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The Classic War movie thread

post #1 of 63
8/15/08 at 10:20am
Thread Starter 
WW2, First world war, Korea, Vietnam, anything...

'Hell is for Heroes' starring Steve MQueen and directed by Don Siegel is on tonight. Should I watch it?

With that cast and that director I'm up for it.
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post #2 of 63
8/15/08 at 11:02am
Yes!

A pretty cool little gem.

(Siegel's movies gets sampled a lot)

EDIT: Seem to remember BATAAN being pretty harrowing. Worth a look.
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post #3 of 63
8/15/08 at 11:04am
At least check out Fixed Bayonnets sometime. Sam Fuller, rear guard action in Korea. I like.
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post #4 of 63
8/15/08 at 11:15am
The Great Escape
The Guns of Navarone
The Devil's Brigade

These films bring me joy.
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post #5 of 63
8/15/08 at 11:16am
And if you don't like The Great Escape, turn in your man card right now.
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post #6 of 63
8/15/08 at 11:19am
Surely you don't need to be reminded of Platoon?

Big Red One, The. More Sam Fuller. Get the restored director's cut type thingy.
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post #7 of 63
8/15/08 at 11:40am
Battleground is another great one. Made pretty close to the end of the war, it's a great take on the stand at Bastogne.

There's something about seeing a WWII movie in black and white that always makes it seem more "real" to me, since all my experience with WWII has come from B&W photos and film. Irrational, I know, it wasn't like the world didn't have any color in the 1940s, but those History Channel shows where they show color footage from WWII just fascinate me because all I've ever seein is grainy B&W footage.
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post #8 of 63
8/15/08 at 11:44am
'Where Eagles Dare'. Whenever I'm in the mood for a WW2 movie, I pop this one in. Who would have thought that the teaming up of Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood would come off so well?

'Guns of Navarone' is usually my follow-up viewing choice.
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post #9 of 63
8/15/08 at 11:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
There's something about seeing a WWII movie in black and white that always makes it seem more "real" to me, since all my experience with WWII has come from B&W photos and film. Irrational, I know, it wasn't like the world didn't have any color in the 1940s, but those History Channel shows where they show color footage from WWII just fascinate me because all I've ever seein is grainy B&W footage.
This works on me, too. I actually have trouble sitting through some of the 60's and 70's WWII movies for this very reason. But not The Great Escape. Nothing wrong with that one.
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post #10 of 63
8/15/08 at 11:55am
Great Escape has one of the best ensemble casts ever put together. Every single actor is just the absolute perfect one for their part, and nobody misses a step. And they all get their moment to shine -- hell, the Fourth of July moonshine scene is a microcosm of how well this film handles its characters. And the way that scene so effortlessly transitions into the German's finding Tom, taking us from the heights to the depths....

That's it dammit, I'm watching this tonight.
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post #11 of 63
8/15/08 at 2:06pm
For me the best war movie is deer hunter. It not an action or adventure movie, the story of how war effect the characters is mesmerizing. The acting in it is incredible.
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post #12 of 63
8/15/08 at 2:17pm
Steel Helmet is pretty bad ass too. A guy explodes due to a booby trapped dead body. Each Fuller movie I watch just surprises me more and more. He was incredible.

I'm still saving The Big Red One until i'm done watching his older stuff.
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post #13 of 63
8/15/08 at 2:18pm
Since it has been drafted a mention of Das Boot is necessary.

Being pretty much the best submarine movie ever it manages to be a WW2 movie where the Nazis are actual sympathetic characters as well. Basicly it is not about one side of the war but rather about the crew of the sub just being soldiers.

And the ending is a suckerpunch like only a few war movies delivered. I love how it establishes the futility of the whole mission and the fact that the sub with the whole crew don´t matter at all in the grand scheme of things.
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post #14 of 63
8/15/08 at 2:22pm
A Bridge Too Far is still close to my heart even though I find Hackman's Polish accent even more irritating as the years go by.

The Eagles Has Landed is great because of Sutherland and Caine, who manages to make a Nazi officer sympathetic.


