War Movies - World War I, World War II, Cold War, and Beyond

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some various WWI films from the 1920s-1930s:

I remember being pretty impressed by GW Pabst's "Westfront 1918". Since it was shot with real WWI equipment and veterans and advisers, it's hard to beat it for verisimilitude in the scenes depicting the grueling attrition of trench raids and artillery barrages.

On the other side of the Atlantic, "The Big Parade" was a pretty serviceable American silent film covering about the same period of the war from the Allied side. It's way more Hollywood and a lot less realistic in the battle scenes, some of which almost look like something out of the American Civil War with troops advancing in closed ranks and linear formations, but it has a sort of interesting lead up which depicts the mobilization process, basically a look at how America mobilized a wartime army out of nothing overnight.

Howard Hughes's "Hell's Angels" is a work of total Hollywood fiction and the plot is contrived and thoroughly boring, but the big squadron takeoff and dogfight scenes toward the climax of the film are unbeatable. Even with the occasional glimpses of Southern California landscape visible through the clouds and the historically incorrect paint schemes on the aircraft, you still have real Fokker D.VII and SE5a biplanes whirling around in the sky singly and in formation, doing some real air combat maneuvers, all flown by veteran WWI pilots.

"Last Command" is another silent film Hollywood melodrama about the Russian Civil War, but the shortcomings in historical realism are more than made up for by general production value and quality of the plot and writing. It's about a White Russian exile who ends up in Hollywood as a film extra, but most of the film consists of flashbacks to what happened during the war. Emil Jannings is pretty good as the protagonist too.
 
Passage to Marseilles is an interesting WWII movie. Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Peter Lorre, etc.

It was released shortly before the end of it.

It's also very vague: the movie doesn't directly mention what war, just "a war" in the present.

The ending is melancholy, which is unique from the "awwww yeah we gonna win" tone from a lot of war movies during WWII.

It's a flashback upon flashback upon flashback.
 
If you haven’t seen it the newMidway movie is pretty good. The way they show the dive-bombing is pretty intense and shows exactly how big the balls were of the pilots who pulled that shit off were.
 
neverendingmidi dijo:
If you haven’t seen it the newMidway movie is pretty good. The way they show the dive-bombing is pretty intense and shows exactly how big the balls were of the pilots who pulled that shit off were.
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Nothing but retarded American propaganda. Midway was utterly irrelevant compared to the victories against the Japanese in China.
 
The Midway movie would have been better as a miniseries as so much of the historic battle was cut to keep it movie length. Still one of the better movies on the battle and entry point for those curious to learn more about it.
 
Recently I watched "Crevecoeur", a 1955 French docudrama about the French Battalion's contribution to the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge in the Korean War. The action focuses on a novice junior officer sent to command the veteran sapper section of the Battalion.


The film is interesting in that it appears to have been filmed on location just 4 years after the titular battle, and there is tons of authentic equipment, vehicles, tanks, firearms, flamethrowers, RCLs, mortars, etc. Some of the heavy stuff, like with the mortars, tanks, and RCLs, looks like its firing live munitions. Maybe it was a similar situation to war films made in Continental Europe in 1946-1949 where there was so much live ammo and ruined cities lying around that it was easier just to use that instead of sourcing blanks and building sets.

Supposedly many of the French Battalion veterans appear in the film, though the Battalion was transferred to Indochina in 1953, and badly torn up in the Central Highlands in the summer of 1954, so it makes one wonder how many of them would have survived until 1955 to reprise their roles in the film. Notably there is one officer in the film with a lot of speaking lines who is missing an arm, and a lot of the weapons crews seem to be very well drilled and familiar with the equipment, so I don't doubt that they were real veterans of the Battalion.

Another thing that caught my eye was in an early scene filmed in Seoul. To welcome the UN armies, the Koreans put together a whole host of homemade flags representing the allied countries, including those of the UN, France, UK, and US, plus Confederate and Texas flags. I've noticed the homemade Confederate flags before in other period newsreels showing flagwaving Korean crowds, but this is the first time I've seen Texas flags show up in this context.
 
millais dijo:
Recently I watched "Crevecoeur", a 1955 French docudrama about the French Battalion's contribution to the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge in the Korean War. The action focuses on a novice junior officer sent to command the veteran sapper section of the Battalion.


