Of course Kelly's heroes is awesome. I also love the Hot Shots parodies with Charlie Sheen and Leslie Nielson. Those are more just comedy than war films, but they're hilarious and they're military themed. My favorite in recent memory (although I'm not at all ashamed to admit) is Wahlberg's recent Last Man Standing. What an amazing, well directed film that was. The acting and effects were also spot on.
You mean The Lone Survivor? I haven't seen that one yet, but I've heard it was amazing. Mark Wahlberg has been in some outstanding films recently.
@SPWhitlow Oh man I really screwed up that title didn't I? I totally thought it was last man standing. But yeah, that is the mvie I'm referring to. My favorite part about the realism of the movie is that all the guns are actually goddamn loud. I hate war movies where the guns sound fake or they're too quiet, it doesn't translate how immensely powerful these weapons are in person.
Its cool, but yeah, I still haven't seen it. It's at my local Redbox now, so I might have to go give it a look and see if I can get it. I've heard nothing but great things from people about the movie.
I haven't ever seen a movie about World War II that I would classify as "fun". Fun isn't the first adjective I think about when I think about war. Especially WW II. That being said, I will check out some of the films in this thread and see if that changes my mind.
I just screened a six part 'mini-series' which I enjoyed even though it was at times painful. It was an Austrialian production called "Changi" or 'the Secret Nine.' The story was about Aussie POWs being held by IJA. It is not for children.
My favorite WWII movies in the "comedy" genre are Operation Petticoat with Cary Grant and The Wackiest Ship in the Army. Then the movie 1941. I'll think of a few more I'm sure.
I love the movie, "Inglourious Bastards" that Quintin Tarantino directed. I like watching the unlikely situation. Was it possible that a group of Jewish officers could ever possibly go missing to pull off their own set of retaliatory assassinations of retreating German officers in occupied France? I loved the display of cultural differences among Germans and the U.S. I especially loved the scene of counting on one's finger where the German's culture used the thumb to count up to four. Americans would never use a thumb to count up to four.
I too found Inglourious Bastards a good movie to watch. It was much more deeper than I expected it to be. I was surprised by Mike Myers role, even as small as it was, in the movie. I think the new movie on my list to see next is "Fury."
I have not seen so many of these. I want to see 1941 especially as I have heard good reviews about it.
1941 is a great movie but it's well worth watching twice. Once to laugh and once to catch all of the stuff you missed. I also suggest you watch it when you can sit down and take it in during one viewing so you can keep up. It's a pretty good movie that puts some humor on the scared to death people living along the coast after Pearl Harbor etc.
Agreed, 1941 is a riot. As to the main question, Kelly's Heroes (1970) is an excellent dark comedy. The Guns of Navarone is an awesome action-adventure shoot'em'up and Peck steals the show. The Great Escape, while containing some historical inaccuracies, is a fun one too. While not WWII movie per se, the comedy Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, features diabolical Nazi villains and is a pretty funny spoof of film noir.
This is a great idea for a movie list! My favorite WWII movie is John Wayne's They Were Expendable. Though the story was based on the life of a real American hero and Medal of Honor recipient, John D. Bulkeley, John Wayne's version is a highly fictionalized account of PT boats in the Asian theater. Though it is a serious subject, there are several lighthearted moments in the movie. A close second is the Henry Fonda and James Cagney movie Mr. Roberts, a film about a salvage ship in the Pacific Theater during the last days of World War II. I heartily recommend both films!
Ah, do you know the real reason why Dugout Dougie was spirited away from Corregador? It was, perhaps, because he was an experienced leader BUT more importantly it was to get the decryption unit away before they were captured. They were the "staff officers" mentioned in passing in They Were Expendible (the book). It was US policy not to let these valuable assets be captured alive, as in Codetalkers.
I just discovered for myself a marvelous little film, a training film. Made in 1943, it welcomes American GIs to England. It stars some penguin.
Speaking of holy cows; here is another film set in WWII. It stars Colonel David Niven and Glynis Johns, with Kenneth Moore. Titled "Appointment with Venus" it concerns a VIP left on a fictional Channel Isle as British forces vacate and the Wehrmacht occupies this small corner of the UK. Yes, there were German troops on British soil for years during the war. Much of this film was shot on the Isle of Sark.
Charlie's ''The Great Dictator'' .. always set my mood, when I'm not in .. and since long past, a 'war' but without lead (Pb) .. lol !!
