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OT: Favorite WWII Movies

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OT: Favorite WWII Movies
Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 19, 2003 1:26 PM
I don't know about the rest of you, but I love watching good WWII movies. After I've watched a WWII movie, I usually want to pick up a book, a magazine, do some modeling or watch another movie. Smile [:)]

I grew up on watching some of the old black and white WWII movies. I remember watching these with my father while we worked on projects in the basement - the good old days. Cool [8D] The movies got me interested in WWII - from plastic army guys, old GI Combat comics, books, magazines, projects for school, gaming and modeling.

Some of my favorites are (in no particular order):

To Hell and Back
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Fighting Seabees
Sands of Iwo Jima
The Big Red One
Battle of the Bulge
They Were Expendable
Midway
Tora! Tora! Tora!

Then of course, there's Saving Private Ryan. I really liked this movie, but even though I own it, I have only watched it once.

What are some of your favorites?
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Posted by shermanfreak on Sunday, January 19, 2003 1:46 PM
OK.....I'll add my list to this one (also not in any particular order)

A Bridge Too Far
Kelly's Heroes
Saving Private Ryan
Tora Tora Tora
The Great Escape
Band of Brothers (I know...technically not a movie but great anyway)
(also in reference to Band of Brothers....spot the Sherman and see who knows what variant it is?)

Honourable Mention - Gettysburg (not about W.W.II but just plain great for the amateur historian)

H.M. & G.B.
Shermanfreak

Happy Modelling and God Bless Robert
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  • From: USA
Posted by dariencharlie on Sunday, January 19, 2003 1:59 PM
Wow, that's a tough one; I like "all" of them! But what comes to mind is:

12 O'clock High
Flying Tigers
Airpforce
Midway
Tora Tora Tora!
There's a Humphry Bogart one, I forget the title, about him, his tank and crew in the North African dessert.
TV servies; Combat!
So many more could be mentioned!

I wish this genre was still played on commercial TV regularly, as when I was a kid also. I guess everyone can't live in my past!
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 19, 2003 2:22 PM
well id say band of brothers, the thin red line, enemy at the gates, and teh one i forgot but was about stalingrad and is kinda old. hey, just to add to the thread, what are your favorite movies and what war(sry to change around the thread) but you all have your fav WWII movies, what are your overall fav war movies. im sry but talk about any movie makes me add full metal jacket and apocalypse now even if this is WWII. just had to say it, like an urge.
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 19, 2003 2:22 PM
I haven't had a chance to see Band of Brothers (yet...). I've heard it's good tho'.

Speaking of TV Shows - I also liked the Black Sheep Squadron.
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 19, 2003 2:29 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Col. Kurtz

hey, just to add to the thread, what are your favorite movies and what war(sry to change around the thread) but you all have your fav WWII movies, what are your overall fav war movies.
Hey, go start your own thread. Tongue [:P]Big Smile [:D] (just kidding...)

Enemy at the Gates was also a good movie. It was good to see a movie that took place on Russian Front.
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  • From: United Kingdom / Belgium
Posted by djmodels1999 on Sunday, January 19, 2003 2:35 PM
As far as I'm concerned, Kelly's Heroes, and the Battle of Britain. Also, though we're talking a different genre there, the War of the Worlds, simply because I love the Flying Wing...
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Posted by paulnchamp on Sunday, January 19, 2003 2:35 PM
Hey, let's not forget "Kelly's Heroes", too.
Paul "A man's GOT to know his limitations."
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 19, 2003 8:39 PM
I really liked "Enemy At The Gates" espcially since I collect Mosin-Nagant rifles.
Did anybody mention "The Longest Day"? That has long been a favorite of mine.
My father landed at Normandy. I really want to see "Band Of Brothers".

