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NFT: In honor of Memorial day: Older war movies that are great

montanagiant : 5/25/2020 5:18 pm
IMO these still hold up years later:
Midway (1976) The cast for this movie is amazing.
.Charlton Heston as Captain Matthew Garth
.Henry Fonda as Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
.James Coburn as Captain Vinton Maddox
.Glenn Ford as Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance
.Hal Holbrook as Commander Joseph Rochefort
.Robert Mitchum as Vice Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey Jr.
.Cliff Robertson as Cmdr. Carl Jessop
.Robert Wagner as Lieutenant Commander Ernest L. Blake
.Pat Morita as Rear Admiral Ryūnosuke Kusaka
.Christopher George as Lieutenant Commander C. Wade McClusky
.Dabney Coleman as Captain Murray Arnold
.Tom Selleck as Aide to Capt. Cyril Simard


The Big Red One (1980) Stars Lee Marvin as a Sgt who takes 4 soldiers through all of WW2

The Dirty Dozen (1967) Great flick with a great cast.
Apocalypse Now, Platoon,  
Simms11 : 5/25/2020 5:31 pm : link
Full Metal Jacket, We Were Soldiers, Killer Angels, Saving Private Ryan, Hacksaw Ridge.
Here are two, with great casts  
Russ in Queens, NYC : 5/25/2020 5:34 pm : link
The Longest Day
A Bridge Too Far


Both based on books by Cornelius Ryan.
The Dirty Dozen in 67 gets my vote  
PatersonPlank : 5/25/2020 5:34 pm : link
I usually don't like the old WW2 type movies, but this one is great. Lee Marvin, Telly S, Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland, and Ernest Borgnine (among others)
Years  
Russ in Queens, NYC : 5/25/2020 5:35 pm : link
TLD: 1962

ABTF: 1977
Years  
Russ in Queens, NYC : 5/25/2020 5:36 pm : link
TLD: 1962

ABTF: 1977
Pardon...  
Russ in Queens, NYC : 5/25/2020 5:37 pm : link
...the double post.
A few really old ones that.....  
MOOPS : 5/25/2020 5:46 pm : link
managed to catch the mood at the time and held up pretty well:

They Were Expendable

Guadalcanal Diary
A rare movie about the Korean War  
CRinCA : 5/25/2020 6:02 pm : link
"Pork Chop Hill" with Gregory Peck.
One of my favorites is Battleground  
MadPlaid : 5/25/2020 6:13 pm : link
About the Battle of the Bulge.
The Best Years of Our Lives  
US1 Giants : 5/25/2020 6:22 pm : link
is on TCM tonight. It is post war but very good.
Heartbreak Ridge  
Steve L : 5/25/2020 6:48 pm : link
And We Were Soldiers are good ones.
“In Which We Serve”  
BillT : 5/25/2020 6:50 pm : link
Story of a British destroyer directed by David Lean along with Lawrence of Arabia also directed by Lean.

Bridge over the River Kwai  
redwhiteandbigblue : 5/25/2020 6:57 pm : link
and The Longest Yard.
Oops.  
redwhiteandbigblue : 5/25/2020 6:59 pm : link
The Longest Day. Great Escape as well
The Steel Helmet and The Steel Lady  
ghost718 : 5/25/2020 7:16 pm : link
.
The Great Escape is another classic.  
Crispino : 5/25/2020 7:26 pm : link
My father was a WWII veteran and hated The Dirty Dozen. Thought it was ridiculously bad. He also had a pet peeve about movies that portrayed guys who would crack under the stress of combat. He spent 4 1/2 Heard in combat zones in the Pacific Theater and said he never once saw a guy fail to do his duty because of combat stress. He knew it happened, but not as frequently as portrayed in films.
Best Years of Our Lives ...  
Bubblerjuke : 5/25/2020 7:29 pm : link
was the 1946 Academy Award Winner for best picture. Not really a war movie, but a good one.
In Harms Way.  
Earl the goat : 5/25/2020 7:41 pm : link
Otto Preminger Movie