Up Periscope, The Train, Porkchop Hill and Hamburger Hill (I know, I know. Platoon knockoff but I still love it) are other personal faves.
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post #15 of 63
8/15/08 at 3:25pm
I just saw Destination Tokyo about a month ago and loved it. I can't believe Dirty Dozen hasn't gotten a mention yet, Lee Marvin is the man.
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post #16 of 63
8/15/08 at 3:31pm
I like The Dirty Dozen okay, but I think it loses a lot of steam once they actually go on the mission.
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post #17 of 63
8/15/08 at 3:34pm
The Bridge on the River Kwai
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post #18 of 63
8/15/08 at 3:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
I like The Dirty Dozen okay, but I think it loses a lot of steam once they actually go on the mission.
I have to agree with that. I don't think the mission is bad, just that the first two acts are so good.
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post #19 of 63
8/15/08 at 3:39pm
The last act of The Dirty Dozen is great.

Everything goes to shit and it's a bloodbath: Maggot goes batshit crazy, Jim Brown hand grenading hookers, Franco's death.....
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post #20 of 63
8/15/08 at 3:48pm
I've touted this movie before, but Bogart's SAHARA is fucking incredible. The original "bunch of guys on a suicide mission" movie, only they've never been given the order and decide to fight it out on their own initiative. One of the things I love about it is that the squad is made up of a soldier or two from practically every major participant in the war, including the US, UK, France, North Africa, Germany, and Italy (but he's got an Ally's heart of gold all along!). Great WW2 propaganda piece that to this day still has me thinking, "Hell yeah! Time to buy more war bonds!"
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post #21 of 63
8/15/08 at 8:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bancroft Agee View Post
A Bridge Too Far is still close to my heart even though I find Hackman's Polish accent even more irritating as the years go by.

Porkchop Hill and Hamburger Hill (I know, I know. Platoon knockoff but I still love it) are other personal faves.

Quote:
Originally Posted by teledork View Post

The Devil's Brigade
A Bridge Too Far is a little dry at times, but the wattage in the cast and the hubris on display (on my surface understanding, Market Garden was launched mainly because Allied command got an itchy trigger finger with their paratroopers) make it a must-see IMO.

I just discovered Pork Chop Hill and The Devil's Brigade; The Devil's Brigade has few surprises, but for all that it's some good fun. Pork Chop Hill is great - puts faces on the men being used as pawns defending a worthless piece of ground with blood while generals and politicians swing their dicks in negotiation.
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post #22 of 63
8/15/08 at 8:09pm
In the "Men in Planes" category....

Gregory Peck's Twelve O'Clock high is fuckin' great. Peck used to bug me but I've gotten over it. Basic plot is the commander of a bombing wing in England cracks and Peck has to replace; he's all hardass, but I'm sure you can guess what happens in the end.

Similar theme but more focused on the men in the air is Memphis Belle; maybe it gets a bit schmaltzy at times but it's like an A-list of B-listers (Lithgow, Straitharn, Zane, Stoltz, Modine, DB Sweeney, Sean Astin...). If you're not cheering by the end, you're dead inside.
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post #23 of 63
8/15/08 at 8:10pm
Even more recent than Memphis Belle and not even a movie is Band of Brothers, which I'm sure everyone here would marry if it was a woman.
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post #24 of 63
8/15/08 at 8:24pm
Anybody here seen The Fighting 69th? I've wanted to see this thing for ages now.
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post #25 of 63
8/15/08 at 8:35pm
Hell in the Pacific. Lee Marvin. Toshiro Minfune. John Boorman before he went bugfuck nuts. Classic.
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post #26 of 63
8/15/08 at 8:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Clark View Post
Hell in the Pacific. Lee Marvin. Toshiro Minfune. John Boorman before he went bugfuck nuts. Classic.
Hell in the Pacific WAS pretty cool

Is The Emerald Forest pre- or post-bugfuck nuts for Boorman? Does the Amazon do that to people (see "Gibson, Mel")?
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post #27 of 63
8/15/08 at 9:58pm
The Longest Day. Everybody is in this thing. I think I even have a cameo.
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post #28 of 63
8/15/08 at 10:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
The Longest Day. Everybody is in this thing. I think I even have a cameo.
It's really odd to say Sean Connery playing the young, goofy comic relief in that one. I always picture Connery coming straight out of his mother's womb and then delivered right to the set of Dr. No.
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post #29 of 63
8/15/08 at 11:16pm
Is Tora, Tora, Tora worth a look?

