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Favourite War Movies

Not one mention of the Classic :cdn: "The Devil's Brigade"  :crybaby:
Guess I am the only  :cdn: on this Board  ;)
 
IIRC there are two different movies that deal with the Zulu uprising - Zulu (1964) which stars Michael Caine, and Jack Hawkins
and Zulu Dawn (1979) which stars Peter O'Toole, Bob Hoskins and Burt Lancaster (believe it or not).

Zulu deals with the actual defence of Rorke's Drift, and Zulu Dawn the destruction of the British Army at Isandlwana.

The Michael Caine Zulu version was a staple of Saturday afternoon TV movies - like the original Flight of Phoenix.

One of my favourites is Battle of Britain - (complete with the gory scene of the German Heinkel gunner getting his goggles shot out by a Spit)

cheers, mdh
 
There are alot of fine movies mentioned. Tears of the Sun was good. I also enjoyed We were Soldiers. All of you people who enjoyed We were Soldiers would probably really enjoy another that has yet to be mentioned. It is a 1989 movie called The Siege of Firebase Gloria. It starred R Lee Ermey. Most everyone will know who he is when I tell you he was the DI in Full Metal Jacket. He's just as good in Firebase Gloria.  Any Vietnam movie buffs should take a look at this one...cheers
 
Here's one not mentioned I really like (edit - Jasper mentioned this one while I was posting - seems we think alike about this)

Siege of Firebase Gloria Kick-A$$ 'nam flick, one of those great "lot's of action but little plot" movies.
Another really good one from Israel is Kippur about a medical team in the Yom Kippur war.

Special mention for Full Metal Jacket - the intro speech to the recruits by Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket is what makes this movie for me.
The best lines of any war flick. Here's a link to a wav of his first speech http://www.moviesoundscentral.com/sounds/full_metal_jacket/drillinstructor.wav
(By the way, this movie is based on a book called the Short-timers that is a really good read.)

Far too many good films out there to mention them all. Das Boot, Stalingrad, The Beast, Black Hawk Down, Platoon, No Man's Land, All Quiet on the Western Front, etc. Almost everything already mentioned.

 
An oldie but a goodie is The Sands of Iwo Jima circa 1947-1948 starring John Wayne with cameos from a couple of wartime USMC battalion commanders. It followed a squad of marines through rebuilding after a spell of operations, the landing at Tarawa and the battle for Iwo Jima. The Duke, who was the squad leader, was killed just after the troops saw the raising of the flag, and a corporal took over. There was a bit of selling the corps (or propaganda) involved as President Truman had gone on record that the marine corps should be disbanded as the navy did not need its own army.

The special effects are very realistic in that grenades and mortars did not resemble low yield nukes.

Another entertaining flick is San Juan Hill, which follows Teddy Roosevelt and the First US Volunteer Cavalry in the Spanish-American War. The equipment and tactics (except for the artillery) of the time are represented very well, and while there is considerable artistic licence, it follows the train of events.
 
Ive noticed a lot of people talk about "The Thin Red Line" and personally I hate it. Just my opinion and I wouldnt mind hearing why everyone loves it? Anyways I saw the movie "When Trumpets Fade" and it was suprsingly good. Here is my list of good war films.
1)Band of Brothers
2)Platoon
3)Victory From Above
4) The Great Escape
5)The Longest Day
6) A Bridge too Far
7) Full Metal Jacket(The 1st Half)
 
Does anybody remember the A&E tv movie, The Lost Battalion, by any chance? That was a very well-done movie with excellent attention to detail.
 
Is that the one with Canadian Troops in a forest with Major(I think) who wore glasses, during WWII?
 
Ah here's one that I almost forgot - Kelly's Heroes - you gotta love Donald Sutherland as Odd Ball and Telly Savalas as the gritty Sarge Joe.


