War Horse and WW1 movies

johnny_doyle

with the success of the book and play, Spielberg has now produced the movie :

http://www.warhorsemovie.com/trailer

I've not managed to see the play but hope to see this movie when it's released. Not sure that too many films come out with a WW1 theme.

What WW1 related movies (or TV series) have you watched and how would you rate them?

Cardinal Richelieu

Riddle in the Sand- was ok.

The Blue Max- hate it but not a fan of Geiorge Peppard prob made me biased.

Sergeant York- I still enjoy this Gary Cooper film about the real life Sergeant York.

Gallipoli- still remains my favourite WW1 movie.

Lawrence of Arabia- still looks great today.

Paths of Glory- only seen it once but rate it very highly.

johnny_doyle

Joyeux Noel (OK)

All Quiet on the Western Front (Very good)

Aces High (wasn't too keen on this one)

Zeppelin (appalling)

there's an American one with James Cagney as the bad Dougboy soldier who turns good. Can't remember the name.

arnhem44

Beneath Hill 60 I thought was quiet good but another one I saw this year was Company K which is absolute rubbish

Snickers Man

La Grande Illusion (Still relevant)

Blackadder Goes Forth (unsurpassable, if a little OT)

Snickers Man

Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »

The Blue Max- hate it but not a fan of Geiorge Peppard prob made me biased.

But what if you're a fan of Ursula Andress?

jeremyr62

Regeneration. About Sassoon and Owen recovering at the Craiglockhart war hospital. Has some pretty good war scenes too.

R.Dub.Fusilier

"The Light Horsemen" based on the Austrlian Light Horse fighting in palestine. based on true story and incidents set around an attack on a Trurkish called Beersheba. this is a great film and well worth a watch if you can get your hands on it. "The Trench" is also worth a watch.

the film mentioned above by jeremyr62 is very good, i cant remember the name of it. "My Boy Jack" ok

BostonB

Regeneration is different but good.
Passchendaele is a love story not really a war film IMO.

Cardinal Richelieu

Anyone seen this one?

jeremyr62

Flyboys. An unmitigated pile of sh1te IMO.
The Lost Battalion is pretty good for a made for TV film.
A Very Long Engagement is not bad either.

BostonB

+1 Flyboys dire.

Think I've seen the The Lost Battalion. Not sure though.

Cardinal Richelieu

I think I just found my Xmas Viewing ANZAC the Miniseries starring among many Paul Hogan of Crocodile Dundee fame. WW1 Sullivans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWiDNpbzEek

johnny_doyle

Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »

I think I just found my Xmas Viewing ANZAC the Miniseries starring among many Paul Hogan of Crocodile Dundee fame. WW1 Sullivans.

forgot about that one. Quite liked it.

Monocled Mutineer was another mini series.

A couple of WW1 plays

Private Peaceful
Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching towards the Somme (about the only 1 I know of with an Irish slant)

johnny_doyle

never quite connected with O What a Lovely War.

Life and Death of Colonel Blimp touched briefly on WW1 as did Goodbye Mr Chips.

Cardinal Richelieu

Another one is UOMINI CONTRO(1970) which I seem to vaguely remember seening subtitled on TV once. Its interesting because its about the war in the Dolomites between Italy and Austro-Hungarian Empire. Youtube has the entire film but only in Italian sadly but plenty of action. The clip below from the film shows WW1 body armour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5FPHZmmN9I

Very Dr Who looking.

www.landships

The Italian Army did more than other armies to develop armoured shields and body armour, especially for assault troops. In June 1915 special “wire-cutting companies” were formed, because of the unacceptably high losses suffered by conventional infantry. These companies soon became known as death companies (“compagnie della morte”). Apart from different portable steel shields, they also adopted special body armour

kabakuyu

johnny_doyle wrote: »

Joyeux Noel (OK)

All Quiet on the Western Front (Very good)

Aces High (wasn't too keen on this one)

Zeppelin (appalling)

there's an American one with James Cagney as the bad Dougboy soldier who turns good. Can't remember the name.

The Fighting 69th,With Jimmy Cagney and Pat o'Brien.

johnny_doyle

Company K appears to be on Movies for Men a bit at the moment

Shout at the Devil (Lee Marvin and Roger Moore)

African Queen (Bogart and Hepburn)

BlaasForRafa

Snickers Man wrote: »

But what if you're a fan of Ursula Andress?

If it was Ursula UNdress I'd be a fan lol

johnny_doyle

I have a memory of a series called When the Boat Comes In with James Bolam. Touched on the end of the Great War, unemployment of soldiers and there was an episode where his character was being recruited for the Black and Tans.

http://www.zetaminor.com/cult/when_boat/when_boat_s1_v2.htm

Cardinal Richelieu

johnny_doyle wrote: »

I have a memory of a series called When the Boat Comes In with James Bolam. Touched on the end of the Great War, unemployment of soldiers and there was an episode where his character was being recruited for the Black and Tans.

http://www.zetaminor.com/cult/when_boat/when_boat_s1_v2.htm

Available on Youtube, quite a strange theme tune.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP_xRb_Yk24

who the fug

Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »

Available on Youtube, quite a strange theme tune.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP_xRb_Yk24

Think it be an old geordie folk song

johnny_doyle

Gunbus (one to avoid I think)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sifw2I9skqk

Cardinal Richelieu

Don't know how I forgot this. More famous for its aerial stunts at the time. I believe some pilots died during the filming

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9P3XXvleo4



More of a love story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oViFyQgzk_I

johnny_doyle

Ryan's Daughter? vaguely WW1...?

who the fug

johnny_doyle wrote: »

Ryan's Daughter? vaguely WW1...?

