Movie Forums Top 100 War Movies - Group Watch

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I've been watching war documentaries almost every night. I don't know if I'll vote for any of them or not. But I sure have learned a lot more about WWII especially the Pacific Theater.



The trick is not minding
I've been watching war documentaries almost every night. I don't know if I'll vote for any of them or not. But I sure have learned a lot more about WWII especially the Pacific Theater.
Have you seen the George Stevens Why we Fight WW2 Propaganda docs?



The trick is not minding
It seems to me that documentaries will be largely absent, save something too popular among us movie junekies like Shoah.
Agreed, outside of Night and Fog (lock) and possibly Shoah (strong chance) I don’t know of many that are definitely going to appear on many ballots



The trick is not minding
No I haven't but I did see it mentioned during my research for WW2 docs. Have you seen it? If so was it good?
I have them ready to watch this month. They aren’t that lining, some being less then an hour.



I have them ready to watch this month. They aren’t that lining, some being less then an hour.
I'll probably check them out I see that the top Hollywood directors made war docs during the war, Ford, Huston, Capra and others.



My pick is just over 80 minutes long, is different from previous nominations in a big way, it's on YouTube, and it left me feeling very angry.



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Barefoot Gen was probably the most upsetting movie I've ever watched but still I'm glad I finally got round to watching it.


One thing I thought it did really well was the contrast in animation styles between the main characters' childish design and the way the horrors of war are depicted.


Nuclear war is truly horrifying.



Barefoot Gen was probably the most upsetting movie I've ever watched but still I'm glad I finally got round to watching it.


One thing I thought it did really well was the contrast in animation styles between the main characters' childish design and the way the horrors of war are depicted.


Nuclear war is truly horrifying.
I just watched the sequel 2 days ago. It's 3 years later and looks more at lingering effects from radiation and damage to families. It's upsetting and very good, but not like the 1st.




Barefoot Gen (1983, Mori Masaki)

Dramatic stories told by animation rarely work on me and this one is no exception. Atomic bombs are nasty, especially the radioactive fall out. One of the most effective and moving films I've seen on that subject is Black Rain (Shôhei Imamura 1989). Because Barefoot Gen was animated I had a hard time seeing the 'cartoon kids' as real people which then made the pain they felt seem less intense than the film intends. I also was distracted by the very annoying voice work of the kids....it drove me crazy and so did the animation style of showing the kids and the shenanigans they did before the bomb was dropped. Before the bomb was dropped I was already hating the kids and wishing them off the screen. Third reason this didn't work for me was all the eye balls falling out of people, it just looked too silly to me and for me that made the real suffering seem less so. I think the subject matter of the film is important but the movie's script needed work and the voice acting by the kids was to shrill.





Barefoot Gen (1983, Mori Masaki)

Dramatic stories told by animation rarely work on me and this one is no exception. Atomic bombs are nasty, especially the radioactive fall out. One of the most effective and moving films I've seen on that subject is Black Rain (Shôhei Imamura 1989). Because Barefoot Gen was animated I had a hard time seeing the 'cartoon kids' as real people which then made the pain they felt seem less intense than the film intends. I also was distracted by the very annoying voice work of the kids....it drove me crazy and so did the animation style of showing the kids and the shenanigans they did before the bomb was dropped. Before the bomb was dropped I was already hating the kids and wishing them off the screen. Third reason this didn't work for me was all the eye balls falling out of people, it just looked too silly to me and for me that made the real suffering seem less so. I think the subject matter of the film is important but the movie's script needed work and the voice acting by the kids was to shrill.

Sorry it didn't work for you. I loved Black Rain, but this movie affected me even more. I feel like animation was a solid way to go to show that type of devastation as it happens, because otherwise it would take some serious special effects that might not be appropriate for the subject.



Sorry it didn't work for you. I loved Black Rain, but this movie affected me even more. I feel like animation was a solid way to go to show that type of devastation as it happens, because otherwise it would take some serious special effects that might not be appropriate for the subject.
I can see that this movie would work for a lot of people, I'm sure most will respond to it. I do hope we get more people joining the Group Watch I like the diversity.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
There's a lot of Anime where the shrill voices of youngsters are like nails on a chalkboard for me, so I get that CR.
I'll be checking this one out tomorrow evening. Very curious about it, having loved Grave of Fireflies but being unable to see it again because of how hard it hits.
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Just finished Barefoot Gen, and I really enjoyed it. It's very dark, but powerful and the subject matter is important. In regards to the child characters being annoying, I remember having that issue with Grave of the Fireflies, but I think the voice acting in this film was easier to sit through. That acting style is normal for anime though, to my understanding.