I'm kind of interested in the film because of the fact it has two directors who each focus on one side of the Pacific Conflict.
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post #30 of 63
8/15/08 at 11:26pm
No, it's one of Fukasaku's worst along with Green Slime. I'm glad he went back to Yakuza flicks afterward.
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post #31 of 63
8/15/08 at 11:31pm
Thanks, I've just been getting into Fukasaku's earlier work and was wondering if I should give it a go.
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post #32 of 63
8/15/08 at 11:33pm
TORA TORA TORA isn't that bad. It's worth a rental. Not going to change your world, but I enjoyed it well enough.
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post #33 of 63
8/16/08 at 2:26am
I've got one that is a must see for WW2 aholics


The Cruel Sea


Jack Hawkins is on fire in this movie, it also has the great Denholm Elliot. It also feels almost like it could be a documentary which you can not say for many war movies from the period.


Also in my all time top 20

Zulu


Great Story, Caine's debut role and he plays upper class for the first and last time. Simply beautiful Cinematography which is properly framed and anamorphic and dirt cheap from MGM.
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post #34 of 63
8/16/08 at 10:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharpel007 View Post

Zulu


Great Story, Caine's debut role and he plays upper class for the first and last time. Simply beautiful Cinematography which is properly framed and anamorphic and dirt cheap from MGM.
I was just thinking about this list last night and Zulu popped into my head. Terrific movie. Not sure if this quite fits what I think is the "modern warfare" genre we're talking about.*


Oh, and a dick in the eye to everyone for forgetting to mention Joyeux Noel. Simply fucking amazing. I can't recommend this film enough.


* - but if we aren't talking "modern warfare" how about Micheal Mann's The Last of the Mohicans (set during the French and Indian Wars)?
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post #35 of 63
8/16/08 at 11:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by reggie-wanker View Post
TORA TORA TORA isn't that bad. It's worth a rental. Not going to change your world, but I enjoyed it well enough.
I agree. Solid enough where if it qualifies as someone's "worst" they must be one heck of a director.

Tora Tora Tora! and The Longest Day (A Bridge Too Far skirts this at times as well) seem to me to, at times, be more concerned with shoehorning in big-name roles and having a Joe Friday-like "just the facts, ma'am" rote recitation of "...and then this happened" with the story.

It keeps them from being "great" but they're still watchable and entertaining, if a bit dry at times.
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post #36 of 63
8/16/08 at 11:33am
I'd suggest Midway. There weren't too many movies depicting carrier battles in WWII and this is one of the best.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chavez View Post
* - but if we aren't talking "modern warfare" how about Micheal Mann's The Last of the Mohicans (set during the French and Indian Wars)?
Last of the Mohicans is great. Even just on the little part on the fort siege I was both delighted and surprised how the movie showed the 'sappers' had to dig trenches towards the fort under direct British fire so that they could deploy their heavy mortars, which are historically accurate and a standard tactic but never depicted on film before.
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post #37 of 63
8/16/08 at 1:49pm
I lov Zulu, wantch it about every time it shows up on TV.
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post #38 of 63
8/16/08 at 6:45pm
I always really liked All Quiet on the Western Front. The battles were surprisingly brutal for a movie from the 30s.
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post #39 of 63
8/17/08 at 10:39am
As well as pretty much most of the above, I have quite the soft spots for The Bridge at Remagen

But then I love the hell out of George Segal.

and Escape to Athena, which to me is pretty much worth it just for Moore and Telly Savalas trying to out mug each other on screen. Plus Greeks vs zee Germans.

But my all time favourite classic war film that isn't A Bridge Too Far, has to be Kelly's Heroes

Everything about it just brings a shit eatting grin to my face.
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post #40 of 63
8/17/08 at 11:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Syn View Post
Kelly's Heroes

Everything about it just brings a shit eatting grin to my face.

