# Worst WWII Movie



## Njaco (May 26, 2009)

They're out there. A Sherman tank with a black cross on it. A P-36 with red meatballs on the wings. Plastic Toys-R-Us army helmuts. Hip shots. Bad accents. And footage from "Tora, Tora, Tora" spliced every few seconds! Which is the worst WWII movie ever made?


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## Negative Creep (May 26, 2009)

Has anyone ever seen the Dirty Dozen 2? They fly a C47 onto a German airfield and no one bats an eyelid! I've voted for the abominaiton that was Pearl Harbor: a film about the Japanese interrupting a love triangle


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## pbfoot (May 26, 2009)

Windtalkers could also be listed although what they tried to portay was admirable Nicolas Cage killing thousands was a little much as for Anzio was just plain bogus , some of the others have to be judged by the period they were made the movies from the 40's early 50's were the product of that era's propaganda


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## pbfoot (May 26, 2009)

Negative Creep said:


> Has anyone ever seen the Dirty Dozen 2? They fly a C47 onto a German airfield and no one bats an eyelid! I've voted for the abominaiton that was Pearl Harbor: a film about the Japanese interrupting a love triangle


in Pearl Harbour what made me laugh was the Queen Mary or Queen Elizabeth liner that was not camoflauged

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## Njaco (May 26, 2009)

My thoughts exactly Neil, thats why they were included. Although some of those from the 40s and 50s were downright horrendous! Watch "Corregidor" and you'll see what I mean.


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## Messy1 (May 26, 2009)

Windtalkers is a particular favorite of mine for worst war movie! They throw grenades, and they explode into a huge fireball and explosion! Cannot watch that movie with a straight face.


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## Thorlifter (May 26, 2009)

Anzio has my vote. Horrible movie.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (May 26, 2009)

I voted for U-571. The movie just disturbs me for some reason. After that Pearl Harbor gets my vote as well. Movie was just terrible. It was not about Pearl Harbor, it was just a fricken love story! It was fricken Titanic 1941...

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## Njaco (May 26, 2009)

Thats it!!! I've said that for years!!!


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (May 26, 2009)

Do we have to pick just ONE!?


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## Messy1 (May 26, 2009)

Aaron Brooks Wolters said:


> Do we have to pick just ONE!?



Good question!


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## Gnomey (May 26, 2009)

Again there are certainly stand out shockers from this list. Definitely up there is both "U-571" and "Pearl Harbor" both truely terrible movies although I can actually just about watch both (Pearl Harbor was on TV the other night and I did watch it for some reason). Certainly it could be any one from the list but still for me despite the cracking cocks ups that are present on this list it has to be "Pearl Harbor". Love triangles broken up by the Japanese and the slight impression the Americans won the Battle of Britain, could it be any worse


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## evangilder (May 26, 2009)

Yeah, for historical accuracy, Pearl harbor takes the cake for "creative license". A whole lot of tripe, and one I do not own, nor will I. I have The Eagle has Landed and Where Eagles Dare in my collection. A bit campy, no doubt, yet still entertaining.


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## Bucksnort101 (May 26, 2009)

Aaron Brooks Wolters said:


> Do we have to pick just ONE!?



My thoughts exactly, I rank Pearl Harbor and U-571 as pretty close on the horrendous movie scale, Ben Aflecks poor acting, casting Alec "I'll move to Canada" Baldwin as Gen. Doolittle put it over the top in my opinion. I almost walked out of the POS Movie as soon as I saw that. The thought of substituting made up charactors for any of the real heroes that flew the Tokyo Raiders mission really repulsed me as well.
The outflying the Zero in the village square made me laugh aloud as well. Bad, Bad, movie, with bad bad historical accuracy, and bad, bad acting.

Rant over.

P.S. Did I say I didn't care for the Pearl Horbor movie? I hope I did.


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## Messy1 (May 26, 2009)

I guess you really don't like PH Buck! I totally agree, I know it is a bad movie when my girlfriend thought it was about a love story!


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## Bucksnort101 (May 26, 2009)

Aaron Brooks Wolters said:


> Do we have to pick just ONE!?





Messy1 said:


> I guess you really don't like PH Buck! I totally agree, I know it is a bad movie when my girlfriend thought it was about a love story!



I don't see how you got that impresstion As I said I nearly walked out, but I swallowed hard and made it through the rest of it. Should have written a letter to the Writers/Producers and demanded my money back.


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## Cota1992 (May 26, 2009)

PEARL HARBOR!!!!
The never ending frigging movie...I loved how being as fighter pilots were in very high demand at the end of the day they are in thier dirty hawaiian shirts trying to recuse guys trapped in sinking ships instead of flying fighter cover or out watching for signs of another attack...after I figured out that they were going to go with Doolittle (Baldwin as Doolittle is reason enough to burn the movie) I started day dreaming in the theater...seeing them run up and help raise the flag at Iwo Jima in thier dirty tattered hawaiian shirts and then riding Fat man down at the end of the movie Ala Slim Pickins (It couldn't have been any worse of a ending)

Other movies on the list- Raid on Rommel gets a pass from me because it was one of the movies as a kid that got me into WWII stuff

Spitfire was a good movie for the time and conditions it was made- same with Flying Tigers, they both get a pass in my book.

As far as a Sherman tank with a cross on it- it never amazes me that people who get upset about that never get upset about the M-60s in Patton- Hell at least the Sherman was a wartime tank.

Speaking of Patton, in my book that's the most overrated war movie ever made- it's just...okay.

I'm also surprised to see the Eagle has Landed on this list- another favorite it's got great stuff- Stug going by on a rail car- Larry Hagman getting shot in the head and the great "Yes" line over and over..."Soldier are you mocking me?"