Regards,

Pat
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 19, 2003 10:51 PM
A few that come to mind:
Tora, Tora, Tora
Midway
Patton
The Longest Day
Cross of Iron
The Great Escape
Bridge on the River Kwai
Sink the Bismarck
I've never rented it, (yet) but I've also heard that Stalingrad was very good.
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  • From: United Kingdom / Belgium
Posted by djmodels1999 on Monday, January 20, 2003 2:33 AM
Yeah, great ones those two: Longest Day and Great Escape. Thanks for reminding me!
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, January 20, 2003 8:00 AM
A favorite of mine that I haven't seen mentioned is "36 Hours" (1964) with James Garner. More of a psychological thriller than an actioner, but still relevant. Here is a link to the IMDb entry:

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0057809
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, January 20, 2003 8:02 PM
Another great topic starter. My favorites are as follows:

Tora! Tora! Tora!
The Green Berets
Full metal Jacket
Casualties of War
30 seconds over Tokyo

Too many more to mention

Darren
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, January 20, 2003 10:24 PM
I don't think I've ever seen Cross of Iron and I know I haven't seen Stalingrad. I'll have to keep an eye out for these now.

I looked them up and found some information:

Cross of Iron
http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=759731406529
http://www.amctv.com/show/detail/0,,744-1-EST,00.html
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/1912/cross.html

Stalingrad
http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=13526

What I always find interesting is when they use the term "anti-war" for a war movie. I guess if it's a terrific movie, I'll watch it again and don't think much about the underlying message - the anti-war message is totally lost on me. If it's a bad movie, I just won't watch it again.

By the way, AMC is showing Sands of Iwo Jima this week. Smile [:)]
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  • From: USA
Posted by weebles on Monday, January 20, 2003 10:45 PM
Hands down my favorite big screen movie is 12 O'Clock High. It's not just about WWII, it's about leadership. Second would be Saving Private Ryan.

Made for TV would be Band of Brothers. One of the best pieces ever done.
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  • From: NE Georgia
Posted by Keyworth on Monday, January 20, 2003 11:00 PM
Here's some other films that aren't mentioned often:
Command Decision, Fixed Bayonets, The Blue Max, 633 Squadron, Zulu, Go Tell The Spartans, A walk in the Sun, Battleground, Go For Broke, The Hunters, One Minute to Zero.....I need to stop to catch my breath!!! Anyway, there are a number of good ones out there, plus some real stinkers. Anyone catch an old flick on TNN the other night called Parachute Battalion?
"There's no problem that can't be solved with a suitable application of high explosives"
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  • From: NE Georgia
Posted by Keyworth on Monday, January 20, 2003 11:03 PM
By the way, the Humphrey Bogart flick about the desert is called Sahara-it's available on DVD now.
"There's no problem that can't be solved with a suitable application of high explosives"
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, January 21, 2003 3:45 PM
hey this turned into a contest no who could name the most wwII movies so i say everything you said + infinite. HAHA oh and to hell and back, one of the best that showcased the italian and meditaranean front. how bout het thin red line, the newer one is better but the older one is also good. put them together and you almost get the complete book. ive read cross of iron, but havent seen the movie. a lot of hte movies you mentioned are rare in my case. im going to blockbuster and going to rent all of these, any good choices? name all because ive seen a good few and wouldnt want a list of what ive see now would i? thanx
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  • From: Brisbane, Australia
Posted by ILuv3ggs on Tuesday, January 21, 2003 9:16 PM
Well, every WW2 movies i have seen...i dunno what they are all called, but i can name some - Saving Private Ryan ; Tora Tora Tora ; Midway ; 336 squadron (i think thst it)...they are the only ones i can remember..but i have seen others, they had a couple of months where every wednesday there was a war movie on MGM...so yeah.

Anyways,
Laters
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, January 21, 2003 11:42 PM
Another one that I've always liked even though it doesn't seem like a war movie although it takes place during WW2; The Caine Mutiny. "The strawberries. That's where I had them".
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 1:50 AM
I enjoyed "Kelly's Heroes", starring (among others) Donald Sutherland as that wacky tank commander. In a more serious vein, "Patton" was excellent.

Also, I always liked the TV show "Rat Patrol".
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 1:37 PM
how was catch 22, i heard it was also a mive, was it good?
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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, January 25, 2003 9:22 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Col. Kurtz

well id say band of brothers, the thin red line, enemy at the gates, and teh one i forgot but was about stalingrad and is kinda old.


