Best World War 2 film.

Ive just seen a trailer for a film called 'When Trumpets Fade'. Has anybody seen it? Is it worth a watch?
Here's it is.....When Trumpets Fade (TV 1998) - IMDb

 

Ive just seen a trailer for a film called 'When Trumpets Fade'. Has anybody seen it? Is it worth a watch?
Here's it is.....When Trumpets Fade (TV 1998) - IMDb

It's not bad definately worth a watch.

Michael.

 

Thanks Deacs, will try and get hold of a copy then. Incidentally, i bought a copy of 'My Way' that you recommended and watched it this afternoon. Very good film with excellent special effects, especially the D-Day invasion at the end....although i did notice quite a few bits that were factually incorrect, the most obvious one being at the beginning when the introductory text on screen said that D-Day was in 1945! and yes, it was referring to the Normandy D-Day not any of the other D-Day's!

 

must admit that's a pet hate of mine too. It really irritates when a film isn't factually correct as the uneducated masses take it as gospel and the truth gets lost.

 

Well gents
I have seen most of the above movies mentioned, except "Come and See", and thats been reccomended to me before now. My top WW2 movie would be "Cross of Iron" as i was impressed on my first viewing years ago because of the authentic landscapes and equipment used.
Hmmmm .... may watch this again later lol

Nick

 

Nick, I am afraid I can't praise Cross of Iron. Why not? Well, the three lead actors (Coburn, Schell, Mason) were all far too old for their roles. This is a deplorably common fault in war movies, but in this case Peckinpah pressed it to the limit of absurdity. Also, I don't care much for Peckinpah as a director.

 

I really enjoyed Das Boot!

 

Fair comment TTH
Beyond what you have said, it was good to see a film where the enermy ie; Soviets used T34s, as opposed to all the fodder before with spurious allied vehicles masqueradeing as German/Soviet etc.
Nick

 

Has anyone seen the 1963 Anzio film?

 

If you mean the 1963 US Army film 'Beachhead Anzio', it's available on Youtube. The 1968 Dino De Laurentis-produced 'Anzio' is pretty dreadful. It rivals 'Battle of the Bulge' as the worst of the 1960s 'epics' based on real battles.

 

If we're expanding the list outside of WWII (and Aussies outside of WWII ), two really terrific ones are Gallipoli and Anzacs.

I wish they'd show them here again. I haven't seen them since they were broadcast in the early eighties.

Gallipoli (1981) - IMDb

Anzacs (TV mini-series 1985–X) - IMDb


I think Anzacs is a great series and hope you saw the lot Dave! The full box set series is 524 minutes whereas the "movie" was cut (badly I hear) to two hours.

Cheers

Geoff

 

"Yanks" with Richard Geer, gives a good representation of US troops "occupying" Britain, in this case Lancashire (Burtonwood) and their fraternizing with the locals. "Dunkirk" with John Mills, I can watch over and again for it's seeming authenticity and my old dad a Dunkirk Vet agreed with me, now sadly gone 8 Worcs Regt.

 

Couple of oldies I've enjoyed recently that are near the top of the list..

Their's Is the Glory 1946

Battleground 1949

I second that on "Their's is the Glory". Have not seen Battleground.

 

Always enjoyed watching Dunkirk and am going to dig it out and watch it again this weekend. Mainly due to your comments about authenticity. No better endorsement than those who experienced that era.

 

The Way Ahead : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive




Theirs is the Glory : Gaumont British Picture Corporation : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive



In Which We Serve : Noel Coward, Anthony Havelock-Allan, and Herbert Smith : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive



MOVIES Series 5. Ill Met By Moonlight (1957) and Cockleshell Heroes (1955) : Phil Binstead : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive






Last film I watched - A Bridge too far in the Kinema Munster free tickets on release of film -late 70s.

 

My top ten would be
A Bridge Too Far - epic battle, epic film
Theirs is the Glory - unique amongst WW2 movies
Saving Private Ryan - remarkable first 20 minutes
The Dambusters - a British classic, beautifully played and well paced
Cockleshell heroes- every one a hero and lots of shots of Pompey!
Battle of Britain - great aerial shots
Dunkirk - another classic, British at their best, warts and all
The Longest day - another epic battle
A matter of life and death - a quirky but beautiful film
Went the day well - not every day you see Thora Hird taking pot shots at the enemy

Zulu - one of the greats, which I'd love to include, but 60 years premature!

 

I would have great difficulty naming my favourite war film, the war time British black and whites are good. Have anyone seen Two Men Went To War a bit of a comedy I thought in the credits they said it was based on a true story I can’t imaging that.


Yes. It was a true story and, had it not been for the timely arrival of Major Metcalf, the sentences would almost certainly have been harsher than reduced by one rank for Sgt King and 29 days for Pte Cuthbertson, who went on in later life to be a senior local councillor.
Take a look at the Wiki page on them.

Another good film was "The Foreman went to France" which was also based on a true story about the Foreman of a munitions factory in the Midlands that loaned some special machines to the French Government and he went to France to try to get them back.

 

My top ten would be
A Bridge Too Far - epic battle, epic film
Theirs is the Glory - unique amongst WW2 movies
Saving Private Ryan - remarkable first 20 minutes
The Dambusters - a British classic, beautifully played and well paced
Cockleshell heroes- every one a hero and lots of shots of Pompey!
Battle of Britain - great aerial shots
Dunkirk - another classic, British at their best, warts and all
The Longest day - another epic battle
A matter of life and death - a quirky but beautiful film
Went the day well - not every day you see Thora Hird taking pot shots at the enemy

Zulu - one of the greats, which I'd love to include, but 60 years premature!

Thanks for that list Pompey Pal. A few in there that I haven't seen that I will add to my list and acquire.

 

Thanks for that list Pompey Pal. A few in there that I haven't seen that I will add to my list and acquire.

My pleasure. I see that amongst Barry Norman's top 49 British films, in any genre, he has included The Dambusters and A Matter of Life and Death, plus The Cruel Sea and Bridge on the River Kwai
There are certainly no lack of excellent movies to choose from

 

Watched Soldier of Orange last night for the first time and can recommend it. A young Rutger Hauer in the lead role, directed by a young (presumably) Paul Verhoeven. Dutch with subtitles (apart from when the heroes are in Britian) from the late 1970s but it really hasn't dated much at all (probably only the music).

My DVD suffers from having a cover that bears no relation to what the film is actually about. American GIs advancing with tanks and being bombed by FW190s? There's not an American in the whole the film, which is as much about small scale, low profile resistance activity as anything else. Very much in the same vein as Flame and Citron.