Descent War Films?

H

Hard Man

Guest
I was thinking the other day - why are there no descent war films?
They are showing some of the Chuck Norris films on MovieMax at the moment which aint bad but I aint seen a descent war film in years.
That new John Woo film 'Windtalking' I thought it was goinna be good, but it wasn't. The Mel Gibson film was even worse.
They used to make some half descent war films back in the 60s, but modern ones are all slow and deprressing. War films should be action or excitement like The Dirty Dozen or Kellys Heroes.
The worse one I saw rescently was that one with Sam L Jackson - it was more like a courtroom drama!
Why are there no descent war films no more?! :mad:
 
Yeah that sounds good - War for christmas! I was gonna join the army, but I have a bad back (car accident). I suppose I would be out there if I had joined - sounds good to me. Saddam needs to be taught a lesson in how to behave. I can't believe we didn't take him out during the Gulf War!?! :mad: :rolleyes: That's politicians for ya!
Time to take hime out now though - I heard a rumour from my mate that they reckon Bin Laden is there as well (hiding in Baghdad). I say nuke the whole city just to be sure! :D
 
Originally posted by Hard Bastard
Time to take hime out now though - I heard a rumour from my mate that they reckon Bin Laden is there as well (hiding in Baghdad). I say nuke the whole city just to be sure! :D

You are George W. Bush .... yes ?
 
Originally posted by Hard Bastard
I was thinking the other day - why are there no descent war films?
It's true. Most of the films depict some form of ascension. I don't know why either.
 
It's about time we had a descent war film, maybe one about paratroopers would be good.
 
An excellent idea for a movie Kev.

Just to back up Hard Bastard's point, I noticed that a movie was made in 2000 called "Final Ascent". However, it was previously known as "Final Descent". It just goes to show how the emphasis has shifted in recent years from descent to ascent - so much so that they felt compelled to change the title in order to stay "in vogue"!

Full details of this movie may be found here: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0239728

It sounds like a good movie too. Here's a quote from one reviewer on IMDB (naturally, it contains SPOILERS):
Final Ascent is a remake of Cliffhanger, except without any of the good parts. And if it seems merely mediocre, wait until the last act when it enters the realm of the truly terrible. Watch as our heroine parachutes hundreds of feet off of a mountain, and then climbs approximately twelve feet back up the same mountain to save the character that had been standing right next to her. Watch her climb 10,000 feet in the snow with no gloves and never once give any indication that it's cold. And watch as another character is buried underneath an avalanche, and yet emerges without a trace of snow on him.
 
Originally posted by Barbie Doll
Yeah that sounds good - War for christmas! I was gonna join the army, but I have a bad back (car accident). I suppose I would be out there if I had joined - sounds good to me. Saddam needs to be taught a lesson in how to behave. I can't believe we didn't take him out during the Gulf War!?! :mad: :rolleyes: That's politicians for ya!
Time to take hime out now though - I heard a rumour from my mate that they reckon Bin Laden is there as well (hiding in Baghdad). I say nuke the whole city just to be sure! :D

You do realise that the whole reason we are moving in on Saddam Hussain is so this DOSEN'T happen, don't you? By the looks of things, it's probably a good job that you do have a bad back. Don't know that many Hard Bastards in the army - not many that shout it from the rooftops anyway....;) :p
 
This year' enemy, next year's ally. Depends who the Americans want to use up their weapons on - creates jobs by rotating' and replenishing stock, always good for votes. And who armed the Taliban, the same people that helped them evict Russia from their Boxing Day incursion to Afghanistan.

We aren't any better - who sold the Iraq army the uniforms they wore whilst defending their day out to Kuwait? Answers on a postcard.

Phew, feel better now!
 
Why do your kind always seek to blame the US/UK for the ills of the Middle East - and the rest of the world for that matter? Try looking at the real culprits: Germany, France, N.Korea, China and, many years ago, the Soviet Union.

But then, that wouldn't satisfy your oh-so-trendy anti-American point of view, would it.

Anyway, back to the topic - war films of note over say the last 10 years:

Saving Private Ryan
3 Kings
13 Days

The problem is these days we are constantly told appeasement of agressors is the way 'forward', and many factions of society try to make us feel ashamed of bast battles fought in the name of freedom - this of course extends to the film making industry too.
 