The film is interesting in that it appears to have been filmed on location just 4 years after the titular battle, and there is tons of authentic equipment, vehicles, tanks, firearms, flamethrowers, RCLs, mortars, etc. Some of the heavy stuff, like with the mortars, tanks, and RCLs, looks like its firing live munitions. Maybe it was a similar situation to war films made in Continental Europe in 1946-1949 where there was so much live ammo and ruined cities lying around that it was easier just to use that instead of sourcing blanks and building sets.

Supposedly many of the French Battalion veterans appear in the film, though the Battalion was transferred to Indochina in 1953, and badly torn up in the Central Highlands in the summer of 1954, so it makes one wonder how many of them would have survived until 1955 to reprise their roles in the film. Notably there is one officer in the film with a lot of speaking lines who is missing an arm, and a lot of the weapons crews seem to be very well drilled and familiar with the equipment, so I don't doubt that they were real veterans of the Battalion.

Another thing that caught my eye was in an early scene filmed in Seoul. To welcome the UN armies, the Koreans put together a whole host of homemade flags representing the allied countries, including those of the UN, France, UK, and US, plus Confederate and Texas flags. I've noticed the homemade Confederate flags before in other period newsreels showing flagwaving Korean crowds, but this is the first time I've seen Texas flags show up in this context.
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I've always found it extremely odd that there have been so few movies about the Korean War over the years, considering the scale of the conflict, the number of countries involved, the geopolitical fallout and just the sheer insanity of some of the battles (American tanks turning their machine guns on each other to try and sweep swarming Chinese infantry off their hulls, entrenched Canadian troops calling down artillery strikes on their own positions to fend off human wave attacks, etc, etc).
 
Cyril Sneer dijo:
I've always found it extremely odd that there have been so few movies about the Korean War over the years, considering the scale of the conflict, the number of countries involved, the geopolitical fallout and just the sheer insanity of some of the battles (American tanks turning their machine guns on each other to try and sweep swarming Chinese infantry off their hulls, entrenched Canadian troops calling down artillery strikes on their own positions to fend off human wave attacks, etc, etc).
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Good luck making any now with all that Chinese money dominating the film industry.

Ironically it is the South Koreans who keep churning out decent war films and passable action movies based on the war, since their domestic audience naturally has an appetite for that episode of their national history.
 
Necro, because it was that or star a new "war movies" thread.

I don't Think anyone's mentioned the absolute classic Australian movie about the (2nd?) Boer War, 'Breaker Morant' (1980), with Edward Woodward and Bryan Brown. Part war movie, part courtroom drama ( kinda like 'A Few Good Men', 'Paths of Glory', or 'Rules of Engagement'), directed by Bruce Beresford. Apparently the historical accuracy is questionable (still a lot of Anglo vs Aussie spergery over the issue), but the movie is 10/10.


And 'Dirty Dozen' has already been mentioned, but I don't think 'Kelly's Heroes' (1970) has come up yet- A similar, early 70's "anti-heros" vibe to Dirty Dozen. But instead of ex-convicts, it's about a bunch of GIs who rob a bank in enemy territory, as the Germans are about to retreat. I fucking love this movie- It doesn't take itself super-serious like 'The Longest Day' or 'Tora Tora Tora'- More of a dumb, fun, action-movie/comedy feel, like a 70's version of 'Lethal Weapon', except set in ww2.


