Good Military History movies...

[guacamole]

Billy_Pilgrim's thread on "The Last Samurai" got me thinking about what movie or set of movies/films I would consider to be the best military history movies. One thing I like about these sorts of movies is that it makes a subject that many people find dry and boring, into something interesting and lively.

So, what do you think makes a good military history movie?

What are some of the best movies in this genre?

What are some of the worst violators of historical military truth in the cinema?

If you could make a movie around the exploits of a historical leader or general or about a time period or battle, who or what would it be and how would you approach the material?

[guacamole]

Billy_Pilgrim's thread on "The Last Samurai" got me thinking about what movie or set of movies/films I would consider to be the best military history movies. One thing I like about these sorts of movies is that it makes a subject that many people find dry and boring, into something interesting and lively.

Should answer my own questions...dontchathink?



So, what do you think makes a good military history movie?


Accuracy. Unflinching accuracy to to "the way it was" or as close as we can get to it and still maintain some artistic and interprative freedom. Quirky characterization and plot are secondary to me when I watch a re-enactment of historical events. I also appreciate stories told from the point of view of the infantryman rather than just the point of view of great leaders. There's something to be said for remembering the anonymous mass of humanity that has given it's life in various struggles.


What are some of the best movies in this genre?


I don't know if I'd say it's the best, but recently I have been enjoying "Band of Brothers". I don't know how accurate it is, but it tells the story of the man in uniform during WWII in a compelling way.


What are some of the worst violators of historical military truth in the cinema?


I would have to say that the end of "Gladiator" is among the worst "Hollywood-ization" of history I have ever seen... and they were doing pretty well up to that point. Real history is just, if exceedingly more, compeling as hackneyed cliche plot endings where hero and anti-hero obliterate each other in a blaze of glory. Granted the story was highly fictionalized to begin with, but the ending, with them trying to reassert the republic was...pathetic.


If you could make a movie around the exploits of a historical leader or general, who would it be and how would you approach the material?

I think it would be interesting to see a movie about Captain Morgan, watching him be both a daring raider, while at the same time contrasting that with his descent into alcoholism and self-destruction.

fwiw
guac.

[elysian]

I have to say Full Metal Jacket, if for no other reason than R. Lee Ermey's in it. "What is your major malfunction, numb nuts?!"

Heartbreak Ridge was also an awesome movie even though there wasn't a whole lot of combat.

Blackhawk Down I find to be the most disturbing movie of the military genre, most likely because it's my own generation involved and it simply seems to hit closer to home.

[Raptor]

1. So, what do you think makes a good military history movie?

2. What are some of the best movies in this genre?

3. What are some of the worst violators of historical military truth in the cinema?

4. If you could make a movie around the exploits of a historical leader or general or about a time period or battle, who or what would it be and how would you approach the material?


1. I agree with you somewhat on accuracy, but I still like the plot to be decent. It's still entertainment after all. Complete accuracy (to what degree that's possible) should be in documentaries. The Infantryman POV is a good idea.

2. I thought Patton and Braveheart were good. I do know that both embelish and change the story at points, but the overall quality is good. Saving Private Ryan also jumps to mind, even though it's almost completely fiction.

3. I'll have to think about this one abit.

4. I think Sun-Tzu would be very interesting, using Art of War as your guide. I 'm just now reading it, but it seems a movie could be approached in several ways. Several Viking leaders also come to mind, like Harold Hadrada.

[guacamole]

I have to say Full Metal Jacket, if for no other reason than R. Lee Ermey's in it. "What is your major malfunction, numb nuts?!"


Good call. Full Metal Jacket was both wrenching and compelling. I thought it was much more powerful and visceral than Platoon.

I haven't seen the other movies you list so I can't comment...

[guacamole]

1. I agree with you somewhat on accuracy, but I still like the plot to be decent. It's still entertainment after all. Complete accuracy (to what degree that's possible) should be in documentaries. [/QUOTE

S'allright. I can concede that. If history is a snoozer, people will ignore it as boring.