Sarah Miles boobies;)


They could have been the first boobies on RTE :cool:

Cardinal Richelieu

Today We Live 1934- First time Gary Cooper and Joan Crawford starred together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7E0a1yYx2Q

Brown on Resolution-1935 with John Mills, later remade with WW2 replacing WW1:pac:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_on_Resolution_(film)

Cardinal Richelieu

Posting these over a couple of posts because my youtube vid keeps dropping from the post when I press preview.

Admiral Kolchak-2008 biopic of Admiral Kolchak who went on to lead the White Russian movement. Some good sea battle scenes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiral_(film)

Cardinal Richelieu

Trying to search out non english WW1 movies as they do offer a glimpse of WW1 away from the Western Front.

Japanese/German movie Baruto no Gakuen (2006) which tells the story of German soldiers and sailers captured in China in 1914 and interned in Japan until 1920. The soldiers establish an orchestra to pass the time and went on to be the first orchestra to perform Beethoven 9th Symphony in Japan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJqZ8JKGoyM

johnny_doyle

er, one to avoid on New Year's Eve on the UK's Channel 5 @ 22:40

Up The Front

A preview of what you'll miss.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=363UlDKv7C0

Cardinal Richelieu

Chunuk Bair(1992) do the trailer looks alot older, I think this may be New Zealand only WW1 film. You got to love the voice over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7dmFsNh-X0

Wiki

Chunuk Bair is a 1992 New Zealand film based on the play Once on Chunuk Bair (1982) by Maurice Shadbolt.
Set in 1915, the film tells of the Wellington Regiment, part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force present at Gallipoli during World War I. On 8 August 1915, the Regiment took and held Chunuk Bair, one of the Turkish hills.
Chunuk Bair was produced by Daybreak Pictures in association with Avalon and the National Film Unit. It was released to roughly coincide with ANZAC Day, the national day of Remembrance in New Zealand.

Phuckitt

Gallipoli - brilliant
Aces High - ok
All Quiet on the western front - excellent
Sargent Yorke - excellent
The Great Dictator - stunning
The Lost Battalion - really enjoyed this

When you think about it there have been very few gritty WW1 movies

johnny_doyle

Phuckitt wrote: »

When you think about it there have been very few gritty WW1 movies

absolutely. Given the huge potential material, it's a great shame.

mikemac1

johnny_doyle wrote: »

I have a memory of a series called When the Boat Comes In with James Bolam. Touched on the end of the Great War, unemployment of soldiers and there was an episode where his character was being recruited for the Black and Tans.

http://www.zetaminor.com/cult/when_boat/when_boat_s1_v2.htm

I'm halfway through Season One, it's quality
As shown in a previous post, it's up on youtube

Geordie accent ok to follow though I had to replay a few words

Call the pol-is

Morlar

I'd go along with most of the options previously posted. 'All Quiet on the Western front' (original), 'Gallipoli' & 'Lawrence of Arabia' would probably be my favourites. 'Passchendaele' was a good movie for what it was, (if you can ignore the love story the action scenes were phenomenal). It was also interesting to see the story of the crucified candaian laid to rest. 'Paths of Glory' is also exceptional, the performances and certain scenes in that movie really stay with you.

'Red Baron' the 2010 version is one to avoid imo. The effects and aerial fighting scenes were nicely done but the rest was rubbish.

Just as a trivial curiosity other recent movies that had WW1 visual elements were - 'Sucker punch' & 'Wolverine'. Neither are strictly WW1 - but both have short scenes of WW1 battle fields. The sucker punch ones were visually very impressive (though of course completely fantasy). Might be worth checking out if your bored.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-eMsakDuSM

Fuinseog

johnny_doyle wrote: »

with the success of the book and play, Spielberg has now produced the movie :

http://www.warhorsemovie.com/trailer

I've not managed to see the play but hope to see this movie when it's released. Not sure that too many films come out with a WW1 theme.

What WW1 related movies (or TV series) have you watched and how would you rate them?

Not a bad war movie, bit a tad maudlin.
There is a blooper when theyshow a map of Europe and ireland is green as opposed to pink.
Would it be usual for a piper to play for a Devonshire regiment before they went over the top?
Different socal classes seem to be the best of chums, but officers and other ranks did not mix as portrayed in the movie.
Spielberg, being Spielberg portrays the Germans as harsh disciplinarians. They shoot deserters. The english on the other hand are not strict at all and the simple soldier can disobey orders and bring a horse to the rear without asking anyones permission and not suffer any consequences.

al28283

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmXizgy2H-I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsaDeEaQy8Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH3-Gt7mgyM

Not sure how historically accurate these are :rolleyes:

WW1 never seemed to capture the imagination of Hollywood for some reason.
I guess why make a movie about WW1 when you have WW2.

