Best war film scene for you?
Discussion
Vocal Minority said:
Back on topic - I have to say battle scenes are a means to an end and I don't have an active favourite - for me the crux is watching the characters interact and develop over the story. Band of Brothers is totally without equal for this - but that is the benefit of having 10 hours to work with rather than 2. For example Dick Winters doesn't have many really standout moments (aside from maybe the charge in the 5th, I think, episode). But Lewis' performance and the story of Dick Winters at the end is so much greater than the sum of its parts in terms of imapct.
From an action point of view, Bastogne is a very chilling episode (fnar fnar). But they all have their plus points. The German officer addressing his troops as Liebgot translates at the end of the last episode is another standout scene.
I don't think I have seen the holocaust dealt with as effectively as it was done in 'how we fight' - but thats just my opinion
The bit the gets me in BoB is Lt Compton losing it. He's made it through loads of battles but the thing that breaks him is seeing his 2 best mates getting blown up. Not watched BoB in ages, I really should rewatch it.From an action point of view, Bastogne is a very chilling episode (fnar fnar). But they all have their plus points. The German officer addressing his troops as Liebgot translates at the end of the last episode is another standout scene.
I don't think I have seen the holocaust dealt with as effectively as it was done in 'how we fight' - but thats just my opinion
Similarly in SPR, while the opening scene is just stunning, the bit with Ryan as an old man in the graveyard asking if he's lead a good life is very powerful scene.
RizzoTheRat said:
Vocal Minority said:
Back on topic - I have to say battle scenes are a means to an end and I don't have an active favourite - for me the crux is watching the characters interact and develop over the story. Band of Brothers is totally without equal for this - but that is the benefit of having 10 hours to work with rather than 2. For example Dick Winters doesn't have many really standout moments (aside from maybe the charge in the 5th, I think, episode). But Lewis' performance and the story of Dick Winters at the end is so much greater than the sum of its parts in terms of imapct.
From an action point of view, Bastogne is a very chilling episode (fnar fnar). But they all have their plus points. The German officer addressing his troops as Liebgot translates at the end of the last episode is another standout scene.
I don't think I have seen the holocaust dealt with as effectively as it was done in 'how we fight' - but thats just my opinion
The bit the gets me in BoB is Lt Compton losing it. He's made it through loads of battles but the thing that breaks him is seeing his 2 best mates getting blown up. Not watched BoB in ages, I really should rewatch it.From an action point of view, Bastogne is a very chilling episode (fnar fnar). But they all have their plus points. The German officer addressing his troops as Liebgot translates at the end of the last episode is another standout scene.
I don't think I have seen the holocaust dealt with as effectively as it was done in 'how we fight' - but thats just my opinion
Similarly in SPR, while the opening scene is just stunning, the bit with Ryan as an old man in the graveyard asking if he's lead a good life is very powerful scene.
Skii said:
The take off sequence in Memphis Belle.
The music and sequence of planes lifting off, climaxing with the Belle getting airborne brings a lump to my throat every time. Absolutely majestic.
There were some powerful scenes in that film. Although I've not watched it in a while, a couple that spring to mind are where the relatives' letters are being read our over archive footage of planes being shot down, and Eric Stoltz's character hearing the cries of some of the 'rookie crew' after their plane gets ripped in half. The music and sequence of planes lifting off, climaxing with the Belle getting airborne brings a lump to my throat every time. Absolutely majestic.
The scene in The Dam Busters where the crew are waiting to be given the order to go to their Lancs for take off. They're all longing around on the grass while Barnes Wallis and Gibson are talking. Gibson then sends the men to the transports. So poignant seeing them all leave knowing how many failed to return
RizzoTheRat said:
Vocal Minority said:
Back on topic - I have to say battle scenes are a means to an end and I don't have an active favourite - for me the crux is watching the characters interact and develop over the story. Band of Brothers is totally without equal for this - but that is the benefit of having 10 hours to work with rather than 2. For example Dick Winters doesn't have many really standout moments (aside from maybe the charge in the 5th, I think, episode). But Lewis' performance and the story of Dick Winters at the end is so much greater than the sum of its parts in terms of imapct.
From an action point of view, Bastogne is a very chilling episode (fnar fnar). But they all have their plus points. The German officer addressing his troops as Liebgot translates at the end of the last episode is another standout scene.
I don't think I have seen the holocaust dealt with as effectively as it was done in 'how we fight' - but thats just my opinion
The bit the gets me in BoB is Lt Compton losing it. He's made it through loads of battles but the thing that breaks him is seeing his 2 best mates getting blown up. Not watched BoB in ages, I really should rewatch it.From an action point of view, Bastogne is a very chilling episode (fnar fnar). But they all have their plus points. The German officer addressing his troops as Liebgot translates at the end of the last episode is another standout scene.
