For what it is worth, saw this movie on the telly a while back, and watched it with my father, who was stationed in Germany during the movies time frame (72-78). At the end of it, looked at him and asked, "OK, so how far from reality was that?" He replied that it was a lot closer to reality than anyone will ever admit.

The movie? Buffalo Soldiers (2001).

That was pretty common in Korea too. Our Mess Sergeant got court-martialed and thrown out of the Army when he was caught doing it with the mess hall food supplies. (After that, our chow quality took a quantum leap in quality.) But let me underline caught. Most black marketeers in the Army aren't caught, unless they get sloppy.

All right, my son talked me into buying Sucker Punch...

It is something that only a teenager could love....but the combat scenes!

Not to bad!

Won't make my list of all time favorites, but some nice touches.

Watched "age of heroes" today. Ok, it's not oscar-winning material but it's a pretty good, low budget, WW2 movie about British commandos starring Danny Dyer and Sean Bean.

It's worth a punt as the combat scenes are surprisingly well filmed and the cats where drilled by Royal marines. Such anti-hollywood concepts as conservation of fire and single shots are used which make it more realistic than most offerings in the genre. The combat scenes are relatively short ranged aswell which adds to realism, none of these 2000 yard pistol headshots you see in hollywood flicks.

Big +1 on that one, though it's apparently pretty hard to find these days. I think I saw it on cable back in 1990 or 91 or so. Great example of a low budget war movie done right.

Also a +1.

Most recent thing I saw that was pretty interesting was Cease Fire!, made in 1953 and depicting the closing day of the Korean War. As movies go it really isn't very good, but it's supposed to be a reenactment/documentary with actual soldiers retracing a patrol they did right before the cease fire went into effect. Acting is what you'd expect from telling Joe to play himself and the plot's pretty straightforward (go on patrol, get into firefight with Chinese, have air and arty save the day, roll credits), but it's a real superb look at weapons, gear, and equipment as used right at the end of that war.

I might go way out on a limb and nominate Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back...No? OK, Oops...

Good call, a bit like saving Private Ryan though where most of the film is an anti-climax.

Caught the second part of Rough Riders last night - some really nice touches and one of the few non-SF films where the US is technologically behind. Made me think that if the ACW was the first modern war then this was a throwback!

Not movies about "modern warfare", but still to mention:

Aliens - the sequel with the Colonial Marines. Some very much clichee characters but very inspiring (IMHO that is!).

Ride with the Devil - the history of the American Civil War is not a big issue here in Germany, but I thought, it is a movie worth looking!

A strange movie. It was on TV last night in Germany. An "animated documentary" based on a real life story about Israelian Soldiers in the Lebanon 1982/83: "Waltz with Bashir"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltz_with_Bashir

It is a different kind of war movie, but it gave me a lot of food for thinking.

Ride with the deilig and waltz with bashir
 

I agree. Good Movies

A Walk in the Sun, caught that the other night on TCM...

Sergeant York

Porkchop Hill

Utu, a New Zealand film set during the Māori Wars in the 1860s. A Māori warrior in British service turns renegade after British forces destroy his village. A white farmer then seeks his own revenge after the renegade slaughters his family and destroys his homestead. This film strongly helped to reinforce my desire never to go into combat against Māoris. Big, scary, angry people seemingly built for war. I'm related to a couple of tribes by marriage and I'm really glad they're on my side!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086497/plotsummary

Some of my choices have already been mentioned, but I hadn't seen these yet:

Memphis Belle, both the original documentary and the cinematic portrayal.

Twelve O'Clock High, movie and TV series.

The Tuskegee Airmen -- late '90s docudrama about the 332nd Fighter Group.

Red Tails--story of the Tuskegee Airmen with a bit more CGI and action. Note: I had previously spoken with several of the surviving Tuskegee flyers at several air shows and reenactments--one of them described in detail the destruction of the German destroyer resulting from a machine-gun strafing run.


