War > by Price

Advantages: gritty, and realistic
Disadvantages: brutal

...Released first in 1986, Platoon received a rather mixed reception. The strange thing is, that it was both praised and criticised for exactly the same reason. Quite simply it was seen as being too realistic. Platoon is, in essence, a gritty and truthful vision of war. A lot of people thought that it went too far. However, I think that it was high time that a film was made that did not try and sugar coat war. Unfortunately, all too many people on ...
...can be felt by all. Platoon certainly does have that. And its realism is added to, by the fact that its director was using life experience to base his direction, not the views of others. Neither was he basing the movie on what other directors had done before him. Feelings for him were raw, and this shone through in the film itself. The film is harrowing. The film is convincing. Quite frankly, the film is brutal. In my opinion, though that makes ... Read review

Advantages: Great performances, Lee Marvin, superb dramatic tension
Disadvantages: Goof ups in depicting war games

The 60's was a period when we had great war flicks like Where Eagles Dare, The Dirty Dozen, Guns of Navaronne, The Great Escape, The Longest Day to name a few. My dad was a lover of such movies, and he would take me along as a kid, and that's how I grew up loving such cinema. Dirty Dozen is a typical lets get together guys and go on a mission, spot the star World War II movies which appeared regularly during that period. But this is one movie which ...
...and superb pacing. With the advent of D-Day, the US Army has come up with a plan to interrupt German chain of command. Raid a secluded mansion where most of the high ranking Nazi officers come to party with their mistresses and kill every one there. It's a suicidal operation, and so the army decides to make use of convicted criminals who are either on death row or facing life imprisonment. It's a win win situation, if they die, they would have the ... 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: Superb action
Disadvantages: Politically and emotionally empty

Black Hawk Down (2001) It’s 1993, Somalia, a large east African country. Delta Squad, one of America’s elite army ranger units, is preparing for a smash and grab mission to capture two high ranking enemy officials. To do so they must enter the most hostile district in the capital, Mogadishu. Over 100 troops enter the city by via armoured vehicle and black hawk helicopters. All is going to plan until a soldier is wounded and their progress slowed. ...
...the foot soldiers. When one Black Hawk is shot down they must move to help any survivors further complicating the operation. It quickly becomes clear that they will be stuck in these streets a lot longer than the planned half an hour. Ridley Scott (Bladerunner, Gladiator) directs the action – and there is an awful lot of it. For action junkies this is a pure shot of adrenalin, but others may find it too quick and to follow in the initial scenes of ... Read review

Advantages: A good war film with a different perspective, a well made film, well directed
Disadvantages: At 3 hours and 20 minutes the film is quite long

...Academy Awards and an Oscar. Das Boot is a German made film and is about the German crew of a U-Boat who patrolled the Atlantic during World War 2. In most American or British World War 2 films the Germans tend to be dehumanised and looked upon as cold and evil, because Das Boot is German you get to see how normal most of the Germans really were. The characters on board the U-Boat are presented as people who are doing their military service, trying ...
...including Hitler and Churchill. Das Boot has been extremely well directed and put together by film director Wolfgang Petersen he uses certain shots in the film with great effect in helping to involve the audience. The extras in the DVD include being able to watch the film with directors commentary so you can see what Petersen was trying to achieve with certain techniques used in the film. A great effort has been made to make the film as realistic ... Read review