Guide to manly, patriotic TV viewing
Far and above the best way to get your fix of hard-boiled WW2 action ever.
(Just pretend there aren't any entries on the page like this one)
posted by The Sum of All Monkeys at 5:28 PM
February 07, 2005
(Just pretend there aren't any entries on the page like this one)
5 Comments:
Other than the obvious, First Sea Lord recommends:
Twelve O' Clock High - the best on this list, shy of Casablanca; subtle, sly, tragic psychological study of leadership, impressively underplayed, and lots and lots of B-17s.
Sahara (1942) Democracy and Bogart- on a tank!
49th Parallel - oddly sweet, effective wartime Canadian propagandistic travelogue.
Action in the North Atlantic - Democracy and Bogart - on a merchant ship!
Well, it's time to get this thread going:
WWII MOVIE PLUSES AND MINUSES - (please add)
(+1 to +2 stars) Made during the war (or shortly after, such as Twelve O' Clock High, and the psot-war Third Man) Even mediocre moves made during the War have an interesting documentary quality (see Ronald Reagan giving Japanese Zero ID instructions), and unless they're totally devoid of morality, and in spite of pervasive racism, an anti-fascist solidity that I would rather welcome in most of today's movies.
+1 star: Set at sea - this strangely reduces the scope of the battle to something imaginable. (Sink the Bismark is still one of my favorites. )
-1/2 vs. the Japanese.
+1/2 vs the Nazis. Usually the characterizations are more interesting - the Germans can have conflicted motivations, unlike the admitedly racist view of the Japanese that tended to prevent an understanding of motivation.
-1/2 Unnecessary love interest. The mushy bits clog up these movies- interesting that this was more common in movies during the war, as if love in the midst of unmitigated horror was important.
John Wayne (-1 stars) This is a holdover for those of us who fathers served in WWII, and hated, hated, hated John Wayne, not so much because he didn't serve, but because of his hypocritical macho fronting and associated right-wing politics. On reflection, I think he reminded them of that sadistic streak in the military among officers who bullied their men but never risked their own lives.
(-1/2 star ) made in the 1970s with no attempt to correct completely implausible personal grooming.
(-1 to 1 and 1/2 stars) Post-war movies over-emphasizing U.S. military prowess as a subtext for anti-communism, with a tendency to be, as the Viceroy put it, full of themselves.
+1/2 to 1. Big Budget in the 1960s. Time to reflect, writers had lived the experience, anti-war, anti-fascist message was possible again. A small but important commitment to social realism.
+1 French Underground. As far as the movies go, their underground was really cool, and there is simply nothing sexier than the cynical but wise sexy french underground girl operative, particularly when it's Sophia Loren or something.
Please add freely.
+ 1/2 For actual or retouched combat footage. Gun camera footage from actual aircraft, etc.
- 1/2 For super cheesy special effects. Subs in the bathtub, obvious wires on the plane models, etc.
+ 1 For CGI special effects.
- 2 For the plot of any modern, CGI-laden WW2 movie.
+ 2 If that modern, CGI-laden WW2 movie happens to be Dark Blue World.
I have one word for you: The Dirty Dozen.
+1/2 If "La Marseillaise" is sung during the course of the movie.
+1 for the presence of James Garner.
-3 if directed by Lina Wertmüller (sorry but I'm STILL creeped out by "Seven Beauties).
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