Favorite WWII movies

[moustache]

Favourite WWII movies

Ok folks:Name your favourite WWII movies according to these criteria:

1--Realism and accuracy
2--Story,screenplay
3--cinematography and soundtrack


here are my favourites:

1--Tie between "Band of Brothers", "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List"
2--The Pianist and Soldier of Orange(highly recommended!!!!)
3--Tie between "The Pianist" and "Band of Brothers"

Now,for those favourites that didn't make the top honors:

The Young Lions
The English Patient
A Bridge Too Far
Hope and Glory
UXB:The tv series(A BBC drama about bomb disposal units in London)
Battle of Britain


And a host of others.

JD

 

[Haversack]

I'll bite.

Category 1. _Is Paris Burning?_

Category 2. _Where Eagles Dare._

Category 3. _Bridge on the River Kwai._

With an honourable mention to _Battleground_

Haversack.

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

My favorites:
1.For Whom the Bell Tolls
2.Spitfire
3.The Longest Day

 

[Spitfire]

1. Piece of Cake (Television)
Why: Very honest and real. No good guys or bad guys...just ordinary, scared young men who scrambled many times a day. Day after day - and only very few survived.
2. The Great Escape
Why: A great and basically exiting story. And it is true! (As true as Hollywood gets.) That is: Based on a true story.
3. Band of Brothers
Why: Great camerawork, fantastic production value and the best filmmusic ever!

 

[farnham54]

Tough question indeed!


1. Band of Brothers (SPR does not make the list; watch it several times over and it's uncanny just how often a bullet hits *right* in the heart or *exactly* between the eyes. A bit too Hollywood for me.

2. Band of Brothers or Patton. Both excellent pieces of cinematography, neither drag.

3. Band of Brothers or Patton. Clearly I'm a big BoB fan

Honorable mention does go to the Medal of Honor games for their soundtracks--seriously hollywood quality stuff. Call of Duty in the story section (another game) and cinematographically, Brothers in arms (game) is amazing--it really feels like you are playing a movie.

Other then that, if it were expanded to outside WWII movies, I really liked the screenplay of Tigerland with Colin Farrell--it's far from the usual Colin work, and actually shows the kid can act!

Cheers
Craig

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

The Best Years of our Lives.

 

[Harp]

Fav WWII flick

Mrs Miniver.
I fell in love with Greer Garson...beauty, class, elegance...
what a woman.

 

[renor27]

WW2 Films

I can not belive that "Band of Brothers", "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List" would be listed for Realism and accuracy.
All three were made by the crew @ Dream Works and they are so far off for accuracy. I will list just one problem from each film but there are so many.
BoB yea the 101 was a great unit but they did not get to the Eagal's Nest first that was a Texan national guard unit.
SPR uniforms on the Germans were wrong did the company reuse the 1939 uniforms from an earlier film. Though the fighting on the beach is note worthy.
SL. German uniforms are off again 1939 uniforms for the whole film . The whole story of Schindler being a saint come on, he was just a guy who was looking out for himself.
The Biggest problem with the 3 above films is that history teachers use them to teach from and teach the films as the truth, When in fact they are far from the truth.

 

[MrBern]

BoB

There are whole websites dedicated to the blaring mistakes in BoB & SPR.
http://www.101airborneww2.com/bandofbrothers3.html

But I still enjoy them tremendously.

yes, Hope & Glory is a great film about the british homefront...

I'm a big fan of Battleground(1949) and GoForBroke(1951) both with Van Johnson. And Jack Palance in ATTACK.

 

[Gray Ghost]

30 Seconds over Tokyo

Operation Petticoat - For its great humor.

Flying Leathernecks- Not for the accuracy but for the Japanese Wildcats. Nothing like seeing a Wildcat with Japanese markings.:eusa_doh:

Gray Ghost

 

[Harp]

Combat Documentary

John Huston's The Assault on San Pietro, is a haunting
record of the daily existence of a rifle outfit caught amidst fateful
uncertainty during the Italian Campaign. In no other film is the
veil that separates life and death so lifted; or the simplest field
tactics so deadly studied from disadvantaged open terrain.

 

[doghouse riley]

Based on your criteria-

1. Band of Brothers
2. Midnight Clear
3. Schiendler's List

 

[carebear]

Not sure I could pick 3.

I liked Tora Tora Tora and Midway, with all the flaws.

Winds of War was a nice miniseries.

Empire of the Sun covered an area not usually addressed.

 

[Fletch]

My favorites have zip to do with realism. In this particular genre, I can't handle realism - it's almost a distraction from the bigger principles at work.

The Caine Mutiny, for a classic study of the authoritarian personality and why we both have to be on guard against and owe an immense debt to the Capt. Queegs of the world...and for Bogart at his most pathetic AND affecting.