I'm really surprised that MIDWAY is on the list for best movies instead of this list being as 80 percent of it is historical footage or footage from about every Navy movie made after the war (I love Midway for the same reason I love Raid on Rommel but it's not anywhere near the best movie list)
Okay my three cents...No doubt everyone else will feel different.
Art


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## trackend (May 26, 2009)

Objective, Burma! 
with Eroll Flynn
About the only war film I know that caused a diplomatic incident 
I thought the fighting Seabees was a bit rough with Japanese tanks being attack by a guy on a bulldozer 
I know it won oscars but I never liked Bridge on the River Kwai William Holden in the film to get the finacial backing from the US and Alec Guiness with that bloody rediculous British officer stiff upper lip attitude


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## Cota1992 (May 26, 2009)

trackend said:


> I know it won oscars but I never liked Bridge on the River Kwai William Holden in the film to get the finacial backing from the US and Alec Guiness with that bloody rediculous British officer stiff upper lip attitude



You know I just saw this again a few months ago and I gotta agree- I was surprised that it wasn't that good, not like I remembered it as a kid.

Art

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## Njaco (May 26, 2009)

Cota, I tossed a couple on there just to see what people would say. I agree "The Eagle Has Landed" isn't exactly the worst but it is a little hokey. "Midway" I didn't put because, well, outside of that stupid love story (same writer for Pearl Harbor?) I thought they tried to accurately portray as best they could. But "Raid on Rommel"!!!! You want to see a hack job! Watch "Raid on Rommel" and then "Tobruk" with Rock Hudson. Talk about film splicing!!

and I always remebered "Battle of the Bulge" fondly as a kid - then I grew up.

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## Cota1992 (May 26, 2009)

I agree on the hokiness about Raid on Romel (Mostly footage from Tobruck) I give it a pass in my book despite being a bad movie because it was the movie as a 6 or 7 year old made me learn what the Africa Korps was and got me started on European WWII History-I agree it's a cheesy movie and I guess I didn't make it clear enough, it needs to be on the list.

I like Midway too and I'm the one guy on the site who thought the little aside with the Japanese girlfriend wasn't that out of place or prespective (Didn't take over the whole damn movie like Pearl Harbor) In fact one of the things watching Midway I have fun doing is figuring out what scene each piece of footage is. The Hellcats and all that don't bother me that much either, it's telling the story (and the storyline is great) and they used what footage they could.
Hope I didn't sound that harsh on Midway. I like it but wouldn't say it's the best and didn't vote for it, so maybe I'm out of place bringing it up on this thread...


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## Colin1 (May 26, 2009)

Well
for my part, I'm going to stick up for Where Eagles Dare, it was only a dramatisation of a McLean book and I don't think it ever pretended to portray a genuine event, even tongue-in-cheek.

It's by no means the worst film on that list.


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## Doughboy (May 26, 2009)

Pearl Harbor...As DerAdlerIstGelandet said PH was mostly a love story, not a ww2 movie.


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## ToughOmbre (May 26, 2009)

Pearl Harbor by a mile. In one word......*UNWATCHABLE!*

BTW, "The Dirty Dozen" is one of my favorites!

TO


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## Airframes (May 26, 2009)

What ever Pearl Harbour was supposed to be, the only part that could have been reasonable, from an aviation viewpoint, was totally screwed up by atrocious photography. That was the use of real Spitfires, and a Bf109 (OK, a Buchon), where the aerial 'action' shots were badly framed, with terrible composition, and mostly out of focus! After that, then seeing a Spit hit the drink at a steep angle, at a fair rate of knots, and the pilot not only surviving, but escaping from the sinking 'craft, I gave up - didn't see much more of the rest!


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## Flyboy2 (May 26, 2009)

Airframes said:


> then seeing a Spit hit the drink at a steep angle, at a fair rate of knots, and the pilot not only surviving, but escaping from the sinking 'craft, I gave up - didn't see much more of the rest!



Haha I totally agree. Fortunately for the main female character that type of crash is survivable if your in love, and when you just float on conviniently over to France, they'll just ship you back to America. It was nice that the tides moved the pilot right to land... I thought the P-40's looked nice, but that was about it. I just kept laughing every time some major aerial event like the Battle of Britian, Attack on Pearl Harbor, or the Doolittle raid kept interrupting the love plot.

Come to think of it Windtalkers was pretty bad as well... I wasn't sure what other people thought of it, but i thought it was a pretty bad movie with a low budget, I love when they used file footage for the battleships. CHEAP!


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## Von Frag (May 26, 2009)

PH was an abomination. I've watched it twice with the wife and she gets pissed when I ridicule it......all the way through. I did not see one movie worth mentioning as worst.........Air Force. Yes this movie was made at the beginning of the war and it is pure propoganda, but I am sure the B-17 crews that watched it got a good laugh. The Eagle Has Landed was horrible as well, enough melodrama to choke an Elephant.


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## vikingBerserker (May 26, 2009)

I can kinda understand some of the older movies being a tad on the hokie side, but the newer ones.....oui fricken vais!

I have to vote for PH, that was just plan RUDE of the Japanese to attack during a love story!!


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## Matt308 (May 26, 2009)

Pearl Harbor sucked. The acting sucked. The story line was shite. Any resemblence to WWII was fancy. And did anyone think there was gay overtones in the pilot's relationship? 

I own and love the Dirty Dozen. But c'mon. It's campy crap kid stuff.

Anyone who badmouths The Great Escape will burn in hell.  Just read some authentic accounts of that Stulag and you would be astonished at how innovative our warriors were. If you think they took artistic license, you are wrong, Wrong, WRONG. The truth is more fantastic than the movie.

Greatest disappointment in a movie? Cabanatuan. Some of the sneek-and-peek scenes were comical. Unjust for such a fantastic story of heroes.

And now the Worst WWII Movie EVER....

