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49. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Huh, yeah, that really does work with the hints, doesn't it?
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The Movieforums Top 100 War Movies Countdown
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Human Condition II was my number 3. Spoiler alert, I put all 3 next to each other on my list. This trilogy is just that good. So much humanity packed into these 9 hours. I just think the whole thing is astounding. I rewatched them all in a very pleasant Saturday in preparation for the list. Definitely feel like the other 2 will be higher, as I’m sure a few voters picked their favorite as a representation of the group. I almost went that route, but thought better of it. I don’t believe this to be a War And Peace situation, by the way. This is a trilogy of movies, more along the lines of LOTR.
I have only watched Gone With The Wind once, but I did enjoy it quite a bit. Great theater experience. The placed I have lived I haven’t gotten to see too many older movies released in theater, and this may have been my first time going to something like that. It was with my ex-wife, who was my girlfriend at the time. So it was a pretty cool and memorable watch. That’s been a minute, so it’s definitely due for a rewatch.
I have only watched Gone With The Wind once, but I did enjoy it quite a bit. Great theater experience. The placed I have lived I haven’t gotten to see too many older movies released in theater, and this may have been my first time going to something like that. It was with my ex-wife, who was my girlfriend at the time. So it was a pretty cool and memorable watch. That’s been a minute, so it’s definitely due for a rewatch.
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War Breakdown
- World War II = 25
- Napoleonic Wars = 5
- World War I = 4
- Vietnam War = 3
- American Civil War = 2
- Rwandan Civil War = 1
- War on Terror (Afghanistan) = 1
- Unnamed civil war = 1
- Crusades = 1
- Second Boer War = 1
- Gulf War = 1
- Cold War = 1
- Cambodian Civil War = 1
- Somali Civil War = 1
- Spanish Civil War = 1
- Iraq War = 1
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I think the shortest version of this one I'll say right now, the barracks/military scenes reminded me a bit of boot camp in Full Metal.
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Another from my list with the appearance of Gone with the Wind. It must be at least 15 years since I last saw it, but I still think of it as one of my absolute all time favourites and I'd be stunned if a rewatch put anywhere outside my top ten and, if it did, it would surely be because of the length of the film because the film itself is epic in all the ways that great cinema can be. I know it's seen as problematic now, but it was problematic then as well. Maybe people were more accepting of it? Maybe people weren't quite so sensitive to it? Maybe people weren't as aware of how offensive it was to those it offended? But it was problematic, it's just that it was accepted as a representation of the stories time and that authenticity was of greater value than the offence. Context counts and I think that's something that seems to get lost or underplayed today.
Despite being one of my favourite films I had it around 15 on my list because, despite the time and setting, I really don't think of it as a war film and therefore it was far lower down the list than the otherwise would be, which is probably number one.
Despite being one of my favourite films I had it around 15 on my list because, despite the time and setting, I really don't think of it as a war film and therefore it was far lower down the list than the otherwise would be, which is probably number one.
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Actor Stats
Vyacheslav Tikhonov = 3
Ludmila Savelyeva = 3
Sergey Bondarchuk = 3
Burt Lancaster = 2
Jason Robards = 2
Yūsuke Kawazu = 2
Shōji Yasui = 2
Nick Nolte = 2
Orlando Bloom = 2
(pls let me know if I'm forgetting someone)
Last edited by John-Connor; 09-06-23 at 12:56 PM.
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I just can’t wait for our first entry of the Star War
Wings of Honneamise?
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100% had to be lifted from Human Condition. If not, it’s freaky.
I never read the short story FMJ was based on, so that would probably affect how freaky of a coincidence it would feel like.
For me, it's definitely one of those, "I could see how this story arc and a number of these details would arise in multiple movies about the horrors of military training," and yet, "damn, that is just so similar and I guess there really aren't a lot of horrors-of-military training movies out there for it to just feel like a cliche."
Hmmm... Maybe I'll spend some time later seeing if in all of those list of movies Kubrick once mentioned that people assemble, if he ever mentioned this trilogy.
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I am so far behind...I will try to catch up with thoughts soon!
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At the halfway point, I've had 6 movies from my ballot make an appearance. I always thought I liked war films until I started making out a top 25 and realized, jeez I haven't seen too many of these and the ones I have seen aren't that great. So I snuck a few barely war movies onto my ballot.
Three Kings was my number 14. Really enjoyed the comedy, especially some of the more subtle stuff in the first half of the film, like Clooney examining the Iraqi ass map then sniffing his fingers after touching it. Who would do that? Clooney and Spike Jonze bring different comedic elements and they both work for me unlike the Nora Dunn/Jamie Kennedy scenes, which are a little too silly for my taste. The way the movie shifts from heist to rescue is pretty seamless during one of the best scenes in the film.