John Wayne
Burgess Meredith
Kirk Douglas
Tom Tryon
Henry Fonda

Just a fantastic movie
RE: In Harms Way.  
Spider56 : 5/25/2020 7:56 pm : link
In comment 14910512 Earl the goat said:
Quote:
Otto Preminger Movie

John Wayne
Burgess Meredith
Kirk Douglas
Tom Tryon
Henry Fonda

Just a fantastic movie


+1 (But I don’t think Henry Fonda was in it) Patricia Neal was 1 sexy lady.
RE: RE: In Harms Way.  
Earl the goat : 5/25/2020 8:02 pm : link
In comment 14910523 Spider56 said:
Quote:
In comment 14910512 Earl the goat said:


Quote:


Otto Preminger Movie

John Wayne
Burgess Meredith
Kirk Douglas
Tom Tryon
Henry Fonda

Just a fantastic movie



+1 (But I don’t think Henry Fonda was in it) Patricia Neal was 1 sexy lady.



Right about Patricia

Henry Fonda was definitely in it.
Too many to name...  
Chris in Philly : 5/25/2020 8:06 pm : link
I would always watch them with my dad. Off the top of my head:

-Patton
-The Great Escape
-Bataan
-Sands of Iwo Jima
-Guns of Navarone
-Mr. Roberts
-A Walk in the Sun
-Run Silent, Run Deep
-Bridge on the River Kwai
-Big Red One
-Dirty Dozen
-Twelve O’Clock High
-Where Eagles Dare
-Tora, Tora, Tora
You are correct ... my bad on missing Fonda.  
Spider56 : 5/25/2020 8:06 pm : link
I need to watch it again soon.
RE: Too many to name...  
Spider56 : 5/25/2020 8:08 pm : link
In comment 14910540 Chris in Philly said:
Quote:
I would always watch them with my dad. Off the top of my head:

-Patton
-The Great Escape
-Bataan
-Sands of Iwo Jima
-Guns of Navarone
-Mr. Roberts
-A Walk in the Sun
-Run Silent, Run Deep
-Bridge on the River Kwai
-Big Red One
-Dirty Dozen
-Twelve O’Clock High
-Where Eagles Dare
-Tora, Tora, Tora


I recently visited the castle and village in Austria where they filmed Where Eagles Dare .... very cool place.
RE: Heartbreak Ridge  
montanagiant : 5/25/2020 8:23 pm : link
In comment 14910481 Steve L said:
Quote:
And We Were Soldiers are good ones.

Only problem I have with Heartbreak Ridge is how unrealistic it is with regards to a Marine Recon unit (which although is not recognized as Special Forces officially, their job coincides with many aspects of SF) and what a cluster that group was.
..  
Named Later : 5/25/2020 8:34 pm : link
I don't want to go against the grain here, but TCM just played a very poor movie adaptation of The Battle of the Bulge. Was that supposed to be the Ardennes Forest ?? In December ??
It looked like it was filmed in Southern California.

I looked it up and it was filmed in Spain.

The article I read says they had production problems, Some of those Panzer Tanks appeared to be plastic models. Ike wrote a denunciation of this movie for gross inaccuracies.

I thought the Band of Brothers episode on the Battle of the Bulge was excellent.
RE: Bridge over the River Kwai  
Jim in Fairfax : 5/25/2020 8:59 pm : link
In comment 14910486 redwhiteandbigblue said:
Quote:
and The Longest Yard.


Hey, why not?

SHOOT HIM!!



The Thin Red Line  
eric2425ny : 5/25/2020 10:24 pm : link
was also a very good movie.
montanagiant,  
smshmth8690 : 5/26/2020 12:54 am : link
When I watched Band Of Brothers, I always thought that it reminded me of The Big Red One. I've tried to look it up, but couldn't find anything that compares the two, but are they based on the same military unit?
RE: montanagiant,  
montanagiant : 5/26/2020 12:57 am : link
In comment 14910665 smshmth8690 said:
Quote:
When I watched Band Of Brothers, I always thought that it reminded me of The Big Red One. I've tried to look it up, but couldn't find anything that compares the two, but are they based on the same military unit?

