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50th
Posts: 1277
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October 2006
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What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Tue, 09 November 2010 20:27
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I got the idea for this thread from another thread where the discussion was on movies. I started collecting WWII documentaries and movies not long after I started playing M44. I currently have 19 documentaries and altogether about 41 movies. Some of them are multiples on one set. These are the ones I decided are my favorites:
4 Favorite Documentaries:
Patton 360
Great Battles of WWII
Armored Force
D-Day: Code Named Overlord
4 Favorite Movies:
The Desert Fox
The Desert Rats
A Bridge Too Far
The Battle of the Bulge
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eric
Posts: 3004
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October 2002
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Tue, 09 November 2010 21:07
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Favorite WWII Documentary: The remarkable British series "The World at War", narrated by Lawrence Olivier.
Favorite WWII Movie: The Longest Day, based on Cornelius Ryan's book. Probably tied with The Great Escape, starring the unforgettable Steve Mc.Queen.
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Vulch
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Achtung Panzer
Posts: 946
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Tue, 09 November 2010 21:40
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| eric wrote on Tue, 09 November 2010 20:07 |
Favorite WWII Documentary: The remarkable British series "The World at War", narrated by Lawrence Olivier.
Favorite WWII Movie: The Longest Day, based on Cornelius Ryan's book. Probably tied with The Great Escape, starring the unforgettable Steve Mc.Queen.
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Best documentary: The World at War: Good call Eric - it is informative, atmospheric and authentic
Best film: Das Boot - still waiting for a JDrommel Memoir '44 scenario for this one! 
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Sgt Storm
Posts: 685
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December 2006
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Tue, 09 November 2010 22:35
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Favorite (fictional) WWII movie:
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"Kelly's Heroes"
Though there are plenty of contenders including "Where Eagles Dare", "The Guns of Navarone", "Patton"
Favorite Documentary:
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"World at War"
Though I really liked the "Battlefield" series.
I don't think Band of Brothers falls in either category, so I am adding another category
Favorite WWII TV Series:
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Band of Brothers
(though "Combat" is probably the most memorable for me).
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stevens
Posts: 2725
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February 2007
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Tue, 09 November 2010 23:45
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Favorite WWII Documentary: The remarkable British series "The World at War", narrated by Lawrence Olivier.
Favorite WWII Movie: "Saving Private Ryan" - Tom Hanks
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Chefhörer
Posts: 5
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December 2007
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50th
Posts: 1277
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Wed, 10 November 2010 03:34
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The world at war, was that the Ken Burns documentary? If so, I found it to be very politically correct. The Battle of Brittan was a very good movie too. I also have to agree with the Naverone movies.
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eric
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50th
Posts: 1277
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October 2006
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Wed, 10 November 2010 04:20
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| eric wrote on Tue, 09 November 2010 21:10 |
Nope, not at all. The World at War is a long running, early 70's documentary made for TV with incredible first person interviews of many key participants (Speer, Donitz, Lord Mountbatten, Tibbets, etc...).
eric
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Haven't seen it, however Great Battles of WWII is like that. It was filmed in the 50's I think. Many of the Generals who were there and survived, were in the film.
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rasmussen81
Posts: 6066
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July 2007
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Wed, 10 November 2010 04:41
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| 50th wrote on Wed, 10 November 2010 06:34 |
The world at war, was that the Ken Burns documentary? If so, I found it to be very politically correct. The Battle of Brittan was a very good movie too. I also have to agree with the Naverone movies.
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The Ken Burn documentary is called "The War". 
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TheMarshalUK
Posts: 183
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numquam retro
Posts: 86
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May 2010
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Wed, 10 November 2010 14:32
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| 50th schrieb am Tue, 09 November 2010 20:27 |
I started collecting WWII documentaries and movies not long after I started playing M44.
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Me too .
I currently have watched over 20 documentaries (many on youtube) since I started to play memoir44 in june this jear. Documentaries about specific battles, about weapons and "secret weapon", about different resistance-groups, ...
My favorite WWII movies:
The longest day
The Bridge of Arnheim
Saints and Soldiers
Das Boot
Windtalkers
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Kaufschtick
Posts: 102
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June 2004
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Wed, 10 November 2010 17:10
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World At War is outstanding, IMHO. I can't think of a documentary that comes close to it, it's that good.
Ken Burn's The War is very good.
The History Channel's "DogFights" was a pretty good series. Not really a documentary though.
