Worst War Film Ever

Dub13

The concept of worst film needs to be a sum of bad plot, bad acting, bad special effects and bad portrayal of facts if historical.There are loads of these kind of movies to pick from.


We should also have a category for just outrageous silly movies,my nomination for this category would have to be Red Dawn.Its a 80s movie about an invasion of the United States by the Soviet Union and Cuba, and the resulting guerrilla actions of a group of American high school students in Colorado.Its bad very bad its so bad you have to keep watching it on till then end just to see how bad it can get.

fightin irish

The Green Beret's with John Wayne jumps to mind. An absolute right wing propaganda film set in vietnam while the war was raging.

Im pretty sure it's been widely lambasted through out the years.

Manic Moran

Red Dawn is something of a Cult Classic in the US. There's a pic of a destroyed Iraqi T-55 with "Wolverines" sprayed on the turret.

Invasion USA would be a dire movie, except it's got Chuck Norris in it, so it can't be.

Pearl Harbour might rate as a horrible war movie, except I don't categorise it as a war movie. More of a chick flick with some shooty bits.

NTM

Dub13

I have to agree with you about Pearl Harbor it was more a love story than a war movie,I hate it when they try to please the men with a lot of action then try to please the woman with a "love twist".

Are you serious about Red Dawn been a Cult Movie in the States...?

One for the first category would be U-571,it was not the US navy but Royal Navy who found the Enigma machine and Bletchley cracked it.IIRC they put the real story in the credits.I am a firm believer that you don't change history for a movie,if you want to change it that much just make a fiction movie and leave the brave men and woman alone to have there small place in history.

dr.bollocko

We were soldiers was pretty damn bad.

Time Magazine

The Core. War with... our planet!

mike65

What about the first 'nam flick? The Green Berets. Not only bad but 3 hours of it with ad breaks!

Mike.

TerrorFirmer

dr.bollocko wrote:

We were soldiers was pretty damn bad.

I thought it was quite good.

Historically, U571 was a joke in so far as they basically rewrote history for the american public and slapped on the tag "based on a true story".

Red Dawn was a terrible, terrible movie. Bad acting, badly made, poorly choreographed....just overall a terrible movie, could have been alot more entertaining at least.

Other then that I've seen a fair few bad movies but none really spring to mind immediately.

Wait - windtalkers. :mad:

Dub13

Was it the Delta Force films that had flying bikes...?Remember Under siege not really a war film but US Navy Seal turned master chef pony-tailed girlyman Steven Seagal,the best part of that movie was when the playbunny jumped out of the cake.


Also an honorable mention for GI Jane,what a load of crap.As for We were soldiers I also thought it was a good movie.

fightin irish

dr.bollocko wrote:

We were soldiers was pretty damn bad.

I would disagree with that one... It was historically bang on altho maybe Mel gibson just didn't suit the role.

Capt'n Midnight

Pearl Harbour takes the biscuit for getting the special effects SO wrong with such a big budget.
- wrong ships used
- have you ever seen the real film of the B25's taking off on the Tokoyo Raid ?
- now compare it to Tora Tora Tora, and then imagine what that film could have been if they had let Kirasawa do the japanese scenes.

Any non-comedy war film where at least some of the wounded don't scream when injured.

Space Above and Beyond. It wasn't SciFi, It was just a PC way to glorify the racial nature of the island-hopping carrier war in the pacific during WWII. At the time it was the most expensive "SciFi" per episode. Totally unmemorable compared to B5 or Farscape.

Green Berets , just for the sheer blatentness of the "facts". Acting, special effects are par for the course for a film of that era so it ain't the worst, a lot of the hardware is accurate anyway.

will have to repost when remember worse ones.

Capt'n Midnight

one quick google later

Has anyone seen Inchon ?
How could we have forgotton the Rambo sequals ?
Does Battlefield Earth count ?
Best Defense Strategic guest star Eddie Murphy

Heartbreak Ridge I didn't like
delta farce / navy seals / iron eagle etc. nah..

Manic Moran

Dub13 wrote:

Are you serious about Red Dawn been a Cult Movie in the States...?

Abosolutely. For example, in addition to the Iraqi tank with "Wolverines" painted on the side, which I can't seem to find right now, the operation that ended up with the capture of Saddam Hussein was titled "Operation Red Dawn", with the two target locations known as "Wolverine I" and "Wolverine II." The Major that wrote the order and came up with the mission name denies any link to the movie. Draw your own conclusions.

NTM

Dub13

Manic Moran wrote:

Abosolutely. For example, in addition to the Iraqi tank with "Wolverines" painted on the side, which I can't seem to find right now, the operation that ended up with the capture of Saddam Hussein was titled "Operation Red Dawn", with the two target locations known as "Wolverine I" and "Wolverine II." The Major that wrote the order and came up with the mission name denies any link to the movie. Draw your own conclusions.