I read something a while back that said BoB was based on it. A lot of similarities
All the flix  
OC2.0 : 5/26/2020 3:37 am : link
Mentioned are gonna good. But I’ll add this “Attack!”
Jack Palance, Lee Marvin, Eddie Albert etc
Definitely not ur usual rah rah Hollywood flick.
Also  
OC2.0 : 5/26/2020 3:45 am : link
“A Midnight Clear” another off the radar good one:
The Best Years of Our Lives is in a class by itself.  
Klaatu : 5/26/2020 6:51 am : link
It's one of the best movies ever made. Not exactly a "war" movie, in that it takes place well after the fighting is over, but no movie ever dramatized the effects of war on the men who fought it (and the families they left behind, indeed, the country they left behind) better than this movie did.

From a film perspective, there are superlative performances across the board by an outstanding cast working with a moving, poignant screenplay, brought to the screen by one of Hollywood's greatest Directors. Without question, it's a "must see."

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) - ( New Window )
RE: montanagiant,  
BamaBlue : 5/26/2020 6:58 am : link
In comment 14910665 smshmth8690 said:
Quote:
When I watched Band Of Brothers, I always thought that it reminded me of The Big Red One. I've tried to look it up, but couldn't find anything that compares the two, but are they based on the same military unit?


Band of Brothers is E Company, 101st Airborne Division; The Big Red One (1st Infantry Division). Same war... An Airborne Infantry unit and a 'leg' Infantry unit are very different, until the Airborne unit hits the drop zone.
RE: One of my favorites is Battleground  
Victor in CT : 5/26/2020 7:52 am : link
In comment 14910473 MadPlaid said:
Quote:
About the Battle of the Bulge.


me too. Van Johnson, James Whitmore.Great movie.
One movie I haven't seen mentioned is Kelly's Heroes.  
Klaatu : 5/26/2020 8:13 am : link
Perhaps a black comedy isn't very worthy of a Memorial Day remembrance, but it's still an excellent movie, even with Donald Sutherland's over-the-top performance as "Oddball," a character about 20 years ahead of his time.

Another one I haven't seen mentioned is Anzio, an "anti-war" war movie. Not a great movie by any means. Robert Mitchum mails it in, Peter Falk hated the script so much that he was constantly threatening to leave the production, but Earl Holliman and Reni Santoni turn in good performances.

The reason I bring it up is that for all of its faults, it's a pretty accurate portrayal of a disastrous campaign that cost many more American lives than it should have due to inept and ineffectual leadership, political and military. As one writer put it:

Quote:
By the thousands they tumbled off their landing crafts. Men, trucks, guns – 36,000 battle-hardened Allied troops supported by 3,200 vehicles and all delivered with nary a response from the Wehrmacht. On the beaches of the fishing town of Anzio on January 22nd, it seemed that the Allied advance in Italy had finally achieved with Operation Shingle the breakthrough they had been searching for.

Instead, Anzio would become emblematic of the entire Italian campaign – poor planning, poor leadership, harsh terrain and heavy casualties over the course of a grueling near 6-month battle.


The Stranded Whale
Surprised no one mentioned To Hell and Back  
RiffRaff : 5/26/2020 10:09 am : link
with Audie Murphy. Not a great or perfectly accurate movie about Audie Murphy's Heroic achievements during WWII, but the fact that he, himself, starred in it made it a great flick to watch. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie when I was growing up.

Also have to mention Clint Eastwood's other WWII movies about Iwo Jima: Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. Both were well done pieces. Brilliant, ambitious, and IMHO, well executed.
Forgot to mention the Battle of Britain  
RiffRaff : 5/26/2020 10:11 am : link
Starring Robert Shaw, Michael Cain, and Lawrence Olivier. Another great old war movie.
More classics  
JohnF : 5/26/2020 11:27 am : link
Das Boot (1981)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Sargent York (1941)
Gallipoli (1981)
Almost forgot  
JohnF : 5/26/2020 11:30 am : link
Gettysburg (1993).
RE: RE: One of my favorites is Battleground  
Klaatu : 5/26/2020 12:52 pm : link
In comment 14910714 Victor in CT said:
Quote:
In comment 14910473 MadPlaid said:


Quote:


About the Battle of the Bulge.



me too. Van Johnson, James Whitmore.Great movie.


