Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Memorial Day thread...What's your Favorite WW II war movie?
one man's opinion

Posted on 05/30/2004 4:15:31 AM PDT by ken5050

If you happen to turn your TV set on at any time this Memorial Day weekend, there's a strong probability you'll come across a World War II war movie..... the classic Hollywood genre. There are many of them, and, happily a lot of very good ones. So, on this weekend of remembrance, and the dedication of the WW II memorial, what's your favorite, or favorites, and why?


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: movies; turass
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 301-320321-340341-360361-379 last
To: ken5050
I'll have to look into it.

"The Harmonists" is a great film also. I don't know if you saw the comment where I mentioned it, but it's a film about a Jewish harmonist who is part of a quartet that performs for various Nazi officials.

Eventually, he is forced to flee in order to save himself. His best friend, a tall, blue-eyed, blond guy, becomes a top munitions expert, who makes rockets for the Nazis.

361 posted on 06/01/2004 2:53:14 PM PDT by The Scourge of Yazid ("Are you retarded? Because there are agencies that hire retarded people. I could recommend you.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 360 | View Replies]

To: First_Salute
also:

They Were Expendable

362 posted on 06/01/2004 2:56:05 PM PDT by First_Salute (May God save our democratic-republican government, from a government by judiciary.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 347 | View Replies]

To: mondoman
To be perfectly honest, the director and writers were pretty clear about what they wanted to do with their film, and I'm not sure it hand anything necessarily to do with advancing that theme, whether from a pro-war or antiwar angle.

If anything, the story was written from a friendship angle; showing us how these three men were able to forge ahead by relying on each other's respective strengths, and how their particular weaknesses hindered one another at various points in time.

363 posted on 06/01/2004 3:03:48 PM PDT by The Scourge of Yazid ("Are you retarded? Because there are agencies that hire retarded people. I could recommend you.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 349 | View Replies]

To: ken5050

Guadacanal Diary and They Were Expendable.


364 posted on 06/01/2004 3:08:23 PM PDT by MacArthur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: R. Scott
Well, the descriptions of what they had to do in order to survive-especially, in light of the corruption in the food rationing program-is astonishing.

I couldn't imagine having to consume the flesh of another human being-let alone, that of a close, family relation-in order to merely subsist.

It truly is remarkable that this city was able to survive the onslaught of the German army for such an extended period of time.

365 posted on 06/01/2004 3:15:01 PM PDT by The Scourge of Yazid ("Are you retarded? Because there are agencies that hire retarded people. I could recommend you.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 348 | View Replies]

To: First_Salute
also:

Von Ryan's Express

366 posted on 06/01/2004 3:51:25 PM PDT by First_Salute (May God save our democratic-republican government, from a government by judiciary.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 362 | View Replies]

To: Space Wrangler

I saw most of Ike, I thought Selleck did a serviceable job, the only bad flaw I saw was that they portrayed Patton as a total fool.


367 posted on 06/01/2004 5:28:52 PM PDT by somemoreequalthanothers
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 350 | View Replies]

To: ItsonlikeDonkeyKong
It truly is remarkable that this city was able to survive the onslaught of the German army for such an extended period of time.

I often wonder if many Americans could withstand the same thing.

368 posted on 06/01/2004 5:31:42 PM PDT by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 365 | View Replies]

To: ken5050
also:

Red Dawn

369 posted on 06/01/2004 9:49:08 PM PDT by First_Salute (May God save our democratic-republican government, from a government by judiciary.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: R. Scott
I wouldn't put such low stock in Americans-from whatever era or background.

One of the reasons the Russians were able to gut it out was because of the biggest ally they had on the Eastern Front; Old Man Winter.

Hitler, like every fanatic, did not take into account the lessons he should have learned from history. Napoleon tried the same thing and got shut down by Khutuzov, et. al., who had the winter's frost at their backs.