LOL...thats great.


I agree about John Rambo but that was classic 80s stuff remember him helping all the Afghan's defeat the nasty Russians in RAMBO III.I hear there may be a new one on the way.


I kind of like Heartbreak Ridge,am I am freek....?

Manic Moran

No, I found Heartbreak Ridge to be quite entertaining, and I think We Were Soldiers definitely qualifies as "Good."

You know, I can't really think of any truly atrocious war movies.

NTM

TempestSabre

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

....

Space Above and Beyond. It wasn't SciFi, It was just a PC way to glorify the racial nature of the island-hopping carrier war in the pacific during WWII. At the time it was the most expensive "SciFi" per episode. Totally unmemorable compared to B5 or Farscape....

Hey leave SAAB alone. Worth it for Kristen Cloke Capt. Shane Vansen alone. That episode with Chiggy Von Richtofen was great. Lots of ScFi stories have have carriers bouncing from planet to planet. Its a storyline as old as the hills.

coyote6

Windtalkers with Nicholas Cage was absolutely awful. They took a very good story, the Navajo code, and screwed it up with horrible editing, flow and combat sequences.

I don't know about anyone else but it drives me nuts when I see crappy, Hollywood style weapons handling in a film. Aren't there plenty of retired shooters and operators that'd consult them on this stuff?

coyote6

dr.bollocko wrote:

We were soldiers was pretty damn bad.

My brother was with the 4th ID when they used to be based at Fort Carson, CO. He hosted Lt. Gen. Hal Moore (U.S. Army Ret.) for a visit and tour. He said that Mel Gibson portrayed his bearing and personality very well in the film. I can't speak for the other facts. Sam Elliott sure played the crusty Sgt. part well though!

Agent Smith

two words


pearl harbour.

TempestSabre

I didn't think We Were Soldiers is all that bad either. Green Berets is terrible though. I don't watch that many bad war film like rambo or norris, but they must be pretty dire.

Manic Moran

Found it.



NTM

mayhem#

Manic Moran wrote:

Found it.



NTM

That's just great!
:-)
Red Dawn is a terribly (pardon the pun) entertaining movie.

E.

TerrorFirmer

Has anyone seen "Invasion USA"?

The cover has musclebound Chuck Norris, barely covered in tattered clothing, casually firing two uzis from the hip as what looks like the capitol building burns in the background - dunno about the movie itself, but that has to win "worst war movie cover/poster" ever

Steyr

The Thin Red Line....................................

TempestSabre

Steyr wrote:

The Thin Red Line....................................

Not enough shooting in it for you?

I don't think its that bad, but its not your typical war movie.

Manic Moran

HavoK wrote:

Has anyone seen "Invasion USA"?

The cover has musclebound Chuck Norris, barely covered in tattered clothing, casually firing two uzis from the hip as what looks like the capitol building burns in the background - dunno about the movie itself, but that has to win "worst war movie cover/poster" ever

Yes, see my first post. I mentioned it, saying that it can't be the worst, as it has Chuck Norris in it, which is an instant alibi.

NTM

Mick86

Tour of Duty
Rambo 1 2 and 3
The Thin Red Line

Raekwon

According to IMDb, a 1969 movie called 'The Extraordinary Seaman' was rated the worst war movie of all time. To be honest, it sounds like a cross between a bukkake porn movie and the possible biography of a former England goalkeeper

johnny_adidas

think the thin red line is a great movie. cinematography is excellent.

we were soldiers i enjoyed. believe mel spent a while with the guy he played to get his character. although the continuous standing up in the middle of a battle with his invisible shield of bravery just gets annoying. passed a couple of hours last nite anyway.

Windtalkers without doubt is the worst war film ive seen. (havent seen green berets) i remember thinking after seeing it did i just waste some of my life watching this tripe.
another poor one id add to the list would be jarhead. talk about dragged out (maybe its just me but i kept waiting for some sort of battle to break out. they cudve told me beforehand and saved me from 2 hours on the cinema seats)

TempestSabre

Mick86 wrote:

Tour of Duty
...

Never heard of it. You don't mean the series do you?

TerrorFirmer

Manic Moran wrote:

Yes, see my first post. I mentioned it, saying that it can't be the worst, as it has Chuck Norris in it, which is an instant alibi.

NTM

Sorry manic, didn't notice that. Christ, my eyes:



Anyway, speaking of the series Tour of Duty, is it any good? Never saw it, but have always intended to...Saw an episode or two on TV on a Sunday afternoon, wasn't overly impressed, from what I saw it was the A-Team relocated to Vietnam, but I don't want to pass too much judgement without seeing it extensively.

great thread btw.