Movie Forums Top 100 War Movies - Group Watch

I did watch Silence De La Mer but was unable to write a review in time.

I’ll get to The Bridge soon, as I think it’s on Ceiterion.

I imagine it is on the Criterion Channel.
LOVED Silence de la Mer being a Melville fanboy, and this debut film expressed a more art study motif that rounded out my exploration of him. I was very much endeared to the intellectual/philosophical German officer.

I'm about 20 min into The Bridge and very much enjoying it so far with the introduction of the village, the youths, and their families' life.

__________________
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

Just finished The Bridge, and I really enjoyed it. The young cast, the futility of their mission, and the way the kids are treated as cannon fodder all work in harmony to make it an effective anti-war film. Not sure if it will make my ballot, but I may consider it.

__________________
IMDb
Letterboxd

I have been a bit busy with going to cricket matches. But I do intend to participate in this soon, & watch every movie that has been nominated.

This is the second time I have watched this film, and I think I rate it higher now than I did previously. I cannot understand why it is not spoken about as one of the greatest war films ever made. It is a masterpiece. The black and white cinematography is perfect for the gloomy atmosphere of war, as we see the events of the Nanking massacre unfold, and together with some of the most effective surround sound I've heard outside of a cinema (bullets flying everywhere, tanks roaming and shrapnel buzzing past the speakers etc)

It focuses on the Japanese occupation of Nanking, China in 1937, and is based on true events. Those events are shocking, harrowing and extremely difficult to watch. One particular moment midway through the film really shakes the viewer. Chuan Lu focuses on several characters throughout the film (on both sides of the conflict) and his direction shows tremendous empathy for all of them. He actually received many death threats for portraying the Japanese character Kadokawa so sympathetically, which is extremely harsh given how the Japanese army and government is portrayed throughout the rest of the film. Other characters are a a school teacher, a foreign missionary, and John Rabe, a Nazi businessman who would ultimately save thousands of Chinese civilians.

It's estimated that over 20,000 Chinese women were raped during the siege of Nanking by Japanese soldiers. Some of this is depicted in the film, with disturbing scenes. There are also scenes of brutal torture and execution. Although if anything, the film goes light on it compared to what is alleged to have occurred. The only reason I can think that this is under-praised is that it features a Nazi and Chinese soldiers that for once are not the bad guys.

It's a tough watch, but it is essential for any cinephile who is keen on war / history films. No prizes for guessing if this will be on my ballot or not

Never heard of it before but it looks like a must see.

It is also interesting to read up on the heartbreaking real life stories of:

Minnie Vautrin, who is a character in the film (American missionary)

Iris Chang, - a young journalist who uncovered alot of research about the Nanking massacre in the 1990s and wrote a best selling book about them. I read her wiki entry after the film last night and it made me weep uncontrollably.

I'll look them up after I watch it. I've seen the Men Behind the Sun series but those are exploitation movies.

I've read about Nanking and the atrocities committed against the Chinese by the invading Japanese because they saw them as cowards for surrendering and therefore deserving.
Beyond horrific.

Die Brücke aka The Bridge (1959)

An extremely well-done and poignant anti-war film focusing on several youths and their time together in school before being drafted and becomes of them defending a "useless" bridge near their hometown.
Overflowing with patriotism and romantic notions of Glory, ready to fight for Country and Honor, these early teens spend their time excited to join a war nearing its end. Blind to the fears and worries of their parents and elders, only to have the truth of battle come raining down on them.

BRAVO

I'm just going through Rotten Tomatoes' definitive list of the best war films of all time:

I have asked this on this forum before but never found the answer:

I remember one scene from a war film I watched about 15 years ago - it goes something like:

Allied soldiers sitting around a clearing in a forest (perhaps cooking on a campfire?), when all of a sudden one of the enemy approaches but not in a hostile manner. He says he has food or comes in peace. The soldiers debate whether to trust him or not, then all of a sudden I think one of them shoots the approaching enemy soldier which triggers an explosion, to reveal that the enemy was infact holding a booby trap of explosives about his person.

I seem to remember the enemy was Japanese/Korean/Vietnamese
I think it is a colour film
I would guess it is a 70s/80s film. But not 100% sure. Any help appreciated.

It sounds familiar, but it also seems like a scene that could be in a lot of war movies.

I don't know the movie but the scenario of "one of the enemy approaches but not in a hostile manner. He says he has food or comes in peace." Makes the most sense for a Vietnam war movie with the 'friendly enemy who's holding an explosive' being a Vietcong guerilla fighter. There's a similar scene in The Siege of Firebase Gloria...check out this clip from that movie (not the video quality and sound isn't good in the clip but the movie is good).

Wow, thanks. I guess that must be it unless that scene has been duplicated in another film! Thanks alot! I can't think i've ever even heard of that film but I mist have seen it.

A few months ago I went on a Vietnam war movie binge and that's the only scene I can recall like that....except there might have been something similar in Apocalypse Now, though I believe the POV is high above from a helicopter and we see the action but don't hear the people talk.

Here are the candidates for hosting the next round...

Mr Minio
cricket
edarsenal

You guys have about 24 more hours to watch the film.

Impressive!...and the film only got better and better as it went along. A lot of films can start strong with an interesting premise but often feel weak in the final scenes. The Bridge is different. It starts with a bang, literally when an allied bomb falls near the town's bridge. We don't see the bomb dropped that all happens off screen which is brilliant as we do see the effect the lone bomb has on the town's residents, especially the teenagers.

April 1945 and Germany has already lost the war and the U.S. army has crossed the Rhine into the 'Fatherland' but Germany won't admit defeat. So the Nazi's are calling up children and old men to fight in a last ditch effort. I've seen in documentaries how the Hitler youth and teenage recruits were a thorn in the side of the Allies as they entered into Germany and The Bridge shows the problem they presented accurately. The teen warriors were not experienced, but were fresh not having spent years on the front lines. Their heads were full of idealistic nationalist ideas and they killed a number of U.S. soldiers much in the way this film depicts. The U.S. soldiers on the other hand were battle weary and did not want to kill kids, which was also accurately shown in the film.

I've seen a lot of war films but the last battle scenes here were some of the best and some of the hardest for me to watch. Maybe it was because we see the U.S. soldiers and they seem so close up and real, so much so that when one of the teens gets lucky and kills one it feels like such a needless tragedy. The Bridge more than most war films made me feel the wastage that is war.

+

Another one I'd recommend:

Obviously you're not going to watch every movie in your recommendation thread, but because you enjoyed this so much, I'm wondering if you would've chosen to watch it based on that thread if it wasn't chosen here?