Gettysburg (1993)

Director: ronald f. maxwell
Writers: michael shaara (novel), ronald f. maxwell (screenplay)
Tear: 1993
Genre: drama, history, war, western
Stars: tom berenger, martin sheen, stephen lang, jeff daniels, patrick gorman, james patrick stuart

The four and 1/4 hour depiction of the historical and personal events surrounding and including the decisive American civil war battle features thousands of civil war re-enactors marching over the exact ground that the federal army and the army of North Virginia fought on. The defense of the Little Round Top and Pickett's Charge are highlighted in the actual three day battle which is surrounded by the speeches of the commanding officers and the personal reflections of the fighting men. Based upon the novel 'The Killer Angels'.

The three day battle that was a turning point in the Civil War is shown from the perspectives of both sides, highlighting the fight for Little Round Top, and Pickett's Charge. Other focuses include Longstreet(not"Longsreet") and Lee's relationship as they have differing strategic opinions, Armistead fighting on the opposite side of his old friend Hancock, and the Chamberlain brothers

Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)

Fat Man & Little Boy is the story of the Manhattan Project, through which the U.S. developed the atomic bomb. It focuses on the uneasy relationship between the Pentagon general in charge of the project, General Lesley Groves and J. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientific director of he project.

SUBJECTS — U.S./1941 - 1945 & New Mexico; Science-Technology;
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING — Teamwork;
MORAL-ETHICAL EMPHASIS — Responsibility.

Source: teachwithmovies.org
Poster: amazon.com

Danger Within (1959)

After a clever escape plan fails, the escape committee, led by Lieutenant Colonel David Baird (Richard Todd) suspects that there is an informer in their ranks. The prime candidate is a Greek officer, Lieutenant Coutoules (Cyril Shaps), but when he is found dead in an escape tunnel, all thoughts of an informer die down. To explain his death to the Italian captors, his body is placed in an abandoned tunnel within the camp and the Italians are informed he was killed by a roof fall.

Sadistic Capitano Benucci (Peter Arne) charges Captain Roger Byfold (Donald Houston) with the murder of the Greek. The escape committee form a plan to get Byfold and two other officers (played by Peter Jones and Michael Wilding) out of the camp before he can be shot. The three scale the camp fence with a ladder constructed from two rugby posts, but Benucci is waiting and shoots them.

The race is then on to find the informer and for the rest of the inmates to escape en masse before the camp is handed over to the Germans as part of the Italian Armistice. The escape plan devised by Lieutenant Colonel Huxley (Bernard Lee) is for the prisoners to make their escape during the day, under cover of a production of Hamlet in the theatre hut by a group of POWs led by Captain Rupert Callender (Dennis Price).

Director: Don Chaffey; Producer: Colin Lesslie; Writer: Eric Ambler; Starring: Richard Todd, Michael Wilding, Richard Attenborough

Hart's War (2002)

American soldiers held in a German POW camp in late 1944, desperate to make a difference in winning the war find their effort more difficult because some of them hate other American troops more than they hate the Germans.

Lt. Thomas Hart (Colin Farrell) has headquarters duty in Belgium because he is the son of a US Senator. That changes when Germans, disguised as American soldiers, ambush and capture him.

Upon his arrival at the POW camp, he is questioned by Col. William McNamara (Bruce Willis), the ranking American officer. We sense immediately that the colonel believes that Hart gave up information when interrogated by the Germans. He assigns Hart to the enlisted men's barracks, indicating his mistrust. When it appears that Hart is starting to fit in with Sgt. Bedford (Cole Hauser), the man in charge there and a deal maker with the German guards, operating a brisk trade for cigarettes and new boots, along come two black pilots downed by the Germans. Tuskegee Airmen, members of the 99th Fighter Squadron, these black officers upset things when they are also assigned to the same barracks as Hart. The presence of Lt. Archer (Vicellous Shannon) and Lt. Scott (Terrence Howard) challenges the authority of the white enlisted men in the segregated Army of 1944.