Other ww2 faves

-'The Longest Day' (1962)- A collaboration between a UK, US, Japanese and German directors, actors and crews. IMO the best "serious" ww2 movie. Hugely epic feel, and having both Allied and Axis perspectives makes it unique, especially just 17 years after VJ-Day, with several vets both starring and crewing.
-'Von Ryan's Express' (1965): GI's hijack nazi train
-'The Train' (1964) : GI's hijack nazi train
-'Empire of the Sun' (1987): kid needs to fend for himself, as Jap occupation rolls into China (stars then-child-actor Christian Bale, and John Malkovich. Directed by Spielberg). Fucking incredible, 10/10 movie.
-'Grave of the Fireflies' (1988): kid needs to fend for himself and his younger sister, as conditions worsen in wartime Japan. (Is a Japanese cartoon, but it's actually good- feels more like 'Plague Dogs' or 'Watership Down' than generic anime)
-'The Thin Red Line' (1998)
-The Battle of the Bulge' (1965)
-'Fury' (2014)
-'Memphis Belle' (1990) : If you're intrerested in ww2 bombers, it has some great footage of the guts of a b-17; Inside the ball-turret, waist and tail-gunner, etc. . Also, the original 1944 movie this is a kinda-sorta "remake" of (VERY loosely. More like "inspired by") follows a b-17 bombing raid.
-'Catch 22' (1970) Maybe the best comedy about war, next to 'Dr Strangelove'. Vastly superior to 'M.A.S.H', which (both movie and TV versions) was an off-brand rip-off of 'Catch-22'. George Clooney also starred in (and directed?) a tv min-series of the same classic novel a few years ago, which was decent, too.
-'The Dambusters' (1955); More of my ww2 bomber autism, but from the Brits, about designing, and using, the famous 'bouncing bombs' of Operation Chastise in 1943.
-'Guns of Navarone' (1961)
-'Bridge on the River Kwai' (1957)
-'Where Eagles Dare' (1968)
-'Dunkirk' (2017) Chris Nolan
-'Downfall' (2004) classic biopic following Hitlers last days in the bunker, in German (subbed)
-'Das Boot' (1981) "the Boat", follows german U-boat crew. German with English subs. Aparently there's an English dub out there, but I haven't seen it.

ww1 Movies

'All Quiet on the Western Front' (1930) already mentioned, but an absolute classic

'Battleship Potemkin' (1925) A Russian, silent movie; I don't watch many subtitled, foreign movies coz I'm too lazy/the movies are pretentious and gay. But this is one of the few exceptions, where it's actually worth it.

'Paths of Glory' (1951)Kirk Douglas, in a early Kubrick movie about a French Colonel, who's desperate superiors command him to order his men (against his own judgement, and protest) into an essentially-suicidal, full frontal raid on a well-armed entrenchment. Then those same superiors want to try/execute his men for cowardice, for refusing to run across open ground, into entrenched machine-gun fire. Well-deserved repuation as a "classic anti-war movie".

'Lawrence of Arabia' (1962) Upper class brit with a glorious Brough-Superior SS1100 motorcycle goes native amongst the noble goat-fuckers

'Johnny Got His Gun' (1971) I grew up knowing this movie as "the Metallic 'One' movie"- inspiration for the classic metal song, about a veteran who ends up blind, deaf and limbless. It's got a pretty 'quirky', 70's experimental feel, not your steretypical war movie. But still a great movie.

'Gallipoli' (1981) Another classic Australian war movie, from Peter Weir ('Truman Show', 'Master and Commander', 'Witness') starring a young Mel Gibson.

'War Horse' (2011) I've seen people accuse this animal-centric Spielberg movie of being cheesy, and overly-sentimental. And I can kinda see where those criticisms come from- The movie definitely does have it's "tear jerker" moments. But I still think it's a solid 7 or 8/10 movie- Follows a horse from rural Ireland, being trained as a racehorse, to bouncing around different owners/duties, in service in ww1. Has some pretty amazing depictions of the trenches, and no-mans-land.

'They Shall Not Grow Old' (2018) is a doco by Peter Jackson, featuring a bunch of restored old film/pics for ww1. The quality of much of this film/pics is amazing, footage of stuff that just can't be re-created in modern movies- The trenches of the Western front, or a field full of a half-dozen Mark 1 tanks rolling through shot. Or accurate depicictions of the Doughboys themselves, just hanging out in camp, cooking food, or talking shit/goofing off with the boys. 100% the highest quality authentic ww1 footage you'll ever see.

'1917' (2019) Sam Mendes movie, made with the illusion of being a "one shot movie", with no visible cuts, as it follows a kid crossing no-mans-land, to deliver an urgent message, to cancel a suicidally doomed charge.

