most historically incorrect movie!

[joespaniel]

Anyone see "The Lost Battalion"?

I thought it was also well done.
(And no, I'm not pun-ing about the flamethrower scene )

 

[Bill_in_PDX]

Originally posted by Richard III
To add a couple of non-military movies to the list, I have always been particularly appalled by JFK and All the President's Men, both great hagiographies that pretended shamelessly to be history.

R.III

I'm glad somebody said this about JFK.

That movie is a complete farce, and is based on Stone's usual level of "unbiasedness", and the fact that we went script shopping, couldn't buy the story he really wanted, and settled on the nutcases' widely discredited account.

And now, this movie is shown is US High Schools as if it is a documentary....

Truely sad.

 

[Richard III]

Originally posted by Bill_in_PDX


And now, this movie is shown is US High Schools as if it is a documentary....

IS IT?

Where? Show me the school so I can... [plasma] ... the copy.

R.III

 

[Richard III]

Originally posted by rmsharpe
I didn't get this about SPV: how was Matt Damon able to recollect memories he didn't have, i.e. scences before Hanks met Damon?

I always took it this way: that you (or at least, some people ) were allowed to think that they were Ryan's memories when they in fact were never supposed to be.

In fact, I remember assuming that he was Ryan right from the beginning, for no better reason than I knew Damon was in it playing Ryan and the old guy looked like an old Damon, eyes and all.

R.III

 

[gr8ful wes]

Originally posted by joespaniel
Anyone see "The Lost Battalion"?

I thought it was also well done.
(And no, I'm not pun-ing about the flamethrower scene )

I also liked it. Not being too familiar with the Great War, I only hope that it was accurate. It looked realistic.

 

[knowltok2]

Originally posted by joespaniel
Saving Private Ryan was a good movie, I liked it alot.

It was a fictional story set in historic settings, and did justice to that history by portraying those scenes with respect, and without politicizing or trying to otherwise make a statement.

Other than that war sucks.

What is interesting is that it is fictional only to a point. There really was a guy who had three brothers killed around the same time and his mother recieved all three telegrams on the same day. Someone did have to go looking for him too because he was going to be sent home because of it. IIRC he was even in the 101st. It wasn't a big mission or anything, but that is pretty small poetic liscense if you ask me.

Source is Band of Brothers (book)

 

[Knight-Dragon]

Originally posted by Richard III
Knight-Dragon, I re-read Battleship last night, and rediscovered the Singora reference. I remember the name so well because it was the site of the largest Japanese landing that day; hence it was the original target of the excursion that sent the Prince of Wales and Repulse to sea. They later corrected south to Kota Bharu, thinking that the Singora shipping had moved elsewhere, and then finally stopped and turned at Kuantan based on false reports of landings there (perhaps in response to a Japanese deception ploy).

In fact, Singora is in Siam/Thailand on the border of Malaya, Malaysia and was one of several sites where the Japanese landed along the north of the Peninsula that morning. The Singora force was after a small airstrip, too, but also there because the site offered a good opportunity to turn and flank deep inland. As for Kota Bharu, the fighting was very brief, apparently; the Indian unit (unlike so many my grandfather fought beside in the 14th) turned and ran within minutes of contact.

That would make sense. Otherwise, the Japanese forces will have a hell of a time trying to move fr Kota Bahru westwards; the territory being extremely mountainous. IIRC another Japanese force moved in fr Siam and hit Kedah, then moving southwards along the west coast.

The colonial troops didn't really have a personal incentive to defend Malaya. They were also subjected to much brainwashing by Japanese propaganda. One of the Indian nationalists, Chandra Bose (?) was working for them. The Japanese eventually orgainzed at least some of the Indian units captured in Malaya into some liberation army for India and took them to fight in Burma. I think I read many deserted and rejoined the British side.

 

[joespaniel]

knowltok - I am going to read that book next, after I finish The History of Warfare. I just bought it the other night. Shame that Ambrose is gone.

Good interview replayed on the radio yesterday, as a tribute.