Lt. Hart is assigned to defend Scott and as he begins his legal discovery, Hart learns something that can free his defendant. However, the disclosure would arguably cause a greater harm than Lt. Scott being executed if found guilty. The soldiers never forget that they are in a war. The climax of the film looks at what being a patriot means in the sense of "the greater good." Lt. Scott, Lt. Hart and Col. McNamara each have a chance to become a hero.

Source: George O. Singleton | 2002 | reelmoviecritic.com
Poster: mov99.com

From Here To Eternity (1953)

Director: Fred Zinnermann
Writers: Daniel Taradash (screenplay), James Jones (novel)
Genre: drama, romance, war
Year: 1953
Actors/actresses: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Debora Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Warden.

It's 1941. Robert E. Lee Prewitt has requested Army transfer and has ended up at Schofield in Hawaii. His new captain, Dana Holmes, has heard of his boxing prowess and is keen to get him to represent the company. However, 'Prew' is adamant that he doesn't box anymore, so Captain Holmes gets his subordinates to make his life a living hell. Meanwhile Sergeant Warden starts seeing the captain's wife, who has a history of seeking external relief from a troubled marriage. Prew's friend Maggio has a few altercations with the sadistic stockade Sergeant 'Fatso' Judson, and Prew begins falling in love with social club employee Lorene. Unbeknownst to anyone, the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor looms in the distance.

In Hawaii in the months preceding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Pvt. Robert E. Lee Pruitt reports for his hew assignment as an infantryman. At his previous Post, Pruitt was a bugler and his unit's top boxer. After a man died in the ring however, Pruitt wants nothing to do with the sport. Trouble is, his new company commander, Captain Dana Holmes, has the championship boxing team and Pruitt's refusal to box results in most of the NCOs giving him a pretty hard time. Pruitt forms a close friendship with another GI, Angelo Maggio, who makes the mistake of crossing Sgt. Fatso Judson, the man in charge of the stockade. When Judson effectively beats Maggio to death, Pruitt seeks his revenge. Meanwhile, Company First Sgt. Milt Warden pursues and has an affair with Capt. Holmes's beautiful wife, Karen.

Source: imdb.com
Photo: www.impawards.com

All Quiet on the Western Front

Paul Baumer is a young German who, along with his graduating high school classmates, enlist in the German Imperial Army during the First World War. Originally thinking war would be a great adventure, Paul and his friends discover exactly the opposite as the war drags on and one by one the members of the class are killed in action until only Paul remains.

Paul Baumer, a healthy optimist, graduates during World War I and like his twenty classmates volunteers for the German imperial army. Their naives romantic illusion starts turning sour during training in Oldenburg under sadistic corporal Himmelstoss, who later proves himself a coward at the front, yet is decorated by Kaiser Wilhelm, unlike many braver boys. Sensitive Franz Kemmerich, the friend whose mother made Paul promise to watch over his mate, is the first to perish in hospital, where amputations and neglect abound, yet when it's Paul's turn to be treated for a wound he survives. Many friends perish on the French battle fields or in the trenches: hellholes under shell - and toxic gas-threat, full of mud and corps-picking rats, where veteran Stanislaus 'Kat' Katczinsky tries to teach the ever younger recruits practical survival skills, although often too late. Even easy killing of enemies becomes gruesome when the boys meet a deadly wounded French soldier and hungry girls face to face.

Source: Anthony Huges | KGF Vissers | imdb.com
Poster: gothtronic.com

The One That Got Away (1957)

The One That Got Away is a 1957 World War II film directed by Roy Ward Baker, starring Hardy Krüger and featuring Michael Goodliffe, Jack Gwillim and Alec McCowen. The screenplay was written by Howard Clewes based on the 1956 book of the same name by Kendal Burt and James Leasor, which chronicled the true exploits of Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, a German flyer shot down over England south of Marden, Kent.

