The Movieforums Top 100 War Movies Countdown

Two very good films which didn't make my ballot. I'd probably give the edge to The Burmese Harp. It was teetering on a 9/10 in the first half as I was really into the main character's arc, but the second half declined a bit for me since the focus somewhat shifted away from him and more on his squad mates. They were less interesting and their arc mainly consisted of them trying to figure out what we already knew about Mizushima. Meh. Still though, the first half was great enough to elevate the film. I don't remember Ashes and Diamonds that well, but I also enjoyed it quite a bit. I prefer Kanal though when it comes to Wajda.

__________________
IMDb
Letterboxd

Scroll up.

Also, I love the design of the reveals

I have seen both of these pretty recently, Burmese Harp in preparation for the list. Neither struck the chord I was hoping, but both were pretty good. No votes.

__________________
Letterboxd

The Burmese Harp is probably the most calm inducing war film I've seen. Very good, and glad to see it make the countdown without my help.

Ashes and Diamonds looks good, will watch at some point.

Love them dog tags!

Hmmm...Not familiar with either. Shall seek them out.

I'm 0 for 2 to start the countdown. War is one of my least seen genres and one of my least favourites, so my numbers are likely going to be pretty low.

I see where he describes his hints in relation to the slots, but I don’t see the actual reveals. Probably just an issue on my end

Either way, I’m one for 2, and The Burmese Harp, which I assume is the original 1956 version and not the remake from 1985? although both are directed by Kon Ichikawa. Both versions are high on my watch list.

Ashes and Diamonds was my #4.
Probably my favorite Wajda, so far.

1:2

I don't think I've ever even heard of either of these.

__________________

Ha! Love the art design of those. I haven't seen either though so no comment.

__________________

The design for the reveal looks great!
I haven't seen either of these.
I didn't watch any new films for the countdown. I just took the best of war list Keyser gave me and wrote dodwn all that I had already seen and filtered them out from there.

I watched The Burmese Harp in SpelingError's War Movie Group Watch, I believe it was his choice for the group to watch. I thought it was pretty great. Didn't make my ballot but excited to see it make the countdown! I've not seen Ashes and Diamonds but it sounds like something I'd dig.

My mini-review of The Burmese Harp.
Stunningly beautiful. Beautiful story. Beautifully filmed. Visually this film is a stand out both for the way the cinematography is composed and for the wonderful scenes inside of Burma.

Even though some of the film was shot in Japan the movie itself all takes place at the end of WWII in Burma with a group of Japanese soldiers learning their country has just surrendered.

The Burmese Harp isn't about war battles or intensity, it's about one Japanese soldiers transformation from solider to Buddhist monk. The film is reflective, quiet...yet powerful...I can't image anyone not being impressed.

I can't see them either.

Anyway, not a bad start, I need to see more Ichikawa, but Ashes and Diamonds I have seen and it's pretty solid. Nice start.

You on desktop or mobile?

They're camouflage


Seriously do you have any kind of ad block being used with your web browser?

No, I'm on a mobile but it usually just hides the entries behind a click to reveal block but I don't even see that. War is hell.

Covert war.

I just checked my iphone and the reveals are not on the thread. I see them on the desktop.

This is too weird, because they're showing up just fine on my Icon 3.