Hi all I thought I should introduce this topic to cover the Pearl Harbours, The Longest Days, the Tora! Tora! Tora!'s and so on of the movie world. I have seen several great war films, and just want to record some of them here. In no particular order they are: The Longest Day (Normandy invasion - D-DAY) Tora! Tora! Tora! (Forerunner to Pearl Harbour) Midway (the worst blue water in Japanese naval history) Saving Private Ryan (saving the last of four brothers serving in the US Army) Von Ryan's express (???) Raid on Rommel (raid into German held north Africa) Pearl Harbour (December 7, 1941) Battle of Britain ("Never in the history of war was so much owed by so many to so few") Sink the Bismarck! (Chasing Hitler's superdreadnought) Battle of the River Plate (the demise of the Admiral Graf Spee) Chunuk Bair (New Zealand at Gallipoli) Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes offensive December 1944) Bridge on the River Kwai (The notorious bridge over the River Kwai) A bridge too far (Monty's gamble to shorten the war in Europe) Rob

Please don't forget "Is Paris Burning?" or "The Great Escape", two of my faves!

Hi all What other films have you seen. Those are two that I have not. I have also not seen Sands of Iwo Jima, but I saw Apocalypse Now a couple years ago, and sometime I will see U-571. Rob

Years ago I saw "Platoon"--can you believe a guy actually thought this was a good idea for a first (and last) date?--and "Kelly's Heroes" runs on Sunday afternoons frequently.

I liked "The Thin Red Line" better than "Saving Private Ryan". Although I did think that "Ryan" was a very good film.

Never saw the former to compare. "Ryan" was very intense and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Hi all The Longest Day is also remembered for it's superb theme music which is arguably the best I have ever heard for any movie. The beautiful tune being played when the soldier are on the transports sailing down the English channel to the assembly areas and again at the end of the movie, is just awesome. I would not mind the soundtrack to that. Rob

[i]Patton[/i] was good.

I saw part of that lying on the world's most uncomfortable bed at Yosemite Nat'l Park in CA. (FYI--to italicize you need to use <>, not brackets.)

Yes, I remember that now. Unfortunately, this board has neither a PREVIEW feature nor an EDIT feature. This is also the reason why there are so many bold and italic fonts running from post to post. The lack of these features is damned rubbish and should be changed.

OK, I'll look in to adding these features!

Thank you.

Hi all Saw "Hiroshima" a few weeks ago. Very chilling movie, though the historical accuracy was good. Rob

I watched "Where Eagles Dare" in our hotel room last night in Edinburgh. Love the way Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood wipe out an entire compound of German soldiers with a few sticks of dynamite and a few machine guns!

Hi all I remember seeing one about Anzio where 72000 Allied soldiers came ashore to break the deadlock at Monte Cassino by diverting the attention of the German army so the Allies could launch a surprise attack. Anzio was a great lost chance. Rome was less than 50km away and the idea was a dash to Rome would force the Germans to think twice about holding Monte Cassino, but the Allies inched inland slowly giving the Germans time to move reinforcements in. Bridge at Remagen is another interesting one to watch. It tells of the Allies capturing the only bridge still standing on the Rhine, and of the strategic disaster it's capture caused for the Germans. Rob

http://www.filmsite.org/warfilms.html War and Anti-War films. An excerpt: War and Anti-War Films often acknowledge the horror and heartbreak of war, letting the actual combat fighting or conflict (against nations or humankind) provide the primary plot or background for the action of the film. Typical elements in the action-oriented war plots include POW camp experiences and escapes, submarine warfare, espionage, personal heroism, "war is hell" brutalities, air dogfights, tough trench/infantry experiences, or male-bonding buddy adventures during wartime. Themes explored in war films include combat, survivor and escape stories, tales of gallant sacrifice and struggle, studies of the futility and inhumanity of battle, the effects of war on society, and intelligent and profound explorations of the moral and human issues. Some war films do balance the soul-searching, tragic consequences and inner turmoil of combatants or characters with action-packed, dramatic spectacles, enthusiastically illustrating the excitement and turmoil of warfare. And some 'war' films concentrate on the homefront rather than on the conflict at the military war-front. But many of them provide decisive criticism of senseless warfare. War films have often been used as 'flag-waving' propaganda to inspire national pride and morale, and to display the nobility of one's own forces while harshly displaying and criticizing the villainy of the enemy, especially during war or in post-war periods. Jingoistic-type war films usually do not represent war realistically in their support of nationalistic interests, while avoiding the reality of the horrors of war. The good guys are portrayed as clashing against the bad guys (often with stereotyped labels such as 'krauts,' 'commies,' 'Huns,' or 'nips'). These revisionistic, politically-correct and historically inaccurate films, in such diverse examples as Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and The Alamo (1960), would often redefine the facts. War films can also make political statements - unpopular wars (such as the Vietnam War and the Iraq War), have generated both supportive and critical films about the conflict (i.e., Robert Altman's M*A*S*H (1970), Kenneth Branagh's Henry V (1989), and Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)). War films are often paired with other genres, such as romance, comedy (black), and suspense-thrillers. A number of war films are actually historical epics, authentic attempts to recreate the experience of war on screen, rather than pure war films. Some are actually westerns masquerading as war films. This genre has existed since the earliest years of cinematic production in the silent era. Film-makers have been provided ample opportunities for material from American history, stretching from the French and Indian Wars to the Vietnam War. In particular, the many wars of the 20th century (primarily the First and Second World Wars, but also subsequent wars) have provided rich material for film makers. War films as a major film genre emerged after the outbreak of World War I.