Vietnam

The best Vietnam movies are the ones everyone already knows- 'Apocalypse Now', 'FMJ', 'Platoon'. Apart from that, they mostly span 'decent' to 'kinda dogshit' (John Wayne's 'The Green Berets' (1968), the first ever non-documentary Vietnam movie, and incredibly cheesy, is worth checking out, just for how much of garbage-fire it is)

But there are a few early docos on Vietnam, which aren't that well-known, but offer amazing insight on the war looked at the time, without bennefit of hindsight, and knowing how it would end. 'In the Year of the Pig' (1968), and 'Hearts and Minds' (1974) are both great insights, on how the war looked to contemprary American

And lower-budget (made for TV? or maybe just low budget, idk) Australian Vietnam movie 'The Odd Angry Shot' (1979) - Not your typical Vietnam movie, about shooting gooks in the jungle and dodging Punji spikes on LSD, It's mostly just about guys drinking beer and talking shit at base camp. A rough "b-movie" feel, but I still kinda love it.

And Werner Herzog's 'Rescue Dawn' (2006) is the "based a true story" of a US pilot (super-skinny Christian Bale- not QUITE at 'The Machinist'-tier anorexia, but close), shot down in Viet Cong territory and held prisoner. A decade earlier Herzog made a doco about the same pilot, called 'Little Dieter Needs To Fly' (1997).


Modern stuff: Gulf War or later, I'm guessing most people are familar with most of these- 'American Sniper', 'Zero Dark Thirty', 'Three Kings', 'Blackhawk Down', 'Hurt Locker', 'Jarhead'.

Miscellaneous- I assume everyone knows classic cold war comedy 'Dr Strangelove' (1964) but if not, see it. Also 'Buffalo Soldiers' (2001) follows an enterprizing quartermaster, on a US base in Germany, in the 80s.
 
For WW2, I'd recommend Play Dirty, it's set in North Africa, Michael Caine is an officer that gets attached to a special forces unit that's sent to blow up a fuel depot.

Sahara, with Bogart as a tank commander after the fall of Tobruk.

The Cruel Sea, one of my absolute favorites,

Attack, with Jack Palance and Lee Marvin.

Ice Cold in Alex, about a medical unit crossing the desert in North Africa to get to the British lines in Alexandria.

Vietnam era, The Boys in Company C, similar to Full Metal Jacket but made earlier, even has R. Lee Ermey as the Drill Instructor.

71, is more of a thriller than a war movie but it's about a young british soldier that gets accidently left behind on the streets of Belfast during the troubles.

I think this might have been mentioned earlier, The Beast of War, a soviet tank gets lost in Afghanistan and pursued by a group of rebels whose village they just destroyed.

Bravo Two Zero, tv movie based on the book with Sean Bean as Andy McNab.

Restrepo, a documentary about a year that an airborne platoon spent in the Khorenghal Valley near the border of Pakistan, also recommend the book that accompanies it, War by sebastian Junger.
 
As hard as it may be to believe, there are people who regard Castle Keep - a 1969 film, directed by Sydney Pollack, and based on a novel by William Eastlake - as a bad piece of cinema. I acknowledge these opinions in the same way that I acknowledge the strained and guttural utterances of the profoundly retarded. One tries to demonstrate empathy and kindness, without pandering to such demonstrably false, nonsensical beliefs.

Castle Keep is set during the closing stages of WWII. A band of American soldiers find themselves guarding a 10th century French castle, filled with priceless works of art, from a retreating German army. Tonally, the film is a blend of Apocalypse Now and Catch 22 . To wit, Peter Falk's character - formerly a baker before the war intervened - encounters a baker's widow while in town, and on this flimsy premise moves in with her and re-opens the bakery.

It's a surreal and sometimes poignant movie with some good action scenes. You get the sense that Pollack really relished those moments where he got to blow the fuck out of things.

 
War Movies, when done right can be absolute nightmare fuel that could spark a sense of understanding and empathy. That's why I consider films showcasing the tragedies of war to be much better than films highlighting the heroic efforts of there people. There is a reason why films such as Schindler's List, The Pianist and Come and See are regarded as the best war movies of all time. It gives us a better understanding of human nature regardless if it's fictional or not. Not saying that films highlighting the heroic efforts are unnecessary. Some of the best ones are Saving Private Ryan, Dunkirk and Das Boot. What they got right here highlights the tension of being in one of the most brutal bloodshed or their inner thoughts.
 
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