The Americanization of Emily, for looking into the definitions of duty, patriotism, and cowardice, and for Jim Garner at his most dryly comic and Julie Andrews at her most irresistible.

The Longest Day, not sure why, but I always watch it thru every June 6. Probably the all-star cast and the aura of bigger-than-life mythology they brought, AND the story as told from both German and Allied perspectives.

 

[fortworthgal]

1. Band of Brothers. By and large, the uniforms and gear used were extremely accurate - although there were several odd liberties taken with storylines that I still can't figure out. For example, why did they kill off Blithe? In reality, the guy went on to have a very distinguished military career. I love a lot of 1950s-80s WWII films, but most of them just do not cut the mustard when it comes to any kind of accuracy. (1960s are the worst usually. I love seeing women in WWII uniforms sporting beehive hairdos.) Saints and Soldiers is probably a close second for me as far as accuracy goes.

2. So Proudly We Hail. Granted the story has a few eye-rolling moments (such as the scene with Veronica Lake sauntering towards the Japanese), and of course the requisite love story, but overall a very good film about subjects dear to my heart - women in WWII and the fall of Philippines. The uniforms in this one are excellent. I know they had one of the actual Corregidor nurses as a consultant on the film, but I can't recall her name.

3. Band of Brothers. The soundtrack and cinematography just can't be topped. But, I have to very sheepishly admit that I actually like the soundtrack to Pearl Harbor.

I also really like They Were Expendable, Since You Went Away, and Charlotte Gray.

 

[fortworthgal]

I can not belive that "Band of Brothers", "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List" would be listed for Realism and accuracy.
All three were made by the crew @ Dream Works and they are so far off for accuracy. I will list just one problem from each film but there are so many.
BoB yea the 101 was a great unit but they did not get to the Eagal's Nest first that was a Texan national guard unit.

I have always read it was the 101st. The 36th was a Texas National Guard unit, but I don't believe they ever made it to the Eagle's Nest. They were in Italy and arrived in France in August 44, and were attacking the Siegfried Line when the war ended. I'm not trying to get snippy, just a little confused...

I will agree that BOB had several inaccurate points - mostly related to individual storylines rather than actual physical gear, uniforms, etc.

 

[carebear]

Fletch,

That Jim Garner reference reminded me of "36 Hours". Taut thriller with Eva Marie Saint.

 

[Nick Charles]

1. Saving Private Ryan
2. Enigma
3. Pearl Harbor

 

[Nathan Dodge]

The Human Comedy (1943) Kind of a "War Finds Andy Hardy." I consider it a "lost classic" in that back in '43 it got lost among the crop of that year's great films. Plus, it isn't on DVD yet. I at least put it on par with Mrs. Miniver, which the characters watch; you can read the backwards writing on the banner outside of the movie theater as the G.I.'s--Robert Mitchum, Barry Nelson and Don Defore-- and the girls walk out.

"The Human Comedy" is a real tearjerker and features a fine Mickey Rooney (the Leo DiCaprio of his day) performance and a good score by Herbert Stothart. A fine film, and a great slice of Americana. Anyone interested in the American "Home Front" during WWII will want to check out this movie. Pair this up with "Since You Went Away" and then let the tears flow! It's also very MGM, definitely the kind of movie that Louis B. Mayer approved of.

It's probably my favorite movie of the 1940s and sometimes I feel it's my favorite movie, period.

 

[doghouse riley]

Well...

I can not belive that "Band of Brothers", "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List" would be listed for Realism and accuracy.
All three were made by the crew @ Dream Works and they are so far off for accuracy. I will list just one problem from each film but there are so many.
BoB yea the 101 was a great unit but they did not get to the Eagal's Nest first that was a Texan national guard unit.
SPR uniforms on the Germans were wrong did the company reuse the 1939 uniforms from an earlier film. Though the fighting on the beach is note worthy.
SL. German uniforms are off again 1939 uniforms for the whole film . The whole story of Schindler being a saint come on, he was just a guy who was looking out for himself.
The Biggest problem with the 3 above films is that history teachers use them to teach from and teach the films as the truth, When in fact they are far from the truth.

Which guard unit 90th or 36th? The 90th was in Prague and VI Corp(36th-45th-3rd Div) was in the area, but later. Don't get me wrong... I am not defending the 101st. They are famous due to the amount of shutterbugs attached to them around the Normandy Invasion.
As far as the M1939's? The cuts are worse than the collars. You are just as likely to see M1936 in '45 as an M44. First in last out was the distribution policy. Never forget that British collectors invented German nomenclatures after the war. By and large the general rule is one uniformed simplified over the years due to cost.
The uniforms are bad. Yes. They are bad due to tailoring, not for the type of coat.
Of course, these are things your average moviegoer is never going to notice. I have your back on everything else. Good eye.