Foreign Movies - WWII
Eddie Lopez
On 22 Jan 1997 03:03:06 GMT, Mike Ralls <MRa...@willamette.edu> wrote:
>Can anyone recomend some foreign movies about WWII? Specifically either
>Russian or German ones. Thanks
To me, the best WWII movie out of Japan has to be "The Burmese Harp".
Also known as "Harp of Burma". Hard to find, esp. the 1956 version.
(was remade in 1985). This is what was said of "Harp- -"
by Leonard Maltin. -- - "an extraordinary antiwar drama , affecting
and memorable --" You have to see it.
The best German war movie has to be "Das Boot", 1981. Here is what
Maltin wrote: "Realistic, meticulously mounted nail-biter - - Manages
to embrace an antiwar message, as well."
Both are rated 3 1/2 stars.
As you can see, I like war movies that have an antiwar theme, not one
that glorifies it.
Sorry, don't know any Russian ones.
Eddie Lopez
>
Mike Ralls
P.J. Shanahan
GKI...@postoffice.worldnet.att.net (Eddie Lopez) wrote:
>On 22 Jan 1997 03:03:06 GMT, Mike Ralls <MRa...@willamette.edu> wrote:
>
>>Can anyone recomend some foreign movies about WWII? Specifically either
>>Russian or German ones. Thanks
There was a Japanese mini-series in the 1970's which ran under the English
title "Barefoot through Hell", following the experiences of a Japanese soldier
and his comrades in WW2 Manchuria. Very grim and realistic.
In Germany there were many interesting movies about WW2:
"Die Brücke" (The Bridge), 1958
True story of high school boys drafted into Wehrmacht and
being senselessly killed defending a meaningless bridge
in the village of Cham in Bavaria. Available in US in dubbed
form.
"Das Boot" (already mentioned by another post)
"Hunde wollt Ihr ewig leben" (lit. Dogs, do you want to live forever ?), ca.1957
Stark drama about German soldiers in Stalingrad.
"Der Stern von Afrika" (The Star of Africa), 1957
Largely accurate movie about the combat career of German air ace
Capt. Hans-Joachim Marseille with JG27 in North Africa.
"Canaris", 1950's
Well-known German actor O.E.Hasse in a fascinating portrait of
Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of the German "Abwehr". This was
made all the more realistic by the fact that O.E. Hasse was a dead ringer
for Canaris.
"Division Brandenburg", 1958
Average movie, but interesting in that it is the only German movie I know
of which deals with the subject of the German special forces in WW2.
These are the main ones I can remember. All are in B/W and most are
available on video in Germany.
Hope this helps.
Patrick J. Shanahan
Sco3pio
"Can anyone recomend some foreign movies about WWII? Specifically either
Russian or German ones. Thanks"
I can most highly recommend the following:
"The Bridge" German movie about a group of German highschool students
drafted in the last days of the war to defend a bridge in their town
against advancing US troops. Filmed in the late 50's , early 60's, unknown
young actors, BW, subtitled.
The film depicts some of the paranoia gripping young people at that time
about the situation and the utter futility of the war. The ending is
stunning.
"The Cranes Are Flying" Russian movie of the early 60's(?), about a
Russian soldier fighting in the great patriotic war against the Germans.
Similarly, the ending is unforgettable.
sco3pio
Jay Karamales
>> Can anyone recomend some foreign movies about WWII? Specifically
>> either Russian or German ones.
The first one that leaps to mind is the German production of
"Stalingrad" which was released a couple of years ago. A subtitled copy
is finally making its way into the US, and I have heard rumors that it's
available in a few obscure places. I have an un-subtitled copy from
Europe, and I can tell you that it's a fantastic piece of film.
Jay Karamales
Matthew M. Savoie
In article <5c401a$h...@nntp1.u.washington.edu>, Mike Ralls <MRa...@willamette.edu> wrote:
>Can anyone recomend some foreign movies about WWII?
2 German Films: Das Boot (The Boat) and Stalingrad (both dubbed in english)
Matt
Garry Owen!
John223362
My favorite movie in that category is
"Das Boot" or "The Boat"
It is the story of a war patrol of a german U-boat in WWII.
