Great WWII Films

[-Asdfgh-]

They talked about WW2 films on TV in the UK and said that there were two sorts: before Saving Private Ryan's hyperrealism, and after.

Although SPR was a little controversial in the UK as the Rangers were delivered to the beaches by the Royal Navy, not US Navy as shown in the movie. Veterans were reported to say the actual battle scenes were convincing. They are certainly harrowing, as are some other scenes. There were three short movies shown in the UK recently about WW1, and the style was in the same mould.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

A little change up here... I would say that Apocalypse Now is the best war movie of all time and one of the best movies ever. What, in all y'alls opinions, are the main differences between WW2 movies and Vietnam movies? Seems like WW2 movies are all 'heroic' and 'good triumphing v. evil' and stuff whilst Vietnam movies seem to dive deeper into the human condition and futility etc.

There are some WW2 movies that play with themes of moral ambiguity. But, as noted above, it took until a good while after WW2 for them to really surface. Movies that played on the themes of ambiguity came out sooner after WW1 than WW2 very probably, but then that war was rather more morally ambiguous anyway. I suppose one of the most satirical movies that plays with moral amiguity during war is Catch 22, although I think the setting is slightly coincidental to the satire.

 

[Jhengsman]

OT
I read a book once that was about a WWII Tank crew caught in a tunnel (in their tank), when they finally escape the tunnel after 3 days or so, they discover the front has moved and they are now behind enemy lines and the story follows them as they try to get back to friendly turf.

Sound familiar? Know the name of the book? It's more than 30 years since I started it on a weekend vacation, but lost my copy by the end of the weekend and never got to find out how it ended. Would make a great movie, I think.

Book Title, anyone? ... Anyone? ... Bueller?

The only tank caught behind the lines that I can think of was Humphrey Bogart in Sahara. Space Above and Beyond did a version of that story. Fury with Brad Pitt coming this fall seems to be about a lone tank crew

 

[-Asdfgh-]

There's a film about a Russian tank crew in Afghanistan along similar lines.

 

[Tom Bomb]

Invalid Link Removed - is the amazing story of an Aussie spy, Sidney Cotton, and his role in the war. He's the real 007, the man who actually inspired Ian Fleming.

Here's some of the detail, from wikipedia. (There are a few clips too, if you care to follow the link above.)

Shortly before the Second World War, Cotton was recruited by Fred Winterbotham (then of MI6) to take clandestine aerial photographs of the German military buildup. Using his status as a wealthy and prominent private aviator currently promoting his film business (and using a series of other subterfuges including taking on the guise of an archaeologist or a film producer looking for locations), a series of flights provided valuable information about German naval activity and troop buildups. He equipped the civilian Invalid Link Removed business aircraft, G-AFTL, with three F24 cameras concealed behind panels which could be slid aside and operated by pressing a button under the pilot's seat, and a Leica behind a similar panel in the wings. Warm cabin air was diverted to prevent condensation on optical surfaces. Cotton took his secretary Patricia Martin along, and she too took photographs in flight. Although his flight plans were dictated by the German government, he consistently managed to get away with flying off-track over military installations. Cotton had a very persuasive manner, and exploited any advantage he could.[3]

In 1939, Cotton took aerial photos during a flight over parts of the Middle East and North Africa. On the eve of war, he even managed to engineer a "joy-ride" over German military airfields on one occasion, accompanied by senior Invalid Link Removed officer Albert Kesselring. With Kesselring at the controls, Cotton reached under his seat, operated the cameras, and captured the airfield on film. Cotton later offered to fly Hermann Göring to London for talks a week before outbreak of hostilities, and claimed that his was the last civilian aircraft to leave Berlin before the outbreak of hostilities. One biography is titled Sidney Cotton: The Last Plane Out of Berlin commemorating this escapade.

 

[fhm555]

...Seems like WW2 movies are all 'heroic' and 'good triumphing v. evil' and stuff...

Warning! Some graphic stuff here.

 

[odin70]

The newer German movies are clearly the best. I like:
Das Untergang
Before the fall
..and the series: Unsere Vater, unsere Mutter. Fantastic storytelling from a refreshing German point of view.

After 60 years of black and white, jewish, Hollywood movies about this part of our history..its great to see that the Germans themselves now have the balls to make serious movies about their past.

 

[Funky Ghost]

30 Seconds Over Tokyo was outstanding. Leathernecks too. PT 109 was also interesting.

 

[samson3382]

Way off topic, not a WW2 movie, but "Fatherland" has an interesting setting. Set in 1964, all of Europe is German occupied.

 

[Metalbasspro]

,,Das Boot''

That was a really good one that captured the spirit of the time.

 

[MartinG1957]

The newer German movies are clearly the best. I like:
Das Untergang
Before the fall
..and the series: Unsere Vater, unsere Mutter. Fantastic storytelling from a refreshing German point of view.

After 60 years of black and white, jewish, Hollywood movies about this part of our history..its great to see that the Germans themselves now have the balls to make serious movies about their past.

What do you mean by including the word "jewish" in that statement?

