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Great WWII MoviesAug 07 '05 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line These films are all finely made with great acting, direction, cinematography, editing, special effects, and score. All of these deserve larger audiences and I hope you agree. Great WWII Movies I love genre films and war films are some of my favorites. Since war is so endemic to the human condition, I narrowed down my picks to just those depicting World War Two action. Although there are many more I like, these are the ones I keep on the top shelf of my DVD rack. Cross of Iron “I will show you where the Iron Crosses grow.” Controversial film director Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch) made this, the “greatest antiwar film since All Quiet on the Western Front, according to Orson Welles. Peckinpah gives you an unflinching look at violence (and Senta Berger’s hiney) in the last ditch battle of the Germans on the Russian Front. Stars James Mason and Maximillian Schell, along with James Coburn as the immortal Sergeant Steiner. David Warner provides comic relief as the tipsy executive officer. From the Willi Heinrich book, which is as good, but unfortunately out of print. Right up there in impact with the best of them. Attack “I’ll shove this grenade down your throat and pull the pin!” Jack Palance stars as a POed lieutenant made to serve under chicken officer Eddie Albert, by conniving Colonel played by Lee Marvin. An excellent character study of how men react to stress. Atypically gritty for the 50s, Attack received no support from the US Army. Nonetheless, Robert Aldrich (The Dirty Dozen) did a fine job coaxing great performances out of all, including supporting cast Buddy Ebsen, Robert Strauss, Richard Jaeckel, and William Smithers. Probably Jack Palance’s career performance - watch him sneer! The DVD is available under $10 and well worth it. Battleground “You had a good home and you left. You’re right!” Story of the Battle of the Bulge from the foot soldiers’ perspective. William Wellman (Beau Geste) directed this superb tale of the “Battered Bastards of Bastogne” with an ensemble cast including Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, and George Murphy. James Whitmore is the hard boiled sergeant. Shows the life of an infantry soldier as only one who had been there could show it. Watching luscious Denise Darcel cut a loaf of bread up under her boob is well worth the price of admission alone. This underrated film is perhaps the greatest WWII movie. Objective, Burma! “I’d like to have a steak - smothered in pork chops.” Directed by the great Raoul Walsh (They Died With Their Boots On) - swashbuckler extraordinaire Errol Flynn leads an elite paratroop company behind enemy lines to prepare for the allied invasion of Burma. Superior supporting cast includes George Tobias, Henry Hull, Warner Anderson, and Hugh Beaumont. Stirring Franz Waxman score, with lensing by James Wong Howe Objective, Burma! gives great detail on the life of the men who fought in WWII. Great quality and the DVD contains a couple of WWII era short films that are quite interesting, also. The Bridge at Remagen “It's a crapshoot, Major. Take that bridge and we shorten the war. We're risking a hundred men, but we may save 10,000 -- even 50,000! It's your chance to make history!” A great adventure showing the push to take the last Rhine bridge while 75,000 Germans are trapped on the western side. Directed by John Guillermin (The Blue Max) Bridge at Remagen stars George Segal, EG Marshall, Bradford Dillman, Ben Gazzara, Robert Vaughn, and Peter van Eyck. Segal’s company is tasked with seizing the bridge against strong opposition by the Nazis, led by Robert Vaughn. Great Elmer Bernstein score, filmed in 2.35:1 in color, The Bridge at Remagen is one of the great 1960s era WWII movies. The Great Escape “I haven't seen Berlin yet, from the ground or from the air, and I plan on doing both before the war is over.” A brilliant movie based on the escape used as a diversion for D-Day, The Great Escape has an ensemble cast including Steve McQueen, James Garner, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasance, and many more familiar faces. One of the very best character studies, directed by John Sturges (The Magnificent Seven), it made stars of several of the actors. With a memorable Elmer Bernstein score, in color, in 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The Great Escape is a film the whole family will love and watch over and over. Merrill’s Marauders Jeff Chandler, Ty Hardin, Andrew Duggan, Claude Akins, and Peter Brown make up the speaking parts of the 5307th, a regimental sized unit tasked to free up the Burma Road