Best post WWII Military Films

[IronDuke99]

So I thought it might be useful to put up a list of the best - not necessarily most well known - post WWII films, and, maybe, TV shows, that win SP MBT players know (especially for new, perhaps younger, players).

My first one is 'The Odd Angry Shot' (1979) Australian SAS troops in Vietnam (with thanks to Kiwikkiwik).
No idea why Australia has not made a film about the epic battle at Long Tan in that war, although there is a good documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gUSq7pxux4 (made my then Aussie girlfriend cry her eyes out).

A Hill in Korea (1956) had the title 'Hell in Korea' in the US. Early Michael Caine film, who actually was a British soldier in Korean War, Royal Artillery I think. This has several later big British film stars in it and it 'aint bad.

Kajaki (2014) I think it is known as 'Kilo Two Bravo' in the US for some reason. Accurate true story of some British Parachute regiment soldiers caught in an old Russian minefield in Afghanistan. Simply the best recent British war film, but it does not have much competition. Don't watch it if you don't like people swearing, soldiers tend to, a lot...

'Six' on the History Channel at the moment and not at all a bad show, about the USN SEAL's, allowing for the fact that all Hollywood soldiers are more or less handsome and they all have very attractive wives. At least, these days, they can be nagging...

[scorpio_rocks]

Hyena Road (2015) - Canadian sniper unit in Afghanistan - great film with authentic kit.

Generation Kill (2008 TV mini-Series) - USMC Recon Battalion in Iraq - HBO series (7 Parts) gritty dramatisation of Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright's experience as an embedded reporter, lots of fun!

[DRG]

Hyena Road (2015) - Canadian sniper unit in Afghanistan - great film with authentic kit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX8tSrceLrc

[Wdll]

I assume we are talking about real weapons, settings, or at least almost, and not sci-fi.
We Were Soldiers is a movie I enjoyed very much.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277434/

[IronDuke99]

I assume we are talking about real weapons, settings, or at least almost, and not sci-fi.
We Were Soldiers is a movie I enjoyed very much.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277434/


Yep no Sci-Fi or such like.

[Suhiir]

I really liked "We Were Soldiers" too.

"Hacksaw Ridge" isn't post WW II but is WELL worth seeing.

[RecruitMonty]

Guns at Batasi was quite a good film. The depiction of the RSM was memorable.

Proper salutes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzKTOUkroU0

RSM Lauderdale dealing with a labour MP and the leaders of an African coup team:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9hkhKVq5rM

[IronDuke99]

I really liked "We Were Soldiers" too.

"Hacksaw Ridge" isn't post WW II but is WELL worth seeing.

There is a thread on WW2...

[Grant1pa]

I'm going to offer one that isn't SPMBT oriented, but was a memorable movie from my youth. This is the British movie "The Yangtze Incident", shown in the United States titled "Battle Hell".

This is a Royal Navy movie, but details the escape of the HMS Amethyst from Communist Chinese forces on the Yangtze River in 1949. The battle sequences are fantastic and I always thought the drama of the event was riveting.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find it in a USA format in the years intervening but if you can find it (I know it was on TCM some years ago), it's well worth the time to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc9tOWtmjf4

Tom

[scorpio_rocks]

Guns at Batasi was quite a good film. The depiction of the RSM was memorable.

Dickie Attenborough at his best!

[DRG]

I'm going to offer one that isn't SPMBT oriented, but was a memorable movie from my youth. This is the British movie "The Yangtze Incident", shown in the United States titled "Battle Hell".

This is a Royal Navy movie, but details the escape of the HMS Amethyst from Communist Chinese forces on the Yangtze River in 1949. The battle sequences are fantastic and I always thought the drama of the event was riveting.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find it in a USA format in the years intervening but if you can find it (I know it was on TCM some years ago), it's well worth the time to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc9tOWtmjf4

Tom

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_(cat)

[cbreedon]

Hyena Road (2015) - Canadian sniper unit in Afghanistan - great film with authentic kit.



I tried to watch that. I wanted to like it but just thought it was boring. I did like the authentic kit and parts of it was actually filmed in Afghanistan.

