Anyone recommend good war movies, with a twist

One of the things I really enjoy over Memorial Day is the blitz (no pun intended) of good military movies, AMC is running them back to back all weekend long.

But I have seen all the American films, and I got to thinking, there must be some excellant war movies made by Russian, German, Japanese, and British filmmakers too. They would be even more interesting, at least to me, because the Russian and German films would tell the story from a completely different perspective.

I'm not talking about propaganda films, just really good war movies made after World War II. They don't have to be dubbed in English or have English subtitles, I guess my best example of what I am looking for is "Das Boot".

If someone can recommend some good foreign war films: World War II, Vietnam or Arab-Israeli conflicts I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks, Tracy

a good one I have watched recently is this one:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098437/
might be a good idea to check out some of the historical background first, but this is definitely a movie worth watching!

another great one, probably the greatest German anti war movie is "Die Brücke" - "The Bridge" by Bernhard Wicki.

Stalingrad (1993).

The 9th Company (2005). Here is a link to the trailer.

I highly recommend "Cross of Iron". Yes it's in English but the movie was shot in Europe and was made by a European studio and featured a lot of non-US actors so it definitely has a very different feel to it.

Come and See
soviet union
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_See

Lebanon
Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon_%282009_film%29

never heard of The 9Th company! thanks for the link!

Ugh... Watching eastern front movies on memorial day weekend in the U.S.? Who cares about the honorless wehrmacht and red army thugs. Let the Germans and Russians honor them. That's the most they deserve. War is hell, but these guys plumbed to new and shocking depths of depravity.

Excellant recommendations, I have never heard of any of them except The 9th Company, which I never saw.

Thanks everyone,
Tracy

Hey Vertigo,
Lighten up...I have TWO children in the United States Coast Guard...I know exactly what Memorial Day is all about !

Tracy

sorry. gut reaction. Enjoy your weekend.

Ah never a dull moment on SimHQ.

Another film I recommend is "Brotherhood of War" which is in Korean and takes place during the Korean War. Excellent film IMHO.

If you want some Soviet vs Afgani action, try "The Beast" ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094716/ ). I also would recommend "Flight of the Intruder"
( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099587/ ) and "Bat 21" ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094712/ )

Some I've liked are:

The Odd Angry Shot.

The Lighthorsemen.

Breaker Morant.

Not to ding on your gut reaction, but war is a human condition. How people generally tend to act in war is usually a reflection of the societies that take them to that war. Two authoritarian regimes battling it out is naturally brutal. But people bleed, hurt and die all the same.

Hey, how about The Red Baron? That's a SimHQ favorite historical flick.
(I actually did enjoy it though)

Personally, I started rewatching Band of Brothers last night. Never gets old.

I rather like Pétain - not so much a war film as political thriller, but it does a decent job of explaining why France - a continental superpower - caved in to Blitzkreig.

I second 'Come and See'. It's incredible but harrowing.

How about the Cold War? "Thirteen Days" is an excellent, very well-made movie about the Cuban missile crisis.

Red Baron is at least not as bad as Fly Boys!

I saw that for the first time a few months ago and I loved it. Great performances by the entire cast, even Kevin Costner even though his New England accent was pretty bad.

I recommend The Way Back

It's not a war movie, though it occurred during WW2.

I enjoyed Joy Division. The main character start's out as an unwilling Hitler Youth fighter who when captured by the Soviet's is retrained as a spy for use against the British.

It's one of the few film's to show how the German civilian's suffered during and after the war. It also has some good combat scenes with authentic looking gear and tanks.

Also it showed a crazy English SS volunteer still infused with zeal while those around him are just trying to survive.

One of my favourites as well. Really like Bruce Greenwood as an actor, and Steven Culp has an uncanny resemblance to Bobby Kennedy!

"84 Charlie MoPic" (Although American, and about an American war, I don't know if it was ever mainstream, so may be unknown to you? -

"Tali-Ihantala" - in feel a bit like "Bridge too Far" and episodic (which some find confusing). Worth finding a map of the Area between Leningrad and Vyborg or reading a general history first/or after so you can at least follow the 'flow' of the battles. A few excellent scenes, which very obviously ate the bulk of the SFX budget...

"A Bridge too Far" - Operations Market & Garden in 1944 - long, reasonably well made but a bit 'stand-offish' and episodic - one or two dreadful over-acting of the century awards.

"The Bridge Over The River Kwai" - A 'Very British War Movie' about playing the game for the game's sake.

"All Quiet on The Western Front" - I prefer the B&W version, but either is watch-able.

"ANZACS" - ok, not a film but a TV mini-series, but good fun - Recruitment-Gallipoli-Western Front.