1981 Victory with Sylvestor Stallone. An gem of utter crap.


_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o26zDVvgjfI_


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## pbfoot (May 26, 2009)

Matt308 said:


> Anyone who badmouths The Great Escape will burn in hell.  Just read some authentic accounts of that Stulag and you would be astonished at how innovative our warriors were. If you think they took artistic license, you are wrong, Wrong, WRONG. The truth is more fantastic than the movie.
> 
> 
> 
> _View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o26zDVvgjfI_


then if you like the Great Escape check out Colditz those guys had super escape plans including making their own glider, which was recently reproduced and flown


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## Vassili Zaitzev (May 26, 2009)

Gotta say Pearl Harbor. Pretty much just like Titanic(although I do like the movie Titanic) I always found it funny when Ben Afflecks character tells his buddies not to climb with zeros in the P-40, yet five minutes keeps up with a zeke in a climb, and in a turn! Also, having his spitfire hit the water at that speed would be like hitting concrete, funny how he didn't get smeared across the channel.


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## Flyboy2 (May 26, 2009)

Vassili Zaitzev said:


> funny how he didn't get smeared across the channel.



Because that would have made ruined the love story and actually MADE SENSE


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## vikingBerserker (May 26, 2009)

I actually would have paid more money to see that!


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## Flyboy2 (May 26, 2009)

vikingBerserker said:


> I actually would have paid more money to see that!



Would have given SOME credibility to the whole movie!


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## Matt308 (May 26, 2009)

I saw that recreated on TV about a few years ago, Pb. You know what that was? That was phenomenal too.


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## Von Frag (May 26, 2009)

pbfoot said:


> then if you like the Great Escape check out Colditz those guys had super escape plans including making their own glider, which was recently reproduced and flown



I saw a PBS special on that. They had the two guys there that designed the glider and it flew beautifully.


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## Von Frag (May 26, 2009)

Vassili Zaitzev said:


> Also, having his spitfire hit the water at that speed would be like hitting concrete, funny how he didn't get smeared across the channel.



Well we could only hope.


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## Thorlifter (May 26, 2009)

I would have voted for Pearl Harbor, but I have never seen it and I never will. If I want to watch the attack at Pearl, I'll watch Tora Tora Tora.


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## Vassili Zaitzev (May 27, 2009)

Thorlifter said:


> I would have voted for Pearl Harbor, but I have never seen it and I never will. If I want to watch the attack at Pearl, I'll watch Tora Tora Tora.



Much better version of the attack, even if it is old. Actually pays attention to the facts, and no sappy love story.


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## Njaco (May 27, 2009)

"Victory"! Matt, totally forgot about that one - which is a good thing.  Typical Stallone "B" movie. Uughhh!


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## RabidAlien (May 27, 2009)

Von Frag said:


> I saw a PBS special on that. They had the two guys there that designed the glider and it flew beautifully.



Loved that 2-part miniseries!!!! I scoured various video stores for months, looking for that one, until I found it at HalfPrice Books. The book....amazing! The things they came up with to help escape (both from the inside, and stuff they came up with in London)....it boggles the mind what a human being can do when the chips are down. That, and "The Great Escape" are two of my fav's!


I voted for "Thin Red Line"...mainly cuz I'm exhausted after this weekend, and completely missed "Pearl Harbor" on the list. Fighter pilot volunteers to fly with the Brits, gets shot down and survives pancaking into the Channel, then gets conveniently shipped to Pearl to "recuperate"???? WTF was that? And then, after volunteering and appearing in about a dozen different places at once during the attack, they magnanimously decide to fly B-25s instead of fighters, apparently because there are no longer any B-25 pilots left in the world. My blood-pressure goes up just thinkin about the $8 I wasted seeing this crap in the theater.


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## Doughboy (May 27, 2009)

RabidAlien said:


> Loved that 2-part miniseries!!!! I scoured various video stores for months, looking for that one, until I found it at HalfPrice Books. The book....amazing! The things they came up with to help escape (both from the inside, and stuff they came up with in London)....it boggles the mind what a human being can do when the chips are down. That, and "The Great Escape" are two of my fav's!
> 
> 
> I voted for "Thin Red Line"...mainly cuz I'm exhausted after this weekend, and completely missed "Pearl Harbor" on the list. Fighter pilot volunteers to fly with the Brits, gets shot down and survives pancaking into the Channel, then gets conveniently shipped to Pearl to "recuperate"???? WTF was that? And then, after volunteering and appearing in about a dozen different places at once during the attack, they magnanimously decide to fly B-25s instead of fighters, apparently because there are no longer any B-25 pilots left in the world. My blood-pressure goes up just thinkin about the $8 I wasted seeing this crap in the theater.


TRL was a horrible movie...Watched it once and will never watch it again.


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## Stitch (May 27, 2009)

Definitely "Pearl Harbor"; it should've been called "Love Harbor".


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## 109ROAMING (May 27, 2009)

ToughOmbre said:


> Pearl Harbor by a mile. In one word......*UNWATCHABLE!*
> TO



I can assure you my good friend that is it watchable ,You just NEED to be fairly drunk (from experience I know this) otherwise best of luck getting through it!

The whole Spitfire crash got me -then the whole 'heroic' I'm alive and it was night??? still trying to figure that one out

Seemingly made by kids for kids -A waste of hours on those Spitfire frames and Merlins!


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## Bucksnort101 (May 27, 2009)

Can I vote for Peal Harbor a second time?


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## Njaco (May 27, 2009)

Its looking like a massacre!


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## Thorlifter (May 27, 2009)

Just a thought..............don't watch Pearl Harbor.


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## Doughboy (May 27, 2009)

Thorlifter said:


> Just a thought..............don't watch Pearl Harbor.


Why?


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## trackend (May 27, 2009)

I know one thing forget water boarding show PH on a repeat loop to those held in Gitmo and they'll sing like birds after the intro starts for the 2nd time.
On second thoughts better not the UN will class it as an extreme violation of human rights.