It was made by a former german war coorespondent who sailed on several
u-boats during the war.
Philip Chiu
Mike Ralls wrote:
>
> Can anyone recomend some foreign movies about WWII? Specifically either
> Russian or German ones. Thanks
There was a big discussion on Stalingrad the movie from Germany just a
few weeks ago. The movie is out on video now.
Also Europa Europa is good. About a young Jewish boy that gets inducted
in the Hitler Youth.
Jens Paananen
>Can anyone recomend some foreign movies about WWII? Specifically either
>Russian or German ones. Thanks
Try to find movies "Die Brugge", The Bridge, German and (I can't recall the
Russian name) Come and Look , Soviet. These are along the best movies about
WW II I have ever seen.
Jekku
Jens_P...@Online.Tietokone.Fi
Nils K Hammer
I like the russian film "Ballad of a Soldier",
possibly by Eisenstein. Not a lot of action, but what
there is looks pretty realistic. I am a little bit surprised
that the story was not hacked up for propaganda the
way Alexander Nevsky was.
Nils K. Hammer
nh...@andrew.cmu.edu
"How do you explain your actions?"
-"I was scared!"
"I wish all my troops were scared like you."
Bill MacArthur
"Stalingrad" is German made and a decidedly depressing movie. It goes
from action to freezing and starving. Realistic battle scenes. I highly
recommend it.
I remember watching "I Bombed Pearl Harbor" on the late late show years
ago. It wasn't bad. The special effects were Godzillaish as the movie
dates to about 1960. However, it gives some insight into the Japanese
view of the early stages of WWII.
Lee Russell
There was a Russian movie called, I think "Ballad of a Soldier", about a
Russian soldier returning home on a brief leave from the front. It was
released in the US about 1960, and had all sorts of '60's effects, like
screens turning upside down etc.
There was also a Russian (maybe East German) movie called: "I Was
Eighteen" about a young German Communist serving as an officer with the
Red Army, invading the homeland he no longer remembers, in 1945.
Grzegorz Gembala
Jay Karamales <olo...@ibm.net> napisa3(a) w artykule
<5cef1d$3...@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>...
>
>
> >> Can anyone recomend some foreign movies about WWII? Specifically
> >> either Russian or German ones.
>
> "Stalingrad" which was released a couple of years ago. A subtitled copy
> is finally making its way into the US, and I have heard rumors that it's
> available in a few obscure places. I have an un-subtitled copy from
> Europe, and I can tell you that it's a fantastic piece of film.
>
> Jay Karamales
>
>
"Stalingrad" is a fine piece of work...
There was also a Russian film epopey, in several parts, called
"Osvobozhdenye" I think. It is "Liberation", and was a gigantic movie
project, depicting the whole
war 1941 till 1945.
I remember, what dazzled me, was that they didn't use converted T-34s as
German tanks, but have built either maquettes or used orginal tanks
(???)...
It was really a gigantic movie, with thousands of soldiers acting in battle
scenes...
Leif Hellstrvm
Mike Ralls <MRa...@willamette.edu> wrote:
>Can anyone recomend some foreign movies about WWII? Specifically either
>Russian or German ones. Thanks
Try the Finnish film "Unknown Soldier" after the book by Vdinv Linna.
It is about the Finno-Russian war and was filmed around 1950. It is
truly a classic. (There was a new version made a few years ago, which
is not quite as good as the original.)
Another Russian film is "Battle of Berlin" from the 1970s. This is a
typical Soviet war epic, with zillions of extras and T-34s from
horizon to horizon. I remember it as being rather boring, though.
/Leif
Peter Guenther
Philip Chiu wrote:
>
> Mike Ralls wrote:
> >
> > Can anyone recomend some foreign movies about WWII? Specifically either
> > Russian or German ones. Thanks
>
I found Europa Europa a bit far fetched but reasonable watching. I
definitely wouldn't regard it as a typical war story.
A German telemovie series called "Wie weit faehrt man von Ost Preussen
nach Deutschland" was an epic on the lead up to, and end result of the
war. Out of all the characters on all sies, only one boy ends up
surviving. It was English subtitled by SBS Australia and screened here
in 1995.
