THE WORST WAR FILMS

[cpt_Venomous]

ORIGINAL: Copper

I'd have to say worst movie is Stalingrad, completely one sided in the opinion of the Russians, even though the director is German, and the story is German.

Best movie goes to Bridge over the river Kwai or Dr. Strangelove.

yup too timid of the movie I'd say, but dont forget that non-German director could get away with easily, German director cant and on other hand is literally forced to be politicaly correct, if not he'll be mobbed both at home and abroad. Just like Leni Riefenstahl, talented director who was chased from the moviemaking after war's end.

[drw61]

Definitely Gods and Generals. I was going to walk out but my wife said it had to get better, I slept through the rest of the movie! On the other hand I really enjoyed Gettysburg the first in the series.

[52nd Lowland]

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

Thin Red line takes alot of flak. Its not your typical war movie. But I liked it alot. The camara work, colors and visuals were amazing throughout the whole movie.

I guess everyone has there opinion but i thought the Thin Red Line was an excellent movie from all aspects.

[Delphinium]

Try if possible to get to see

Inchon - Laurence Oliver as McArthur [>:]

The shame is it will NEVER get to DVD/VHS release. It should be released as a lesson on how to make a bad film.

[Didz]

Here are the three worst films I have seen/heard of:

Patriot
U571
Pearl Harbour

[cpt_Venomous]

We were soldiers

[freeboy]

which patriot? the recent movie with Mel was richly received here in the states.. wonderful music, tight action and transitions to next scene.. likable main charactor.

[Delphinium]

Braveheart - poor war film, fine fantasy action film.

Just waiting for a film covering Flodden & many of the other great Scottish military triumphs [;)]

[nico71]

Worst ever: U-571 and Pearl Harbor!

Re Enemy at the Gates, my expectations were very low considering that it was just another Hollyweird movie. But by their low standards the movie was surprisingly good. Even though it was 95% fantasy.

Here's some info about the historical background (or the lack of it):

http://216.198.255.120/russianpart/russnipers.html

[CaptBeefheart]

"Pearl Harbor" (Affleck as P-40 and B-25 pilot? Emotion-sapping love story?)[>:]
Anything where you can operate behind enemy lines using German-accented English[&:]

[CaptBeefheart]

BTW, "Patriot" was highly fictional. Gibson seems to have a thing against Limeys (witness "Braveheart").

[vonmoltke]

U-571
Pearl Harbor
Battle of the Bulge

And what's with calling The Enemy Below one of the worst TexasLt?

[The Gnome]

Thin Red Line - Great book, horribly cliched movie.
Pearl Harbor
Patriot - I love how they portray the British troops as the SS, masterful hyperbole (that should be read dripping with sarcasm).

[Toro]

Ah, bad war films... seems like there's more of them than good.

My worst:
Gods and Generals (as opposed to Gettysburg, which I loved)
U-571 (excuse me, have to go to the toilet now)
Pearl Harbor (excuse me, barfing now)
Windtalkers (a movie about Windtalkers that wasn't about Windtalkers)
The War Lover (Steve McQueen, what did you do???)

Opposition to another suggestion:
Thin Red Line -- didn't like this the first time I watched, love it now. It's like Raising Arizona; takes some getting used to...

[JohnK]

ORIGINAL: rlc27

IMHO Thin Red Line was a close to a masterpiece. Not as a conventional war flick, but as a psychological tour de force. Didn't like how they only had 1 transport available though. My main problem was that it was overly interpretive from the book; all that Buddhist stuff was added in, while the book plays it pretty straight. And it's a lot funnier.

The Thin Red Line was an abomination, largely because it did have some beautiful cinematography and a couple great moments absolutely ruined.

Actually, it was pretty funny when I began laughing at the 1,542,423,454th shot of a colorful bird in a tree (As Malick repeatedly beat his viewers over the head with his "man violating nature" message, which incidentally is found NOWHERE in the book.)

The endless voiceovers of inner thoughts (a sign of a bad script) were horrible, particularly those of Witt, who I was hoping would get ventilated by a Japanese machine gun the whole movie.

I actually read the book AFTER seeing the movie. Obviously, adapted screenplays are going to differ a LOT from books; many characters will be removed, scenes cut...the problem with TRL is in no way, shape, or form did it capture the SPIRIT of the book; and the characters were changed beyond recognition; in the book, Witt is a brawling racist, not a gentle backwoods philosopher.

[tiredoftryingnames]

Thin Red Line (The editing and dialog was so bad it was a joke. Sorry but I was in the infantry, most GIs don't talk like poets 24/7)
Pearl Harbor (The script as a whole was so bad it was a joke)

Enemy at the Gates has a special category. I liked (not loved) most of the movie and could deal with it's shortcummings until the end. The final sniper duel from 5 ft apart just blew the whole thing. That and the love story. Even my wife who loves love stories said it was a bad love story in the middle of a movie that didn't need a love story.

[Mr.Frag]

Thin Red Line (The editing and dialog was so bad it was a joke. Sorry but I was in the infantry, most GIs don't talk like poets 24/7)

Agreed, one of the very few war movies ever that I actually got up and found something else to do in the middle of it.

[Feinder]

Anybody ever seen "Wake Island" (1942).

Yes, it's an old propoganda film. It's horrible, but you have to consider the time.

I think you guys take some these films way too seriously. Are you looking for a TRUE historical account of the battle? or something you can enjoy.



Battle of the Bulge (true historical account) - SNOW. Lots of it. Visability of 20m. "BOOM! Where the fack did that come from?!"

Pearl Harbor (true historical account) - SMOKE! Lots of it. BOOM! "Where the fack did that come from?!"

This Red Line (ture historical account) - HUNGER! "Where the fack is our gawd-d_mned Navy with more food! We're starving! (artillery fire) BOOM! Shit! Where the fack did that come from?!

Desert Rats (true historical account) - HOT! "Holy shat if facking hot out here! Forward line-abreast at 40m. Enemy Panzers on the south ridge! BLAM! Where the fack did that come from?!"

I know the "facts" (of the historical accounts), but I also don't mind a bit of "poetic license" as long as it's entertaining. If I want to see a historical account, I'll watch a documentary.

But while I might find "Wake Island" entertaining, in the spirit of this thread, it gets my vote as the "worst" movie.

-S-

[dr. smith]

MIDWAY - no other movie comes close. Instead of seeing how bravely the TBDs lined up one after another to ALL meet a fiery end, what do we see? Chuckles Heston sitting at a desk chewing his fingernails. Instead of seeing the SBDs arrive over the carriers with nary a Zero in the sky, lining up one after another, turning over to make their fateful dives to drop 1k pounder after 1k pounder on Jap flight deck, what do we see? We see Chucky Heston chewing on his fingernails.

IT SUCKED!!!

[freeboy]

sounds like you don't like ch? I thought that it was far hollywild ww2 action, the origonal out of print had great coral sea action.. but it alas is lost