[shahadi]

I found these films interesting. But, let me say, they are not like the John Wayne, rah rah war movies of yesterday, these films are raw, and at times unnerving.

Restrapo, had me asking about hesco barriers so that I could put together a scenario.

http://restrepothemovie.com/images/sized/images/uploads/gallery-image-1-big-700x467.jpg

Then the follow-up film Korengal.
http://2chie424y5ug2kfkkypuhcvwq2.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2014/10/Korengal-Movie-Stills-Sebastian-Junger-Filming-During-a-Firefight.jpg

These films depict fighting in the Korengal valley in Afghanistan:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/a7/bd/8c/a7bd8c1bc3af3cbaec25d6be2092cabc.jpg

A third one, is Battle for Haditha

http://www.tbilisifilmfestival.ge/uploads/films2013/horiz/Battle_for_Haditha.jpg

And, finally, The Hurt Locker

http://ww1.hdnux.com/photos/10/71/11/2331224/15/920x920.jpg

Good thread IronDuke99
=====

[IronDuke99]

There are a lot of issues with 'The Hurt Locker' in terms of accuracy...

[shahadi]

There are a lot of issues with 'The Hurt Locker' in terms of accuracy...

Not withstanding questions of accuracy, it remains a good story, not much different, although I suspect in some matters of truthfulness or falsehood, a hudge difference than the "شيطان رامري" (the Devil of Ramadi) non-story in the otherwise engaging "American Sniper" film.

http://wagingnonviolence.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/American-sniper.jpg

=====

[Aeraaa]

Blessed_by_Fire (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blessed_by_Fire) is an interesting Argentinian film about the Falklands War, depicting events from the Argie side. The harsh discipline, the poor living conditions and the uncertainty and tension of the warfare in the Falklands are depicted in this film. I think you can find it in youtube (with subtitles), I've watched it there 5-6 years ago.

[wulfir]

Three movies I watched in my youth that might fit in the good, but less well known, category:

Tumbledown (1988) - Falklands
The Bridges at Toko-ri.(1954) - Korea
La 317e Section (1965) - Indochina

[IronDuke99]

My idea of 'Good' tends to be reasonably accurate in a military sense, since anything else just annoys the hell out of me.

The problem with 'The Hurt Locker' is that (leaving aside some stuff that seemed a bit unlikely, to say the least, from a 'bomb disposal' bloke) these, very brave men, are high value assets and they get protection and cover in everything they do from infantry and other soldiers. Engaging the enemy with small arms is not their job and they would not do it except in extreme exceptional emergency.

The best, and most realistic, scene in the film, in my view, is the bit in the supermarket back in the US.

A okay film/mini series is 'Bravo Two Zero' (1999) based on the fouled up first Gulf War SAS Op.

[IronDuke99]

Hyena Road (2015) - Canadian sniper unit in Afghanistan - great film with authentic kit.

Generation Kill (2008 TV mini-Series) - USMC Recon Battalion in Iraq - HBO series (7 Parts) gritty dramatisation of Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright's experience as an embedded reporter, lots of fun!

I liked both of those. 'Hyena Road' is a bit underrated.

[IronDuke99]

'Full Metal Jacket' (1987) Excellent film. Real USMC Gunnery Sgt. Some fairly good skirmishing/fire and movement. Only thing that annoyed me was they made some big deal about killing the female enemy soldier at the end. Why? Especially after she shot their mate to bits a round in the head was rather kind.

[IronDuke99]

There are a lot of issues with 'The Hurt Locker' in terms of accuracy...

Not withstanding questions of accuracy, it remains a good story, not much different, although I suspect in some matters of truthfulness or falsehood, a hudge difference than the "شيطان رامري" (the Devil of Ramadi) non-story in the otherwise engaging "American Sniper" film.

http://wagingnonviolence.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/American-sniper.jpg

=====

I rather liked 'American Sniper' as a film. War is, after all, the ultimate 'us and them' is it not?

[IronDuke99]

I really liked "We Were Soldiers" too.