Another excellent series of the same era covering the end of the war and
how kids were drafted into home defences towards the end, American
occupation, then the post war era up to the end of the Berlin blockade,
was entitled "Molle und Korn" and also subtitled by SBS, but I can't
remember the English title.
I believe a Russian movie covering the war era was "Yevtoschenko's
Kindergarten". A bit weird in parts.
A German television series covering 1920 to 1960 called "Heimat" details
life in one ficticious town in the Moselle valley including detail on
the War era, and is also an excellent window into life in that era.
Subtitled by SBS Aust. Screened about 1988 I think.
I've seen lots of others, but I can't remember them, so maybe they were
just passable.
--
Peter Guenther, Hobart, Australia
Richard Becker
Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film trilogy (Marriage of Maria Braun, Lola &
Lili Marlene) should be included in any discussion of German cinema and
WWII.
He also made a film "The American Soldier" which delt with the
occupation.
And not by Fassbinder... there's an obscure, historically inaccurate
modern
German melodrama called "Zoetrope" that is set in the immediate post-war
period - werewolves included, ugh!
Films made during the Nazi period in Germany are a fascinating sub-topic
to this thread.
Rgds,
Bill MacArthur
The Tin Drum is about a boy who doesn't grow up through the Nazi era and
only communicates through his drum IIRC. Also was there a movie called
Our Hitler which is a documentary ca 1975?
Lovebug
I have been following this thread, and have tried to find some of the
movies discussed but to no avail.
One movie about WWII I have seen is "Patton". I was not impressed. The
tanks they used were clearly not german and the whole storyline seems like
one long agrandizement of Pattons career.
Are there ANY movies about WWII, that actually uses WWII equipment?, or
doesn't protray the Germans as spineless idiots and evil monsters?.
I also heard that they made a movie about Rommel. Whats it like?. Is it
any good?.
______________________________________________________________________
"Genocide is like a dessert. It is made of the flesh and bones of woman
and children,it is sweetened with the blood of the innocent, and it is
baked in the ovens of Auschwitz."--I wrote this, this is not a quote.
Paolo Pizzi
My favourite foreign movies on ww2:
Kon Ichikawa's "The Burmese Harp" (pure poetry I should say,
it's the probably only blatantly pacifist movie I really
love.)
Das Boot (life onboard a German U-boat, extremely realistic)
Der Stern von Afrika (H.J. Marseille's story)
And a bunch of fine British films:
In which we served
Sink the Bismark
Sea of Sand
Spitfire (with David Niven)
I also remember watching an Italian movie (b/w, circa 1955)
on the battle of Matapan with few or no special effects (of
course: it all happened at night :-) ) but with excellent
characters and superb acting.
(No, it's not "Mediterraneo", that one truly sucks IMHO,
I still wonder how on earth it got the Oscar)
--
Paolo Pizzi
Cypress, CA
IPMS #35423
Orange County Chapter
California - U.S.A.
--------------------------------------
"Plastic Ship Model Page"
also featuring Naval Aviation
http://home.earthlink.net/~timeelapsed
M.Rapier
In article <5d4lhp$4...@nina.pagesz.net>, timee...@earthlink.net says...
>My favourite foreign movies on ww2:
>
>Kon Ichikawa's "The Burmese Harp" (pure poetry I should say,
>it's the probably only blatantly pacifist movie I really
>love.)
>
>Das Boot (life onboard a German U-boat, extremely realistic)
>Der Stern von Afrika (H.J. Marseille's story)
Also Die (?) Bruck (The Bridge), made in the 50s, an excellent portrayal of
the futility of war etc. as a bunch of teenagers join up in the last few days
of the Third Reich. Lots of attention to detail (incl a partially detonating
Panzerfaust launched HEAT round on a Sherman, backblast injuries from
discharging PFs indoors etc.), and a suitably gritty ending.
>And a bunch of fine British films:
>
>In which we served
^^^
In Which we Serve
I prefer 'The Cruel Sea' in this genre.
