currently watching Green Berets, man what propaganda, wonder how it was accepted when it was released

For me best most accurate movies would be Longest Day and Midway.

Worst would be Battle of the Buldge. Great movie, but historically not very good.

One of my favorites for some reason has always been In Harms Way, not really historic but always like the movie

Is the Longest Day considered to be accurate? I always considered it to be a strong candidate in the "how many Hollywood movie stars can you fit into one movie" contest.

Saving Private Ryan is probably more realistic than the Longest Day. But I can't imagine the reaction if Saving Private Ryan had been released in 1962.

I like that the Longsst Day tried to give you every angle of DDay

SPR showed the truest picture of DDay but the rest was fiction

Also on my favorite list is Mister Roberts and Cain Mutiny. Although pure fiction, still IMOmgood movies

Tora Tora Tora darned accurate.
Midway horribly inaccurate.

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currently watching Green Berets, man what propaganda, wonder how it was accepted when it was released

For me best most accurate movies would be Longest Day and Midway.

Worst would be Battle of the Buldge. Great movie, but historically not very good.

One of my favorites for some reason has always been In Harms Way, not really historic but always like the movie

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While one of my favorite movies, In Harms Way takes a lot of license. The final naval battle was taken from the real life Battle Off Samar, or the Battle of Leyte Gulf. It sort of depicted the first half of the battle, where the Japanese tried to run the Surigao Strait and enter the Leyte Gulf from the south.

Green Berets was not well received when released.

Best film about WW II was the fictional Bridge Over the River Kwai.

Several of the ones that tried to stick to facts were not bad. I watched Midway today and Longest Day the other night and it struck me that these films were made less than twenty years after the events they depicted. And there has been another fifty years since then. I was a teen when they were released and almost all the adult men I knew had served in the War, including my dad and most of my uncles.

I came home from one WW II film and told my dad that it was very accurate and he asked me if I had krapped my pants; if I hadn't, it wasn't really very realistic.

Today I watched John Ford's documentary about the Battle at Midway, which is only 18 minutes long; made for the home front, it is pretty good and worth the watch considering it was filmed with 16 MM cameras, much of it hand held.

One fictional WW II film I liked was The Young Lions; with Brando, Maxmillian Schell as German officers and Dean Martin and Montgomery Clift as the Americans

And there was To Hell and Back.

"Bridge Too Far" and the "Iron Cross". You cannot go wrong with the "Sands of Iwo Jima" either.

I benged watched Band of Brothers this weekend.



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Several of the ones that tried to stick to facts were not bad. I watched Midway today and Longest Day the other night and it struck me that these films were made less than twenty years after the events they depicted. And there has been another fifty years since then. I was a teen when they were released and almost all the adult men I knew had served in the War, including my dad and most of my uncles.

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Midway came out in 1976, 34 years after the event. I loved the movie Midway for a selfish reason; it is the only movie that me and my dad went to see together and I have a great memory of that event, 40 years later.

My dad is still alive and I still remind him about the movie day

You can't leave out They Were Expendable when discussing WW2 flicks. Based on a book by the real life skipper of the MTB squadron portrayed in the movie. Lots of actual events shown and , for a made during the war movie, DAMN accurate. I found the original book , one out of print, and read it in one Saturday pool day. Its a GREAT read for any WW2 buff especially when you add in the movie.

Possibly the worst BUT a MUST see is a flick called The Purple Heart. A highly fictionalized version of the trial that the japs held against the captured Dollittle crews. It really turns on the japs as pure evil themes thruout the movie. The bastar9s really did try the captured fliers and executed several. Of course we all know the stories of the inhumane and brutal treatments that he sons of nippon inflicted upon POW's but the was the first time that the US allowed the reality of how our boys were treated to be shown to the American public. Public outrage was HUGE when this was finally shown in late 44.

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"Bridge Too Far" and the "Iron Cross". You cannot go wrong with the "Sands of Iwo Jima" either.

I benged watched Band of Brothers this weekend.



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"Kelly's Heros" BAD! Beatniks in the 1940's REALLY?

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Also on my favorite list is Mister Roberts and Cain Mutiny. Although pure fiction, still IMOmgood movies

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If you loved the movie, you owe it yourself to read The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk. Fiction, yes, but Mr. Wouk served as an officer on two destroyers in the Pacific during WWII and the novel reflects his first-hand experience.

As is usually case with novels adapted into screenplays, they could only include perhaps half of the book's narrative and only the main characters. The novel follows Willie Keith from the time he enters Midshipman school (mostly to avoid being drafted into the Army) to the end of the war.

One that hasn't been mentioned, but is really quite good and pretty accurate, is "The Great Raid" - telling the story of the rescue of POWs from the Japanese prison camp at Cabanatuan in the Philippines. The one thing that drags the movie down a bit is the romance story, but a lot of the scenes that take place in Manila and the actions of members of the Filipino resistance, while they may not be exactly historically factual, are representative of what was happening in the Philippines at that stage of the war.

The romance and personal drama injected into such movies as "Midway", "In Harms Way", and others are there to make a story out of historical events and attempt to show the human side of war. Sometimes it's ok, sometimes it utterly fails, as in "Pearl Harbor", which was totally ruined by it. "Tora, Tora, Tora" was far better.