"Hacksaw Ridge" isn't post WW II but is WELL worth seeing.

I hate and really detest 'Braveheart' and 'The Patriot' two of the most hugely historically inaccurate films ever made anywhere. I liked 'We Were Soldiers' and 'Apocalypto'. I thought the truly vile 'Passion of the Christ' told a great truth about this film Director. I will have to Watch 'Hacksaw Ridge'

[Kessu]

A few suggestions.

1) Ničija zemlja - No Man's land (2001), set in the Bosnian war:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_zQZrdXA4g

Ragtag reservists doing a good job at not killing the other people, and somehow managing to stay alive in the process.

The weapons are accurately potrayed and so are the uniforms and the tactics, or the lack there of.

Bosniaks vs. Bosnian Serbs.

2) לבנון‎‎ - Lebanon (2009)

Israeli movie set during the Peace for Galilee operation. S. Maoz, the director is a (IDF) tanker (reservist) combat vet and the movie is based on his experiences during the war.

The Sho't looks a lot bigger from the inside :smirk:

I think you can find the film on YouTube?

Israel (& Phalangists) vs. PLO/Syrians/Hezbollah and friends.

[shahadi]

'Full Metal Jacket' (1987) Excellent film. Real USMC Gunnery Sgt. Some fairly good skirmishing/fire and movement. Only thing that annoyed me was they made some big deal about killing the female enemy soldier at the end. Why? Especially after she shot their mate to bits a round in the head was rather kind.

I think it was not so much that the female sniper was killed (or even that she was female), actually I think she was in extreme pain from her wounds, did she asked to be killed? Anyway, the big deal was not the kill, but the praise he got for shooting her from his team, and in a deeper sense how death, up close and personal, changes a man forever. This scene and a number of others, especially the first part of the film in boot camp, have lead many to say the film is an anti-war statement.

Yeah, FMJ is a classic.

=====

[IronDuke99]

'Full Metal Jacket' (1987) Excellent film. Real USMC Gunnery Sgt. Some fairly good skirmishing/fire and movement. Only thing that annoyed me was they made some big deal about killing the female enemy soldier at the end. Why? Especially after she shot their mate to bits a round in the head was rather kind.

I think it was not so much that the female sniper was killed (or even that she was female), actually I think she was in extreme pain from her wounds, did she asked to be killed? Anyway, the big deal was not the kill, but the praise he got for shooting her from his team, and in a deeper sense how death, up close and personal, changes a man forever. This scene and a number of others, especially the first part of the film in boot camp, have lead many to say the film is an anti-war statement.

Yeah, FMJ is a classic.

=====

I don't know anyone who is pro war, as a general rule, and I have only met a handful of people who actually liked it most of the time. Making an anti war statement makes about as much difference as making a anti flu statement, but it is a good film.

'Johnny Got His Gun' (1971) is a film that is entirely anti war, and the only actually scary horror film I've ever seen. Don't think it, or any other film, has any actual effect on the real politic that, along with religious fanaticism, drives real human wars.

[shahadi]

Lone Survivor 2013

Is a must see on anyone's list of Afghan war movies. Riveting battle scenes.

http://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.newsweek.com/files/styles/embed-lg/public/2016/05/10/0520gulab04.jpg

In the photo is Muhammad Gulab, the Afghan villager, the so-called "savior" of Marcus Luttrell, who guarded him according to Pashtunwali, the honor code requiring Gulab to protect Luttrell, until Luttrell was eventually rescued.


Check out this trailer, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xxa5eS31Hk, for the real deal portrayal of the running battle according to Luttrell's account in his memoirs.

=====

[IronDuke99]

'The Beast' (1988) about a Soviet Tank and crew in Afghanistan...

[IronDuke99]

A Documentary 'How to make a Royal Marines Officer' (1989)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4POpHJmwSYI

This is part 1 and the rest is on there too...

[scorpio_rocks]

2) לבנון‎‎ - Lebanon (2009)

Israeli movie set during the Peace for Galilee operation. S. Maoz, the director is a (IDF) tanker (reservist) combat vet and the movie is based on his experiences during the war.

