Great WWII Movies.

Jan, 05 2002 | Justice

[Justice]

My wife and I just finished "Band of Brothers" and "Guns of Navarone". Two WWII movies which we both enjoyed very much. Please post any recommendations that any of you have for more movies of the same ilk. Many thanks!

[Missouri]

>>Not sure I agree with the quote above. From what I've read, a good many of the U-Boat commanders were pretty fanatic Nazis.<<


Some U-boat commanders were.
Anyway I had read this somewhere and it made some sense. Goering ran the Air Force, the regular army was kept on a short leash, and we all now the SS. The Navy had nothing to do with the death camps, and many U-boat captains as captains of all ocean going vessels had a lot of individual authority. Only two German admirals were charged with war crimes (Raeder and Donitz) and neither had anything to do with genocide.

[IGOTMINE]

Regarding Audie Murphy, "It's kind of ironic. He was so small that when he went to sign up for the Marines, they wouldn't take him."

Very true, and hundreds of Japanese survived the war as a result. :) The comment about Audie not looking very dangerous points up the adage about the size of the fight in the dog. He was a very, very dangeous man that was able to keep his head in the hottest of combat situations.

[Shooter 2.5]

The Valiant Hours is a great movie.

It was only after I read a review of it that said there wasn't a battle scene in the entire movie. I had to think back and I realized the review was correct.

World War One movies are a favorite since they aren't made as much.

The Horsemen
Hell's Angels
Wings

For the older films, I ignore the acting and I'm facinated by the battles and the dogfights.

[kms61]

okay, that makes sense.

[MarkL]

Patton was on again just the other day. I had forgotten just how good that movie was, although they got the tanks all wrong! lol

Mark

[Missouri]

If your dad was doing convoy duty in WWII then I would highly recommend Action in the North Atlantic Also on the lidt would be Victory at Sea, The enemy below, and Sink the Bismark

Thanks. Only problem is that he falls asleep during movies now. ( He's 81 and still working )

[PAR35]

I read "The Cruel Sea" many years (decades) ago, but I don't recall having seen the film.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

All of my favorites have already been mentioned except:
SAHARA with Humphrey Bogart,
THE BRIDGE AT REMAGDEN,
ACTION IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC.

[Shooter 2.5]

The Train - Burt Lancaster, 1964

[Shooter 2.5]

http://users.swing.be/tanks/index.htm

[Missouri]

now

now=know it's late.

[PUGACHEV]

Well, I liked The Thin Red Line very much, but I guess nobody else did so be warned. Other WWII films I liked were Das Boot, The Cruel Sea, and In Harms Way. Two films which are seldom seen but are well worth finding if you can are The Best of Enemies (1962) and a German film, The Bridge(1959). The Best of Enemies is a remarkable little comedy staring David Niven that takes place in the North African desert. Niven commands a small British unit lost in the desert which keeps bumping into a small Italian unit equally lost. The opposing units capture each other and altenate being each the prisoner of the other as they move about. In the ends the Italian commander says something very profound: "Wars are won not by the bravest, but by those who make the least mistakes." Although not strictly a WWII film, Closely Watched Trains is always worth seeing.

[Shooter 2.5]

I'll have to go down as the only person who didn't like "Saving Private Ryan".

Did anyone mention "The Big Red One"?

[tom h]

For some great laughs, try "Father Goose" with Cary Grant and Leslie Caron. It's sweet enough to watch with your children.

[Taylor42]

Don't forget to add "What Did You Do In The War Daddy" and "The Secret War Of Harry Frigg" with Paul Newman.

[John H K]

Last week I stumbled across a new film "Dark Blue World" on DVD in Blockbuster, had never heard of it.

It's a Czech production about Czech pilots that flew in the RAF....yet more Spitfires if you like Spitfires :-) Contrary to what you might expect quite a bit of money was spent and the special effects are pretty good.

It's about 50% subtitled; they speak in Czech among themselves and the scenes in Czechoslovakia, of course. Very sad. Has the best acting performance by a Spaniel I've ever seen :-)(main character, a pilot, has a dog he has to leave behind). Highly recommended.

I've constantly heard and been told that one of the greatest WWII movies ever is "Winter War" a Finnish production about the 1939 invasion of Finland by the Soviets. Pretty much will have to buy it to see it.

The ultimate place to get war movies is Belle & Blade War Video

http://www.belleandblade.com

(Note: not affiliated with them at all; actually haven't gotten around to ordering anything yet, but I've seen their extensive collection in dealer booths at wargaming conventions.)

Guy who runs the store is basically the world's greatest authority on war movies. Everywhere. If there's a Kazakhstanian movie about the Mongols, he's heard of it, and either has it in stock or can try to get it.

[top of the world ma]

The Beast

A seemingly little known war film about the Russian/Afghanistan War. Probably hard to find but worth it, if you can. I purchased it sight unseen from a vendor through Amazon. It was worth the few bucks I paid-and then some.

[Husker24]

Yea, "The Thin Red Line" sucked. As I watched it, I thought to myself, "those guys in WWII wouldnt have been thinking this crap".

[Finny]

"The Cruel Sea" with Jack Hawkins is a truly great war movie. Probably hard to find, but worth it if you can.

[Finny]

Also, as has been mentioned ... Bridge on the River Kwai is certainly one of THE best war movies ever made. Also, as has been suggested ... do go to the trouble if finding the BBC's "Piece of Cake." It will be on a series of videos. It is absolutely excellent.