In chronological order of the conflicts in which the films take place:

The Lost Battalion A very good WW1 drama with a lot of action. It seems it was a made-for-TV cooperation between A&E and The History Channel. Follows an American battalion (but focuses on the BC and those in his immediate area) out of the trenches, and into the woods, as they try to take and hold a strategic area. Lots of good characters, on both the German and American sides; all well cast. The action reminded me a lot of Colonel Chamberlain's scenes in Gettysburg.

The Bridge at Remagen A seemingly underrated WW2 drama. Awesome destructive action, as the filmmakers literally destroyed an actual town. Great dynamics between officers and NCOs; and officers in the shit and their superiors who're somewhat detached from the situation on the ground. Also has the enjoyable illustration of the professional German soldier vs. the fanatical Nazi mentality. Great atmosphere throughout.

The Devil's Own An IRA leader travels to America to purchase sophisticated armaments. He is housed by a mislead police officer; they become friends. The weapons purchase and the friendship both don't go smoothly. Gritty action in both the Ireland and US settings; a pretty unique film in an already pretty unique sub-genre, when it comes to subject matter.

12 Strong The story of one of the very first SF teams to enter Afghanistan, shortly after the 9/11 attack. This film flew under my radar, because I dismissed the marketing with the Hollywood pretty boy with an M4 on horseback; I wasn't familiar with the story, and I assumed it'd be sensational and dumb. I was wrong, and now I own it on disc. It is an awesome story, and the film is actually highly accurate, based on the research I did after seeing it the first time. Are there some sensationalized scenes? You bet; but overall it is awesome. These dudes were amazing, and it's refreshing to see a depiction of SF in the GWOT doing such a pure SF mission. From the moment the mission started, they were all-in; they didn't even have enough oxygen for even a partial return trip on the same helicopter.

As usual, a lot of members have likely seen some or all of these but, for those who are looking for something good to watch, and haven't seen one of these, they're all worth your time.

If you like 12 Strong, you should read the book it's based on: Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton

Whenever I hear The Bridge at Remagen I remember when I was about 12 years old. NBC announced it was going to broadcast the film and the announcer intoned "...in two weeks" and I thought "In two weeks?? That's FOREVER!!"

Paths of Glory - Kubrick & Douglas. Thank me later. WWI has no better film, although They shall not grow old by Peter Jackson is pretty close.

I have seen both of those, and own They Shall Not Grow Old. I agree; both are great.

Best film (IMHO) from the Korean War:
The Steel Helmet.

Glory
Gallipoli
Sands of Iwo Jima
The Bridges at Toko Ri

quote:

Originally posted by Pyker:
Paths of Glory - Kubrick & Douglas. Thank me later. WWI has no better film, although They shall not grow old by Peter Jackson is pretty close.

Banned in France for a great number of years, I was told.

Gettysburg
Band of Brothers
Platoon
Generation Kill

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
I have seen both of those, and own They Shall Not Grow Old. I agree; both are great.

Isn't that a colorized documentary instead of a film?

I'll second The Lost Battalion as there are so few movies about Americans in WWI.

I'd add The Trench as well though it's a Brit film.

There are dozens of great WWII films and many Vietnam films.

Korea is underrepresented.

Afghanistan The Outpost was good IMO, great cast, really displayed the idiocy of the command's (including political) strategies and expectations.

I am going to watch The Steel Helmet and Toko Ri; thank you for those recommendations.

ejr_pilot is right-on with the GK recommendation. Generation Kill is awesome.

quote:

Isn't that a colorized documentary instead of a film?

Yes; though it's a pretty unique approach. Colorized photographs made to "move", accompanied by voice-over (retrieved from soldiers' letters or journals, presumably) by someone "in" the scene. That was my impression, anyway; I didn't watch "making of" features.

The footage in They Shall Not Grow Old is remastered archival film footage from WW1, chosen from the hundreds of hours of original film reels held by the Imperial War Museum. A large team of digital artists went through frame-by-frame to clean up, upscale, and colorize all of it via rotoscoping, and they digitally created individual new intermediary frames to match the original ~13 FPS film reels to the modern 24 FPS framerate, in order to make the movement flow naturally like modern films instead of the typical "jerky sped-up" appearance of untouched early low framerate footage.

The film highlights this framerate/movement difference in the transitional opening scene:


Similarly, the film's audio is all excerpts from actual interviews with WW1 veterans, cleaned up with modern digital audio processing, and with sound effects and background noise added to be more immersive, not just voiceover actors reading scripts based on journals or letters.

The painstaking process Peter Jackson and his team undertook to make the film is a truly impressive accomplishment. It was a labor of love by Jackson, whose own father was a WW1 veteran. He wanted modern audiences to be able to better appreciate that the men who fought and died in WW1 were actual human beings in living color, and not just these grainy, jerky, black-and-white, Chaplin-esque figures you see on screen during every other WW1 documentary. And modern digital effects technology had finally advanced enough to be able to make that reality, though not without quite a bit of hard work over several years.

Thank you, Rogue. That is much better than my description.

Speaking of WW1 movies, did anyone else really dislike 1917? I was very excited about that movie, when they released trailers, and my wife and I bought it as soon as it was released on disc. It did not live up to expectations. I understand the director employed some neat filmmaking techniques, but I didn't find the story or characters particularly engaging. I was almost completely disappointed with it from the point he woke up in the burning town, until the credits.

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