Best War Movie Ever

[Ivan Ž.]

What I liked about "Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter" requires a longer reply, for which I don't have the time. But the details I particularly liked (loved) about it had least to do with history and most with human nature (which is, sadly, often absurd ).

Fabular bottom. Whitening Germans, at the expense of Poles. What is part of the German policy for a long time. Doubling the role of the perpetrators, Jews almost in love with Germans, etc. Ba, Jewish refugees in one of the episodes almost flee to the Germans in front of Polish partisans. Nonsense. There were many memes on this subject. Cinema in the worst edition.

Hello, Ponury

The series is just about everything other than the Polish partisans, and I've never seen people whitewashing themselves by showing their fellow nationals shooting children and executing civilians. I understand you being sensitive about your nation, but that's really not the point of the series.

Cheers,
Ivan

[Bart007]

If you liked Band of Brothers (which IMHO is brilliant) you may also like The Pacific.

Also made by Tom Hanks I believe.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374463/

[LineDoggie]

"The Cruel Sea" 1952 B&W

Jack Hawkins
Stanley Baker
Denholm Elliot
Donald Sinden

Story of HMS Compass Rose a Flower class corvette and her crew, later HMS Saltash Castle

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BajcgNI ... nel=JeffLi[/youtube]

[LineDoggie]

To the topic,

"Cross Of Iron", 1977, is just a "Scheissfilm", as we say in german language.
Quickly produced with actors from the so-called "second series", there is no storyline, and nothing is historically true.

Complete nonsense!
Produced for an international audience on the topic of action, but not on the topic of war.

The film simply sucks, even though the legendary director Peckinpah directed.
Peckinpah for sure a hardass, but that is by no means, a standard for quality.

Just my opinion...

Hans1906

IT's ENTERTAINMENT not a documentary. Like the Wild Bunch most men will enjoy it for the action content not the subtle nuances of fighting for the reich FFS

[Hans1906]

LineDoggie,

"The Wild Bunch – Sie kannten kein Gesetz", was one of the best so-called "late westerns", one of the very few classics.

Influenced by director Peckinpah's own war experiences and his views on the war in Vietnam.
The man was just fed up with this heroism, this war heroism of a "John-Wayne-type-characters", who never served at all...

I think, I understand the director Peckinpah somewhat, and his work...


Junior Bonner (1972)



Spätwestern https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spätwestern


Hans

[LineDoggie]

LineDoggie,

"The Wild Bunch – Sie kannten kein Gesetz", was one of the best so-called "late westerns", one of the very few classics.

Influenced by director Peckinpah's own war experiences and his views on the war in Vietnam.
The man was just fed up with this heroism, this war heroism of a "John-Wayne-type-characters", who never served at all...

I think, I understand the director Peckinpah somewhat, and his work...


Junior Bonner (1972)





Spätwestern https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spätwestern


Hans

how the US draft worked

In 1941 Wayne was 34, draft age cut off was 35

From 1940 to 1942 if over 28 you were deferred as Category 1H (over 28 exemption ended in Nov 42), he also qualified for 3A (Dependency)

Wayne was Already a father of 4 children when fathers were not being drafted in 1940-41. the dependency classification was gotten rid of in Dec 43

Wayne could not pass a Army physical due to bad knees from college football injuries

Wayne DID apply however for the OSS-
https://www.archives.gov/files/press/pr ... oss-01.jpg

https://www.archives.gov/files/press/pr ... oss-11.jpg

[Hans1906]

Thanks, LineDoggie

Another docu about Mr. John Wayne:

John Wayne
Amerika um jeden Preis

When you think of the classic western hero, you think of John Wayne. He was the prototype of the lonely cowboy. Like no other Hollywood actor, he created American myths and legends in the course of his career with over 170 films. What is less known: In real life, Wayne was a far-right macho and racist as a member of the radical right-wing "John Birch Society".

The docu on Arte: https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/083274-000-A/john-wayne/

Movie heroes are worth nothing, only big talkers.

I am a fan, the famous John Ford "trilogy" is outstanding, timeless, but he should not have "visited" Vietnam, that was not right.

America sacrificed a whole generation of the uneducated, Afro-Americans, the so-called "white trash" etc. for nothing.
My father Bob from Arizona was one of these soldiers, what was it good for, for nothing, just a waste of lives for nothing.