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## wheelsup_cavu (May 27, 2009)

You definitely needed to be able to pick more than one.
I picked U-571 but I probably should have went with Pearl Harbor.


Wheelsup


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## Lucky13 (May 27, 2009)

Can I only vote once and for only one flick? Pearl Harbor.....what a sh*tload of cr*p! Those that made and paid for that waste of time should be nailed to a door and castrated! The sad part is that they're probably proud of it...


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## Ferdinand Foch (May 27, 2009)

Lucky13 said:


> Can I only vote once and for only one flick? Pearl Harbor.....what a sh*tload of cr*p! Those that made and paid for that waste of time should be nailed to a door and castrated! The sad part is that they're probably proud of it...



Well, Lucky, Michael Bay is more into special effects and explosions than historical accuracy or an actual plot, so he's probably very content with himself. Apart from the Rock and maybe Bad Boys, all his movies are crap. 
On another note, why the [email protected]@@ did they pick Ben Affleck to play Jack Ryan in the Sum of All Fears?! They turned one of my favorite hollywood characters into a pile of trash after they picked Affleck for that role.


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## Bucksnort101 (May 27, 2009)

Pearl Harbor was attacked once again, this time not by the Japanese, but Hollywood!!! U-571 was pretty bad as well. I actually didn't mind The Great Raid that other nominated, but wished they would have told the story of the people that spied and took intelegence around on the ourskirts of the camp to help plan the raid in addition to the help the natives gave in making it all happen. That was as compelling as the actual raid itself IMO.


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## RabidAlien (May 27, 2009)

Bucksnort101 said:


> Pearl Harbor was attacked once again, this time not by the Japanese, but Hollywood!!! U-571 was pretty bad as well. I actually didn't mind The Great Raid that other nominated, but wished they would have told the story of the people that spied and took intelegence around on the ourskirts of the camp to help plan the raid in addition to the help the natives gave in making it all happen. That was as compelling as the actual raid itself IMO.



"The Great Raid" followed the book "Ghost Soldiers" (author Hampton Sides) pretty well. The book was about the 6th Ranger Battalion, and while it did talk about the help the guerillas gave to the Rangers, it didn't talk much more than the movie showed. I would've been fairly easy to just leave them out altogether, as most people wouldn't have ever bothered to wonder why there was a camp in the middle of nowhere with no Japanese Army units nearby or anything. The book/movie was about the rescue mission, which was undertaken without much intel or planning. I personally think Hollywood screwed up and did a superb job with this one.

I would love, however, to see a movie made about the Coastwatchers and other groups who faded into the jungles and generally made life for the Japanese Army very difficult. Most of the intel for this rescue mission came from a guy (American?) who evaded capture after Bataan and joined up with some local rebels. Now, THAT would be a movie to watch (provided the right director took it on and didn't royally muck it up)!!!


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## Von Frag (May 27, 2009)

RabidAlien said:


> I would love, however, to see a movie made about the Coastwatchers and other groups who faded into the jungles and generally made life for the Japanese Army very difficult. Most of the intel for this rescue mission came from a guy (American?) who evaded capture after Bataan and joined up with some local rebels. Now, THAT would be a movie to watch (provided the right director took it on and didn't royally muck it up)!!!



Father Goose..............

And a little bit of coastwatching in In Harms Way........except the coastwatcher was sitting on top of the hut while the Japanese officers were drinking their Sakae. 

Does anyone remember a movie called the Devils Brigade?


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## Soundbreaker Welch? (May 28, 2009)

I don't think Eagles Dare is really that bad, they had some fine stunts in that movie. The Characters weren't too bad, and the firefights are pretty exciting to watch. I don't know if it's that accurate, but it's about secret agents so often we don't know what they actually did! At least, the opening flying scene over snow capped mountains is pretty fun to watch, and Richard Burton gives a good performance, as does Clint. 

The Memphis Belle is definitely worse, and in many parts felt a bit clunky, at least in the character department. It was fun to watch for the flying scenes, those I was disapointed in were the limited amount of P-51 vs. 109 scenes, but I guess I shouldn't since it was about a "bomber" crew, not a fighter one. Samwise Gamgee in it was entertaining, and the Captain character was all right, but they could have done the whole thing better. 

Pearl Harbor though, was even worse, haven't really watched it all the way through . It's cgi really wasn't that good, might as well watch Tora Tora Tora if you want to see Zero's and P-40's, at least you are seeing actual planes most of the time. That does make me worry, I hope Lucas get's his CGI right on the planes, otherwise...... I think the trouble is people tend to make the 1940's look too sappy, I think it's entirely possible to make a serious love story in a WWII movie, but so far they have had trouble on it. 

Didn't really care for the Eagle has Landed too much, the British being saved by the young American commander was a bit weird, couldn't the Brits get the Germans on their own? 

The Desert Fox was not corny or even that inaccurate, James Mason did a good job as a Rommel in a sympathetic light.


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## wheelsup_cavu (May 28, 2009)

Von Frag said:


> Father Goose..............
> Does anyone remember a movie called the Devils Brigade?


I still watch Father Goose when it comes on and laugh.
Complete fiction but I do like the movie.

I liked the Devil's Brigade too. 
Willliam Holden, Cliff Robertson, Claude Akins, Richard Dawson, et all.
The Devil's Brigade (1968 ) - Full cast and crew
One of the parts I remember well is the fine they receive after the bar brawl. 


Wheelsup


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## Cota1992 (May 28, 2009)

Thorlifter said:


> Just a thought..............don't watch Pearl Harbor.


I did ONCE- the weekend it came out....never again...no worries there...


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## Negative Creep (May 28, 2009)

Surprised no one has mentioned the RAF Officer in PH yet. "If all Yanks are like you then God help anyone who goes to war with you" (or words to that effect. My God that was painful to watch, do people actually think Brits talk like that? I do rather like The Thin Red Line though


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## evangilder (May 28, 2009)

PH was riddled with complete fiction. Portraying Doolittle as a foul-mouthed hot-head was complete fiction. His staff and friends were all livid with that portrayal. They said he was cool and calculating a never cursed. Having had a distant cousin on the raid and having read Doolittle's biography, I can tell the screenplay writers had NO idea about the man. 

