Spam my WAR Countdown ballot!...movie recommendations needed

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Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)

A German language film based on the Nazi transcripts of a 21 year old college woman who along with her brother was caught distributing anti-Nazi literature at the University of Munich. What follows is her arrest, interrogation and imprisonment. During this time she steadfastly maintains her composure in the face of oppressive regime. Ultimately she's brought before the People's Court to stand trail for treason. It's a hard hitting film when you realize that Sophie was a real person and what you're seeing really happened to her.






King Rat (1965)

'Fast-talking wheeler-dealer Corporal King is stuck in a Malaysian P.O.W. camp during World War II and uses bribery and larceny to take de-facto control of the camp.' IMDB

Seen this one twice and it's well worth watching. Based on the novel by James Clavell who was a prisoner of war in Java during WWII and based the movie on his experiences. George Segal knocks this one out of the ball park and is perfectly cast as the black market dealer in just about anything the pow inmates could want. It's an intelligent script, fast moving enough to keep one's attention and we see a lot of stuff you wouldn't expect to see and didn't see in The Bridge over the River Kwai. King Rat is more on the serious side and yet it nails humanity and personalities quite well. Really enjoyed this one.







The Desert Rats (Robert Wise 1953)

Decent WWII war film about the battle for Tobruk in North Africa. A small group of Australian soldiers are defending against a well organized and much stronger German Afrikakorps lead by General Rommel (James Mason). Richard Burton is a Scotsmen sent to take charge of the Aussies with the orders to hold their positions until relief forces come. There's some good desert battle scenes and overall this looks good. I'm not the biggest fan of Richard Burton but he's OK here and the movie is fast paced and exciting, not a lot of fluff.





U-Boote westwärts (1941)

Rare German fictional drama-adventure war film made during the war. I've seen this compared to Das Boot, nah it's not that good. It's not even as good as the average John Wayne war film made during WWII. I watched this because I was curious what a 'Nazi propaganda' war film would look like...the answer: not much.

Mostly the guys on the U-Boat are happy go lucky talking about women and food and listening to music. There's the same sort of stuff you see in Hollywood war movies made during WWII, only this movie is not as polished. Actually the propaganda is almost non existent except we see the Germans attack a convoy on the Atlantic and in one instance they give the British a chance to abandon ship and the British jump overboard like scarred rats. The funniest thing was German actors with strong accents trying their best to sound British as they spoke English...Worth watching for the curious.



I caught most of King Rat a couple years ago.
I might have seen Stalingrad, but not sure... I remember a war movie that took place mostly in the snow and the soldiers wore white coveralls through most of the film... but don't remember if it was in German.



The Bitter Tea of General Yen

On the 30's list, I'm putting it on now
I seen that one so long ago that I can't remember a thing about it except that I liked it. Interested in your thoughts on it.




Midway (1976)

I enjoyed this one! I probably seen it first run at the theater back in 1976. Midway was one of the few films to have the new Sensurround.

Sensurround was developed by Cerwin-Vega in conjunction with Universal Studios to enhance the audio experience during film screenings, specifically for the 1974 film Earthquake. The process was intended for subsequent use and was adopted for four more films, Midway (1976), Rollercoaster (1977), Saga of a Star World (1978), the Battlestar Galactica pilot and Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack (1979). Sensurround worked by adding extended-range bass for sound effects. The low-frequency sounds were more felt than heard, providing a vivid complement to onscreen depictions of earth tremors, bomber formations, and amusement park rides. The overall trend toward "multiplex" cinema structures presented challenges that made Sensurround impractical as a permanent feature of cinema.
For me Sensurrond didn't factor into my enjoyment of the movie nor do I have a sound system for my big TV...I just liked the movie. It gave a good overall understanding of the battle of Midway and utilized top actors of the day (Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshirô Mifune). Characterization and battle strategies drives the movie's narrative, which is quite exciting at times. Some have complained that the planes used in the attack scenes aren't always the same type as used in a previous scene..That's because real footage is used including real color WWII war footage. Personally seeing real planes and real FX is more impressive to me than any CG.

- (more like a 3.75/5)




Rewatched 'Atonement'. Forgot how good it is. Hammed up and a bit oscar baity but also a fine film. Mostly because of the cinematography.

The Dunkirk tracking shot is as good as any tracking shot I've ever seen I think.




Midway (1976)

I enjoyed this one! I probably seen it first run at the theater back in 1976. Midway was one of the few films to have the new Sensurround.

For me Sensurrond didn't factor into my enjoyment of the movie nor do I have a sound system for my big TV...I just liked the movie. It gave a good overall understanding of the battle of Midway and utilized top actors of the day (Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshirô Mifune). Characterization and battle strategies drives the movie's narrative, which is quite exciting at times. Some have complained that the planes used in the attack scenes aren't always the same type as used in a previous scene..That's because real footage is used including real color WWII war footage. Personally seeing real planes and real FX is more impressive to me than any CG.

- (more like a 3.75/5)

I have never seen this, but I own the blu ray. I'm going to watch this today.



Let me know what you think.
Just finished watching Midway. Great cast, fine performances. No one actor really blew me away, but it was an effective ensemble. Some fantastic moments, although it felt longer than it was and dragged at times. Overall I would consider it a good war movie, but not a great one. It won't make my ballot, but it is worth checking out for those who haven't seen it.



Just finished watching Midway. Great cast, fine performances. No one actor really blew me away, but it was an effective ensemble. Some fantastic moments, although it felt longer than it was and dragged at times. Overall I would consider it a good war movie, but not a great one. It won't make my ballot, but it is worth checking out for those who haven't seen it.
Have you seen Midway (2019) I haven't but I'm considering watching it.