Hollywood presents WWII. Films that grind your gears. (1 Viewer)

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Way to the Stars with Sir John Mills was pretty good, it told the story of an RAF station from the start of the war to the arrival of the American's. Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence was good and bad at the same time, what I didn't like about it was the mitigation given to the Japanese.
 
I don't think that Combat or 12 O'clock High was on the tele in England, were they old black and whites from the 60's? We did get Hogan's Hero's though, I think there is talk of making this into a film which is maybe not such a good idea with all of todays political correctness.
12 O'clock High! was produced in black and white, the setting was an American bomber group based in England. If memory serves me right, it was produced in the very late fifties.

Combat! was early 60's and made the transition from black white to color. It followed a group of GIs from the landings in Italy through the push up into southern Germany. One of the lead actors, Vic Morrow, was killed several years later while filming a scene from the movie "Twilight Zone" in a helicopter crash.
 
I don't think that Combat or 12 O'clock High was on the tele in England, were they old black and whites from the 60's? We did get Hogan's Hero's though, I think there is talk of making this into a film which is maybe not such a good idea with all of todays political correctness.

Russell Crowe has been tapped for the role of "Col. Hogan", that's the last I heard.
 
Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence was good and bad at the same time, what I didn't like about it was the mitigation given to the Japanese.

I'm not sure that was the intention of the film, though everyone has and is entitled to their own interpretation. I have to say I didn't much like it either, but then I have read the books, by Laurens van der Post, on which it is rather loosely based (The Seed and the Sower and The Night of the New Moon).
Cheers
Steve
 
Saw Task Force on Turner Classic Movies the other night. A fairly well done movie about a fictional Navel Aviation Pioneer that starts on the Langley, and works it's way to the end of the war. Stars Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan. It has a fairly authentic feel to it, and wraps up with color footage of the suicide attacks on the USS Franklin.

A pretty decent movie, all in all. I think I'm going to have to score my own copy of that one.
 
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Not a Hollywood production - made in and by Brits - I just watched GUNS AT BATASI again.
Although not a real "war movie" I recommend it - especially as it shows very well what a true Brit. NCO is.
 
I remember seeing an interview with Sir Richard Attenborough at the time he was making that movie. Apparently, he spent some time with 'real' British Army CSM's and RSM's, to 'get the feel' of the role, and also spent a lot of time, in a soundproofed room, developing and practicing his 'Parade Ground voice' - an art which allows an extremely loud command to be given, but without it being a shout as such, which comes from the diaphragm, and takes practice!

Bye the way, '12 o' Clock High' was a movie, shot in the UK, not a TV show, and was (possibly still is) used a training and discussion aid at RMA, Sandhurst, to illustrate leadership qualities.
 
...Bye the way, '12 o' Clock High' was a movie, shot in the UK, not a TV show, and was (possibly still is) used a training and discussion aid at RMA, Sandhurst, to illustrate leadership qualities.
There actually was a tv series here in the U.S. during the 60's called 12 O'Clock High! and it portrayed the 918th Bg of the 8th AF based in England. Was a pretty good show and they had access to props back then that would be worth a fortune today!

12 O'Clock High (TV Series 1964?1967) - IMDb
 
While buying DVD's in Target I ran across a Polish war movie in the budget section. Was filmed rather recently and was about 200(? IIRC) Who held out for 10 days against the Germans at the start of the war. Anybody know the movie I'm talking about? And if so, was it any good?
 
Thanks for that. I hadn't realised it was also a TV show in the 'States. I wonder if it can be found on DVD?
It's also reminded me of another B-17 movie - 'The War Lover', filmed at Bovingdon, UK (where 633 Squadron was also filmed, and not to be confused with Bovington, where the tank museum is located). I've got a great photo of a B-17 doing a very low-level pass for the movie, although I haven't actually seen the movie, which apparently has some good aircraft and action scenes in it.
 
I think just about anything can be purchased on DVD nowdays! The tv series was good and would be entertaining and I sure would buy it if it were available.

Hey, might have to look around and see if if it is available...get myself a Christmas persent! :D
 
Thanks for that. I hadn't realised it was also a TV show in the 'States. I wonder if it can be found on DVD?
It's also reminded me of another B-17 movie - 'The War Lover', filmed at Bovingdon, UK (where 633 Squadron was also filmed, and not to be confused with Bovington, where the tank museum is located). I've got a great photo of a B-17 doing a very low-level pass for the movie, although I haven't actually seen the movie, which apparently has some good aircraft and action scenes in it.

Movie stars Steve McQueen and Robert Wagner. Basically similar to "12OH" but McQueen is obsessed with war and is an adrenaline junky which conflicts with his co-pilot Wagner. Things get sticky when they both start dating the same English lass. Nice movie, typical Allied sentimentality of the time, nothing ground-breaking but the B-17 crash in the beginning (I believe flown by Paul Manz) is spectacular.
 
Sounds like another movie to avoid...like "Brokeback Mountain". Ain't watched it, never will.
Yep, much like the Batman release that had Danny DeVito and Schwarzeneggar in it. I got the movie for Christmas back in the 90's after it hit the theaters and there it sits in the movie cabinet, still wrapped in it's plastic...and there it shall remain untouched for all time.
 

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