War movies

Just heard on ABC that "Saving Private Ryan" has been preempted.

Letty: just heard on NPR that most stations that are not showing "Saving Private Ryan" are doing it because of the language and not the violence..as contractural agreements say they can not crop the movie...

The ghost of Janet Jackson, willow. I barely remember seeing the movie, frankly. As if America didn't know those words...as if A2K doesn't know those words. Good grief. The military and their SNAFU.

Another war movie with a difference is Talvisota (Winter War, 1989), at the time the most expensive Finnish movie ever made. It aims to give a realistic account of the trials and tribulations of a group of Finnish common soldiers during the Winter War (when the Soviet Union invaded Finland in 1939). The films takes a long time to build up (total length over 3 hours), but it is all part of the intent to show it like it really was. Lots of attention was paid to details, like historically accurate clothing and equipment (including the original molotov cocktails), even some vintage Russian war planes and tanks (pre T34) were taken out of museums to figure on the battle field.

With limited means the film succeeds in giving a realistic impression of the war, both the battles with shattering bombardments and the lulls in the fighting during which the Finns make the best of it under harsh conditions. It is one of the few war films in which the heroes actually get filthy, can't shave and need to defecate from time to time like normal human beings.

The Empire of the Sun??

JB I forgot all about that Spielberg movie. I saw it in the theatre and enjoyed it very much. I even went out and bought the sound track CD.

I saw a movie recently(though the movie was made in 2001) called "To End All Wars" very moving film..i highly recommend it...

Yes...OK...more info?

It's the true story of Ernest Gordon, who was held prisoner by the Japanese during WWll ...and how one learns to forgive those who have harmed them most...

Fans of the director Sam Fuller should note that almost an hour of his Big Red One was found in a warehouse...scenes that had been chopped off when the studio objected to its 3 hour length.

The new complete movie is now being shown in selected theatres. Although the film is rather a cartoonish view of the division's exploits, Lee Marvin's marvelous performance is worth the price of admission.

Also war-related and set in Japanes concentration camps is Paradise Road (1997), based on a true story and with a good international cast that did some real life starving to play their roles of emaciated prisoners with conviction.

And another Finnish war film (but the last one I am pushing here I promise ) is Tuntematon Sotilas (The Unknown Soldier, 1985), based on a gripping novel from a veteran of the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union (1941-1944). There are two versions of this film (the older one is from 1955), but the latest is darker and focuses more on the action, of which there is plenty; this film too is well over three hours in length (well, you try and fit a whole war in 90 minutes!). Worth seeing.

Thanks for your bringing Finnish movies to our attention. It's sad that they are so hard to find here

I don't have a lot of respect for Bruce Beresford as a director and "Paradise Road" doesn't impress me any more than the rest of his offerings.

The Finnish film is worth looking for -- perhaps NetFlix has it in their library. You can check without subscribing I believe -- to be competitive with WalMart and Blockbuster, they've lowered their price for shipping three rentals at a time to $17.99 per month. Their extensive library of especially foreign and independent films makes it worth every penny (if you're an avid movie viewer as I am you will likely see as many as twelve a month).

Beresford did direct "Driving Miss Daisy" and I did enjoy the HBO move, "And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself." He's a very uneven director.

Besides the already mentioned "Platoon," is "Born on the Fourth of July," which concentrates on the aftermath of war. Another great is "The Deer Hunter."

The longest Day

spectacular!

"The Great Escape," has been revived lately because of a PBS documentary interveiwing the ex-POWs and excavating the tunnels.