I saw the first two episodes of the HBO series, and I thought it was well done.
(Again, no pun intended )

 

[gr8ful wes]

The movie and the book are allmost identical. Although I dont recall reading that Guarnere was called Ghonoreah(sp)

 

[Richard III]

Originally posted by Knight-Dragon
The colonial troops didn't really have a personal incentive to defend Malaya. They were also subjected to much brainwashing by Japanese propaganda. One of the Indian nationalists, Chandra Bose (?) was working for them. The Japanese eventually orgainzed at least some of the Indian units captured in Malaya into some liberation army for India and took them to fight in Burma. I think I read many deserted and rejoined the British side.

Yes, several medium sized Indian units "fought" for the Japanese in Burma, although every account I have seen suggests they usually quit at the first opportunity and crossed over to the other side. Ditto the "Burmese National Army," which was smaller and even more unreliable. In general, though, the largely loyal pool of Indian and Burmese units fought extremely well in Burma and on the Indian border after the initial invasion of Burma, and they fought as part of a very culturally diverse force that got along with little trouble.

Which is one of the reasons I find what I have recently learnt about 14th Army to be so impressive. Odd, reading stories about Slim getting his languages mixed up on a bad day while he was giving speeches from one unit to the next; not many generals in the world could have even handled the switch from one language.

R.III

 

[Aphex_Twin]

Anyone seen the movie "Hackers". Deffinetly an insult to hackers and computer users alike.

 

[Sultan Bhargash]

2001. I mean, come on. We didn't have a moon base in 2001.

 

[Alcibiaties of Athenae]

2001 was based on an Aurther Clarke novel written years ago, it was never intended as history.

 

[Kryten]

Any film where the Commando cuts the sentry's throat and they die instantly, instead of thrashing about making horrible gurgling noises for about 2 minutes....

Any film where the hero is wacked over the head and falls unconscious, only to wake up some time later with a slight headache instead of suffering from concussion or a fractured skull....

Any film where the car hurtles over the cliff and explodes into flames before it even hits the ground....

Any film where the villian is run though the lower part of the body with a sword and dies instantly....

Any film where a gun with a silencer makes a 'fizzt' noise instead of sounding like a balloon being burst....

Any film where the car breaks have been cut, and it accelerates faster and faster down the mountain road, and the driver never thinks of putting it into a lower gear, whether it be a manual or an automatic....

Any film where the bad guys die instantly no matter which part of the body was shot....

(Please feel free to add to the list. )

 

[Sultan Bhargash]

AoA, you fell for that? Well, let me tell you about another innacurate film called 1984. I mean, there was no mention of Van Halen in it at all!

 

[Alcibiaties of Athenae]

I guess I did.

 

[joespaniel]

Too much mod-ing make one too serious...

I liked the movie 2010 with Roy Schieder. Not an exiting film by any means, but very interesting anyway.

How many versions of All Quiet on the Western Front were made (film that is)? I think I saw one with Ernest Borgnine as the German sargeant. Is that the only one?
Now there's a movie someone should remake, IMHO.

I am going to rent Band of Brothers on DVD for tonight, and watch the whole thing in entirety. I have my cheddar cheese popcorn (and toothpicks) already.

I love movie marathon nights!

 

[Hurricane]

Kryten, it's a big difference between action movies, that people KNOW are unrealistic, and so called historical "true stories" that in fact have little resemblence with truth. Only the latter will make people believe in stuff that never happened.

 

[Alcibiaties of Athenae]

Originally posted by joespaniel
How many versions of All Quiet on the Western Front were made (film that is)? I think I saw one with Ernest Borgnine as the German sargeant. Is that the only one?
Now there's a movie someone should remake, IMHO.

I know of another, the original Lew Ayers version, shot as both a silent and talkie movie.

You can still watch it, it was that powerful, aided by the fact that Ayers became a life-long conscientious objector to war as a result of the film.

Another strech of history is "Cross of Iron", not bad as a movie, but the invincble German corporal just doesn't seem to cut.

 

[Panda]

Originally posted by joespaniel
How many versions of All Quiet on the Western Front were made (film that is)? I think I saw one with Ernest Borgnine as the German sargeant. Is that the only one?
Now there's a movie someone should remake, IMHO.

I was really surprised The 1979 version was as good as it was. After all, it's 'only' a TV production, and as such, bound to be flawed by lack of money.

The 1930 version just didn't cut it for me. Some of the battle scenes were of surprisingly good quality, but I found the acting to be outdated. It was great at it's time, for me it's over-acting.

But don't go wishing for a remake. You might get a film where all the weapons are replaced by walkie-talkies...