The portrayal of Americans as the great saviors of Britain during the BoB was a HUGE disservice to the brave boys of the RAF who had the help of only about a handful of Americans, who, while giving a small amount of help, were by no means more than a very small few bits of cannon-fodder. Please, Hollywood, you owe every person who saw that pile of dung a refund, and an apology.


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## Vassili Zaitzev (May 28, 2009)

evangilder said:


> PH was riddled with complete fiction. Portraying Doolittle as a foul-mouthed hot-head was complete fiction. His staff and friends were all livid with that portrayal. They said he was cool and calculating a never cursed. Having had a distant cousin on the raid and having read Doolittle's biography, I can tell the screenplay writers had NO idea about the man.
> 
> The portrayal of Americans as the great saviors of Britain during the BoB was a HUGE disservice to the brave boys of the RAF who had the help of only about a handful of Americans, who, while giving a small amount of help, were by no means more than a very small few bits of cannon-fodder. Please, Hollywood, you owe every person who saw that pile of dung a refund, and an apology.



Don't think they'll issue one, from what I understand, most of the people from Hollywood are too full of themselves to apologize.


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## ToughOmbre (May 28, 2009)

evangilder said:


> PH was riddled with complete fiction. Portraying Doolittle as a foul-mouthed hot-head was complete fiction. His staff and friends were all livid with that portrayal. They said he was cool and calculating a never cursed. Having had a distant cousin on the raid and having read Doolittle's biography, I can tell the screenplay writers had NO idea about the man.



Yes. Casting Alec Baldwin as Jimmy Doolittle (one of my favorite WW II heroes), added insult to injury!

TO


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## drgondog (May 28, 2009)

Gnomey said:


> Again there are certainly stand out shockers from this list. Definitely up there is both "U-571" and "Pearl Harbor" both truely terrible movies although I can actually just about watch both (Pearl Harbor was on TV the other night and I did watch it for some reason). Certainly it could be any one from the list but still for me despite the cracking cocks ups that are present on this list it has to be "Pearl Harbor". Love triangles broken up by the Japanese and the slight impression the Americans won the Battle of Britain, could it be any worse



G - very good synopsis! I voted Pearl Harbor as not only the worst war movie but one for the books in Movie Hall of Shame. The acors and the writers and the producers should have been sued by the Doolittle family for picking a total retard to play Doolittle. And of course, the Americand Did need some help to 'win BoB' - didn't they? 

If we went four deep, Memphis Belle is another dish of Twaddle. Morgan must have thrown up (if he could have EVER been persuaded to watch that abortion). Lousy selection of actors, lousy actors, lousy script, lousy special effects, lousy movie - did I leave anything out?


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## ToughOmbre (May 28, 2009)

Based on the votes so far, looks like PH has just about "retired the trophy" as *Worst WWII Movie*.

It's in the running for *Worst Movie of All-Time*, regardless of subject matter.

TO


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## Cota1992 (May 28, 2009)

No...Brokeback Mountain is the worst movie of all time. Pearl Harbor is number two.


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## RabidAlien (May 28, 2009)

Heh. Refused to see the one, trying to block the other from memory (although....it _did_ have Kate Beckinsale....so it wasn't a total waste of money).

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## Njaco (May 28, 2009)

I will never watch Brokeback Mountain. Just can't.


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (May 28, 2009)

ME NIETHER NJ, ME NIETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Doughboy (May 28, 2009)

I hate Brokeback Mountain...Especially the whole gay cowboy thing.


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## Cota1992 (May 29, 2009)

Doughboy said:


> I hate Brokeback Mountain...Especially the whole gay cowboy thing.




The thing I hate MOST about Broke Back Mountain is the fact that everyone thinks they were gay cowboys- They were Sheep men, NOT cowboys.

Being a former working cowboy from Wyoming I cannot even get into how I feel about this movie with out ruining my whole weekned (and the wife's) with the mood I will be in. Pearl Harbor is almost as bad- and yes- I saw through about the first half hour of Broke Back Mountain (Before the man love started happening) and there was so many flaws in the normal working scenes that I would have gave up on it anyway...


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## Doughboy (May 29, 2009)

Cota1992 said:


> The thing I hate MOST about Broke Back Mountain is the fact that everyone thinks they were gay cowboys- They were Sheep men, NOT cowboys.
> 
> Being a former working cowboy from Wyoming I cannot even get into how I feel about this movie with out ruining my whole weekned (and the wife's) with the mood I will be in. Pearl Harbor is almost as bad- and yes- I saw through about the first half hour of Broke Back Mountain (Before the man love started happening) and there was so many flaws in the normal working scenes that I would have gave up on it anyway...


Okay..Gay sheepmen, what's the difference it still makes me do this...


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## Njaco (May 29, 2009)

Whatever it is, I don't need to watch a movie about it. I almost did a technicolor yawn just reading about it.


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## diddyriddick (May 29, 2009)

If we're talking about authenticity, then I have a moment. In watching The Guns of Navarone there is a scene in which a truck in German occupied Greece is tooling along on the road....Only problem is the "Dodge" on the tailgate. Hard to take seriously after that.

But I voted for Pearl Harbor. What utter bullstuff.


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## Coors9 (May 29, 2009)

Gotta go with Midway for the simple reason, in one clip Heston is in a Hellcat, then a Wildcat, Avenger,Helldiver and on and on. I think I may have seen a clip with him in an F4, smokin' engines and all. I still enjoy the movie though.


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## Coors9 (May 29, 2009)

I will say one of my fav scenes in any movie is the one in Jaws, on the Orca, when Shaw told the story about the Indy. That one always....WOW.