I don't think I have seen the holocaust dealt with as effectively as it was done in 'how we fight' - but thats just my opinion
Similarly in SPR, while the opening scene is just stunning, the bit with Ryan as an old man in the graveyard asking if he's lead a good life is very powerful scene.
james_tigerwoods said:
Platoon. Any of the scenes.
But especially the last scene where the compound is overrun...
If you can find it, youd like 13th Division (?) - about the Russians in Afghan, follows a similar theme to Full Metal Jacket, ie training then war zone. Then the last scene and the parting comment.But especially the last scene where the compound is overrun...
popeyewhite said:
tedmus said:
Pesty said:
We were soldiers
I suppose from half way the whole thing is a battle scene.
Great film that. IIRC there is a great review of it on IMDB from a veteran who fought in that battle.I suppose from half way the whole thing is a battle scene.
For me it was the scene in the Cruel Sea where Jack Hawkins shuts the cover of the intercom tube to cut out the sound of the sailors trapped below decks and soon to be drowned.
It was probably just the age I was at when I watched it (10 or 11 I think) but it pretty much instantly stopped me thinking that war was about models, toy soldiers and Commando comics to a realization that it was actually horrible, scary and an absolute last resort.
It was probably just the age I was at when I watched it (10 or 11 I think) but it pretty much instantly stopped me thinking that war was about models, toy soldiers and Commando comics to a realization that it was actually horrible, scary and an absolute last resort.
So many to choose from, but it would have to be the opening to Saving Private Ryan. I'd grown up watching war films were people die by clutching their chest and falling over, with most gore and violence consigned to horror and action films. So watching people get blown to pieces in such a realistic manner was truly shocking.
Stickyfinger said:
More people had done it when they filmed that move, either in the war or during national service.......I wonder how our collection of little 21 year old snowflakes would cope with being a bomber pilot over Germany or a wife at home alone working in a factory 10 hours a day with a rivet gun ?
You know, of course, that that's EXACTLY what the previous generation said about those who fought in WW2, don't you? 
As a father (who never fought in a war, and a son of a father who never had to, although he lived through the blitz) I hope that my (nearly) 21 year old never has to find out...
Sadly, it's clear that the world is still run by megalomaniac tossers who have never done a day's work in their life, let alone fought for anything... You'd hope we'd learn something...
On topic, there's a scene in a Bridge Too Far where Maj. Gen. Urquhart is stuck behind the German lines and a German pops up at the window at the General shoots him with a pistol. It's a slightly shocking, almost incidental scene (which apparently really did happen), but it highlights the tiny differences that make the difference between life and death.
It's a tiny scene in a big film, but has always stuck with me since I first saw the film.
M
Edited by marcosgt on Monday 25th September 15:33
Tango13 said:
RizzoTheRat said:
Vocal Minority said:
Back on topic - I have to say battle scenes are a means to an end and I don't have an active favourite - for me the crux is watching the characters interact and develop over the story. Band of Brothers is totally without equal for this - but that is the benefit of having 10 hours to work with rather than 2. For example Dick Winters doesn't have many really standout moments (aside from maybe the charge in the 5th, I think, episode). But Lewis' performance and the story of Dick Winters at the end is so much greater than the sum of its parts in terms of imapct.
From an action point of view, Bastogne is a very chilling episode (fnar fnar). But they all have their plus points. The German officer addressing his troops as Liebgot translates at the end of the last episode is another standout scene.
I don't think I have seen the holocaust dealt with as effectively as it was done in 'how we fight' - but thats just my opinion
The bit the gets me in BoB is Lt Compton losing it. He's made it through loads of battles but the thing that breaks him is seeing his 2 best mates getting blown up. Not watched BoB in ages, I really should rewatch it.From an action point of view, Bastogne is a very chilling episode (fnar fnar). But they all have their plus points. The German officer addressing his troops as Liebgot translates at the end of the last episode is another standout scene.
I don't think I have seen the holocaust dealt with as effectively as it was done in 'how we fight' - but thats just my opinion
Similarly in SPR, while the opening scene is just stunning, the bit with Ryan as an old man in the graveyard asking if he's lead a good life is very powerful scene.
Professor Barney said:
For me it was the scene in the Cruel Sea where Jack Hawkins shuts the cover of the intercom tube to cut out the sound of the sailors trapped below decks and soon to be drowned.
It was probably just the age I was at when I watched it (10 or 11 I think) but it pretty much instantly stopped me thinking that war was about models, toy soldiers and Commando comics to a realization that it was actually horrible, scary and an absolute last resort.
No one murdered them - it's the war, the whole bloody war! We've just got to do these things and say our prayers at the end.It was probably just the age I was at when I watched it (10 or 11 I think) but it pretty much instantly stopped me thinking that war was about models, toy soldiers and Commando comics to a realization that it was actually horrible, scary and an absolute last resort.
marcosgt said:
You know, of course, that that's EXACTLY what the previous generation said about those who fought in WW2, don't you?
Just because they may have said it then doesn't mean it may not be true now.Edited by marcosgt on Monday 25th September 15:33
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1548333/Colleagues...
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