Hey, Kinney. Whatever happened to Jody?
Midway  
Bubba : 5/26/2020 1:12 pm : link
is one of my all time favs. Wish we could find the original uncut version. My understanding it was destroyed in fire.
all great picks  
family progtitioner : 5/26/2020 1:26 pm : link
I've always loved the Devil's Brigade as well. Not an accurate movie but it got me interested in the first special service force in WW2. That was one fearless force.
Montana  
Hazlet Giant's Fan : 5/27/2020 9:24 am : link
you forgot to mention an ex Giant was in Midway one Larry Csonka
Ayyyy!  
Csonka : 5/27/2020 9:51 am : link
.
I'd throw  
Jeever : 5/27/2020 9:56 am : link
"Sand Pebbles" with Steve McQueen
RE: Montana  
montanagiant : 5/27/2020 10:09 am : link
In comment 14911471 Hazlet Giant's Fan said:
Quote:
you forgot to mention an ex Giant was in Midway one Larry Csonka

Yes I did, good call!
Not American...  
BMac : 5/27/2020 10:51 am : link
...but "Waterloo," directed by Sergei Bondarchuk with Rod Steiger in the role of Napoleon and Christopher Plummer as Wellington is, in my opinion, the greatest (and most historically accurate) war movie ever made.

No CGI, thank you very much. Bondarchuk used Soviet troops, trained in the tactics/weapons/movements of the Napoleonic era to create a materwork.
Red Ball Express  
Phil in LA : 5/27/2020 10:56 am : link
is a Budd Boetticher flick about developing a way to resupply Patton as he was tearing through Europe. Also, there are some good ones about Merrill's Marauders and the action in Burma.

It's good too look at studios like Warner Brothers, RKO and Republic who were making some really good ones back in the 40s. A lot of the great directors were making war flicks back in the 40s, too.
RE: All the flix  
BMac : 5/27/2020 11:48 am : link
In comment 14910683 OC2.0 said:
Quote:
Mentioned are gonna good. But I’ll add this “Attack!”
Jack Palance, Lee Marvin, Eddie Albert etc
Definitely not ur usual rah rah Hollywood flick.


Great choice!
King Rat  
US1 Giants : 5/27/2020 12:28 pm : link
a WWII POW film. Based upon true experiences.
RE: King Rat  
montanagiant : 5/27/2020 12:33 pm : link
In comment 14911721 US1 Giants said:
Quote:
a WWII POW film. Based upon true experiences.

Excellent book also
RE: Red Ball Express  
Klaatu : 5/27/2020 1:18 pm : link
In comment 14911594 Phil in LA said:
Quote:
is a Budd Boetticher flick about developing a way to resupply Patton as he was tearing through Europe. Also, there are some good ones about Merrill's Marauders and the action in Burma.

It's good too look at studios like Warner Brothers, RKO and Republic who were making some really good ones back in the 40s. A lot of the great directors were making war flicks back in the 40s, too.


Frank Capra did the whole Why We Fight Series, and John Ford was actually on Midway Island when the Japanese attack commenced, directing a camera crew in the middle of the attack.
RE: Midway  
Jim in Fairfax : 5/27/2020 1:25 pm : link
In comment 14910980 Bubba said:
Quote:
is one of my all time favs. Wish we could find the original uncut version. My understanding it was destroyed in fire.

The the original theatrical movie is the shorter one. The “uncut” longer version you’re thinking of added in made for TV footage that was filmed later. Mostly this is a soapy storyline between Heston’s character and his girlfriend, but also includes some footage on the Battle of Coral Sea. Because this footage was made specifically for TV, it was filmed in low definition 4:3 format. That’s why you don’t see it anymore, though some of the footage is an extra on the Collectors DVD.
Midway  
Phil in LA : 5/27/2020 2:25 pm : link
Was originally in Sense-a-Round.
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