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One that hasn't been mentioned, but is really quite good and pretty accurate, is "The Great Raid" - telling the story of the rescue of POWs from the Japanese prison camp at Cabanatuan in the Philippines. The one thing that drags the movie down a bit is the romance story, but a lot of the scenes that take place in Manila and the actions of members of the Filipino resistance, while they may not be exactly historically factual, are representative of what was happening in the Philippines at that stage of the war.

The romance and personal drama injected into such movies as "Midway", "In Harms Way", and others are there to make a story out of historical events and attempt to show the human side of war. Sometimes it's ok, sometimes it utterly fails, as in "Pearl Harbor", which was totally ruined by it. "Tora, Tora, Tora" was far better.

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"Pearl Harbor" is just about the only war flick that I just can't watch. Its sooo bad. IF I happen to turn on at the 20 minutes where the actual attack is happening I will watch that part as its the ONLY part of the film worth the time.
Like so many I also love "In Harms Way" even though there is nothing accurate about it at all. Its one of those with great people interactions with GREAT actors and some decent war stuff thrown in. I think part of it is the great back n forth sub plot between Adm Torrey and Adm Broderick. The scene where Torrey slams Broderick in front of the reporters is a moment that EVERYONE of us who has worked in virtually any job has dreamed of. We can all relate.
And Paula Prentiss is ...well..... Oh HELL yes !!!

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For me best most accurate movies would be Longest Day and Midway.

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Midway got the basic story correct but its biggest problem was the romance crap. Then there was the use of archival footage. Much of that showed absolutely incorrect aircraft in action - F6F Hellcats, an SB2C Helldiver, and even an F9F Panther (a JET fighter) show up in the movie despite the fact that none of those warbirds were available in June 1942.

It has been far too long since I watched The Longest Day, so I cannot say anything about that one with respect to accuracy.

As for yesterday, I watched a couple of episodes of Band of Brothers and am continuing that series throughout this week.

Saw Fury for about the 10th time on Memorial Day. Never understood the US tankers going against a German 88mm protected by only 2" of steel.

I grew up with The Longest Day on VHS and my brother and I enjoyed watching it with my parents.

A few weeks ago I noticed it was on Netflix and I started watching it. About 5 minutes in, I realized there was some weird about it: All of the germans, french, etc were speaking english! One of my favorite aspects of the original was that every faction was speaking their language. It actually takes me out of the movie when Russians, chinese, etc aren't speaking their language.

I can't even watch the attack scene of Pearl Harbor.

Truly an unwatchable film.

Battleground is an excellent fictional account of Bastogne.

From Here to Eternity is also very good.

Pearl Harbor is the worst movie made IMO. The depiction of the Doolittle raid was a travesty. The only things they got right was that it occurred and a guy named Doolittle led it.

... and Alec Baldwin played Doolittle. What a ****!

Doolittle Raid? Got to stick with Van Johnson and Spencer Tracy.

your reference to 30 Seconds made me laugh a little. The Chinese have opened small museums's along the path that some of the Raider's took while in China. One of them is in the building that was the hospital where Lawson had his leg amputated. the operating room is "restored" to the conditions at the time but is basically a replica of the set for the movie.

Great movie- Dave Thatcher, who was depicted in the movie as the least injured of the crew of the Ruptured Duck and received the Silver Star for his actions in China, is one of the last two surviving Raiders.

Maybe not a "war" movie but The Best Years of Our Lives is a pretty compelling movie about coming home from WWII

All For Liberty. It's an independently produced film about the Revolutionary War in theSouth. Cool flick. Accurate dress.

Couldn't agree more, chum.

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Battleground is an excellent fictional account of Bastogne.

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Very underrated movie.

Patton hasn't been mentioned nor Twelve O'clock High.

Watched some of the "The Pacific" this weekend. It's quite good as well.

Memphis Belle was a crappy movie save for the flying scenes.

The Final Countdown is uncanny in it's accuracy.

Opinions on Sink the Bismarck? I always thought it was very good.

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Opinions on Sink the Bismarck? I always thought it was very good.

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Forgot about that one. It is absolutely in my top 5. Even found an original theatre poster that I have to one day put up in my one day perhaps I'll get to it theatre room....maybe
The film is quite accurate with some great naval scenes. By all means it is a keeper.

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The Final Countdown is uncanny in it's accuracy.

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Yeah, except for that Mitsubishi A6M still being intact after taking a half-second blast from the Vulcan cannon on that F-14 (about 50 shells, at least). (I know, they needed to have the pilot taken alive for a plot contrivance later on in the movie)

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Opinions on Sink the Bismarck? I always thought it was very good.

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Makes a good double-feature with Pursuit of the Graf Spee.

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Opinions on Sink the Bismarck? I always thought it was very good.

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Makes a good double-feature with Pursuit of the Graf Spee.

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OUTSTANDING !!!
Now you have me digging thru my DVD pile. Got them both..just waititn for that rainy afternoon.
The British made excellent war movies in the years soon after the war. Not the gigantic hollywood mega-crap just damn good, excellent plot and well acted movies.