Posted on 11/26/2008 4:39:25 AM PST by mattstat
Here’s my list.
1. Twelve O’Clock High : Inarguably the best. No show, no false notes, no forced emotion like you see so much nowadays. No political correctness in the sense that there are no directorial heavy-handed “war is evil” sub-tones. No actors posing or posturing. Utterly realistic. This takes place during a time when the outcome of the war was by no means assured. The actors believe it: there is no foreshadowing of ultimate victory here as in so many other movies. A son of a general learns his lesson that even the privileged must do what is expected of them. Gregory Peck is the perfect leader, trying to get “Maximum effort” from his men, giving more of himself than he asks from anybody. 2. Tora! Tora! Tora! : Stays exceptionally close to what is known historically. Brilliant idea to have a Japanese director direct Japanese actors reading lines written by Japanese writers. Increases the sense of realism to a remarkable degree. The “special effects” are astonishing, especially since no computers were involved (Thank God). Gordon Prange (who wrote many Pearl Harbor books) contributed to the script—which is why we never see the emperor Hirohito’s involvement (Prange could never let himself believe that the Showa emperor was what he was). People who know me won’t watch this with me anymore because I like to point out just what did and did not happen at each moment in the movie. 3. The Train ...
(Excerpt) Read more at wmbriggs.com ...
I don’t consider Braveheart a military movie because way too much egregious license was taken with the principal military scenes and personalities.
Red Dawn. . .
For obvious reasons.
tehDeetz
Was it Enemy Below that had Robert Mitchum and Kurt Jurgens?
That was a good submarine movie.
My immediate family is from the southern part of East Tennessee. There are indications of strong interactions with our relatives in northern East Tennessee before the Unpleasantness. They sided with the Union. We sided with the Confederacy. No more interactions after the War!
1-PATTON
2-B.O.B
3-FULL METAL JACKET
4-WE WERE SOLDIERS
5-KELLY’S HEROES
6-GREEN BERETS
7-TORA,TORA,TORA
8-GETTYSBURG/GODS AND GENERALS
9-SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
10-GUNNER PALACE (IRAQ)
TV
BLACK SHEEP SQUADRON
MASH
Whoops! Missed it. More coffee.
“Was it Enemy Below that had Robert Mitchum and Kurt Jurgens?”
That was it, Mitchum, like Bronson and McQueen, always put in a good solid performance but never seemed to get the recognition of people like John Wayne. Also saw that it was directed by Dick Powell, brings back memories of Zane Grey Theater (guess I am getting old). I also liked The Hunt for Red October (have to overlook Baldwin), never thought much of Connery as Bond but he definitely improved with age.
Dick Powell. Did a good job in "Mr. Roberts."
My favorite.
That was William Powell. A very good flick.
The Black Sheep Squadron and The Rat Patrol would be my favorites for TV. One of the best lines was when Pappy said, in a voice over, that he was relieved to see that the attacking planes didn’t have extra fuel tanks and that it would be a short battle (they would have to break off and return to base), until .... he realized they didn’t intend to return to base.
Dreadful filmmaking. Simply laughable.
Oopsey. Thanks for the correction.
When some goofy movie critic talks about “chemstry” between two actors, watch any Thin Man movie and pay attenton to Wiliam Powell and Myrna Loy, and you will know what chemistry is. The critic won’t sound so goofy anymore.
You didn't find it credible that battlefield tactics in the far future would be modeled on those of the Trojan War?
That's not really a "movie," is it? I thought that was a documentary that made its way onto PBS or something after the war.
It was very good, too.
He told me that the Morant character was somewhat embellished in the movie -- specifically in that "Harry Morant was a pretty bad guy" (just picture this with an Australian accent, LOL). Apparently Morant was what was known as a "remittance man" in Australia . . . this tag was originally applied to a person who joined the British Army and fled the country so as to avoid paying a huge debt, but over the years it was also applied to men who joined the British Army to avoid prosecution for some kind of crime. I believe the latter was the case with Harry Morant.
Thanks for the tip on that one, Tallguy. I’ve never heard of that movie.
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