Franz von Werra (Hardy Krüger) is shot down during the Battle of Britain, and captured soon afterwards. Sent to a POW camp (based on the Hayes Conference Centre) in the north of England, he makes a number of escape attempts, on one occasion getting as far as the cockpit of an aircraft he was trying to steal while passing himself off as a Dutch pilot on a secret mission. He is then sent to Canada, where he escapes from a heavily guarded train. Walking overland and crossing a frozen river, he manages to enter the United States, which at that time was still neutral, and claim asylum.

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war film by Stanley Kubrick, based on the novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford. The title refers to the full metal jacket bullet type of ammunition used by infantry riflemen. The film follows a squad of U.S. Marines from their Boot Camp through their participation in the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War.

The film is divided into two parts. In the first part, a group of new recruits in the United States Marine Corps have just arrived at Parris Island for recruit training. After they have their heads shaved, they meet their drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey), who wastes no time in starting the process of making these civilians into Marines. The Vietnam War is in full swing, and his job is to produce trained Marines. The film's first section focuses on the physical and psychological treatment of the recruits, in particular Leonard Lawrence (Vincent D'Onofrio), whom Hartman derisively nicknames "Gomer Pyle."

Hartman immediately pegs Pyle as a misfit. He is socially awkward, dimwitted, overweight, out of shape, and afraid of heights. He has trouble coping with the physical rigors of recruit training and does not respond well to orders and procedures. These deficiencies get the constant attention of Hartman, who punishes him to encourage him to perform better as well as to provide a lesson to the others. Hartman ultimately appoints the protagonist "Joker" (Matthew Modine) as Pyle's squad leader, bunkmate, and mentor, stressing that Joker will set Pyle straight, or else. Pyle eventually begins to straighten up and become a more disciplined recruit on some fronts, but forgets to lock his footlocker before a barracks inspection. Opening it, Hartman finds a contraband jelly doughnut inside and immediately puts a new rule into effect: every time Pyle "fucks up", Hartman will punish everyone else in the platoon because they are not helping Hartman by encouraging Pyle to work harder toward becoming a Marine. Shortly afterward, the other recruits gang up on Pyle during the night and give him a blanket party, pinning him to his bunk using a blanket and beating him severely with bars of soap wrapped in towels and socks. Joker, the last one to hit Pyle, covers his ears once he is back in his bunk to block out the latter's moaning and sobbing. Wikipedia

Reach For the Sky (1956)

Reach for the Sky is a 1956 British biographical film of aviator Douglas Bader, based on the 1954 biography of the same name by Paul Brickhill. The film stars Kenneth More and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. It won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film of 1956.

The film tells the story of Douglas Bader, a pilot who lost both legs in a flying accident in 1931. He persuaded the RAF to let him re-join the service at the start of World War II and fought in the Battle of Britain. He was taken prisoner in 1941 after being forced to bail out over France, and was later imprisoned in Colditz Castle. The film continues to his release in 1945 when Bader is again able to lead his men in a flypast commemorating the war's end. Wikipedia.

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

The film begins in February 1942 as the United States Army Air Forces plan to retaliate for the Pearl Harbor attack by bombing Tokyo and four other Japanese cities. Lt Col "Jimmy" Doolittle (Spencer Tracy), the leader of the mission, assembles a volunteer force of aircrews who begin their top secret training by learning to take their B-25 Mitchell medium bombers off in the short distance of 500 feet or less to simulate taking off from the deck of an aircraft carrier. After depicting the squadron's month of hazardous training in Florida, the story goes on to describe the raid's successful launch from the carrier USS Hornet, the harrowing attacks on Japan by the 16 B-25s, and the raid's aftermath.