>Sink the Bismark
>Sea of Sand
>Spitfire (with David Niven)
Ice Cold in Alex (of course)
The Desert Fox
Do British films count as 'foreign', I guess they do if you are American, but
from that point of view, I could quote endless US films. 'A Walk in the Sun'
and 'Attack' being two especially fine US films from the '40s and '50s (the
former even featuring a real Pz II Lynx).
Cheers.
Martin.
--
Martin Rapier, Database Administrator
Corporate Information & Computing Services.
University of Sheffield
-----------------------
To Infinity and Beyond.
Lee Russell
"A Walk in the Sun" is an interesting period piece, but includes all sorts
of sillyness, including a bayonet charge led by a whistle-blowing NCO.
I always used to laugh at the song they have at the end: "It's the same
road they had, comin' out of Stalingrad." I can see someone testifing
about that one before the House Un-American Activites Committee.
Bill MacArthur
M.Ra...@sheffield.ac.uk (M.Rapier) wrote:
>>And a bunch of fine British films:
>>
<examples snipped>
>Do British films count as 'foreign'?
You left out the best of the bunch- The Dam Busters. This is a true
classic with magnificient special effects and a stellar performance by
Michael Redgrave.
Lovebug
>
> Presumably, you mean "The Desert Fox", staring James Mason? It is okay,
> it's actually about Rommel's involvement with the July 20th Bomb plotters,
> although it includes some scenes from the Western Desert. It portrays
That doesn't sound too close to history.
>From what I have read about Rommel, he was a fairly staunch admirer of
Hitler in the early days. In the end, though he realize the evil that was
Hitler, he never thought of actually try to kill him. Rommel did thought
about negotiating a seperate armistice with the allies in the west.
The Rommel family at the end of the war made a statement saying that
Rommel did not have a part in the assassination attempt, because it would
violate the oath Rommel had sworn.
> Rommel and some of his colleuges as decent human beings, doing their duty
> to their country in wartime. At the end there is a voice-over, reading
> Churchill's words, confirming the tribute he had given the German field-
> marshal in the House of Commons in 1942. But he adds: "In the somber wars
> of modern democracy, there is no place for chivalry."
>
>
"...no place for chivalry.", but boy weren't they relieved that they had
an enemy that was chivalrous and didn't send POW's to Auchwitz or shoot
Commandoes and Jewish prisoners.
William Blair
Lovebug <hc...@acs.ucalgary.ca> wrote:
>
>I have been following this thread, and have tried to find some of the
>movies discussed but to no avail.
>One movie about WWII I have seen is "Patton". I was not impressed. The
>tanks they used were clearly not german and the whole storyline seems like
>one long agrandizement of Pattons career.
>Are there ANY movies about WWII, that actually uses WWII equipment?, or
>doesn't protray the Germans as spineless idiots and evil monsters?.
>
>I also heard that they made a movie about Rommel. Whats it like?. Is it
>any good?.
Get an issue of the excellent, US-published "World War II" magazine
(703-771-9400). There are ads listing all kinds of US and non-US videos. One
contact is:
Belle & Blade24 Penn Avenue
Dover, NJ 07801
(201)-328-8488 (24 hours)
One movie which I saw MANY years ago and was highly impressed was the German (I
believe) film entitled, "The Bridge". It was an excellent portrayal of the
absolute horror of war being discovered by several Hilter youth who had been
assigned the task of defending a bridge at all costs.
Of course, another excellent German film is "Das Boot". A good US-made film
portraying the war from the German aspect is "A Time to Love and a Time to Die".
A very sad ending, as is appropriate.
Lee Russell
>I also heard that they made a movie about Rommel. Whats it like?. Is it
>any good?.
Presumably, you mean "The Desert Fox", staring James Mason? It is okay,
it's actually about Rommel's involvement with the July 20th Bomb plotters,
although it includes some scenes from the Western Desert. It portrays
Lee Russell
>Are there ANY movies about WWII, that actually uses WWII equipment?, or
>doesn't protray the Germans as spineless idiots and evil monsters?.
Sorry. Forgot "Decision Before Dawn", about a Luftwaffe medic POW who
volunteers to be an Allied agent. He is sent back into Germany as a spy.
