CycleChat Investigates - War! What is it good for?

[Vantage]

I'm surprised no one has offered it up as one of the most historically significant war films ever released. You should all be ashamed!

Saving Ryan's Privates!

Sheesh!

 

[stephec]

I'm surprised no one has offered it up as one of the most historically significant war films ever released. You should all be ashamed!

Saving Ryan's Privates!

Sheesh!

I thought it was Shaving Ryan's....?

 

[Vantage]

I thought it was Shaving Ryan's....?

Oops

 

[MartinQ]

Apocalypse Now as I love the smell of napalm in the morning ...

 

[Drago]

Blackhawk Down was a worthy mention. I like the scene when Little Bird flies across the rooftops and uses mini guns to strafe the bad dudes.

13 Hours, The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is also brilliant, but really too modern to be considered in this context.

 

[kynikos]

You're missing one with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes...

Whiskey Galore (1949)

Epic.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Murphy's War
Lawrence of Arabia

 

[Rusty Nails]

Something in here to offend just about everybody!

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

• Where Eagles Dare - not really a war film, more an action/adventure yarn
• Full Metal Jacket - Very good example of the training to combat genre. Good music
• Apocalypse Now - Sorry, self-indulgent, overly long American tosh
• The Dambusters - Of it's time but Battle of Britain better
• The Longest Day - even with it's high profile cast, this film captured the tensions of the day. Blown away by Saving Private Ryan though
• The Bridges at Toki Ri - Haven't seen this
• The Cockleshell Heroes - Good, similar genre as Dambusters
• Battle of the Bulge - Awful, action/adventure genre
• Kelly's Heroes - Very good but again, action/adventure
• Operation Crossbow - Haven't seen this

I'd say 4 of them aren't even war films

 

[MichaelW2]

The Battle of Algiers and Paths of Glory were both banned in France which seems to be some kind of high honour like the Crying Monkey Award.

The 1993 Stalingrad gives a grim German perspective. 1985 Come and See does the same for the Russian side by someone who was there.

 

[dodgy]

A good opening list, but Blackhawk Down would get my vote. The feeling of dread when they realise they have to go back to downtown Mogadishu again is palpable just from watching it.

 

[Cycleops]

Went the day well is a great film about the british war.
Directed by a brazilian.
Cycled to the church used in it a few years ago.
Turville.
Most of the folks in the visitors book were wittering about the vicar of dibley.
There was one from a bloke appreciating went the day well - he was german.


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RPFhQuqYpYg

Very interesting. It was essentially a propaganda film about how a small village was taken over by a band of Nazi soldiers dressed in British uniforms being aided and abetted by a fith columnist, a stalwart of village society. Quite why the authorities chose to release this storyline at this time (1942) I can’t figure, can’t have been due to impending invasion so maybe telling people to look our for spies? It is based on a Graham Greene novel.
Apparently the landlord of the pub used up all his alcohol allowance on the film crew, became distraught and commitEd suicde.
Look out for a young Harry Fowler who later went on to become a star of The Army Game TV show.

 

[Slick]

The Battle of Algiers and Paths of Glory were both banned in France which seems to be some kind of high honour like the Crying Monkey Award.

The 1993 Stalingrad gives a grim German perspective. 1985 Come and See does the same for the Russian side by someone who was there.

The story of Stalingrad is horrific and definitely worth watching whoever is telling the story.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Schindler's List?

 

[MichaelW2]

Schindler's List?

I'm not a huge dan of holocaust movies. The standard plot in real life usually had one ending but movies almost always show the exceptionally rare times that didnt happen because the normal is unfilmable.