Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Mathman on August 13, 2002, 01:23:27 PM
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Some of the best war movies ever made, at least IMO, were made in the 50's and 60's. While they may not be as realistic (meaning showing the brutality and gruesomeness of war) as Saving Private Ryan or Blackhawk Down, they were definitely more entertaining than Windtalkers or Thin Red Line.
Some of the best ones were:
Guns of Navarone
The Great Escape
Stalag 17
Bridge on the River Kwai
The Longest Day
Bridges at Toko Ri
The Blue Max
Kelly's Heroes (though it did come out in 1970)
Battle of Britain
Those are just some of the good ones that I can come up with.
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My favorite to this day of that era is "Dr.Strangelove".
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"The Eye Of The Needle" remains one of my faves,though I think that was early seventies..
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Dr. Strangelove realistically portrays the minds of the buffoons who cause and run our wars.
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You missed "The McConnell Story" with Alan Ladd, June Allyson, and Frank Whitmore and "Strategic Air Command" with Col. James Stewart, USAF, DFC. Both provide interesting glimpses into the lives of airmen in combat and peace time and the toll it takes on their families.
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Hogan's Heroes
I know it's not a movie but still a classic. :)
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12 O'Clock High... although I dunno when it came out.
-SW
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I love the genre. I remember long Saturday afternoons with my Dad and my brothers, watching war movies like, "To Hell and Back" with Medal of Honor winner turned movie actor Audie Murphy. Hell, ya. Thats how we learned to toss pineapples into machine gun nests, and use suppressing fire to cover your buddies advance.
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Originally posted by Animal
Dr. Strangelove realistically portrays the minds of the buffoons who cause and run our wars.
Yep :) I guess its considered more a satirical movie than a War movie, but my favorite none the less.
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Originally posted by Ripsnort
My favorite to this day of that era is "Dr.Strangelove".
Roger that!
Also watch "Strategic Air Command" on the same day you watch "How I learned to love the bomb".
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I wrote an article on fluoridated drinking water a few years back. I was never happier in my work then when I got to use a Dr. Strangelove hook in my lead :)
Charon
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"In Harms Way"
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"12 O'clock High" and "To Hell and Back" are probably the most realistic of the old movies. Audie Murphy actually played himself in "To Hell and Back".
Its ironic that Audie Murphy survived a German tank and infantry attack, only to be killed in a plane crash in 1956.
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Originally posted by Charon
I wrote an article on fluoridated drinking water a few years back. I was never happier in my work then when I got to use a Dr. Strangelove hook in my lead :)
Charon
Something about our 'bodily fluids'?
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Dr. Strangelove is awesome!
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Something about our 'bodily fluids'?
Can't find the article right now, something along the lines of: "Fluoride in drinking water. A subject Stanley Kubrick once saw fit to destroy the world over..." or something like that. The editor might even have cut it out ormade me tone it down as I remember now. Stupid editor.
The 1960s Alistair MacLean-based movies "The Guns of Navarone" and "Where Eagles Dare" have a special attraction (though all those listed are excellent in one way or another) Pearl Harbor is a pale, sick joke by comparison.
http://www.whereeaglesdare.com/
The there are these guys :) Who really seem to suck bad.
http://www.thegunsofnavarone.com/
If you like Alistair MacLean, then by all means buy HMS Ulysses. Excellent novel.
H.M.S. Ulysses is based on MacLean's own experiences during World War II [edit: mostly set on a Dido class AA crusier making a winter Murmansk run -- U-boats, JU88s, a Hipper(?)-class crusier]. For much of the war he worked on convoy ships delivering much-needed supplies to Britain, the Soviet Union, and other Allied nations. The work was perilous. MacLean was wounded twice by the Nazis and captured by the Japanese. The Japanese tortured him, pulling out his teeth "without benefit of anesthetic," as MacLean once remarked. The ordeal, Bob McKelvey noted in the Detroit Free Press:"...left him bearing a grudge against the Japanese
until his death."
Charon
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What was the one where the japanes and american MIA's are stranded on an Island and they keep capturing and recapturing eachother ?
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"Ballade about a Soldier" - late 50-s. "Only 'old boys' going to fight" - mid-70s. "The living and the dead" - mid-60s.
McLean is great. "HMS Ulisses" is a beautiful book... And when I read it I suddenly understood that Soviet sailors had nothing bigger then destroyers built during WWI or for shallow Baltic sea "type 7"s that could simply break in two on the ocean waves...
