Fighting Irish Forums

Been picking up WW2 movies for a while now. Be interested in hearing some suggestions for very good WW2 movies (or even modern/pre-WW2 epics).

Presently have -

Battle of Britain
Bridge Too Far
Saving Private Ryan
Enemy at the Gate
WW2 Chronology (30-hour b/w documentary using actual footage - nice!)

Others -
Gladiator
Braveheart

I think that's it.

P.S. Band of Brothers will be airing on the Canadian History Channel this fall!

Das boot
The great escape

Off the top of my head,

Pearl Harbor, I know, the movie blew chunks, but the flying scenes and sound are exceptional. That's what I put in and crank when the kids are gone.

Memphis Belle is the same, movie's so-so, but some of the flying scenes are really good.

Tora, Tora, Tora ain't bad

Midway

The Big Red One, the poor man's Private Ryan

Damn near anyting John Wayne that's not a western

12 O'clock High

I'll look at my list when I get home tonight and see what else I can come up with and ask my dad, he's fanatical.

Noter

Aces High
The Blue Max
BoB
633 Sqdn

Cross of Iron
Stalingrad
The Longest Day

And loads of others...

Yes have Pearl Harbour too! Good dogfighting scenes.

Seen most of the other movies. What about Full Metal Jacket - any good?

The first half of the movie in boot camp is phenomenal, the second half you could leave it. It really does break down into two separate movies. Watch boot camp it is totally worth it. Never been in the service, but I've heard it is/was very realistic. I don't think they can do to 'em today what they could back then.

Noter

Paths of Glory is an exceptional character study. When I was in school, we spent three weeks watching and then discussing it in Humanities class... it really slaps you in the face and stays with you!

Frank Capra directed a series of documentaries during the war, collected as 'Why We Fight'. I picked the DVDs up individually on the cheap at a local shop but the entire collection is available at a reasonable price on the net. It's a classic example of Allied propaganda and yet, thanks to Capra's Hollywood sensibilities, it strikes a fascinating balance between documentary realism and action-packed spectacle. Each episode contains a wealth of original footage, some of which is pretty graphic.

noter suggested 'Big Red One' *CUE MOOG'S RANT* - I just picked this up recently and was initially a bit puzzled but after doing some research this movie makes a lot more sense and stands up as one of the best war films I've ever seen (some critics maintain it's THE best). Samuel Fuller, the director, fought in the eponymous 1st Infantry Division and the film constitutes a jagged collection of personal anecdotes rather than a contiguous narrative. That's what confused me when I first watched it - it was done on a low budget in a New Wave style with unusual cuts and editing... if you're looking at it as you'd look at Saving Private Ryan or the like, you'd think that the film was poorly made and incomplete, but this is actually the effect Fuller was going for. Upon its 1980 release, the studio cut the film drastically and Fuller was furious... subsequent attempts at reconstruction, or anything resembling a director's cut, were hampered when thousands of feet of archive footage disappeared from the vaults. But recently a new edition has been released, compiled by some of the original production team, approximating Fuller's original intent (Fuller died before the project took shape).

Uh, anyway, I'd strongly recommend watching it (even if they do substitute Shermans for Panzers)!!!

Zat vas mee by za vay

Czterej pancerni i pies (series)
Jak rozpentalem druga wojne swiatowa 1 & 2
Stawka wieksza niz zycie (series)
A bridge too far
Where Eagles Dare
The Guns of Navarone hmm also nice
Dirty Dozen...

catch 22 - movie bad, book good
A Midnight Clear

Enemy at the Gate (got the rifle)

Guns of Navaronee (any WWII film with David Niven)

BOB (yeah, i know they're Spanish He-111's and ME-109's but a good movie)


Igor

Have recovered my list, most of which has already been mentioned by others. There were a couple more

Dawn Patrol (WWI) with David Niven by the way
Damn Busters (WWII)
Bridges at Toko-Ri (Korea)
The Hunters (Korea)

That concludes my aviation movie knowledge.

Noter

I like
The Way Forward
A walk in the Sun
The War Lover
Hell in the Pacific
Tobruk
Sink the Bismark
BoB, Dambusters,12 o'clock High.
The Hill
Zulu
The Great Escape. They Were Expendable.
This list could just keep growing the longer I sit here thinking, but I should go to work. Work. I dispise the very sound of that word...work...it's an ugly little word too, isn't it? Look at it, horrible. Anyway, I'm off. Thanks Noter somthing to talk about with the crew today. Its got to be better than talking about bloody work. What.

McBiggles

Good list of movies mate. I will keep them in mind. I especially liked Enemy of the Gate like you Igor. A very good movie about a Russian sniper. My son played an Xbox game based on The Great Escape.

TS!

"Hell is for Heroes"

with Bob Newhart.

He even has a telephone bit in it!

and a few other minor stars ...

Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Bobby Darin, Nick Adams, Fess Parker



...

and "Doctor Strangelove"

and "Cross of Iron".


Fal "Thumbs up" con

Tora Tora
Midway
Battle of Britain
The Longest Day
Saving Private Ryan (only the fighting scenes)
For us American kids the TV series COMBAT
“Hell is for Heroes” (I remember Newhart’s thing in it, Nick Adams: The Rebel, Fess Parker: Davy Crockett, Steve & James a pair of different kind of coolnest, Bobby Darin did ok in it too.)
The Blue Max (was on this last weekend)
Gettysburg,
Zulu Dawn
Zulu