 

[Tom Bomb]

x
x
Private Snafu​

Commissioned by the military during World War II, this collection of propaganda cartoons has not been seen in over fifty years. Created by the famed animators at Warner Bros. from 1943-1946 and voiced by the legendary Mel Blanc…

​

Private Snafu was the U.S. Army’s worst soldier. He was sloppy, lazy and prone to shooting off his mouth to Nazi agents. And he was hugely popular with his fellow GIs.

Private Snafu was, of course, an animated cartoon character designed for the military recruits. He was an adorable dolt who sounded like Bugs Bunny and looked a bit like Elmer Fudd. And in every episode, he taught soldiers what not to do, from blabbing about troop movements to not taking malaria medication.

The idea for the series reportedly came from Frank Capra — the Oscar-winning director of It’s a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and, during WWII, the chairman of the U.S. Army Air Force First Motion Picture Unit. He wanted to create a cartoon series for new recruits, many of whom were young, unworldly and in some cases illiterate. Capra gave Disney first shot at developing the idea but Warner Bros’ Leon Schlesinger, a man who was as famous for his hard-driving business acumen as he was for wearing excessive cologne, offered a bid that was 2/3rds below that of Disney.

The talent behind this series was impressive, featuring a veritable who’s who of non-Disney animating talent, including Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, and Friz Freleng. Snafu was voiced by Mel Blanc, who famously did Bunny Bugs, Daffy Duck and later Marvin the Martian. And one of the main writers was none other than Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel.

 

[odin70]

What do you mean by including the word "jewish" in that statement?

storytelling from a Jewish point of view. Often made by jews and always about Jewish suffering and the evil Germans. Thats only one part of the ww2 history. Many more suffered during.. and after the war. If we really want to learn something it is time to broaden the perspective. And no...i im not an antisemite just because i said that many ww2 movies are made by American jews. I just think that its really refreshing to see that the Germans aswell now are able to dig in to their past. Their movies are often really good and i feel that i learn something new from watching them. Can you imagine only Palestine made movies about the Israel/Palestine tragedy?

 

[Milk]

There's a film about a Russian tank crew in Afghanistan along similar lines.

Yeah i thought the same. It's called The Beast (sometimes the beast of war). Steven Bauer (Manny in Scarface) plays the afghan guerilla leader and he's great in it.

 

[Milk]

storytelling from a Jewish point of view. Often made by jews and always about Jewish suffering and the evil Germans. Thats only one part of the ww2 history. Many more suffered during.. and after the war. If we really want to learn something it is time to broaden the perspective. And no...i im not an antisemite just because i said that many ww2 movies are made by American jews. I just think that its really refreshing to see that the Germans aswell now are able to dig in to their past. Their movies are often really good and i feel that i learn something new from watching them. Can you imagine only Palestine made movies about the Israel/Palestine tragedy?

the germans did it earlier than you think. That german WWII movie i named some pages ago (die Brucke) is from 1959

I have to say in general i can hardly stand any new WWII films...It's been done to death, i don't care what seemingly "fresh" perspective hollywood might think it has on it, it doesnt. And i have to say i am specifically tired of holocaust films... yes it happened, yes it was horrible, no, we will never forget. Can we move on now? Again, any kind of story you could tell about the holocaust has in my view been told. These movies aren't going away, we can watch those already made.

 

[Kmonk]

The Great Escape
The Train
Von Ryan's Express
Eye Of The Needle
The Dirty Dozen
The Big Red One
Schindler's List
The Boy In The Striped Pajamas
The Longest Day
Das Boot
A Walk In The Sun
Where Eagles Dare
Casablanca
Kelly's Heroes

 

[nutdog]

In addition to some great ones already mentioned I enjoyed

The Guns of Navarone
Mr. Roberts
The Sound of Music

 

[MartinG1957]

storytelling from a Jewish point of view. Often made by jews and always about Jewish suffering and the evil Germans. Thats only one part of the ww2 history. Many more suffered during.. and after the war. If we really want to learn something it is time to broaden the perspective. And no...i im not an antisemite just because i said that many ww2 movies are made by American jews. I just think that its really refreshing to see that the Germans aswell now are able to dig in to their past. Their movies are often really good and i feel that i learn something new from watching them. Can you imagine only Palestine made movies about the Israel/Palestine tragedy?

That doesn't come in to play in the majority of WW2 movies that I have seen, your experience may be different of course.
Anti-Semite was not mentioned, I was merely curious as to why you used that particular term, it seemed both unnecessary and irrelevant to me.
From a British point of view, movies were all about American involvement, but that also just doesn't seem relevant to the point of the thread.... Imo of course.

 

[zontar]

The Great Escape
The Train
Von Ryan's Express
Eye Of The Needle
The Dirty Dozen
The Big Red One
Schindler's List
The Boy In The Striped Pajamas
The Longest Day
Das Boot
A Walk In The Sun
Where Eagles Dare
Casablanca
Kelly's Heroes

Some excellent choices (Some of which I listed as well)
Also good to see another mention of Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
(The title refers to a boy in a concentration camp)

 

[mrpackerguy]

While I prefer the 40's-60's era WWII movies, 2 good ones from the modern age are

U571
Pearl Harbor

both of these introduced me to the wonders of surround sound at home.