Anyone seen the Band Of Brothers series? If not it follows the story of Easy Company of the US Army 101st Airborne division and their mission in WWII Europe from Operation Overlord through V-J Day. Very good series. I haven't seen The Pacific though
Band of Brothers was fucking amazing. Love the series. Guarnere was my favorite, both in the show and in real life. Pacific wasn't that great, IMO. Unless you're just looking for action, but Band of Brothers did a better job of showing the unit's relationships and such.
i caught a few episodes.. but couldn't get into it. i'm not a massive fan of WW2 films etc told from an american viewpoint. If your happy for this thread to derail into a discussion about war films / series in general, let me know!
Derail it as much as you want. I was about to bring up the Brothers is Arms games but forgot what I was gonna say about em. If it takes a while to reply it's because I am watching Band of Brothers right now.
In keeping with Metro then, here's a few russian ones... 9th Company following a group of young soviet recruits as they train together and go off to fight in Afghanistan in the 80s. (Also check out 'The Beast' if you're interested in this conflict) Ballad of a Soldier Post ww2 (1959) soviet propaganda piece about a young russian soldier who takes out two german tanks on his own, for which he is to be awarded a medal. He refuses the medal, and asks only for time to go and visit his mother instead... His journey is full of delays but along the way he falls in love. He ends up only having a few precious minutes with his mother before he has to return to the front. Fortress of War A film about the attack on the Brest fortress in Belarus by german troops in 1941. Fortress is a strong word in english, in reality it was an old walled barracks from the napoleonic era, and so barely stands up to the inital german aerial assault. The devastation on screen is incredible at times. 3,500 russian troops, and their families were stationed there, and the film tells the story of their nine day fight for survival. Determined not to surrender even a small part of the "Motherland", a grim desperate fight follows, and ammunition and water start to run low.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zain8Mz5SWg Half an hour from the end of the film the civilians are allowed to leave the fortress, before a two-tonne bomb is dropped on its defenders. This scene is accompanied by the amplified ticking of a clock with no hands, and the last russian radio broadcast from the fortress. Its as if time has come to a standstill. Very eerie. Its hard to believe that the surviving heroes of this battle were not recognised as such in the soviet union until 1957, because they were seen as traitors to the motherland for eventually being captured. Certainly one of the better war films of recent years. Interesting account of the battle and photos of the fortress (now a museum) here: http://thevelvetrocket.com/2010/03/12/brest-fortress-belarus/ So anyone else have any favourites? Recommendations? Absolute rubbish to be avoided? Please fell free to any period of conflict, not just WW2..
I don't really like watching films from the American side of any conflict so I will certainly have a look at these films you mentioned. Most British world war 2 films are either really old or really shit. I'm struggling to think of any good films with plenty of conflict in. 300 was a bit over the top. I quite liked Braveheart and Robin Hood though. Enemy at the Gates is a decent film, no doubt you've seen it but it's about a famous Russian Sniper in a dangerous game of cat and mouse against a more experienced German sniper. Windtalkers. ww2 film about navaho tribes role in Codebreaking or some shit during ww2. All the films i've listed are just over dramatic hollywood versions of real events other than of course Robin Hood which is just legend I think Viscilli may also be but I think the rest are real events. Other than Windtalkers. I think that's a made up story but i'm pretty sure the Navaho or w/e you call em were used as radio operators or whatever and did get shot so they didn't fall into enemy hands.
It's all yank propaganda to me, lads. I'd rather watch Der Untergang (2004) ad nauseum instead of Shaving Ryan's Privates for a second time.
Like I said I don't really like films from the American point of view but because any film that doesn't do this is almost unheard of it's hard to find anything decent these days. Americans usually go over the top on everything too which pisses me off. It's even worse when their keyboard warriors get their facts about WW2 wrong and then try and make themselves seem like the heroes.
9th Company was great. Funny, sad, and extremely entertaining. Probabblymy favorite part of the film was the C4 demo and the introduction of Ahmed.
Der Untergang.. That was released in the uk as Downfall right? Yes, it really is exceptional, brilliantly acted. The views of Berlins streets look very real... but i can't stand the tacked on interview at the end - completely out of place with the rest of the film. Vanilla, yes i have watched Enemy at the Gates, several times..! If you enjoyed this, try Behind Enemy Lines set during the war in Bosnia. A US pilot on a routine mission is shot down and pursued by an enemy determined to wipe him out. Theres also a great menacing performance by an enemy sniper sent to kill him. Some great action, and some very tense moments. Don't write off all american films though, personally i think you have to go back to the golden age of war films, the late 60's - 70's. Have you ever watched Kelly's Heroes ? One of my all time favourites. If you liked the humour, and the bonding between characters in band of brothers, you may really like this one.
I disagree. The movie begins with Traudl Junge being hired as the Führer's new secretary. It was only fitting to see an interview with the real Traudl at the end and listen to her thoughts. Besides, the film is based on her book...
Yeah I have Behind Enemy Lines on DVD aha I was watching it the other day. I've also seen Kellys Heroes but that was a long time ago, there's always old world war 2 films on during the morning on my TV.