Originally posted by Confucius

Anyway, back to the topic - war films of note over say the last 10 years:

Saving Private Ryan
3 Kings
13 Days
I wasn't a big fan on Three Kings but I can fully recommend Thirteen Days (The R1 Infinifilm version is great for original newsreels and facts as well), very informative movie and well put together.

Puts a differnent angle on some of the things you may have read about the Cuban Missile crisis and make you realise just how close we came.
 
I haven't seen 13 Days, but absolutely love Three Kings and Saving Private Ryan. I have Tigerland on order, waiting for them to get it on bloody stock - s'posed to be a great war movie too :) Platoon is another favourite of mine and I simply adore Jacob's Ladder (if that counts) :D
 
Originally posted by Squirrel God
I haven't seen 13 Days, but absolutely love Three Kings and Saving Private Ryan. I have Tigerland on order, waiting for them to get it on bloody stock - s'posed to be a great war movie too :) Platoon is another favourite of mine and I simply adore Jacob's Ladder (if that counts) :D

(SPOILER ALERT)

Beware Squirrel, Tigerland doesn't actually feature any "war" as in fighting, etc. Just a lot of guys at a training camp, arguing, etc. 1 out of 5 for me:(
 
Sorry squirrel - I didn't think it thru:blush: . See your point about relationships in war vs actual war shots too. I like both types of films, but didn't think Tigerland was much to watch anyway. Nice price!

Liked Enemy....tho', even if Bob Hoskins didn't convince anyone he was Russian:D
 
None of them convinced me they were Russian! At least they were consistent in that respect :D I thought Ed Harris was better in Enemy at the Gates than The Rock though!
 
I thought he was best in the Vectra ads:p

Three Kings is deffinatly one of the best, I love it. Can't say enemy at the gates did much for me though:(
 
Originally posted by Squirrel God
None of them convinced me they were Russian! At least they were consistent in that respect :D I thought Ed Harris was better in Enemy at the Gates than The Rock though!

I just had the Rock delivered on DVD so will watch again for only second time - saw it first time in Cinema. Am NOT looking forward tio seeing that Ferarri 355 crushed by the tram again:(

How good is the DD 5.1 soundtrack (my copy is R2)?
 
Originally posted by Squirrel God
I know war doesn't feature; but I love the stuff to do with the human relationships etc. rather than just watching people gun down and bomb each other,
A war movie I think is superb is 'The Odd Angry Shot' (See IMDB HERE ).

A truly thought provoking film about the Australian SAS in Vietnam without any real idea why or how they came to be there but surviving with each other. Very funny in places and deeply moving in others (especially at the end). Relationships are the key to this film, a bit of blood and guts but only to show the the aftermath.

A true show about vietnam without the bravado and gung-ho typical of the Americans. And more importantly they know they will eventually lose.

Not available on DVD yet but if you hunt round you should find a VHS copy somewhere (my g/f got HMV to order one a few years ago). Well worth a viewing (or ten).
 
Originally posted by Confucius
Why do your kind always seek to blame the US/UK for the ills of the Middle East - and the rest of the world for that matter? Try looking at the real culprits: Germany, France, N.Korea, China and, many years ago, the Soviet Union.

But then, that wouldn't satisfy your oh-so-trendy anti-American point of view, would it.

Yeah I agree - who cares if we sold the weapons to the foreigners, it just means that we have the right to go and demand our goods back!! I don't understand how you make us out to be the bad guys - we are the good guys, they are the bad guys - get you head round that!

I liked Saving Privat Ryan - it was nice and realistic which is strange because I dont normally like Spielberg films. I want to see Tarrantino do a war film - that would be something else!!
 
Originally posted by Hard Man
but modern ones are all slow and deprressing.

Maybe that's because they are portraying how war really is.

Try Thin Red Line. Absoulte masterpiece :smashin:
 
I really enjoy war films. They tend to clog up my DVD collection somewhat, and I have to watch them when the girlfriend's out.

My favourites are:
Das Boot (Director's Cut: much better story)
Black Hawk Down
Platoon
Tigerland (ok so it only covers training: but I thought this was a masterpiece of a film).
Apocalypse Now Redux
Full Metal Jacket
Dr Strangelove
Thin Red Line
A Bridge Too Far
Catch 22

In my opinion, there have been some amazing war films!
 
apocalypse now
platoon
regeneration
 

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