My Favourite War Movie Character or The Ultimate Sacrifice
To determine who is your favourite war movie character is a very, very subjective thing. At least for me. No objectivity here. It is neither linked to the fact if I do consider the movie he´s in to be outstanding or average, it doesn´t say anything about the acting in itself, I really only think of the character. And, yeah well maybe it has something to do with the fact that the role is played by one of my favourite actors.
What I loved about this character is his goodness. In all the horror that surrounds him, he stays good. Nothing compromises him, nothing turns him into an inhuman being devoid of feelings or compassion. And in the end he doesn´t shy away from sacrificing himself. He is the ultimate war movie hero, hero through his sacrifice not through his killings.
And yes, I alluded to him in another post (Christ and the War Movie Hero). My favourite character is Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe) in Platoon. And yes, I´m sure it´s no coincidence that he was later chosen to play Jesus Christ in The Last Temptation of Christ. He´s been my favourite for many years now and I only wavered once, after having seen When Trumpets Fade where we see another sacrificial hero.
Kokoda, 39th Battalion (2006) or The Australians´ Fight in the Pacific
Kokoda 39th Battalion is an Australian movie by Alister Grierson and tells another story that took place in the Pacific during WWII. Only this time we don´t watch Americans fight for the Australians (as they do, amongst oher things, in the miniseries The Pacific), but the Australians themselves. The Kokoda trail on Papua New Guinea is the main trail that leads directly to Port Moresby. By means of this trail the Japanese were planning to arrive at Port Moresby and from there an invasion of Australia would have been easy.
Obviously the Australians did everything to prevent this. The 39th battalion who is in the center of this movie was essentially a battalion of untrained volunteers. The central story focuses on two brothers who joined this battalion together.
The opening of the movie shows us a sequence of still lives that are very beautiful. Pictures of fauna and flora of the island. After that we see what has to be interpreted as premonition like dream of Jack, one of the two brothers. This is somewhat an exaggeration of what the terrain was like. Same as in episode 4 of The Pacific there is a constant rain, and the terrain gets muddier and muddier. Jack slips and is almost drowning in mud. In the end he looks like some almost amphibian prehistoric creature. Those first ten minutes make you believe you might watch a film like The Thin Red Line with a lot of flashback elements, daydreams but that is, as you soon realise, not the case. From that moment on Kokoda turns into Hamburger Hill, meaning heavy jungle infantry combat.
The men are surrounded by Japanese soldiers whose camouflage is so much more efficient than their own, whose fighting experience is outstanding, and whose cruelty, as the movie wants to make us believe, is beyond imagination.
This was one of the movies that made me think again and again: Why war? Why did that happen? Why did it have to happen. The efforts of the Australians seem so futile, that even though they won in the end, there is nothing noble in all this. It´s just horrible and hard to watch.
I first thought that this was an average movie but the overall atmosphere is so intense, the desperate fight of these badly trained men is so well depicted that I think it´s quite a good movie that I would recommend you´d watch. And, most important, the pictures of the dense forest and the instances of cruelty in the middle of the jungle aren´t easily forgotten and stay in your mind long after you´ve watched it.
Yes, it´s biased, the Japanese are shown as beastly monsters but still.
Furthermore it tells a quite soulful story of the deep bond between brothers.
The Man Who Cried (2000)
This is such a gorgeous movie by Sally Potter, starring Johnny Depp, Cate Blanchett, Christina Ricci and John Turturro.
Love story and survival story. Tale about friendship, ode to music. A very rich movie with beautiful pictures and an extraordinary soundtrack.
It reminds us that the jews were not the only ones who have been persecuted and exterminated during WWII.
We tend to forget that the gypsies were also victims of the holocaust.
The Soldier Who Couldn´t Kill: Dave in the Lighthorsemen (1987)
Apart from being one of the rare movies about cavalry combat this movie depicts a very interesting problem: The soldier who can´t kill. This is interesting in many ways. Sure it is commonly acknowledged that killing at war and killing in peace time is not the same. While one qualifies as simple killing, the other is said to be murder. You never hear anyone say about a soldier that he “murdered” enemies. He killed them. No judgement here, just a fact. Now what about the soldier himself? Is this really just “killing” for him, a justified way of taking someone else´s life? I don´t think so. Many soldiers suffer from nightmares when back from war and often, one of the elements they dream about, is the enemies they killed coming after them. Undoubtedly they feel guilty. Pacifists all over the planet will agree with them.
Dave in The Lighthorsmen is a good hunter in civil life. He knows how to handle a weapon, he is able to aim and shoot. But he is incapable of killing.
You don´t see that very often in war movies.