As far as Movies, I'm not sure how this would fit. To me, Band of Brothers & The Pacific are more mini series, but IMHO the very best pieces of filmwork on WWII ever made, bar none.
If you want to stick to more traditional movies, wow, that's a tough one.
The Thin Red Line for some reason made a big impression on me.
The Longest Day & A Bridge Too Far are both both excellent, and if you can imagine, the books are actually better, again IMHO.
Of course, SPR is a great movie.
The Battle of Britain is an outstanding film.
I saw Das Boot listed already; fantastic movie.
Tora! Tora! Tora! is excellent.
30 Seconds Over Tokyo is terrific.
12 O'Clock High is absolutely a masterpiece.
BattleGround (Van Johnson, James Whitmore) is a damn good film (101st at Bastogne).
I thought Patton & MacArther were pretty good too.
One that I've never seen, but one of my best friends says is a damn good film; Cross of Iron.
The Enemy Below is a pretty good one too.
BTW, great thread 50th!!! 
[Updated on: Wed, 10 November 2010 17:18]
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OldBloodandGuts
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Wed, 10 November 2010 23:00
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Cool thread -- I'm actually teaching a course on documentary film this semester, and I taught a course last year on World War Two films, so I've seen a few!
First, let me agree with some great films:
Band of Brothers (which I taught last winter)
The Thin Red Line is a wonderful film, though doesn't follow the typical war-film formula that so many (including BoB and Saving Private Ryan) do.
Both of the Cornelius Ryan adaptations are fine films for their time -- A Bridge Too Far and The Longest Day.
Saving Private Ryan is good, but a but cheesy for my tastes. It's more of a comic book approach to the war, albeit a graphic one.
Patton is great, despite a lot of technical inaccuracies (all the tanks are, I think, American from Korea and Vietnam vintage). George C. Scott's booming voice is a bit of a contrast with Patton's real-life squeaky voice. It also tends to glorify Omar Bradley a bit much, IMHO, since he was, if I remember, the technical director.
Das Boot is also a great film.
I also have to knock one that's listed up here, even if it puts me in 50th's doghouse (sorry, big guy ) -- Battle of the Bulge is a laughably bad movie. The final battle, theoretically in the snows of the Ardennes, appears to be shot on an artillery range in the desert (you can actually see observation towers).
Let me add a couple of my own that I didn't notice mentioned:
Flags of Our Fathers AND Letters from Iwo Jima are both FANTASTIC films by Clint Eastwood. Watch them together, if you can, because they portray opposite sides of the battle for Iwo Jima. Beautiful films.
Best Years of Our Lives isn't technically a war film (there are no battle scenes), but it won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1946 and starred a real veteran who had both arms burned off in the war. It's about how hard it is for veterans to come home, and I think it portrays WWII a lot more honestly than a lot of films now, which tend to glorify and romanticize it.
As for documentaries, Frank Capra, the guy who directed It's A Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, did a series of documentaries for the War Department during the war. It was eight films, I think, and it was called Why We Fight. It was meant to explain to isolationist Americans (which was many of them) what had happened in the world that led to our involvement in WWII. It is, of course, propaganda, but it's really well done -- sort of an American version of Riefenstahl's *Triumph of the Will.* It was required viewing for all US servicemen headed overseas (at least it was supposed to be), and I think you can still find some of the films on YouTube.
Good list -- enjoying the discussion!
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50th
Posts: 1277
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October 2006
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Thu, 11 November 2010 03:53
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You are right about bad OBG, I noticed right off that the tanks are all American tanks, and the ending scene is decidedly not from the Ardennes, but I liked the story and some of the actors. One of my favorite scenes is when the main actor meets his tanker force and they sing that song.
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OldBloodandGuts
Posts: 298
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May 2007
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Thu, 11 November 2010 04:21
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| 50th wrote on Wed, 10 November 2010 21:53 |
You are right about bad OBG, I noticed right off that the tanks are all American tanks, and the ending scene is decidedly not from the Ardennes, but I liked the story and some of the actors. One of my favorite scenes is when the main actor meets his tanker force and they sing that song.
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You're right -- it IS a lot of fun. Tele Sevales is awesome -- my favorite part is when he tells his love interest, in an intensely romantic farewell, not to forget about his chickens. And Robert Shaw (the main German, but best known for being the shark-hunter in Jaws) meets a comic demise at the hands of a rolling fuel drum.
