World War 2 in movies

The Cooler King said:
Look at the recent WWII movie "The Great Raid". It was released in about 800 theaters while Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo was released in 3,000 theaters that same weekend. People don't want to see movies like "The Great Raid" so Hollywood doesn't make them.

It's disgaceful. Rob Schneider ****s!
 
It is disgraceful. People would rather see a male gigolo than one of the most daring rescue missions of all time. What is this world comming to?
 
Am I the only person here to understand that History books are for learning history and Hollywood books are for entertainment?
 
Missileer said:
Am I the only person here to understand that History books are for learning history and Hollywood books are for entertainment?

No, but I fear there might be a lot of people out there who don't fully understand that. Especially if it says "based on a real story".
 
Morten said:
waw... that was a waste of my time... :p lol

:type: Some people just dont appreciate classic films:wink:
I guess you dont like the Great Escape music/opening either:cheers:
 
Here is a site that has a few scores from WWII movies:

http://www.victoryatseaonline.com/war/ww2-index.html

The Great Escape will always be numero uno on my list. Patton comes in at a close second with Bridge on the River Kwai comming in third. The Longest Day and Where Eagles Dare round out my top five.

They also have a Korea/Nam section:

http://www.victoryatseaonline.com/war/post-index.html

You just can't beat Philip Glass's score for Hamburger Hill. The opening sceen with the wall running in the background and his chilling score always brings goosebumps.
 
Reiben said:
:type: Some people just dont appreciate classic films:wink:
I guess you dont like the Great Escape music/opening either:cheers:

i like the films... but i was expecting some funny edit or something... :p lol...
 
I saw this one about the Royal Marines Commandos and it was based on facts as close as the original reports by Major Hasler as possible.

The Cockleshell Heroes of 1942

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cockleshell_heroes_of_1942.htm

"As the Empire blew away on the winds of change, a spate of films celebrating Britain's heroic achievements in WWII attracted huge box-office success. Bond producer Cubby Broccoli proved adept at finding the right formula: pipe-smoking humanitarian Ferrer battles it out with embittered disciplinarian Howard while tough sergeant-major Maddern licks the bunch of good-for-nothing 'volunteers' into a crack fighting force for a glorious Technicolor finale (breaking the blockade of Bordeaux by limpet-mining German battleships). Fortunately there's more. Ferrer directs with a freshness of vision which cuts through the usual coy clichés, and Howard's magnificently bad-tempered performance lifts the film a degree beyond jingoistic flag-waving."
 
Best opening scene in a war movie has to be in Saving Private Ryan.

There are loads of great British War films from the 50's - Ice Cold in Alex, Dambusters, Colditz, Malta story, Angels One Five, Battle of the River Plate, The Cruel Sea, Dunkirk (hopefully will be released on DVD one day soon).

Dunkirk is a great film with John Mills, who seemed to be in a lot of British war films. 50's seemed to be a golden age for british films.

One of my fav films of all is A Matter of Life and Death. If you havent seen it well worth checkin out. If your lookin for action its one to miss but its a brillant film. Also by Powell and Pressburger another classic that Churchill tried to ban during the war is the life and death of Colonel Blimp.
 
Guys, One of the greatest WW2 movies made :
Idi i Smotri or come and see... A russian movie with story based on a 12 year old belorussian partisan.. A must watch...

Other than that of course tora tora tora, das boot, cross of iron, battle of britain are great stuffs...

Whereas some bad stuffs (Historically not on entertainment basis) are Pearl Harbor,Enemy at the Gates, Guns of Navarone..
 
In history versus Hollywood, well, it's all Hollywood.

Hollywood is too involved in political commentary to be reliable.
Hollywood is too involved in entertainment to be reliable.
Hollywood is too involved in finance to be reliable.

A Hollywood movie is so expensive it has to follow a proven formula to get funding. One reason they all seem the same....

On the other hand, I am very involved in allegedly historical miniatures games. The two most recent games out are "Spearhead" and "Flames of War." IMHO, both are so stilted toward the Nazis that I wonder how the allies won the war!!! A lone tiger VI can destroy a whole platoon of Shermans without breaking a sweat.

It seems real history is boring and, and not marketable. So we get something-that-maybe-passes-for-history-if-you-look-at-it-sideways,

My favorite movie is not historical, but set in the "period" IN HARM'S WAY (I think Patricia Neal was super hot)
I also like 633 Squadron, The Devil's Brigade and The Sands of Iwo Jima. All of which have plenty of eye candy, and a little history for flavor.
 
Truth vs. fiction

Some of the worst movies ever made about WWII -- in regard to historical accuracy -- are among the most popular with the general population. These are, indeed, created via formula as others have mentioned. The worst of these, in my opinion, are "Pearl Harbor," "Force 10 From Navarone," "The Guns of Navarone," and just about everything starring John Wayne (with the exception of "The Longest Day"). These are nothing but sheer entertainment created by people who like money more than truth. If you want to do some serious research on anything about any war, you most likely won't do it in a movie theater.

There are movies, however, which do a fair job at presenting real stories, usually aside from the characteristics of individual "soldiers" involved in said movies. Among these are "Tora! Tora! Tora!", "Midway," and "A Bridge Too Far."

It still comes down to selling movie tickets and creating a popular product, and there is a huge segment of the population that like war movies no matter what they are about. After all, the first Oscar for best picture went to "Wings," a silent movie about two pilots in WWI. And it had little basis in fact.
 
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