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!

[jackbill]

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

One of the best WWI movies was Paths of Glory - with Kirk Douglas. Didn't make the French look very good - especially the generals.

[BlueLancer]

Gavabutu and Levuvanna ...
(aka ... one is Guadalcanal and the other is New Caledonia ... with the Japanese base at Truk or Rabaul thrown in there somewhere)

You've just got to have the right atlas.
8')

[BlueLancer]

"While were at it, lets talk about WWII documentaries, "Battlefield" is by far the best (BTW "Battlefield Vietnam" is excellent too). "World at War" is second, Sir Laurence Olivier may have been a great actor, but to me he will always be the "Voice of WWII."

And VICTORY AT SEA, for the best triple-record soundtrack this side of "Amadeus" or "Fantasia".

[amused]

Band of Brothers was very good. I just start to cry during the last episode when they have to herd those people back into the death camp.

Other good ones that will be mentioned "Guns of Navarone", "Patton", "Battle of the Bulge" etc. There are so many it is difficult to narrow down my favorite.

"That a good idea Homer but they have already made a couple of movies about World War II" - Troy McClure

[VOA]

bump

[Shooter 2.5]

I watched all but the last ten minutes of that when It was on TV. I had to go somewhere so I don't know how they ended it.

"Dawn Patrol" was good but I'm more interested in the World War movies that were made at the time. I noticed that they saluted differently. The edge of the hand almost touches the side of the face. I don't think that was the official way of doing it. The movies of the time show small details like that. An American Civil War soldier would salute the British way with the palm facing the opposite person. I think there was a movie called "The long Parade" and it was also made right about the time of the war.

[slouper]

"Between Heaven and Hell" with Robert Wagner, Buddy Ebsen ( Jed Clampett) and Broderick Crawford. Excellent Pacific theater flick.

[dfwgator]

One movie that hasn't been mentioned is "War and Remembrance." Considering it was made for TV, it pulled no punches when it came to depicting the holocaust.

[skeeter]

See if you can locate a copy of "Castle Keep", with Burt Lancaster & Peter Falk. Out of the revisionist war movie genre of the 60's, but a pretty interesting and well made movie.

[Sophie]

In Harm's Way with John Wayne and every other big star in Hollywood in it. A really good one.

[amused]

Even watching brief footage of "survivors" of the death camps makes me ill. So much anger and despair as my soul cries out at how in the world someone could do such a thing.

Which is probably why I react very strongly when a leftie calls me a fascist for my conservative views.

[Snowyman]

When I saw U-571 I was disappointed . In real life the Oakville, at one point ,was too close to U-94 to fire on her and her stokers, who I think doubled as loaders, were waiting beside the funnel, where the cook happened to store the empty coke bottles. They attacked the sub, using the empty bottles . Hal Lawrence describes the action but I've always thought it would have made a great movie scene.
http://www.nt.net/~toby/oakville.html

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

"A Bridge Too Far" - excellent photography.

Pretty good histiography, too. All in all, a much better book and movie than "The Longest Day." Joseph E. Levine financed most of the $25 million budget himself and was determined to make an accurate retelling. In the event, it made money, though it was far from a sure thing.

[dakine]

Don't give away parts of Band of Brothers, many of us received the DVDs for Christmas!

[Dionysius]

John Ford's "They Were Expendable". Hands down!

[amused]

Don't give away parts of Band of Brothers, many of us received the DVDs for Christmas!

Doh! My apologies. I should have put in a spoiler.

[PAR35]

Since the list has now expanded to cover movies ranging from the Boer war to Somalia, lets expand the list even more. Have you seen the original war movie? Birth of a Nation. Now considered highly politically incorrect, see how the techniques developed by D.W. Griffith are still being used today.

On the other hand, if you like glitzy special effects and spoken dialogue, you might find it boring.

[mg39]

WWII: I also go with, "The Longest Day."

Vietnam: "Casualties of War." Absolutely gut-wrenching.

[strick68]

I saw that! It's truly a great movie. The scenery is terrific (if you like Afganistan) and the tank crew's descent into chaos is a wonderful bit of story telling.
Besides the movie is worth it just to see the terrorist getting crushed under th tank treads! Hoo-ah!!!