De Niro in Jacknife (1989)Part II
Often when you ask someone who is their favourite actor especially men tend to name Robert de Niro. Surely his merits are undisputable still he did get on my nerves in several of his films since he´s got the habit of overacting and that way tends to turn into a parody of himself. I thought I´d seen many of his movies and knew that he was at least in two Vietnam related ones, The Deer Hunter and Taxi Driver. Somehow Jacknife sneakily escaped my attention.
I saw it recently and must say, it would have been a pity not to see it and this for several reasons. (Check out the trailer in an older post).
First, I think, it is one of de Niros´ best performances, second I think it is a very good attempt at showing the theme of the Vietnam vet. Post traumatic stress and so forth.
Megs (de Niro) and Dave (Ed Harris) served in Vietnam together. They hadn´t seen each other for a while when suddenly, out of the blue, Megs invades Dave´s home to take him on a fishing trip. Unfortunately he realises he´s less than welcome. Dave showing every sign of full-blown alcoholism still blames Megs for the death of Bobby, the third guy they went to Vietnam with.
Megs tries everything to cheer up Dave but fails completely. The fact that Megs begins a relationship with Martha (Kathy Baker), Dave´s sister doesn´t exactly improve anything.
Even though at first it looks as things were not going well at all, Megs´ likeable character, his outgoing, eccentric ways liven up the brother and sister and ultimately transform them profoundly. The story is interwoven with flashbacks that show what went wrong in Vietnam where Megs was by far too gung-ho and shooting way too fast at everything.
Sure, these are personal stories, character studies, no analyzing of the war as such or its political and social impact.
I just adored de Niro in this and understood again why so many think he´s one of the best actors alive.
Vietnam War Movies by Jamie Russell (2002)
This useful little book is one of the pocketessential film series books.
It´s dedicated to Vietnam War Movies only.
The movies are ordered by themes:
Combat Movie The Green Berets, The Boys in Company C, Go Tell the Spartans, Platoon, Hamburger Hill, Full Metal Jacket, BAT21, Saigon, 84 Charlie MoPic, Casualties of War, Tigerland
Vet Movie Billy Jack, The Visitors, Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, The Exterminator, First Blood, Gardens of Stone, Jacknife, Distant Thunder, Born on the 4th of July, In Country
Drugs and Surrealism Tracks, Apocalypse Now, Apocalypse Now Redux, Good Morning Vietnam, Air America, Jacob´s Ladder
Counter-culture and protest movement The Activist, Letter to Jane, Hearts and Minds, Coming Home, Running on Empty, Rude Awakening, Dogfight, Forrest Gump
1980s return to Nam Good Guys Wear Black, Uncommon Valor, Missing in Action, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Eye of the Eagle
Telling a different story Heroes Shed no Tears, Dear America: Letters home from Vietnam, Bullet in the Head, Turtle Beach, Heaven & Earth, Cyclo
Each movie is summarized, cast and crew are named, some background and sub-text information is given and the movie is rated as well.
Home of the Brave (2006) or When a movie really fails
Home of the Brave is about a group of soldiers who came under heavy attack shortly before being sent home. After their return they try to cope with what they have been through. They all fail to some extent before they realise they need psychological help.
What a bad, bad, bad movie! I´m embarrassed I watched it. Worst acting ever. Ridiculous dialogue, dragging storyline, wrong cast, pathetic music…
And yet, there are a lot of people who like this movie and say: that´s exactly how it was.
I don´t doubt for one sec, that this is how it was. I don´t doubt for one sec that the returning soldiers need medication, treatment, can´t make their relatives understand, despair, start to drink, get violent, blame everyone including themselves and the government.
Fine. But DO NOT show a message like this in such a way. After a while you start to wonder, why there is not a constant voice in the off telling you: ha…that was impressive, ha…see how horrible, ha….start to blame the government and now ha….
This doesn´t work. It´s like someone telling you a joke and immediately explaining you afterwards why it was funny.
The opening is quite similar to many other opening scenes of movies located in Iraq, be it Battle for Haditha, Stop-Loss or any other. But the similarity is a purely exterior one. The acting is too bad to actually induce feeling. The convoy gets ambushed, people die and get mutilated. And all this happens after we have been told that exactly these people are about to go back home. This is repeated so many times that the thickest moviegoer starts to scratch his head thinking: Are they telling me something here? Fate playing tricks is an old theme in war movies, after all it´s one of life´s themes, but usually it is handled with more subtlety.
Next thing, they are all back home. One has lost his best friend, one (a doctor) had to amputate many limbs, one had her hand amputated and now they start to struggle and stumble and fail like the movie.
Sad. They meant well. They wanted to tell us: This should not happen. America shouldn´t meddle. This is not WWII. We won´t get statues and memorials and see people with tears in their eyes still thanking us years later. No, they hate us, they want us out and if we don´t get it, they shoot us up.
