War > F War

Advantages: The cast is remarkable
Disadvantages: nothing

...Japanese POW camp in 1965's King Rat, based on a novel by James Clavell. As Corporal King, Segal swaggers and schemes, running his little corner of the black market with help from a ragtag group of soldiers willing to do anything for a few bucks. King befriends Brit officer Peter Marlowe (James Fox), who speaks the local language and can translate for King when he sells off watches and jewelry for other desperate prisoners (for a sizable fee, of ...
...(Tom Courtenay), whose loathing of King borders on the pathological. The prisoners in King Rat aren't plotting to make a run for it, a la The Great Escape - it's established early in the film that such is not an option, as there's literally nowhere for escapees from the Singapore camp to go. The movie instead explores the day-to-day life of these beaten-down men, starving and sick, as they scrape together the best sort of life they can under the ... Read review

Advantages: Historically accurate, covers both political and military side of the conflict, no pansy romantics.
Disadvantages: Doesn't have the big-budget explosions.

'Tora! Tora! Tora!' was released back in 1970, and has recently been re-released on DVD to coincide with the release of the acclaimed 'Pearl Harbor'. Both films dramatise the events of 7th December 1941, when the Japanese attacked the American Pacific Fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor. As the opinion title suggests, I consider this original film to be superior to the big-budget Hollywood re-make. Since both films essentially cover the same subject ...
...essentially boils down to their attitude and style. 'Tora!' was made using two seperate production units, one in Japan, one in America. In doing so it was the first film ever to use Japanese historical documents about World War II, and it shows. It shows the events from both the American and Japanese perspectives, in particular the diplomatic events and how each side guessed, bluffed and deceived the other. This is almost entirely lost in the 'Pearl ... Read review

Advantages: As true to life as you can get.
Disadvantages: Tears flow like rain.

If ever a film portrayed the horrors and terrors of war at sea then The Cruel Sea must rank with “In Which We Serve” and “Das Boot” at or near the top of a very short list. Based on the book of the same name by Nicholas Monserrat, this film does not dramatise for effect and tells the story of what it was really like in England’s struggle for survival. I am assured by those who sailed the Gibraltar run and escorted the ...
...was exactly as portrayed. The story is told from the viewpoint of Captain Ericson played by the excellent British actor Jack Hawkins and narrated by him when the occasion demanded. The scenes below deck are reminiscent of my time on warships of the line although I had the good fortune not to be involved in anything as brutal as out and out war. HMS Compass Rose, a flower class corvette, is home to Ericson an ex Merchant Navy captain and a crew ... Read review

Advantages: all-star cast
Disadvantages: no special effects

...prisoner of war experience captures the true events that took place in Germany's Stalag Luft III, prisoner-of-war camp; This cinema achievement provided an entertainingly satirical view of the courage embraced by the British POWs, whom devised a brilliant plan while under German supervision, and resulted in the first of many successful escapes within Germany during WWII. Steve McQueen/ James Garner/ Richard Attenborough/ Charles Bronson/ James Coburn/ ... Read review

Advantages: Great action sequences
Disadvantages: Slow to start, but gethers pace nicely

...any factual or historic event, Von Ryan's Express stars Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard and tells the story of survival against the odds in a war torn Europe. Released in 1965, Sinatra plays Colonel Joseph Ryan, a smart thinking American Pilot who after getting shot down by the Italian Army is sent to an Italian run Prisoner of War camp for what is expected to be the remainder of the war. Upon arrival Ryan is immediately made the head of the Allied ...
...turn the soldiers call him Von Ryan for collaborating with the enemy. In fact the heated discussions that take place between Ryan and Fincham are great to watch on screen as you see Sinatra in a different light to other roles that he has played before, something which leads to both men trusting each other by the end of the film. With the help of the Italian Commander, who has now switch sides, Ryan and the Allies hatch a plan to escape and steal ... Read review