Yes, Gettysburgh is impressive in its recreations. Haven't seen Gods & Generals. Recommend it?[/QUOTE] No. It is very long and talky.
Nice post. Thanks. Your recollections remind me of the famous moment in Apocalypse Now when Martin Sheen as Captain Willard takes cover under a bridge beseiged by intense enemy fire and asks a private scurrying by: "Who's in command here, soldier?" "Ain't You?"
Last night I watched one of my favorites that no one's mentioned yet: Battleground. Subject is the Battle Of The Bulge, specifically the siege of Bastogne. It's told from the soldier's point of view at the platoon level, where none of them knows what's going on except what they can gather from days-old newspapers. No glamour or glory, everyone just trying to stay alive. Directed by William A. Wellman. Another favorite that's not well-known is Sahara with Humphrey Bogart. Plot is a little far-fetched, but totally gripping nonetheless. 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, if you pay attention to that.
Not mentioned so far and too good to not be mentioned..... Ice Cold In Alex Zulu The Great Escape Tora! Tora! Tora! The Guns Of Navarone Where Eagles Dare Journey's End (2017) and if it's OK with war related but not the main theme.... The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, The Wall (even includes a snippet of The Dam Busters mentioned above), Jacob's Ladder and... Indiana Jones
All of them that I was going to list have been mentioned already, so I'll skip those... But I'll add the film "Glory" to the list...
My perennial favourites, Kelly's Heroes, Where Eagles Dare, The Great Escape, The Guns Of Navarone - probably a few more that I have forgotten. All get semi-regular runs on TV that allow me to enjoy them fresh and anew all over again.
Some of my favorites: WW1 All Quiet On The Western Front WW2 Patton Battle Of The Bulge The Iron Cross Bridge Over The River Kwai King Rat Kelly's Heroes Bridge At Ramagen Das Boot Korea Pork Chop Hill Vietnam Platoon Go Tell The Spartans Hamburger Hill Apocalypse Now We Were Soldiers More Recent Conflicts Black Hawk Down Zero Dark Thirty Lone Survivor
Lots of good war movies out there. Right now I am partial to WWII flicks made in the late 60s. The ones that have much less of a rah rah tone and more of a cynical edge. My guess is Vietnam had an influence. Kelly's Heroes Bridge at Remagen Castle Keep
Ice Cold in Alex The Guns of Navarone Where Eagles Dare are great ones. For me Lawrence of Arabia is at the top of the list. Two unheralded (or forgotten classics) are Breaker Morant, which takes place during the Boer War, and The Hill, which takes place during the North Africa campaign in WWII. In that vein, Sahara with Bogart is a classic.
Bad Sam Fuller - often overlooked and one of the best: Steel Helmet Fixed Bayonettes Hell and High Water Merrill's Marauders
No. It is very long and talky.[/QUOTE] Both of the films were directed by Ron Maxwell. Jeff Daniels, C. Thomas Howell, and Stephen Lang are the only actors that appear in both. Personally, I thought both movies were pretty boring and the reenactments weren't very good. I believe both movies are 4 hours plus. I actually saw Gods and Generals in the theater and it was so long they had an intermission. It was a struggle to get through.
Both of the films were directed by Ron Maxwell. Jeff Daniels, C. Thomas Howell, and Stephen Lang are the only actors that appear in both. Personally, I thought both movies were pretty boring and the reenactments weren't very good. I believe both movies are 4 hours plus. I actually saw Gods and Generals in the theater and it was so long they had an intermission. It was a struggle to get through.[/QUOTE] I didn't find ' Gettysburg ' as drawn out as ' Gods and Generals ' and it had some good battle sequences. I cannot imagine stuffing my rear end in a theatre seat and enduring ' Gods and Generals ' I did enjoy both quite different portrayals of Robert E Lee by Martin Sheen and Robert Duval.
Last WW2 film watched was '303 squadron'- about Polish pilots in The Battle of Britain, pretty good .
Two great films. 'Sahara' is particularly good , a gritty portrayal of war in the desert.Great cast too.' Battleground' is almost as good. The scene where the sun finally appears and James Whitmore yells out : " It 's shining !" is alone worth watching it for.
Some favorites: Paths of Glory Spartacus Thin Red Line Dunkirk Glory Come and See Apocalypse Now Hurt Locker Three Kings
' The Great Escape ' may be the movie I have seen most often. Absolute classic P.O.W. film. I have a small bone to pick with it though and maybe I could get some feedback here about this: The prisoners are digging three tunnels ( Tom, Dick and Harry ). The first tunnel is near completion when it is discovered by the Germans. Now then , this tunnel is a massive undertaking complete with lighting , air ducts and wooden shoring. Clearly built for a large escape attempt. If I was the commandant of that camp I would have tore it upside down looking for more information and evidence.
I love a good war movie. From a cartoonish Dirty Dozen to an almost-documentary-level Saving Private Ryan. The War genre, like the Cowboy genre is an American specialty. I remember when 'Ryan' was 1st released, there were reports of WWII vets needing to be escorted from the theater due to not being able to handle the opening 20 minutes because of its realistic nature. I'm of the opinion that in the future, the War movies that have been made, especially since 9/11, depicting the Middle Eastern conflict, will be recognized for their brilliance. As awkward as it is to say; the War movies of the past 20 years have been terrific (generally!).
Another underrated classic. Is there a slimier portrayal of an army officer than the one Eddie Albert gives here? No. And Jack Palance is outstanding.