370 posted on 06/01/2004 9:54:36 PM PDT by The Scourge of Yazid ("Was he Wazir?" "Yes, he was Wazir!" "I was, and am Wazir!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 368 | View Replies]

To: ItsonlikeDonkeyKong
I wouldn't put such low stock in Americans-from whatever era or background. </>

With the mood and influence of the anti-war people in our media - Hollywood, newspapers, TV news etc, and the numbers who are ready to oppose war so quickly I hope you’re right.
Hopefully if a full scale invasion happened, we would respond as we did a couple centuries ago. It has been a long time since it has happened to us. Other than a few Mexican bandits in the early part of the 20th Century, we haven’t been invaded since the War of 1812.
I hope I don’t see it never happens again.

371 posted on 06/02/2004 3:00:33 AM PDT by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 370 | View Replies]

To: ken5050
Patton. God help me, I do love it! It was on right after the 9/11 attacks, and what a tonic it was. I wish we had a General like Patton now.

Stalag 17. Not a war movie per se, but a great one set during the war. William Holden gives a terrific performance.

Tora! Tora! Tora! Gritty, realistic, the real footage adds to the drama.
372 posted on 06/02/2004 3:12:41 AM PDT by drew (fear of a liberal planet)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: R. Scott
If we are conquered by a foreign ideology, it will not come on the waves of an hostile army.

As that cad Huey Long was wont to say, when questioned if fascism will ever take hold in the United States:

Yep, but it will be calling itself antifascism.

373 posted on 06/02/2004 5:29:43 AM PDT by The Scourge of Yazid (Lay it on me fella. I meant, let's talk freak! God, do people take anything figuratively these days?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 371 | View Replies]

To: ItsonlikeDonkeyKong

I can’t really imagine any country being foolish enough to invade us - unless we get a couple Presidents like Hanoi John back to back.


374 posted on 06/02/2004 6:26:00 AM PDT by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 373 | View Replies]

To: R. Scott
President Kerry:

No, Crown Prince Nayef, I don't see why we can't have a few Saudi Arabian air bases on the East Coast. How does Martha's Vineyard sound? Great, we'll discuss it while we're on the slopes.

375 posted on 06/02/2004 6:39:14 AM PDT by The Scourge of Yazid (Lay it on me fella. I meant, let's talk freak! God, do people take anything figuratively these days?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 374 | View Replies]

To: ItsonlikeDonkeyKong

On Martha's Vineyard?
Sounds good to me. It would be the ideal location for protecting New York. It wouldn’t require tearing down as many homes (compounds?) as it would in other areas.


376 posted on 06/02/2004 6:50:51 AM PDT by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 375 | View Replies]

To: R. Scott
Guess so.
377 posted on 06/02/2004 9:57:54 AM PDT by The Scourge of Yazid (Lay it on me fella. I meant, let's talk freak! God, do people take anything figuratively these days?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 376 | View Replies]

To: MojoWire
The Winds of War.

That and its sequel, "War and Remembrance" were excellent books and films.

One of the best lines of any WWII book has the Brit journalist and his niece in Singapore just before its fall to Japan. All the talk on the island is whether or not "Fortress Singapore" actually is and public optimism is tempered with lots of private doubt. It is in that atmosphere that the uncle bursts into his sleeping niece's room shouting,

"We just won the war! We just won the war!"

His groggy niece who has no idea what he's talking about asks, "The Germans surrendered?"

To which he replies, "No, the Japs just bombed Pearl Harbor. The Yanks are in it! It'll take a few years of fighting, but the outcome is no longer in doubt."

378 posted on 06/02/2004 10:40:13 AM PDT by laredo44 (Liberty is not the problem..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 96 | View Replies]

To: Petronski
Conspiracy (HBO Films, about the Wannsee Conference)

I completely agree. Conspiracy: Meeting at Wannsee is a recent effort and as chilling a portrayal of evil as Compulsion (the Leopold/Loeb case) or In Cold Blood.

379 posted on 06/02/2004 11:07:35 AM PDT by laredo44 (Liberty is not the problem..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 216 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 301-320321-340341-360361-379 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson