What's Your worst war movie ever

[pterrok]

Sorry, it wasn't a movie--it was a TV series:

'Combat' was dreadful....

[carnifex]

All of the above plus:

The Thin Red Line - man I just couldn't wait for Caviezel to finally get shot. Maybe if they took out the idiotic narration and the slow motion shots of his girlfriend it would have been a tad better.

[Hertston]

ORIGINAL: Makoto

I'm not nominationg "A Bridge To Far" but I have a question about the movie. After the Irish Guards jump off we have the whole bombardment scene with the bomber planes. I'm wondering if those were accurate, they look like Hawk 75 A3 or A4s to me, were the Brits still using those in 1944?

As far as I'm aware we never used them at all, although the French did in 1940. The P-40 would have been the first of the line in RAF service.

This was the era when the original planes were no longer available (Typhoons, probably), but they couldn't use computer trickery to fake them. I suspect, like the tanks in Patton and Battle of the Bulge, they were whatever they could find still in service somewhere (Spanish probably) that looked vaguely right. Maybe some airplane buff with the movie to hand can tell us what they were.

At least they found some real Shermans.. [:D]

[Maciste]

ORIGINAL: gunny

If I had to pick one:

Sergeant Steiner.

The sequel to Cross of Iron with Richard Burton. I guess somebody couldn't accept a ficticious hero who was not only a skilled soldier but could also maintain an ant-war sentiment while fighting for survival on the side of the NAZIs. So the solution was to transfer him to the western front, then have him become a traitor, join the enemy and kill his best friend. Willi Heinrich must of rolled over in his grave when this came out.

What's the title? A sequel of Cross of Iron??? [&:][&:][&:]

By the way, my particular list of bad war movies are:
-Pearl Harbor.
-Windtalkers.
-The thin (bo)red line.
-Saving Private Ryan.
-All of the "made-for-video" war movies about Vietnam (any fan of Chuck Norris out there? [:D])
-Rambo III.
-Rambo II.

P.D: I'd like to see any time of my life, some of the war soviet movies made on the URSS during the Stalin rule... critics says that those films are polithically smelly, but also great blockbuster spectacles...

[showboat1]

I always forget to include the Thin Red Line simply becuase it is SOOOOOOOOOO bad that I try to block it from my memory.

[Belisarius]

The Thin Red Line is sorta good by the same reason Apocalypse Now is good.

Otherwise, I think you've already named all the ones I was thinking of.

As for digging info on the Tom Cruise movie-to-be, you guys MUST learn to tap into the cornucopia that is the Internet Movie Data Base![:-]

[jnier]

ORIGINAL: showboat1

I always forget to include the Thin Red Line simply becuase it is SOOOOOOOOOO bad that I try to block it from my memory.

Everytime this thread come up I dread it because I know someone will say how bad Thin Red Line was. Well guess what - lots of people think it's a great movie, such as:

http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_rev ... 10802.html
http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movie ... n_red.html
http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/mov ... 4&afl=imdb
http://www.boxoffice.com/scripts/fiw.dl ... IN+RED+LIN

The movie seems to try to combine the style of independent film with the content of a war movie - which is probably why it seems to evoke "I loved it" or "I hated it" type of reaction and not much in between. I loved it. Of course, you're entitled to hate it.

[Les_the_Sarge_9_1]

If we judged movies by the comments of "reviewers" and box office receipts, we would end up watching even more garbage and be even more miserable.

Thin Red Line was good literature, and as a film about as good as the movie Dune was.

And at the risk of sounding superior, those reviewers can get bent.

[jnier]

ORIGINAL: Les_the_Sarge_9_1

If we judged movies by the comments of "reviewers" and box office receipts, we would end up watching even more garbage and be even more miserable.

Thin Red Line was good literature, and as a film about as good as the movie Dune was.

And at the risk of sounding superior, those reviewers can get bent.

I read the book and saw the movie. I thought the book was mediocre and the movie was excellent.

The only point of mentioning the reviews is to illustrate that many, many people liked the movie. But you're entitled to hate it.

[JaegerJ]

Worst war movie ever?
Anything Mel Gibson made. I tear it apart, throw it on the ground and poop.

[JaegerJ]

Ya, and that Jerry Bruckheimer.(Pearl Harbor). I reach for my shovel.

[EricGuitarJames]

So many clunkers and I can only pick one[;)]. Well, since it hasn't been mentioned I'd go for 'Raid on Rommel' starring Richard Burton. But it's only Burton in the close-ups, most of the longer shots are unused footage of George Peppard in 'Tobruk' (I think). Even allowing for that it's still a total farrago.

[dinsdale]

I enjoyed The Thin Red Line, though I don't really consider it a war movie, just a movie with war as a backdrop. The long attacking scene looks like it was stitched on to make it appear more of a war film than it should have been.

Worst of all time? Tough to single out one, but I have no doubt that U571 should win the award.

Close runners up:

1) Any 80's cold war film such as Iron Eagle, Rambo etc
2) Any movie where a military acadamy is taken over and herocially saved by plucky cadets

[JaegerJ]

Wasn't one of those,"Cadets", Tom Cruise?
I heard,(read), that he is playing a pilot in the up-coming re-make,"Battle of Britain"
Can't wait to see how much hollywood has butchered this event.