Great period stuff and an excellent story too!
Mark Brader
> > Do British films count as 'foreign'?
>
> You left out the best of the bunch- The Dam Busters. This is a true
> classic with magnificent special effects ...
I find that comment rather surprising. To me, the effect used for the
actual explosions was so jarringly unrealistic as to distract badly from
the climactic scenes. It looked as though they used the outline of the
rising column of spray as a matte through which we saw a view straight
down onto a turbulent sea. It just looks weird, even in black and white.
This is not that I'm saying the film is bad -- on the contrary I recommend
it as well. But neither is it a special effects extravaganza.
Trivia (mostly taken from the Internet Movie Database): in the movie as
in real life, one of the radio code words was the name of Gibson's dog,
which was black. In the *US* release of the movie, the offensive word
was changed slightly to Trigger. But even in that version, if you listen
to the Morse code, you still hear the actual name.
--
Mark Brader | "Ooh, righteous indignation -- a bold choice!
m...@sq.com | I myself would start with dismay and *work my way
SoftQuad Inc., Toronto | up* to righteous indignation." -- Murphy Brown
My text in this article is in the public domain.
Lee Russell
"The Desert Fox", staring James Mason?
>> it's actually about Rommel's involvement with the July 20th Bomb plotters,
>That doesn't sound too close to history.
Well, it's a British movie, and it's a Cold War movie too, the Germans
are wrong, but they are okay guys too. They aren't the Germans of WW II
movies: "Ve haf vays to MAKE you talk!"
>From what I have read about Rommel,
The movie goes into some of this stuff, in a superficial way. I hadn't
read any Rommel stuff for many years, but some recent Internet discussions
prompted me to look into his alleged role in the July 20th Plot. It is
much more complicated than I had thought. I had always discounted
suggestions that he actually knew about the bomb plot and had any
negotiations with the Allies, or an active post plot role. But it turns
out that, among other things, a British JEDBURG Team (? the jeep commandos
in France) had worked out a plan to kill him in his headquarters as Army
Group "B" Commander, just before the COBRA breakout. But when they
submitted the plan by radio to British Intelligence, they were
specifically ordered NOT to carry it out.
Friends in high places?
But then the Spitfire got him on the road.
>"...no place for chivalry.", but boy weren't they relieved that they had
>an enemy that was chivalrous and didn't send POW's to Auchwitz or shoot
>Commandoes and Jewish prisoners.
He was lucky, in that respect anyway. If he had remained as Commander in
Northern Italy, instead of Kesselring, he might have survived the war, but
would have gone to jail over all the stuff about shooting hostages.
Margriet
Der Blechtrommel by Volker Schloendorf(?), from the book by Gunther
Grass. Nazi Germany seen through the eyes of a little boy, and
doesn't like what he sees. He decides to throw himself off the
basement staircase, so he won't grow up. Great movie. Great acting.
And my personal favourite will always be: Tadelloser & Sohn.
This is a german television series (from the seventies) about a
bourgeous family. It shows them from prewar Germany until
after the Russian invade and them ending up in East Germany.
Very witty and it always feels to me, that this could be as lots of
people felt and experienced life in Nazi-Germany. (not that people
had much to be joke about it. But it's a movie with good humour)
(Imperative to see it with subtitles)
Hiroshima, mon amour by Alan Resnais.
About a japanese man and a french woman having an affair
in Hiroshima after the war. Two storielines. One about the
atomic bomb and the effect (but that's more documentary
stiled) and the other one is about the woman's past.
in german occupied France and in love
with a german soldier. About the implications for her.
(Don't watch this movie, unless subtitled!)
Margriet
Lovebug
My personal favourites are:
-Midway
-Tora Tora Tora
-Patton (Only for their battlescenes. I hate the American propaganda it
portrays)
-Europa Europa
Heres a short summary of a few movies I can't remember the title of:
-A german u-boat lands somewhere in Canada (I think), and starts to live
among the natives. I the beginning they shoot and kill a bunch of natives
by the waters edge.
-The only thing I remember about this movie, was a scene where a german
tank positions itself at one end of a railway tunnel. A train comes and
the tank blows it to kingdom come.
