Das Boot (possibly the ultimate submarine movie)
Perhaps, I go for Run Silent, Run Deep myself. But this is the Trekbbs and The Enemy Below was basically starfeeted to make Balance of Terror.
Oooohhh, two fantastic recommendations


Das Boot (possibly the ultimate submarine movie)
Perhaps, I go for Run Silent, Run Deep myself. But this is the Trekbbs and The Enemy Below was basically starfeeted to make Balance of Terror.
They Were Expendable
Stalag 17
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Das Boot
Twelve O'Clock High
The Great Escape
The Dam Busters
The Longest Day
Patton
The Sands of Iwo Jima
No one's mentioned They Were Expendable. John Ford and John Wayne, can't go wrong there, plus Robert Montgomery had just been a PT boat skipper in real life before playing one in the movie. Even though a lot of movies made during the war were kind of rah-rah propaganda, TWE has a downbeat feel, like the Philippines in 1942 is still a fresh wound. It's on TCM this Saturday (May 23), 5:30 Eastern.
Someone mentioned Band of Brothers, which is terrific of course. Another outstanding tv original is the British ITV mini-series Danger UXB, which was also broadcast on PBS in the early '80s. It follows a squad of Royal Engineers on- and off-duty as they defuse unexploded Luftwaffe bombs around Britain. Produced by John Hawkesworth, who also did Upstairs, Downstairs and some of the '80s Sherlock Holmes series. My wife was skeptical of watching a 13 hour show on bomb disposal, but was absolutely riveted. Nobody in the cast is safe, for sure.
--Justin
Great choices! I think I recall the John Wayne bio, that he didn't become John Wayne the icon until after Sands of Iwo Jima. So the scenes which use the phrase John Wayne as an adjutive in WWII films are in error.
Danger USB came on PBS Masterpiece Theatre and they repeated it many times. It held up under repeat viewings. I'm now remembering he was ramped up to Lt so fast he didn't know how to wear his uniform and the utter horror that it was not a volunteer assignment. It was slow at times but the tension as he defused that first and that last bomb.
Also from PBS, but without the staying power was Piece of Cake. It was about a Spitfire squadron from the Phony War to Eagle day.
That's one of my favorite movies. We'll let it slide as a WWII movie, since it was made as a propaganda film for the good guys!Oops..... this is supposed to be for WW2 movies, and I accidentally included one from WW1 - Sergeant York. I come by it honestly, though. That's such a favorite of mine that I tend to think of it almost auromatically when the subjkect of war films is broached.
But in those days unless you were blind or an amputee society didn't see deferments the way they did during the Vietnam era. Especially out of a Cowboy heroJohn Wayne was medically unfit for service. he did go overseas to meet troops and so on, however...
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John Wayne was medically unfit for service. he did go overseas to meet troops and so on, however...
John Wayne was medically unfit for service.
I guess it just doesn't measure up to Patton in the same category. The movie I do want to see is MacArthur in WWI.It's not on anyone's Top 10 list, but I like MacArthur (1977), starring Gregory Peck as the famous general. Peck was brilliant (as usual) in a film that follows Douglas MacArthur's career during WWII and the Korean War. Ed Flanders was also memorable in the film as President Harry Truman.
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