Combat--1960's tv series that some troops recently fighting in urban areas reportedly called upon from memory for tactics and technique.

Battleground--story of the 101st Airborne and their contribution to the Bulge.

Threads--British film about the unravelling of society and civilization after nuclear exchange. Unnerving and unsettling but good.

Jericho--TV series about a small Kansas town trying to survive after multiple terrorist nukes take out major US cities.

Escape from New York and Escape from L.A.--schlocky but fun Dystopian rebel-vs.-facist society films. And the basis for at least part of one module.;)

Tears of the Sun

Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

So Proudly We Hail--WW2 nurses on Corregidor

Since You Went Away--Home Front during WW2

The Fighting Seabees--John Wayne vs. the Japs on Guadalcanal

633 Squadron--Mosquitos on a suicide bombing mission to Norway

Glory--54th Mass in the American Civil War

Dad's Army--British sitcom about the Home Guard/Local Defense Volunteers during WW2

'Allo, 'Allo--the machinations of a French Resistance cell and the occupying German troops in a small French village.

In almost every case I can think of in any subject, the book is better than the movie. No producer, director, scriptwriter, or FX wizard can ever hope to match your imagination.

A bit OT but I have to say, if this guy's story was used as a work of fiction in a film, it would be considered over the top and a bit ridiculous.

http://www.badassoftheweek.com/lucas.html

I'd never heard of Jack Lucas before reading that article but I'm glad I have now. Jumping on one grenade to save your brothers in arms is one thing, surviving it and making a full recovery is quite another. But lying on two grenades, surviving the blast and still being conscious. Say what?

Rodger Young
 

http://www.homeofheroes.com/profiles...les_young.html

This is what Robert Heinlein's story of "Starship Troopers" was really about and why he chose the song for his protagonist's recall beacon: it's not about the super weapons, not the Ubermensch Super-Soldiers, not the rabidly fanatical political mental drones, but about the Little Guy with a lot of heart, the geeky, nerdy schlub in the trenches who does more than anyone ever expects of him or anyone.

A half-blind, half -deaf small town kid who looks like Radar O'Reilly. This story really needs to be told.

Seems he had a death wish that was never fulfilled.

In Harm's Way

The Big Red One

Gettysburg

The Longest Day

We Were Soldiers

Saving Private Ryan

Twelve O'Clock High

Letters from Iwo Jima

Das Boot

Red Dawn

Enemy at the Gates

I won't repeat the many great movies in these lists:I love most of them. I do want to tell you about a movie I watched last night:

9th Company

It's the story of Russian VDV troopers through training and into the Afghan War circa 1988-89. It reminds me of Full Metal Jacket except even better! A Russian production, the movie shows actual vehicles like T-72s, BMPs, HIND Ds, and HIP helicopters!

I can't recommend it enough.

9th Company
 

Hi Dave!
Nice to see you post again!

Someone mentioned the movie in an earlier post. I think, this is interesting to watch and it gave me actually some ideas about Soviet NPCs.

Thanks, B.T.! :)

It's been quite a year, but things are better now. I didn't forget you all, and it's good to be back.

I must not have read closely enough, but then I was very excited to talk about this movie! :D

- Dave

Eight Iron Men (1952) Lee Marvin WW2 story of a squad on the line.
Hell is for Heros (1962) Steve McQueen WW2 Seigfried Line
The Big Red One (1980) Lee Marvin The WW1 vet fighthing his second war over the same turf.

Seven Samurai (1953) directed by Akira Kurosawa.
This is my all time favorite, though with English subtitles and LONG (~3 hours) is sort of a war movie, set in medieval Japan and the basis for the US western The Magnificent Seven.

I like the WW2 and Korean war movies made in the 50s and early 60s, when they used regular explosions rather than can of gasoline fireballs for grenades etc. Plus many of the actors were veterans of the wars.. Lee Marvin was a Marine, wounded on Saipan that got him a medical discharge.