A few final words on the actors.
Jessica Biel: Very bad start but then okish.
Samuel L. Jackson: He can’t really be very bad, can he? No, unless he unconvincingly tries to play a drunk. But he has his moments still.
Brian Presley: Who´s that geek? He´d be good in a movie like My Beautiful Laundrette. But only for the looks. Talentwise it´s rather… well…any bad series. Whatever.
Chad Michael Murray: How to get shot and look ridiculous at it. He should keep on making series like One Tree Hill (not that I´d watch that) or movies like Cinderella Story.
50Cent: Mumble, mumble, mumble or How do I act without having the tiniest facial muscle move.
Christina Ricci: What the heck were you thinking accepting this role?
The only good thing was the movie´s attempt at showing that medication is no solution to trauma and consequential sleeplessness. It´s in the end no better than drinking. You can´t ignore the trauma, you can´t block it, you have to accept it and talk about it.
War Movie Soundtrack: Black Hawk Down by Hans Zimmer
Many war movies have incredible soundtracks with haunting music that contributes to the appeal of the films themselves.
One of the most outstanding is the soundtrack to Black Hawk Down by the renowned German composer Hans Zimmer. He´s the creator of many famous film soundtracks. He did the score for The Thin Red Line, Gladiator, The Last Samurai, King Arthur and The Pacific, to name but a few.
Film Pictures Quiz I
How good is your visual memory?
Test it.
You´ll find a series of pictures below. Try to find out from what movie they have been taken before clicking on the mpicture or the link underneath it.
Never seen a war movie? What should you watch?
Now that would be something I would enjoy! Someone approaching me and asking for a recommendation, an introduction to the genre. Preferably someone who has a very bad opinion of war movies, possibly thinking all there is is Rambo trying to get to win this time and the like.
What a challenge that would be. I would tell him/her to watch… And now what? Just fantasizing about it leads me into nowhere land. Typical, when you want to get it right, you put yourself under pressure…
You would want to be a bit sneaky. Knowing the person´s taste in movies you would probably try to match your choice to that. But what if you don´t.
I would disadvise anybody in my shoes to suggest to watch one of the infantry combat movies like Hamburger Hill. I wouldn’t even suggest When Trumpets Fade even though I think it has a poetic quality. But that would be lost on the novice who most probably would only see the blood and pain.
On the other hand I would not advise to choose what I have named Wartime movies elsewhere. No Casablanca or The Man who cried (2000) (did I already mention how much I love this movie?).
A good start would be one of the air battle movies or a U-Boot movie since those are by far less bloody. Or one, like Merry Christmas /Joyeux Noel, that tells a true and very beautiful story.
OK, I think I got it.
This is what I would suggest you´d watch if you had never seen a war movie.
Dark Blue World (2001), Air Combat WWII
Merry Christmas (2005), Infantry, Trenches WWI
Das Boot (1981) U-Boot WWII
Glory (1989) Infantry Combat Civil War
Or what do you think?
101 War Movies You Must See Before You Die (2009)
101 War Movies You Must See Before You Die (2009) is a very nicely done reference book, part of a whole series of 101 or 1001 movies you must see before you die books. Picture books actually.
It’s ordered chronologically and contains colour photographs of the movie posters, naming of Cast & Crew, followed by a detailed description of the movie and some words on its importance. Additionally there is a colour photo of a scene depicting one or the other crucial moment of the movie with its description.
It is very nice to look at especially for those enthusiastic about movie posters. The entries are not very critical but this seems only normal since the aim was to choose 101 must-see movies so one can safely assume the authors rated them all as outstanding.
From a purist’s point of view I think that the editors chose to include a lot of movies that are normally part of subgenres that the die-hard war movie fan would exclude. They therefore added movies like Schindler’s List (1993) that you could rather call a wartime movie or Last of The Mohicans (1992)which is more of a War/Action Romance film.
Looking at their choices I think one of their main criteria was the esthetics of a movie and to a certain extent it’s blockbuster value, meaning how much of a story beyond the pure historical facts was told (totally contrary to Gary Freitas who would choose accuracy and history over story). This is why Platoon was included but neither Hamburger Hill (1987) nor 84 Charlie MoPic (1989) that are on many levels better.
Since I do not tend to be as strict as many, and would maybe even include Casablanca (1942) (which they didn’t include) I don’t mind their approach.
But what really does it for me are the pictures. I just love those posters. They are an art form in their own right.
Women in War Movies
War movies are a genre in which women will rarely if ever play major roles.
However there are a few that come to mind immediately.