While en route to Japan, the Hornet's task force is discovered by Japanese picket boats, and the bombers are forced to take off twelve hours early at the extreme limit of their range. After their successful attack on Japan, all but one of the planes run out of fuel before reaching their recovery airfields in China. As a result, their crews are forced to either bail out over China or crash land along the coast (one plane landed safely in Russia and its crew was interned for over a year). Lawson's B-25 unexpectedly crashes in the surf while trying to land on a beach in darkness and heavy rain. He and his crew survive, but then face tremendous hardships and danger while being escorted to American lines by friendly Chinese. While still in China, Lawson has a leg amputated by the mission's flight surgeon as a result of his serious crash injuries. The film ends with Lawson being reunited with his wife Ellen in a Washington, DC, hospital. Wikipedia

In Harm's Way (1965)

In Harm's Way, based on James Bassett's novel Harm's Way, has enough plot in it for four movies or a good miniseries (when it was shown on network television in prime time, it was broken into two very full nights). On the morning of December 7, 1941, a heavy cruiser, commanded by Captain Rockwell Torrey (John Wayne), and the destroyer Cassidy, under acting commander Lieutenant (jg) William McConnell (Thomas Tryon), are two of a handful of ships that escape the destruction of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Under Torrey's command, the tiny fleet of a dozen ships carries out its orders to seek out and engage the enemy fleet. But lack of fuel and a daring maneuver (but tragic miscalculation) by Torrey causes his ship to be seriously damaged. He's relieved of command and assigned to a desk job routing convoys in the shakeup following the attack, and his exec and oldest friend, Commander Paul Eddington (Kirk Douglas), is reassigned after a brawl, the result of his anger after identifying the body of his wife (Barbara Bouchet) who was killed during the attack while cavorting with an Marine Corps officer.

Torrey's shore assignment leads him to reestablish contact on a very hostile level with his estranged son, Ensign Jere Torrey (Brandon de Wilde), from his long-ended marriage; he establishes a romantic relationship with Lt. Maggie Haynes (Patricia Neal), a navy nurse; and he also befriends Commander Egan Powell (Burgess Meredith), a special-intelligence officer. Partly as a result of his contact with Powell, Torrey is chosen by the commander of the Pacific Fleet (Henry Fonda) to salvage an essential operation called Sky Hook, which has become bogged down through the indecisiveness of its area commander, Vice Admiral Broderick (Dana Andrews). Promoted to rear admiral, with Eddington -- who'd been rotting away on a shore assignment, drunk most of the time -- assigned as his chief of staff, Torrey gets Sky Hook rolling and finally finds his purpose in this war, gaining the belated admiration of his son in the process. Eddington is similarly motivated but is still haunted by the violent, ultimately self-destructive demons that blighted his marriage and his life -- he is particularly attracted to a young nurse, Annalee Dohrn (Jill Haworth), not knowing that she is already involved romantically with Jere Torrey. Meanwhile, McConnell survives the sinking of his ship and is ordered to join Torrey's staff. Matters all come to a head when the Japanese begin a counter-offensive to Torrey's planned troop landing. And just at the time Torrey needs his men at their best, Eddington's violence and rage boil to the surface in a way that will destroy him and blight both men's lives. In a final attempt at redemption, Eddington provides Torrey with the information he needs to set up a battle that he has at least a chance of winning, pitting his small task group of destroyers and cruisers against the Japanese task force led by the Yamato, the largest battleship ever built. - Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

A Bridge Too Far (1977)

It's late 1944, and the Allied armies are confident they'll win the World War II and be home in time for Christmas. What's needed, says British general Bernard Law Montgomery, is a knockout punch, a bold strike through Holland, where German troops are spread thin, that will put the Allies into Germany. Paratroops led by British major general Robert Urquhart (Sean Connery) and American brigadier general James Gavin (Ryan O'Neal) will seize a thin road and five bridges through Holland into Germany, with paratroops led by Lieutenant Col. John Frost (Sir Anthony Hopkins) holding the most critical bridge at a small town called Arnhem. Over this road shall pass combined forces led by British Lieutenant Gen. Brian Horrocks (Edward Fox) and British Lieutenant Col. Joe Vandeleur (Michael Caine). The plan requires precise timing, so much so that one planner tells Lieutenant Gen. Frederick Browning (Dirk Bogarde), "Sir, I think we may be going a bridge too far." The plan also has one critical flaw: Instead of a smattering of German soldiers, the area around Arnhem is loaded with crack SS troops. Disaster ensues. Based on a book by historian Cornelius Ryan, A Bridge Too Far is reminiscent of another movie based on a Ryan book, The Longest Day. Like that movie, it is loaded with more than 15 international stars, including Sir Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Hardy Krueger, Gene Hackman, Maximilian Schell, and Liv Ullman. - Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide.

