Lesser known war films
Discussion
One from my collection which I think only made a straight to DVD release. First saw it one afternoon on tv.
Nazi Pow camp in the US where the prisoners effectively take over the running of the camp and differences between Nazi and non Nazi prisoners leads to a murder.
Walter Mattau is the attorney called in to sort things out including helping one POW who is framed to take a fall.
Deserved better - I quite enjoyed it.
aeropilot said:
Some good choices on here so far....
Some from that I don't think have been mentioned....
They Were Expendable
War Lover
Way to the Stars
They Were Expendable has been on telly plenty of times, at least so it seems. That was the film where John Ford mercilessly goaded John Wayne about his war record, or lack of it, to the point where co-star and war veteran Robert Montgomery told Ford to pack it in.Some from that I don't think have been mentioned....
They Were Expendable
War Lover
Way to the Stars
Way to the Stars I remember as being a film about pilots with practically no flying scenes, although it's years since I saw it.
Halmyre said:
They Were Expendable has been on telly plenty of times, at least so it seems. That was the film where John Ford mercilessly goaded John Wayne about his war record, or lack of it, to the point where co-star and war veteran Robert Montgomery told Ford to pack it in.
Wayne stormed off the set once during the filming after Fords jibes, supposedly only time in his career he did that.When the war started he was exempted on basis of age (34) and having a family. He did actually enlist into and was accepted into the OSS Field Photograhpic Unit later on but the acceptance letter was mistakenly sent to the address of his ex-wife who never told him or passed it on.
In 1944 he was reclassified as fit for draft, but by then he was an even bigger star and as the only A-list star contracted to them, the studio he was contracted to resisted his enlistment and requested his exemption from service on grounds of 'in support of the national interest'.
Its speculated he could have made more of an effort to enlist as others did, but we'll never know for sure. The stigma stayed with him until his death though.
cuprabob said:
"The Way to the Stars" has just started on Film 4.
Johnny in the clouds in the USAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vCJCm7T-J0
Filmed on location at Bedale in North Yorkshire.
The Captain (2017) Also known as Der Hauptmann.
Based on a true story and one of the best war films I have seen (of many).
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6763252/?ref_=fn_al_t...
Based on a true story and one of the best war films I have seen (of many).
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6763252/?ref_=fn_al_t...
Just found this thread, so I'm sure it's been mentioned, but during the first lockdown I discovered a film called Kajaki, a true story of some British soldiers who find themselves trapped and ill-supported in an abandoned Soviet minefield whilst on tour in Afghanistan.
It starts with a bunch of men sitting around doing nothing and for much of the film it's a bunch of men lying around doing as little as possible, yet it's more tense than a thousand by-the-numbers war movies out there. Recommended if you can find it.
It starts with a bunch of men sitting around doing nothing and for much of the film it's a bunch of men lying around doing as little as possible, yet it's more tense than a thousand by-the-numbers war movies out there. Recommended if you can find it.
No one's mentioned The Final Countdown yet?
A very, very 80s attempt at a war film, where the present day USS Nimitz encounters a time vortex and is transported back to 1941, just before Pearl Harbour.
Should the warship with its hindsight knowledge and its fleet of Tomcats obliterate the Japanese attack and change the course of history? Or should it leave things be?
A very, very 80s attempt at a war film, where the present day USS Nimitz encounters a time vortex and is transported back to 1941, just before Pearl Harbour.
Should the warship with its hindsight knowledge and its fleet of Tomcats obliterate the Japanese attack and change the course of history? Or should it leave things be?
DamienB said:
There is also An Ungentlemanly Act which is excellent (Ian Richardson & Bob Peck! "Surrender? f
k off... sir!"), Resurrected (haven't seen it) and a few assorted Argie efforts.
Of the Argentine films, I'd certainly recommend Blessed By Fire.k off... sir!"), Resurrected (haven't seen it) and a few assorted Argie efforts.It really captures the chaos of battle and the tragic fate of conscripts, although not all Argentine troops we're of course.
Has a kind of 'All be over before Christmas' WW1 vibe.
M
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