I have Dr. Strangelove on a CD in divx. Drunk Secretary General isn't far from true speaking about Khruschev and his gang... That phone-talk scene was probably a reason for that film wasn't bought for movie theatres in USSR.
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Mister Roberts (1955)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
The Enemy Below (1957)
Flying Leathernecks (1951)
The Longest Day (1962)
Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Patton (1970)
The Caine Mutiny (1954)
Sergeant York (1941)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
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http://us.imdb.com/
This site will have information, goofs, trivia on your favorite movies. Just put the title or actors name in the search field.:cool:
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Pasha, how about "The Cranes Are Flying"? I just watched it, on american cable TV believe it or not. The war is really only background for the movie, but powerfull nevertheless. Also don;t forget "17 moments in Spring" - not a movie, but we grew up on it ;)
I can't believe no one mentioned "A Bridge Too Far", and "The Battle of The Bulge"!
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Good call on Battle of the Bulge... but A Bridge Too Far was made in 1977. :)
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Oh oh oh, the one about sergeant York is super old .
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I just can't watch Sgt. York without ending up making fun of his Mother's speech patterns. "Ahm afeerd fer ye Alvin":D
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Memphis Bell and Thunderbolt were excellent but they were made in the 40's .
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Originally posted by Samm
Oh oh oh, the one about sergeant York is super old .
Yeah... I know it's outside of Mathman's criteria... but I had to mention it. :)
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Out of the list in 50's and 60's... I gotta go with Lean for my favorites...
Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia.
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Oops , didn't see that you mentioned it, my bad .
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The Alamo was a war movie so it counts .
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If you ever want to do a 'message movie' that will stay with you for a spell, "Johnny Get Your Gun" a WW1 flick from the 60's or maybe early 70's.
My mistake : Johnny Got His Gun (1971)
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Anton, I am ashamed, but I didn't see "Letyat zhuravli"...
BTW, if you want old-time Soviet movies and TV series - check http://www.ruvideo.com and especially the forum there. Now I DL "Dive-bomber chronicles" and "Tractorists" (hehe I love Nikolay Kryuchkov :)). They have "17 moments" in Divx there, also "The meeting place can't be changed" (you probably didn't see that one - it was out in 1979), even pathetic stuff like "The hot snow" gets captured from sattelite and "released" there.
Hehe, in fact I don't buy VHS tapes any more. Only Divx movies from exchange networks or CD bazars.
Leonid told me he sent you a copy of Zvezda. Did you see it? What is your impression?
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Hell is for Heroes
Hell in the Pacific
No Man is an Island
Never so Few
Porkchop Hill
The Lost Battalion
The list goes on and on.
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Originally posted by Boroda
Leonid told me he sent you a copy of Zvezda. Did you see it? What is your impression?
If he sent it, i didn't get it :(
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Originally posted by Red Ant
If he sent it, i didn't get it :(
My fault, I think it wasn't you... Now the only thing I can do to correct my mistake is to ask for your mail adress.
I didn't see Zvezda myself, but it's the first "full-scale" war movie since Soviet times. Already labeled as "Soviet propaganda" at some film festivals. I have read Emil Kazakevich's novel when I was a child, and it doesn't have anything common with propaganda...
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Bridge over the River Kwai ( I still whistle the theme song when doing the 'honey do' list)
30 Seconds over Tokyo ...great propoganda film.
Mr Rodgers (WHERE"S MY GAWDAMNED PALM TREE!)
Bridges at Toko Ri (gawd.. this one still rips me up)
..and an old B&W about the Marines and the battle for Wake Island, title forgotten, but also a great propoganda film.
and a sleeper.. The Mouse that Roared.
..and the one Peter Sellers vehicle that will without doubt be examined by our our great-great-great grandchildren with much enthisiasm, Dr Strangelove.
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during the gulf war on my ship they played "Mr Roberts" over and over on the shipwide cable . like any movie and then MR roberts then another movie and then mr roberts again . noone to my knowlege ever complained. we had the dang thing memorized . i can still do the accent of the alabama dude telling what the crew did (or destroyed) on liberty .
p.s. we were at sea 63 strait days .
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Excellent!!!
This is what I hoped would happen with this thread!
Mr Roberts, god that movie is one of my all-time favorites. Marbles in the captains overhead!
Hell in the Pacific, Dirty Dozen, all of em are great!