[QUOTE=raptor15jj]
2. I thought Patton and Braveheart were good. I do know that both embelish and change the story at points, but the overall quality is good. Saving Private Ryan also jumps to mind, even though it's almost completely fiction.


Haven't seen patton though I've been meaning to. You're about the thirtieth person who has recommend it.

Brave heart was good, although I wish it had a little more killing in it....:wink:


4. I think Sun-Tzu would be very interesting, using Art of War as your guide. I 'm just now reading it, but it seems a movie could be approached in several ways. Several Viking leaders also come to mind, like Harold Hadrada.

Also a good call. Ancient China should be studied a little more carefully by those of us in the west...

fwiw
guac.

[elysian]

I forgot all about Patton- great movie, reasonably accurate and not as heavily jingoistic as many films about WWII were. Arguably even the most pinko liberals will admit WWII was a necessary war and it most certainly was, but many films about it were simply unrealistic in that they had a sort of Cecil B. DeMille aura about them. War even when necessary is not holy.

Anyway Patton is definitely a must-see, but as far as learning actual WWII history I stick to the documentaries & books. There's mountains of good information available to the student of military history re: WWII, but the movies generally aren't a great source.

A notable and bizarre exception to the "war as holy" idiom surrounding WWII movies was a 1960's era movie called Castle Keep. It's just plain weird. Especially when the Allied soldiers holed up in the castle decide to go into town to visit the brothel.

[Raptor]

Haven't seen patton though I've been meaning to. You're about the thirtieth person who has recommend it.

Brave heart was good, although I wish it had a little more killing in it....:wink:



Also a good call. Ancient China should be studied a little more carefully by those of us in the west...

fwiw
guac.

Patton's very long (I think it's 6hrs, could be wrong). Patton's character (played by George C. Scott) is unique. He believed he was the reincarnation of great generals of the past, and he's quite the disciplinarian. You will see when you rent it.
The History channel has some documentaries on accuracy of several war movies that are good. They also have some over ancient Japan and the Samurai code and where they came from. I think that these battles could translate very well into movies.

As for bad war movies, how bout Rambo 2&3? :hehe:

[Mujibur]

I like Military History movies that accurately portray what it was like for the soldiers who fought in that war to help those who were not alive during that war understand what happened. By "accurately portray" I mean that the soldiers show their fear in what they are facing, are not portrayed as invincible superheroes, and that the audience is pulled into the battle so much that you are sweating because you don't think that you will get out of this alive. Full Metal Jacket, Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down were all really good for that, IMO. Whether they were as historically accurate as they could be, I am not entirely sure, but they did convey the horror of being involved in those battles, and the incredible trauma that it would have been to the soldiers (especially the fresh recruits). The D-day scene in Saving Private Ryan was incredible for that aspect, especially the above water-underwater-above water shots.


Another military history movie that I enjoyed was Mel Gibson's "We were soldiers" because of the way that it showed both sides of the battle and portrayed the two generals as human and trying to outthink each other to be victorious. I have read several sources who felt that the movie was quite historically inaccurate, so you wouldn't want to take the movie at face value for teaching history, but it was definitely unique in the way that it did not portray the enemy as being pure evil with no soul. Especially the way that they showed the one Vietnamese soldier writing home to his wife and looking at her picture as he sat in their bunker. It showed that both sides are made up of people who have lives that they have left behind to fight the war. It definitely was less black and white than Last Samurai, as you were saying in the other thread, guac. Of course, the ending was pretty cheesy with the whole doorbell and taxi bit. After a war is not the time to surprise your wife. :ahem:

[TheOneAndOnly]

Out of the whole war genre I think the Vietnam War is my favourite war to base movies on. My favourites are Platoon and the lesser known Casualties of War (with Michael J Fox). I have no idea how realistic they are, but I'd say they pretty much get the jist of the horrors of war.
I thought Stalingrad was pretty realistic.