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Vulch
Posts: 404
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May 2009
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Thu, 11 November 2010 12:15
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Just remembered another epic.....The Big Red One 
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stevens
Posts: 2725
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February 2007
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Thu, 11 November 2010 12:40
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| Quote: |
Best Years of Our Lives isn't technically a war film (there are no battle scenes), but it won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1946 and starred a real veteran who had both arms burned off in the war. It's about how hard it is for veterans to come home, and I think it portrays WWII a lot more honestly than a lot of films now, which tend to glorify and romanticize it.
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Have to agree with OldBloodandGuts. This is a much worth watching film.
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Achtung Panzer
Posts: 946
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Vulch
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Thu, 11 November 2010 15:39
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Check this site out for a list of all the films you had forgotten about. Also gives details and some screen shots.
Loads in here that I have seen and completely forgotten about.
http://www.filmsite.org/greatwarfilms.html
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OldBloodandGuts
Posts: 298
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May 2007
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Thu, 11 November 2010 17:03
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Good list -- I forgot about *A Walk in the Sun,* which I've never seen but read a lot about in teaching my film classes.
And Vulch, I've always had mixed feelings on *The Big Red One* -- parts of it are incredible, but there are some parts that just seem bad. One cool thing about it, though, is Lee Marvin. He was an actual WWII veteran - a marine in the Pacific - and I think he won the Purple Heart there. He was, of course, awfully old for the role they put him in, but his presence did bring a strange credibility to the film.
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Vulch
Posts: 404
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May 2009
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Thu, 11 November 2010 17:21
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| OldBloodandGuts wrote on Thu, 11 November 2010 16:03 |
and I think he won the Purple Heart there.
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I have always thought it odd that you win a Purple Heart.
Surely by definition if you get a Purple Heart, then you have lost 
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OldBloodandGuts
Posts: 298
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May 2007
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Thu, 11 November 2010 18:08
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Touche -- "earned" might have been better than "won."
My bad.
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rasmussen81
Posts: 6066
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Thu, 11 November 2010 18:44
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| OldBloodandGuts wrote on Thu, 11 November 2010 21:08 |
Touche -- "earned" might have been better than "won."
My bad.
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Received, maybe? 
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Gilgamesh
Posts: 1164
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Thu, 11 November 2010 22:33
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Play dirty directed by André de Toth.
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50th
Posts: 1277
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October 2006
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Fri, 12 November 2010 15:04
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| OldBloodandGuts wrote on Thu, 11 November 2010 10:03 |
Good list -- I forgot about *A Walk in the Sun,* which I've never seen but read a lot about in teaching my film classes.
And Vulch, I've always had mixed feelings on *The Big Red One* -- parts of it are incredible, but there are some parts that just seem bad. One cool thing about it, though, is Lee Marvin. He was an actual WWII veteran - a marine in the Pacific - and I think he won the Purple Heart there. He was, of course, awfully old for the role they put him in, but his presence did bring a strange credibility to the film.
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I forgot about "A walk in the sun" too, I have that one on a "20 classic WWII Movies" set that I bought a few years ago. How about "Go for Broke!", which is also on that set. "Go for Broke!" is about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was made up mostly of Hawaiian Americans and Japanese Americans that fought in Europe. Good Movie, with Van Johnson playing their commander.
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TheMarshalUK
Posts: 183
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Fri, 12 November 2010 17:09
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Bridge of the River Kwai is getting a remastered re-release in cinemas and on dvd and blu ray. A somber and at times savage film made in 1957 showing the British POW's in Burma making the infamous railway. It got 7 oscars including one for Alec Guiness.
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OldBloodandGuts
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Fri, 12 November 2010 21:59
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| TheMarshalUK wrote on Fri, 12 November 2010 11:09 |
Bridge of the River Kwai is getting a remastered re-release in cinemas and on dvd and blu ray. A somber and at times savage film made in 1957 showing the British POW's in Burma making the infamous railway. It got 7 oscars including one for Alec Guiness.
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Good call -- had a beautiful score as I remember, too. Although I never understood why Alec Guiness didn't just use the Force to escape from the Japanese.
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Kaufschtick
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Kaufschtick
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Kaufschtick
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djedi gamer
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Mon, 15 November 2010 17:28
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The "MUST SEE" movie is: Osvobozhdenie (I don't know official english title, but it means Liberation). Made by Soviet Union in 1970 till now is the most expensive russian movie of all time. And I'm pretty sure nobody can produce such movie again because of costs.
There are no close takes, no comuter technology but large view on the batelfield with dozens of tanks, hundreds infantry and rare realizm.