Ah, forgot this one. Great, GREAT film (well, maybe not "great" in the classical sense, but just a ball of fun). Clint bein' Clint and Telly bein' Telly would be enough to carry many a film - but when you add in Sutherland, Rickles, and Carroll O'Connor ("WE'RE LIS'NIN TO THE GAME!") mugging it up beyond belief, you've got a slice of fried gold.
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post #41 of 63
8/17/08 at 6:15pm
Thread Starter 
A bridge too far underwhelmed me. It wasn't awful, but with that cast it should have been a lot better. It dragged.
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post #42 of 63
8/19/08 at 8:31pm
I'd like to add Waterloo to the collective.

They really don't make films like this anymore, especially not with that amount of extras.

Though it does get a little hammy with the "how can we kill one another" British soldier during the French Cavalry vs British Squares segment.

Also, Rod 'Motherfucking' Steiger is as always, fantastic.
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post #43 of 63
8/24/08 at 3:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chavez View Post
Oh, and a dick in the eye to everyone for forgetting to mention Joyeux Noel. Simply fucking amazing. I can't recommend this film enough.
Holy shit, I feel awful for forgetting that. One of the most beautiful films of the decade, and a unique war film because of how little the actual violence makes up the film. It's focused on a night when both sides stopped shooting long enough to remember they're all human beings, so when they go back to fighting you feel like humanity just took a big loss. Also "I'm Dreaming Of Home" is a beautiful piece of work.
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post #44 of 63
8/24/08 at 3:38am
I'd also add 'Fort Apache', Henry Fonda's performance as the arrogant Owen Thursday is just great, John Wayne provides soild support as well. Another really good war film is 'They Were Expendable', I was amazed at how well the battle scenes held up in this film, they really look and sound fantastic.
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post #45 of 63
8/24/08 at 2:04pm
The Last Valley (1971) is hit and miss. the battle scenes are great, and it might be Michael Caine best roll. the political and religious commentary are interesting. It is, how every, way too long, and slows down in parts of it. But Michael Caine's the Caption might be the baddest bad ass of all times in it.

Was looking around and found parts of John Barry score for the last valley, but not the whole thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEqAACkbaNQ
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post #46 of 63
8/25/08 at 2:36am
How about war movies never made?

Which would force me to go with Kubrick's Napoleon, which has to have a couple of scripts floating around somewhere.

And I am all pretty sure where in agreement that Black Hawk Down has the modern warfare gold medal down pat for the foreseeable future.

And it doesn't take place during a war, but still is very military and a must see

Tunes of Glory

Mills and Guinness are on fire, and playing the role the other would of normally took.
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post #47 of 63
8/25/08 at 2:58am
The Thin Red Line is easily my favorite war movie. Zimmer's score, the cinematography, and the storyline involving Penn's and Caviezel's characters are my favorite aspects of that film. Up to this point, I think Malick managed to make three unique and beautiful films. The New World kind of struck me as the excesses of The Thin Red Line mixed with kind of lame examples of intertextuality involving Hawthorne and other early American literature.

Runner's up: Bridge on the River Kwai, South Pacific, Malena, and Downfall.
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post #48 of 63
8/25/08 at 9:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cuchulain View Post
South Pacific
Interesting thought.

Quote:
Downfall.
Fuck me sideways for not thinking of this one. Ganz is brilliant.

In a similar vein, HBO did a movie called Conspiracy (with Kenneth Branagh and Stanley Tucci) about the meeting at which the final solution was decided upon. I've taken to calling this "one of the best horror movies ever."
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post #49 of 63
8/26/08 at 2:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chavez View Post
Interesting thought.


Fuck me sideways for not thinking of this one. Ganz is brilliant.

In a similar vein, HBO did a movie called Conspiracy (with Kenneth Branagh and Stanley Tucci) about the meeting at which the final solution was decided upon. I've taken to calling this "one of the best horror movies ever."
Conspiracy was good and Kenneth Branagh was scary.
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post #50 of 63
9/13/08 at 3:07pm
I guess for the purposes of this thread, stuff like Conspiracy, Downfall and Joyeux Noel are too recent to be labeled "classic" but IMO those films are going to endure. People will find them and go "holy shit, where did this come from?"

Another recent entry that REALLY impressed me was Black Book - the big "twist" at the end is pretty transparent the second it happens, but it's still a tense and well-crafted WW II thriller.
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