in conjunction with the British forces trying to do the same. The Marauders were a true guerilla unit, fighting behind enemy lines with no support from the rear. It took exceptionally tough men, both mentally and physically to stand the strain of the continual disease, privation, and battle they underwent. Directed by Samuel Fuller (The Big Red One) Merrill’s Marauders deserve a bigger audience. Merrill’s Marauders have the distinction of being the prototype of the current US Army Rangers and Special Forces units. In color, running 98 minutes. A Walk in the Sun “Gotta smoke?” A platoon of the 36th Texas Division must take a farm house during the battle of Anzio. From the beach landing to the objective there is fighting all the way and we get to know the characters of the men as we go. A superior study by the great director Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front), A Walk in the Sun stars Dana Andrews, Lloyd Bridges, Richard Conte, Huntz Hall, and many familiar faces. The camera angles will show your where Spielberg got his ideas for Saving Private Ryan, but this film is better. Presented in B&W and running 117 minutes, this 1945 film deserves more respect. Destination Tokyo “Pull the Cork!“ Directed by Delmer Daves (3:10 to Yuma), Destination Tokyo is a superior submarine drama set in the early days after Pearl Harbor. The sub is tasked to sneak into Tokyo harbor to radio back target information for the Doolittle raid. Starring Cary Grant, in a bang up performance as the skipper with a dynamite supporting cast including Alan Hale, John Garfield, Tom Tully, Dane Clark, and Whit Bissell. This film, made in 1944, established most of the cliches you’ve seen in later submarine movies. Highly underrated and must see for submarine fans. Run Silent, Run Deep “Dive, Dive, Dive!” My favorite of the WWII submarine movies, RSRD stars heavyweights Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster as the commanders of the sub “Nerka.” This film established the conflict of the second in command being passed over, something that has popped up in at least several films since. A great duel between a submarine and destroyer off the Japanese coast with a hidden enemy lurking beneath the surface. Like most of the war films I like, the supporting cast is superior with Don Rickles, Brad Dexter, and Jack Warden. Directed by Robert Wise (The Day the Earth Stood Still) the film is black and white, runs 89 minutes, and is presented in 1.66:1 aspect ratio on the MGM DVD. Sahara “I’ll trade you water for guns;. One canteen of water for each gun.” One of the few movies that focuses on tanks. Starring the great Humphrey Bogart as Sergeant Joe Gunn, somewhere in the Sahara after the fall of Tobruk. Gunn’s crew picks up a handful of stragglers and makes it to an oasis just before a German battalion does. The fight is about water and survival itself. Superior supporting cast includes Lloyd Bridges, J. Carrol Naish, Dan Duryea, and Rex Ingram. Directed by the great Zoltan Korda (The Four Feathers) the film runs 98 minutes and is in B&W. Sahara is highly underrated and should be better known. To Hell and Back “How close are the Germans?”… “Hold the phone and I‘ll let you talk to one.” Follows the career of Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in World War II. Murphy, an undersized baby-faced man, was an unlikely hero. Nonetheless, he proved to be an unstoppable force against the Germans at Anzio and several other battles culminating in the battle near Holzwihr, France where he stopped a German combined arms advance almost single-handedly. Stars Audie Murphy (as himself), Marshall Thompson, Jack Kelly, Denver Pyle, and David Janssen. In TechniColor and in 2.35:1 aspect ratio it is a great story of the bonds that form between men in the crucible of battle. Hell is for Heroes “The outfit I came from was a real dilly. There was a general, a major, two captains, two lieutenants, and me. There's a squad for you.” Action on the Siegfried Line with trouble maker Steve McQueen and a memorable squad consisting of Bobby Darrin, Fess Parker, Harry Guardino, James Coburn, Bob Newhart, and a bevy of other familiar faces. The tension alternates with comic relief from Bob Newhart and Bobby Darrin (who should have been in more movies) Directed by the great Don Siegel (Dirty Harry) great B&W cinematography by Harold Lipstein and evocative score by Leonard Rosenman. Presented in 1.85:1 theatrical format. If I didn’t name your favorite, there are at least 300 more films that relate to WWII, so I had to narrow the list down somewhat. Anyway, I hope you found at least a few to add to your viewing queue. Thanks for reading!  |
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