Bridge over the River Kwai
Apocalypse Now
The Great Escape

I watched The Deerhunter again the other night. It's just awaesome. Really shows the effects of that evil war on people both on the front line and back home. It shows how a modest but stable community end up after soem of them are called up in Vietnam. One ends up crippled, and Christopher Walken never comes home as he loses his mind and plays real Russian Roulette. The scene where de Niro tries to stop Walken from doing this and enagages in a game of Russian Roulette with Walken is just amazingly tragic and steals the show, culminatign in Walken blowing himself away. A tragic but brilliant film, down to the last scene where they all sit around and have a toast and just get on with it.

Platoon is a marvellous movie too with Charlie Sheen. Very realistic and brutal and surely enough to put peopel of invadign other countries agin? Well obviously not! Sorry but it should.

Apocalaypse Now is just brillaint - awful to watch really but pure genius. It's truly shockign when they sick general or whatever he is walks around casually and says "I love the smell of napalm in the morning". Says it all really. Ans shooting the helicopter scene to Rid eof the Valkaries is a major cinematic experince. Mind blowing. And the legendary Marlon Brando, although not in the movie that much, is really menacing as the loony dictator and the place where he has made his own dictatorship is terrible, and that comes through so well in the movie.

not seen that many as War movies are not my thing.

However, I did see Platoon and it was truly mesmorising, as was Apocalaypse Now - which I seemed to understand more having dissected to death, 'The Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad as part of my A level.

Yes I keep meaning to read that book. I don't think it's particularly long is it?

only if you are discussing it chapter by painful chapter :blink:

actually, a very good book - and there was a poem that had a similar theme - Hollow Men by.... :blink: the name escapes me! Hope my English teacher isnt reading....

The Deer Hunter I try to watch once a year to keep me humble....great pick SB.

And for realism Saving Private Ryan takes some beating.

Cheers Gav. :) Yes deerhunter certainly does that. So sad.

I've not seen Private Ryan cos I got sick of Tom hanks and wondered also f the movie would be glamourising war, but I hear it isnt; and is worth a watch. Maybe I will watch it one day, but you have to be in the mood for these things don't you. Must say i watched most fo my war movies when much younger and I seemed to have an endless appetite for poltical statement and realism back then. Now I watch stuff more for entertainment. Must eb gettign old. :D

I got to see the beginning of Saving Private Ryan in a history lesson - it looked very good actually, must try and see the rest :)

MASH and platoon are two of my favourites. I've seen saving Ryan's privates ( roflmao ) and in all honesty, it's not that good. I mean, the beginning is sickening and apparently all about the realism, but to be honest in terms of the film, i wasn't that impressed.

i saw a film ages ago, in black and white, whcih basically told the story of the D-day landing from the point of view of the Germans, English and.......a.n.other, which escapes me right now. It was brilliant - very very long, but kept me gripped the whole way through. Got a lot of relatively well-known actors in too. Anyone know what it's called???

Black Hawk Down i thought was good from a purely technical point of view - scott really seemed to capture the kind of hellish, general chaos, of war, but in terms of story (and i know it was based on a true story) it just semmed a bit too Americanised for me (I think the end where they scroll the names of al the US soldiers killed in the battle, and then say oh, and xxxx thousand somalians also died kinda annoyed me......)

Yeh saving Private Ryan is very moving; Classic Spielberg, I know what you mean about Tom Hanks Sb :) But he was really good in this film.

Bridge Over the River Kwai is my favourite war film over all though I think.

I thought Enemy at the Gates was fantastic,very clever cat&mouse battle between snipers.

That sequence at the beginning is the only thing that stayed in my mind, the rest of the movie was forgettable, IMHO. And the end, with Hanks saying something like "earn this" was toooooo cheesy ... if you've already seen the first half hour, I'd say don't bother with the rest.

Well that is what I feared, which I why I stick to the contraversial Vietnam movies as they have none of the cheesiness and the Americans saving the world spiel that I find disatasteful. Not that it is just the Americans, but they make the most movies so we see a lot of that. There are some very cheesy moments in a lot of those post war British movies too.

Wierd thing is I knwo loads abotu war but am quite selective in my film watching to avoid propaganda and cheese. The best way to find out is often to read the books, as in the hsitorical factual accounts (I did this at degree level so read a lot) and the realsit fiction like All Quiet on the Western Front (Eric Maria Remarque) and Robert Graves's 'Goodbye to All that". And you must read Wilfred Owen's poems (british soldier from WW1 who wrote whilst in the trenches and sadly died just before he was due to come home :( ) and Siegfried Sassoon. My English A level project was on poets of WW! - happy subject what! roflmao You get enoughhorror form these poems alone I tell you.

Well the film is about the saving Ryan, the emotional core of the film is in knowing that the mother could become childless after watching her 5 sons grow up, and that the group sent out to save Ryan, is doing the most noble possible thing. Any cheesiness is just brushed aside in light of this imo. The beginning sequence is just a flashy battle depicting the horrors of war, it is but a prelude to the film. It's not the best film ever or even in my top twenty, but it is a must see for all fans of war films, Spielberg or films in general. IMHO of course :)

Thought Id put Schindler's List in here too.

It's so sad one of three or so films that has actually made me cry. Beautifully done and gently dealt with by Spielberg (obviously himself a Jew). His best work for sure (along with Indiana Jones :D)

The music makes it too John Williams :bow:

I played the theme for my violin exam actually - it's great to play something that you feel so passionate about.

The Great Escape
THe Bridge on the River Kwai
Das Boot
Run Silent, Run Deep
Stalag 17
Where Eagles Dare


The are a number of others. I just can't think of their titles.

Sorry, I missed this somehow so haven't replied yet.

Yes, I agree that the rescue attempt itself was not cheesy, it was really the bit at the end with Hanks saying "earn this". The plot of the movie was I think fairly typical of many war films with a small number of people sent behind enemy lines for a mission. As such, I found that part a good film but not extraordinary, the gritty feel was nicely captured (and I think copied in Enemy at the Gates, another great war film). It was really the first sequence that stood out for me, that part was based on real events and you realise that something like this really happened and that there are people out there who actually experienced this.

Yes the first bit was the best :)

Hanks can seem cheesy I think just because he does so many of those sort of big hollywood roles, he's become a bit of a cliche I suppose, like Tom Cruise.

Still a good film though :ok: Not in Spielberg's top 5 best but still worth a watch to anyone reading :)

Agree that 'The Deerhunter' is a classic.'Saving Private Ryan' was rather cheesy and so realistic that I didn't fancy ice cream in the interval.However,it did at least show the grim reality of horrific injuries and death.'Gallipoli' was also extremely moving and also had a very young Mel Gibson as eye candy! ;)

I onyl saw bits of Das Boot but it was really chilling and grim. Looked a great movie to me, one day i must watch it all.

I love films about submarines .
Gray Lady Down , Red Oktober, Das Boot to name a few...