Flags of our Fathers / Letters from Iwo Jima

[JKL1960]

My DVD collection actually centres on war movies. I have both films mentioned in the OP. I think Letters is the better of the two and I don't think it glorifies anything. I generally don't care for the films that glorify war preferring the ones that usually focus on the impact of war on civilians. A fact that is reflected in my top five war movies. (Okay top five WWII movies for this thread.)

1. Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies)
2. Idi i smotri (Come and See)
3. La Vita a bella (Life is Beautiful)
4. Schindler's List
5. Letters from Iwo Jima

Only one of these films is in English so if you don't like subtitles I feel bad for you. These are also not platforms for demonstrating your sound system (except maybe Letters).

The first two are absolute must see films. Grave is the most emotionally affecting film I've ever seen. Many films make you cry yet grant some reprieve at the end. Grave leaves a scar. Come and See is so powerful. I always say it is the only movie that shows real soldiers fighting real warfare. It's about the waging of total war in Belarus. It is also interesting because you can see where some ideas from it were used in movies made since then. The audio effect in Saving Private Ryan where Tom Hank's character can't hear after being concussed. Also the church scene in The Patriot (The Patriot is an outstandingly bad film that should be watched just to see how bad a movie can be).

Some other WWII titles that I recommend. The Pianist, Die Brucke, Kelly's Heroes (seriously, great film), Das Boot (of course), Patton, Ivanovo Detstvo. There are lots.

Non WWII that deserve a look. Glory (American Civil War), All Quiet on the Western Front (WWI), Paths of Glory (WWI), Full Metal Jacket (Vietnam), MASH (Korea) and Seven Samurai. I get flak for listing Seven Samurai but few films make such a poignant statement about military conflict and its effect on both civilians and comrades in arms. It really is one of the best films ever made.

Only anecdotal but a family friend who had been a German soldier through WWII claimed that their preference was to surrender to or be captured by Brits or Canadians. He claimed that American soldiers treated prisoners okay but tended to steal personal belongings like rings and watches. Of course, this was still preferable to the eastern front where they generally weren't taking prisoners.

 

[Exit]

More older WWII movies

If you like WWII films here are a couple of older ones that still are good, All are before computer generated immages.

Tora, Tora, Tora - free of romantic plots and great attention paid to authenticity, both plot and equipment. Used real planes

Battle of Britain - slight romantic thread but 90 percent war movie. Used real authentic planes, Heinkel 111, ME-109, Spitfires, Hurricanes. German planes came from Spain where they used the German WWII equipment well after other nations had replaced theirs. The ME109s were refitted with british engines by Spain and the front air scoop is shaped a little different than an original ME-109.

Patton - dynamic story of Patton's WWII career. Doesn't use authentic German tanks (more modern American large tanks) and some America tanks are from more modern time periods.

Kelly's Heros - War/comedy? Uses authentic tanks such as Shermans and German Tiger I tank. It is one of the few if only place you can see a real Tiger I functioning on film.

They Were Expendable - A little propagandish but overall good. The story of American PT boats in the Phillippines. Uses real PT boats - the only movie I know of to do that.

There are more older films on WWII but these are at the top IMHO.

 

[Jack Hammer]

OT, a little

Tora, Tora, Tora is a great movie. Its essentially the same movie as Pearl Harbor without the painfully sappy love story and incredibly bad acting. I'd be one happy camper if I could just slip the attack scene from Pearl Harbor into that movie. It's attack scene is good, just the newer one is much more intense.

Jack

 

[KevInCinci]

Tora, Tora, Tora is a great movie. Its essentially the same movie as Pearl Harbor without the painfully sappy love story and incredibly bad acting. I'd be one happy camper if I could just slip the attack scene from Pearl Harbor into that movie. It's attack scene is good, just the newer one is much more intense.

Jack

I can't tell you how many PH vets were shocked (not in a good way) and disappointed at the movie that Michael Bay put together, especially after he worked hard to include and honor them during the process. No one expected the mess that was the love triangle.

I had the pleasure of being an extra for "Pearl Harbor" during three days' of shooting in Texas and really enjoyed the experience, despite pretty much all my scenes (and most of the ones shot at our location) getting cut. What was interesting was talking with both the film's historical consultant and their Naval liaison during our downtime. Being a historian myself, I got a lot out of that. What struck me most was that both admitted to basically being ignored during the filming. They'd make suggestions about how to improve authenticity to the various directors (sometimes they were even asked!), but their advice routinely was tossed in favor of whatever made for a "better" scene. Some of that I saw first hand. Some of us took their advice to heart on how to act, wear our uniforms, etc., in small ways that didn't seem to matter to the filmmakers, but a lot of big scenes that "would never happen that way" were filmed anyway. The irony is that maybe a historian had the last word afterall and that's why a lot of our scenes got cut

I was a little embarrassed that the movie turned out so bad (and that I was cut), but that doesn't mean I don't have an autographed movie poster from PH in my home theater!

Cheers,

Kevin