Interestingly these are all set in 1917. Was that a pivotal year in the war? or is it just a coincidence?

It's funny that of these 3 clips I've linked, it's Blackadder that is the most poignant and captures the sense of pointlessness and misery of that particular theatre.

johnny_doyle

Fuinseog wrote: »

Not a bad war movie, bit a tad maudlin.
There is a blooper when theyshow a map of Europe and ireland is green as opposed to pink.
Would it be usual for a piper to play for a Devonshire regiment before they went over the top?
Different socal classes seem to be the best of chums, but officers and other ranks did not mix as portrayed in the movie.
Spielberg, being Spielberg portrays the Germans as harsh disciplinarians. They shoot deserters. The english on the other hand are not strict at all and the simple soldier can disobey orders and bring a horse to the rear without asking anyones permission and not suffer any consequences.

cannot imagine any reason why the Devons would have a piper.

I'm hoping to see War Horse this week. I don't always pick up on details first time around so may have to plot in a second visit (or wait for the DVD).

johnny_doyle

al28283 wrote: »

Not sure how historically accurate these are :rolleyes:

WW1 never seemed to capture the imagination of Hollywood for some reason.
I guess why make a movie about WW1 when you have WW2.

Interestingly these are all set in 1917. Was that a pivotal year in the war? or is it just a coincidence?

It's funny that of these 3 clips I've linked, it's Blackadder that is the most poignant and captures the sense of pointlessness and misery of that particular theatre.

Deathwatch and Biggles..... shocking.

given that Blackadder was a comedy series out to get laughs, it hit the nail firmly on the head with that clip.

Fuinseog

did the Germans really requisition food and supplies, and steal little girls horses from French peasants in WW1 as shown in War Horse? I know they are supposed to have bayoneted babies in Belgium.
the film did have historical advisors but I did not manage to get their names.
there is a scene with the machine guns after the cavalry charge and there seems to be a german every metre along the line, which historically speaking is probably not accurate.

TerrorFirmer

The Lost Battalion was a made for TV movie, and is actually better than most WWI movies out there - a very good movie that everyone could do with seeing. It's out now too on Blu-Ray, got it recently. Watched War Horse earlier, decent film but not quite excellent as I had expected, but it does pretty well considering the general target audience. Good historical accuracy, note the change in German equipment with each advancement of time, they even had changes to the stalhilm to reflect 1918 camouflage patterns. Was pretty impressed to be honest, they were accurate with what they could be accurate to without affecting the decidedly far fetched storyline of the film.

With regards the Cavalry charge and the placement of German machine guns along the line, the first thing that entered my mind was the inaccuracy, but ultimately we have to remember it's a movie, and it's to be taken with a pinch of salt - it is a movie about a horse that has adventures to put young Indiana Jones to shame, in fairness

Morlar

There is a myers article about this here :

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/kevin-myers-its-easy-to-forget-the-brave-cavalrymen-2987995.html

Can anyone confirm the comment added to it :

Just to put a little perspective on this, Britain slaughtered almost all of its horses in France at the end of the war rather than bearing the expense of transporting then to England.

Fuinseog

Morlar wrote: »

There is a myers article about this here :

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/kevin-myers-its-easy-to-forget-the-brave-cavalrymen-2987995.html

Can anyone confirm the comment added to it :

in the movie the horses were sold at auction.

johnny_doyle

finally got to see War Horse last night. Quite enjoyed it. A number of things that didn't sit right and a bit twee in places (a mix of Champion the Wonder Horse, Skippy and Greyfriars Bobby?) but it conveyed the stupidity and waste, hope, etc.

Cardinal Richelieu

Morlar wrote: »

There is a myers article about this here :

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/kevin-myers-its-easy-to-forget-the-brave-cavalrymen-2987995.html

Can anyone confirm the comment added to it :

I seen this on The Great War forum

Since the signing of the Armistice up to 28th March 1919, 187,539 horses and 56,044 mules had been sold alive at prices averaging over £38 each for horses and £34 10s. each for mules, and 28,008 horses and mules had been sold for meat at an average of over £21 10s. each. No animals unfit for work were sold alive. Diseased horses had been destroyed.

Ref from statement by Winston Churchill 08/04/1919.

Horse meat was also fed to German POWs.

citizen_p

In relation to the War Horse, Channel 4 have a documentry about the actual fate of horse on the westren front on 4od!

LINK Catch it while you can

The truth about the million British horses that served in World War I is even more epic than Steven Spielberg's War Horse feature film.

gonna watch it now....

Snickers Man

Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »

Available on Youtube, quite a strange theme tune.

A very weird version of which appears on the first Horslips album.

Elmer Blooker

King And Country - the only film I know of about soldiers who were shot at dawn for "desertion"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_%26_Country