It is called "Stalingrad" (I saw it last night) I also like Saving private Ryan and Enemy at the Gates.
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 26, 2003 2:57 AM
I am mostly into the ones involving famous air battles.
But here goes my favourites:

The Battle Of Britain
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Pearl Harbor
Where Eagles Dear (Clint Eastward and Richard Burton were brilliant in this one).
Memphis Belle (even tho they exaggerated the Belle's final mission in some ways).
Dam Busters
Saving Private Ryan
U-571

Number 1, The Battle Of Britain, great movie, amazing piece of history, and one which I am particularly fascinated with.
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 26, 2003 10:10 AM
I cant believe I forgot Where Eagles Dare. That is a pretty good movie.
  • Member since
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  • From: Syracuse, NY
Posted by ADleitch on Sunday, January 26, 2003 11:40 AM
Being an English man serving in the US Army for 5 years now I am amazed at how little the Americans know about WWII except from the stand point of 1941 when the US entered it. Not putting you guys down at all, but only two of you mentioned Battle of Britain and Dambusters, how about the Cruel Sea? Hunt for the Bismark? All of these battles were very important, although old they do bring to the viewer the cruelity of war. Please remember if the battle of britain had been lost the war might still be on going with the East coast of this fine country as the frontline.
Sorry if I am alittle off subject but it is a little sore point with me as I have to deal with alot of Americans who do honesty think that they won the war.

Its Better to Burn out than to Fade Away!!!
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Posted by shermanfreak on Sunday, January 26, 2003 3:00 PM
Right you are about the negligence of missing these fine movies but I tend to look at it from a slightly different angle. We now live in a world where DVD has superceded the need to rent VHS movies and has really influenced the television world too. It seems that if it isn't available in DVD format it doesn't get the broadcast time that some of these movies used to get. Unfortunately we see the "out of sight....out of mind" syndrum kicking in here and I too admit to my guilt on this subject. I personally loved watching Battle of Britain and it is on my list of movies to buy (when it gets released in DVD) and I agree that The Dambusters was and is a story that needs to be told and could certainly use that Hollywood touch in a remake of this classic (as long as they stick to the true story line and don't take too much artistic licence as they did in U-571). And while on the subject of remakes....how about a remake of "The Devil's Brigade" the original had too much fiction added to it when it wasn't needed. If anyone has ever read the stories of these guys, they were truly amazing and didn't need ANYTHING made up about them. Their true story was better than fiction!!!

H.M. & G.B.
Shermanfreak
Happy Modelling and God Bless Robert
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    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 26, 2003 3:36 PM
I grew up watching ww2 movies. My dad flew with the 92nd. bomb group in ww2.These are my favs, the longest day,saving private ryan,the dirty dozen,shindlers list,a bridge to far,patton,empire of the sun,enemy at the gates,and full metal jacket.theres more I like but i cannot list them all.By the way do any of the rabo movies count??????
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 26, 2003 7:20 PM
I agree. It's alot like how many people believed the Mustang won the war, or the Spitfire won the battle of Britain, truth is, it was the Hurricane that did the dirty work, and swung the balance. And of course the Mustang did not come into it's own until the Rolls Royce Merlin was introduced, the rest is history...

Many people are educated badly by their governments which is the reason for many believing that America won the second world war. Nothing is perfect, everything has it's flaws, certainly you can't not be amazed at the stats of the Battle Of Britain, 1500 aircraft VS 600, and the balance was swung in favour of the RAF. Of course, there was a similar scenario 2 years later at Pearl Harbour, arrogance prevented the US Army from meeting the Japanese Navy in the air over the sea instead of on the ground at Hawaii.
Many stories to be told of the past!!

Did anyone notice, how in U-571, the characters were played by Americans, even though it was a British mission to capture the code machine from the Germans, which involved a British Sub and british sailors?

Getting back to the topic....i notice no one has mentioned Pearl Harbor as one of the better War Films, sure, it drivvled on with the love triangle story which so often shapes movies about War, but one must not forget the action sequences. Was anyone else impressed with the portrayal of the Battle Of Britain? I sure was!

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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, January 27, 2003 3:22 PM
quote:

Being an English man serving in the US Army for 5 years now I am amazed at how little the Americans know about WWII except from the stand point of 1941 when the US entered it. Not putting you guys down at all, but only two of you mentioned Battle of Britain and Dambusters, how about the Cruel Sea? Hunt for the Bismark?
quote:



well i wouldnt say americans dont look at the war before 1941, i personally just thought all of those movies were horrible, and i am biased in a way that their genre isnt of my interest. remember this is FAVORITE movies, not name all that you can. just point it out
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