Favorite Military Movies

[AngelsLongBall]

Does The Kingdom count? That movie was awesome

[Lou]

Tank,  it surprises me that you've never seen A Soldier's Story. 

A great movie. Adolph Caesar was fantastic. Should have won an Oscar over Lithgow that year.

[Lou]

The Killing Fields

 

 

Incredible film

[ten ocho recon scout]

The Killing Fields

Incredible film

geez, still breaks my heart the guy from that movie, who survived that whole thing in real life, ends up getting killed here in LA by some punk gangsters looking to rob him

[nate]

If we go with comedy war films then Inglourious Basterds was great.

[Tank]

Tank,  it surprises me that you've never seen A Soldier's Story. 

A great movie. Adolph Caesar was fantastic. Should have won an Oscar over Lithgow that year.

Oh, I saw it. It was a terrific movie. Great cast, too.

[Mark68]

I didn't see anyone mention "The Desert Fox" with James Mason as Field Marshal Rommel.  Another old movie from the early 50's, but Mason did an excellent job in the role.

I actually haven't seen it, but I will put it on my "must see" list.

 

I am an amateur WWII history buff anyway, and I think that of all the German military leaders, Rommel was by far the best.

[Mark68]

would love to see a remake of that movie, and good call on the pianist. Excellent movie.

Finally saw The Pianist a couple of years ago. Really good film with really good acting from Brody.

 

I just don't think of it specifically as a war film.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Not sure if its already been mentioned, but three kings was a great flick. Always thought it was underrated.

HBO did a good one called shot through the heart. Based on a true story during the bosnian war, 2 friends who were both olympic shooters end up as snipers on the opposite side. The portrayal of sarajevo during the siege was very well done. Gonna have to watch that one again.

[Mark68]

Not sure if its already been mentioned, but three kings was a great flick. Always thought it was underrated.

HBO did a good one called shot through the heart. Based on a true story during the bosnian war, 2 friends who were both olympic shooters end up as snipers on the opposite side. The portrayal of sarajevo during the siege was very well done. Gonna have to watch that one again.

"We three kings be stealin' the gold..."

 

Love that line, quote it often.

[Lou]

Stalingrad

[Stradling]

Anyone mention Life is Beautiful? Very good movie.

[AngelsLongBall]

"We three kings be stealin' the gold..."

 

Love that line, quote it often.

Ditto

[IEAngelsfan]

I actually haven't seen it, but I will put it on my "must see" list.

 

I am an amateur WWII history buff anyway, and I think that of all the German military leaders, Rommel was by far the best.

I'm one as well.  Rommel and Gen. Guderian were the two I believe were the best the Germans had.

[ten ocho recon scout]

I'm one as well. Rommel and Gen. Guderian were the two I believe were the best the Germans had.

guderian was definitely up there, manstein as well. I think most people today dont really know just how good the german army was (in militsry terms, not moral terms). People would be suprised at how much we took from hermany after the war in terms of strategy and doctrine. Their officer corps was very good, they just got into a war they couqldnt win.

Id love to see a movie about zhukov some day.

[IEAngelsfan]

guderian was definitely up there, manstein as well. I think most people today dont really know just how good the german army was (in militsry terms, not moral terms). People would be suprised at how much we took from hermany after the war in terms of strategy and doctrine. Their officer corps was very good, they just got into a war they couqldnt win.

Id love to see a movie about zhukov some day.

Yup.  At the beginning of the war, the Brits, French and Soviets were still using tactics and strategy carried over from WWI.  The initial overwhelming success the Germans had with Blitzkrieg were devastating and demonstrated a whole new modern way of waging a war.  By the end of the war, all of the Allies had adopted their own versions of Blitzkrieg.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Yeah, the germans really revolutionized military tactics for all modern armies. They figured out tanks were better used in force and independant rather than as infantry support. Machine guns should form the backbone of infantry with rifles to support as opposed to the opposite (which we believed).

We obviously best them to the bomb, and their lack of ever developing a 4 engine bomber was a huge fail. That said, they had the best artillery of the war. They had the best machine gun of the war. They invented the first assault rifle when the majority of the world was still using bolt action. The first jet fighter. The first cruise missile. The first ballistic missile. Etc etc.

I obviously hate what they did and glad as hell they failed, but strictly from a veteran standpoint, i "tip my cap" to their innovation.

Still makes you wonder "what ifs". Had they gotten britain to tap out, could they have beaten the soviets? Probably not...but then again, without the britts there would be no us. Without us (and the britts) there would be no north africa campaign, med campaign, italy etc. And without having to tie up so much in terms of resources to the west to guard against the air campaign, maybe they retain air superiority in the east. Who knows...

[Mark68]

Yeah, the germans really revolutionized military tactics for all modern armies. They figured out tanks were better used in force and independant rather than as infantry support. Machine guns should form the backbone of infantry with rifles to support as opposed to the opposite (which we believed).

We obviously best them to the bomb, and their lack of ever developing a 4 engine bomber was a huge fail. That said, they had the best artillery of the war. They had the best machine gun of the war. They invented the first assault rifle when the majority of the world was still using bolt action. The first jet fighter. The first cruise missile. The first ballistic missile. Etc etc.

I obviously hate what they did and glad as hell they failed, but strictly from a veteran standpoint, i "tip my cap" to their innovation.

Still makes you wonder "what ifs". Had they gotten britain to tap out, could they have beaten the soviets? Probably not...but then again, without the britts there would be no us. Without us (and the britts) there would be no north africa campaign, med campaign, italy etc. And without having to tie up so much in terms of resources to the west to guard against the air campaign, maybe they retain air superiority in the east. Who knows...