Sergeant York (1941)

When World War I hero Alvin York agreed to sell the movie rights to his life story to Warner Bros., it was on three conditions: (1) That the film contains no phony heroics, (2) that Mrs.York not be played by a Hollywood "glamour girl" and (3) That Gary Cooper portray York on screen. All three conditions were met, and the result is one of the finest and most inspirational biographies ever committed to celluloid. When the audience first meets young farmer Alvin York (Cooper), he's the cussin'est, hell-raisin'est critter in the entire Tennessee Valley. All of this changes when York is struck by lighting during a late-night rainstorm. Chalking up the bolt from the blue as a message from God, York does a complete about-face and finds Religion, much to the delight of local preacher Rosier Pile (Walter Brennan). Despite plenty of provocation, York vows never to get angry at anyone ever again, determining to be a good husband and provider for his sweetheart Gracie Williams (Joan Leslie). When America goes to war in 1917, York elects not to answer the call when drafted, declaring himself a conscientious objector. Forced to go to boot camp, he proves himself a born leader, yet still he balks at the thought of killing anyone. York's understanding commanding officer Major Buxton (Stanley Ridges) slowly convinces the young pacifist that violence is sometimes the only way to defend Democracy. Later on, while serving with the AEF in the Argonne Forest, Sergeant York sees several of his buddies, including his Bronxite best pal Pusher Ross (George Tobias), killed in an enemy ambush. His anger aroused, York personally kills 25 German soldiers, then single-handedly captures 132 prisoners. As a result, York becomes the most decorated hero of WW1, celebrated by no less than General John J. Pershing as "the greatest civilian soldier" of the war. The film won Gary Cooper his first Academy Award, and also picked up an Oscar for Best Film Editing. Not surprisingly, it ended up as the highest-grossing film of 1941. (by Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide)

Memphis Belle (1990)

Memphis Belle is set in 1943, when long range fighter escorts for the bombers flying over continental Europe were not yet available. The losses of long range bombers and their crews were heavy. The emotional toll on the survivors grew with each mission. This film looks at the daylight bombing campaign from the standpoint of the crews of the bombers. The film gives the viewer a feeling for what it was like to fly in a B-17 during a mission.

The crew of the Memphis Belle was one of the first B-17 crews to complete 25 daylight bombing raids over Germany and occupied Europe during WW II. The film is a fictional account of their 25th and last combat mission. If the crew can survive this flight, they will take the plane on a publicity tour throughout the U.S. Their new mission will be a much safer one, to sell war bonds.

Patton (1970)

Patton (1970) is the epic film biography of the controversial, bombastic, multi-dimensional World War II general and hero George S. Patton. The larger-than-life, flamboyant, maverick, pugnacious military figure, nicknamed "Old Blood and Guts," was well-known for his fierce love of America, his temperamental battlefield commanding, his arrogant power-lust ("I love it. God help me, I do love it so. I love it more than my life"), his poetry writing, his slapping of a battle-fatigued soldier, his anti-diplomatic criticism of the Soviet Union, and his firing of pistols at fighter planes.

The film, shot in 70 mm. widescreen color, received a phenomenal ten Academy Awards nominations and won seven major awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Scott refused to accept the honor), Best Director (Franklin J. Schaffner), Best Story and Screenplay (Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Sound, and Best Film Editing. Its other three nominations were: Best Cinematography, Best Original Score (Jerry Goldsmith), and Best Special Visual Effects. The story was based on two books: Patton: Ordeal and Triumph by Ladislas Farago and A Soldier's Story by General Omar Bradley (portrayed by Karl Malden). As a result of Coppola's breakthrough win in 1970, he went on to write and direct The Godfather (1972).

Although George C. Scott portrayed the famous general perfectly and became Scott's archetypal film, the role was also considered by Burt Lancaster, Rod Steiger, Lee Marvin, Robert Mitchum and John Wayne. The subject matter was remade as a TV-movie entitled The Last Days of Patton (1986), also with Scott in the lead role.

