10 More Excellent, Disturbing, Anti-War Movies~
Jun 05 '06
The Bottom Line I've really enjoyed making this list. I still have Slaughterhouse-Five to watch and read too.
Just because a war movie is tragic, ugly and critical of war, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is anti-war, in my opinion. I’ve watched a slew of movies over the last month to come up with these ten here and they are added on to the other two lists I’ve made of other excellent, disturbing anti-war satires or dramas (links at the end). I have not been able to see Slaughterhouse-Five yet, but I will review it when I receive it. Some fine movies I could not add are Porkchop Hill, Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, Glory and The Best Years of our Lives. I didn’t really care for The Thin Red Line and Dances With Wolves you've all heard of.
An anti-war movie is usually satiric and humorous, but not always. Fail-Safe is a harrowing example. Sometimes they can be sad and/or disturbing or funny and disturbing. They always leave an impression that war takes away our innocence and often our morality.
I hope you enjoy my list. In chronological order:
(1932) A Farewell To Arms: Frank Borzage, director; Ernest Hemingway, novel; Benjamin Glazer, screenplay. I love the book and this old movie cuts out all but enough to get across the wonderful story. Gary Cooper plays an American in the Italian medics unit during WWI. Who meets an English nurse played by Helen Hayes and they fall in love. His Italian war buddy, played by Adolphe Menjou, is jealous of their relationship and tries to keep them apart, but the war won’t stand in the American’s way of finding her, if he can. The movie isn’t the book, but still it’s a touching love story during war, though predictably bittersweet in the end.
(1957) Paths of Glory: Stanley Kubrick, director and co-writer, Humphrey Cobb, writer. Kirk Douglas plays a French captain who is ordered to charge an impossible German hill and when most of his men balk at leaving their trench, three are chosen to stand “trial” for their cowardice. Douglas’ captain struggles to make his superiors see reason. Absolutely stunning movie that’ll enrage you. Adolphe Menjou plays a crafty general.
(1964) Fail-Safe: Sidney Lumet, director; Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, book. The public didn’t receive gladly this straight Dr. Strangelove movie and the government refused to cooperate in the making of it. Understandably. Because of computer error and the Russians jamming our signals, one of our bomber jets gets ready to destroy Moscow and neither we or the Russians can stop them. Henry Fonda is a convincing President, Walter Matthau is equally convincing as a man without compassion. Dan O’Herlihy and Larry Hagman are also outstanding in this great cast. I was mesmerized.
(1970) Catch-22: Mike Nichols, director; Joseph Heller, novel; Buck Henry, writer. I suspect that people who have been in the war zone and have read the book will get the most out of this bizarre, nonlinear satire of war. Two viewings should help those who haven’t. A pilot played by Alan Arkin wants to be declared unfit to fly, but he can’t be because of Catch-22, and he becomes progressively more crazy as do his buddies and officers. If you feel like a crazy person yourself after watching it, the movie has done its job! Classic comedic scenes with Orson Welles, Jon Voigt, Bob Newhart, Charles Grodin, Martin Balsam and more.
(1978) The Boys In Company C: Sidney J. Furie, director and co-writer; Rick Natkin, writer. This wonderful anti-war movie shows us the meaninglessness and politics of war from a journal-keeping soldier’s observant perspective (James Canning). War is a game to those in charge and after finding this out in the war zone with friends dying, the boys in Company C volunteer to become a soccer team against the Vietnamese team so they can go home. There’s just one problem they didn’t anticipate and I’m not going to tell you! Loved the simple music too.
(1982) Gandhi: Richard Attenborough, director; John Briley, writer. How can I not include this excellent biographical movie of Mahatma Gandhi who fought the British in India with pacifism? Ben Kingsley is a joy to watch as Gandhi and Candace Bergin and Martin Sheen contribute nicely. War can be won without bearing arms.
(1984) The Killing Fields: Roland Joffe, director; Bruce Robinson, writer. Sam Waterson goes to Cambodia to report on how the Vietnam War was spilling over into the country and Haing S. Ngor is his translator and protegee. Ngor was actually a doctor and had lived through the period, so reliving it was very difficult for him. He stole the show for me. It’s a movie about loyal friendship between men as well as a horrific, suspenseful one I highly recommend only if you haven’t eaten recently.
(1987) Full-Metal Jacket: Stanley Kubrick, director and co-writer; Gustav Hosford, writer. This movie shows how a soldier-in-training will become psychotic and dangerous to others. Whether you like it or not, it will make you a hardened killer and in the end, facing a dying Vietcong sniper, a female, the boys realize what they’ve become. Matthew Modine, Vincent D’Onofrio and R. Lee Ermey are unforgettable in their roles.
(1988) Colors: Dennis Hopper, director; Richard Didello and Michael Schiffer, writers. Sean Penn and Robert Duvall play L.A. cops trying to control the gangs at war with each other. Don Cheadle plays a gangster lord, but most of the gangsters are really gangsters, and two die during filming. This gives a very realistic look at the gang problem in L.A. of the late 80s and Penn and Duvall have their own differences in style to struggle with. I believe this movie led the way for similar movies, but maybe not as raw.
(1989) Casualties of War: Brian De Palma, director; Daniel Lang and David Rabe, writers. This movie might never have been made without Michael J. Fox as one of its stars. Fox superbly plays a private who is disgusted and bewildered when his platoon kidnaps a young Vietnamese from a village, forces her out into the jungle with them and rapes her mercilessly. Fox is ordered to rape her too, but he refuses and incurs the wrath of his leader (Sean Penn) who wants him dead. Based on a true story, it’s a very gripping movie about the nightmare war can be.
(1998) A Bright, Shining Lie: Terry George, director and screenwriter; Neil Sheehan, book. Based on John Paul Vann’s life, this brilliant movie leads us through Vann’s involvement at the beginning of the Vietnam war to almost the end, showing how he was sent back to his wife and children, but couldn’t stay away and was brought back to play by their rules and become everything he hated in the beginning, but couldn’t recognize it. Donal Logue plays a reporter who watches this transformation and spares no words and Bill Paxton as Vann is a sight to behold.
I’ve never watched so many 80s’movies at once! I hope you haven’t seen some of these and will check them out. Thanks for reading!
10 Great Anti-War Movies: http://www.epinions.com/content_4744847492
12 Anti-War Movies I've Reviewed Fully: http://www.epinions.com/content_4738883716
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Member: Jan Peregrine
Location: Lincoln, NE
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