Big movie! ...and long - 7 hours feast for WWII maniac.
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Sliderule
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Mon, 15 November 2010 19:06
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I can't fault the 'World at War' as the best factual moving picture resource for the period, but if you want to consider a short programme 'Fire and Ice' on the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-40 is worth a look. On films I would be torn as Casablanca is probably my top choice despite not being a 'war film' at all, After that the TV version of Das Boot springs to mind (only 5 or 6 hours).
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OldBloodandGuts
Posts: 298
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Tue, 16 November 2010 00:34
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| Sliderule wrote on Mon, 15 November 2010 13:06 |
I can't fault the 'World at War' as the best factual moving picture resource for the period, but if you want to consider a short programme 'Fire and Ice' on the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-40 is worth a look. On films I would be torn as Casablanca is probably my top choice despite not being a 'war film' at all, After that the TV version of Das Boot springs to mind (only 5 or 6 hours).
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Casablanca is a great pic, one of the best ever made. As you write, though, and like another awesome film *Best Years of Our Lives,* it's not a combat film, although the war plays a big part in it.
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Scragnoth
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Tue, 16 November 2010 09:36
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I can only totally agree on the World at War series.
My favorite move is Enemy at the Gates.
This movie has so much atmosphere and I was really drawn into it.
I think this is also the movie Vulch meant when he said:
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That one about the sniper in Stalingrad?
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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0215750/
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Vulch
Posts: 404
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Tue, 16 November 2010 10:54
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When I was about 7 or 8 my Mum and my Sister took me to see the Sound of Music. They didn't have a baby sitter (Dad was working), so they could only go if I went with them. They told me it was a war movie with soldiers in!
I sat through the entire film waiting for the war to start. Imagine my dissapointment when the only soldiers that appear are right at the end for about 2 minutes.
Conned 
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Achtung Panzer
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Jaykay2010
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Mon, 22 November 2010 15:50
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As far as documentaries go ...
I would have to agree, World at War is easily the best.
As for movies, I love ...
Das Boot
The Thin Red Line
Kokoda: 39th Battalion
Schindlers List
Assembly
Also, I would have to say the opening salvo of Saving Private Ryan for it's sheer scope and scale, a true cinematic experience that managed to capture for the first time to a younger generation something of the bravery and cost of WW2, and in particular the D-Day landings
Not sure what category these fit but ...
Band of Brothers was quite simply superb, so too Pacific.
In the UK, growing up as a kid, we were treated to a quite brilliant TV series called Secret Army, produced by the BBC. It revolved around the work of the Belgian/French Resistance, and to this day I can recall some of the powerful imagery that it produced, which captivated me as a child. If you can get hold of a copy of series 1, I would strongly recommend it.
It ran for 3 seasons in total, running to around 40 episodes. The signature tune and opening/closing credits were haunting, and the storyline captivating, week after week. Well worth seeking out of you havent already seen it, it was a superb series, and is available as DVD box set.
From the BBC archives:
"The Secret Army (as it was originally known) was created by Gerard Glaister, himself a former RAF pilot who survived over 100 sorties - an incredibly rare achievement. Having already produced the hugely successful prisoner of war drama Colditz a few years earlier, Glaister was in a strong position to produce a story closer to home and, so he later claimed, he actually pitched the concept to the controller of BBC One during a journey in a lift in BBC Television Centre. By the time the lift had reached its destination, Glaister had been given the go-ahead. Glaister managed to arrange a co-production deal with Belgian TV station BRT, which gave them access to location filming in Brussels. Fortunately, the BRT executives were not granted any control over the editorial content of the show, which would attempt to depict some of the German officers almost sympathetically rather than demonising them as every other drama had done since the end of the War.
[Updated on: Mon, 06 December 2010 21:37]
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Jed Remington
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August 2009
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Re:What is your favorite WWII documentary & Movie
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Mon, 29 November 2010 19:30
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| 50th wrote on Wed, 10 November 2010 21:53 |
One of my favorite scenes is when the main actor meets his tanker force and they sing that song.
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That song was "panzerlied" The film version is on the LP release, whereas the newly remastered expanded score for the film has a rerecording and just doesnt have the same punch as the original. Agreed on Bulgenot being a very good film, but it does have its moments. It still amazes me how much different Robert Shaw looks from that film and later on in Jaws.
My personal favorite war films are"
Band of Brothers
The Pacific
Saving Private Ryan
Flags of our fathers
Letters from Iwo Jima
Jed
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