What is your favorite WW2 movie

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

The Eagle has Landed (Micheal Caine is great in anything!)
Das Boot . But it has to be the unedited long directors cut to get the full feel of seesawing between boredom and absolutel terror. (SPOILER!)The ending with the captain dying with the boat was heartbreaking...
 

Das Boot is my absolute favorite. And I agree about the unedited directors cut. I also think it should only be watched in German. The voices in the translations were terrible.
 
A lot great movies already mentioned, but one I like and watch any time it's on TCM, is Play Dirty. Michael Caine and Nigel Davenport as British commandos in North Africa. If you don't know it, I recommend taking a look..
 
Das Boot is my absolute favorite. And I agree about the unedited directors cut. I also think it should only be watched in German. The voices in the translations were terrible.
Agreed. I have the english subtitle german DVD version. So much better. What I really love about that movie was the many and creative ways the crew amused themselves when not on duty. It makes a great counterpoint to the stark terror they all experienced whilst being depth charged. I'm just glad TVs don't have a smell-o-vision capability (at least yet). Can't even imagine the smell of that boat after three weeks...
 
Can't even imagine the smell of that boat after three weeks...
Fresh out of refit and overhaul, a diesel boat lives up to its reputation as....STINKPOT, never mind after three weeks underway. Kind of like a training command T-34 can't ever get the essence of puke completely scrubbed out of it, no matter how hard you try.
Cheers,
Wes
 
12 O'clock High, Das Boot and Patton I will always watch if on.

I liked Band of Brother's but got more into The Pacific

Yes! How could i have forgotten Das Boot. A truly great war film. And so many subtle accurate moment of realism with a touch of the bizarre too. Like when all the crew are singing "long way to tipperary"..... The film does well to portray the good, bad and truly terrifying aspects of war and life aboard a ww2 U-boat. That's one job i would not have liked, probably second only to bomber crewman.

Red Tails was an ok war film, if a little inaccurate. Kinda reminds me of Memphis Belle. Too much artistic license and not enough realism. The Mighty Eighth im trying to get around to watching so that's another one on my list to view.
 
Last edited:
Isn't that what trainers were made for?
Guess so. Military trainers, anyway. Had a commercial/instrument student who'd been a line mech on Tweet-37s at a Primary Training base. He said cockpits on those always stank.
But the ultimate vomit comet was the T-39 Sabreliner RIO trainer. It had an F-8 radar set in the nose that fed three F-4 style RIO stations in the cabin which had all windows blanked. The pilots were Marine (mostly F-8) fighter pilots enjoying a stateside tour of duty, and the "targets" were A-4s flown by Phantom pilots in training for Topgun or RAG instructor duty. Needless to say, docile radar interception runs invariably turned into dogfights, and the student RIOs, for whom this was their first flight experience, found it pretty rough going. That little Sabreliner, with it's automatic slats, could turn and burn like a fighter. Only time I ever lost my lunch in the air was when I hitched a ride from JAX to Key West in one of those pukemobiles. The stench was overpowering, and the pilots couldn't be satisfied with straight and level. They liked to indulge in "porpoise flight", deviating rapidly 500 feet above and below their assigned altitude, alternating positive and negative Gs. Garaunteed to elevate your stomach.
Cheers,
Wes
 
and the pilots couldn't be satisfied with straight and level. They liked to indulge in "porpoise flight", deviating rapidly 500 feet above and below their assigned altitude, alternating positive and negative Gs. Garaunteed to elevate your stomach.
Come on, like the T Birds or Blue Angels don't push it when they take up reporters?!
ultimate vomit comet
Going to have remember that one!
 
Come on, like the T Birds or Blue Angels don't push it when they take up reporters?!
Ops officer in the F-4 RAG squadron had done a tour in the Blues. He said giving journalists a ride is a delicate balance between giving them an impressive thrill and scaring them or embarrassing them. He said at least a couple times a year he'd get one who would "flunk" his preflight briefing, and he wouldn't let them get in the airplane. Tact and diplomacy are a necessary part of the job.
Cheers,
Wes
 
Guess I understand. Had the great pleasure in going up in a Dehaviland (sp?) Vampire trainer a while back. The pilot kept it under 3Gs but still felt like I was stuck in cement. Couldn't lift my head to look, but I'm sure he had a big grin on his face!
 
Gs are a bit of a challenge if you haven't experienced them before, especially if you're the hostage. So much better when you're the terrorist! Any time one of my students showed signs of distress, the plane was instantly theirs. Nothing like control of the situation to squelch airsickness and ease fear and stress.
Cheers,
Wes
 
Saving Private Ryan, awesome. A true classic.
Pearl Harbor, way far fetched, but entertaining.
Wind Talkers, an amazing true story that most did not know about.
damn good entertainment too.
Band of Brothers, several views excellently broken down.
Silent Night, a true story about the wars last Christmas and a
few solders from both sides finding a little piece and sanity
near wars end. I have seen this movie twice now and it
has become a movie that my wife and I will watch every
Christmas from now on.
 

Users who are viewing this thread