Least historically accurate movies: BraveHeart and The Patriot and probably Spartacus.

[Da Lone-Warrior]

I enjoyed Glory, Ken Burn's Civil Wars Documentary, Gettysburgh and "Of Gods and Generals".

I remember watching "The Longest Day" and enjoying it for its all-star cast and coverage of D-Day.

I believe I liked the movie version of "All Quiet on the Western Front"

dlw

[Vorkosigan]

Blackhawk Down I find to be the most disturbing movie of the military genre, most likely because it's my own generation involved and it simply seems to hit closer to home.


Black Hawk Down is largely a propaganda film (http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,4120,641220,00.html) with little relation to reality. George Monbiot notes in his excellent review:

"The special forces, over-confident and hopelessly ill-informed, raided, in quick succession, the headquarters of the UN development programme, the charity World Concern and the offices of Médecins sans Frontieres. They managed to capture, among scores of innocent civilians and aid workers, the chief of the UN's police force. But farce was soon repeated as tragedy. When some of the most senior members of Aideed's clan gathered in a building in Mogadishu to discuss a peace agreement with the United Nations, the US forces, misinformed as ever, blew them up, killing 54 people. Thus they succeeded in making enemies of all the Somalis. The special forces were harried by gunmen from all sides. In return, US troops in the UN compound began firing missiles at residential areas."

Saving Private Ryan ultimately failed to be a great war movie, though it came close, for Spielberg is incapable of dealing with evil. As for the The Thin Red Line, the less said about it, the better.

A Walk in the Sun is usually on everyone's list. Paths of Glory, Kubrick's WWI movie with Kirk Douglas in the lead, is wonderful as well. The Bridge over the River Kwai is magnificent.

[TheOneAndOnly]

I believe I liked the movie version of "All Quiet on the Western Front"

Yeah, that was a good movie. I remember watching that in my History Class at school.

Also Gallipoli was a good yarn.

[TheOneAndOnly]

The Bridge over the River Kwai is magnificent.

I love that movie. Also on the topic of POWs, The Great Escape was good. I don't believe it's very realistic though. Haven't they made a movie about Colditz?

Before I forget, Empire of the Sun. This is in my top 10 movies of all time.

[GrayPilgrim]

I have not seen Black Hawk Down so I cannot comment on it. I have watched Patton, The Great Escape, and Bridge over the River Kwai (is the book "on" and the movie "over" I can never keep them straight) dozens if not hundreds of times. When I was in middle School I would watch The Great Escape almost every other week and on the off week I would watch one of the other two. Something that I would like to see a movie on is the escapdes of the Allied prisoners in Colditz castle, is there one?

I agree that Saving Private Ryan reaches for the status of these other movies but doesn't reach it (ack what is wrong with the world I am agreeing with Vork?)

One movie that majors on historical accuracy that bores me to tears is A Bridge Too Far.

As for historical accuracy rating I was extremely disapointed by Pearl Harbor. When I went to see it one of my neighbors was a Vetren of Peal Harbor, and I was going to ask him what he thought, after I saw it I decided I was glad that I didn't. Why name a three hour movie for 7 minutes? (It was more about the Battle of Britain and the Doolidle Raid (as if...) Why does Hollywood get away with such an improbable plot that two guys can be the heros of all three, come one get a little credulity PLEASE!

[Socrates]

Several Viking leaders also come to mind, like Harold Hadrada.
Meaning Harald the Ruthless, a feared giant warrior-king. The last Saxon king Harold Godwinsson is best known for losing to William the conqueror in 1066, but he also deserves to be known for smashing Hardrada not long before, in the Battle of Samford Bridge.

[flipper]

I would like to see a new WW1 movie made that isn't All Quiet on the Western Front.

I suppose my favorite war movie would probably be Saving Private Ryan, closely followed by Das Boot.

[billy_pilgrim]

I would like to see a new WW1 movie made that isn't All Quiet on the Western Front.

