[...] a more perfect union. Last year we had one of the most active threads in Screen Rant history, sharing the many great War/Military movies that dance in our memories this time of year. This year, we thought that instead of getting a similarly compiled, all-too-familiar list, we’d [...]

[...] a more perfect union. Last year we had one of the most active threads in Screen Rant history, sharing the many great War/Military movies that dance in our memories this time of year. This year, we thought that instead of getting a similarly compiled, all-too-familiar list, [...]

I rented”Valkyrie”this weekend.Surprisingly,it was very good.
Had Von Stauffenberg;Rommel;Beck and all the others involved
in Valkyrie had risen up against Hitler sooner,maybe the evil
of Hitler coulda been nipped in the bud!!!

Surprisingly,Tom Cruise was very beleivable as Von Stauffenberg.
A good book to read is”Fox on the Rhine”by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson.
A great book in the”Alternitive History”Category without getting into the”Lord of the Rings”Nerdery!!
The plot is this:Operation Valkyrie has succeeded and Hitler has been turned into a Big Mac for Satan!!
However,not all the head Nazis have surrendered or caught,
and Himmler takes over as Fuhrer and instigates a seperate peace with Stalin and the Soviet Union.

Meantime,Rommel and Patton meet and the German Army joins forces with the Western Allies-The US;UK and France-to battle the Waffen SS and The Soviet Union.

Really suspensful and would make a great movie!!!
(Are you listening Sony;Warners;Paramount;Fox;Dreamworks
and Universal??).

Also,this summer,Quentin Tarantino directs and Brad Pitt stars in”Inglorious Basterds”.
It’s a”Dirty Dozen”style movie about how a group of Jewish GI’s are trained and dropped into occupied France to kill Nazis!!!

A couple of overlooked films about the Civil War:”Gods and Generals”and”Cold Mountain”.
Generally derided on it’s release six years ago,the prequel to”Gettysburg”was a very good movie about the lead up to the War Between The States.
And it treated both sides fairly.
Unfortunately,groups like the Southrern Anti Poverty Law Center screamed bloody murder over it because it treated
Robert E.Lee and Stonewall Jackson with respect!!

Now look;while I’m a Great Great Grandson of two Confederates,I’m neither a Yahoo Poser or a White Supremacist!!!
Yes,Slavery was wrong!!!But in all fairness,while most Northerners were opposed to Slavery,quite a number of them
weren’t big on equal rights to both freedmen and slaves!!!
And while the SAPLC has done some notable work in the field
of civil rights,sometimes they tend to go charging after boogeymen rather than confront the real evils!!!

“Cold Mountain”was kinda long,but it treated the South with respect showing how Mountain Southerners were divided between
joining the Confederacy and remaining in the Union as well as showing how both Union Troops and Southern Home Guards
could be cruel!!

Plus Renee Zelwegger was a hoot as the Rock Chunkin’;Shotgun Totin’Hillbilly Gal who stood up to both sides and took Nicole Kidman under her wing!!

And here’s a few movies about the Buffalo Soldiers-the all black 9th&10th Cavalry in the west:
“Sergeant Rutledge”.A forgotten classic by John Ford with Woody Guthrie as a Cavalryman charged with Rape and Murder
and Desertion in the Arizona Territory in the 1880’s.
“Buffalo Soldiers”.A made for TV biopic from Cable’s TNT
about the 9th&10th Cavalry in West Texas and New Mexico
in the late 1870’s/early 1880’s with Danny Glover.

As a kid growing up in the late 60s/early 70s, our old, 1st generation local cable company broadcast “Gualdalcanal Diary”, “A Wing and a Prayer” and “Purple Heart”. I fell in love with those oldies (though they seem a bit corny and melodramatic today). They, along with the rare story my Dad would relate about his time in the USMC during the war, started me on a lifelong fascination with WWII. I think “Midway” is lame, though “Tora Tora Tora”, wooden acting and all, is a favorite. Speaking of wooden acting and laughable special effects, I have to put “The Longest Day” on that usually disappointing list. “The Caine Mutiny” still disappoints me badly, except for the courtroom scenes. I love “Stalag 17″. Haven’t seen “Run Silent, Run Deep” yet, though I hope to soon. Loved “Up Periscope” as a kid, loved the book even more. “Saving Private Ryan” is intense, moving and well acted. I prefered “Kelly’s Heroes” over “Dirty Dozen” as a nonsensical caper films. “Das Boot” is tedious at points, but wonderful at portraying the Germans as protagonists. George C. Scott makes “Patton” the classic it is. Overall, I think war novels don’t usually translate well into good movies.

Now,About The Vietnam War:Yeah,”Platoon”Was Good,And Oliver Stone Was a Combat Vet and While Realistic In a Lot of Ways,In Some Other Ways,It Was Full Of Crap!!
My Picks:”We Were Soldiers”.Based On General Hal Moore’s Memiors of Vietnam,It Beats’Platoon’Eight Ways to Sunday!!
And The Most Underated Vietnam War Movie is”Flight of the Intruder”.
Based on The Best Selling Novel by Stephen Coonts,Himself a Naval Aviator During The Vietnam war.
The Story of How a Renegade Pilot Goes Off On an Unauthorized Mission Over North Vietnam.
Very Action Packed and Suspenseful!!

More Recent Wars:”Blackhawk Down”and”Behind Enemy Lines”.
Both Came Out After 9/11.
‘Blackhawk Down’is The True Story Of The Ill Fated Mission To Arreest A Somali Warlord.
‘Behind Enemy Lines’Is About How an F/A 18 Pilot Is shot Down Over Serbia and How His CO Risks His Life and Navy Career To Rescue Him!!

Thanks for adding a bunch of great movies to the list.

Vic