If anybody can tell me the title of these two movies please do.
Dirk Lorek
In soc.history.war.world-war-ii you wrote:
>Der Blechtrommel by Volker Schloendorf(?),
>
>And my personal favourite will always be: Tadelloser & Sohn.
If we are counting non-war movies but war-period films, my
all-time-high TV series is 'Die Bertinis'(1982), about an
Italian-Jewish family living (or rather just surviving) in Hamburg.
Really stunning, but I assume it's not widely shown abroad (it was
shown here in Sweden though). 'The Bunker' with Anthony Hopkins as
Adolf Hitler is also a very good film. A good war TV series too is the
British 'A Piece of Cake'.
Dirk
______________________________________________________________________
Witze aus dem 3. Reich 42: Katholizismus und Nationalsozialismus haben
sich endlich auf einer gemeinsamen Basis geeinigt. Die Katholiken
sagen: Morgens Gebet, mittags Gebet, abends Gebet, die Nazis: Gebet
morgens, gebet mittags, gebet abends!
Lovebug
Here are a few WWII movies I've seen and my impressions:
Tora Tora Tora-- I loved this movie.
Midway--Not too bad.
Patton--Hated it. I think they should've tried to use more German looking
tanks and equipment, perhaps making a mockup of a German tank or
make an american tank seem more german. The obviouse agrandizement
of the Americans really bored me, from the film you would've
thought the Americans were the only ones fighting in the war.
A few movies I have seen but can't remember the titles.
A movie about a german submarine that land in Canada(?) and began to live
among the natives. In the beginning they shot up a native village.--Can't
remember much about it.
Another movie I've seen has a scene I particularly liked. This scenes
shows a German tank parked itself at one end of a train tunnel and fired
when a train was coming from the other end.--Can't remember much about
this movie either, but that scene was very memorable.
If anybody can tell me which movies these two incidents came from, please
do.
Can anybody tell me about the movie "Desert Fox"?.
Thanks.
Danke Schoen
rob sibley
I rather enjoied the film EUROPA, EUROPA, a true story about a young
jewish boy trying to survive in Nazi Germany. Through a series of
events he begins fighting the Russians and is considered, even at his
young age, a hero of the Fatherland. He was in constant fear of being
discovered a Jew and went to great lengths to hide the fact. The film is
subtitled in English, the language is German & Russian. I rented it at
the local Blockbusters.
Paolo Pizzi
rob sibley wrote:
> I rather enjoied the film EUROPA, EUROPA
I hope you didn't miss the air raid scene. Rewind the tape, play it
slow: That's a C-130!!!!!!! :-)
Andrew Laurin Venor
In article <5djmhk$3...@gap.cco.caltech.edu>,
Lovebug <hc...@acs.ucalgary.ca> wrote:
>Patton--Hated it. I think they should've tried to use more German looking
> tanks and equipment, perhaps making a mockup of a German tank or
> make an american tank seem more german. The obviouse agrandizement
> of the Americans really bored me, from the film you would've
> thought the Americans were the only ones fighting in the war.
>
The movie was shot mostly in Spain, using the Spainish Army for both the
equipment and for extras. At that time in the late 60's, much of the Spainish
Army's equipment was WWII US Army vintage. That's why the German army in the
movie was driving Sherman tanks.
The German bombers in the movie were real. At that time the Spainish Air Force
had several Heinkel's that were converted into transports.
ALV
Lee Russell
<A movie about a german submarine that land in Canada(?) and began to live
<among the natives. In the beginning they shot up a native village.--Can't
<remember much about it.
This sounds like a WW II movie called "The 49th Parallel", where survivors
of a sunken German U-boat flee across Canada, encountering various locals
and situations.
<Another movie I've seen has a scene I particularly liked. This scenes
<shows a German tank parked itself at one end of a train tunnel and fired
<when a train was coming from the other end.--Can't remember much about
<this movie either, but that scene was very memorable.