The Sho't looks a lot bigger from the inside :smirk:

I think you can find the film on YouTube?

Israel (& Phalangists) vs. PLO/Syrians/Hezbollah and friends.

:up: Great claustrophobic film - think Das Boot in a tank! The only external shots throughout most of the film are through the vision blocks and gun sights of the tank. (and yes it is the "Tardis-version" of a Sho't but it doesn't detract).

[Wdll]

'The Beast' (1988) about a Soviet Tank and crew in Afghanistan...

It's not a movie, it's an experience. :)
I watched it when it was released and fell in love with it as a boy.

[RecruitMonty]

'The Beast' (1988) about a Soviet Tank and crew in Afghanistan...

Very good film. Not shown too often though. If I remember rightly, I think I watched it on YouTube once. That is before the inevitable "copyright infringement" flag went up.

[wulfir]

Siege of Jadotville

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_JHsiQTTmg

[IronDuke99]

'The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi' (2016)

[IronDuke99]

'The Wild Geese' (1978) Actor Ian Yule was actually a former soldier and served under Major Mike Hoare in the Congo. Actually a pretty good film on the whole and filmed mainly in South Africa.

[Wdll]

'The Wild Geese' (1978) Actor Ian Yule was actually a former soldier and served under Major Mike Hoare in the Congo. Actually a pretty good film on the whole and filmed mainly in South Africa.

I remember watching this on VHS some time in the 80s. Having said that, I remember NOTHING about the film. Thanks for reminding me it.

[IronDuke99]

Just watched the end of the series 'Six' on the History channel. Good show, seems there will be a series two.

[IronDuke99]

'The Wild Geese' (1978) Actor Ian Yule was actually a former soldier and served under Major Mike Hoare in the Congo. Actually a pretty good film on the whole and filmed mainly in South Africa.

I remember watching this on VHS some time in the 80s. Having said that, I remember NOTHING about the film. Thanks for reminding me it.

About a British Mercenary unit in Africa, full of big time British film stars (Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Roger Moore, Stewart Granger) plus the sons of Alan Ladd and Sir Stanley Baker. Hardy Kruger and assorted character actors, features the SLR Rifle.

Major 'Mad Mike' Hoare an actual mercenary commander from the Congo (who saved a lot of lives back then) was an advisor on the film. Good one for anyone who remembers the Elengeni hotel, Durban, or Magoo's Bar, back in the day. Bayete.

I ended up with a one bedroom flat on North Beach that you could, just about, see the sea from in the Kitchen. Lmao.

[zastava128]

Pretty Village, Pretty Flame (1996) - about the War in Bosnia. Follows a squad of Serb soldiers who torch a Muslim village but are then trapped in a tunnel with little hope of rescue. This gives us the opportunity to learn their life stories as they slowly go crazy from thirst and isolation.

Dark and full of characteristic Balkan black humour, I consider it one of the best movies from ex-Yugoslavia in general. The English subtitles on the version I watched are pretty good, too.

[Aeraaa]

I know I'm off-topic with this movie but I just had to post it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw0kg2GWVHo

I wonder if I set infantry toughness to the lowest possible value, would the grenades be as lethal?:D

[scorpio_rocks]

haha - that was so funny!

loved how grenades apparently make you jump over sandbags!

[Wdll]

I know I'm off-topic with this movie but I just had to post it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw0kg2GWVHo

I wonder if I set infantry toughness to the lowest possible value, would the grenades be as lethal?:D

The prequel to Dynasty Warriors series.

[RightDeve]

I know I'm off-topic with this movie but I just had to post it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw0kg2GWVHo

I wonder if I set infantry toughness to the lowest possible value, would the grenades be as lethal?:D

Un frikkin believable!
hahahahahahahaha

I believe those actors are great for Opera/Theater performances though, but NOT movies.