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

This movie is a fictionalized account of the war crimes trial of judges and prosecutors who served the Nazis.

Judgment at Nuremberg depicts a watershed event: the first trials, based on principles of justice and international law, of the leaders of a country that waged aggressive war and committed crimes against humanity. The film is a gripping, searching and provocative look at the moral issues surrounding both the actions of the accused and the process of bringing them to justice. The film also explores the issue of whether ordinary Germans bore responsibility for the Holocaust.

Europa! Europa (1991)

This is the true story of Solomon (Solly) Perel, a 13-year-old German-Jewish boy who was separated from his family after the Hitler-Stalin pact partitioned Poland (August, 1939). When he fled to Russian occupied Poland, Solly was placed in a Soviet orphanage where he joined the Komsomol, the Communist youth organization. When Hitler invaded Russia (June, 1941) Solly was captured by the German Army. In order to avoid being sent to a concentration camp, he convinced his captors that he was an ethnic German. Solly, now fluent in Russian, was used by the German Army as an interpreter. Eventually, he escaped again and was reunited with his brother.

They Were Expendable (1945)

From landmark director John Ford comes the classic They Were Expendable, starring none other than John Wayne as Lt. "Rusty" Ryan. One of the cool things about WWII movies is that there's just so many of them, and as such, they had to drill down and focus on particular units or what-have-you in order to get things interesting.

In They Were Expendable, we get a good look at the beginnings of the Motor Torpedo Boat, basically a (very) small ship with four torpedo tubes mounted on the deck. With the ability to get in and out of a situation very quickly, according to this film, they needed to prove their abilities before Navy brass would sign off on the idea.

They get to do just that, after running such dull and safe missions as messenger duty and shuttling officers to and from, when they are hit at the Phillipines by Japanese forces, things change. Lt. Brickley (Robert Montgomery) finally gets his chance to show what they're made of.

Interesting is the depiction of the MTB "fleet", as they move from location to location throughout the Pacific, taking on serious casualties and losses along the way. The usual oh-so positive outlook on the war and the men just isn't there. Rather there's always an air of despair and loss among them.

Even in the love story with nurse Sandy Davyss (Donna Reed). Usually I'm not a big fan of injecting the "love story" angle into war films, but I have to make an exception here. Its done with a certain frankness and solemness that you usually don't see. Especially in the final moments at Corregidor where Rusty tries desperately to reach her on the field phone. I dunno, it just works here. The "dinner party" is an especially interesting scene, as all in attendance realize quite obviously how silly and forced the whole thing is.

Under the Flag of the Rising Sun (1972)

In Under the Flag of the Rising Sun, a war widow searches for the true reason behind her husband's death, and why she's been unable to collect survivor benefits. It turns out he has been classified a traitor and a deserter, and the exact cause of his death listed as 'unknown'.

She sets out on a quest to find the people he served with, to determine the real story behind the government smokescreen. The people she visits give her parts of the story, never quite enough to fully develop a picture, until at last she returns to the first person she visits, who finally reveals the full truth.

What's that you might ask? Well, in short, her husband was neither a traitor or a deserter, but was executed along with two other members of his squad after they killed an officer who basically put them through hell. The remaining member has lived with his guilt over the incident, and has basically gone a little crazy because of it.

While the movie plays out like a detective story/murder mystery, it is decidedly an anti-war film, as we are dealt cards dealing with the aftermath of combat on the survivors, and the issues of the men enlisted to fight for a cause they don't necessarily believe in.

Heaven &Earth (1993)

Heaven & Earth is Oliver Stone's final entry in his Vietnam Trilogy, and likely the most controversial of the three. Following the trials of a Vietnamese girl, Le Ly (Bussaro Sanruck) from a young girl at the outset of the war, all the way through to far after.

