based on true story
Gallipoli (1981) – Superb
Genre – War Movie (based on true stories) Time: 1 Hour, 50 minutes Platform: You Tube (free) “Great” Britain always prides itself on its long history of ‘standing up for what’s right” and so on with WW1 and WW2 being two such examples. In both cases, the general historical view has…
Read MoreBlack Warrant – 2025. Stunning and Gritty
Clickable links in red Genre: Crime drama (based on a true story). Writer Director: Vikramaditya Motwane. Cast: Zahan Kapoor. Rahul Bhat. Paramvir Cheema. Anurag Thakur. Platform: Netflix – 7 episodes. Duration: 7 episodes x 45 minutes each. Often, I have heard arguments or discussions about “why can’t we make a realistic crime thriller…
Read MoreThe Tuskegee Airmen – Two different films
All clickable links in red Lest people think that only we Desis screw up war movies by adding all sorts of unnecessary masala, think twice. Hollywood is equally if not more guilty of the same fact. The two different films on the real-life story of The Tuskegee Airmen prove this. One, a TV movie…
Read MoreSky Force (2025) – Some Force Some Farce
Genre – War Movie (based on true stories) Time: 2 Hours Platform: Theatrical release Cast: Akshay Kumar. Veer Pahariya. Sharad Kelkar. Nimrat Kaur. Sara Ali Khan. Fact: On September 7, 1965, 12 Mystere combat aircraft of the Indian Air Force attacked the Sargodha Airfield Complex of Pakistani Air Force. One of the attacking pilots…
Read MoreThe Wild Geese (1978) – Provocative yet engaging
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen Cast: Richard Burton. Roger Moore. Richard Harris. Hardy Krüger. Stewart Granger Genre – War Movie (based on true stories) Time: 2 Hours, 14 minutes Platform: You Tube Films about mercenaries are generally one dimensional. The (usually) “WHITE” mercenaries are bringing hope and light to the “DARK” continent of Africa, who…
Read MoreAmaran – 2024 – Well made
Genre: War + Love story Time: 2 Hours 49 minutes Platform: Netflix Writer Director: Rajkumar Periasamy Cast: Sivakarthikeyan. Sai Pallavi. Rahul Bose. Bhuvan Arora. Generally speaking India sucks at making war movies – unless the film is filled with the usual masala of songs, dances , emotional dramas and so on. However the life…
Read MoreTo Catch a King (1984) – Slow burn thriller
All Clickable links in Red Genre – Spy + International Intrigue Time: 1 Hour 53 minutes Platform: You Tube (Free) Director: Clive Donner Cast: Robert Jackson. Teri Garr. Horst Janson. John Standing. Barbara Parkins. Facts: Edward the VIII, King of England abdicated the throne as he was not allowed to marry a…
Read MoreThe Six Triple Eight (2024) – Worthy war drama
Clickable links in red Genre – WW2 Drama Time: 2 Hour 10 minutes Platform: Netflix Director: Tyler Perry Cast: Kerry Washington. Ebony Obsidian. Milauna Jackson WW2 has millions of untold stories which are still being revealed. While the war was usually viewed through the lens of “Allied Good vs Axis Evil”, there are…
Read MoreEast (2020) – Unique film on a forgotten war
Genre – War Movie (based on true events) Time: 2 Hours 20 minutes Platform: Amazon Prime Language: Dutch Historical background: World War 2 showed to the colonial subjects that their Colonial Masters were not a hundred feet tall and could be defeated. This was especially so in the Asian colonies,…
Read MoreIC814 – Gripping
ALL CLICKABLE LINKS IN RED Genre – Drama (true story) Time: 6 episodes x 45 minutes Platform: Netflix Language: Hindi Director: Abhinav Sinha On a monday morning in 2003, one of my colleagues came back after watching a movie and joyfully said “I saw a great movie.” Zameen”. I went goggle eyed…
Read MoreThe Assassination of Trotsky (1972) – Interesting
All clickable links in red Director: Joseph Losey Genre: Spy Drama (True Story) Time: 1 Hour 38 minutes Platform: You Tube Cast: Richard Burton. Alain Delon. Romy Schneider. French Superstar Alain Delon, personified French cool in his best period during the 1960s and 1970s, where he played a wide range of interesting roles that ranged…
Read MoreDanger Close (2019) – War is hell
All clickable links in red Genre – War Movie (true story) Time: 2 Hours Platform: Amazon Prime Director: Kriv Stenders. Platform : Amazon Prime Whenever we think of the Vietnam War, the popular image is the American image, with helicopters ferrying troops, US air force combat planes blasting and napalming jungles and pictures of various…
Read MoreThe Death of Stalin (2017) – Black comedy meets grim reality
Clickable link in red Director: Armando Iannucci Genre: Black Comedy (true story) Time: 1 Hour 42 minutes Platform: Amazon Prime Cast: Steve Buscemi. Simon Russel Beale. Jeffrey Tambor. Michael Palin. Andrea Riseborough Three men are in a Soviet Prison. They compare notes why they are there. 1st Man: I am here…
Read MoreMissing (1982) – Poignant and relevant
Director: Costa Gavras Genre: Drama – True Story Time: 1 Hour 57 minutes Platform: Amazon Prime (rent) Cast: Jack Lemmon. Sissy Spacek. John Shea. After the Watergate scandal broke, there followed a series of disclosures about the American government that had the ordinary American , shaking his head in disbelief. The CIA had not…
Read MoreDie Gustloff (2008) – Slow but poignant
All clickable links in red Director: Joseph Vilsmaer Genre: Drama – WW2 True Story Language : German Time: 1 Hour 41 minutes Platform: You Tube Free – with hard coded English subtitles Cast: Kai Wiesinger. Valeri Niehaus. Heiner Lauterbach. Which was the world’s biggest maritime disaster? With three movies on this topic, it…
Read MorePilecki’s report (2024) – Harrowing and tragic
Genre – War Movie (true story) Time: 1 Hour, 58 minutes Platform: Netflix Director: Krzysztof Lukaszewicz Language: Polish During WW2, every occupied country in Europe suffered untold horror and privations but none so more than Poland. It was the first to be occupied by armed conflict (Austria and Czechoslovakia were occupied without a…
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 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,…
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