Most Accurate War Film

[Njaco]

After watching Private Ryan I was wondering what would be the next most realistic war movie? Any thoughts? And before I get slammed about how inaccurate the movie was (yes I know about the Mustangs at the end) I thought it was better researched than other movies I've seen .. like... Pearl harbor...GAK!

[timshatz]

"Pearl Harbor" was terrible, great point. Was so bad I dubbed my own lines in about mid way through. Got to be a really funny movie after that.

Tough call on accuracy. Making a movie means it has to be dramatic, keeps people interested. Things in the military are intentionally undramatic so that everyone does their jobs and does them well. Individualism is not focused on as it is in the movies. As a consequence, the technical points of a movie can be accurate while the story is out to lunch.

A better question might be "What movies are technically accurate from a historical perspective?". Plenty of them. "Platoon" (had all the right equipment and uniforms, scenery looked right), "Thin Red Line" (same). "The Enemy Below" (ships were the stars of the movie, even if some shots were obviously models), "Glory". There are plenty of movies that are technically accurate.

Good history is another question.

[Njaco]

"Thin Red Line" made me sick. All the hype about the director and then the actors acted like they were all gonna win an Oscar. Ugh! But "historically", yer right. But direction and acting sucked on both Pearl and Red Line.

[Thorlifter]

I never even watched Pearl Harbor. Ben Afflick makes me ill just looking at him. What did they do that was not accurate?

[Heinz]

Out of the movies I own or have seen battle of britain to a point.

[Njaco]

Well Thor, among numerous faults the most that killed me was...

An American flyer that fights in the Battle of Britain then is stationed at Pearl during the Japanese attack then gets to fly a bomber during Doolittle's raid!

It actually started for me with the cropduster in the beginning that wasn't even built at the time they were depicting!

I could have read Harry Potter and come up with the same movie.

[Njaco]

Heres acouple to discuss:

Tobruk
Sahara
Raid On Rommel
The Desert Rats

Sink the Bismark
Battle of the River Platte
The Enemy Below

Battle of the Bulge
Battleground
The Longest day
A Bridge Too Far

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Tora, Tora, Tora
Midway
Bataan
Sands of Iwo Jima

Platoon
Hamburger Hill
Full Metal jacket
Charlie Mopic
Go Tell the Spartans
Boys From Company C

I guess thats enough for now.

[MacArther]

What about:

The Great Raid
Saints and Soldiers*
the Scicily movie with John Wayne
I second "A Bridge Too Far"

*Not neccessarily completely true story, but they do a good job of showing good battle scences and what its like being on the run.

[timshatz]

[quote=Njaco;237163]
An American flyer that fights in the Battle of Britain then is stationed at Pearl during the Japanese attack then gets to fly a bomber during Doolittle's raid!
QUOTE]

The busiest guy in the US Army Airforce. If the movie were another 15 minutes longer, he would've been flying the Enola Gay over Hiroshima.

[Njaco]

.... and downing a MiG over Toko-Ri with a Stinson!

[Matt308]

Hands down, Das Boot. With subtitles. Not the overdubbed version. Absolutely captivating. Next would be A Band of Brothers. And I really liked a Thin Red Line. What haunts me from that movie was the tall grass blowing in the wind. Scary as hell.

[timshatz]

Originally Posted by Njaco

.... and downing a MiG over Toko-Ri with a Stinson!

I remember that flick! Boy, did that guy stink as an actor. Sad excuse for a movie.

[Matt308]

Oh. And The Bridge of the River Kwai. Excellent.

[timshatz]

Originally Posted by Matt308

Hands down, Das Boot. With subtitles. Not the overdubbed version. Absolutely captivating. Next would be A Band of Brothers. And I really liked a Thin Red Line. What haunts me from that movie was the tall grass blowing in the wind. Scary as hell.

Two good ones. Band and Das.

Remember the scene with the blowing grass. Right after the two scouts got popped. Very haunting scene. The director (Terrence something or other) is famous for his use of nature to move the movie along. He did have some interesting ideas in there, great shots. But failed with the internal dialogue from the characters.

In truth, it is very hard book to make into a movie. James Jones wrote a very good book (also wrote "From Here to Eternety"). "The Thin Red Line" has had 2x shots at being a movie. Neither one hit it. Same problem could be said for "Catch 22" or "Heart of Darkness" (Apocolypse Now). Great books, almost impossible to do as a movie.

[Njaco]

Wow! How could I forget "Das Boot". Awesome pic.

How about semi-war:

No Man's Land
Tears of the Sun
Hunt for Red October
The Beast

Trying to keep a historically accurate list

The War Lover
12 o'clock High
Enemy at the Gates
Stalingrad