Le grows up in a small village in rural Vietnam, far from the politics the rest of the world. Honestly, I'm sitting here trying to think about how to summarize the first part of this film in a nice neat package, and there just isn't a good way. It's just that complex, taking Le from the village, to fighting for the VC, to being the VC's enemy, to having a her rich boss' baby... And much more inbetween. This is the best part of the film, showing how she copes with life during the war, trying to make the best of a bad situation. The relationships with all of her family members, including her mother (Joan Chen) and father (Haing Ngor) are complex, sad, and wonderful.

And then she meets Marine Steve Butler, an American looking for some company. She winds up falling for him, and manages to escape the fall of Saigon with him back to America. And then film takes a turn.

The Thin Red Line (1998)

Whereas Spielberg got his point across by using thousands of bullets in “Saving Private Ryan,” director Terrence Malick did so with a choice few reserved for key moments in telling a story about events surrounding the battle of Guadacanal. Adapted from a novel by James Jones, it’s a poetic discourse on the impact of war upon the hopes and dreams of young men. Malick juxtaposes the blood and gore and madness with the serenity and beauty of nature to great effect. Actors love Malick, so it’s no surprise he was able to round up a top-notch cast headed by Sean Penn, Jim Caviezel, Nick Nolte, John C. Reilly, Adrien Brody, John Travolta, John Cusack, Woody Harrelson and George Clooney. The gorgeous cinematography by John Toll is almost a character itself, and it complements the film’s heart-rending tone perfectly. While it wasn’t ignored upon release — the Academy honored it with seven nominations, including two for Malick — it’s likely this will gain stature in the years to come.

The Great Escape (1963)

John Sturges directed this testosterone-filled, fact-based adventure yarn about the mother of all escape attempts from a German POW camp. The iconic image is that of Steve McQueen high-tailing it away from his Nazi pursuers, but summing it up by that alone is selling it way short. The strength of this picture is in the battalion of supporting actors playing expertly crafted roles, among them Charles Bronson, Sir Richard Attenborough, James Garner, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn and David McCallum. There are equal amounts of revealing character moments and white-knuckle thrills, thanks to the crackling screenplay by James Clavell and W.R. Burnett. The film was passed over by the Academy, garnering just one nomination for film editing. But it has gone on to occupy a hallowed place in the annals of war films as well as inspiring new generations of motorcycle enthusiasts.

Casablanca (1942)

This is a love story and not a boots-and-bayonets saga, but it’s one of the greatest American films of all time. And it works so well because of the stakes involved, as the Nazis are the primary reason why Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is rooted in his café in Casablanca and why Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) and Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) are on the lam and why they all come together in an exquisite script by Julius and Philip Epstein and Howard Koch. An unsung hero is director Michael Curtiz, who allows a patriotic fervor to bubble underneath as the love triangle unfolds but never lets it all get overcooked. And this film features one of the finest supporting casts ever, featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and, of course, Dooley Wilson as Sam. While it is fictional, it helped to illustrate how the war touched places around the globe that had seemed like sanctuaries. “Casablanca” snagged Oscars for best picture as well as for its director and writers.

The Lions Has Wings

Tahun: 1939
Tema: Propaganda Kerajaan Inggris.
Sutradara: Michael Powell, Brian Desmond Hurt, Adrian Brunel, Alexander Korda
Produser: Alexander Korda dan Ian Dalrymple
Pemeran: Merle Oberon, Ralph Richardson, June Duprez

Menceritakan tentang perjalanan kisah seorang pejabat senior Royal Air Force (RAF) bernama Ralph Richardson dan keluarganya.

Film ini diawali dengan ringkasan tentang perbandingan kehidupan di Inggris dengan Nazi Jerman, yang dikemukakan oleh narator E.V.H. Emmett.

Film juga menceritakan tentang pengeboman terhadap kapal perang Jerman di Terusan Kiel.

