Greatest World War Two Movie

Post by **Gandalf** » 2003-10-22 05:17am

InnerBrat wrote:
Gandalf wrote:If I may ask, what did you dislike about it?
Well, for a start I don't think Tom hanks can act for shit.

But I mainly thought it was filled with the 'our boys rescued those poor European's asses' feel to the whole thing. I'm not an historian, but I'm fairly certain there were a few Brits involved in the D Day landing.

Makes sense. I usually can't tell bad acting from good acting. I also get where your coming from on the US thing. Don't most American movies run like that? B&B almost makes it look like they WON Pearl Harbour.

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2003-10-22 05:18am

MKSheppard wrote:
InnerBrat wrote:I'm not an historian, but I'm fairly certain there were a few Brits involved in the D Day landing.
This was an American funded and filmed movie, if you want to show your
own people partipicating in the landings, film your own damned movie.

I'm not going to be drawn into an argument over my tatse in movies. I didn't like the film because 9among other things) it glorified a particular country over the principle of friendship it was supposed to be about. Get over it.

Grand Moff Yenchin · Post by **Grand Moff Yenchin** » 2003-10-22 05:31am

No particular order:

Saving Private Ryan
The Longest Day
Midway
Enemy at the Gates
The Great Escape
Memphis Belle
The Guns of Navarone
The Bridge on the River Kwai

And if mini-series count, Band of Brothers.

Made in Taiwan WWII Flicks:
Heroes over Eastern Skies.
Goofy in many places, but the spirit is quite good.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2003-10-22 05:41am

InnerBrat wrote:I haven't seen a lot of these, but if Schindler's List counts, that's definitely up there. I also liked Thin Red Line

Although apparently I'm the only one who thought Saving Private Ryan sucked huge donkey balls.

Your criticisms aren't out of line, but there wasn't a lot of fraternising between allied forces, and it's not unrealistic in how it shows Americans only.

I enjoyed it primarily for it's better than average depiction of equipment, and the no holds barred violence.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2003-10-22 05:45am

Frank Hipper wrote:
InnerBrat wrote:I haven't seen a lot of these, but if Schindler's List counts, that's definitely up there. I also liked Thin Red Line

Although apparently I'm the only one who thought Saving Private Ryan sucked huge donkey balls.
Your criticisms aren't out of line, but there wasn't a lot of fraternising between allied forces, and it's not unrealistic in how it shows Americans only.

I enjoyed it primarily for it's better than average depiction of equipment, and the no holds barred violence.

Though I hear they're actually wearing the insignia of an African- American unit.

Warspite · Post by **Warspite** » 2003-10-22 05:50am

MY favorites, again, no particular order:

Battle of the River Plate,
Big Red One,
Battleground,
They Were Expendable,
The Longest Day,
Where Eagles Dare,
Battle of Britain,
Band of Brothers,
Thirty Seconds over Tokyo,
Destination: Tokyo,
Torpedo Run,
Action in the South Atlantic,
Memphis Belle,
Squadron 617,
(forgot the name, the one relating the bombing of Hiroshima),
(forgot the name, the movie about the comandos against the Norsk Hydro plant),

*Edit* A couple more I want to add:
The Dambusters,
Kelly's Heroes,
Midway,
Taskforce,

Aaaaaaand-----

Pearl Harbour! (*Runs*)
Just kidding.

I didn't like Saving Private Ryan, although I understand the particular depiction from the US viewpoint, it was too patriotic, it spent too much time dwelling on it, and unnecessary for the story. In the old movies, there was a reason for that, a war was happening, and the need for patriotism was necessary, but nowadays it seems misplaced. As soon as they went on their rescue mission, the movie was over for me.

Band of Brothers was much better.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2003-10-22 06:06am

A bridge to far is also a very good WW2 movie.

Robert Treder · Post by **Robert Treder** » 2003-10-22 06:30am

I'm not the biggest fan of Saving Private Ryan. The Omaha Beach segment was great of course, and the ending city battle was pretty fun, but overall, the movie was lacking in that the plot was unbelievable. Why would they waste a squad of Marines just to bring some kid home? Even if they did something like that, it should be depicted as stupid, not gallant, because that's what it would be. Granted, they did a good job of having the characters struggle with this, but still, the fact that they were doing it in the first place is dumb.

