Forums at The Military Horse

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15291564/

MSNBC's views on the top ten war films. Whether these are the top ten, I don't know, but the ones I've seen, and I've seen all but one of them (Mrs. Minvear) are good.

Pat

To paraphrase the Immortal Bugs Bunny:

"What a bunch of maroons; what a bunch of gull-a-bulls."

I mean you include "The Dirty Dozen" and omit (even from honorable mention) "The Enemy Below" and "12 O-Clock High"????? [hno]

Just more useless, 'Net fluff.




Bill Kambic

Mangalarga Marchador: Uma raça, uma paixão

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by wkambic</i>
<br />To paraphrase the Immortal Bugs Bunny:

"What a bunch of maroons; what a bunch of gull-a-bulls."

I mean you include "The Dirty Dozen" and omit (even from honorable mention) "The Enemy Below" and "12 O-Clock High"????? [hno]

Just more useless, 'Net fluff.


Bill Kambic

Mangalarga Marchador: Uma raça, uma paixão

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

True. Indeed even on the really good ones, like The Bridge On The River Kwai, you have to wonder why the better film by the same director, Lawrence of Arabia, was omitted.

And All Quiet On The Western Front isn't on the list, and it ought to be.

Pat

'Casablanca'? That isn't even a war movie.

'The Big Red One'? Naahh...

'The Dirty Dozen' ... hmm.... I'd go more with 'Kelly's Heroes' at that level.

'Hell in the Pacific' is one of great note (Lee Marvin & Toshiro Mifune)

Todd

There are so many possible "sub-categories" of WWII flicks that the list is absurd.

Where's "The Battle of Britain?" Or even "Catch-22?" How about "30 Seconds over Tokyo?"

You also have to include in consideration the popular "propaganda" films. "Back to Bataan" was the most virulent "hate the Japs" flick of the War. By contrast the "Bridge on the River Kwai" simply made them look inept.

Precious little that's not American, too. [grr]

Every time I see one of these "10 Best" lists I usually run, not walk, in the other direction. They generally just "piss me off" and I really don't need that anymore. [;)]



Bill Kambic

Mangalarga Marchador: Uma raça, uma paixão

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Todd</i>
<br />'Casablanca'? That isn't even a war movie.
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It is a great movie, but I agree, it isn't a war movie any more than a film like The Third Man would be.

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'The Big Red One'? Naahh...

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Not a bad movie, but not great. On the small unit level, it definately isn't Saving Private Ryan. Or, A Walk In The Sun, one of the all time forgotten war films. Or Battleground, which I'd classify as one of the best WWII films.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">

'The Dirty Dozen' ... hmm.... I'd go more with 'Kelly's Heroes' at that level.

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I might rate The Dirty Dozen over Kelly's Heroes, but Kelly's Heroes is interesting in that its one of the very first war movies in which the production went to some length to make minor details correct. That's unusual in older war pictures. Even a great picture like Patton, or the Bridge on the River Kwai, substitute out a lot of items for things that weren't readily available. In Patton, for example, the tanks are all M48s (if I recall correctly) or M47s. In Kwai all the arms are British, no matter which side you're considering.

In Kelly's Heros, however, the German armor really is German armor. The American tanks really are WWII vintage Shermans. The uniforms are nearly correct (some glitches). The weapons are nearly all correct (some glitches there too). By and large, they got most of the details correct, even if the plot is cheesy.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
'Hell in the Pacific' is one of great note (Lee Marvin & Toshiro Mifune)
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I haven't seen that one.

I'd note here that there's some older war pictures that are just forgotten, but are really good. Everyone remembers Twelve O'Clock High and The Sands of Iwo Jima, but Battleground came out at the same time and is pretty much forgotten. A Walk In The Sun is a classic.

Films that aren't in English seem to never be mentioned either. The German production of Stalingrad isn't great, but it's better than some of the films mentioned in the MSNBC list. The Finnish production The Winter War is good. Das Boot, the German film about u-boots, is a classic.

Pat

I would like to recommend the film "Liberation" to any list of great WWII films. Yes, there is Soviet propaganda, and it can be difficult to follow because of the subtitles, but there are some big plusses. The Soviet Army was used for extras, so there are LOTS of soldiers for the big scenes and large numbers of real vehicles and equipment. Also, the film is not just in Russian- The Germans speak German and the English and Americans speak English. The actors were some of the top names in Warsaw Pact cinema, and some of the performances are pretty good. I will warn everyone that this film is very long- be prepared to spend several hours on the couch for this one!

Patrick

Another unfortunate thing of these lists, I'd note, is that if the movie is silent, it won't make the list.

However, there were some very good silent movies. Usually they're shown at the wrong speed, but if shown at the correct speed, they can be well filmed and the lack of sound isn't that noticable.

All Quiet On The Western Front has a silent version. The original 1926 version of What Price Glory is another example. What Price Glory has a great scene of a trench being filled in by shelling that's horrifying without sound. The later color, talking, What Price Glory isn't hardly worth watching.

Pat