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the combat scenes in "the Blue Max" are the best WWI air combat i've ever seen in a movie - the look on the face of the RFC 2-seater pilot is amazing - does "the Good, the Bad & the Ugly" count - there was a long Civil War sequence...
this is a useful list:
http://www.coastcomp.com/av/fltline2/avmovie.htm
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Originally posted by Samm
What was the one where the japanes and american MIA's are stranded on an Island and they keep capturing and recapturing eachother ?
"Hell in in the Pacific", with Frank Sinatra and Cliff Robertson. The Japanese and Americans formed a temporary truce, then battled it out in the end.
Sorry Samm...that isn't the one. Now I can't remember the title.:o
Les
edited................
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The Dambusters (1954)
The Hunters (1958)
12 O'Clock High (1949)
Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
The Desert Rats (1954)
Mr Roberts (1955)
Battle of Britain (1969)
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
Zulu (1964)
Von Ryan's Express (1965)
The War Lover (1962)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Not strictly "war" films:
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Fail-Safe (1964)
and...
The Wild Geese (1978)
Cross of Iron (1976)
Tronsky
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I'm sure I'm preaching to the chior,
But check out Kubrick's Paths of Glory with Kirk Douglas. (1957) He could have shot it in color, but the B&W gore is so much more effective. Heart wrenching trench war madness.
M*A*S*H was released in 1970, but has sixties written all over it. I remember how blown away I was when I 1st saw this one.
Donald Sutherland is one of my favs. Johnny Got His Gun is the most frightening war movie I can remember. His Jesus, as an engineer of a train to glory, is unforgettable.
Peter O'Toole in 66's Night of the Generals is an off-beat gem. Lawrence of Arabia is my favorite Lean movie though.
Richard Burton leads a ragged patrol against Rommel in 1953's The Desert Rats . James Mason gives real humanity to his Desert Fox character.
1969's Secret of Santa Vittoria isn't a war movie in the traditional sense either. Anthony Quinn leads his Italian village in an effort to hide their wine from the Germans. Worthy cause :)
The Ipcress File in 1965 is a clever, well made cold war spy flick. Michael Caine is killer as a secret agent who isn't a super hero, just a soldier without a uniform. Check it out.
The Sand Pebbles (1966), was a great book, and a epic movie. Steve McQueen leads an all star cast on a gunboat in China. Full of great scenes, never get off the boat. ;)
(Whoops) Almost forgot my favorite wwii buff movie, 1964's 633 Squadron . Thrilling mossie action against a heavy water factory guarded like the deathstar! :D Stay on target...
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Hangtime, I think "Wake Island" was made in 1942 not long after the actual battle.
"The Train" is a four star movie about Nazies using a train to steal French art treasures. Burt Lancaster is the train engineer in this one.
"Hells Angles", by Howard Hughes, is one of the best of the old war movies imo. It's one of those movies that show the bombs dropping all the way to target. Pretty cool.:)
Les
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Oh...just thought about "Sahara", with Humphry Bogart; how could I forget that one?
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Originally posted by Sandman_SBM
Good call on Battle of the Bulge...
Ahh..yes good old Battle of the Bulge
with the epic tank battle set in the frozen tundra of the Ardennes...
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i thought that was the califonia desert - is "The Longest Day" (1962) on anyone's list yet?
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Originally posted by whgates3
i thought that was the califonia desert - is "The Longest Day" (1962) on anyone's list yet?
Yep... called that one already. :)
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One not made in the 60's that was worth the price of a ticket was Cross of Iron by Sam Peckinpah. With James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason. Great Russian front movie. Right up there with Private Ryan for realism. Outstanding hand to hand bunker sequence. Had some T-34's in it.
Gy
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Originally posted by Gyro/T69
One not made in the 60's that was worth the price of a ticket was Cross of Iron by Sam Peckinpah. With James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason. Great Russian front movie. Right up there with Private Ryan for realism. Outstanding hand to hand bunker sequence. Had some T-34's in it.
Gy
Called that already :)
Tronsky
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Anybody remember: The Bedford Incident
Good movie, great book. If you liked Fail Safe, you'll like this one.
My all time favorite would be Bridge Over the River Kwai. Good book (more accurate than the movie) but perhaps a better movie in the end.
Charon
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To Hell and Back is one of my all time favorite movies. The next would be the Battle of the Bulge. I wish I could find them on DVD.
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if the 30 years war counts, i think "Potlak" (the deluge) should be on the list - a fantastic epic film, one of my all-time favorites & possibly the only good movie to come out of the warsaw pact post Eisenstein (other that "the Firemen's Ball", which may have been pre communism)