War Movies
Battle 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 MoreThe Ultra Secret – Superb Slow Burn Films on Enigma
All clickable links in red In 1974 a book, The Ultra Secret, was published. The contents were nothing short of sensational for anyone who bought it. Lest people thought it was a joke, more documents under The Thirty-Year Rule were released on the topic. Simply put, The British were reading ALL GERMAN-CIPHERED SIGNALS, SOMETIMES IN NEAR…
Read MoreThe Navarone Films – One, a Classic. Its Follow-up Mediocre
All clickable links in red Alistair MacLean was an exceptionally successful writer who crafted a series of adventure-war-spy stories. His experience as a sailor in the “Arctic Convoys” resulted in his first – and probably his best – book, HMS Ulysses (1955). After that, there was no looking back, as many of his 1960s…
Read MoreNapoleon (2023) – Grand yet underwhelming
Director: Ridley Scott Cast: Joaquin Phoenix. Vanessa Kirby. Rupert Everett. Tahar Rahim. Genre: Biography and War Drama Platform: Theatrical release Duration: 2 Hours 38 minutes Ridley Scott’s range of film subjects is enormous. His genres include almost all types of films. Some of his most famous films include Blade Runner and The Martian…
Read MoreTora Tora Tora (1970) – A Classic
Dir: Richard Fleisher. Kinji Fukasaku. Toshio Masuda Cast: Martin Balsam. Jason Robards. Multiple Stars. (All clickable links are in red) When 9/11 happened, many, including US President George Bush Junior, said that it was Pearl Harbor of the 21st century. The comparison may only have been for the devastating surprise attack on December 7, 1941.…
Read MoreThe Battle of Britain – 1969 – Accurate and entertaining
Director: Guy Hamilton Producer: Harry Saltzman Script: James Kennaway. Wilfred Greatorex A common legend among the British is the trope of a “small bunch of British men against the might of the ugly bad …….. ” . In the blanks, you can insert Africans (Zulu and Khartoum), Pathans and Indians (Gunga Din, The Bengal Lancers),…
Read MoreSeventeen Moments of Spring (1973) – Excellent
Story : Yulian (Julian) Semyonov Direction : Tatyana Lioznova Cast : Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Most of us are used to spy stories where Western Heroes set out to slay the evil Soviet Empire and save the Western Way of life. The Spy fiction genre has its rules in that the Western characters are usually the…
Read MoreWAR SAILOR (KRIGSEILEREN) (2022) – TV Series (3 Parts) – Absorbing
In his six-volume autobiography, Winston Churchill said that the one thing that caused him maximum anxiety THROUGHOUT THE WAR was The Battle of the Atlantic. This was the battle by merchant ships, escorted by the British (and, after 1942, American) Navy, to bring supplies to Britain, to continue the war. These supplies came from…
Read MoreWansee Conference – Two Movies – CHILLING
Almost everyone knows what happened in The Holocaust – the systematic extermination of Undesirables and “Untermenschen”. These included anyone who opposed the Nazi philosophy and ideology, targeted groups like Jews, Gypsies, Communists, Homosexuals, Mentally unwell people, and opponents of the regime – in short, anyone and everyone the Nazis thought didn’t fit or opposed…
Read MoreSobibor Escape – two films
One of the Third Reich’s most significant and darkest achievements was the efficient transport of “Untermenschen” to the gas chambers. Even with the tide turning in 1943 and the Russians pushing the Germans back to the Polish frontiers from where they started in June 1941, the gas chambers in Eastern Poland and Russia were busy.…
Read MoreThe Dirty Dozen – 1967 – A CLASSIC!
Director: Robert Aldrich Cast: Lee Marvin. Charles Bronson. John Cassavetes. Telly Savalas. Jim Brown. Ernest Borgnine. Robert Ryan. Donald Sutherland. Richard Jaeckel. etc In England, Major John Reisman (Lee Marvin) watches the hanging of a soldier in a military prison and is immediately asked to report to General Worden (Ernst Borgnine), who then gives him…
Read MoreGo Tell the Spartans – 1978 – Underrated Gem
Director: Ted Post Cast: Burt Lancaster. Craig Wasson. Marc Singer. The French were defeated in 1954, and as a last act, Vietnam, over which they had ruled completely, was divided into two halves. With Hanoi as its capital, North Vietnam was Communist and wanted complete unification. With its capital in Saigon, South Vietnam was “democratic”…
Read MoreZulu 1964 – Empire triumphs
Director: Cy Endfield. Cast: Stanley Baker, Nigel Green, Michael Caine (introducing) In the early to mid-1960s, massive worldwide shifts happened. All the “colonies” were becoming independent. Old timers could see their nations crumble in front of their eyes. No wonder, in this atmosphere, the English-speaking world took to a gentleman named James Bond,…
Read MoreZulu Dawn (1979). Empire’s Disaster
Director: Douglas Hickox. Cast: Burt Lancaster, Peter O’Toole, Simon Ward, Bob Hoskins Films on the British Empire usually have a familiar trope – the “Empire brought civilisation “and “progress”. Rarely are the subjects of the Empire treated with respect. Mostly the “local natives” are treated onscreen with ridicule and scorn. Wicked local villains usually…
Read MoreTo End All Wars (2001) – From despair and anger to Forgiveness.
World War 2 usually has a one-sided, one-dimensional portrayal of the Allies. Very rarely are the enemies humanised – even if they are evil. Rarely do the onscreen sufferings translate into a personal, almost spiritual salvation for the person undergoing severe torture and terrible health, yet emerging victorious in spirit at the end of the…
Read MoreThe Enemy Below (1957) – A fascinating battle between men (or machines?).
In 1957, World War 2 was only twelve years old. The general depiction of Germans and Japanese in 1950s films was of brutal, nasty savages hell-bent on doing all sorts of bad things to “clean” “decent” Americans and or British, the epitome of “Western civilisation”. This 1957 film changed that. It was one…
Read MoreThe Outpost (2020) – Edge of seat
After twenty years, trillions of dollars, and thousands of deaths on all sides, the U.S. finally replaced the Taliban with the Taliban. This was an actual WhatsApp message circulating in August 2021 when the Taliban finally took over Afghanistan for the second time in 20 years. The comparison with Vietnam in 1975 (below top)…
Read MoreNarvik – Hitler’s First Defeat (2022) – Disappointing
I got at least three messages asking me to take a look at the latest Netflix release and so watched the film. First: the plus. This is a Norwegian production with Norwegian actors, thus devoid of the typical Hollywood “showbiz” angle. However, there are some war movie cliches. Second Plus: while the…
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