I suppose my favorite war movie would probably be Saving Private Ryan, closely followed by Das Boot. In Love and War is about Hemingway's World War I experiences, though much of the action happens after he is wounded. Sergeant York is another decent WWI film you might have forgotten about. The African Queen is set during World War I. And of course, Lawrence of Arabia. More recently (1981), Mel Gibson had a role in Gallipoli, which I haven't seen. You're right about there being a dearth of movies on the subject, though. No big budget Spielberg films about Verdun or the Battle of the Somme. Any guesses as to why WWI is not a popular war for movie-makers?

[Lizard]

Any one here see the Movie the Big Red One. I don't know about historical accuracy but it does follow the POV of grunt soldiers in WWII. The only parts I didn't like were the beginning and ending.

The beginning a WWI private played by Lee Marvin baoyonnetts a German soldier shouting "truce truce" having been duped by this before Marvin is not taken. Problem is the truce was real. He killed a soldier after the war was over.

End of the move Sgt. Lee Marvin (or was it James Coburn I always get those two mixed up) does it again in WW II. This time however he performs CPR to revive the German so as not to make the mistake of wrongfully killing a man twice.

That was just a little too far fetched for me.

[flipper]

In Love and War is about Hemingway's World War I experiences, though much of the action happens after he is wounded. Sergeant York is another decent WWI film you might have forgotten about.

I haven't seen these two. I did see Gallipoli, Lawrence of Arabia, and the African Queen.

You're right about there being a dearth of movies on the subject, though. No big budget Spielberg films about Verdun or the Battle of the Somme. Any guesses as to why WWI is not a popular war for movie-makers?

Not sure. Too depressing might, I suppose, be one reason. However, knowing modern movie tastes, I'd be surprised if that were it. I'm not sure whether people living in the time of the cult of individual would want to easily identify with the soldier's plight in WW1 - the idea of being grist to a vast mechanized meat grinder under a regimented centralized command system; lice, typhus and mud... Mind you, Hollywood managed to glamorize Stalingrad so what do I know?

[SteveF]

- So, what do you think makes a good military history movie?

Focusing on the characters rather than the action.

- What are some of the best movies in this genre?

Gallipoli is an excellent film as is Stanley Kubricks Paths Of Glory. Saving private Ryan is good in parts (particularly the start) and Tom Hanks is excellent. Spielberg can do evil as Schindlers List so brilliantly (probably not the right word) shows.

By far and away the best war movie ever made though, is Terrence Mallicks Thin red Line. In fact its one of the best movies ever made, full stop. It takes a little getting used to as its pretty long winded, but when you do.......well I can barely describe it.

- What are some of the worst violators of historical military truth in the cinema?

U571. How on earth can the Americans get away with these lies?

- If you could make a movie around the exploits of a historical leader or general or about a time period or battle, who or what would it be and how would you approach the material?

I'd go for Tamerlane. Interesting chap all round. The sack of Merv by the Mongols might be interesting in a gruesome way too

[DunnySaze]

A Walk in the Sun is usually on everyone's list. Paths of Glory, Kubrick's WWI movie with Kirk Douglas in the lead, is wonderful as well. The Bridge over the River Kwai is magnificent.

Thumbs up on Kwai.

Other war movies I liked, in no particular order:

Full Metal Jacket

Platoon

Saving Private Ryan

Hamburger Hill

Das Boot

Glory

Apocolypse Now

Good movies but maybe not exactly war movies per se but war related:

Three Kings

Hanoi Hilton

Casablanca

Excremental crapolla:

Best Defense

Any Chuck Norris Missing in Action

Rambo III

Casualties of War

[billy_pilgrim]

Focusing on the characters rather than the action. I'd say a combination of both makes for the best results. A war movie that has neither is "A Bridge Too Far." Such potential ... such crap. Someone ought to make a remake.

