theBaron
Major
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2008
- Messages
- 10,327
Five pages in before anyone mentioned "Tora! Tora! Tora!" That is a great movie! First of all, the special effects were fantastic, especially when we consider that there was no such thing as CGI. And that the movie is reasonably historically accurate is also a plus. By contrast, the more recent "Pearl Harbor" is bilge water. Alec Baldwin as Jimmy Doolittle? Are you kidding? But the average American high school kid probably thought it was a documentary. Just as they think Indiana Jones defeated the Third Reich, with the aid of Alan Quartermaine, Captain Nemo and Spider-Man.
"The Longest Day" is another great war movie, from the perspective of accuracy, along with "A Bridge Too Far".
I didn't like "Saving Private Ryan" all that much. For me, it was hard to accept that a Waffen-SS trooper would tell a GI as they grappled for life or death, to give in because it would be easier for him. It seemed too comic-book. If it's based on an actual incident, well, I can accept it, but it seems as hokey as the classic '40s GI squad that included the blonde kid from Kansas and the streetwise, wisecracking guy from Brooklyn.
"Das Boot" is great, and if you speak German, see it in the original, its much better. The novel was good, too.
I'm with the guys who listed "Kelly's Heroes", too. That is a good war movie, from an entertainment perspective. A bunch of movie stars, playing Army for 3 hours. Good characters, good acting.
"Battle of Britain" is another good movie.
"Battle of the Bulge" was awful, from a historical perspective, but fun to watch.
"Dirty Dozen"-another entertaining movie, with good actors giving good performances.
"The Lighthorsemen" is another good one.
"Master and Commander" is also very well-done.
"Midway" stank. Compared with "Tora! Tora! Tora!" which was only made a couple of years previously, it was really bad. First of all, the producers cheaped out and used stock footage for the aircraft, almost all of it wrong, and for the carriers, they used footage of Essex-class carriers in their post-war configurations for the American ships, then flipped the negatives of the same ships for the Japanese carriers. And adding the love affair between Charleton Heston's son and the Nisei girl was just unnecessary. But I think Henry Fonda and Hal Holbrook were believeable as Admiral Nimitz and LtCmdr Rochefort (code-breaker).
"The Crossing" Very well-done rendering of Howard Fast's historical novel (he wrote the screenplay as well). Washington's brilliant and daring assault, more than any other action, saved our Revolution. If he had lost that battle, or had not wagered it at all, chances are very good that that would have been the end of it. Jeff Daniels was very believeable as Washington, and the details were reasonably accurate. My only complaint is that I don't think Henry Knox was such a baby about comments about his girth. From what I have read, he was sharp, and jovial, and consummately professional. But it doesn't detract from the movie. That, and maybe, von Rall was played with a little too much of the tinge of later German military. He was a Hessian in 1776. The rampant militarism, vulgar snobbery and arrogance of the Wilhelmine officers was another 110 years in the future. The fusilier caps were too tall, too.
I didn't like "The Patriot" at first, but then I decided that it doesn't pretend to be accurate history, and then I was able to enjoy it. I think that idea came to me while watching "Northwest Passage", starring Spencer Tracy as Rogers, and seeing the scenes of Rogers' Rangers at regimental strength, marching off in good column order, every man clad in the same uniform loosely based on the hunting frock, with a side cap, in uniform color. I realized that I could enjoy "The Patriot" on its own terms, with its broadly-drawn charaters, heroes and villains.
"Gettysburg" was OK, but I think they could have easily cut an hour, and not lost anything in depicting the battle. Jeff Daniels with a fine performance here, too, as Joshua Chamberlain.
"Glory" is also pretty good, if the very idea of making that particular movie is tinged with a PC view of history. Some details incorrect, but again, some very good performances.
"Flying Tigers", "They Were Expendable" and "Task Force" I would include, as well.
And how could I forget "The Great Escape", and "Stalag-17"? Great performances, and in "Stalag-17", especially, great characters, great performances, great drama, and it was written by a man who was a "guest" of the Germans himself.
Time to hit the sack,
Prost!
Brad
"The Longest Day" is another great war movie, from the perspective of accuracy, along with "A Bridge Too Far".
I didn't like "Saving Private Ryan" all that much. For me, it was hard to accept that a Waffen-SS trooper would tell a GI as they grappled for life or death, to give in because it would be easier for him. It seemed too comic-book. If it's based on an actual incident, well, I can accept it, but it seems as hokey as the classic '40s GI squad that included the blonde kid from Kansas and the streetwise, wisecracking guy from Brooklyn.
"Das Boot" is great, and if you speak German, see it in the original, its much better. The novel was good, too.
I'm with the guys who listed "Kelly's Heroes", too. That is a good war movie, from an entertainment perspective. A bunch of movie stars, playing Army for 3 hours. Good characters, good acting.
"Battle of Britain" is another good movie.
"Battle of the Bulge" was awful, from a historical perspective, but fun to watch.
"Dirty Dozen"-another entertaining movie, with good actors giving good performances.
"The Lighthorsemen" is another good one.
"Master and Commander" is also very well-done.
"Midway" stank. Compared with "Tora! Tora! Tora!" which was only made a couple of years previously, it was really bad. First of all, the producers cheaped out and used stock footage for the aircraft, almost all of it wrong, and for the carriers, they used footage of Essex-class carriers in their post-war configurations for the American ships, then flipped the negatives of the same ships for the Japanese carriers. And adding the love affair between Charleton Heston's son and the Nisei girl was just unnecessary. But I think Henry Fonda and Hal Holbrook were believeable as Admiral Nimitz and LtCmdr Rochefort (code-breaker).
"The Crossing" Very well-done rendering of Howard Fast's historical novel (he wrote the screenplay as well). Washington's brilliant and daring assault, more than any other action, saved our Revolution. If he had lost that battle, or had not wagered it at all, chances are very good that that would have been the end of it. Jeff Daniels was very believeable as Washington, and the details were reasonably accurate. My only complaint is that I don't think Henry Knox was such a baby about comments about his girth. From what I have read, he was sharp, and jovial, and consummately professional. But it doesn't detract from the movie. That, and maybe, von Rall was played with a little too much of the tinge of later German military. He was a Hessian in 1776. The rampant militarism, vulgar snobbery and arrogance of the Wilhelmine officers was another 110 years in the future. The fusilier caps were too tall, too.
I didn't like "The Patriot" at first, but then I decided that it doesn't pretend to be accurate history, and then I was able to enjoy it. I think that idea came to me while watching "Northwest Passage", starring Spencer Tracy as Rogers, and seeing the scenes of Rogers' Rangers at regimental strength, marching off in good column order, every man clad in the same uniform loosely based on the hunting frock, with a side cap, in uniform color. I realized that I could enjoy "The Patriot" on its own terms, with its broadly-drawn charaters, heroes and villains.
"Gettysburg" was OK, but I think they could have easily cut an hour, and not lost anything in depicting the battle. Jeff Daniels with a fine performance here, too, as Joshua Chamberlain.
"Glory" is also pretty good, if the very idea of making that particular movie is tinged with a PC view of history. Some details incorrect, but again, some very good performances.
"Flying Tigers", "They Were Expendable" and "Task Force" I would include, as well.
And how could I forget "The Great Escape", and "Stalag-17"? Great performances, and in "Stalag-17", especially, great characters, great performances, great drama, and it was written by a man who was a "guest" of the Germans himself.
Time to hit the sack,
Prost!
Brad