All Quiet on the Western Front was my #7. The most recent film to make my top 25 and the only one viewing film to make my list, I liked this more than the 1930 film, which I also think is very good. It looks great, sounds great, the scene in the crater is one of the most gut wrenching scenes, in both versions, but the graphic depiction in this one takes it to a different level. I also really liked the way they show how the war is perceived based on where you dining. It was so frustrating but not everybody is a Fortunate Son.
First Blood I didn't consider it much of a war film but as soon as I saw it was eligible I said **** it and put it in my top 5 at number 5. I'm a big fan of the little guy taking it to the big guy and this is one of the best examples of that. What pushes it to top 5 for me is the final scene with Rambo just letting go and breaking down in front of Trautman. One of Stallone's best moments. Such a good movie, even better than Cliffhanger.
Next up is Black Hawk Down. This was my number 1. It was the first movie me and the GF saw together in the theater. In spite of that, I was still was blown away. See, she likes to yap during films and I gave her the SHHH! very early and had to deal with a death stare out of the corner of my eye for what felt like an eternity. To this day she'll still tell people how I shushed her, like I was in the wrong or something. What I think it does better than anything is show just how absolutely bonkers things can get and how fast it can get that way. Once the mission is on, it's non stop action but It never gets so much that you can't keep up with what's going on. Organized chaos.
Pan's Labyrinth - Not a war film but eligible so I put it further down on my list at 18 even though it's one of my favorite films on the list. This has made every top 25 ballot that it's been eligible for so here it is again. My favorite fantasy film by quite a large margin.
Gone With the Wind - Another film that's much better than most of my ballot but war? I needed 25 films and this was #24 for me. This was probably the longest hold out of the must see classics for me and when I finally watched it I was really impressed. It's so BIG! Love the music and has some of the best images of any film I've ever seen. I'm not sure I have seen a movie with a bigger **** YEAH!, John Bender fist in the air moment than this one.
Seen 19/50.
Three Kings was my number 14. Really enjoyed the comedy, especially some of the more subtle stuff in the first half of the film, like Clooney examining the Iraqi ass map then sniffing his fingers after touching it. Who would do that? Clooney and Spike Jonze bring different comedic elements and they both work for me unlike the Nora Dunn/Jamie Kennedy scenes, which are a little too silly for my taste. The way the movie shifts from heist to rescue is pretty seamless during one of the best scenes in the film.
All Quiet on the Western Front was my #7. The most recent film to make my top 25 and the only one viewing film to make my list, I liked this more than the 1930 film, which I also think is very good. It looks great, sounds great, the scene in the crater is one of the most gut wrenching scenes, in both versions, but the graphic depiction in this one takes it to a different level. I also really liked the way they show how the war is perceived based on where you dining. It was so frustrating but not everybody is a Fortunate Son.
First Blood I didn't consider it much of a war film but as soon as I saw it was eligible I said **** it and put it in my top 5 at number 5. I'm a big fan of the little guy taking it to the big guy and this is one of the best examples of that. What pushes it to top 5 for me is the final scene with Rambo just letting go and breaking down in front of Trautman. One of Stallone's best moments. Such a good movie, even better than Cliffhanger.
Next up is Black Hawk Down. This was my number 1. It was the first movie me and the GF saw together in the theater. In spite of that, I was still was blown away. See, she likes to yap during films and I gave her the SHHH! very early and had to deal with a death stare out of the corner of my eye for what felt like an eternity. To this day she'll still tell people how I shushed her, like I was in the wrong or something. What I think it does better than anything is show just how absolutely bonkers things can get and how fast it can get that way. Once the mission is on, it's non stop action but It never gets so much that you can't keep up with what's going on. Organized chaos.
Pan's Labyrinth - Not a war film but eligible so I put it further down on my list at 18 even though it's one of my favorite films on the list. This has made every top 25 ballot that it's been eligible for so here it is again. My favorite fantasy film by quite a large margin.
Seen 19/50.
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One vote. Road to Eternity was my #7 - it is interesting that the consensus pick for the weakest part of the trilogy is also the one wherein the protagonist is most active as an actual soldier, though it is all in the name of showcasing the increasingly harsh realities of military conscription as existential punishment from sadistic basic training to hopelessly outmatched skirmishes.
I've seen Gone with the Wind once and I don't really have much of an opinion on it - certainly easy to both dismiss it for its antebellum nostalgia and admire it for its technical scope, so it's ultimately a bit of a shrug (though I guess it's more engaging than The Birth of a Nation). There's a part of me that does want to revisit it, but that's four hours I could use on any number of other movies.
I've seen Gone with the Wind once and I don't really have much of an opinion on it - certainly easy to both dismiss it for its antebellum nostalgia and admire it for its technical scope, so it's ultimately a bit of a shrug (though I guess it's more engaging than The Birth of a Nation). There's a part of me that does want to revisit it, but that's four hours I could use on any number of other movies.