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## phas3e (May 29, 2009)

Vote for Pearl Harbour..its crap and every knows it

I agree Coors, Shaw should have got an oscar nod for that one scene, it was magic.


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## RabidAlien (May 29, 2009)

Its been YEARS since I'd seen that movie, but when reading a book about the Indy, that is the scene that came to mind time and time again as the author was describing the days and nights spent floating in the open ocean. Haunting and tragic...you felt like you were there with him.

Now back to our regularly-scheduled PH bash.


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## Cota1992 (May 30, 2009)

Insert Pearl Harbor Rant here- now I can go out my morning with out feeling like I forgot to do something...


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## tengu1979 (Nov 2, 2013)

I voted for PH of course. The BoB part is just........ Aside of surviving the crash in POLISH 303rd SQUADRON MARKED SPITFIRE, not mentioning the way it was givent to him just with the blood of previous user on the windscreen, Outmanouvering the zero with BOTH hands on the stick and moving around the cockpit like having an ar*e on fire and a very quick transition to a bomber pilot. The only good point of the movie is Kate ( by the Gods I love this Woman).

For the Memphis Belle, Dirty Dozen and Battle of the Bulge they started my interest in WWII so I will always remember them good. I was totally disappointed by Mosquito Squadron - successor of 633 squadron using most of its aerial shots anyway. And a VERY poor acting. Not mentioning American Squadron Leader and on Indian Pilot, AFAIR flying in Turban.

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## Aozora (Nov 3, 2013)

Gotta be Pearl Harbor; "typical" British airfield consisted of tents next to a big house: "hero" given a Spitfire full of shell holes with smashed, blood spattered canopy; shoots down an He 111 and two Bf 109s with three precision bursts...heroically force 4 A6Ms to collide...what's not to like?


_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odJPCjdQQzg_


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## fubar57 (Nov 3, 2013)

Why did you post that monstrosity on this most sacred of Forums.....I..I..must..go..lie..down.

Geo

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## Njaco (Nov 3, 2013)

Ohhh, Aozora, you did it now!!!!! Posting filth on this forum is not allowed!!!

.


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## Marcel (Nov 8, 2013)

Oh, Pearl Harbour, just love that movie

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## YakFlyer (Nov 11, 2013)

There were are a few moments of wow that is impressive photograpny, the opening few seconds, and the P-40 getting airborne. I did like the drama captured in the hospital, Tora! Tora! Tora! failed to capture the human cost of the battle. However, it is overall, pretty crap. I went to Hawaii in June with my girlfriend, and I wanted her to have an idea what the movie was about and I guess this was the point of Pearl Harbor, to educate more people who wouldn't otherwise take an interest. She took an interest, and could appreciate the story when we visited Pearl Harbor itself. 
Still, I think Ben Afleck and Josh Hartnet are a couple of right plonkers, they are as convincing as pilots, as I am at key hole surgery.

yakflyer


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## YakFlyer (Nov 11, 2013)

"I missed you like Michael Bay missed the mark, when he made Pearl Harbor. 

I missed you more than that movie missed the point, and that's an awful lot girl.

Now, now you've gone away, all I'm trying to say, Pearl Harbor sucked, and I miss you. 



I need you like Ben Affleck needs acting school, he was terrible in that film.

I need you like Cuba Gooding needed a better part, he's way better than Ben affleck, now, now you've gone away, and all I'm trying to say, is Pearl Harbor sucked, and I missed you!" 

etc etc etc etc It sounds better when I actually sing it!

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## Airframes (Nov 12, 2013)

Please don't sing - we haven't got a licence!

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## Njaco (Nov 12, 2013)

....like fingernails down a chalkboard.


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## GrauGeist (Nov 12, 2013)

Just saw Mosquito Squadron on TV last night. Well, actually I fell asleep shortly after it started...

Anyway, has any one noticed that the V-1s being launched at the beginning of the movie were actually the Fi103r?

I have a feeling that falling asleep was probably a good thing

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## Akuma (Jun 23, 2021)

ToughOmbre said:


> Yes. Casting Alec Baldwin as Jimmy Doolittle (one of my favorite WW II heroes), added insult to injury!
> 
> TO


I would bet that the screen writers had no idea of the subject.


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## Capt. Vick (Jun 23, 2021)

No Red Tails?


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## NVSMITH (Jun 23, 2021)

-So many to choose from and the competition is stiff.
-Being limited to one I'll have to go with Pearl Harbor. The premise was ludicrous, the acting terrible and much of the costuming was from the wrong era. Given when it was made there was certainly no logical reason for so many inaccuracies to be crammed into so short a period. 
-I guess it just says something not very nice about both script writers and the viewing public.


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## SaparotRob (Jun 23, 2021)

Long ago and lost in mists of time, I saw a movie on TV that was bad. The only scene I remember was a couple of Allied planes strafing the train our heroes were on. The soundtrack was playing "In the Mood". That part was kinda' cool.

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## michaelmaltby (Jun 23, 2021)

Kelly's Heroes, IMO, pretty bad

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## michaelmaltby (Jun 23, 2021)

Mersch made a bunch of Mosquito films back i n the day - featuring exploits loosely based on the RAF 617 Sqnd (Lancaster missions) and No. 106 Mosquito pathfinder. The plots weren't much but the flying scenes were interesting to watch. Wouldn't fall asleep, IIWY


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## Akuma (Jun 23, 2021)

Film makers are not interested in making good or bad movies. Their only interest is Profit. "Worst Movie' is very subjective. We all have certain expectations when we watch a film and we may agree that some films are bad and others good in a very general sense, but when it comes to rating particular movies we each have our individual parameters. Even very bad movies can have either a very accurate or very creditable scene while the rest of the film, to us as individuals, can be an unqualified disaster. The film 'Pearl Harbor' has the well deserved status as a bad film, but the scenes where the actor Jon Voight plays the part of Franklin Roosevelt are well done, even if they may not have actually happened. I can name a war film that most people consider very good, if not great film, which in my opinion, is absolutely awful with no excusable or redeeming features.
Let's get back to possibilities.
Just off the cuff, let me nominate 'Flyboys' as a supremely bad film.

