War Films

[Section_31]

War films are ace, they really get the juices flowing, even as a kid I can remember the music from 'The Battle of Britain' used to make me want to jump in a Spitfire and down a few Jerries, preferably over the countryside so i could wave at some farmers with a cigar in my gob.

 

A mate bought me Downfall as a late birthday present and i'd forgotten how class it was. Combat, psychological drama, history, Der Fuhrer, Hitler Youth fighting to the death, pissed up Russians, great stuff.

 

The worst War Film I've ever seen though is without doubt 'we were soldiers' with Mel Gibson. Shite.

[wiiksie]

Downfall is excellent, and youre right, We were Soldiers is fuckin shite.

 

Some other classics:

 

Private Ryan (best for me, legend of a film)

Apocalypse Now

Thin Red Line

Full Metal Jacket

Stalingrad

Born on the 4th July

Platoon

A Bridge Too Far

The Longest Day

Good Morning Vietnam

Tora Tora Tora

No Mans Land

Mash

Patton

Where Eagles Dare

Schindlers List

Life is Beautiful

Catch 22

[G Richards]

Some great films there Weeksie. I had somehow missed Band of Brothers and got the box set at Christmas. I thought that was very good too, albeit for the small screen.

[wiiksie]

Some great films there Weeksie. I had somehow missed Band of Brothers and got the box set at Christmas. I thought that was very good too, albeit for the small screen.

You betcha G. BoB is an amazing TV series (and I dont really watch tv), I love the episode that Tom Hanks directed, think its the one set in Holland. Great cast too (and mostly brits).

[Section_31]

Das Boot is another classic, unbeatable for tension when you hear the Destroyer's propeller cavitation overhead while they're sat on the bottom, then.....boom! Depth Charges, quality.

 

Never really took a shine to The Thin Red Line to be honest, bought it after everyone started raving about it and it just seemed a cameo-fest trying to be high-brow, war is bad etc etc.

[wiiksie]

Das Boot is another classic, unbeatable for tension when you hear the Destroyer's propeller cavitation overhead while they're sat on the bottom, then.....boom! Depth Charges, quality.

 

Never really took a shine to The Thin Red Line to be honest, bought it after everyone started raving about it and it just seemed a cameo-fest trying to be high-brow, war is bad etc etc.

Mate, trust me, give it another go. I thought the same when I first saw it but it really is quality. Its all in the photography, how the scenes are set up etc. The scene where Nick Nolte is doing his nut trying to get the platoon guy to get his grunts up the hill is tense as fuck.

[Stu Monty]

Das Boot is another classic, unbeatable for tension when you hear the Destroyer's propeller cavitation overhead while they're sat on the bottom, then.....boom! Depth Charges, quality.

 

Never really took a shine to The Thin Red Line to be honest, bought it after everyone started raving about it and it just seemed a cameo-fest trying to be high-brow, war is bad etc etc.

 

I love the Thin Red Line samples that UNKLE used on "Eye for an eye". I remember the film being slow but I watched it half-cut so that's no real solid opinion.

 

"Even now in heaven there are angels carrying savage weapons".

[The-Sir]

The Great Escape.

[Stouffer]

Zulu is the greatest war film of all time.

[cochcaer]

Cross of Iron is one of my favourites as it charts the German's failure on the Eastern Front and portrays the erosion of human morality during war. Sad that many war films are now revisionist.

[The Chief]

Imo the brits made the better 'older' war films, you know, the ones pre 1970 say, the yanks always had to have a bird in "for the love interest" so that guys could take their women to watch it.

[Stu Monty]

Why has nobody mentioned Pearl Harbour yet?

[Stouffer]

Zulu is such a good film it deserves to be mentioned twice.

[cochcaer]

the yanks always had to have a bird in "for the love interest" so that guys could take their women to watch it.

 

Pearl Harbor or Tora Tora Tora.:whatever:

 

I'd rattle Kate Beckinsale but even modern cgi can't disguise the fact it's a pile of dog doo.

[Red Lead]

Downfall is excellent, and youre right, We were Soldiers is fuckin shite.

 

Some other classics:

 

Private Ryan (best for me, legend of a film)

Apocalypse Now

Thin Red Line

Full Metal Jacket

Stalingrad

Born on the 4th July

Platoon

A Bridge Too Far

The Longest Day

Good Morning Vietnam

Tora Tora Tora

No Mans Land

Mash

Patton

Where Eagles Dare

Schindlers List

Life is Beautiful

Catch 22

 

You've got to see Taegukgi (Brothers) a Korean sub-titled film. Fucking brilliant and IMO a much better film than Saving Private Ryan.

[Carradona]

Can this include gangster films? There are somewhat of a war in those films.

[BENIRL]

Hope somebody can help me here. I seen a Vietnam film a few years ago and do not know the name of it. It was the war filmed through a soldier using a hand held video camera. It was fiction not fact. Anybody seen it, and can tell me the name?

[Stu Monty]

I like Black Hawk Down. McGregor really needed to die very early in it though for his accent.

[Stouffer]

633 Sqn.

Memphis Belle

The Desert Rats

 

EDITED to add.

 

The Bridge on the River Kwai.

Tigerland (Vastly under-rated in my opinion.)

The Dam Busters

The Guns of Navaronne

[Sut]

Zulu is such a good film it deserves to be mentioned twice.

 

Make it thrice.

 

Lawrence of Arabia just oozes class.

[Stu Monty]

Three Kings. Ace film.

[Stouffer]

Three Kings. Ace film.

 

 

Beat me to it.

 

Damn

[King Emlyn]

Can this include gangster films? There are somewhat of a war in those films.

The roaring twenties, that film incorporates WW1. Great movie

[Joe Strummer]

The Deer Hunter is a film I never get tired of watching

[Section_31]

Zulu is a legendary film, the bit where the Zulu's are doing their war dance, and Chard gets the Welsh choir to start singing back at them - which pisses the Zulu's off and they charge, is just fantastic. Cain's performance is superb as well, the blue-eyed toffee nosed git that gets a harsh lesson in just why war is so shit.

 

Although not a film, a scene i find especially powerfull is in Band of Brothers, where Lt Compton sees two of his men with their legs blown off and just throws his helmet on the floor as if he's finally had enough. He gets removed from duty after that and never returns.