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

I think to somewhat capture the "tenure" of the topic, the biggest event to follow WWII would be the Cold War which would last for almost 50 yrs. (02 September 1945 - 26 December 1991) after it's end. Recently in the news there was this big deal about a Russian Auxiliary General Intelligence (AGI) running up the East coast of the U.S.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-spy-ship-patrolling-off-u-s-east-coast/
http://www.navyhistory.org/2017/02/russian-spy-ship-off-delaware-brings-back-cold-war-memories/
During the Cold War this was routine and I've personally experienced several encounters with them and we each played our well "scripted" roles when we did encounter each other. Most of of the more overt actions did involve Naval units in international waters which up to about the end of the Cold War was defined as 3 Nautical Miles off our shores and many other countries at the time.

So it's only natural my first choice is...
"The Bedford Incident" a very taut tale of a U.S. Destroyer tracking a Russian submarine. As was fairly routine at the time both vessels would carry nuclear weapons. I don't know when it changed, except to say, when I joined the USN in 10/1982 the term "Fire" was more something you put out and "Shoot" was what you did with torpedo's etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA-rgKBq7Ss

Next was one of the first movies that dealt with what happens when technology goes wrong and it's consequences. It's place as a considered "classic movie" of the time came decades later to this film. The movie is "Fail Safe". It's place in history was in it's release two years after the "Cuban Missile Crisis" which history has proven was a more serious situation as was reported to the public at the time and well after. Also Fail Sail suffered from it's timing to the above event and the mood of the country causing the studio to release the better known "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" which of course was a comedy though still with some serious undertones, but, again a comedy nonetheless. Fail Safe would be shelved and released several months later. The only real issue was a film compromise to show cockpit in a standard configuration. In truth all three crew man were in separate capsules in line along the fuselage starting with the Pilot, Navigation and Defensive System Operator Stations more on that below.
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/429673/Fail-Safe-Movie-Clip-Who-Gives-That-Order-.html

A note about the B-58 HUSTLER for a time the Russians had no way to shoot down this plane. It was also "rumored" that nether did we. At MACH 2+ it would set 19 World records for speed and altitude. It would be the last plane to win the famous Bendix Trophy Award with a record that was held for 28 yrs. And Brig. General James Stewart USAF Res. would fly it to earn his "MACH 2" pin which was at the time a very exclusive club. And yes that's the "It's A Wonderful Life" or if you prefer "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" Mr. Stewart.

I have a beautiful mahogany desktop model of the B-58 "Pulaski Hustler" my favorite plane of my youth (As were most CONVAIR jets.) in my imagination I can see myself inside one of those capsules flying from N.Y. to LA round trip in less then 4.75 hrs. or better Dublin last Oct. in just over 2hrs. instead of just over 6hrs with a tailwind. It sure would've taken the "lag" out of jet-lag. ;)
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/MuseumExhibits/FactSheets/Display/tabid/509/Article/196439/convair-b-58a-hustler.aspx
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/MuseumExhibits/FactSheets/Display/tabid/509/Article/195843/b-58-escape-capsule.aspx
http://www.nmusafvirtualtour.com/media/066/B-58A%20Pilot%20Station.html
http://www.nmusafvirtualtour.com/media/066/B-58A%20Navigator%20Station.html
http://www.nmusafvirtualtour.com/media/066/B-58A%20Defensive%20System%20Operator%20Station.html

Empty spaces where classified components were. :cool:

Also as a last "Ice Station Zebra" though it could be argued it's more an espionage orientated film but the case can be made for it to be here as well as the final result could've been costly. The nuclear-powered "Tigerfish (SSN-509)" was portrayed in the movie by the diesel-electric Guppy IIA submarine USS Ronquil (SS-396) when seen on the surface. For submerging and surfacing scenes, the diesel-electric Guppy IA USS Blackfin (SS-322) was used, near Pearl Harbor.
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/7828/Ice-Station-Zebra-Original-Trailer-.html

Anyway I retreat back to my "antibiotic world" again, have a great weekend!!

Regards,
Pat
:capt:

[Steves308]

I know I'm off-topic with this movie but I just had to post it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw0kg2GWVHo

I wonder if I set infantry toughness to the lowest possible value, would the grenades be as lethal?:D

The heck with the grenades, I just wish I could get my machine guns to kill half as well as the ones in that movie :D