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## SaparotRob (Jun 23, 2021)

Dacklflugzeug said:


> I would dare to say Red Fails was as much a travesty, as Telly Savalas' Blather of the Bulge (1965) replete with his rather dubious acting, woeful dialogue, dubious character motivation and so many Panzer sins, location was awful so obviously shot in Sierras de Guadarrama and not Ardennes they might have well just shot it in Utah or Nevada or somewhere similar. Oh, so many sins In Bulge of the Battle. Alas, Red Tails comes off quite well in comparison excluding the "Baddies always wear black" fantasy Totenkopf Bf109s and miraculous UFO like handling of P51's.


I forgot about the Battle of the Bulge movie. Telly Savales standing up in his tank (where the turret used to be) brandishing a 50 cal challenging the Wehrmacht is memorable. Just not in the way intended.

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## SaparotRob (Jun 23, 2021)

Dacklflugzeug said:


> Blasphemy! Let's not overlook the bizarre plot logic of the British volunteering to engineer and construct the damn bridge they took such pride in that was killing them, which was then blown up (?) amid these erstwhile navvies glee(?).
> I think something about the actual Thai-Burma rail would hve been so much more poignant- and very possibly Americans involved as well as the the Romusha paid laboureres (Phillipines, Thais, Malays, people from modern-day Indonesia)) all suffering (of course POW's far worse off vs Romusha) for a Japanese plan.


I still like the opening with the POW's marching to the Colonel Bogie March.

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## J_P_C (Jun 23, 2021)

where is "Midway" remake - not as bad as Pearl Harbor or U457 but still deserve place in this competition....

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## J_P_C (Jun 23, 2021)

I'm voting for PH just because of the Zero ambush at the control tower scene - dumbest scene in history of movie making industry ....

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## SaparotRob (Jun 23, 2021)

J_P_C said:


> I'm voting for PH just because of the Zero ambush at the control tower scene - dumbest scene in history of movie making industry ....


That is a mighty strong claim considering how many awful movies there are. Still, you may be right.


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## Bucksnort101 (Jun 29, 2021)

12 years later and my vote is still Pearl Harbor, and it will probably be so until the day I'm planted 6 feet under (probably from being forced to watch this turd again by someone I know).

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## muskeg13 (Jun 29, 2021)

Pearl Harbor is the absolute worst major war film, but I had the misfortune to waste about 10 minutes of my life with "The Ghosts of War" on Netflix. Between the portrayal of GIs as war criminals and their use of a mix of British weapons, I had to pull the plug. Rotten Tomatoes said it appropriately: "'Ghosts of War blends supernatural horror and period war drama to produce a muddled mashup that proves some ingredients are better left separate" ...and some bad movies are better left unwatched.

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## Greg Boeser (Jun 30, 2021)

_Shining Through_
Michael Douglas and Melanie Griffith are spies in Nazi Germany. (their German is terrible)
Bring your barf bag. You are going to need it.

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## Maty12 (Jun 30, 2021)

J_P_C said:


> where is "Midway" remake - not as bad as Pearl Harbor or U457 but still deserve place in this competition....


Honestly torn on Midway to be honest. I think we can all point out the dumbest scenes in the movie and the overuse of explosions and planes always being inches from crashing into each other, but for the most part... the events are somehow accurate? Hell, it gave me a much better idea of what was going on during the battle than the 70s version, and it didn't make up any characters to do so.

Pros
-Does a great job of covering everything that preceded Midway in a manner that's easy to understand
-Covers the Midway Marauders (though their portrayal is inaccurate), the TBD squadrons and USS Nautilus' role in the battle
-Hell, it has TBDs in it in the first place, I'm a sucker for that
-Follows historical characters through real events

Cons
-I mean just look up clips of any of the carrier bombing scenes, or for a particularly dumb moment Best's entire dogfight during the raid on the Marshall Islands
-Characters are often over-the-top based on single quotes (pretty sure their entire portrayal of Best was the one quote that mentions his "utter disregard for personal safety"
-Moments that feel very forced

Nitpicks
-Come on guys, you had CG B-25s, why did you make B-25Js instead of B-25Bs? Hell, they have the meatball roundels _with _the later bars around them on the top wings in some of the shots.
-Midway Marauders: No Susie-Q? Bombs instead of torpedoes? Might be remembering wrong but I think they also had way more than 4 Marauders
-No B-17s or TBFs at Midway?

Conclusion:
The best adaptation of the Battle of Midway is Montemayor's 3-part series on youtube. Almost 100% historically accurate, thoroughly engaging, and very easy to follow.

Oh wait, this is a thread about bad movies. Honestly I need to watch more of those! From the list I've barely seen any. Pearl Harbor was a favorite as a kid and probably kickstarted my Doolittle Raid and B-25 obsession that lasted well over a decade, but jesus christ it's so bad in every conceivable way and painfully long. The DVD had two discs, I only ever watched the second one growing up, because I wanted to see B-25s.

So I guess my vote is Pearl Harbor by default.

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## SaparotRob (Jun 30, 2021)

What Maty12 said.


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## space dodo (Jun 30, 2021)

Why is the thin red line there ? I recall it being a very good war movie


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## Akuma (Jun 30, 2021)

space dodo said:


> Why is the thin red line there ? I recall it being a very good war movie


I think that it might be good for very, very knowledgeable people. Problem is that it's too dis-jointed for most viewers.


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## rob23 (Jun 30, 2021)

Though it is not listed, the 1975 Midway was horrible. The Capt. Garth character was stupid, his son and his Japanese girlfriend was stupid, and the F9F Panther sliding down the deck was really stupid. Lazy film making, terrible editing and an idiotic plot.