By far and away the best war movie ever made though, is Terrence Mallicks Thin red Line. In fact its one of the best movies ever made, full stop. It takes a little getting used to as its pretty long winded, but when you do.......well I can barely describe it.
You're right about it taking some getting used to. I've tried watching it twice, but have never completed it. I may watch it again some day.

- What are some of the worst violators of historical military truth in the cinema?
U571. How on earth can the Americans get away with these lies?
Forgot about that one. A real stinker from an historical perspective. One other movie I'd like to nominate as worth seeing is We Were Soldiers. I don't know enough about the Vietnam conflict to address its historicity, but I liked the film. Don't know how popular (or not) Mel Gibson is in these forums.

[Da Lone-Warrior]

Africa in Black and White is a WWI war-story set in a french colony in Africa where after hearing finally that their country is at war with the Germans, the french locals decide to declare war on their friends the local germans.

Its quite satirical and mostly in french.

dlw

[NeilUnreal]

I'm mostly into WWII films.

A Bridge Too Far is my favorite*, followed by Battle of Britain (1969), and Patton. The film 633 Squadron is cool, in that it focuses on a little-known, but critcally important, WWII aircraft: the De Havilland Mosquito. Operation Crossbow plays fast and loose with history, but it has some interesting scenes of the early roots of space flight, and it's a fun espionage thriller as well.

The Keep is one of the weirdest films I've ever seen. It's a combination of Gothic Horror and WWII. In mood, it reminds me of two other films: the scifi films Phase IV and the original Alien. It's one of those movies you'll either love or hate.

My favorite non-WWII history films involving military subjects are The Blue Max and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. (Though I think Saint Joan (1957) is a better "Joan" film, but it's not so much history as theatre.)

-Neil

*I guess Billy Pilgrim and I differ on this :lol:

[guacamole]

-U571. How on earth can the Americans get away with these lies?



Ugh... I guess it was too much to hope that they weren't going to release that one overseas. But come on.... It's got Bon Jovi in it. That's gotta count for something.




BTW, we musn't forget Zulu. One of my all time favorite movies.

[Spiritus Naturae]

My Faves...

When Trumpets Fade

We Were Soldiers

Bridge over the River Kwai big ditto on that one!

Glory

The Alamo the 2004 production/release

Apocalypse Now

Das Boot

Gettysburg

Tora! Tora! Tora!

Battle of Britain

Stalingrad

The Pianist

Cross of Iron Always liked Lee Marvin.

I didn't like The Messenger the Luc Besson/Milla Jovovich take on Joan and the Hundred Years War. Some of the battle sequences were decent but the English were way too 'cartoonish' and over the top in their 'villiany'...

[Mujibur]

I didn't like The Messenger the Luc Besson/Milla Jovovich take on Joan and the Hundred Years War. Some of the battle sequences were decent but the English were way too 'cartoonish' and over the top in their 'villiany'...
Not to mention the "drunk" Jesus in her dreams. What the heck was that?

[Spiritus Naturae]

Not to mention the "drunk" Jesus in her dreams. What the heck was that?

Weird, man. That's what it was...it blew my mind, man! :duh:
Perhaps I am not 'artsy-fartsy' enough to "get it". :hrm:

Jonathan

[Da Lone-Warrior]

Not to mention the "drunk" Jesus in her dreams. What the heck was that?

It wasn't Jesus, it was her conscience.

dlw

[Da Lone-Warrior]

And I do prefer "the passion of Joan of Arc" over the the messenger, although its not a military movie.

Another military movie that probably deserves mention for its originality is, "the Birth of a Nation"(I bought the DVD because it was on sale and it is a classic first of its kind.) that includes civil-war scenes as well as "warrish" scenes of conflict between the KKKlan and their enemy.

dlw

[Ryokan]

Billy_Pilgrim's thread on "The Last Samurai" got me thinking about what movie or set of movies/films I would consider to be the best military history movies. One thing I like about these sorts of movies is that it makes a subject that many people find dry and boring, into something interesting and lively.

