Posted on 05/23/2020 6:44:39 PM PDT by MAGA2017
Memorial Day activities, gatherings and parades may not be possible in your area due to the Coronavirus shutdown. We can still display the U.S. flag and honor the fallen at cemeteries. Two of my favorites films are The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) starring Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright and Harold Russell and The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1953) with William Holden and Grace Kelly. The he Bridges at Toko-Ri ends with the memorable line, Where do we get such men?
What patriotic films do you enjoy watching?
I agree with some that have already been mentioned (Bridges at Toko Ri for sure). Others I plan to “binge” watch:
Ike
Memphis Bell
Bridge on the River Kwai
Battle of Britten
Crimson Tide (I know, but it’s a good movie)
Strategic Air Command
Unbroken
Glory is also good...not sure you could make the movie nowadays.
Unbroken
Great picks!
BYOOL and its director William Wyler both are my #1 all time favorites. Wyler himself returned from WWII severely crippled; he had lost most of his hearing, and it never improved much.
The Bridges at Toko-Ri is the most accurate depiction of carrier aviation ever filmed. I know because I was a carrier aviator. The production crew had the full cooperation of the U.S. Navy (despite the movie’s ending) which added to the realism.
The Man Who Never Was. It is on this weekend if you have Direct TV. It is a about Operation Mincemeat a British decoy operation that probably saved 20000 men in Ww2
It is from Deutsche Welle, but covers a really grim bit of our military history: https://www.dw.com/en/the-battle-of-hürtgen-forest/av-53307984
And if you want to see beautifully reworked WWI footage that is accompanied by the reminiscences of British veterans who were there, try "They Shall Not Grow Old."
“The Bridges at Toko-Ri” has one of the biggest surprise endings (and saddest) imaginable. A real downer.
compare Holdens character to Alec Guinness. classic cavalier can do American vs. staid by the book Brit.
Sesue Haiakawa as the Japanese Commandant is excellent.
“Glory is also good”
Very much so, very emotional ending.
+1 for “Twelve O’clock High.” An absolutely amazing film about courage, devotion and leadership.
My Uncle was a squadron leader of B-17G bombers. Never once did he mention what he did or experience.
I agree Tora Tora Tora is an excellent movie; I have watched it over a dozen times since 1970. I just finished a good account of Japan from 1936-1945, “The Rising Sun,” bu John Toland. He devotes about three chapters to the events surrounding Pearl Harbor including mistranslations of important diplomatic cables.
I loved both “Tora, Tora, Tora” And the more recent “Pearl Harbor” which shows actual original film shots throughout the movie ......
Although in ‘Pearl Harbor’ the actual attack is very violent and bloody...they had Veterans who were actually there view it first and all said that’s depicted just as it was like..
“Hacksaw Ridge”
One of the best movies EVER.
Watched “Saving Private Ryan” today. I cried.
The younger generation had a pair back then, our youngers now are eunuchs.
Bongino podcast I listened to today said our country is over. He might be right.
Great book, The Man Who Never Was. Eye Of The Needle. Run Silent, Run Deep got my dumb ass into the submarine service. The Last Day was good too. Firebase Gloria was a favorite R Lee Ermey movie of mine.
The Fighting Sullivans
The Best Years of Our Lives
Saving Private Ryan
Band of Brothers
The Pacific
For those who wish to see “Memphis Belle,” may I suggest the ORIGINAL “Memphis Belle,” and not that cobbled up Hollywood version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iklskql58yM
The list thus far (through #34)...
Band of Brothers
Battle of Athens, A True American Story
Battle of Britain (1969)
Battleground
Beach Red
Big Red One, The
Bridge on the River Kwai
Bridges at Toko-Ri, The
Crimson Tide
Dirty Dozen, The
Eye Of The Needle
Firebase Gloria
Gettysburg
Glory
Great Escape, The
Green Berets
Hacksaw Ridge
Heartbreak Ridge
Ike
In Harms Way
Last Day, The
Longest Day, The
Lost Batallion, The
Man Who Never Was, The
Memphis Bell
Midway (1976)
Midway (2019)
Pacific, The
Patton
Pearl Harbor
Rough Riders
Run Silent, Run Deep
Saving Private Ryan
Sergeant York
Strategic Air Command
The 49th Parallel
They Shall Not Grow Old
They Were Expendable
Tora, Tora, Tora
Twelve O’Clock High
Unbroken
We Were Soldiers
We were Soldiers
Not an American Memorial Day movie, but a great movie to remember what hell those who fight wars go through. This movie is about fighting in the trenches in WWI, and it uses real footage - with dialogue that has been added based on lip-reading by linguists using the original film.
All Quiet on the Western Front, a 1930 silent that gets its message across.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruyXYkh9-mM
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