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Band
of Brothers (DVD), by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg et al, 2001.
Possibly the best series of war movies ever made, Band of Brothers
chronicles the story of the 506th Airborne Infantry Regiment as seen through
the eyes of Easy Company. From training in the U.S. to the final days of the
war in Germany, Easy Company sees action in Normandy, Holland, Belgium and
Germany. Truly an astonishing piece of movie-making, it would be difficult to
heap enough praise on this excellent work.
Battleground
(VHS), by William Wellman, 1949. Probably one of the first truly accurate
movies about the Second War War, this movie remains a vivid and moving
precursor to more recent hits.
The
Battle of Britain (VHS), by Guy Hamilton, 1969.
The
Big Red One (DVD)
The
Big Red One (VHS), by Samuel Fuller, 1980.
The
Bridge on the River Kwai (VHS widescreen), by David Lean, 1957.
A
Bridge Too Far (DVD)
A Bridge Too Far (VHS), by Richard Attenborough, 1977. An
interesting but somewhat watered down movie about the infamous airborne assault
code named "Market Garden."
Das Boot: (DVD Director's Cut), by Wolfgang Petersen,
1982. This outstanding German film covers some of the true aspects of the
Battle for the Atlantic; cold, wet, boredom, fear and death.
Cross
of Iron (VHS), by Sam Peckinpah, 1977.
Empire
of the Sun (VHS), by Stephen Spielberg, 1987. The long and depressingly
realistic journey of a British boy who falls prisoner to the Japanese after the
fall of Hong Kong. The movie's portrayal of starvation, death by malaria and
the surrealistic world of refugees in wartime are all striking themes which
should not be missed. The movie peaks dramatically with the vivid portrayal of
an air attack on the main prison camp toward the end of the war. Like in
Private Ryan, the aircraft participating in the attack are North American P-51
fighters (Spielberg must like Mustangs), and your hair will stand on end at the
drama as they zoom at rooftop level over the prison compounds to the cheers of
the prisoners. Worth watching for that scene alone.
Enemy
at the Gates (DVD), by Jean-Jacques Annaud, 2001. This movie deserves
great credit at the very least for its vivid (and pretty accurate) portrayal of
WWII era Red Army troops in action. While the story line is somewhat watered
down by the love interest, watchers should keep in mind that most period
eyewitness accounts attest to the fact that a soldier's top priority when even
remotely close to civilians was to keep an eye out for girls! Considering that
the Stalingrad battles were fought in a city still full of people, this makes
such an inclusion in Enemy at the Gates at least believable. The portrayal of
snipers and their tactics is more accurate than in other recent hits, although
viewers should keep in mind that the real-life final encounter between the two
main opponents resolved itself somewhat differently. Overall, definitely worth
having on your shelf!
Fires
on the Plain (VHS widescreen), by Kon Ichikawa, 1959. The bloody
Philippine Campaign of 1944 from the viewpoint of a terminally ill Japanese
infantryman. The film chronicles the dehumanizing processes of war and
starvation, and includes brutal scenes of death, cannibalism and some of the
darkest humor ever put on film.
From
Here to Eternity (VHS)
The Longest Day (VHS)
The Longest Day (VHS Widescreen), with John Wayne, Henry
Fonda, etc. 1962 cinema classic about the June 6, 1944 Normandy landings.
A
Midnight Clear (VHS), by Keith Gordon, 1992. An appropriately bleak and
depressing view of an isolated squad of scared Americans during the Ardennes
Offensive of 1944.
Patton
(DVD)
Patton
(VHS widescreen)
Pearl
Harbor (DVD)
Pearl
Harbor (DVD Director's Cut), by Michael Bay, 2001. Okay, just to clear
the air and say all the good stuff up front, this movie has nice cinematography
and good quality graphic effects. The story line is basically correct: Japanese
planes did bomb Pearl Harbor, there was a guy named Roosevelt who was president
and someone named Doolittle did make a bombing raid against Tokyo. In numerous
other ways though, the movie is the pure fiction of a pulp novel. Everything
from the portrayal of war warning notices only being delivered the morning of
the attack, to the comic book image of two American fighter pilots tricking
four of their Japanese pursuers into colliding, the story again and
again falls grievously short. Technically the movie falls even farther afield.
The studios did bother to re-create computer generated battleships which
actually matched period vessels, but they continually switched positions of the
battleships throughout the attack scene. By the time of the final scene they
were showing the Arizona next to the capsized Oklahoma, both sunk out in the
middle of the channel with other battleships scattered in the background.
There's a reason it was called battleship row, that's because all the
battleships really were lined up in a row, not scattered all over the harbor
and its main channel. Only one battleship got underway during the attack, and
that is shown in the film as making a run for it at the start of the attack
(the USS Nevada did not get underway until long after the attack began). And I
won't even get into the modern missile cruisers shown in the harbor along with
the Independence Day style sheets of flames and devastation which blanketed the
ground beneath every wave of Japanese naval aircraft. Overall, I would
not buy this movie unless I wanted to watch the scenes of the Doolittle
bombing raid over again.
Saints
and Soldiers (DVD), by Ryan Little, 2005. The true story of a group of
Malmady Massacre survivors who rescue a downed British reconaissance pilot and
bring him back through German lines at huge cost to themselves.
Sahara
(VHS), with Humphrey Bogart.
Saving
Private Ryan (DVD)
Saving
Private Ryan (DVD DTS Edition)
Saving
Private Ryan (VHS widescreen) , by Stephen Spielberg, 1999. The latest
and greatest of Spielberg's World War Two movies, Private Ryan goes a long way
toward clearing Hollywood's dismal record of viewing war in a frivolous light.
Uniform details, action shots and violence are all accurately shown, and the
only apparent flaws in the movie are a few minor technical details which the
makers new about at the time of filming (ie - Incorrect use of snipers, SS
troops where there were none, etc.).
Schindler's
List (VHS widescreen), by Stephen Spielberg, 1993. World War Two from
the perspective of a German industrialist who gradually comes to the aid of his
Jewish workers.
Stalingrad (DVD)
Stalingrad (VHS), by Joseph Vilsmaier. A modern European
film about one of the greatest slaughters in military history. Includes scenes
with real Russian T-34s, albeit late model designs which did not exist until
well after Stalingrad. The acting is somewhat melodramatic compared to other
similar subjects. Enemy at the Gates is, despite its romance angle, more
realistic.
Tora
Tora Tora (DVD), by Richard Fleischer and Toshio Masuda, 1970.
A
Walk in the Sun (DVD)
A
Walk in the Sun (VHS), by Carl Foreman, 1945.
The
White Rose (VHS), by Michael Verhoeven.
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Enemy at the Gates
A war between Red Army and German Army snipers in the ruins of the Russian city
of Stalingrad in 1942.
Fires
on the Plains
The Philippine Campaign of 1944 from the viewpoint of a
terminally ill Japanese infantryman. An anti-war film, which chronicles the
dehumanizing processes of war and starvation.
Saving Private Ryan
Stephen Spielberg's World War Two drama about the Normandy landings of
1944.
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WORLD WAR II