Hans

[ralfy]

My favorite ones are

The Human Condition

The Assault

The Burmese Harp

Kanal

Come and See

Dr. Strangelove

The Bridge

Europa, Europa

War and Peace (dir. Bondarchuk)

M*A*S*H* (1970)

The Tin Drum

The Seven Samurai

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Kagemusha

Au Revoir, Les Enfants

Patton

Das Boot

From Here to Eternity

Breaker Morant

Paths of Glory

Throne of Blood

Lacombe, Lucien

Hope and Glory

Testament

Go Tell the Spartans

The Cranes are Flying

Ran

Ashes and Diamonds

Fires on the Plain

On the Beach

Alexander Nevsky

Oro, Plata, Mata

The Train

Potemkin

The Garden of the Fitzi-Continis

Apocalypse Now

Diamonds of the Night

Gallipoli

Reds

Conspiracy (2001)

[LineDoggie]

Thanks, LineDoggie

Another docu about Mr. John Wayne:

John Wayne
Amerika um jeden Preis

When you think of the classic western hero, you think of John Wayne. He was the prototype of the lonely cowboy. Like no other Hollywood actor, he created American myths and legends in the course of his career with over 170 films. What is less known: In real life, Wayne was a far-right macho and racist as a member of the radical right-wing "John Birch Society".

The docu on Arte: https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/083274-000-A/john-wayne/

Movie heroes are worth nothing, only big talkers.

I am a fan, the famous John Ford "trilogy" is outstanding, timeless, but he should not have "visited" Vietnam, that was not right.

America sacrificed a whole generation of the uneducated, Afro-Americans, the so-called "white trash" etc. for nothing.
My father Bob from Arizona was one of these soldiers, what was it good for, for nothing, just a waste of lives for nothing.


Hans

John Birch society was formed because Lt John Birch (USAAF/OSS)was murdered by the Chinese Communists. They believed that Communists were invasive and wanted to overthrow the US Government (and lets call a spade a spade, the Communists did want to overthrow the US Government)

The so called ''White trash'' are not African Americans


"White trash" are Whites

Usually considered to be poor, of low education, and with low class jobs, employment skills living in trailers and cabins etc. in the rural south

I cannot even figure how you think the term White trash applies to Blacks

[wm]

What does it mean they were "uneducated"? Illiterate? Lacking university education? Those uneducated, Afro-Americans.

7000+ blacks died in Vietnam from a population of 22 million. So I don't quite understand what the word "generation" even means here.

For comparison, at that time, the population of blacks with six fingers numbered about 22,000 people.

[DekartMartin]

All Quiet on the Western Front 2022

[OpanaPointer]

Regarding John Wayne. My lead prof at Purdue was Randy Roberts, author of "John Wayne, American". Good read on the Duke. He nearly got arrested as a teenager because of a skinny mule.

[askropp]

All Quiet on the Western Front 2022

This movie is a desecration of both Remarque and Milestone.

[gebhk]

Rozewicz's Westerplatte - probably because it was the first war movie I saw . I saw it with my granddad and therefore got a professional's rundown of the weapons and tactics involved - he was an infantry officer whose specialty was machine guns and mortars. I have little doubt that this film and the associated memories were a major reason why I became interested in military history.

As to the film's merits - I like it because it by and large avoids propaganda, bombast and artyness. Just people doing their job as best they can under unexpected, difficult and horrific circumstances. For much the same reasons I like the Danish film April 9th. Rozewicz put a lot of effort into accurate depiction of the events and there seems to be that something intangible yet powerful when a historical movie is made on the same ground on which the events it portrays took place - and when the film was being made, quite a lot of the ground was still unchanged. I think that is a big part of what makes another movie I admire - Gettysburg - great.

Wajda's Katyn has been mentioned before. Not a war movie, as such, but I thought I would say it was the only film ever, that gave me a sleepless night!

[ShindenKai]

But right after the landing scene was over and those US troopers killed the surrendering Germans, making a joke about it, which Spielberg obviously (and disgracefully) intended as a relief-moment, half of the crowd started laughing (letting the steam off, from the previous scene). That's why I don't go to the cinema anymore; the audience often ruins the whole experience.

Cheers,
Ivan

"A moment of relief"? To simpletons perhaps. The "surrendering Germans" were actually Czech conscripts.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B-213YxngAM

Spielberg clearly did his homework. Nothing disgraceful about it, both sides committed atrocities during WW2. It was meant to illustrate the horrors of war. Even though I didn't know what they were saying at the time there was no "relief". The "moment of relief" was when Upham kills the German that killed Mellish. How'd you miss that? I saw SPR in theater TWICE, none of what you described the audience doing happened during either of my viewings. The end of SPR brought a heavy silence, followed by a respectful standing ovation, both times.