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One vote. Road to Eternity was my #7 - it is interesting that the consensus pick for the weakest part of the trilogy is also the one wherein the protagonist is most active as an actual soldier, though it is all in the name of showcasing the increasingly harsh realities of military conscription as existential punishment from sadistic basic training to hopelessly outmatched skirmishes.
WARNING: spoilers below
It is an interesting observation. Watching it for the first time this year, the biggest issue with the second installment I had was, structurally it felt a little too similar to the first one. And there might just be something more dynamic about seeing exploitative civilian life before and after the military becomes more directly involved than the, "well, you've been conscripted, so you're starting off screwed and it's only going to get worse." And yet, the trilogy needs those parts in there or else it would feel incomplete.
The third, I felt, is structured differently.
The third, I felt, is structured differently.
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Actor Stats
(pls let me know if I'm forgetting someone)
Nick Nolte is in Hotel Rwanda and Tropic Thunder
Orlando Bloom is in Kingdom of Heaven and Black Hawk Down
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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra
Last edited by Holden Pike; 09-06-23 at 12:35 PM.
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I've seen an embarrassingly low amount of films here, and very few outside of the ones I've voted for. That said War was never a genre I overly interested myself in, despite having a couple in my top 10.
JoJo Rabbit was my #19, a very charming film that blends humor & drama the best of any war film since Life is Beautiful. A very challenging task.
Wasn't a fan of The Hurt Locker , & gave . But it's been awhile
The General isn't my favorite Keaton, but all Keaton have a charm
All Quiet is my #12 . Here's my review:
JoJo Rabbit was my #19, a very charming film that blends humor & drama the best of any war film since Life is Beautiful. A very challenging task.
Wasn't a fan of The Hurt Locker , & gave . But it's been awhile
The General isn't my favorite Keaton, but all Keaton have a charm
All Quiet is my #12 . Here's my review:
All Quiet on The Western Front (Berger)
If you didn't read this book in your middle school curriculum, I'm sorry to say but your history teacher failed you. All Quiet was one of my favorite novels growing up, as it was my fathers. Its been some time since I read it, but I'm very tempted to revisit now.
The adaptation takes some liberties, as you're to expect. Some work in its favor & some maybe take away.
What's done well:
1. Showing the element of shock the young German boys felt when entering France, the death of their ignorance
2. The added political scenes- showing the primary benevolence of those back home & even the generals not in the front line. With less than 10 minutes of screen time, the "fat pig" general is as good of a villain as you can find
3. The visual brutality of war while still holding a very human lense to the situation. This is something European cinema tends to do better than American
What's Missing:
In the book you grow very attached to the fleet and the different characters hopelessly fighting in it. The film never created such an emotional attachment, and at the end they feel as two-dimensional and numerical as any other soldier killed in the field. With the exception of the Stanislaus down-fall.
Overall it's a great war film- which shows the true horrors at a level I haven't witnessed since Come and See . It's incredibly well-made and designed, & a worthy nominee for best picture.
If you didn't read this book in your middle school curriculum, I'm sorry to say but your history teacher failed you. All Quiet was one of my favorite novels growing up, as it was my fathers. Its been some time since I read it, but I'm very tempted to revisit now.
The adaptation takes some liberties, as you're to expect. Some work in its favor & some maybe take away.
What's done well:
1. Showing the element of shock the young German boys felt when entering France, the death of their ignorance
2. The added political scenes- showing the primary benevolence of those back home & even the generals not in the front line. With less than 10 minutes of screen time, the "fat pig" general is as good of a villain as you can find
3. The visual brutality of war while still holding a very human lense to the situation. This is something European cinema tends to do better than American
What's Missing:
In the book you grow very attached to the fleet and the different characters hopelessly fighting in it. The film never created such an emotional attachment, and at the end they feel as two-dimensional and numerical as any other soldier killed in the field. With the exception of the Stanislaus down-fall.
Overall it's a great war film- which shows the true horrors at a level I haven't witnessed since Come and See . It's incredibly well-made and designed, & a worthy nominee for best picture.
My List:
12. All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
14. Jojo Rabbit (2019)
23. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
12. All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
14. Jojo Rabbit (2019)
23. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
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50. Apocalypse Now
Although it’s way too early, the description sounds a lot like Sheen’s inner monologue from the beginning.
Although it’s way too early, the description sounds a lot like Sheen’s inner monologue from the beginning.
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50. Apocalypse Now
Although it’s way too early, the description sounds a lot like Sheen’s inner monologue from the beginning.
Although it’s way too early, the description sounds a lot like Sheen’s inner monologue from the beginning.
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That will surely be top 10.
I think Cricket got 49, and every guess I can think of for 50 feels way too early.
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