So, what do you think makes a good military history movie?

What are some of the best movies in this genre?

What are some of the worst violators of historical military truth in the cinema?

If you could make a movie around the exploits of a historical leader or general or about a time period or battle, who or what would it be and how would you approach the material?
1. One that is emotionally honest and has good film making technique.

2. a.Grave of the FireFlies: A realistic anime about to children made orphans and rendered homeless by the US fire bombing of Japan during WW2. It is sad, touching, and a must see for anyone who needs to understand the human costs of war.
b.Lawrence of Arabia: Its just a good movie. Exciting, good characterization, has shades of realism.
c.Saving Private Ryan. I really liked it. I thought it was realistic, exciting, and moving.
3. Enemy at the Gates: They ruined a chance to make a truly good movie by throwing in a crappy love story and making the German sniper pure evil.
4. Belisarius, and his campaign to recapture Rome. He was one cool dude, and a almost a humanist.

[TheOneAndOnly]

I'd like to see a movie about Hannibal and the Punic Wars or that Germanic guy who thrashed the Romans in around 6 AD. I can't remember the name of the battle or the guy.

[Spiritus Naturae]

I'd like to see a movie about Hannibal and the Punic Wars or that Germanic guy who thrashed the Romans in around 6 AD. I can't remember the name of the battle or the guy.


That was Arminius and he and his hordes slaughtered 3 Roman Legions in the Teutoburg Forest. Was around 9 a.d., I believe. Would be a good movie.

[stillsmallvoice]

Hi all!

I see that a few of you have already mentioned Glory (which got Denzel Washington a richly deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). I think that it is excellent.

I'd add The Last of the Mohicans with Daniel Day Lewis, Russell Mearns, et. al. Even though it took great liberties with James Fenimore Cooper's classic novel, I thought that it was one of those very rare films, a violent film (very!), in which the violence was not gratuitous. Life on the frontier during the French & Indian War was violent.

1966 was a good year for war movies. Did anyone see The Sand Pebbles (http://tinyurl.com/2y9vo) or Khartoum (http://tinyurl.com/2hnj6)?

Be well!

ssv :hi:

[SteveF]

I see that a few of you have already mentioned Glory (which got Denzel Washington a richly deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). I think that it is excellent.
Hmm, I'd forgotten about Glory. It is a very fine film and considerably better than Zwick's latest, Last Samurai (which is good apart from when the grinning caucasian imbecile is on screen).

I'd add The Last of the Mohicans with Daniel Day Lewis, Russell Mearns, et. al. Even though it took great liberties with James Fenimore Cooper's classic novel, I thought that it was one of those very rare films, a violent film (very!), in which the violence was not gratuitous. Life on the frontier during the French & Indian War was violent.
The Last of the Mohicans is one of my favourite films of all time (for some reason I wasn't thinking of it as a war film) and more proof that Mann is incapable of directing a bad movie. I love the scenery, I love the score, I think Day Lewis is fabulous and generally I just love it!

[Durthorin]

Personally as a good military history piece I have always considered Zulu which depicts the Battle of Rourke's Drift.

[One Bad Pig]

Glory was pretty good. It's been too long since I've seen Gallipoli and All Quiet on the Western Front. The worst military flick I've seen was Crimson Tide. Then again, I tend to scrutinize submarine movies more, since I served on one for 4 years. K-19 was pretty good, except for the surfacing through the ice stunt (would've ripped the sub to pieces).

[runtmc2jc]

Black Hawk Down is largely a propaganda film (http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,4120,641220,00.html) with little relation to reality. George Monbiot notes in his excellent review:

"The special forces, over-confident and hopelessly ill-informed, raided, in quick succession, the headquarters of the UN development programme, the charity World Concern and the offices of Médecins sans Frontieres. They managed to capture, among scores of innocent civilians and aid workers, the chief of the UN's police force. But farce was soon repeated as tragedy. When some of the most senior members of Aideed's clan gathered in a building in Mogadishu to discuss a peace agreement with the United Nations, the US forces, misinformed as ever, blew them up, killing 54 people. Thus they succeeded in making enemies of all the Somalis. The special forces were harried by gunmen from all sides. In return, US troops in the UN compound began firing missiles at residential areas."