[ravinhood]

I love Mel Gibson war movies, they always get me right in the ole chest.

Picking the worst is kinda hard, but, I guess it would have to be PATTON because it had too much talking and not enough action. I like a war movie that flows like Battle of the Bulge, but, Patton was too much about Patton and his antics. What a baby he was, wah wah wahing all the time, wanting everything his way, reminds me of some forumers when a new game is coming out. heh

[dinsdale]

ORIGINAL: JaegerJ

Wasn't one of those,"Cadets", Tom Cruise?
I heard,(read), that he is playing a pilot in the up-coming re-make,"Battle of Britain"
Can't wait to see how much hollywood has butchered this event.

Yes he was in one, there was another with "Rudy" as well.

I like Cruise, but add Top Gun to the list of all time worst

[Bart_Breedyk]

Easy enough for me, 'When Trumpets Fade'. Seemed to me to be a movie set in the 40's with slang and attitude from the 80's. Almost as bad as seeing a crowd chant Queen's 'We Will Rock You' at a supposedly Medieval Joust.

B

[Pippin]

After reading this thread so far, I think I will have to finish Watching Windtalker´s in full, JUST TO SEE HOW BAD IT REALLY IS. Granted, I did see the Thin Red Line, though I didn´t think it was too bad, though I also did not think it was too great either.


My nomination still holds for U-571. I don´t know what I was thinking, I thought perhaps there might be some realism. I guess I should of not watched Das Boat.. now I am expecting too much. It is ironic, Das Boat made over a generation ago, still seemed to beat the crap out of our modern day filmed U-571. The Hunt For Red October, done about a decade ago, still holds up today imho of one of the greatest sub moves done. Crimson Tide, perhaps could of had a better story line in places, but was not too badly done.

But u-571? Ughh... one of the most recent sub movies out of holywood, and as someone mentioned ´utter nonsense´. Though let´s not go too hard on the movie, perhaps we should give the screen-writer a break. I mean, some poor guy got paid a load of money to write some bs WWII movie using history he had never learned about in school (at least not proper). Yup, this poor writer had to make up the whole script on what he imagined WWII sub warfare was like.. the poor chap.

This scriptwriter had it rough indeed. I mean, what was a russian captain doing controling a german submarine? I don´t get it (or was it just a russian actor playing the part?). The writer or director didn´t know what countries where on axis or allied sides. Then he seemed to have got the Americans mixed up with the Brits as well. (It was the Brits who captured the enigma device BTW). Not to mention, at no time ever did any engima device get captured on the real u-571. The correct submarine was u-110 I believe. So yes, he couldn´t get the proper sub even remotely right. But, at least they got the planet right!

The cowboy stuff was great oldschool. Run into an enemy sub, and run into a full room of bad guys where someone is already holding at gun at your head, but still the cowboy is fast enough to realize it, and aim his gun and shoot & kill the other guy first.. etc.. etc.

Rightttt. I thought we grew out of the cowboy stuff from the 50´s. But, that´s just a tip of the iceberg...


I don´t know, as for the story line of the rest of it.. again... nonsense, makes both the Brits and the Germans look like morons. But, at least we get to watch the almighty heros who can rush in, overcome incredible odds, and often nail the 1 in 1000 shots repeately.... and then of course becoming victorious at the end..

Ok I´m going to stop ranting for now, other wise this is going to turn into a 50 page message of errors in the thing...

But let´s give the movie some more pluses, you get to see BON JOVI! Even better, the special un-cut release you get to see Bon Jovi get decapitated as I recall. I don´t know, seems his start in movies years ago, hasn´t gone very far, this only proves it. John Bon Jovi, I suggest you stick to music.... At least the Slippery When Wet album gave you some decent fame.

If you want to see a movie re-write history, and love to see people try and change history while still insisting it´s based all on fact, I highly suggest you rent this at Block Buster today!


P.S. "U-571 Part Two, Return of the u571" Opening in theaters near your place Soon. Be on the lookout, our u571 heros return, and show how we really won the eastern front war!

[Rummy]

ORIGINAL: Sarge

Well....... I will save my vote for the Battle of Britain staring Tom Cruise [8|]. Think its due out sometime in 05.

That was pretty funny.

Reading all of this was pretty theraputic. As a huge military history buff, I think I've seen every war movie ever made and these posts include almost all of the really bad ones.

The Thin Red Line and Windtalkers are my two top vote getters. They were so horrible, I am ashamed to say I saw them.

Perhaps I'm getting picky, but frankly, I think there have been very few war movies that I personally consider 'good'. For all of its faults, Saving Private Ryan has to be at the top of my list, but there are some other, less well-known ones as well. The Young Lions with Marlon Brando and Dean Martin (?!) is an old black and white one that is really outstanding. There's also an Italian flick about the Eastern Front that is pretty darn good. Can't remember the title.

[gunny]

There's also an Italian flick about the Eastern Front that is pretty darn good. Can't remember the title.

would that be "The Battle of Neretva" by any chance? it was pretty good, Italian movie made in Yugoslavia about partisans vs italians/germans.