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The movie(for me) which depicted the most realistic battle scenes had to be BRAVEHEART.

I nominate "Tae Guk Gi" for realistic battle scenes.

I would also have a very soft place in my heart for "Gettysburg" (though it doesn't include all the "heads blown off by a cannonball" spectacular included in "The Patriot").

I would also submit "Gallipoli" for documenting the most horrendous waste of human life in a movie.

Zulu
Hamburger Hill
All Quiet on the Western Front(the original)
Dawn Patrol
Sink the Bismarck
Twelve O'Clock High
Das Boot

If your looking for realistic firefights put in the DVD

Black Hawk Down

But the most realistic scene I ever seen was ,believe or not the scene in Forest Gump.
The terror,violence and how it realistically showed the confusion a squad comes under was very realistic,hell to realistic.

You would be surprised how long 30 seconds is [;)]

ORIGINAL: Zap

The movie(for me) which depicted the most realistic battle scenes had to be BRAVEHEART.

Hi, Braveheart? Braveheart? The director said "I won't let history get in the way of the story" The battle scene for the Battle of Stirling Bridge didn't even have a bridge.
There was nothing historical or realitic about the movie Braveheart.

(among a number of things
1. There was already a scott King and it was a dispute among scotts that led to their inviting the english to arbitrate (The english did not trick the Scotts and then massacure them)
2. The French princess was under 12 year old
3. The forces at Stirling bridge were fairly even (6400 Scotts versus 6700 english) with the Scotts holding the better ground. They had 400 longbowman verus 350 english heavy cav. (compare this ratio to that at Crecy 50 years later)

Never having been in a two way fire fight I feel underqualified to even think about listing a movie. However having done lots of fire exs I think that I can put forward the following comments.
What you see on the screen is not what the average trooper on the ground sees. IRL all you see is your mates to the direct left and right of you (if your lucky) and a very narrow arc to your front. Generally you are sweating hard, thirsty, puffed and half deaf from all the ordance that is going off around you. While all that is happening you are trying as hard as possible to aim and fire your weapon while straining to hear what your section commander is yelling at you. You greatest fear (or at least mine was) was that you not fcuk up in front of your mates.

Now imagine all that with some one actually trying to shoot at you !

How could I ever claim to know what a realistic battle scene is?

ORIGINAL: Mogami

ORIGINAL: Zap

The movie(for me) which depicted the most realistic battle scenes had to be BRAVEHEART.

Hi, Braveheart? Braveheart? The director said "I won't let history get in the way of the story"

2. The French princess was under 12 year old

Sophie Marceau looked good for a twelve year old![:D]

the depth charge sequence in 'Das Boot' is hard to beat for realism

Sorry - but Saving Private Ryan opening sequence.

"Brotherhood" Korean film about the Korean War. My god the scenes beat everything hands down. When a mortor goes off you dont just see someone fly through the air, you see them being ripped apart on the spot!

"Thin Red Line"

Also the obvious "Saving Private Ryan" However lets not forget that the actual way it was filmed was pioneered in "Paths of Glory" which is a great film.

"We were soldiers" Thought I'd hate it but the fighting was very intense and chaotic.

The Band of Brothers series... I really enjoyed the Carentan episode as well as the mortar attack scenes in Bastogne...

I guess "enjoyed" isn't the right word, but you know what I mean...

The opening scenes of Enemy at the Gates were pretty good.

Mogami,

I guess I was referring to the sense of urgency in the actual battle scenes. I thought it gave an idea of the spirit and courage men had to use fighting with those weapons.

I'll admit, I never had a real sword fight, the closest I came was playing as a kid with wooden swords. I will also plead ignorance about the history. You made your point, I gueuss mine was not such a good choice for most realistic.

Raverdave,

I'll have to second your point. I'm unqualified. BUt I was asking also for an observers opion. I realize it means less then one who actually has fought in battle.

ORIGINAL: wodin

"Brotherhood" Korean film about the Korean War. My god the scenes beat everything hands down. When a mortor goes off you dont just see someone fly through the air, you see them being ripped apart on the spot!

If your not making small with incomming mortor rounds the only thing your going to see is your maker [;)]

I am a combat veteran and I can tell you it's really a very personal experience. I don't know if it's different for everyone, but it certainly effects people some people differently. So the most realistic to me may not be the most realistic in another vets eyes.

The one that really struck me the first time I saw it was the opening scene in saving private ryan. I remember feeling very small and helpless under fire. I could relate to Tom Hanks character in the scene as he was overwhelmed by the whole experience.

My experience was different from his in that I did not witness americans getting butchered like that. It is easier I think to deal with death when it is the bad guys who are getting butchered I think because we tend to de-humanize them. Refering to Somali's as "skinnies" or vietnamese as "gooks" are good examples of that. You find a way to cope. Human nature I think.

I thank god I did not have to deal with watching americans get butchered the way Tom Hanks character did in that movie. I have ultimate respect from WW2 vets.

Being a Pacific War fan, I've seen some amazing documentary footage, but, to my mind, the best "Hollywood" version of this up-close and personal carnage was in the hilltop assault sequence in "The Thin Red Line". The men represented were not marines, but regular Army. I have no problem with this -- Army troops fought alongside the Marines in the later stages of the Guadalcanal campaign.

You can trash the movie overall, but that sequence is very good, IMHO.

I have high hopes that the upcoming "Flags of Our Fathers", directed by Clint Eastwood, will raise the bar for depicting the reality of the war in the Pacific.

ORIGINAL: iaidoka2

The opening scenes of Enemy at the Gates were pretty good.

Ok...hectic, yes...but those Stukas fly like a cheap console flight sim!! They turn on a sixpence.

I found it hard to like anything about that film. They did the normal "love scene" thing and screwed it up, along with many, many, many factual errors. In fact, scrap the "factual errors" statement...it abviously wasn't meant to be, so I can't hold that against them. In my eyes, it was only just above Wind Talkers!! [8|]

Ditto for Thin Red Line's hilltop assault. I wish they had recast Travolta and Nolte tho.



Edited for confusion

I would have to go with the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan or the Russian assault in Cross of Iron.