Surprised no one else has mentioned "Der Untergang" yet.

Glad to see someone else mention it!!

Also, a French movie about the war in Algeria, "L'Ennemi Intime" (Intimate Ennemies). Really well done movie, one of the very few about this war, great storyline, great acting, the historical accuracy is not bad at all. I thoroughly recommand it for those of you who want to see a war movie that's not about WW2 or Vietnam.

Not one I've actually seen (yet) but I've had "Battle for Algiers" recommended to me several times.

Rigas Sargi (Defenders of Riga) - Tells the story of a country in between Russia and Germany during WWI.

From IMDB: The film dramatizes November 11, 1919- a crucial date in the battle for Latvian independence. A year after the end of the official hostilities of WWI, a renegade German general and troops remain outside the Latvian capital. Latvian riflemen, most of them inexperienced volunteers, somehow managed to defeat a larger, better-armed force of German and Russian mercenaries.


The film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2saCXx7APfU

The Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnQN2znzofA

Another vote for "Breaker Morant," excellent movie. Part courtroom drama. Also "Der Untergang" is excellent.

My recommendation is "Zulu," the battle of Rouke's Drift. The scene where the Welshmen sing "Men of Harlech" always raises the hair on the back of my neck (my mom was from Wales, I learned the song as a boy).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NuTaQsMNaE

Not your average war movie but I always liked "Paths of Glory" with Kirk Douglas.


Wheels

One of John Milius' best.

I liked that one a lot.


Wheels

As long as I'm posting the battle songs I learned as a boy, here is another one (from Black Hawk
down).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vubPZf-yDI

One of Kubrick's best and IMHO still a very underrated film.

IMO, It's one of those movies that you must watch from the beginning. If you try to start in the middle it loses too much.


Wheels

I would recomend kokoda, you can look it up on imdb.

Kelly's Heroes is Epic!

I need to watch "Empire of the Sun" again, sometime soon. The only movie I have liked Christian Bale in. lol

You mean you only liked him when he was a child actor! Wow so you didn't like Dark Knight or The Prestige?

No. lol

Never did watch to the end, The Prestige, keep falling asleep.

Ok, the only one I liked is the remake. 3:10 to Yuma. But Crowe was a little over the top in it.

Looking at EotS, I don't remember Ben Stiller in it.

Some french movies:











takes place during the Dunkirk evacuation (the youtube movie is dubbed in Russian )

A chinese one , recent , excellent :

84 Charlie MoPec rocked. I saw it on PBS back in the 80s.

Other WWII films that are not American made that are good:

"As Far as my Feet Will Carry Me" Based on a true story by German filmmakers it is about the demise of the German soldiers captured after Stalingrad and sent to the gulag where one German Major escapes and spends the next 6+ years trying to make it back home on foot while being pursued by a relentless Soviet colonel.

"Katyn" Polish film about the massacre of the Polish officers and educated Polish citizens that could cause a threat to the Soviets that was denied by the Soviet government until Gorbachev finally revealed it happened in the days following Communism.

I also think Stalingrad is a good movie! And "Flight of the Intruder." Heh.

Don't forget Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" with the Oscar-winning performance by Waltz.

v6,
boNes

"Inglorious Basterds" is a very good film but it really is Christoph Waltz that makes it unique.

Not a combat film, but one set in World War 2:

"Escape from Sobibor". It's about the prisoner uprising at the Nazi death camp Sobibor. Starring Rutger Hauer and Alan Arkin.

One film I don't see very often in lists like this is The Young Lions - Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin, Maxi Schell, Lee Van Cleef... it's got quite a lot going for it. I remember seeing for the first time a few years back and being quite impressed.

That's the truth.He won 27 awards for that performance.

I've seen it, actually I own a copy...not the easiest movie to watch, and it's not really a "story" like a typical war movie, it's a little more like a docu-drama. But yea, it's worth a watch, just don't go expecting Hollywood!

Coming out soon, very promising war film Iron Sky. Really looking forward to this one!

"Devil's Brigade" 1968, William Holden. The more or less true story of how America and Canada created a joint special operations regiment, took it into action. Today the grandchildren of that unit are serving in the Green Berets and Canadian SSF and JTF-2 units. It's not the best war movie in history, but it's amusing and based in history!

The movie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil%27s_Brigade_%28film%29

The real unit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Brigade

Our unique commando knive:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-42_combat_knife

Yes, a SCI FI war movie I guess.

Watched The 9th Company yesterday, and it was really great. Nice story, a bit over the edge sometimes, but I found it pretty realistic and really well done. It's a bit like FMJ in the way that you're following those men through training and then up to combat, but that's it. Honestly, one of the best war movie I've seen so far.