Seperti halnya propaganda lainnya, tidak semua hal yang dikisahkan dalam film "The Lion Has Wings" menunjukkan fakta yang sesungguhnya, namun banyak sekali nilai kebenaran di dalamnya. Contohnya, penggunaan radar untuk kepentingan pertahanan pada waktu itu tidak disebutkan karena masih dianggap rahasia. Kemudian adanya adegan Luftwaffe, angkatan udara Jerman, yang membombardir kota London

The Caine Mutiny

Sutradara: Edward Dmytryk
Produser: Stanley Kramer
Pemeran: Humphrey Bogart, Jose Ferrer, Van Johnson, Fred M. Murray

Film ini diilhami oleh novel best-seller Herman Wouk yang berjudul "Big As The Ocean" yang memenangkan penghargaan Pulitzer tahun 1951. Screenplay ditulis oleh Stanley Roberts. Menceritakan tentang aspek-aspek negatif kehidupan militer. Masuk akal jika pihak Angkatan Laut merasa keberatan dengan pemutaran film ini. Diceritakan adanya gangguan mental yang diderta oleh seorang kapten pada sebuah kapal perang (terobsesi untuk mencuri buah strawberry). Setelah melalui perjuangan dan negosiasi yang alot akhirnya Columbia Pictures (melalui kepala studionya waktu itu, Harry Cohn) berhasil merangkul AL hingga bersedia meminjamkan kapal, pesawat tempur, dan akses menuju Pearl Harbor dan pelabuhan San Francisco.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Setting: Prancis
Tahun: 1957
Tema: petualangan, kampanye anti-perang, epik
Sutradara: David Lean

Film ini dibuat berdasarkan novel berjudul "The Bridge on the River Kwai" karya Pierre Boulle (1954). Boulle sendiri lebih terkenal sebagai penulis 'screenplay' dalam film Planet of the Apes (1963). Cerita film ini adalah tentang peristiwa yang terjadi selama Perang Dunia II berlangsung, yakni kisah yang dialami oleh Letnan Kolonel Philip Toosey. Sebagai salah seorang tawanan (Prisoner of War) tentara sekutu, Toosey bertugas memimpin pasukannya antara akhir 1942 dan Mei 1943 dalam pembangunan dua buah jembatan yang melintasi Sungai Kwai di Burma (sekarang Maynmar). Jembatan ini dibangun untuk membantu transportasi pengiriman bahan makanan tentara Jepang dari Bangkok ke Rangoon (sekarang Yangoon).

Film 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' meraih tujuh Academy Awards: Film Terbaik, Aktor Terbaik (Alec Guinness), Sutradara Terbaik, Screenplay terbaik berdasarkan sumber lain (Pierre Boulle), Sinematografi Terbaik, Skor Terbaik, dan Editing Film Terbaik.

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Setting: Amerika Serikat
Tema: frustrasi, trauma akibat perang
Tahun Produksi: 1946
Sutradara: Samuel Goldwyn

Menceritakan tentang kesulitan dan trauma tiga orang veteran Perang Dunia II karena menjadi pengangguran, keterlibatan dalam dunia prostitusi dan kecanduan alkohol.

Pemeran:

Fredric March sebagai Sersan Al Stephenson
Myrna Loy sebagai isteri Stephenson
Dana Andrews sebagai Fred Derry, terlibat dalam cinta segitiga dengan Marie (Virginia Mayo) dan Peggy Stephenson (Teresa Wright)
Harold Russell sebagai pelaut Homer Parrish
Cathy O'Donnell sebagai tunangan Parrish

Ballad of A Soldier

Setting: Rusia
Tema: keberanian, kepercayaan
Tahun Produksi: 1960
Durasi: 89 menit

Film ini menceritakan seorang tentara muda yang berhasil menggagallkan serangan dua tank panzer tentara Jerman. Ia kemudian diberi hadiah berlibur ke kampung halamannya oleh komandan tentara Rusia.

Latar belakang dari film ini adalah pendudukan tentara Jerman. Ribuan tentara Rusia ditangkap. Invasi Jerman berlangsung pada musim dingin tahun 1941 dan berhasil menduduki kota Leningrad. Pada tahun 1943 Rusia kembali merebutnya setelah terjadi pertempuran (Battle of Stalingrad) antara Agustus 1942 dan Januari 1943.