That's what fascinates me. All the "what ifs". What if the Italians hadn't ****ed up so badly in Greece, necessitating Germany to get involved there and the rest of the Balkans? What if the Germans had been able to drive into the Middle East and take the oil and cut off the Brits in Egypt from behind (as well as effectively cutting India off)? What if Operation Sea Lion had not only gotten underway but worked?

 

What if the Germans had gotten the bomb and put it in V2s (or the V3 prototype)?

 

What if the Germans delayed their Soviet invasion for a year or two (after more Tigers & Panthers were deployed against the T-34s)?

 

This is why I like reading alternative history and playing it out in computer games.

[Mark68]

no idea if you're into it, but "The Man in High Castle" on Amazon just got a full season order. 

 

sounds very much to me like something you might like. 

 

i can't wait. 

Did it? I was hoping it did. I watched the pilot.

 

I have the book and enjoyed it (I actually like Dick's books in general).

[IEAngelsfan]

That's what fascinates me. All the "what ifs". What if the Italians hadn't ****ed up so badly in Greece, necessitating Germany to get involved there and the rest of the Balkans? What if the Germans had been able to drive into the Middle East and take the oil and cut off the Brits in Egypt from behind (as well as effectively cutting India off)? What if Operation Sea Lion had not only gotten underway but worked?

 

What if the Germans had gotten the bomb and put it in V2s (or the V3 prototype)?

 

What if the Germans delayed their Soviet invasion for a year or two (after more Tigers & Panthers were deployed against the T-34s)?

 

This is why I like reading alternative history and playing it out in computer games.

Yeah, you could go on and on.

 

What if Hitler would have allowed his tanks to attack Dunkirk immediately instead of waiting a couple of days.  They could've captured the entire British army in Dunkirk.  Instead, those two days allowed the French rear guard to consolidate their defenses around Dunkirk and hold off the Germans until the Brits evacuated their entire army.

 

What if during the Battle of Britain, the lone British bomber didn't get lost during the night and bomb Berlin by accident.  Out of anger, Hitler ordered his Luftwaffe to change tactics and target London and the other major cities instead of continuing to bomb the radar facilities and airfields.  The British high command estimated that they were 2 weeks away from having their air defense system falling apart had the Germans continued to target their airfields. Then the Germans would have had air superiority and driven off the Royal Navy, at which point the sea landings would have occurred.

[Mark68]

Yeah, you could go on and on.

 

What if Hitler would have allowed his tanks to attack Dunkirk immediately instead of waiting a couple of days.  They could've captured the entire British army in Dunkirk.  Instead, those two days allowed the French rear guard to consolidate their defenses around Dunkirk and hold off the Germans until the Brits evacuated their entire army.

 

What if during the Battle of Britain, the lone British bomber didn't get lost during the night and bomb Berlin by accident.  Out of anger, Hitler ordered his Luftwaffe to change tactics and target London and the other major cities instead of continuing to bomb the radar facilities and airfields.  The British high command estimated that they were 2 weeks away from having their air defense system falling apart had the Germans continued to target their airfields. Then the Germans would have had air superiority and driven off the Royal Navy, at which point the sea landings would have occurred.

Or what if the Japanese had won at Midway?

 

They would have eventually lost anyway, but it could have added a couple of years to the war, considering that there would have been no Pacific Fleet left.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Loving it.

I think germanys best bet in regards to the west was to blockade britain.they really didnt wven need to invade really, just effectively cut it off from her outside supplies and get the britts to sue for peace. With rhat they could have pulled a ton of resources from the west, including those in scandanavia (that usually get forgotten).

Good point on italy mark. The italians were pretty useless as an ally to the germans, and aside from not really helping much in return, they actually cost the germans very much by performing so poorly and needing the germans to bail them out.

What if the japanese had ignored the non aggression pact and had attacked the russians in 41? Japan couldnt have beaten russia...but they could have antagonized enough to keep stalin frm being able to pull reaources from the east to counter the germans around moscow.

And theres always the biggest what if (in regards to europe), what if hitler didnt take the reins and allowed his generals to make their own decisions? Kind of like pujols and hamilton wo to speak.

Most would say the germans could have never beaten the soviets, and thats probably true. But....if they knocked the britts out, and only had to focus on the east (instead of west and south)....

[ten ocho recon scout]

Also, what if the germans didnt push their racial bullsh*t, and instead of focusing ao much on the hollocaust, had employed those same resources to the war. And that includes the ethnic cleansing in the east...which had a ton of people who hated stalin. They could have been a huge manpower resource.

Also what if the nazis had mobilized for total war earlier? From what i understand, they waited until 43 to go to a war economy. Prior to that they wanted women at home to make babies (to increase the population of the reich). Whereas us, the britts, soviets etc had women in the factories, the germans waited until way too long to do so.

Great point about the battle of britain by the way. Good movie (back to topic thread). Hbo had a good series about it a few years back, "the gathering storm" or something like that.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Going the other way, what if britain and france made good on their alliance with poland and attacked germany first?

In all honesty, had the germans been stoppe earlier, je world would look very different today. European borders woul be diferent. He US may still be second class to speak to the british empire and western europe may still have colonies throughout asia.

[IEAngelsfan]

Yeah, the Italians really set the Germans back.  Since they had to bail them out in the Balkens and Greece, it delayed Operation Barbarosa by a month. Had they attacked one month earlier, they could have captured Moscow and it that would have been a big morale blow to the Russians.  It was also the communication and transportation hub of the Soviet Union.  Hitler made so many mistakes in Russia and constantly counteracted the wishes of his high command.  The Germans had the Russians almost beat, but Hitler was his own worst enemy.

 

Yeah, the stupidity of their racist crap also didn't help their cause.  Initially, the Ukranians welcomed the Germans as liberators and they could've created a new puppet state and army to help them battle the Russians.  Instead, they treated the Ukranians as sub-humans and lost all good will.