Maybe "Kelly's Heros"? There is a scene of a tank attack on a railroad
yard, and something about a tunnel. But I think it would be an American
tank that does the firing. Same for the opening for "Bridge at Remagen",
where US light tanks shoot up a German train loaded with V-2 missiles.
efr...@msuvx2.memphis.edu
rob sibley wrote:
>> I rather enjoied the film EUROPA, EUROPA
Paolo Pizzi replied:
> I hope you didn't miss the air raid scene. Rewind the tape, play it
> slow: That's a C-130!!!!!!! :-)
Wasn't that great? That bit of footage was also
so grainy that I wondered if they hadn't just sent
someone out to an airbase with a videocamera...
I was utterly disappointed by E,E. The fantasy
sequence with Hitler and Stalin was embarrasing,
and the bucolic interlude with the gay actor
landser had me shaking my head in complete
bemusement-- where would two German soldiers
find the time and privacy, and a completely
unoccupied and unharmed farmhouse, to gambol
about in?
Only the very beginning and ending sequences
had any real quality IMHO.
Ed Frank
Lovebug
Are there any war movies that actually use authentic WWII weapons?
The only movie I've seen that shows WWII weapons is Tora Tora Tora and
Midway.
Can anyone suggest a WWII movie that shows large-scale battle scenes?
Justin Lewis-Anthony
In article <5dijgm$j...@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>, Lovebug
<hc...@acs.ucalgary.ca> writes
>-The only thing I remember about this movie, was a scene where a german
>tank positions itself at one end of a railway tunnel. A train comes and
>the tank blows it to kingdom come.
>
>If anybody can tell me the title of these two movies please do.
This rings bells with me as well. I think that it might be one of two
films: Battle of the Bulge (with next to no or no authentic German tanks
in it) or, more probably, Ryan's Express (Frank Sinatra leading a break
of POWs out of Italy on a hijacked train).
Anybody know any more?
--
Justin Lewis-Anthony Tel: +44 1285 652299
Cirencester, Glos Fax: +44 1285 652299
England E-mail: jus...@lanth.demon.co.uk
Bill MacArthur
rob sibley <ro...@byu.edu> wrote:
>I rather enjoied the film EUROPA, EUROPA, a true story about a young
>jewish boy trying to survive in Nazi Germany. Through a series of
I remember watching a movie made about 20 years ago in France called "Le
Vieux Fusil" IIRC. It had Romy Schneider as the wife of a French doctor
with a Chateau in occupied France. AFAIR an SS unit invaded the castle
raped her and murdered her and her daughter with a flame thrower. The
doctor goes berserk, traps the SS soldiers in the castle and proceeds to
kill them off one by one. It sounds like a silly
Schwarzenegger/Stallone/Van Dam/Norris movie but it was much more
stylish. Fictional of course, highly recommended for the non-squeamish.
Jay Karamales
>-The only thing I remember about this movie, was a scene where a german
>tank positions itself at one end of a railway tunnel. A train comes and
>the tank blows it to kingdom come.
>
>If anybody can tell me the title of these two movies please do.
This was from the horrible "Battle of the Bulge." The train was carrying
155mm artillery that the commander in Bastogne (Robert Ryan) needed to
hold the Germans at bay. The tank is there to stop the train.
Interestingly, it waits until the train is most of the way through the
tunnel before it fires. I guess the director of the film was unfamiliar
with the concept of inertia, which would have easily carried the
locomotive through and past the tank's position on the tracks.
--
Jay Karamales
Chief Cartographer, Olórin Press
olo...@ibm.net
--------------------- * ---------------------
The meek shall inherit the Earth;
The rest of us will go to the stars.
--------------------- * ---------------------
Rob Davis
; I find that comment rather surprising. To me, the effect used for the
; actual explosions was so jarringly unrealistic as to distract badly from
Well, it was made in 1954 when such special effects were in their infancy. I
agree that nowadays it looks extremely false, but 43 years ago is a different
matter.
Rob Davis MSc MIAP r...@rob.foobar.co.uk http://www.foobar.co.uk/dialin/rob/
Leicester, UK. Tel. 0976 379489
randy stiefer
Lee Russell wrote:
> <Another movie I've seen has a scene I particularly
That was The Battle of the Bulge with Henry Fonda, definitely.
efr...@msuvx2.memphis.edu
Lovebug writes:
> Are there any war movies that actually use authentic WWII weapons?
