Posts by Rammesh
The Eastern Front – Part 1 of 3 – a brief history (and some movies)
All Clickable Links in red May 8 is an important date for Europeans. On this day in 1945, the European part of WW2 ended. VE day as it is known to the Western Allies, is celebrated in various ways. In Russia , it is celebrated as Victory Day with a huge military parade that…
Read MoreOne Two Three (1961) – crackling satire
All clickable links in red Genre : Comedy + Satire (political, business practices, Cold War…) Length : 1 hour 48 minutes Platform : You Tube (free) Director : Billy Wilder. If it’s a Billy Wilder film, prepare for non-stop drama and machine gun like dialogue delivery. Wilder’s noted for his sarcastic sense…
Read MoreOperation Valkyrie– Three films on the July 20, 1944 plot
All clickable links in red Never disturb your enemy when he is making a mistake – Napoleon The above quote aptly summarizes Hitler’s overall non-professional conduct and oversight of the German wartime effort. It could also be a description of the July 20, 1944 plotters when they tried to assassinate Hitler at his Headquarters…
Read MoreKatyn (2007) – A horrific true story
All clickable links in red Genre – War Movie (true story) Time : 2 Hours Platform: You Tube Free Language : Polish Director : Andrzej Wajda There is a Cold War joke that goes like this Its 1981 and the Soviets are making threatening noises to invade Poland (like they did with…
Read MoreApocalypse Now (1979) – Timeless Classic
All Clickable links are in red Genre – War Movie Time: 3 Hours , 20 minutes (Redux). 3 hours, 5 minutes (Final Director’s Cut) Platform: You Tube Free Director : Francis Ford Coppola Some films are easily forgotten after watching. Then there are films that have a lasting impact on you and remain…
Read MoreCrew (2024) – Somewhat bittersweet
Genre – Drama, Comedy (Dramedy?) Time: 2 Hours Director: Rajesh Krishnan Platform: Theatrical Release (Soon on Netflix) Divya Rana (Kriti Sanon) is a pilot turned air hostess who has concealed the truth from her family that she didn’t get a job as a pilot but only as an air hostess. Jasmine Kohli (Kareena…
Read MoreLetters from Iwo Jima (2006) – Superb view of other side
Genre – War Movie (true story) Time: 2 Hours, 20 minutes Platform: Amazon Prime (on rent), You Tube (on rent) Language: Japanese, English Director : Clint Eastwood It’s a rare Hollywood / Western film that shows the enemy’s view of the same battle. There have been some examples in the past (and covered…
Read MoreFlags of our fathers (2006) – Superb retelling of war’s cost
All clickable links in red Genre – War Movie (true story) Time: 2 Hours, 12 minutes Platform: Amazon Prime (on rent), You Tube Free Every world event, be it social, political, technological, has a defining moment and defining image. The Berlin Wall being knocked down by ordinary people symbolized people power over…
Read MoreWil (2023) – Morality or Survival
Genre – WW2 resistance film Time: 1 hour 50 minutes Platform: Netflix Language: Dutch. German. All clickable links are in red Every country occupied by the Nazis (and Japanese) between 1940-45 had indigenous Resistance movements of various shapes and sizes. Some, like the Norwegians, had some stunning successes (refer to the post on…
Read MoreThe Assets (2014) – Superb view of counter espionage
All clickable links in red Genre – Real-world Spying Time: 8 Hours – 8 x 50-minute episodes Platform: YouTube – free When the Soviet Union passed into history in 1991, the Western Powers thought that all the nasty stuff that went with it also had gone into history, including the KGB,…
Read MoreOperation Valentine (2024) – Tolerable
All Clickable links in red Genre – War Movie Language – Hindi Time: 2 Hours, 10 minutes Platform: Theatrical release Considering the recent disaster Fighter (review here) , I approached this movie with absolute trepidation. The first few minutes somewhat confirmed this would be a waste of time as all the familiar tropes…
Read MoreNorsk Hydro / Operation Gunnerside – three movies
All clickable links in red What would have happened if the Nazis had developed the Atom Bomb? The results are there for us to see in the superb alternate history TV series, The Man in the High Castle, which ran for four seasons from 2015 to 2019 (and is available on Amazon Prime). Though the…
Read MoreThe Sea Wolves – 1980 – A charming true story
All Clickable links in Red Genre – War Movie (true story) Language – English Time: 2 Hours Platform: YouTube (Free) Throughout history, many nation have depended on goods carried by merchant ships trade for their daily survival. It is more accurate for island nations like Britain and Japan. Britain was almost strangled by…
Read MoreFighter (2024) – Stretcher
All Clickable links in red Genre – War Movie Language – Hindi Time: 2 Hours, 45 minutes Platform: Theatrical release It’s impossible to keep a balanced perspective while watching an Indian Film with an Armed Forces background. Rare is the film that professionally shows the Armed Forces, as most films settle for “dialogue…
Read MoreBattle of Stalingrad – Multiple films
ALL CLICKABLE LINKS IN RED The Battle of Stalingrad is considered – rightly – as one of the biggest Nazi Germany defeats and the turning points on the Eastern Front. It started in August 1942 and the last German troops surrendered on February 2, 1943. It proved once and for all that the Russians…
Read MoreAdolf Eichmann Case – two films
All clickable links in red Today, Israeli Intelligence’s reputation is in tatters, thanks to the “sudden” Gaza war. However, this was not so in the 1960s, 1970s and even 1980s, when there were many brilliant, “out of the box” operations and sudden mysterious deaths of Israel’s opponents that gave the Mossad a reputation for…
Read MoreThe Robert Hanssen Case – two films
All clickable links are in red Truth is always stranger than fiction. It is a cliché but like all good cliches it is also true. Otherwise, how do you explain that an FBI counter espionage agent, dedicated to catching Russian spies and Americans spying for Russians, was a Russian spy? For 22 years? The…
Read MoreThe Falcon and the Snowman (1985) – Superb true story
All clickable links in red Genre: Spy Story (True Story) Time: 2 Hours, 10 minutes Platform: Amazon Prime (on rent) As the adage goes, the more you try to change something, the more things remain the same. Hollywood (and Bollywood) tries to convince us that “spies” wear nice suits, drive cool cars, bed…
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