Saving Private Ryan ultimately failed to be a great war movie, though it came close, for Spielberg is incapable of dealing with evil. As for the The Thin Red Line, the less said about it, the better.

A Walk in the Sun is usually on everyone's list. Paths of Glory, Kubrick's WWI movie with Kirk Douglas in the lead, is wonderful as well. The Bridge over the River Kwai is magnificent.

i saw (and own) Black Hawk Down. i also read the book. there were numerous mistakes made as alluded to in your link, however that reviewer fails to mention numerous facts such as, the UN sold us down the river, somali gunmen would use women and children as human shields, they would fire indiscriminately from both sides of the street as the convoy passed, thus hitting each other with missed shots, etc. the book is much deeper and more gory than the movie. overall, even if it did have a pro-U.S. slant, it was a good movie and was based in fact.

[runtmc2jc]

enjoyed 'We Were Soldiers Once', 'Black Hawk Down', 'the Patriot', 'Braveheart'..........i've heard 'the Boys in Company C' is supposed to be the most realistic 'nam movie. haven't seen it myself yet.

[Nicholas]

I really liked "The Longest Day" and "The Lost Battalion".

[Dienekes]

For a good movie and one of the very few that are accurate to Japanese feudalistic war watch Ran, wonderful movie. It gets the actual fighting of samurai down to a scratch. Notice their overly frontal assaults, lack of overal strategy there lack of nowing really how to use a gun the true weakness of a katana sword and how the samurai normally stepped back and let the infantry attack first as cannon fodder.

For a good (if brief) glimpse of Roman fighting watch the first couple minutes of Gladiator when they showed the war, after that it was completely made up.

[Mr. Christopher]

Billy_Pilgrim's thread on "The Last Samurai" got me thinking about what movie or set of movies/films I would consider to be the best military history movies. One thing I like about these sorts of movies is that it makes a subject that many people find dry and boring, into something interesting and lively.

So, what do you think makes a good military history movie?

What are some of the best movies in this genre?

What are some of the worst violators of historical military truth in the cinema?

If you could make a movie around the exploits of a historical leader or general or about a time period or battle, who or what would it be and how would you approach the material?


Well, I'll tell one thing. Every war era has it's own little film that makes it the best all around. Vietnam had The Green Beret's (A good buy, too). WW2 had several, like Tora, Tora, Tora, or Patton or what have you. I think what makes a good movie is the era it's depicting.

I don't know of a good "bad" movie that violated history as we know it today. Probably any movie that does the Revolutionary War, like The Patriot. I don't know why, but a lot of things and "facts" surrounding the war are put into question all the time. So every direction puts his own spin on it.

[Justin Thyme]

One of my favorite older movies is The Great Escape. Well done, and from what I've read, fairly historically accurate.

I really liked Saving Private Ryan, for how well it seems to portray warfare.

Having been to Somalia twice *, I have a very fond spot in my heart for Blackhawk Down. I saw the earlier mention of this, but having also read the book, read many articles with people who were there, and having lived through the events that led up to it, I think it is quite representative and generally historically accurate.

I fully understand that a movie has to make some changes in order to be interesting and keep flow. Plus things like specific dialog are obviously usually made up. But I prefer stuff that at a minimum strives to get all the key elements right.



* I was a helicopter pilot in the US Marine Corps for 11 years, and was a part of the first Marine squadron to be deployed to Somalia, operating out of Baledogal, Bardera, Baidoa and Mogadishu. Slept in a tent there for more than 4 months. Became quite familiar with much of the history and evolution of the conflict. It was very, very sad to see. :frown: