Post by drystyx on Nov 29, 2018 1:46:47 GMT
I admit to liking those WWII films from the forties that showed everything being where it was supposed to be. The enemy was in its place. The front was in its place. Everything was where the generals put the pins.
Films like SAHARA and HALLS OF MONTEZUMA lacked the chaos of real war, but they did have credible characters.
The later fifties began the chaotic approach, where the pins weren't where a general put them. There was uncertainty.
While this wasn't the case with THE BRIDGES AT TOKO RI, this was one of the films that did show the chaos of war. The hero was a true anti-hero, lacking the skills of war. He did his job, flying the jet, but in the ditch he was out of his league, and scared.
War films tend to go too much to gratifying heroics. The POW films indicate that brave soldiers who stand up to the guards are the survivors, and the cowards are shot.
History shows the opposite to usually be true. "Survival" and "cowardice" go hand in hand. O'Neill hiding beneath a corpse in a chaotic battle, he's a survivor. In real cases of mass executions of Jews by Nazis, this was a standard for survival, about the only path of survival.
We saw more of the "pins out of place" in the sixties. PLAY DIRTY, ANZIO, TOO LATE THE HERO, and THEN THERE WERE THREE were prime examples.
Perhaps the best example is JUNGLE FIGHTERS. Seven soldiers from Great Britain, representing the four countries altogether, become a motley group for an "exercise" and get in over their heads in a credible way. When they come upon a Japanese soldier and take him prisoner, some want to shoot him. But he is standing in the middle of them, which makes one of the veterans stop this idea. Meanwhile, circumstances come about to change the decision over and over, and it becomes a struggle for simple survival via retreat.
CASUALTIES OF WAR is pretty good at the chaotic look at war, too.
One that fails is APOCALYPSE NOW. It not only tries too hard, but it is a thousand times more contrived and predictable Hollywood than any of the 1940s war films where everything is in place. It's an embarrassment to all involved, though the critical acclaim makes it so no one has to admit it. Critics are jealous non-artists who praise the worst and slander the best. The old joke of "I'll probably like it; the critics hate it" has been true since the mid sixties.
PLATOON certainly comes to mind for the chaotic war film. This makes it a stark contrast to its WWI clone, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. Both are about a young infantryman enlisting with idealism and being disillusioned. In theme, they're the same film, and both based on experiences of real soldiers. But the chaotic situations are different.
COME AND SEE, which is a modern day NORTHERN STAR, has tons of chaos. In ways, Northern Star is better. Northern Star has the truth told by the leader of the resistance when he says "you who stay behind will be taking a far greater risk than we who fight.". And that is the case. But COME AND SEE looks forward to being a classic. Time will tell.
The war films I believe are best at the chaos, keeping the "credible characters in incredible circumstances" are:
1. JUNGLE FIGHTERS
2. SEVEN SAMURAI
3. THEN THERE WERE THREE
4. TOO LATE THE HERO
5. THE HURT LOCKER
6. COME AND SEE
7. ICE COLD IN ALEX
8. A MIDNIGHT CLEAR
9. 317 PLATOON
10. CASUALTIES OF WAR
11. ANZIO
12. MEN IN WAR
13. VON RYAN'S EXPRESS
14. PLATOON
15. HE ALAMO 2004
16. COMMANDOS 1968
17. THE BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI
18. PT 109
19. SOUTHERN COMFORT
20. PATHS OF GLORY
I may edit this list.
Films like SAHARA and HALLS OF MONTEZUMA lacked the chaos of real war, but they did have credible characters.
The later fifties began the chaotic approach, where the pins weren't where a general put them. There was uncertainty.
While this wasn't the case with THE BRIDGES AT TOKO RI, this was one of the films that did show the chaos of war. The hero was a true anti-hero, lacking the skills of war. He did his job, flying the jet, but in the ditch he was out of his league, and scared.
War films tend to go too much to gratifying heroics. The POW films indicate that brave soldiers who stand up to the guards are the survivors, and the cowards are shot.
History shows the opposite to usually be true. "Survival" and "cowardice" go hand in hand. O'Neill hiding beneath a corpse in a chaotic battle, he's a survivor. In real cases of mass executions of Jews by Nazis, this was a standard for survival, about the only path of survival.
We saw more of the "pins out of place" in the sixties. PLAY DIRTY, ANZIO, TOO LATE THE HERO, and THEN THERE WERE THREE were prime examples.
Perhaps the best example is JUNGLE FIGHTERS. Seven soldiers from Great Britain, representing the four countries altogether, become a motley group for an "exercise" and get in over their heads in a credible way. When they come upon a Japanese soldier and take him prisoner, some want to shoot him. But he is standing in the middle of them, which makes one of the veterans stop this idea. Meanwhile, circumstances come about to change the decision over and over, and it becomes a struggle for simple survival via retreat.
CASUALTIES OF WAR is pretty good at the chaotic look at war, too.
One that fails is APOCALYPSE NOW. It not only tries too hard, but it is a thousand times more contrived and predictable Hollywood than any of the 1940s war films where everything is in place. It's an embarrassment to all involved, though the critical acclaim makes it so no one has to admit it. Critics are jealous non-artists who praise the worst and slander the best. The old joke of "I'll probably like it; the critics hate it" has been true since the mid sixties.
PLATOON certainly comes to mind for the chaotic war film. This makes it a stark contrast to its WWI clone, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. Both are about a young infantryman enlisting with idealism and being disillusioned. In theme, they're the same film, and both based on experiences of real soldiers. But the chaotic situations are different.
COME AND SEE, which is a modern day NORTHERN STAR, has tons of chaos. In ways, Northern Star is better. Northern Star has the truth told by the leader of the resistance when he says "you who stay behind will be taking a far greater risk than we who fight.". And that is the case. But COME AND SEE looks forward to being a classic. Time will tell.
The war films I believe are best at the chaos, keeping the "credible characters in incredible circumstances" are:
1. JUNGLE FIGHTERS
2. SEVEN SAMURAI
3. THEN THERE WERE THREE
4. TOO LATE THE HERO
5. THE HURT LOCKER
6. COME AND SEE
7. ICE COLD IN ALEX
8. A MIDNIGHT CLEAR
9. 317 PLATOON
10. CASUALTIES OF WAR
11. ANZIO
12. MEN IN WAR
13. VON RYAN'S EXPRESS
14. PLATOON
15. HE ALAMO 2004
16. COMMANDOS 1968
17. THE BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI
18. PT 109
19. SOUTHERN COMFORT
20. PATHS OF GLORY
I may edit this list.