And speaking of Clint how about Where Eagles Dare? One of the truly great war movies, and since we are on the topic of 60s classics, there is also Raid on Rommel with Richard Burton who also appears in Where Eagles Dare.

cheers, all, mdh
 
On October 2nd, 1918, units of the 77th "Liberty" Division from New York advanced into the dense terrain of the Argonne Forest in France. History was made over the next 6 days as this unit, the "Lost Battalion", refused to surrender even though they were completely surrounded, constantly attacked, low on ammunition and supplies, had no food, shelter and limited access to water. Of the over 600 men first trapped in the "pocket", only around 200 walked out. They received 3 Congressional Medal of Honors (CMO), many Distinguished Service Crosses (DSC), and many other awards. Their leader, Major Whittlesey, was declared one of the three most important members of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) by General Pershing, Commander of the AEF. Two airmen received CMO's for their involvement in the event, the first attempted air resupply drop in military history. Others trying to releive the battalion also received the DSC. A carrier pigeon, Cher Ami, received international acclaim for heroically delivering a message. A movie of the event was made in 1919, and scores of books on the subject make it one of the most analyzed military actions in history. If that was not enough, Major Whittlesey committed suicide in 1921, and controversy has swirled around the event for over 80 years.

"The Lost Battalion" taken from the website, http://www.homestead.com/prosites-johnrcotter/lost_battalion.html
 
Isn't "takgucki" or something spelled close to that Korean? Its pretty good though, but I found it weird how the North Koreans had a Vickers Vinnie in the Korean War. Maybe just me but that was weird. Also the brother took like 10 shots at the end and then died. The plot is pretty good actually. If you can get your hands on it, watch it. But its in Korean, so I just read the subtitles.

My Favs are:
-BoB-i think the book was better but people may disagree
-takgucki-its a nice korean war movie

I don't have many because I find many of them inaccurate
 
I was just about to watch Tae Guk Gi and that post just totally ruined the end. Damn.
 
devils brigade, bridge to far, lost battalion, wow there are so many great movies. my favorite ones are about he Canadians though ;D
 
"Thin Red Line":How about the original,  the one with Keir Dullea (the 2001: A Space Odysee, guy) in it. 1965?

"Von Ryan's Express":  with Frank Sinatra. If you like trains and MP-40s. 1965?

"A Hill In Korea":  Possibly Micheal Caine's first movie (?).  Bren guns vs the PLA.

"The Bofors Gun"  Brit National Service story.  Short, Brutal, and Nasty. 1950s?

"The Guns At Batasi"  Mia Farrow in an otherwise good Brit movie. 1966?

"The Virgin Soldiers"  more national service in Malaya. 1960s?

"War Kill" Jungle war in the Pacific(?).  1960s?

"She Wore A yellow Ribbon" classic, part of the cavalry trilogy, John Wayne, et al.  Early 50s?

"March or Die" sand, Hackman, sand, Deneuve, more sand, Lewis guns..sand..  Early 80s.

"Castle Keep" Burt Lancaster, a VW bug, a countess, Peter Falk, a Browning .50 cal with an endless supply of ammunition, "pop-ups" and "movers".  Late 60s, I think.

"The Battleship Potemkin" Never saw it. Eisenstein, I think. 1920s?

"Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence"  listed here only because it is a POW story. 1985?

"The Boys in Company C"  Worth seeing ONCE only so you can say how bad it was.  1977?

"The Memphis Belle" if you like airplanes. Try to ignore the people in them.  Mere caricatures. See the original first. Docu 1943, Feature mid 80s.

"Fail Safe" Walter Mathau slaps his date around before NYC gets incinerated. Early 60s.

"The Wild Bunch" might as well be a War movie. 1968?

"The Sand Pebbles" good movie , largely unknown, Steve McQueen as a China Station sailor on a gunboat.
Possibly Candace Bergen's first movie.  Steve is a good BAR man.  Handy with an axe, too.  About 1967

"The Wind and the Lion" sand, US Marines, sand... a Navy band, sand... Germans...sand... Arab tribesmen.
sand.. artillery duel..sand..Sean Connery:  see it.

Movie Canadians SHOULD make: "Generals Die in Bed" If you are in the Royal Montreal Regiment - READ THIS BOOK.

Tom





 
In the Army Now.

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