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## muskeg13 (Jun 30, 2021)

rob23 said:


> Though it is not listed, the 1975 Midway was horrible. The Capt. Garth character was stupid, his son and his Japanese girlfriend was stupid, and the F9F Panther sliding down the deck was really stupid. Lazy film making, terrible editing and an idiotic plot.


and awful music!

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## rob23 (Jul 1, 2021)

Akuma said:


> I think that it might be good for very, very knowledgeable people. Problem is that it's too dis-jointed for most viewers.


I thought it was the most boring war movie I'd ever seen. I did not get it at all. And John Travolta looked too much like Freddy Mercury.

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## Maty12 (Jul 1, 2021)

May be a bit off topic, but man did the Brokeback Mountain comments on page 4 of this thread hit like a ton of bricks when I was checking what everyone else had picked. For those who like reading entire threads (like me), I highly encourage skipping it. I get it, it was 2009, this ain't a callout post or some cancellation, I was alive back then, I remember what it was like and participated in that culture myself with little thought, and I'm not going to pretend that anyone's views in the past are necessarily indicative of their views in the present, people change. Glad as a whole we society seems to have moved way past that. Again, not a callout, just wanted to say something and warn people because man I was having a good time before that and it made my day worse.

If this is too contentious (though I feel like I've been quite polite) y'all can feel free to delete my comment, not trying to derail the thread in any way.

To tie it back into bad movies, some of y'all watched Pearl Harbor for Kate Beckinsale, 5 or 6-year old me was bummed because she ended up with Affleck instead of Hartnett, seeing as I thought the latter was "clearly the better looking one." Man that's one of those moments that should've made things obvious looking back, but the denial was strong and that whole process took over a decade.

I'd also like to bring to your attention what I feel as a much more common thing in war movies than outright terrible ones - passable movies. The ones that you watch and go "okay, I guess that was a mildly good use of my time." What's would be your pick for "most okay" movie?

I think my pick might be Hanover Street from 1979. Love the flying sequences, love the bombardier character, love Harrison Ford, but man in every other aspect it was very aggressively eh.


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## nuuumannn (Jul 1, 2021)

Definitely Red Tails, just rubbish all round. Perpetuates a myth and the Germans are treated with no more imagination than as cartoon characters.

Despite its terrible story and exaggerated CGI in dog fight scenes, PH had a few redeeming moments and the use of real aircraft in the flight scenes, despite them being the wrong marks for the eras illustrated was a big thing and added a degree of authenticity to the cinematography. For example, the B-25 Dolittle raid take-off scene was actually carried out, they launched those B-25s from the USS Constellation especially for the movie, it wasn't done with models or CGI. The list of airworthy aircraft used in the film was quite extensive and included four B-25s, four Spitfires, the only flying Sea Hurricane and a Hurricane XII, a Hispano Buchon, four P-40s and three Mitsubishi Zeroes, with converted T-6s and BTs for the B5Ns and D3As.

PH was designed as a B grade movie as a homage to great past films such as Hells Angels, where the plot of two guys falling for the same girl against a flying war scenario is the same, as well as a tip of the hat to such greats as Tora Tora Tora, which is definitely the superior film and from which PH used the same B5Ns and D3As as stand-ins and 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, and of course Battle of Britain. The fact that it's a jumbled mess of a film spoils it compared to its inspirations, but the use of real aircraft against the backdrop of the real Pearl Harbor and Ford Island definitely lifts it beyond being complete rubbish, in my view.

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## Maty12 (Jul 1, 2021)

nuuumannn said:


> Definitely Red Tails, just rubbish all round. Perpetuates a myth and the Germans are treated with no more imagination than as cartoon characters.
> 
> Despite its terrible story and exaggerated CGI in dog fight scenes, PH had a few redeeming moments and the use of real aircraft in the flight scenes, despite them being the wrong marks for the eras illustrated was a big thing and added a degree of authenticity to the cinematography. For example, the B-25 Dolittle raid take-off scene was actually carried out, they launched those B-25s from the USS Constellation especially for the movie, it wasn't done with models or CGI. The list of airworthy aircraft used in the film was quite extensive and included four B-25s, four Spitfires, the only flying Sea Hurricane and a Hurricane XII, a Hispano Buchon, four P-40s and three Mitsubishi Zeroes, with converted T-6s and BTs for the B5Ns and D3As.
> 
> PH was designed as a B grade movie as a homage to great past films such as Hells Angels, where the plot of two guys falling for the same girl against a flying war scenario is the same, as well as a tip of the hat to such greats as Tora Tora Tora, which is definitely the superior film and from which PH used the same B5Ns and D3As as stand-ins and 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, and of course Battle of Britain. The fact that it's a jumbled mess of a film spoils it compared to its inspirations, but the use of real aircraft against the backdrop of the real Pearl Harbor and Ford Island definitely lifts it beyond being complete rubbish, in my view.


Valid point. Michael Bay's movies have many issues, but one thing always worth appreciating is his approach to practical vs cgi. Even in the Transformers movies, practically everything that wasn't a giant robot was really there, all the explosions and stunts, all the actors and stunt doubles that barely escape death. Give Michael Bay a budget and he'll slingshot cars through the air, just don't ask him to do anything else.

The Doolittle Raid sequence, while we can nitpick it to hell and point out how many real people it glossed over (American and Chinese), is still thrilling to watch.

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## nuuumannn (Jul 1, 2021)

Maty12 said:


> The Doolittle Raid sequence, while we can nitpick it to hell and point out how many real people it glossed over (American and Chinese), is still thrilling to watch.



Getting four B-25s to fly from the deck of the Connie was a huge effort and too little is made of just how special that was.

I agree about Bay, although the first Transformers movie and the use of USAF/USN hardware were awesome. Coolest scene in the film.

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