Band of Brothers stands out as best in many ways. It has the advantage over every war movie in its format: it can show development over long periods of time, and it can touch on more aspects of the war than any one movie can. With the long series as opposed to a single two- or three-hour movie, the characters are developed much more naturally, and the viewer draws a greater attachment to them.
For example, in a movie like Saving Private Ryan, to get you to know and like a character, they have to rush and exaggerate the scenes of character development. They flesh out the characters very efficiently, which is respectable, but it's more superficial than in the ten-hour Band of Brothers format.
Also, Band of Brothers didn't have a grating or superfluous patriotic or moral message. For the most part, it told it like it was, and you felt for the characters because they were human beings going through formidable hardships rather than just because they were "our boys." And, for most issues, you see both sides of the fence: where appropriate, the enemy was depicted as human, and was never demonized through the narrative (though the characters did express their disdain for their opponents). The holocaust issue was handled surprisingly well, as well. As I went into the episode, I prepared myself for over-emotional or over-political in-your-face-ism, but what we see is a devastatingly straightforward look at the American troops discovering the Germans' terrible secret.

I can't wait for the Pacific Theatre Band of Brothers to help complete the picture. I wish they'd do a Band of Brothers style miniseries for the Navy in the Pacific, for the Navy in the Atlantic, for the Brits, for the Germans, for the Russians, for the Japanese, for the Air Force, etc...but maybe that's asking too much; Americans can't sit still long enough for all that - by the time they started making them, the public would be off its WWII kick, and on to something else. Too bad we can't get Bill Gates or Bruce Wayne or somebody to fund it all.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-10-22 07:28am

The Bridge Over The River Kwai
(Sir Alec Guiness at his absoulte best)

The Thin Red Line

Saving Private Ryan
(which is a little more meaningful when you know people who fought at Normandy)

Midway

Tora! Tora! Tora!

Patton

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-10-22 07:43am

Egads, there are simply too many to say I have a favourite.

Pretty much every one mentioned so far I like.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2003-10-22 07:44am

Heh. First and only time I've ever seen my grandfather cry was watching saving private Ryan. I just found out recently that, contrary to his lifetime of war stories to me, None involving combat. (He always claimed he never saw combat) He DID see combat. and alot of it. Every time I ask him about it. he tells me to ask someone else. anyway. I sat and watched it with him, and you could almost see him grimace with the troops, and cry when he saw the invasion scene. It was heart wrenching. and HE wasn't even AT normandy. He fought in the south pacific.

And Gandalf, their insignia is correct if you are referring to the unit patches. the only thing I didn't think was realistic was...I didn't think they painted their rank in white on their helmets...for some reason I want to say it was supposed to be subdued...

Enigma · Post by **Enigma** » 2003-10-22 08:52am

Saving Private Ryan
Enemy at the Gates
Band of Brothers

Boba Fett · Post by **Boba Fett** » 2003-10-22 10:34am

Where Eagles Dare
Stalingrad
The Thin Red Line
Cross of Iron
Kelly's Heroes
Tora, Tora, Tora
Patton
Battle of the Bulge
Das Boot
Saving Private Ryan
Guns of Navarrone
A Bridge Too Far
The Longest Day

...and various soviet movies from the 60's, in which a single soldier was able to shot down Messerschmitts with a PPS or wipe out an entire panzer battalion with a couple of handgrenades...

Tribun · Post by **Tribun** » 2003-10-22 10:40am

Okay, I don't know the English names of some of the movies, so if I got some wrong correct me please.

My top 5 WW II movies:

5. Das Boot
A German WW2 movie, and a good one too. Finally shows use, how horrible the life on submariens was.
4. The Great Escape
A WW2 movie in a prison camp. Unsusual but good. The very sober story was loosend by the humor around the Captain Hills
3. Operation Market Garden (The Bridge of Arnheim)
For all who think, that the Allies were unstoppable, this is a cold shower. Incompetence and bad luck really ruin thier day
2. Remagen Bridge
Two very different points of view. The German commander, who is concerned about the lives of his soldiers and the American Commander, whose people are little more than common thievies
1. Tora! Tora! Tora!
The best movie about the pacific war, I have ever seen.

my shock 5:

5. Battle In The Ardenns
Cheap with totally unbelivable tank modells
4. Stukas Above London
The title itself already tells the big error of this movie
3. Midway
Patched together with countless stolen scenes from Tora! Tora! Tora!. A horrible movie
2. Pearl Harbour
A ceap copy of Tora! Tora! Tora!. In all cathegorys worse than the original
1. Saving Private Ryan
They have done anything wrong what they could have done wrong. With the brain-dead story as the worst

Oberleutnant · Post by **Oberleutnant** » 2003-10-22 02:30pm

If you can include it here, the ten-part miniseries Band of Brothers is the finest piece of filmed WWII drama ever. Other WWII films which I value highly include Cross of Iron, Das Boot and Stalingrad.

