets hitting wounded men ten feet underwater, and I've voiced other objections in previous posts.

cointoss: Stalingrad. I love to argue, but no argument here.

lts: The Great Escape. A magnificent escape picture, if not a war picture, but none of them hold a candle to 1937's La grande illusion.

rayra: Sorry, you've got too many on the list to allow me to comment.

17th: All Quiet on the Western Front. Well, it was the third movie to win best picture from the Academy, but to me it remains one of the best all-time war pictures. I admit I haven't seen the remake, though Milestone made war pictures into the 60s -- his Porkchop Hill is probably the best on Korea.

Antique Dr and Mesen: I blush to say I haven't seen either Kelly's Heroes or The Dogs of War. I'm open to persuasion, though.

reedbuster: Gettysburg. It suffers from the same faults as the novel on which it's based: overemphasis on certain facets of an enormously complicated battled, and overreliance on the self-promotion of Chamberlain, whose T-shirts hereabouts are inescapable. I think also that budgetary reliance on reenactors made the battle far less horrifying than it really was. I do applaud the effort, though.

Mo: Cross of Iron. As a fellow Peckinpavian, I have to recuse myself.

boeboe: Ryan again: Ignoring where Ryan's outfit turned up, there was no necessary bridge across anything. And the one in question -- hardly a Renault's width wide -- was hardly worth saving. If we wanted one there, our engineers could have built a better one in three hours. The only reason for killing everyone off was Spielberg's cinematic need to have something even close to his opening sequences in impact.

dixi

obelix2
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 232
(8/11/01 7:32:27 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del Oh, and my own
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zulu -- second half, after the drunken missionary has been sent packing. The most intense and realistic (I know, some of the 24th in the rear ranks are using bolt-action rifles, but budget is budget) war movie on record.

LIKTOSHOOT
Senior Chief Moderator Staff
Posts: 1832
(8/11/01 8:51:12 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Oh, and my own
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
O2, good to see you back and around. Just saw Zulu a week or so back.....some things are best left alone. LTS
"am not" R2

rayra
Member
Posts: 41
(8/12/01 12:41:49 am)
Reply | Edit | Del
ezSupporter
Re: Oh, and my own
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
liked Zulu as well.

'too many in my post to comment' heck, ya used a page & 1/2 anyway

anybody say 'Das Boot', yet?

rich

Xracer
Moderator
Posts: 771
(8/12/01 8:37:16 am)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Oh, and my own
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
rayra...."Das Boot" is a wonderful film. I preferred the "The Enemy Below" because it showed the action topside as well as below.....and the interplay between the hunter and the hunted. And which was the hunter...and who was the hunted. Both excellent films.

obelix.....I'd kill to be able to see the new Broadway version of "The Producers".....my favorite comedy film of all time.

"I was born in Dusseldorf....

That is why they call me Rolf."

obelix2
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 233
(8/12/01 8:45:51 am)
Reply | Edit | Del I know I did
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But that's the problem with being away. People forget you're a loudmouth (that's "you" as in "me"). I'd love to discuss belligerently any film on your list (more comfortably with those I've seen), but I felt I had to deal with about 20 posts.

obelix2
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 240
(8/20/01 5:29:09 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del keep with it
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't want to kill off a topic as promising as this one. For those who don't know me, I love to argue. About anything. As proof of my sincerity, I'll even argue with someone who likes "Titanic".

rayra
Member
Posts: 52
(8/21/01 12:25:34 am)
Reply | Edit | Del
ezSupporter
Re: keep with it
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Love to argue. No you don't!

eh, I get enough 'battle' elsewhere, come here to relax / share info.

"Where Eagles Dare" & "Guns of Navarone" are both pretty good 'commando' films.

Rich

 

Love and Death with Woody Allen

 

I'm shocked, Tranter! I thought for sure it would be "Where Eagles Dare" with Richard Burton, the quintessential British actor, or perhaps "The Bridge Over the River Kwai" (inaccurate film though it was) with Alec Guinness.

 

"Sands of Iwo Jima" was pretty good, but then I have always been a John Wayne fan. One of the very best, in my opinion, and one that I don't believe has been mentioned, was "To Hell and Back" starring Audie Murphy. He played himself in that film, and according to what I have read, there were a couple of scenes where he nearly lost it when he reenacted them. As I am sure everyone knows, Murphy was the most decorated American soldier of WWII, and a Medal of Honor winner.