BurnItDwn
Lifer
- Oct 10, 1999
- 26,160
- 1,634
- 126
World War I was horrible.
I read a book on the battle of the somme. When I think of long drawn out stalemates of wave after wave of human victim, nothing else comes close to WW1. It's true WW2 was on an even larger scale with larger scale weapons, but, WW1 is scary enough as it is.
Anybody who is interested a little bit in WW1 related films/movies.
I have these recommendations
A Very Long Engagement) More of a human drama about a woman with polio who probably lost her fiance to the trenches... she searches for him throughout the movie, each place she goes, they show a story of what happened to him when he was there during the war. Really magical film-making. Same director and main star as Amilie.
Paths of Glory by Stanley Kubrick. Crazy overly ambitious and arrogant general orders men on suicide mission with no real chance of victory and very small chance of survival. Troops Mutiny. VERY good war film.
Seargent York. 1941 movie with Gary Cooper. This is a rare WW1 movie in that it is about a hero of WW1, rather than about how horrible and terrible and pointless WW1 was.
All Quiet on the Western Front, old 1930 film. But this was quite a horrible masterpiece in film. Again, rather than glorifying anything, the emphasis was on the absolute horror and moral terror of the war. IT was about living in a 6 feet grave, getting shells dropped on your head every damn day, and wondering when you will be sent on an attack with a very high mortality rate. It's about the great disconnect between how recruiters talk about how great it is to be a soldier and "fight for a cause", and then in WW1, in the trenches, the madness of the situation, and the madness of war in general becomes self evident.
All Quiet on the Western Front 1970s made for TV remake.
The storytelling is still great. The film-making is still good. This remake is very much worth seeing. Overall a must see for anybody who likes War movies more than they should.
Behind the Lines
This was very good. More a character story following troops who essentially lost their nerve or got shell shocked. It showed how soldiers who have been through hell and back 1 too many times were essentially treated like invalids or cowards.
A bit off topic, but still related, there's the film Deathwatch, which was essentially a horror film about a sort of haunted trench, soldiers there go mad and start shooting each other and themselves. It was pretty good.
Laurence of Arabia.... One of the best WW1 movies for sure. (probably the best, but, not my personal favorite.) Actually, one of the best movie of all time. Follows TE Laurence around during WW1. Arab revolt against Turkey. He raises a guerrilla army and help to fight against the Ottoman Empire. (hopefully not considered a spoiler here)
Le Grande Illusion - I haven't seen this yet, but,it's VERY VERY high on my watch list. It's reputation speaks for itself.
I really liked A very long engagement, it was such a fantastic movie. Really moved me. But, The story of all quiet on the western front is really grueling and potent. Note: the cut for TV version has almost an HOUR of footage cut from it. Watch the real thing. It's MUCH better. Usually TCM shows unbutchered footage.
I read a book on the battle of the somme. When I think of long drawn out stalemates of wave after wave of human victim, nothing else comes close to WW1. It's true WW2 was on an even larger scale with larger scale weapons, but, WW1 is scary enough as it is.
Anybody who is interested a little bit in WW1 related films/movies.
I have these recommendations
A Very Long Engagement) More of a human drama about a woman with polio who probably lost her fiance to the trenches... she searches for him throughout the movie, each place she goes, they show a story of what happened to him when he was there during the war. Really magical film-making. Same director and main star as Amilie.
Paths of Glory by Stanley Kubrick. Crazy overly ambitious and arrogant general orders men on suicide mission with no real chance of victory and very small chance of survival. Troops Mutiny. VERY good war film.
Seargent York. 1941 movie with Gary Cooper. This is a rare WW1 movie in that it is about a hero of WW1, rather than about how horrible and terrible and pointless WW1 was.
All Quiet on the Western Front, old 1930 film. But this was quite a horrible masterpiece in film. Again, rather than glorifying anything, the emphasis was on the absolute horror and moral terror of the war. IT was about living in a 6 feet grave, getting shells dropped on your head every damn day, and wondering when you will be sent on an attack with a very high mortality rate. It's about the great disconnect between how recruiters talk about how great it is to be a soldier and "fight for a cause", and then in WW1, in the trenches, the madness of the situation, and the madness of war in general becomes self evident.
All Quiet on the Western Front 1970s made for TV remake.
The storytelling is still great. The film-making is still good. This remake is very much worth seeing. Overall a must see for anybody who likes War movies more than they should.
Behind the Lines
This was very good. More a character story following troops who essentially lost their nerve or got shell shocked. It showed how soldiers who have been through hell and back 1 too many times were essentially treated like invalids or cowards.
A bit off topic, but still related, there's the film Deathwatch, which was essentially a horror film about a sort of haunted trench, soldiers there go mad and start shooting each other and themselves. It was pretty good.
Laurence of Arabia.... One of the best WW1 movies for sure. (probably the best, but, not my personal favorite.) Actually, one of the best movie of all time. Follows TE Laurence around during WW1. Arab revolt against Turkey. He raises a guerrilla army and help to fight against the Ottoman Empire. (hopefully not considered a spoiler here)
Le Grande Illusion - I haven't seen this yet, but,it's VERY VERY high on my watch list. It's reputation speaks for itself.
I really liked A very long engagement, it was such a fantastic movie. Really moved me. But, The story of all quiet on the western front is really grueling and potent. Note: the cut for TV version has almost an HOUR of footage cut from it. Watch the real thing. It's MUCH better. Usually TCM shows unbutchered footage.
Facebook
Twitter