Although they aren't the best movies ever, Talvisota (Winter War) and both versions of Tuntematon Sotilas (Unknown Soldier) are very watchable.

It's a been a long time since I've seen A Bridge Too Far, so I can't comment on it. Tora! Tora! Tora! on the other hand was a big disappointment.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-10-22 03:27pm

What? No one likes 1941?

My favorites are:

Patton
Kelly's Heroes
Where Eagles Dare

Others that I like include:

A Bridge Too Far
Sink the Bismark
Tora, Tora, Tora
Midway
Force 10 From Naverone
The Dirty Dozen

Oberleutnant · Post by **Oberleutnant** » 2003-10-22 06:15pm

Tsyroc wrote:What? No one likes 1941?

My favorites are:

Kelly's Heroes

For its sheer realism, no doubt.

Sutherland's Sgt. Oddball is an amazing character!

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2003-10-22 06:21pm

A Bridge Too Far and Kelly's Heroes.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2003-10-22 06:26pm

There was a really neat show on PBS the other night (In case you all don't know, I LOVE NPR/PBS (Oh, that's american public radio/television...didn't mean to neglect our international audience

)) Called "Hitler's Victory" it showed what would have happened had Operation Sealion gone off without a hitch....let me just say...."Wow." it even went so far as to speculate that had britain been taken, Hitler would have attacked russia months earlier, and probably steamrolled the red army....it was very neat. they even created some fake newsreels about the German occupation and some really neat reenactments. A must-see, if you can catch it.

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2003-10-22 06:27pm

Tora Tora Tora was incredible (beats the living hell out of Pearl Harbor...), and Patton was good, although the constant use of 1960's era US Army vehicles dressed up a bit playing both US and German armor was quite annoying. Same goes for Battle of the Bulge, great movie, marred by the lack of WW2 vehicles.

Jawawithagun · Post by **Jawawithagun** » 2003-10-22 07:00pm

Das Boot
Hunde Wollt Ihr Ewig Leben
Stalingrad

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-10-22 07:09pm

Nathan F wrote:Tora Tora Tora was incredible (beats the living hell out of Pearl Harbor...), and Patton was good, although the constant use of 1960's era US Army vehicles dressed up a bit playing both US and German armor was quite annoying. Same goes for Battle of the Bulge, great movie, marred by the lack of WW2 vehicles.

For Patton I think it was what they were able to get on loan from the Spainish military but I may be mistaken.

Raptor 597 · Post by **Raptor 597** » 2003-10-22 07:37pm

Chardok wrote:There was a really neat show on PBS the other night (In case you all don't know, I LOVE NPR/PBS (Oh, that's american public radio/television...didn't mean to neglect our international audience )) Called "Hitler's Victory" it showed what would have happened had Operation Sealion gone off without a hitch....let me just say...."Wow." it even went so far as to speculate that had britain been taken, Hitler would have attacked russia months earlier, and probably steamrolled the red army....it was very neat. they even created some fake newsreels about the German occupation and some really neat reenactments. A must-see, if you can catch it.

Yeah, it was nice dealing with the British resistance and Heydrich's plans, he was quite a sick "mofo". But it was sort of based on a false premise they could make it across though I hadn't seen the beginning. The average joe might go to work screaming the Uk was saved by timely US intervention. But anyways....

My Favorites in decent order:
Band of Brothers & Patton(though somewhat inaccurate)
The Devil's Brigade, surprised no one mentoined thisone
A Bridge Too Far
Midway
The Great Escape(had a good feel to it)
Kelly's Heroes, Dambusters, the Dirty Dozen (Nice characters)

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-10-22 08:19pm

Has The Liberation of Europe ever been released in America? (The Soviet War Film, not the documentary, obviously.)

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2003-10-22 09:01pm

Tsyroc wrote:
Nathan F wrote:Tora Tora Tora was incredible (beats the living hell out of Pearl Harbor...), and Patton was good, although the constant use of 1960's era US Army vehicles dressed up a bit playing both US and German armor was quite annoying. Same goes for Battle of the Bulge, great movie, marred by the lack of WW2 vehicles.
For Patton I think it was what they were able to get on loan from the Spainish military but I may be mistaken.

They might be on loan from the Spanish military, but they are still M-60 Patton tanks, iirc.