That classic _Decision Before Dawn_ (about 1953)
has a brief scene using what I take to be a genuine
Sdfkz halftrack (it's been years seen I've seen it;
starred-- oh, the actor who was in _Fahrenheit 451_
-- Oskar Werner!)
> The only movie I've seen that shows WWII weapons is Tora Tora Tora and
> Midway.
_The Longest Day_ has a mix of wwii and later equipment.
Bren carriers come to mind in one scene on the beach.
> Can anyone suggest a WWII movie that shows large-scale battle scenes?
The Italo-Soviet production _Attack and Retreat_ with
Peter Falk has some magnificent large-scale scenes.
It dates from about 1960.
Ed Frank
Bill MacArthur
efr...@msuvx2.memphis.edu wrote:
>The Italo-Soviet production _Attack and Retreat_ with
>Peter Falk has some magnificent large-scale scenes.
The Battle of the Neretva which is about the war in Yugoslavia is fairly
large scale and also one I forget about earlier.
Eric Gross
"A Bridge Too Far" is shot on epic scale; the airborne drop scenes are
impressive. The actual battle scenes, however, are largely small scale, made
to look larger through clever camera angles, etc.
Eric Gross
>That was The Battle of the Bulge with Henry Fonda, definitely.
ACK! ACK! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!
Sorry, but *please* don't mention this piece of garbage in serious discussion!
:)
This movie should not be relied upon to give the viewer an accurate impression
of that battle, the war, or anything military in general.
M.Rapier
In article <5ekfln$f...@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>, egr...@mailer.fsu.edu says...
Yes too right.
I saw an interesting film on TV a few days ago (and very apt considering the
current Monty vs Patton debate.....again). It was called 'They Were not
Divided' and was made in 1950 (b/w). The story was a bit hammy - about two
officers in the Welsh Guards, one British the other an American who joined up
in 1940 (plus the obligatory amusing other ranks with amusing regional
accents).
Anyway for equipment buffs it was really fascinating as they had some real
Fireflys for the shots in Normandy, real Crusaders while they were training,
and fought a real Tiger in France. This was none of your Kellys Heroes
'plastic turret on a T34' job, but the real thing, and as it drove through a
few hedges, seemed to be a runner. (I rewound the VCR a few times to check out
the suspension arrangements etc. ... what a sad SOB). I guess in 1950 there
still would have been the odd running Tiger I left. In the film they referred
to the Crusaders as Cromwells, which was a bit odd as they didn't have
the distinctive shoebox turret that so distinguished the Cromwell, and I've
have thought there would have been a few of those left around as well.
Anyway, our chums got killed while doing a foot recon on the northern flank of
the Bulge, and ended up being buried side by side with a little union jack &
stars and stripes flags.
The combat scenes in Normandy and during the pursuit across France very very
well done (though mainly Shermans blowing on mines, Shermans blowing up when
hit by 88s & 75s, Shermans getting stuck in the mud in Holland etc.).
Cheers.
Martin.
--
Martin Rapier, Database Administrator
Corporate Information & Computing Services.
University of Sheffield
-----------------------
To Infinity and Beyond.
Brian
On Tue, 11 Feb 1997, Lovebug wrote:
>
>
> Are there any war movies that actually use authentic WWII weapons?
> The only movie I've seen that shows WWII weapons is Tora Tora Tora and
> Midway.
>
> Can anyone suggest a WWII movie that shows large-scale battle scenes?
Well, not so much "large" as "uses WWII vehicles" I think the
best that I know is "Theirs' is the Glory" which was made in 1945 and is
about the paradrop on Arnhem. It was made using the survivors and others
of the British airborne division. In addition, _real_ Panthers, Tiger
I's and a Tiger II feature, as well as a Char B1 bis flamethrower tank,
plus numerous German softskinned vehicles and halftracks. An excellent
movie which tells the story very well IMO.
--Brian Ross--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Caius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum"
Julius Caesar
http://mulder.waite.adelaide.edu.au/~bross/