Nurses
Mothers
Wives
Girl friends
Resistance fighters
Soldiers
Officers
Victims
The nurse is by far the most common role. In many movies they are very prominent. Especially in the sub genre of the war romance they get more than just small roles. (Yes, Pearl Harbor (2001) comes to mind, but…)
Some fine examples of nurses can be found in The Lighthorsemen (1987), In Love and War (1996), The English Patient (1996).
Mothers, wives, fiancées are often found at the very beginning of a movie, when the soldiers leave their homes like in Dark Blue World aka Tmavomodry svet (2001). We often see them again, reading a letter arriving from the field as in The Thin Red Line (1998). They serve as a sort of counterpoint to make the contrast between those who fight and those who stayed home even bigger. Then, you may find them once more at the very end, when the soldiers return home. One of the most poignant and touching wives is Madeleine Stowe in We Were Soldiers (2002). The story moves back and forth between the battle field and the home front depicting the agony the soldier´s wives went through when the telegrams arrived telling them one of their husbands had been killed.
Nurses become very often soldiers’ girl-friends which makes the two roles blend into each other. But many of the classic girl friends in movies depicting the second WW are the girls the men encounter in the countries they are shipped to. The American soldiers in The Pacific for example have Australian girl friends.
The role of the resistance fighter is quite a noble one. Not very frequent but appealing. Cate Blanchett as Charlotte Gray (2001) comes to mind. Or the women in Uprising (2001). And definitely Sophie Scholl (2005). The latest example of this kind is Carice van Houten as the jewish woman Rachel Stein who joins the Dutch resistance after having survived a massacre in the brilliant Black Book aka Zwartboek (2006).
Female soldiers that are even involved in combat are not very frequent. The most remarkable one I remember is the Vietnamese sniper in Full Metal Jacket (1987). A further female soldier is played by Demi Moore in G.I. Jane (1997) where she is said to be the first woman to have been granted access to the navy SEALS.
Women as officers is by far more common. Again Demi Moore played a role in the excellent legal drama A Few Good Men (1992). And then there is Meg Ryan as medevac chopper pilot Capt. Karen Walden in Courage under Fire (1996).
Unfortunately some of the above mentioned portraits of women in war movies are quite questionable and have been criticised repeatedly (especially G.I. Jane).
I almost forgot the victims. Inexcusable. There are as innumerable female victims in real wars as there are high numbers in movies. One of the saddest are the victims in Vietnam war movies. I think of Platoon (1986) and Casualties of War (1989). They are not the only ones. Of course not.
My favourite heroines are Cate Blanchett as Charlotte Gray, the wonderful Juliette Binoche as nurse in The English Patient and, another nurse, Sandra Bullock in In Love and War, and the outstanding Julia Jentsch as Sophie Scholl. The first two are based on novels, the other two on historical facts. Sandra Bullock plays the nurse Ernest Hemingway fell in love with when he fought in Italy during WWI.
Christ and The War Movie Hero
Don’t get alarmed! I’m not going to be blasphemous here. I have just been wondering about this coincidence/symmetry for quite a while and would like to give you something to ponder.
In 1986 Oliver Stone did Platoon starring Willem Dafoe as one of the main characters whose death has written film history and is also depicted on the movie’s poster. The hero who sacrifices himself.
1988 Willem Dafoe played the role of Christ in Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of the Christ.
1998 one of the main characters in A Thin Red Line, the most pensive one, is played by James Caviezel.
2004 Mel Gibson, who had major roles in many a war movie, chose James Caviezel as Christ in The Passion of the Christ.
With regards to The Passion of the Christ one must add that there aren’t many movies out there that are more graphic, gory and bloody. One of the longest agonies in film history.
It’ s about death and dying again.
The Pacific 4 (2010): Rain on Cape Gloucester or The Weather in War Movies
S
ince I saw Stalingrad in which soldiers die in the snow or the episode Bastogne in Band of Brothers I consider the weather to be one of the key elements not only in the actual war but also in transmitting a sense of reality to the audience of war movies.
I have only seen five episodes of The Pacific so far. Episode 4 was the first to really grip me. It’s raining and raining endlessly. The morale of the soldiers gets lower and lower. There is no escaping this torrential downpour. Whoever has been in the tropics knows that this is not the kind of rain we Europeans or Americans are used to. There is the humidity, the violence and the noise. Yes, this kind of rain is as noisy as a constant shower open at full blast and as violent. If you are in a solid house maybe you could ignore it but in a hut or a tent…No way.
Incredible somehow that after all the heavy fighting the soldiers have been through at Guadalcanal it is the rain that finishes some of them off.
With all the natural disasters and extreme weather conditions that have always been taking their toll it is amazing we humans are not more humble. Or is this one of our well-kept secrets that fighting each other and subduing one another helps us fool ourselves into believing we are stronger than we are.
