arnhem44mad
1st Lieutenant
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2006
- Messages
- 4,663
Hey guys, just a wee discussion while we (I)
wait for the next season of reenacting and while we all (again I) wait for the new King and Country Market Garden Releases!
There are so many war movies of many different periods, which before the 21st Century were regarded as the 'Greats', now modern directors have their own creation of war movie, where generally the facts are wrong, the uniforms are off, however the acting is usually rather good.
Personally when I hear people talk of 'Great War Movies' I think of 'A Bridge Too Far', 'The Longest Day', 'Where Eagles Dare', 'Kelly's Heroes', 'The Dirty Dozen' etc....Movies which were made long before I was born, with classic actors such as Clint Eastwood, Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Sean Connery, Maximilian Schell, Telly Savalas, Robert Mitchum, Michael Caine, Lee Marvin, James Caan, Richard Burton etc....
However there are also modern greats such as Platoon, Black Hawk Down, Full Metal Jacket and a few others
War movies of the 20th Century usually, however not always, had specific facts which the movies were related to, such as Operation Market Garden, Operation Overlord, American Infantry in France, Allied spies infiltrating positions, and dressing up as Germans, A true tragic mission of modern times, the War in Vietnam!
Now in the 21st Century, war movies have dies out, which I find really sad as with modern day funding and actors there could be so many movies redone and updated to be more historically accurate, plus those movies could expand on bits missed or skipped in older films. Take 'A Bridge Too Far' For Example, through reenacting I have met and seen countless groups of British reenactors who choose to reenact the divisions which were in XXX Corps, and what's more interesting is that some of these groups even have vehicles, artillery, and British Sherman tanks!Their uniforms have been made to the specific standards of what the regiments they reenact have, as is their equipment, and most reenactors who I have spoken to have lots of knowledge on their chosen unit to reenact. Modern film makers who wanted to create a good movie based on certain events could benefit from the amount of reenactors who portray units involved in these certain events. There are also so many books which directors could consult, which past directors would not have been able to do.
Or take 'The Longest Day', our group, Normandy 44 reenact the 2nd Ranger Batallion which assaulted Point Du Hoc o the 6th of June 1944, and we use orginal equipment, so equipment which someone had used during the Second world war and chosen to sell, or which has gradually found its way into someone's hands who wants to sell it, or we use items which were never issued, for instance my friend has an orginal BC-1000 radio which when he got it was still in it's wooden crate, and sealed, dated 1945! We use orginal uniforms as best we can, as these days usualy the clothing is rather fragile and rips are common!So repro HBTs and m41s are allowed, however out helmets and boots and helmet liners are all original, we also know a couple of owners of original Higgins boats or Landing Crafts, so any directors who were wanting to know about this unit, could use us as consultation!
However modern directors do not use reenactment grous, or usually read up on or research the events which they want to create a film about, which I believe to be sort of ignorance, as they do have the opportunity to do this, and all you have to do is search on google for 2nd ranger battalion and one of the first reults is a reenactment group.
In the last 10 years the only war movie I can think of which did portray events in a true form, was 'Saving Private Ryan', however personally I find it a shame that there is only about 10-15 minutes spent on the beach landings part of the movieI think so much more could have been done here, but what was included in the movie is amazing!
I think 'Saving Private Ryan' was the last ever movie which can be even classified as a 'War Movie' which is a disappointment, as I do not believe that we will see any other war movies which will be basedon fact instead of random movies which are totally historically inacurrate, for instance: The Last Drop' 'Inglorious Basterds'....both off topic and what I personally found to be complete let downs!
Does anyone else feel that it is a shame that we don't see any great war movies these days, or am I alone in this feeling?
wait for the next season of reenacting and while we all (again I) wait for the new King and Country Market Garden Releases!There are so many war movies of many different periods, which before the 21st Century were regarded as the 'Greats', now modern directors have their own creation of war movie, where generally the facts are wrong, the uniforms are off, however the acting is usually rather good.
Personally when I hear people talk of 'Great War Movies' I think of 'A Bridge Too Far', 'The Longest Day', 'Where Eagles Dare', 'Kelly's Heroes', 'The Dirty Dozen' etc....Movies which were made long before I was born, with classic actors such as Clint Eastwood, Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Sean Connery, Maximilian Schell, Telly Savalas, Robert Mitchum, Michael Caine, Lee Marvin, James Caan, Richard Burton etc....
However there are also modern greats such as Platoon, Black Hawk Down, Full Metal Jacket and a few others
War movies of the 20th Century usually, however not always, had specific facts which the movies were related to, such as Operation Market Garden, Operation Overlord, American Infantry in France, Allied spies infiltrating positions, and dressing up as Germans, A true tragic mission of modern times, the War in Vietnam!
Now in the 21st Century, war movies have dies out, which I find really sad as with modern day funding and actors there could be so many movies redone and updated to be more historically accurate, plus those movies could expand on bits missed or skipped in older films. Take 'A Bridge Too Far' For Example, through reenacting I have met and seen countless groups of British reenactors who choose to reenact the divisions which were in XXX Corps, and what's more interesting is that some of these groups even have vehicles, artillery, and British Sherman tanks!
Their uniforms have been made to the specific standards of what the regiments they reenact have, as is their equipment, and most reenactors who I have spoken to have lots of knowledge on their chosen unit to reenact. Modern film makers who wanted to create a good movie based on certain events could benefit from the amount of reenactors who portray units involved in these certain events. There are also so many books which directors could consult, which past directors would not have been able to do. Or take 'The Longest Day', our group, Normandy 44 reenact the 2nd Ranger Batallion which assaulted Point Du Hoc o the 6th of June 1944, and we use orginal equipment, so equipment which someone had used during the Second world war and chosen to sell, or which has gradually found its way into someone's hands who wants to sell it, or we use items which were never issued, for instance my friend has an orginal BC-1000 radio which when he got it was still in it's wooden crate, and sealed, dated 1945! We use orginal uniforms as best we can, as these days usualy the clothing is rather fragile and rips are common!
So repro HBTs and m41s are allowed, however out helmets and boots and helmet liners are all original, we also know a couple of owners of original Higgins boats or Landing Crafts, so any directors who were wanting to know about this unit, could use us as consultation!However modern directors do not use reenactment grous, or usually read up on or research the events which they want to create a film about, which I believe to be sort of ignorance, as they do have the opportunity to do this, and all you have to do is search on google for 2nd ranger battalion and one of the first reults is a reenactment group.
In the last 10 years the only war movie I can think of which did portray events in a true form, was 'Saving Private Ryan', however personally I find it a shame that there is only about 10-15 minutes spent on the beach landings part of the movie
I think so much more could have been done here, but what was included in the movie is amazing!I think 'Saving Private Ryan' was the last ever movie which can be even classified as a 'War Movie' which is a disappointment, as I do not believe that we will see any other war movies which will be basedon fact instead of random movies which are totally historically inacurrate, for instance: The Last Drop' 'Inglorious Basterds'....both off topic and what I personally found to be complete let downs!
Does anyone else feel that it is a shame that we don't see any great war movies these days, or am I alone in this feeling?
